Article of footwear
AssigneeUnder Armour, Inc.
InventorsAlan Toronjo, Daniel Lee, Roger Fan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An article of footwear includes an upper formed of a base layer, a reinforcement layer, and an auxetic structure coupled to the reinforcement layer. The base layer includes an elastic material and is elastically deformable between a resting configuration and a stretched configuration. The base layer is configured to be stretched to a predetermined amount. The inelastic reinforcement layer is coupled to the base layer. The reinforcement layer is configured to delimit the stretch amount of the base layer when the base layer is in the stretched configuration.
Claims20
An article of footwear comprising:
- a base layer comprising an elastic material, the base layer elastically deformable between a resting configuration and a stretched configuration, wherein the base layer is stretched a stretch amount when in the stretched configuration;
- an inelastic reinforcement layer coupled to the base layer, the reinforcement layer configured to delimit the stretch amount of the base layer when the base layer is in the stretched configuration;
- and
- an auxetic structure coupled to the reinforcement layer.
An article of footwear, comprising:
- a sole structure;
- and
- an upper, the upper comprising:
- a base layer comprising an elastic material, the base layer elastically deformable between a resting configuration and a stretched configuration, wherein the base layer is stretched a stretch amount when in the stretched configuration,
- an inelastic reinforcement layer coupled to the base layer, wherein the reinforcement layer is in a puckered configuration when the base layer is in the resting configuration and the reinforcement layer is configured to delimit an amount of stretch of the base layer when the base layer is in the stretched configuration, and
- a material applied to the reinforcement layer, the material forming a structure defining a repeating pattern of perimeter walls and interior recesses.
A method of manufacturing a panel for a footwear upper, the method comprising:
- stretching a base layer from a resting configuration to a stretched configuration;
- coupling a reinforcement layer to the base layer when the base layer is in the stretched configuration;
- applying an auxetic structure to the reinforcement layer when the base layer is in the stretched configuration, the auxetic structure including a plurality of interconnected members defining a repeating pattern of voids, wherein each void has a reentrant shape;
- and
- releasing the base layer to allow the base layer to return to the resting configuration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.