BACKGROUND

[0001] An article of footwear, such as a shoe, may include an insole to provide a cushioned surface for a wearer’s foot during use. An insole provided with a shoe may be manufactured according to a generic design, intended to suit the foot of an average person.

[0002] Advances in additive manufacturing technology have made it possible to manufacture many objects using additive manufacturing techniques. One such technique involves the selective solidification of portions of successive layers of build material to form an intended object.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0003] Examples will now be described, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0004] Figure 1 is an illustration of an example of an insole;

[0005] Figure 2 is an illustration of a further example of an insole;

[0006] Figures 3A-C are illustrations of examples of padding elements;

[0007] Figure 4 is an illustration of a further example of a padding element;

[0008] Figure 5A-D are illustrations of a further example of a padding element; [0009] Figures 6A-C are illustrations of examples of insoles including padding elements;

[0010] Figure 7 is an illustration of a further example of an insole;

[0011] Figure 8 is an illustration of a further example of an insole;

[0012] Figure 9 is a flowchart of an example of a method of designing an insole;

[0013] Figure 10 is a flowchart of a further example of a method of designing an insole; and

[0014] Figure 11 is a schematic illustration of an example of a processor in communication with a machine-readable medium.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] Examples disclosed herein provide an insole or orthotic that can be personalized or manufactured in a bespoke manner in order to suit an individual. For example, such an insole or orthotic may be designed to include a first portion, such as a shell, and a second portion that is intended to provide support or cushioning for a particular part of a foot of a wearer of an article of footwear with which the insole or orthotic is used. Examples disclosed herein also provide a mechanism by which such an insole or orthotic can be designed and manufactured.

[0016] An insole, sometimes referred to as a shoe insert, footbed or inner sole, is a part of an article of footwear, such as a shoe, that provides cushioning and support to the foot of a wearer of the footwear. An insole, which may be removable from an article of footwear, may have a shape and size that generally conforms with the shape and size of this article of footwear in which the insole is to be used. An upper surface of the insole may include contours intended to conform with and/or complement the shape of a sole of a person’s foot. However, there is great variation in the shapes of people's feet and, in particular, in the shape of the different people's soles. Thus, an insole supplied with a shoe may not be suitable for use by everyone. Moreover, additional support, cushioning or flexibility may be provided at a portion of the insole or orthotic in order for example to ease pain in that treat an ailment or condition associated with the person’s foot.

[0017] As used herein, an "article of footwear" is intended to refer to any type of article of footwear including, for example, a shoe, a boot, a sandal, a flipflop, a high-heeled shoe, or the like. The insole may, in some examples, comprise an orthotic intended to assist with the treatment of a condition affecting the function of a body part, such as a person's foot.

[0018] Referring now to the drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are illustrations of examples of an insole 100 for an article of footwear. The insole 100 comprises a first insole portion and a support adjustment element 102. More specifically, the first insole portion comprises the support adjustment element 102. The support adjustment element 102 is a component that may adjust an amount of support provided to a foot of a wearer of an article of footwear that includes the insole 100. The amount of support provided may depend on parameters and/or characteristics of the support adjustment element 102, including its size, shape, position, rigidity, flexibility, material, construction, and the like. The first insole portion may take various forms, as shown in the exampies illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. In the example shown in Figure 1 , the first insole portion comprises a shell or shell portion 104, and may be referred to as such. In the example shown in Figure 2, the first insole portion comprises an upper insole portion 106, capable of being attached to a shell portion 104. Thus, the support adjustment element 102 may form part of the shell portion 104 or the upper insole portion 106.

[0019] The shell portion 104 may, in some examples, comprise a flexible base on which a wearer of the article of footwear places their foot, providing cushioning and support to the foot. As such, the shell portion 104 may be formed of a compressible and deformable material, such as foam. The shell portion 104 may have a first surface 108 arranged to face a foot of a wearer of the article of footwear.

[0020] As shown in the example of Figure 2, the upper insole portion 106 may be attached to the shell portion 104, for example to the first surface 108 of the shell portion. The upper insole portion 106 may, therefore, serve as a cover for the shell portion 104, and the upper insole portion, or part of the upper insole portion may be formed, for example, from a material having non-slip properties.

