Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A43—FOOTWEAR
  • A43B—CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR
  • A43B1/00—Footwear characterised by the material
  • A43B1/02—Footwear characterised by the material made of fibres or fabrics made therefrom
  • A43B1/04—Footwear characterised by the material made of fibres or fabrics made therefrom braided, knotted, knitted or crocheted
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04B—KNITTING
  • D04B1/00—Weft knitting processes for the production of fabrics or articles not dependent on the use of particular machines; Fabrics or articles defined by such processes
  • D04B1/14—Other fabrics or articles characterised primarily by the use of particular thread materials
  • D04B1/16—Other fabrics or articles characterised primarily by the use of particular thread materials synthetic threads
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04B—KNITTING
  • D04B1/00—Weft knitting processes for the production of fabrics or articles not dependent on the use of particular machines; Fabrics or articles defined by such processes
  • D04B1/14—Other fabrics or articles characterised primarily by the use of particular thread materials
  • D04B1/18—Other fabrics or articles characterised primarily by the use of particular thread materials elastic threads
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D04—BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS
  • D04B—KNITTING
  • D04B1/00—Weft knitting processes for the production of fabrics or articles not dependent on the use of particular machines; Fabrics or articles defined by such processes
  • D04B1/22—Weft knitting processes for the production of fabrics or articles not dependent on the use of particular machines; Fabrics or articles defined by such processes specially adapted for knitting goods of particular configuration
  • D04B1/24—Weft knitting processes for the production of fabrics or articles not dependent on the use of particular machines; Fabrics or articles defined by such processes specially adapted for knitting goods of particular configuration wearing apparel
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D10—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBLASSES OF SECTION D, RELATING TO TEXTILES
  • D10B—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBLASSES OF SECTION D, RELATING TO TEXTILES
  • D10B2401/00—Physical properties
  • D10B2401/04—Heat-responsive characteristics
  • D10B2401/041—Heat-responsive characteristics thermoplastic; thermosetting
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D10—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBLASSES OF SECTION D, RELATING TO TEXTILES
  • D10B—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBLASSES OF SECTION D, RELATING TO TEXTILES
  • D10B2501/00—Wearing apparel
  • D10B2501/04—Outerwear; Protective garments
  • D10B2501/043—Footwear

Definitions

• the present disclosure relates to a knitted structure and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly to a knitted structure which can be utilized for manufacturing shoes, and a method for manufacturing the knitted structure.
• knit shoes are currently popular in the market.
• An upper of these knit shoes may be formed entirely by a single fiber through knitting.
• Such knitted upper has the advantages of softness and good stretchability, but its strength is relatively low. Hence, the knitted upper deforms easily. Besides, it is difficult to form a large scale three-dimensional structure on the surface of the knitted upper.
• the strength and elasticity of such knitted upper are generally distributed uniformly. That is, it is difficult to provide supporting and locking effects at specific locations of the knitted upper. If the supporting and locking effects at specific locations are necessary, the material of the fiber at these locations must be changed, or the weaving process must be repeated at these locations to thicken portions of the upper at the specific locations. However, the supporting and locking effects achieved by the aforementioned methods still cannot meet the needs of high-intensity exercise.
• the present disclosure provides for a knitted structure, of which the distribution of strength and elasticity can be precisely adjusted.
• the present disclosure provides for a knitted structure, comprising a base material and a fused knitted part.
• the fused knitted part comprising a first fiber, wherein the first fiber extends in a loop form through the base material to bond to the base material, and at least a portion of the first fiber is fused and bonded to a fiber portion.
• the present disclosure further provides for a method for manufacturing the aforementioned knitted structure, comprising: (a) providing the base material; (b) providing the first fiber, and forming the first fiber in the loop form extending through the base material to bond to the base material; and (c) heating the first fiber, such that the portion of the first fiber is fused and bonded to form the fused knitted part.
• the present disclosure further provides for a shoe structure comprising the aforementioned knitted structure.
• the present disclosure provides for knitted structure, comprising:
• a fused knitted part comprising a first fiber, wherein the first fiber extends in a loop form through the base material to bond to the base material, and at least a portion of the first fiber is fused and bonded to a fiber portion.
• the knitted structure of the present disclosure can be clothing, shoes, hats, accessories, etc., or its raw materials or semi-finished products.
• the knitted structure may be a craft, or may be used for other purposes, which is not limited in the present disclosure.
• the knitted structure may be a part of a shoe structure, such as an entire upper, or a portion of an upper of the shoe structure.
• the base material can be any kind of fabric, such as a woven fabric (or interlaced fabric), or a non-woven fabric.
• the base material may be a substantially continuous film, such as a plastic film.
• the base material may be a woven fabric to provide better structural strength and dimensional stability.
• the base material may include an interlaced second fiber.
