Apparel And Other Products Incorporating A Thermoplastic Polymer Material

• US 20130255103A1
• Filed: 04/03/2012
• Published: 10/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Nike, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Nike, Inc.
• Inventors: Dua, Bhupesh, Davis, Carrie L.
• Application Number:
  US13/438,554
• Publication Number:
  US 20130255103A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 36/87
• CPC Class Codes: A41B 1/00 Shirts
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 2300/326 using hooks and eyelets
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 2300/52 made by welding or gluing
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 2500/10 Knitted
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 2500/20 Woven
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 2500/52 in sheet form
• CPC Class Codes: A41D 27/245 made by welding or gluing joining of plastics by welding or gluing B29C65/00; sewing machines for concurrently making thread and welded seams D05B17/00; thermal or chemical fixing of seams and hems D06M
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 1/028 Synthetic or artificial fibres
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 1/04 braided, knotted, knitted or crocheted
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 23/0205 characterised by the material material of the lining A43B23/07, material of toe stiffeners or heel stiffeners A43B23/08
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 23/0215 Plastics or artificial leather
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 23/025 assembled by stitching
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 23/0255 assembled by gluing or thermo bonding
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 23/042 Uppers made of one piece one piece slippers A43B3/106; one piece sandals A43B3/124
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 9/02 Footwear stitched or nailed through
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 1/04 with rings or loops
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 3/00 Hooks for laces making from sheet metal B21D53/46; Guards for hooks
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 5/00 Eyelets machines for setting eyelets A43D100/00
• CPC Class Codes: A43D 8/24 Embossing using heat, e.g. high frequency electric current
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/18 using heated tools
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/20 : with direct contact, e.g. using "mirror"
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/62 : Stitching
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 65/72 : by combined operations or combined techniques, e.g. welding and stitching
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/1122 : Single lap to lap joints, i.e. overlap joints B29C66/45, B29C66/472, B29C66/52272 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/1282 : comprising at least one overlap joint-segment
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/12841 : comprising at least two butt joint-segments
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/133 : Fin-type joints, the parts to be joined being flexible the parts to be joined being rigid B29C66/1312
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/135 : Single hemmed joints, i.e. one of the parts to be joined being hemmed in the joint area
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/14 : the joint having the same thickness as the thickness of the parts to be joined B29C66/1142 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/223 : being in the form of a triangle wave or of a sawtooth wave, e.g. zigzagged
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/244 : said joint lines being non-straight, e.g. forming non-closed contours
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/43 : Joining a relatively small portion of the surface of said articles B29C66/45 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/431 : Joining the articles to themselves B29C66/4322 and B29C66/4332 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/45 : Joining of substantially the whole surface of the articles methods or apparatus for laminating B32B37/00
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/472 : said single elements being substantially flat
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/71 : characterised by the composition of the plastics material of the parts to be joined welding bar compositions B29C65/125
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/727 : being porous, e.g. foam
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/729 : Textile or other fibrous material made from plastics
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/7294 : Non woven mats, e.g. felt
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/73116 : of different melting point, i.e. the melting point of one of the parts to be joined being different from the melting point of the other part
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/73118 : of different glass transition temperature, i.e. the glass transition temperature of one of the parts to be joined being different from the glass transition temperature of the other part
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/7392 : characterised by the material of at least one of the parts being a thermoplastic
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/73921 : characterised by the materials of both parts being thermoplastics
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/81422 : being convex
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/81423 : being concave
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/81435 : comprising several parallel ridges, e.g. for crimping comprising a single ridge B29C66/81427
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/83221 : cooperating reciprocating tools, each tool reciprocating along one axis
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/91411 : of the parts to be joined, e.g. the joining process taking the temperature of the parts to be joined into account
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/91443 : following a temperature-time profile B29C65/38 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/91933 : higher than said fusion temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/91935 : lower than said fusion temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/91943 : higher than said glass transition temperature
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 66/91951 : in explicit relation to time, e.g. temperature-time diagrams
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 35/02 : made in one piece using a moulding technique, e.g. by injection moulding or casting
• CPC Class Codes: B29D 35/126 : Uppers
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2075/00 : Use of PU, i.e. polyureas or polyurethanes or derivatives thereof, as moulding material
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2313/00 : Use of textile products or fabrics as reinforcement B29K2105/06 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B29L 2031/48 : Wearing apparel
• CPC Class Codes: B29L 2031/4842 : Outerwear
• CPC Class Codes: B29L 2031/50 : Footwear, e.g. shoes or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: D02G 3/402 : the adhesive being one component of the yarn, i.e. thermoplastic yarn
• CPC Class Codes: D03D 15/283 : synthetic polymer-based, e.g. polyamide or polyester fibres cellulose-based artificial fibres D03D15/225
• CPC Class Codes: D03D 15/587 : adhesive; fusible
• CPC Class Codes: D04B 1/16 : synthetic threads
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2331/10 : polyurethanes
• CPC Class Codes: D10B 2401/041 : thermoplastic; thermosetting
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/19 : Sheets or webs edge spliced or joined

Abstract

A yarn or thread may include a plurality of substantially aligned filaments, with at least ninety-five percent of a material of the filaments being a thermoplastic polymer material. Various woven textiles and knitted textiles may be formed from the yarn or thread. The woven textiles or knitted textiles may be thermal bonded to other elements to form seams. A strand that is at least partially formed from a thermoplastic polymer material may extend through the seam, and the strand may be thermal bonded at the seam.