[0021] The support adjustment element 102 may be formed in or as part of the shell portion 104 (as shown in Figure 1 ) and/or formed in or as part of the upper insole portion 106. In other words, in some examples, the shell portion 104 may include a support adjustment element 102 and the upper insole portion 106 may also include a support adjustment element. In other examples, the shell portion 104 and/or the upper insole portion 106 may include multiple support adjustment elements 102.

[0022] The support adjustment element 102 is to provide support to a particular part of a foot of a wearer of the article of footwear. The support provided by the support adjustment element 102 may for example comprise stiffening support (e.g. increasing a stiffness or rigidity of part of the first insole portion) or cushioning support (e.g. providing a region of increased cushioning for part of the first insole portion), depending on the intended purpose of the support adjustment element 102.

[0023] The support adjustment element 102 has a structure that differs from the structure of the first insole portion. By forming the first insole portion and the support adjustment element 102 with different structures, different support effects can be achieved and provided to the foot of a wearer of an article of footwear that includes the insole 100. For example, the first insole portion may have a first structure and the support adjustment element 102 may have a second structure that differs from the first structure. The material used to form the first insole portion and the support adjustment element 102 may be the same, but by providing the support adjustment element with a different structure, it is possible to cause a particular part of the wearer’s foot affected by the support adjustment element (e.g. the part of the wearer’s foot at a position corresponding to the support adjustment element) to experience a different level of support or cushioning than other parts of the wearer’s foot that are not affected by the support adjustment element. [0024] The first insole portion and the support adjustment element 102 are formed of build material that has been solidified during an additive manufacturing process. Additive manufacturing techniques enable objects to be generated according to particular parameters, enabling customization of objects such as the first insole portion (e.g. the shell portion 104 and/or the upper insole portion 106) of an insole 100 for different people. Examples of the customization available using additive manufacturing techniques include the type of build material used to generate the object, the size and shape of the object to be generated, the color of the object, and the like.

[0025] Additive manufacturing techniques may generate a three- dimensional object through the solidification of a build material. In some examples, the build material may be a powder-like granular material, which may for example be a plastic, ceramic or metal powder. The properties of generated objects may depend on the type of build material and the type of solidification mechanism used. Build material may be deposited, for example on a print bed and processed layer by layer, for example within a fabrication chamber. According to one example, a suitable build material may be Polyamide materials (e.g., PA12, PA11), Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) materials, Thermoplastic Polyamide materials (TPA), Polypropylene (PP) and the like.

[0026] In some examples, selective solidification is achieved through directional application of energy, for example using a laser or electron beam which results in solidification of build material where the directional energy is applied. In other examples, a print agent may be selectively applied to the build material, and may be liquid when applied. For example, a fusing agent (also termed a ‘coalescence agent’ or ‘coalescing agent’) may be selectively distributed onto portions of a layer of build material in a pattern derived from data representing a slice of a three-dimensional object to be generated (which may for example be generated from structural design data). The fusing agent may have a composition which absorbs energy such that, when energy (for example, heat) is applied to the layer, the build material coalesces and solidifies to form a slice of the three- dimensional object in accordance with the pattern.

[0027] According to one example, a suitable fusing agent may be an inktype formulation comprising carbon black. In one example such a fusing agent may additionally comprise an infra-red light absorber. In one example such a fusing agent may additionally comprise a near infra-red light absorber. In one example such a fusing agent may additionally comprise a visible light absorber. In one example such a fusing agent may additionally comprise a UV light absorber.

[0028] In other examples, coalescence may be achieved in some other manner.

[0029] As noted above, additive manufacturing systems may generate objects based on structural design data. This may involve a designer generating a three-dimensional model of an object to be generated, for example using a computer aided design (CAD) application. The model may define the solid portions of the object. To generate a three-dimensional object from the model using an additive manufacturing system, the model data can be processed to generate slices of parallel planes of the model. Each slice may define a portion of a respective layer of build material that is to be solidified or caused to coalesce by the additive manufacturing system.

