Boston headquartered shoe companyReebokand its materials providerBASFhave released new details about its Liquid Factory sneaker 3D printing technology. To further their additive manufacturing ambitions,Reebok recentlyopened a Rhode Island facilitywhere 3D printed shoes will be made.
A new kind of shoe
Back in 2016, Reebok and BASF teamed up to create itsfirst line of 3D printed shoe。This collaboration, known as the Liquid Factory, released a limited run of 300 shoes with 3D printed outsole, selling at $189.50 a pair, all of which sold out in a matter of hours.
液体工厂采用现代的鞋子制作方法，偏离了使用模具的久经考验的真实方法。取而代之的是，它将其应用于特殊的高回弹液体材料一层，从而使重新预订可以更改其鞋子的设计，而不必购买昂贵的新模具。
“We provide the material to Reebok that has the required rheology and reactivity to produce a part with no molds,” said Chau Nguyen, Market Segment Manager for Footwear at BASF.
The limited number for the original run was due to the fact that Reebok was borrowing lab time for its first batch. Now with its new Rhode Island based factory, we can expect a full line of 3D printed shoes down the pipeline.
Better, Faster, Stronger
According to Nguyen, these shoes will have a high-rebound outsole, something that couldn’t be done previously with rubber outsoles. This allows for more energy to be conserved with each step.
“We were certainly aware of BASF’s stellar reputation for creating chemistry solutions in general, but what really appealed to us was the way the team attacked creating the appropriate chemistry for a brand-new application in our industry,” Bill McInnis, Head of Future at Reebok, told BASF in an interview. “We knew what we wanted and BASF quickly figured out the best path to get there.”
As we have seen through numerous partnership, 3D printing shoes increasingly finding commercialapplication。German shoe corporationAdidas和夹3 d打印机供应商碳探索similar ideas with itsown brand of Futurecraft shoes。同样，其他主要公司也深入研究了世界3D印刷鞋的生产，例如New Balancewhich has produced3D printed midsolesandUnder Armourwhich has craftedsomething similar for its sportswear.
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Feature image shows the black/white model of Reebok’s new 3D printed shoes