• the interlaced second fibers are made of at least one material selected from the group consisting of polyamidoamine, polyparaphenylene terephthalamide, polyolefin, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and mixtures thereof.
• PMMA polymethyl methacrylate
• PET polyethylene terephthalate
• PTT polytrimethylene terephthalate
• PBT polybutylene terephthalate
• PAN polyacrylonitrile
• the “fiber” has a length greater than a thousand times a width thereof.
• the interlaced second fiber is a filament fiber (or so-called filament), which is a fiber with a continuous length.
• a length-to-width ratio of the filament fiber is greater than 10 8 .
• the term “interlacing/interlaced” may refer to interlacing one or more fibers in a weaving, knitting, crocheting, or braiding manner, by hand or by using a machine.
• the fibers may be interlaced by forming warp and weft yarns which alternatively cross each other.
• the fibers may form one or more yarns, and the yarn(s) may form loops which are continuously stacked and entangled with each other.
• the fused knitted part bonds to the base material and includes the first fiber.
• the first fiber is preferably a filament fiber.
• the first fiber may be a thermoplastic fiber, such that the first fiber can be easily fused and bonded to the fiber portion.
• the “thermoplastic fiber” may refer to a fiber including a thermoplastic material or made of the thermoplastic material. The thermoplastic material is exposed on a surface of the thermoplastic fiber, such that the thermoplastic fiber can be fused by heat and/or pressure.
• a material of the first fiber includes thermoplastic elastomer, which may include, but is not limited to, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), thermoplastic polyester elastomer (TPEE) or thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO).
• TPU thermoplastic polyurethane
• TPEE thermoplastic polyester elastomer
• TPO thermoplastic polyolefin
• the TPU for example, includes polyester-based TPUs, which are mainly derived from adipic acid esters; and polyether-based TPUs, which are mainly based on tetrahydrofuran ethers.
• the TPEE for example, includes polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polybutylene terephthalate (PBT).
• the TPO for example, includes polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
• the first fiber extends in a loop form through the base material to bond to the base material.
• the base material may include opposite first and second surfaces.
• the first fiber may extend through the first and second surfaces of the base material in an embroidery-like manner, thus the first fiber can bond to the base material.
• the first fiber may form patterns on the first surface of the base material.
• the first fiber may also form patterns on the second surface of the base material.
• the knitted structure may further include an auxiliary fiber for fixing the position of the first fiber.
• a material of the auxiliary fiber may be the same as or different from a material of the first fiber.
• the first fiber may be substantially located on the first surface of the base material, and the auxiliary fiber may be substantially located on the second surface of the base material.
• the auxiliary fiber may be tangled with the first fiber, so as to fix the position of the first fiber.
• the fused knitted part at least a portion of the first fiber is fused and bonded to a fiber portion.
• the term “fuse/fused” may refer to a portion of the first fiber which is melted by heat (or by heat and pressure), and is partially attached to and/or covers a fiber portion, thus is bonded to or joined with the fiber portion after cooling. It is noteworthy that the term “fuse/fused” does not require that the fiber portion also be melted by heat and/or pressure.
• said “at least a portion of the first fiber is fused and bonded to a fiber portion” may refer to both the portion of the first fiber and the fiber portion are melted and thus are bonded or joined together; or may refer to only the portion of the first fiber is melted to attach to and/or cover the fiber portion which is not melted, thus the portion of the first fiber is bonded to the fiber portion.
• the fiber portion may be another portion of the first fiber.
• the fiber portion fused with the portion of the first fiber is also located at the first fiber.
• the fiber portion may be a portion of another fiber, such as a portion of the interlaced second fiber or a portion of the aforementioned auxiliary fiber.
• the knitted structure of the present disclosure since the first fiber forms the fused knitted part on the base material, distribution of strength and elasticity of the knitted structure may be adjusted by arranging the position of the fused knitted part. Hence, different positions of the knitted structure can be provided with different strength and elasticity, thus the applicability of the knitted structure can be improved.
• the knitted structure can be used as an upper of shoes. Due to the arrangement of the fused knitted part, the strength and elasticity at instep and ankle can be adjusted separately to achieve the effects of supporting and locking.
• relative positions of the portion of the first fiber and the fiber portion can be fixed since they are fused and bonded together.
• the elasticity of the knitted structure can be decreased at the fused position, and the structural strength can be increased. That is, by adjusting fusing condition of the knitted part (e.g., fusing ratio at each position), the distribution of strength and elasticity of the knitted structured can be further refined. Hence, the distribution of strength and elasticity can be precisely adjusted, thus providing favorable supporting and locking effects.
• the fused knitted part can be formed by heating (or heating and pressing) the portion of the first fiber (and the fiber portion). During such process, a release paper having a specific three-dimensional pattern may be stacked on the fused knitted part, so that the pattern of the release paper can be transferred to the surface of the fused knitted part.