[0030] Designing and forming the first insole portion (e.g. the shell portion 104 and/or the upper insole portion 106, including the support adjustment element 102) using additive manufacturing techniques means that the structures of different parts of the first insole portion can be generated differently, in accordance with parameters intended to suit the user of the insole 100. For example, for a person suffering from a particular condition affecting part of their foot (e.g., their heel) , the first insole portion of an insole 100 may be designed to include a support adjustment element 102 in a region corresponding to the heel of the person’s foot, for example to provide an increased amount of cushioning for the wearer’s heel. Thus, the structure of the support adjustment element 102 may be designed in such a way that it provides an increased level of cushioning relative to the rest of the first insole portion.

[0031] A structure of the first insole portion and/or the support adjustment element 102 may include, for example, a shape, a size (e.g. a dimension such as length, height, width and/or depth) and/or an internal structure of the material used to form the first insole portion and the support adjustment element. For example, the first insole portion and/or the support adjustment element 102 may comprise a solid structure. A solid structure may be achieved by causing build material to coalesce and solidify with few or no gaps or voids. Thus, a “solid structure” as used herein is intended to refer to a structure which includes few or no voids, in contrast to a lattice structure, which includes gaps and voids, and may be referred to as a non-solid structure. A solid structure may for example provide more rigidity than a non-solid structure and/or may have other properties not exhibited by a nonsolid structure. A non-solid structure may in some examples be considered to be a structure equivalent to that in a permeable or porous material, while a solid structure may be considered to be a structure that is not permeable or porous, or one that has relatively low permeability or porosity. In some examples, the first insole portion and/or the support adjustment element 102 may comprise a lattice structure. A lattice structure may be achieved by causing build material to coalesce and solidify with gaps, voids or cavities farmed internally, for example to provide improved cushioning or flexibility. Thus, in same examples, the support adjustment element 102 may comprise a lattice structure. In some examples, the first insole portion (e.g. the shell portion 104 and/or the upper insole portion 106) may comprise a solid structure (e.g. a low porosity, or nan-poraus structure). Far example, the support adjustment element 102 of the first insole portion may comprise a lattice structure while the rest of the first insole portion may comprise a solid structure.

[0032] Figure 3A-C show illustrations of examples of support adjustment elements 102 having three different structures. Figure 3A shows a perspective view and a bottom view of an example of a first insole portion which, in this example, is a shell portion 104, including a support adjustment element 102. Figure 3A also shews an enlarged view of part of the support adjustment element 102. In this example, the shell portion 104 has a solid structure, and the support adjustment element 102 has a non-solid structure, which is formed of a series of circular components 302, each circular component being connected to another circular component, or to multiple other circular components, by a connector 304 or multiple connectors. The support adjustment element 102 may include multiple layers of circular components, each layer being connected to an adjacent layer (e.g. by a connector 304 or multiple connectors). The connectors 304 shown in Figure 3A are formed of strands of the material used to form the circular components. The structure shown in the support adjustment element 102 in Figure 3A may provide an increased degree of flexibility compared with the more solid structure of the shell portion 104, since the circular components and/or the connections between them are able to bend, flex, stretch, compress and/or twist, enabling a degree of flexibility when a force is applied to the support adjustment element 102, for example when a person stands on the insole 100. The support adjustment element 102 may of Figure 3A, therefore, provide a cushioning effect for the heel of a wearer of the article of footwear incorporating the insole 100.

[0033] Figure 3B shows a perspective view and a bottom view of an example of a first insole portion which, in this example, is a shell portion 104, including a support adjustment element 102. Figure 3B also shows an enlarged bottom view of part of the shell portion 104 and an enlarged view of the support adjustment element 102. In this example, the shell portion 104 has a solid structure, and the support adjustment element 102 has a spiral structure or conical spiral structure, which may be referred to as a conical helix or a helical cone. The spiral structure or conical spiral structure may be formed by a plurality of arms 306 spiraling towards a central region 308. In some examples, the arms 306 of the spiral or conical spiral of the support adjustment element 102 may converge at a central disk region 310. The arms 306 of a spiral structure may be in a common plane, while the arms of a conical spiral structure may extend out of a plane forming a cone. The spiral structure or conical spiral structure of the support adjustment element 102 may provide flexibility, allowing for movement relative to the first insole portion (e.g. the shell portion 104), for example when a person stands on the insole 100.

