Composite shoe upper and method of making same
First Claim
1. An article of footwear comprising:
- an upper having a bonded mesh composite panel front portion forming at least a part of lateral forefoot, lateral midfoot, top forefoot, medial forefoot and medial midfoot regions in the upper, and whereinthe composite panel includes a substrate layer formed from a substrate material, the substrate layer having an inner side facing toward an interior of the article and an outer side facing away from the interior,the substrate layer includes a continuous span of substrate material having portions in the lateral forefoot, lateral midfoot, top forefoot, medial forefoot and medial midfoot regions, the substrate layer having at least one ventilation opening formed therein,the composite panel further includes a mesh layer located outside of the substrate layer and formed from a mesh material, the mesh layer having an inner side facing toward the interior and an outer side facing away from the interior,the mesh layer includes a continuous span of mesh material having portions in the lateral forefoot, lateral midfoot, top forefoot, medial forefoot and medial midfoot regions,at least a portion of the mesh layer overlaps the substrate layer in one or more mesh/substrate overlap regions,the mesh layer is bonded to the substrate layer over substantially all of the mesh layer inner side within the mesh/substrate overlap regions, andthe outer side of the mesh material in at least a portion of the mesh/substrate overlap regions is exposed.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A bonded mesh composite panel of an upper includes a substrate layer formed from a substrate material, a mesh material layer and one or more skin material layers. The mesh composite can be fabricated by first arranging panels of substrate, mesh and skin layer material into an assembly corresponding to the locations of those panels in a completed upper. The assembly may include separate layers of hot melt bonding material interposed between the substrate, mesh and skin layers. The assembly is pressed at an elevated temperature so as to melt the bonding material and the skin layers and bond the elements together. Before the pressed assembly completely cools, it is then pressed a second time in an unheated press. A heat-conductive compressible pad can be used in the pressing process to create a surface effect in the skin layers that reveals a patterns of an underlying mesh layer.
115 Citations
27 Claims
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1. An article of footwear comprising:
an upper having a bonded mesh composite panel front portion forming at least a part of lateral forefoot, lateral midfoot, top forefoot, medial forefoot and medial midfoot regions in the upper, and wherein the composite panel includes a substrate layer formed from a substrate material, the substrate layer having an inner side facing toward an interior of the article and an outer side facing away from the interior, the substrate layer includes a continuous span of substrate material having portions in the lateral forefoot, lateral midfoot, top forefoot, medial forefoot and medial midfoot regions, the substrate layer having at least one ventilation opening formed therein, the composite panel further includes a mesh layer located outside of the substrate layer and formed from a mesh material, the mesh layer having an inner side facing toward the interior and an outer side facing away from the interior, the mesh layer includes a continuous span of mesh material having portions in the lateral forefoot, lateral midfoot, top forefoot, medial forefoot and medial midfoot regions, at least a portion of the mesh layer overlaps the substrate layer in one or more mesh/substrate overlap regions, the mesh layer is bonded to the substrate layer over substantially all of the mesh layer inner side within the mesh/substrate overlap regions, and the outer side of the mesh material in at least a portion of the mesh/substrate overlap regions is exposed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An article of footwear comprising:
an upper having a bonded mesh composite panel, and wherein a portion of the composite panel includes a substrate layer formed from a substrate material, the substrate layer having an inner side facing toward an interior of the article and an outer side facing away from the interior, the composite panel further includes a mesh layer formed from a mesh material, a portion of the mesh layer overlapping the substrate layer in one or more mesh/substrate overlap areas and a portion of the mesh layer covering open areas in which no substrate material is present, the mesh layer having an inner side bonded to the substrate layer outer side within substantially all of the mesh/substrate overlap areas, and the composite panel further includes a skin layer formed from a skin material, a portion of the skin layer overlapping both the mesh and the substrate layers in one or more skin/mesh/substrate overlap areas, the skin layer having an inner side bonded to the mesh and substrate layers within substantially all of the skin/mesh/substrate overlap areas and an outer side revealing a texture corresponding to the mesh layer. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
Specification