The woven textiles or knitted textiles may be shaped or molded, incorporated into products, and recycled to form other products.

Claims

1. An article of apparel comprising a plurality of textile elements joined to each other at seams to form a structure for receiving a part of a wearer, the textile elements including strands that have a plurality of substantially aligned filaments formed from a thermoplastic polymer material.

2. The article of apparel recited in claim 1, wherein the textile elements are thermal bonded to each other at the seams.

3. The article of apparel recited in claim 1, wherein the seams include a joining strand that stitches the textile elements to each other, the joining strand including a thermoplastic polymer material.

4. The article of apparel recited in claim 3, wherein the thermoplastic polymer material of the filaments and the thermoplastic polymer material of the joining strand are thermoplastic polyurethane materials.

5. The article of apparel recited in claim 3, wherein the thermoplastic polymer material of the filaments has a higher melting temperature than the thermoplastic polymer material of the joining strand.

6. The article of apparel recited in claim 3, wherein the joining strand is thermal bonded to the textile elements at the seams.

7. The article of apparel recited in claim 1, wherein the seams include a thread that stitches the textile elements to each other, the thread including a plurality of substantially aligned filaments, at least ninety-five percent of a material of the filaments being a thermoplastic polymer material.

8. The article of apparel recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the textile elements has a fused region and an unfused region, the filaments being thermal bonded to each other in the fused region, and the filaments being unbonded to each other in the unfused region.

9. The article of apparel recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the textile elements has (a) an unfused region where the filaments are present and (b) a fused region where the thermoplastic polymer material of the filaments are melted and thermal bonded to form a non-filamentous area.

10. The article of apparel recited in claim 1, wherein the apparel has a configuration of footwear with an upper and a sole structure secured to each other, the upper being at least partially formed from the textile elements.

11. An article of apparel comprising:

a pair of textile elements at least partially formed from a first thermoplastic polyurethane material; and

a seam where a strand joins the textile elements to each other, the strand being at least partially formed from a second thermoplastic polyurethane material,

the textile elements being thermal bonded to each other at the seam with the first thermoplastic polyurethane material, and the strand being thermal bonded to the textile elements at the seam with the second thermoplastic polyurethane material.

12. The article of apparel recited in claim 11, wherein a melting temperature of the first polyurethane material is higher than a melting temperature of the second thermoplastic polyurethane material.

13. The article of apparel recited in claim 12, wherein a glass-transition temperature of the first polyurethane material is higher than a glass-transition temperature of the second thermoplastic polyurethane material.

14. The article of apparel recited in claim 11, wherein the textile elements are one of a woven textile and a knitted textile that includes at least one strand with a plurality of substantially aligned filaments formed from the first thermoplastic polymer material.

15. The article of apparel recited in claim 11, wherein the first textile elements are formed from a plurality of filaments, at least ninety-five percent of a material of the filaments being the first thermoplastic polymer material.

16. The article of apparel recited in claim 11, wherein the strand is a thread.

17. The article of apparel recited in claim 11, wherein the apparel has a configuration of footwear with an upper and a sole structure secured to each other, the upper being at least partially formed from the textile elements.

18. Footwear comprising:

an upper having at least one textile element with a woven or knitted structure, the textile element including a strand with a plurality of substantially aligned filaments, at least ninety-five percent of a material of the filaments being a thermoplastic polymer material; and

a sole structure thermal bonded to the upper with the thermoplastic polymer material.

19. The footwear recited in claim 18, wherein the sole structure is at least partially formed from the thermoplastic polymer material.

20. The footwear recited in claim 18, wherein the textile element and another textile element are thermal bonded to each other at a seam with the thermoplastic polymer material.

21. The footwear recited in claim 18, wherein a joining strand is stitched to a seam between the textile element and another textile element, the joining strand including a thermoplastic polymer material.

22. Footwear having an upper and a sole structure secured to each other, the upper comprising:

a plurality of material elements joined to define a void for receiving a foot of a wearer, at least one of the material elements being a woven or knitted textile that is formed from a thermoplastic polymer material; and

a lace that engages a plurality of lace-receiving elements in a throat area of the upper, the lace being formed from at least one strand that includes a plurality of substantially aligned filaments, at least ninety-five percent of the filaments being formed from the thermoplastic polymer material.