[0034] Figure 3C shows a perspective view of an example of a first insole portion which, in this example, is a shell portion 104, including a support adjustment element 102. Figure 3C also shows an enlarged view of the support adjustment element 102. In this example, the shell portion 104 has a solid structure, and the support adjustment element 102 has a structure formed of a plurality of square spirals. The support adjustment element 102 may be formed of a plurality of sets of spirals or square spirals, such that each set of spirals or square spirals provides a degree of flexibility and motion independent of other sets of spirals or square spirals in the support adjustment element. In this way, each set of spirals or square spirals may be considered to function as a separate support adjustment subelement, thereby providing a better range of movement and flexibility over the support adjustment element 102. In other examples, the support adjustment element 102 may have a structure formed of a plurality of circular spirals.

[0035] In the examples shown in Figures 3A, 3B and 3C, the support adjustment element 102 is located in a heel region of the first insole portion. In other examples, however, the support adjustment element 102 may be located elsewhere relative to the first insole portion, so as to provide support (e.g. increased rigidity, flexibility and/or cushioning) to portion of the wearer’s foot other than, or in addition to, the heel. For example, a support adjustment element 102 may be located towards the center (midfoot region), front (forefoot region) or an edge (lateral or medial regions) of the first insole portion. In some examples, the support adjustment element 102 may be located in a region below or near to the metatarsals of the foot, the ball of the foot, or the toes.

[0036] Figure 4 is an illustration of a further example of a support adjustment element 102 which may, for example, be positioned at a heel region of the first insole portion of an insole 100. The support adjustment element 102 in this example may comprise a heel spur pad, which may be used to provide cushioning to a center portion of the calcaneus in a person’s foot. This may, for example, be used to treat or provide relief for pain caused by conditions such as plantar fasciitis, heel spurs or Sever's disease. In this example, the support adjustment element 102 has a structure intended to provide increased cushioning to a user. The support adjustment element 102 in this example is formed of a plurality of contiguous cells, each cell comprising a cell wall surrounding a cavity. Each cell wall may, for example, define a cavity or void. The cell walls may be flexible, such that they are able to bend and/or flex under compression, thereby providing a cushioning effect to a user. The support adjustment element 102 may, in some examples (e.g. support adjustment elements 402, 404), comprise a single layer of contiguous cells. In the example 402, the cells have generally rounded cell walls, such that the cells substantially spherical or cylindrical in shape. Adjacent cells may be connected by connections 406. In the example 404, the cells are defined by straight cell walls, such that the cells are shaped substantially as cubes, cuboids, tetrahedrons, octahedrons or the like. In other examples, such as the example 408, the support adjustment element 102 may comprise multiple layers of contiguous cells. The cells may have any shape, such as those discussed herein.

[0037] In some examples, the support adjustment element 102 may comprise a cover 410, for example to cover the cells, or part of the support adjustment element may be formed as such a cover. The cover 410 may restrict access to the cells, thereby preventing dirt and/or debris from becoming trapped in the cells, which could restrict or affect the flexibility of the support adjustment element 102.

[0038] In the examples shown in Figures 3A-C and 4, the support adjustment element 102 is located at a heel region of the first insole portion. In other examples, however, the support adjustment element 102 may be located elsewhere relative to the first insole portion. Figure 5 shows illustrations of a further example of a support adjustment element 102, which may be located at an arch region of a first insole portion of an insole 100. Figure 5 includes sectional views of two examples (A and B) and perspective views of the two examples (C and D) of the support adjustment element 102. The support adjustment element 102 in Figure 5 may provide arch cushion support, which may be used to provide treatment and/or relief from conditions such as plantar fasciitis, a heel spur, tendinitis and/or other discomfort associated with an injury or condition of the sole of the foot. In this example, the support adjustment element 102 has a lattice structure, such that it can provide an element of support to an arch region of a users foot, and can be compressed to some extent when a force is applied. Walls forming the lattice structure throughout the support adjustment element 102 may be designed based on the intended support and/or compression to be experienced, and parameters such as the wall thickness (e.g. the thickness of build material used to generate the walls of the support adjustment element) may be determined based on parameters of the foot of the user. For example, thicker walls of a lattice may be provided in a support adjustment element 102 where a relatively small amount of compression/cushioning is intended, and thinner walls of the lattice may be provided in a support adjustment element where a relatively larger amount of compression/cushioning is intended.

