Article of footwear having a textile upper

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9930923-B2
Application number	US-201715650499-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 14, 2017
Priority date	Mar 3, 2004
Publication date	Apr 3, 2018
Grant date	Apr 3, 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 have apertures formed by omitting stitches and non-textile elements on the lateral side and in the heel area. 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 having a plurality of apertures formed by omitting stitches in a first portion of the wide-tube circular-knitted textile element defining a forefoot region of the upper;
a non-textile element secured to a second portion of the wide-tube circular-knitted textile element forming a heel region of the upper; and
one or more strips of non-textile material secured to a third portion of the wide-tube circular-knitted textile element on a lateral side of the upper.

2. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of apertures formed by omitting stitches facilitate transfer of air between a void within the upper and an area outside of the upper.

3. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the one or more strips of non-textile material comprise less stretch capabilities than the wide-tube circular-knitted textile element.

4. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the one or more strips of non-textile material comprise a leather material or synthetic leather material.

5. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the one or more strips of non-textile material comprise at least two strips of non-textile material of varying lengths.

6. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the one or more strips comprise a plurality of strips that are parallel to one another.

7. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the one or more strips of non-textile material are in a mid-foot region of the upper on the lateral side.

8. The upper of claim 1 , wherein the one or more strips extend longitudinally such that the one or more strips each comprise a first end extending toward the forefoot region and a second end extending toward the heel region.

9. An article of footwear comprising:
an upper comprising:
a wide-tube circular-knitted textile element having a plurality of apertures formed by omitting stitches in a first portion of the wide-tube circular-knitted textile element defining a forefoot region of the upper;
a non-textile element secured to a second portion of the wide-tube circular-knitted textile element forming a heel region of the upper; and
one or more strips of non-textile material secured to a third portion of the wide-tube circular-knitted textile element on a lateral side of the upper; and
a sole structure secured to the upper.

10. The article of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of apertures formed by omitting stitches facilitate transfer of air between a void within the upper and an area outside of the upper.

11. The article of claim 9 , wherein the one or more strips of non-textile material comprise less stretch capabilities than the wide-tube circular-knitted textile element.

12. The article of claim 9 , wherein the one or more strips comprise a leather material or synthetic leather material.

13. The article of claim 9 , wherein the one or more strips of non-textile material comprise at least two strips of non-textile material parallel to one another.

14. The article of claim 9 , wherein the one or more strips of non-textile material comprise at least two strips of non-textile material of varying lengths.

15. The article of claim 9 , wherein the one or more strips of non-textile material extend longitudinally across the lateral side of the upper.

16. The article of claim 9 , wherein the one or more strips of non-textile material extend longitudinally such that the one or more strips each comprise a first end extending toward the forefoot region and a second end extending toward the heel region.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Dua Bhupesh
• Thomas Edward Nathaniel

Classifications

• A43B23/021

  Leather · CPC title

• A43B23/0275

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

• A43B23/042

  Uppers made of one piece (one piece slippers A43B3/106; one piece sandals A43B3/124) · CPC title

• D04B21/20

  specially adapted for knitting articles of particular configuration · CPC title

• A43D111/00

  Shoe machines with conveyors for jacked shoes {or for shoes or shoe parts} · CPC title