Thermoplastic non-woven textile elements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10982364-B2
Application number	US-201916515361-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 18, 2019
Priority date	Feb 6, 2009
Publication date	Apr 20, 2021
Grant date	Apr 20, 2021

Abstract

A non-woven textile may be formed from a plurality of thermoplastic polymer filaments. The non-woven textile may have a first region and a second region, with the filaments of the first region being fused to a greater degree than the filaments of the second region. A variety of products, including apparel (e.g., shirts, pants, footwear), may incorporate the non-woven textile. In some of these products, the non-woven textile may be joined with another textile element to form a seam. More particularly, an edge area of the non-woven textile may be heatbonded with an edge area of the other textile element at the seam. In other products, the non-woven textile may be joined with another component, whether a textile or a non-textile.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An article of footwear including a composite element, the composite element comprising:
a non-woven textile having a first surface and an opposite second surface, wherein the non-woven textile comprises a plurality of filaments, and the plurality of filaments includes a thermoplastic polymer material;
a first strand comprising a first material, wherein:
the first strand extends in a direction substantially parallel to the first surface of the non-woven textile in a first region of the article of footwear;
the first region includes a heel region of the article of footwear, or includes a lateral region of the article of footwear extending from a lace aperture to a sole structure, or includes both the heel region and the lateral region; and
in the first region, the first strand is secured to the first surface of the non-woven textile by a heatbond with the thermoplastic material of the plurality of filaments,

wherein in the first region, the plurality of filaments are fused to form a non-filamentous portion of the non-woven textile; and
wherein the first strand extends through at least the non-filamentous portion, and the non-filamentous portion is a continuous area of at least one square centimeter.

2. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the heatbond between the first strand and the non-woven textile is substantially free of additional adhesives.

3. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the first surface of the non-woven textile forms at least a portion of an outermost surface of the article of footwear.

4. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the first strand is disposed entirely on the first surface of the non-woven textile.

5. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein in the first region, the first strand is at least partially embedded within the first surface of the non-woven textile.

6. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the first strand extends in a direction substantially parallel to the first surface for a distance of at least 5 centimeters.

7. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the first strand is configured to transition from a non-linear configuration to a substantially linear configuration when the composite element is subjected to a tensile force; and
wherein the first strand has a tensile strength of greater than 0.60 gigapascals.

8. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the first strand is one of a plurality of substantially parallel first strands; and
wherein the plurality of substantially parallel strands have a tensile modulus greater than 50 gigapascals.

9. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the first material of the first strand is selected from carbon, aramid, ultra-high molecular weight polyelthylene, and liquid crystal polymer.

10. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the first strand is electrically-conductive.

11. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the composite element further comprises a second strand formed of a second material; and
wherein the first strand and the second strand are spaced apart from each other.

12. An article of footwear including a composite element, the composite element comprising:
a non-woven textile having a first surface and an opposite second surface, wherein the non-woven textile comprises a plurality of filaments, and the plurality of filaments includes a thermoplastic polymer material;
a first strand comprising a first material, wherein:
the first strand extends in a direction substanatially parallel to the first surface of the non-woven textile in a first region of the article of footwear;
the first region includes a lateral region of the article of footwear extending from a lace aperture to a sole structure; and
in the first region, the first strand is secured to the first surface of the non-woven textile by a heatbond with the thermoplastic material of the plurality of filaments,

wherein in the first region, the plurality of filaments are fused to form a non-filamentous portion of the non-woven textile; and
wherein the first strand extends through at least the non-filamentous portion, and the non-filamentous portion is a continuous area of at least one square centimeter.

13. The article of footwear of claim 12 , wherein the heatbond between the first strand and the non-woven textile is substantially free of additional adhesives.

14. The article of footwear of claim 12 , wherein the composite element further comprises a second strand formed of a second material.

15. An article of footwear including a composite element, the composite element comprising:
a non-woven textile having a first surface and an opposite second surface, wherein the non-woven textile comprises a plurality of filaments, and the plurality of filaments includes a thermoplastic polymer material;
a first strand comprising a first material, wherein:
the first strand extends in a direction substantially parallel to the first surface of the non-woven textile in a first region of the article of footwear;
the first region includes a heel region; and
in the first region, the first strand is secured to the first surface of the non-woven textile by a heatbond with the thermoplastic material of the plurality of filaments,

wherein in the first region, the plurality of filaments are fused to form a non-filamentous portion of the non-woven textile; and
wherein the first strand extends through at least the non-filamentous portion, and the non-filamentous portion is a continuous area of at least one square centimeter.

16. The article of footwear of claim 15 , wherein the heatbond between the first strand and the non-woven textile is substantially free of additional adhesives.

17. The article of footwear of claim 15 , wherein the composite element further comprises a second strand formed of a second material.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Dua Bhupesh
• Hawkinson Karen A

Classifications

• Y02W30/62

  Plastics recycling; Rubber recycling · CPC title

• A43B1/0063

  made at least partially of material that can be recycled · CPC title

• A43B23/0275

  with a part of the upper particularly rigid, e.g. resisting articulation or torsion · CPC title

• A43B1/028

  Synthetic or artificial fibres · CPC title

• B32B2437/02

  Gloves, shoes · CPC title