[0039] Figure 6A-C are illustrations of examples of insoles 100 in which the support adjustment element 102 is located in different positions. In Figure 6A, the support adjustment element 102 may function as a metatarsal bar, which may offload the metatarsal head distal to the placement of the metatarsal bar. Such a metatarsal bar pad may have any shape, and in some examples may have a shape that is rectangular, oval, or rounded rectangle, and/or may generally be elongate. This may be used to treat or relieve pain in people having calluses or other lesions on the metatarsal head, or for people with metatarsalgia.

[0040] In Figure 6B, the support adjustment element 102 may function as a metatarsal pad, which may spread or upload the metatarsal head distal to where the pad is placed this may be used to treat or relieve pain in people having calluses, lesions, dropped metatarsal head or metatarsalgia. Such a metatarsal pad may have any shape, and in some examples may be substantially round or oval in shape.

[0041] In Figure 6C, the support adjustment element 102 may function as a neuroma pad, which may spread to metatarsal head in order to relieve a pinched into metatarsal nerve, for example. This may be used to treat or relieve pain in people having neuromas. Such a neuroma pad may have any shape, and in some examples may be rectangular, oval, rounded rectangular, elongate, or substantially round in shape.

[0042] Figure 7 is an illustration of a example of an insole 100 having a first insole portion and a support adjustment element 102. The support adjustment element 102 may comprise any of the example support adjustment elements disclosed herein, such as those shown in Figs. 6A, 6B and 6C. In some examples, the first insole portion (e.g. a shell portion 104 and/or an upper insole portion 106) may have a substantially uniform thickness, which may be suitable for a large range of users. The support adjustment element 102 may, however, have a thickness that differs from the thickness of the first insole portion, such that it is able to provide additional support to a particular portion of the users foot which corresponds to the location of the support adjustment element. In the example shown in Figure 7, the first insole portion as a substantially uniform thickness of ti and the support adjustment element 102 has a thickness of t?. More generally, in some examples, the first insole portion may have a first thickness and the support adjustment element has a second thickness, different to the first thickness. [0043] hi the examples discussed above, the first insole portion of the inseie 100 has just one support adjustment element 102. Figure 8 is an illustration of a further example of an insole 100, in which the first insole portion includes multiple support adjustment elements 102, 802. Thus, in some examples, the insole 100 may further comprise a second support adjustment element 802 to provide support to a further particular part of the foot of the wearer, the second support adjustment element having a structure that differs from the structure of the first insole portion. In the example shown in Figure 8, the support adjustment element 102, which may be referred to as a first support adjustment element, may act as a metatarsal pad, while the second support adjustment element 802 may act as a heel spur pad.

[0044] The second support adjustment element 802 may be formed of build material that has been solidified during an additive manufacturing process. The structure of the first support adjustment element 102 and the second support adjustment element 802 may be the same or different, for example so that they can have a different effect on the corresponding parts of the user’s foot.

[0045] Various examples of build materials that can be used in the additive manufacturing process to generate the shell portion 104, the upper insole portion 106 and/or the support adjustment element 102, 802 are given above. A material (e.g. a build material) may be selected based on its properties and, therefore, on its suitability for providing the intended support, rigidity and/or cushioning effect to the user. In some examples, part of the insole 100 (e.g. the support adjustment element 102, 802) may be formed of a polyamide or an elastomeric material. In examples where a support adjustment element 102, 802 is located in the shell portion 104, the shell portion and the support adjustment element may be formed from the same material (e.g. a first materiai). In examples where a support adjustment element 102, 802 is located in the upper insole portion 106, the upper insole portion and the support adjustment element may be formed from the same material (e.g. a second material). The materials from which the upper insole portion 106 and the shell portion 104 are formed may be different from another. For example, the shell portion 104 may be formed from a stronger, more rigid material, while the upper insole portion 106 may be formed from a softer, more flexible material, to increase the level of comfort provided to a wearer.

