Article of footwear having a textile upper

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10130136-B2
Application number	US-201715703583-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 13, 2017
Priority date	Mar 3, 2004
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

An article of footwear and a method of manufacturing the article of footwear are disclosed. The footwear may include an upper and a sole structure. The upper incorporates a textile element with edges that are joined together to define at least a portion of a void for receiving a foot. Various warp or weft knitting processes, including flat knitting, may be utilized to form the textile element.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An upper for an article of footwear, the upper comprising:
a flat knit textile element comprising: (1) flat knit edges free of surrounding textile structure such that the flat knit edges are not surrounded by textile structure from which the textile element must be removed, and (2) a first knit strip having a first property and a second knit strip having a second property that is different from the first property;
wherein the first knit strip and the second knit strip each extend from an instep region of the upper to a lower region of the upper along at least one of a lateral side or a medial side of the upper,
wherein the flat knit edges of the flat knit textile element comprise a first longitudinal edge extending from a forefoot region of the flat knit textile element to a heel region of the flat knit textile element and a second longitudinal edge opposite the first longitudinal edge and extending from the forefoot region to the heel region,
wherein the flat knit textile element comprises a distance extending over a surface of the flat knit textile element between the first longitudinal edge and the second longitudinal edge in the heel region, the distance being approximately twelve inches.

2. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the distance between the first longitudinal edge and the second longitudinal edge comprises a width of the flat knit textile element in the heel region when the flat knit textile element is in a substantially planar configuration.

3. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the first longitudinal edge and the second longitudinal edge are joined together to define at least a portion of a void for receiving a foot.

4. The upper of claim 3 , wherein the first longitudinal edge and the second longitudinal edge are joined together to form a seam extending along a bottom surface of the upper.

5. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the flat knit textile element forms at least a portion of both an interior surface and an exterior surface of the upper.

6. The upper of claim 5 , wherein at least one additional element is secured to a portion of the exterior surface of the upper.

7. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the first property of the first knit strip comprises a higher degree of stretch than the second property of the second knit strip.

8. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the first property comprises a first knit construction and the second property comprises a second knit construction.

9. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the first property comprises a first yarn type and the second property comprises a second yarn type.

10. An article of footwear comprising:
an upper comprising: (1) a flat knit textile element having flat knit edges free of surrounding textile structure such that the flat knit edges are not surrounded by textile structure from which the textile element must be removed, and (2) a first knit strip having a first property and a second knit strip having a second property that is different from the first property, wherein the flat knit edges comprise a first longitudinal edge extending from a forefoot region of the flat knit textile element to a heel region of the flat knit textile element and a second longitudinal edge opposite the first longitudinal edge and extending from the forefoot region to the heel region, and
a sole structure secured to the upper,
wherein the flat knit textile element comprises a distance extending over a surface of the flat knit textile element between the first longitudinal edge and the second longitudinal edge in the heel region, the distance being approximately twelve inches;
wherein the first knit strip and the second knit strip each extend from an instep region of the upper to a lower region of the upper adjacent the sole structure along at least one of a lateral side or a medial side of the upper.

11. The article of footwear of claim 10 , wherein the distance between the first longitudinal edge and the second longitudinal edge comprises a width of the flat knit textile element in the heel region when the flat knit textile element is in a substantially planar configuration.

12. The article of footwear of claim 10 , wherein the first longitudinal edge and the second longitudinal edge are joined together to define at least a portion of a void for receiving a foot.

13. The article of footwear of claim 12 , wherein the first longitudinal edge and the second longitudinal edge are joined together to form a seam extending along a bottom surface of the upper, and wherein the flat knit edges further comprise an additional pair of edges that are joined together to form a second seam along the heel region of the upper.

14. The article of footwear of claim 10 , wherein the flat knit textile element forms at least a portion of both an interior surface and an exterior surface of the upper.

15. The article of footwear of claim 14 , wherein at least one additional element is secured to the flat-knit textile element to form a second portion of the exterior surface of the upper.

16. The article of footwear of claim 10 , wherein the first property of the first knit strip comprises a higher degree of stretch than the second property of the second knit strip.

17. The article of footwear of claim 10 , wherein the first property comprises a first knit construction and the second property comprises a second knit construction.

18. The article of footwear of claim 10 , wherein the first property comprises a first yarn type and the second property comprises a second yarn type.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Dua Bhupesh
• Thomas Edward Nathaniel

Classifications

• D04B21/207

  Wearing apparel or garment blanks · CPC title

• A43B7/085

  in the upper · CPC title

• A43B23/04

  Uppers made of one piece; Uppers with inserted gussets · CPC title

• D10B2501/043

  Footwear · CPC title

• A43B23/0235

  Different layers of different material · CPC title