Knitted component with vertical inlay and method of making the same
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorAdrian Meir
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A knitted component may include a knit element formed with a plurality of courses and a plurality of wales, where the plurality of courses include a first course and the plurality of wales include a first wale and a second wale. A set of inlaid strands including at least a first inlaid strand and a second inlaid strand may be included. A first area and a second area may be included, where in the first area, each inlaid strand of the set of inlaid strands extends through at least a portion of the first course, and where in the second area, the first inlaid strand extends through the first wale and the second inlaid strand extends through the second wale.
Claims19
A knitting machine, comprising:
- at least one needle bed;
- a first feeder that is movable along the at least one needle bed to dispense a yarn to form a knit element;
- and
- a second feeder comprising a plurality of outlets for dispensing a plurality of strands into the knit element to form horizontally inlaid areas and vertically inlaid areas, wherein each outlet of the plurality of outlets is configured to dispense at least one strand, and wherein the plurality of outlets comprise a first outlet configured to dispense a first strand along a first side of a knit loop of the yarn and a second outlet configured to dispense a second strand along a second side of the knit loop.
A knitting machine, comprising:
- a front needle bed and a back needle bed;
- a first feeder configured to dispense a yarn to form a knit element;
- and
- a second feeder having at least a first outlet and a second outlet, wherein the second feeder is configured to:
- dispense a plurality of strands comprising a first strand and a second strand in a horizontal orientation within the knit element formed by the first feeder;
- dispense the plurality of strands in a vertical orientation within the knit element formed by the first feeder;
- and
- wherein when the second feeder is performing at least one of dispensing the plurality of strands in the horizontal orientation and dispensing the plurality of strands in the vertical orientation, the second feeder is configured to dispense the first strand from the first outlet along a first side of a knit loop of the yarn and dispense the second strand from the second outlet along a second side of the knit loop.
A method of forming a knit element using a knitting machine comprising at least one needle bed, a first feeder, and a second feeder, the method comprising:
- shifting the first feeder along the at least one needle bed while dispensing a yarn to form the knit element;
- shifting the second feeder along the at least one needle bed while dispensing a plurality of strands such that the plurality of strands are horizontally inlaid in the knit element and are vertically inlaid in the knit element;
- and
- wherein the second feeder dispenses the plurality of strands through a plurality of outlets, a first strand dispensing from a first outlet along a first side of a knit loop of the yarn and a second strand dispensing from a second outlet along a second side of the knit loop.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.