• the fused knitted part can have a special three-dimensional pattern, and special color and visual effects.
• the fused knitted part may further include a fused region and a non-fused region. That is, the first fiber may extend through the fused region and the non-fused region. The first fiber may be fused and bonded to the fiber portion in the fused region, and may be not fused in the non-fused region. By arranging positions of the fused region and the non-fused region, a pattern may be formed in the fused knitted part, and the strength and elasticity may be adjusted in each region.
• the fused knitted part may cover the entire base material, or may cover only a portion of the base material.
• the knitted structure may include a plurality of the fused knitted parts each covering a portion of the base material. These fused knitted parts may respectively include fibers with different materials or properties, and the fused ratio and range may be different among them.
• the first fiber may be a single-component fiber. That is, the first fiber is merely made of the thermoplastic material.
• the first fiber may be a multi-component fiber, such as including a first component and a second component.
• the first component may be the aforementioned thermoplastic material
• the second component may be another fiber material which is not thermoplastic.
• the first fiber may be a sheath-core composite fiber, a side-by-side composite fiber or a segmented-pie composite fiber, etc., which is not limited in the present disclosure.
• the knitted structure of the present disclosure may further include an auxiliary layer which is disposed on a surface of the base material.
• the first fiber extends in the loop form through the base material and the auxiliary layer to bond at least a portion of the auxiliary layer to the base material.
• the auxiliary layer may be disposed on the first surface of the base material, and the first fiber may cover at least a portion of the auxiliary layer.
• the auxiliary layer may be a stabilizer or lining for embroidery.
• the first fiber may completely cover the auxiliary layer. Therefore, the auxiliary layer may hardly be seen from the first surface of the substrate.
• the first fiber may be bonded to the base material in a manner similar to applique embroidery. That is, the first fiber may only cover and extend through a peripheral region of the auxiliary layer, while the central region of the auxiliary layer is not covered.
• the auxiliary layer With the use of the auxiliary layer, the structural strength and thickness of the covered area thereof can be further adjusted, and the fused knitted part can be significantly protrude from the surface of the base material, thus increasing the three-dimensional impression of the knitted structure.
• the material of the auxiliary layer may be different from the material of the base material, which may provide air blocking, abrasion resistance, supporting, and locking effects.
• the auxiliary layer may prevent the first fiber from sliding during formation of the fused knitted part, thus improving positioning accuracy of the fused knitted part.
• the auxiliary layer may be disposed on the second surface of the base material, without being exposed on the first surface of the base material.
• the knitted structure of the present disclosure may further include a cushion layer disposed between the base material and the auxiliary layer.
• the cushion layer may be disposed on the first surface of the base material, and the auxiliary layer may be disposed on and cover the cushion layer.
• a size of the auxiliary layer may be generally larger than a size of the cushion layer.
• the first fiber may only cover the peripheral region of the auxiliary layer, while the central region of the auxiliary layer is not covered.
• the cushion layer may be disposed at the central region of the auxiliary layer, such that the first fiber may not extend through the cushion layer.
• the cushion layer may be a rigid material, so that the knitted structure of the present disclosure may be provided with the functions of preventing collision and impact.
• the cushion layer may be a soft and elastic material, thus providing favorable cushioning effect and thick feel of the knitted structure.
• the knitted structure of the present disclosure may further include a cover layer covering the fused knitted part and bonded to the fused knitted part. That is, the cover layer may be bonded to the base material by the fused knitted part. A material of the cover layer may be different from the material of the base material, thus providing the knitted structure with various surface properties.
• the present disclosure further provides for a method for manufacturing the aforementioned knitted structure, comprising:
• the base material may be the same as that described above, such as including the interlaced second fiber.
• the first fiber may extend through specific positions of the base material in an embroidery-like manner, so as to form a pattern at the specific positions on the surface of the base material.
• step (c) the first fiber may be heated and pressed simultaneously.
• a release paper may be stacked on the fused knitted part, so as to transfer a surface pattern of the release paper to the fused knitted part in step (c).
• the heating temperature and/or the pressing pressure may be adjusted in step (c), such that the fusing condition of the fused knitted part may be adjusted, and the strength and elasticity of the fused knitted part may thus be adjusted.
• the heating and/or pressing area can be adjusted, thus the fused knitted part may have different properties among different regions thereof.
• the present disclosure further provides for a shoe structure comprising the aforementioned knitted structure.
• the knitted structure may be an entire upper, or a portion of an upper of the shoe structure. That is, the knitted structure can be combined with the sole and other components to form the shoe structure.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Knitting Of Fabric (AREA)
• Footwear And Its Accessory, Manufacturing Method And Apparatuses (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=72663399

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 2019
  • 2019-04-03 TW TW108111943A patent/TWI725409B/zh not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2020
  • 2020-04-03 US US16/839,656 patent/US20200315283A1/en not_active Abandoned

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