Article of footwear having a textile upper

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9918510-B2
Application number	US-201715646835-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 11, 2017
Priority date	Mar 3, 2004
Publication date	Mar 20, 2018
Grant date	Mar 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. The textile element may also have a first area and a second area with a unitary construction with varying properties. In some aspects, the properties comprise different yarn types. Various warp or weft knitting processes, including circular 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 wide-tube circular-knitted textile element comprising a first knit strip formed from yarns of a first yarn type and a second knit strip formed from yarns of a second yarn type that is different from the first yarn type;
wherein the first knit strip and the second knit strip are positioned adjacent to each other along one or more of a lateral side and a medial side of the upper,
wherein one or both of the first knit strip and the second knit strip comprise a plurality of strips, and
wherein the first and second knit strips alternate with one another along one or more of a lateral side and a medial side of the upper and wherein the first and second knit strips each extend from an instep region of the upper to a lower region of the upper.

2. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the wide-tube circular-knitted textile element comprises at least two first knit strips and at least two second knit strips.

3. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the least two first knit strips comprise at least a first knit strip on the lateral side and a first knit strip on the medial side, and wherein the at least two second knit strips comprise at least a second knit strip on the lateral side and a second knit strip on the medial side.

4. The article of footwear of claim 3 , wherein the first knit strip on the lateral side aligns with the first knit strip on the medial side and the second knit strip on the lateral side aligns with the second knit strip on the medial side.

5. The article of footwear of claim 1 , wherein the first knit strip is parallel to the second knit strip.

6. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the first yarn type of the first knit strip comprises a smooth texture, and the second yarn type of the second knit strip comprises a rough texture.

7. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the wide-tube circular-knitted textile element further comprises a plurality of apertures in an instep region of the upper.

8. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the first yarn type of the first knit strip comprises a higher degree of stretch than the second yarn type of the second knit strip.

9. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the second yarn type of the second knit strip comprises a higher degree of stretch than the first yarn type of the first knit strip.

10. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the first yarn type of the first knit strip comprises at least one of a higher biodegradability, moisture absorption, insulation, durability, and/or hydrophobicity than the second yarn type of the second knit strip.

11. The upper of claim of claim 1 , wherein the first yarn type of the first knit strip comprises at least one of a higher strength, support, stiffness, recovery, fit and/or form than the second yarn type of the second knit strip.

12. An article of footwear comprising:
an upper comprising:
a wide-tube circular-knitted textile element comprising a first knit strip having a first yarn type and a second knit strip having a second yarn type that is different from the first yarn type,
wherein the first knit strip and the second knit strip are positioned adjacent to each other along one or more of a lateral side and a medial side of the upper;
wherein one or both of the first knit strip and the second knit strip comprise a plurality of strips, and
wherein the first and second knit strips alternate with one another along one or more of a lateral side and a medial side of the upper; and
a sole structure secured to the upper,
wherein the first and second knit strips each extend from an instep region of the upper to a lower region adjacent the sole structure.

13. The article of footwear of claim 12 , wherein the wide-tube circular-knitted textile element comprises a plurality of first knit strips extending along the lateral side and the medial side of the upper and a plurality of second knit strips extending along the lateral side and the medial side of the upper.

14. The article of footwear of claim 12 , wherein the first yarn type and the second yarn type comprise different degrees of stretch resistance.

15. The article of footwear of claim 12 , wherein the first yarn type of the first knit strip comprises at least one of a higher biodegradability, moisture absorption, insulation, durability, and/or hydrophobicity than the second yarn type of the second knit strip.

16. The article of footwear of claim 12 , wherein the first knit strip is parallel to the second knit strip.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Dua Bhupesh
• Thomas Edward Nathaniel

Classifications

• A43B7/085

  in the upper · CPC title

• A43B7/14

  with foot-supporting parts · CPC title

• A43B1/04 Primary

  braided, knotted, knitted or crocheted · CPC title

• A43B23/0235

  Different layers of different material · CPC title

• A43B23/0205

  characterised by the material (material of the lining A43B23/07, material of toe stiffeners or heel stiffeners A43B23/08) · CPC title