[0046] Examples of the present disclosure also provide a method, such as a computer-implemented method. Figure 9 is a flowchart of an example of such a method 900, which may be considered to be a method of designing an insole, such as the insole 100. The method 900 comprises, at block 902, receiving biomechanical data relating to a foot of a subject. In some examples, the biomechanical data relating to the foot of the subject may be obtained or acquired using an imaging device, such as a camera, a scanning device, such as a 3D scanner, or the like. In some examples, therefore, an image (a 2D or 3D image) may be captured and analyzed (e.g. using image processing techniques) to determine biomechanical data from the image. Biomechanical data may be obtained through measurements of the foot made using a sensor or measurement device. In other examples, the biomechanical data may be received from some other source, for example a database storing data associated with a subject. The biomechanical data may include data describing parameters of the subject's foot, including, for example, data describing a size, a shape, a height, a width and/or a structure of the foot. In some examples, the biomechanical data may include data relating to just a portion of the subject's foot, such as the sole of the foot while, in other examples, data relating to other portions of the foot may be received.

[0047] The data relating to the foot may be used to determine an adjustment or correction that is to be made to the foot to improve the subject’s stance or posture, for example, or to reduce pain or discomfort experienced by the subject as a result of the way the subject stands on their foot or as a result of a condition or injury. In some examples, a medical professional (e.g. a podiatrist) may study the data relating to the subject's foot and propose a change or correction that could be implemented. For example, a podiatrist may determine that the shape of the subject's foot is such that the subject puts more weight on one part of their foot than another part of their foot, and that this may be corrected by providing an insole 100 having a first insole portion provided with a support adjustment element 102 at a particular position or with multiple support adjustment elements. In other examples, a database or look-up table may be used to determine a suitable change or correction based on the data relating to the subject’s foot, acquired in block 902.

[0048] At block 904, the method 900 comprises generating, based on the received biomechanical data, first design data defining build parameters of a first portion of an insole 100 of an article of footwear. The first portion of the insole 100 may comprise the first insole portion discussed above. Thus, the first portion of the insole 100 may comprise a shell portion 104 or in an upper insole portion 106. The first design data may define build parameters including parameters such as a size and/or shape of the first portion, such that the first portion of the insoie 100 may be designed and generated to suit the size and/or shape of the subject’s foot.

[0049] The method 900 further comprises, at block 906, generating, based on the received biomechanical data, second design data defining build parameters of a padding element of the insole. The padding element may comprise a support adjustment element 102, 802, as discussed herein. The padding element 102, 802 is to form an integral part of the first portion, and is to provide support to a particular part of the foot of the subject. For example, the padding element 102, 802 may provide padding or cushioning for part of a user’s foot or may provide a degree of support to part of the user’s foot. The padding element 102, 802 has a structure that differs from a structure of the first portion. The structure of the padding element 102, 802 and the padding, cushioning and/or support that it provides may be achieved based on the build parameters defined in the second design data.

[0050] The biomechanical data may, in some examples, include data defining an amount of supination and/or pronation of the subject’s foot, and/or an amount of force or pressure applied by different parts of the subject's foot, while standing, walking and/or running. The second design data may, therefore, define build parameters of a padding element 102, 802 intended to provide support and/or cushioning to part of the subject’s foot in order to provide some amount of comfort, and/or to mitigate or compensate for any excess force or pressure applied at a particular region of the subject’s foot.

[0051] At block 908, the method 900 further comprises providing the first design data and the second design data for delivery to an additive manufacturing apparatus to generate the insole 100. Thus, the first design data and the second design data may comprise structural design data in a format that can be read, interpreted and/or executed by a processor associated with an additive manufacturing apparatus. The first design data and/or the second design data may, for example, be provided in the form of a file or data package capable of being read or executed by such a processor, such that the additive manufacturing apparatus is able to use the file or data package to perform the suitable functions to generate the first portion of the insole that includes the padding element 102, 802

[0052] The first portion of the insole 100 may comprise a shell portion 104, or an upper insole portion 106 to be attached to the shell portion. For example, the first design data may define build parameters of a shell portion 104 and the second design data may define build parameters of a padding element to be incorporated as an integral part in the shell portion. In another example, the first design data may define build parameters of an upper insole portion 106 and the second design data may define build parameters of a padding element to be incorporated as an integral part in the upper insole portion.

