Thermoplastic non-woven textile elements
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsBhupesh Dua, Karen A. Hawkinson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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.
Claims17
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.
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.
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.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.