Nike patents shoe upper with strand woven around laces
Nike has been granted a patent for a shoe upper made from a knitted fabric that includes a specific strand woven directly into the material. This strand is designed to loop around the area where laces go, creating a reinforced opening for the laces. The filing describes a machine arm that moves back and forth to insert this strand during the knitting process.
In the filing’s own words
An article of footwear may include an upper incorporating a knitted component. An inlaid strand extends through the knitted component. A combination feeder may be utilized to inlay the strand within the knitted component. As an example, the combination feeder may include a feeder arm that reciprocates between a retracted position and an extended position. In manufacturing the knitted component, the feeder inlays the strand when the feeder arm is in the extended position, and the strand is absent from the knitted component when the feeder arm is in the retracted position.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An upper for an article of footwear, the upper comprising: a knitted component comprising a knit element and an inlaid strand, wherein the inlaid strand is inlaid within, and extends through, at least one course of the knit element, wherein the knit element comprises a first perimeter edge and a second perimeter edge, wherein the knit element defines a lace aperture proximate the second perimeter edge and a portion of at least one of an exterior surface of the upper and an interior surface of the upper, and wherein a first portion of the inlaid strand extends continuously from the first perimeter edge of the knit element toward the second perimeter edge of the knit element, around the lace aperture while remaining between the exterior surface and the interior surface of the upper proximate the second perimeter edge, and back to the first perimeter edge of the knit element, the lace aperture being structured to receive a lace as the inlaid strand extends around the lace aperture.
Facts
- Company
- Nike (NIKE, Inc.)
- Official title
- Article of footwear incorporating a knitted component
- Patent number
- US12745818B2
- Application number
- 17969510
- Filed
- Oct 19, 2022
- Granted
- Sep 29, 2026
- Inventors
- 3
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
A43B 5/10 Human necessitiesA43B 1/028 Human necessitiesA43B 1/04 Human necessitiesA43B 3/0078 Human necessitiesA43B 23/0205 Human necessitiesA43B 23/025 Human necessitiesMore from Nike in Clothing & sport
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.