[0053] Figure 10 is a flowchart of a further example of a method 1000, which may comprise a computer implemented method, such as a computer-implemented method of designing an insole. The method 1000 may comprise a block or blocks of the method 900 discussed above. The method 1000 may further comprise, at block 1002, generating, based on the received biomechanical data, third design data defining build parameters of a second portion of the insole 100. In some examples, the first portion may comprise a shell portion 104 of the insole 100. The second portion may comprise an upper insole portion 106 to be attached to the shell portion 104. Thus, build parameters of both the shell portion 104 and the upper insole portion 106 may be generated. The padding element 102, 802 may form an integral part of the shell portion 104, the upper insole portion 106 or both the shell portion and the upper insole portion.

[0054] In some examples, the first design data, the second design data and/or the third design data may be generated simultaneously or sequentially based on the received biomechanical data, such that the build parameters of the first portion and the build parameters of the padding element 102, 802 are determined as part of a single processing block.

[0055] In some examples, the first design data and/or the third design data may define build parameters of multiple padding elements 102, 802 to be formed as integral parts in the insole 100.

[0056] The first design data and/or the third design data may comprise data defining build parameters of the first portion of the insole 100, such as the shell portion 104 and the upper insole portion 106, and these build parameters may relate to the size and/or shape of the components of the insole to suit the user based on the biomedical data. The second design data may comprise data defining build parameters selected from a group comprising a position of the padding element relative to the first portion; a size of the padding element; a structure of a surface of the padding element; an internal structure of the padding element; and a thickness of the padding element. [0057] At block 1004, the method 1000 may further comprise providing the third design data for delivery to an additive manufacturing apparatus to generate the insole. The first design data, the second design data and/or the third design data may be delivered together to the additive manufacturing apparatus in some examples. The the method 1000 may further comprise, at block 1006, operating the additive manufacturing apparatus to generate an insole 100 according to the first design data and the second design data. The additive manufacturing apparatus may, in some examples, be operated to generate an insole 100 according to the first design data, the second design data and the third design data.

[0058] In addition to the received biomechanical data, other data may be used when determining or generating the first design data, the second design data and/or the third design data. For example, the insole 100 may be designed (i.e., the first design data, the second design data and/or the third design data may be generated) based on an intended use of an article of footwear in which the insole is to be used. An example of such a use may include, for example, walking, running, football, or the like. The first design data, the second design data and/or the third design data may be generated based further on the data indicative of the intended use of the article footwear, which may be provided for example via a user input.

[0059] In other examples, the first portion of the insole 100 (e.g. the shell portion 104 and/or the upper insole portion 106) including the padding element 102, 802 may be designed based on medical data relating to the subject. For example, a treatment plan may be drawn up or prepared by a medical professional, such as a podiatrist or an orthopedic foot doctor, to aid recovery of an injury or a condition reiating to the subject's foot (e.g. plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, tendinitis, or the like). A medical professional may, for example, prescribe or recommend a padding element 102, 802 to be used to treat the condition and to ease any pain or discomfort experienced by the subject. The input provided by the medical professional may be used to generate the second design data used to form the padding element 102, 802. Thus, the method 1000 may further comprise, at block 1008, receiving medical data indicative of a medical condition relating to the foot of the subject. At block 1010, the method 1000 may further comprise determining, based on the received medical data, support data describing support intended to be provided by the padding element 102, 802 of the insole 100. The method 1000 may further comprise, at block 1012, generating the second design data further based on the determined support data. In examples where third design data is generated, the method may comprise operating the additive manufacturing apparatus to generate an insole according to the first design data, the second design data and the third design data.

[0080] Blocks of the methods 900, 1000 may be performed using a processor, or multiple processors, such as a processor or processors associated with or forming part of an additive manufacturing apparatus. In other examples, such a processor may form part of a computing device or part of a cloud-computing environment.

[0061] Examples in the present disclosure also provide a machine-readable medium. Figure 11 is a schematic illustration of an example of a processor 1102 in communication with a machine-readabie medium 1104. The machine-readabie medium 1104 comprises instructions (e.g. data obtaining instructions 1106) which, when executed by the processor 1102, cause the processor to obtain data indicative of a biometric property of a foot of a subject. The biometric property may, for example, comprise or be similar to the biomechanical data discussed above.

[0062] The machine-readable medium 1104 comprises instructions (e.g. first structural characteristics generating instructions 1108) which, when executed by the processor 1102, cause the processor to generate, based on the biometric property, first structural characteristics of an orthotic. The orthotic may comprise or be similar to the insole 100 discussed above.

