权利要求：
We Claim:
1. A method of manufacturing an article of footwear, comprising: forming at least one portion of an upper, the at least one portion of the upper being formed using a rapid manufacturing technique; forming a midsole, the midsole being separate from the upper and including at least one midsole impact force attenuation system, the midsole being formed using the rapid manufacturing technique; and engaging the at least one portion of the upper to the midsole.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the rapid manufacturing technique is at least one of laser sintering, solid deposition modeling and stereolithography.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming at least one portion of an upper includes forming an entire upper configured to substantially surround a portion of a foot.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming the at least one portion of an upper includes forming a plurality of eyelets in the upper.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one type of impact force attenuation system is at least one of column type, foam core type, and fluid-filled bladder type.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of connecting the at least one portion of the upper to the midsole includes stitching the at least one portion of the upper to the midsole.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of engaging the at least one portion of the upper to the midsole includes adhesively bonding the upper to the midsole.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one impact force attenuation system includes a plurality of interlocked links.
9. An article of footwear, comprising: a upper, the upper including a plurality of flat portions formed using a first rapid manufacturing technique; and a sole structure, at least a portion of the sole structure being formed using a second rapid manufacturing technique and including: a midsole including a midsole impact force attenuation system; and an outsole.
10. The article of footwear of claim 9, wherein the midsole impact force attenuation system is a column type impact force attenuation system.
11. The article of footwear of claim 9, wherein the midsole impact force attenuation system includes a plurality of interconnected links.
12. The article of footwear of claim 9, wherein the midsole impact force attenuation system includes an fluid-filled bladder impact force attenuation system.
13. The article of footwear of claim 9, wherein the first rapid manufacturing technique is one of laser sintering, solid deposition modeling and stereolithography.
14. The article of footwear of claim 9, wherein the second rapid manufacturing technique is one of laser sintering, solid deposition modeling and stereolithography.
15. The article of footwear of claim 9, wherein the first and second rapid manufacturing techniques are the same.
16. The article of footwear of claim 9, wherein the first and second solid rapid manufacturing techniques are different.
17. The article of footwear of claim 9, wherein the plurality of flat portions of the upper are connected to each other using a first connection means to form the upper.
18. The article of footwear of claim 17, wherein the first connection means is at least one of stitching and adhesively bonding.
19. The article of footwear of claim 9, wherein the midsole and the outsole are integrally formed as a single piece.
20. An article of footwear, comprising: an upper, the upper including a plurality of upper portions engaged with each other, the plurality of upper portions formed using a rapid manufacturing technique; a sole structure, the sole structure formed using a non-rapid manufacturing technique and including: a midsole having a midsole impact force attenuation type; and an outsole engaged with the midsole.
21. The article of footwear of claim 20, wherein the upper is formed using a first material.
22. The article of footwear of claim 21, wherein the sole structure is formed using a second material.
23. The article of footwear of claim 22, wherein the first and second materials are different.
24. The article of footwear of claim 20, wherein the rapid manufacturing technique is one of laser sintering, solid deposition modeling and stereolithography.
25. The article of footwear of claim 20, wherein the non-rapid manufacturing technique is a molding technique.
26. The article of footwear of claim 25, wherein the molding technique is at least one of injection molding, compression molding, vacuum molding and blow molding.
27. The article of footwear of claim 20, wherein the upper includes texture formed during the rapid manufacturing process.
28. The article of footwear of claim 20, wherein the midsole impact force attenuation type is at least one of a column type, air bag type, and foam core type.
29. A method of manufacturing an article of footwear, comprising: forming an upper portion using a non-rapid manufacturing technique; forming a sole structure using a rapid manufacturing technique, forming the sole structure including: forming a midsole including a midsole impact force attenuation type; and forming an outsole engaged with the midsole; engaging the sole structure with the upper portion.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein the upper portion is formed of a first material.
31. The method of claim 30, wherein the first material is at least one of leather, nylon, and cotton.
32. The method of claim 30, wherein the sole structure is formed of a second material.
33. The method of claim 32, wherein the first and second materials are different.
34. The method of claim 29, wherein the rapid manufacturing technique is one of laser sintering, solid deposition modeling and stereolithography.
35. The method of claim 29, wherein the midsole and outsole are integrally formed as a single piece.
36. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of forming the sole structure further includes forming texture on the outsole during the rapid manufacturing process.
37. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of forming the sole structure further includes forming texture on at least a portion of the midsole during the rapid manufacturing process.
38. The method of claim 29, wherein the midsole impact force attenuation type is at least one of column type, air bag type, and foam core type.
39. The method of claim 29, wherein the midsole impact force attenuation type includes a plurality of interlocking links.
40. A method of manufacturing an article of footwear, comprising: performing a scan of a foot of a user; creating a data file including a three-dimensional design of the article of footwear based on the scan performed; manufacturing the article of footwear using a rapid manufacturing technique, the step of manufacturing including: forming an upper based on the scan; forming a sole structure based on the scan; and engaging the upper with the sole structure.
41. The method of claim 40, wherein the data file is a computer aided design file.
42. The method of claim 40, wherein the step of engaging the upper with the sole structure includes joining the upper with the sole structure using at least one of stitching and adhesive bonding.
43. The method of claim 40, wherein the upper is formed from a first material.
44. The method of claim 43, wherein the sole structure is formed of a second material.
45. The method of claim 44, wherein the first and second materials are different.
46. A method of manufacturing a wearable article, comprising: performing a scan of a body part of a user to obtain physical characteristics of the body part; creating a data file based on the scan, the data file including a three- dimensional design of the wearable article based on the physical characteristics obtained from the scan; and forming the wearable article from the design file using a rapid manufacturing technique.
47. The method of claim 46, wherein the wearable article is at least one of a watch, hockey stick, hockey goalie mask, football helmet, article of apparel, and article of footwear.
48. The method of claim 46, wherein the rapid manufacturing technique is one of laser sintering, solid deposition modeling and stereolithography.
49. The method of claim 46, wherein the design file is a computer aided design file.
50. A method of manufacturing an article of footwear, comprising: forming an upper using a rapid manufacturing technique, the upper including a plurality of generally flat upper portions configured to be joined; forming a sole structure using a rapid manufacturing process, the step of forming the sole structure including: forming a midsole having a first region, a second region and a third region, each of the first, second and third regions having a midsole thickness; and forming an outsole engaged with the midsole and having an outsole thickness; engaging the upper with the sole structure.
51. The method of claim 50, wherein the step of forming the midsole includes forming the first, second and third regions of the midsole to have different thicknesses.
52. The method of claim 50, wherein the step of forming the midsole includes forming the first midsole region of a thickness less than the thickness of the second region and third region.
53. The method of claim 50, wherein the step of forming the midsole includes forming the third midsole region of a thickness greater than the thickness of the first and second regions.
54. An article of footwear, comprising: an upper region forming a void for containing a foot of a wearer; a sole region integrally formed with the upper region as a single piece; and a plurality of apertures formed in the upper and sole regions, wherein the upper region, sole region and the plurality of apertures are formed using a rapid manufacturing additive fabrication technique.
55. The article of footwear of claim 54, wherein the plurality of apertures are arranged randomly in the upper region and the sole region in a non-repeating pattern.
56. The article of footwear of claim 54, wherein the apertures are arranged in a repeating pattern in the upper region and the sole region.
57. The article of footwear of claim 54, wherein the rapid manufacturing additive fabrication technique is laser sintering.
58. The article of footwear of claim 54, wherein the article of footwear is one of a running shoe, court shoe, walking shoe, soccer cleat, baseball cleat, and sandal.
59. The article of footwear of claim 54, further including a removable comfort enhancing element.
60. The article of footwear of claim 59, wherein the comfort enhancing element is formed using the rapid manufacturing additive fabrication technique.
61. A method of forming an article of footwear, comprising: integrally forming an upper and a sole region of the article of footwear, wherein the upper and sole regions are formed using a rapid manufacturing additive fabrication technique, the step of forming the upper and sole region further including: forming a plurality of apertures in the upper and sole regions of the article of footwear.
62. The method of claim 61, wherein the step of forming the plurality of apertures includes forming the apertures in a non-repeating pattern on the upper and sole regions.
63. The method of claim 62, wherein the step of forming the plurality of apertures includes forming the apertures in a repeating pattern on the upper and sole regions.
64. The method of claim 62, further including forming a removable comfort enhancing element.
65. The method of claim 64, wherein the removable comfort enhancing element is formed using the rapid manufacturing additive fabrication technique.
66. The method of claim 61, wherein the article of footwear is one of a running shoe, court shoe, walking shoe, soccer cleat, baseball cleat, and sandal.