Article of footwear having a textile upper
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsBhupesh Dua, Edward Nathaniel Thomas
Life of this patent
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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 also have a first area and a second area with a unitary construction. The first area is formed of a first stitch configuration, and the second area is formed of a second stitch configuration that is different from the first stitch configuration to impart varying textures to a surface of the textile element. Various warp knitting or weft knitting processes may be utilized to form the textile element.
Claims21
A method of manufacturing an article of footwear, the method comprising:
- simultaneously knitting a textile element with a surrounding textile structure, the knitted textile element having at least one knitted texture that differs from a knitted texture in the surrounding knitted textile structure;
- removing the knitted textile element from the surrounding knitted textile structure;
- incorporating the knitted textile element into the article of footwear.
A method of manufacturing an article of footwear, the method comprising:
- knitting a first textile element and a second textile element simultaneously with knitting a surrounding textile structure, the first knitted textile element located within a first portion of the knitted textile structure, the second knitted textile element located within a second portion of the knitted textile structure,
- varying at least one of the types of stitches or the types of yarns in the knitted textile structure to impart a texture to the first and second knitted textile elements different from a texture of the knitted textile structure extending between the first and second portions;
- removing the first and second knitted textile elements from the knitted textile structure;
- incorporating at least one of the first and second knitted textile elements into the article of footwear.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.