Thermoplastic non-woven textile elements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12371829-B2
Application number	US-202318308728-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2023
Priority date	Feb 6, 2009
Publication date	Jul 29, 2025
Grant date	Jul 29, 2025

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

What is claimed:

1. An article of footwear, comprising:
an upper including a textile extending along a rear area of the upper and along a medial or lateral area of the upper, wherein the textile includes a plurality of filaments comprising a first thermoplastic polymer material, wherein the textile includes
(i) a first fused region extending along the rear area of the upper and forming a heel counter, and
(ii) a second fused region extending along the medial or lateral area of the upper; and

a sole structure including a polymer foam element comprising a second thermoplastic polymer material and an outsole coupled to the polymer foam element comprising a third thermoplastic polymer material,
wherein the sole structure is coupled to the upper by a first heatbond between the first thermoplastic polymer material and the second thermoplastic polymer material, the first heatbond not being supplemented with stitching or adhesive, and
wherein at least ninety percent of a combined mass of the upper, the outsole, and the sole structure consists of the first, second, and third thermoplastic polymer materials; and
wherein the rear area and the medial or lateral area of the upper have a thickness at the first fused region and/or the second fused region that is relatively less than other regions of the upper.

2. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the first, second, and third thermoplastic polymer materials comprise the same type of thermoplastic polymer.

3. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the article of footwear further comprises a lace comprising a fourth thermoplastic polymer material, and at least ninety percent of the combined mass of the upper, the lace, the outsole, and the sole structure consists of the first, second, third, and fourth thermoplastic polymer materials, and the first, second, third, and fourth thermoplastic polymer materials comprise the same type of thermoplastic polymer.

4. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the outsole is coupled to the polymer foam element by a second heatbond, the second heatbond not being supplemented with stitching or adhesives.

5. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the textile defines an externally-facing side of the upper.

6. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the textile is a non-woven textile.

7. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein all of the plurality of filaments of the textile comprises the first thermoplastic polymer material.

8. The article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the first thermoplastic polymer material consists essentially of the type of thermoplastic polymer.

9. The article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the second thermoplastic polymer material consists essentially of the type of thermoplastic polymer.

10. The article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the third thermoplastic polymer material consists essentially of the type of thermoplastic polymer.

11. The article of footwear of claim 3 , wherein the fourth thermoplastic polymer material consists essentially of the type of thermoplastic polymer.

12. The article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein substantially all of the combined mass of the upper and the sole structure consists essentially of the type of thermoplastic polymer.

13. The article of footwear of claim 2 , wherein the type of thermoplastic polymer is chosen from a thermoplastic polyurethane, a thermoplastic polyamide, a thermoplastic polyester, and a thermoplastic polyolefin.

14. The article of footwear of claim 13 , wherein the type of thermoplastic polymer is a thermoplastic polyurethane or a thermoplastic polyamide.

15. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the sole structure includes a fluid-filled chamber.

16. An article of footwear, comprising:
an upper including a textile extending along a rear area of the upper and along a medial or lateral area of the upper, wherein the textile includes a plurality of filaments comprising a first thermoplastic polymer material, wherein the textile includes
(i) a first fused region extending along the rear area of the upper and forming a heel counter, and
(ii) a second fused region extending along the medial or lateral area of the upper, wherein the medial or lateral area has a thickness at the second fused region that is less than other regions of the upper; and

a sole structure including a polymer foam element comprising a second thermoplastic polymer material and an outsole coupled to the polymer foam element comprising a third thermoplastic polymer material,
wherein the sole structure is coupled to the upper by a first heatbond between the first thermoplastic polymer material and the second thermoplastic polymer material, the first heatbond not being supplemented with stitching or adhesive; and
wherein at least ninety percent of a combined mass of the upper, sole structure, and outsole consists essentially of the first, second, and third thermoplastic polymer materials, and the first, second, and third thermoplastic polymer materials comprise thermoplastic polyurethanes.

17. The article of footwear of claim 16 , wherein the first, second, and third thermoplastic polymer materials consist essentially of thermoplastic polyurethanes.

18. An article of footwear, comprising:
an upper including a textile extending along a rear area of the upper and along a medial or lateral area of the upper, wherein the textile includes a plurality of filaments comprising a first thermoplastic polymer material, wherein the textile includes
(i) a first fused region extending along the rear area of the upper and forming a heel counter, and
(ii) a second fused region extending along the medial or lateral area of the upper; and

a sole structure including a polymer foam element comprising a second thermoplastic polymer material and an outsole coupled to the polymer foam element comprising a third thermoplastic polymer material,
wherein the sole structure is coupled to the upper by a first heatbond between the first thermoplastic polymer material and the second thermoplastic polymer material, the first heatbond not being supplemented with stitching or adhesive; and
wherein at least ninety percent of a combined mass of the upper, sole structure, and outsole consists essentially of the first, second, and third thermoplastic polymer materials, and the first, second, and third thermoplastic polymer materials comprise thermoplastic polyamides; and
wherein the upper has a thickness at the first fused region and/or the second fused region that is smaller than other regions of the upper.

19. The article of footwear of claim 18 , wherein the first, second, and third thermoplastic polymer materials consist essentially of thermoplastic polyamides.

20. An article of footwear, comprising:
an upper including a textile extending along a rear area and a medial or lateral area of the upper, wherein the textile includes a plurality of filaments comprising a first thermoplastic polymer material, wherein the textile includes:
(i) a first fused region extending along the rear area and forming a heel counter; and
(ii) a second fused region extending along the medial or lateral area; and

a sole structure including a polymer foam element comprising a second thermoplastic polymer material and an outsole coupled to the polymer foam element comprising a third thermoplastic polymer material,
wherein the sole structure is coupled to the upper by a first heatbond between the first thermoplastic polymer material and the second thermoplastic polymer material, the first heat

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Dua Bhupesh
• Hawkinson Karen A

Classifications

• B29C66/8226

  Cam mechanisms; Wedges; Eccentric mechanisms · CPC title

• D10B2403/033

  Three dimensional fabric, e.g. forming or comprising cavities in or protrusions from the basic planar configuration, or deviations from the cylindrical shape as generally imposed by the fabric forming process · CPC title

• D10B2331/10

  polyurethanes · CPC title

• B29C66/433

  Casing-in, i.e. enclosing an element between two sheets by an outlined seam (for bookbinding B42C11/06; for packaging B65B; by laminating B32B37/00; enclosing tubular articles between substantially flat elements B29C66/53261) · CPC title

• B29D35/00

  Producing footwear · CPC title