Articles of footwear comprising a wound component and methods of making the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11602196-B2
Application number	US-202016927645-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 13, 2020
Priority date	Jul 13, 2020
Publication date	Mar 14, 2023
Grant date	Mar 14, 2023

Abstract

Articles of footwear and methods of making articles of footwear including one or more continuous threads wound around anchor points. In some embodiments, thread lines of continuous thread(s) may extend tangential to an opening on a thread pattern or an upper. In some embodiments, thread lines of continuous thread(s) may define a portion of an upper and extend through a sole for an article of footwear. In some embodiments, thread patterns defined by the continuous thread(s) may be bonded to each other around a sheet to form an upper material for an upper.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An upper for an article of footwear, the upper comprising:
an opening comprising a perimeter edge;
a plurality of anchor points disposed around the perimeter edge; and
a continuous thread wound around the plurality of anchor points, the continuous thread comprising a plurality of thread lines with each thread line extending between two respective anchor points and extending tangential to the perimeter edge of the opening,
wherein the plurality of thread lines are not embroidered threads stitched to a base layer.

2. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of thread lines extending tangential to the perimeter edge of the opening are not wound around an anchor point located at the perimeter edge of the opening.

3. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the opening defines at least a portion of a collar for an article of footwear.

4. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of thread lines comprise one or more thread lines located on the medial side of the perimeter edge and one or more thread lines located on the lateral side of the perimeter edge.

5. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the perimeter edge of the opening is surrounded by the plurality of thread lines such that the plurality of thread lines directly define the entirety of the perimeter edge of the opening.

6. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of thread lines comprise:
a first thread line, and
a second thread line,
wherein the first thread line and the second thread line overlap each other at an overlap point, and
wherein the first thread line is disposed at an angle relative to the second thread line.

7. The upper of claim 6 , wherein an angle of intersection at the overlap point of the first thread line and the second thread line is greater than 90°.

8. The upper of claim 6 , wherein an angle of intersection at the overlap point of the first thread line and the second thread line is greater than 120°.

9. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of anchor points comprise a forefoot anchor point and a rearfoot anchor point, and
wherein one of the plurality of thread lines extends from the forefoot anchor point to the rearfoot anchor point.

10. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of anchor points comprise a medial side anchor point and a lateral side anchor point, and
wherein one of the plurality of thread lines extends from the medial side anchor point to the lateral side anchor point.

11. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of thread lines comprise 10 or more thread lines.

12. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of thread lines comprise 20 or more thread lines.

13. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of anchor points comprise:
a first rearfoot anchor point,
a second rearfoot anchor point adjacent to the first rearfoot anchor point,
a first forefoot anchor point, and
a second forefoot anchor point, and
wherein the plurality of thread lines comprise:
a first thread line extending from the first rearfoot anchor point to the first forefoot anchor point, and
a second thread line extending from the second rearfoot anchor point to the second forefoot anchor point.

14. The upper of claim 13 , wherein the first thread line and the second thread line overlap each other at an overlap point.

15. The upper of claim 14 , wherein the first thread line and the second thread line are directly bonded to each other at the overlap point.

16. The upper of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of anchor points further comprise:
a third rearfoot anchor point adjacent to the second rearfoot anchor point, and
a third forefoot anchor point, and
wherein the plurality of thread lines further comprise a third thread line extending from the third rearfoot anchor point to the third forefoot anchor point.

17. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of anchor points comprise a first rearfoot anchor point and five adjacent forefoot anchor points,
wherein one of the plurality of thread lines extends from the first rearfoot anchor point to a first one of the five adjacent forefoot anchor points, and
wherein the continuous thread further comprises a plurality of non-opening-tangential thread lines that are not tangential to the perimeter edge of the opening, the non-opening-tangential thread lines comprising:
a first non-opening-tangential thread line extending from the rearfoot anchor point to a second one of the five adjacent forefoot anchor points,
a second non-opening-tangential thread line extending from the rearfoot anchor point to a third one of the five adjacent forefoot anchor points,
a third non-opening-tangential thread line extending from the rearfoot anchor point to a fourth one of the five adjacent forefoot anchor points, and
a fourth non-opening-tangential thread line extending from the rearfoot anchor point to a fifth one of the five adjacent forefoot anchor points.

18. The upper of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of anchor points comprise a second rearfoot anchor point adjacent to the first rearfoot anchor point, and wherein the continuous thread comprises a non-opening-tangential thread line extending from the second rearfoot anchor point to one of the five adjacent forefoot anchor points.

19. An upper for an article of footwear, the upper comprising:
an opening comprising a perimeter edge; and
a thread pattern defining at least a portion of the perimeter edge of the opening, the thread pattern comprising a first thread line extending tangential to the perimeter edge of the opening and a second thread line extending tangential to the perimeter edge of the opening,
wherein the first thread line and the second thread line overlap each other at an overlap point,
wherein the first thread line and the second thread line are directly bonded to each other at the overlap point, and
wherein the first thread line and the second thread line are not embroidered threads stitched to a base layer.

20. A method of making an upper for an article of footwear, the method comprising:
defining a plurality of anchor points;
defining a boundary line;
winding a continuous thread around the plurality of anchor points, the continuous thread comprising a set of thread lines with each thread line in the set extending between two respective anchor points and tangential to the boundary line; and
bonding the continuous thread at points of intersection between two or more the thread lines, wherein:
the boundary line defines a perimeter edge of an opening of the upper,
the plurality of anchor point are disposed around the perimeter edge, and
the upper comprises the continuous thread comprising the set of thread lines with each thread line in the set extending between two respective anchor points and tangential to the perimeter edge of the opening, and
wherein the set of thread lines are not embroidered threads stitched to a base layer.

21. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of thread lines comprise ten or more thread lines, with each of the ten thread lines extending between two respective anchor points and extending tangential to the perimeter edge of the opening.

22. The upper of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of anchor points comprises a thread line communication number of three or more.

Assignees

• Adidas Ag

Inventors

• Corcoran-Tadd Fionn
• Hennebery Ian
• Arnese Carl
• PADOVANI Matteo
• Kleiman Benjamin
• Perilla Andrea Nieto
• Razafindrakoto Fano
• B Berin Skye
• Perrault Jacques

Classifications

• A43B5/06

  Running shoes; Track shoes · CPC title

• A43B1/02 Primary

  made of fibres or fabrics made therefrom · CPC title

• A43B23/0265

  having different properties in different directions · CPC title

• A43B23/04

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

• A43B1/04

  braided, knotted, knitted or crocheted · CPC title