Weatherized upper for an article of footwear
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsWilliam C. McFARLAND, II, Leah RESNECK
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to uppers for articles of footwear. The uppers may be formed by knitting one or more yarns together. After formation of the upper, the one or more yarns may be manipulated to change a property of the knitted upper. For example, one or more of the yarns may be at least partially melted and subsequently cooled to form a molded thermoplastic polymer element.
Claims20
An upper for an article of footwear, the upper comprising:
- a plurality of molded thermoplastic polymer elements linked together by a knit element, each of the plurality of molded thermoplastic polymer elements being substantially discrete;
- wherein each of the plurality of molded thermoplastic polymer elements comprises a border, the border being substantially surrounded by the knit element.
The upper of claim 9, wherein the first layer comprises a first outer-edge and the second layer comprises a second outer-edge, at least a portion of the first outer-edge being secured to at least a portion of the second outer-edge.
An upper for an article of footwear, the upper comprising:
- a plurality of knit elements linked together by a molded thermoplastic polymer element, each of the plurality of knit elements being substantially discrete;
- wherein each of the plurality of knit elements comprises a border, the border being substantially surrounded by the molded thermoplastic polymer element.
The upper of claim 12, wherein the upper comprises a first side and a second side opposite the first side.
The upper of claim 13, wherein the first side comprises the molded thermoplastic polymer element.
The upper of claim 13, wherein the second side comprises an elastomeric filament.
A method of forming an upper for an article of footwear, the method comprising:
- knitting the upper with a first yarn comprising a thermoplastic polymer and a second yarn comprising polyester, wherein the upper comprises a first side and a second side opposite the first side, the first side comprising the first yarn and the second side comprising the second yarn;
- placing the upper in a heated mold for a period of time to melt at least a portion of the thermoplastic polymer in at least two discrete locations on the upper;
- and
- cooling the upper to solidify the melted portions and thereby form a plurality of molded thermoplastic polymer elements.
The method of claim 22, further comprising knitting a third yarn on the first side of the upper.
The method of claim 23, wherein the third yarn comprises polyester.
The method of claim 23, wherein the first side of the upper comprises a knit element, the knit element comprising the third yarn.
The method of claim 25, wherein the knit element links each of the plurality of molded thermoplastic polymer elements.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.