[0063] The machine-readable medium 1104 comprises instructions (e.g. second structural characteristics generating instructions 1110) which, when executed by the processor 1102, cause the processor to generate, based on the biometric property, second structural characteristics of a support element to be formed integrally with the orthotic. The support element may comprise or be similar to the padding element or support adjustment element 102, 802 discussed above. The support adjustment element 102, 802 is to provide support to a particular part of the foot of the subject. The second structural characteristics are different to the first structural characteristics. In other words, the structure of the support adjustment element 102, 802 of the orthotic 100 is different to the structure of the rest of the orthotic.

[0064] The machine-readable medium 1104 comprises instructions (e.g. model data generating instructions 1112) which, when executed by the processor 1102, cause the processor to generate, based on the first structural characteristics and the second structural characteristics, model data representing the orthotic hundred and the support adjustment element 102, 802. The model data is to be used by an additive manufacturing apparatus to form the orthotic incorporating the support element during an additive manufacturing process.

[0065] In some examples, the machine-readable medium 1104 may comprise further instructions which, when executed by the processor 1102, may cause the processor to perform functions corresponding to blocks of the methods 900, 1000 disclosed herein.

[0066] Examples disclosed herein provide an insole having a first insole portion, such as a shell portion, or an upper insole portion capable of being attached or connected to the shell portion. The first insole portion includes a support adjustment element that is intended to provide support to part of a foot of a wearer of an article of footwear with which the insole is used. The insole (i.e. the first portion of the insole and the support adjustment element) are formed using an additive manufacturing process. In this way, the support adjustment element may be designed to provide bespoke support and/or cushioning to a part of the wearer’s foot.

[0067] Examples in the present disclosure can be provided as methods, systems or machine readable instructions, such as any combination of software, hardware, firmware or the like. Such machine readable instructions may be included on a computer readable storage medium (including but is not limited to disc storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) having computer readable program codes therein or thereon.

[0068] The present disclosure is described with reference to flow charts and/or block diagrams of the method, devices and systems according to examples of the present disclosure. Although the flow diagrams described above show a specific order of execution, the order of execution may differ from that which is depicted. Blocks described in relation to one flow chart may be combined with those of another flow chart. It shall be understood that each flow and/or block in the flow charts and/or block diagrams, as well as combinations of the flows and/or diagrams in the flow charts and/or block diagrams can be realized by machine readable instructions.

[0069] The machine readable instructions may, for example, be executed by a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, an embedded processor or processors of other programmable data processing devices to realize the functions described in the description and diagrams. In particular, a processor or processing apparatus may execute the machine readable instructions. Thus functional modules of the apparatus and devices may be implemented by a processor executing machine readable instructions stored in a memory, or a processor operating in accordance with instructions embedded in logic circuitry. The term ‘processor’ is to be interpreted broadly to include a CPU, processing unit, ASIC, logic unit, or programmable gate array etc. The methods and functional modules may all be performed by a single processor or divided amongst several processors. [0070] Such machine readable instructions may aiso be stored in a computer readable storage that can guide the computer or other programmable data processing devices to operate in a specific mode.

[0071] Such machine readable instructions may aiso be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing devices, so that the computer or other programmable data processing devices perform a series of operations to produce computer-implemented processing, thus the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable devices realize functions specified by flow(s) in the flow charts and/or block(s) in the block diagrams.

[0072] Further, the teachings herein may be implemented in the form of a computer software product, the computer software product being stored in a storage medium and comprising a plurality of instructions for making a computer device implement the methods recited in the examples of the present disclosure.

[0073] While the method, apparatus and related aspects have been described with reference to certain examples, various modifications, changes, omissions, and substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. It is intended, therefore, that the method, apparatus and related aspects be limited only by the scope of the following claims and their equivalents. It should be noted that the above-mentioned examples illustrate rather than limit what is described herein, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative implementations without departing from the scope of the appended claims. Features described in relation to one example may be combined with features of another example. [0074] The word “comprising” does not exclude the presence of elements other than those listed in a claim, “a” or "an” does not exclude a plurality, and a single processor or other unit may fulfil the functions of several units recited in the claims.

[0075] The features of any dependent claim may be combined with the features of any of the independent claims or other dependent claims.