Systems and methods for manufacturing knitted shoe uppers. An article of fully finished three-dimensionally weft knitted footwear is manufactured through a knitting process which can be performed by an automated V-bed flat knitting machine. During the knitting process, a plurality of knitted members are knitted into shape sequentially and connected to one another through knitted live hinges, each member being a ply, a layer, a layer portion or an appendage. The knitting machine manipulates the knitted members into their destined places as in the final product without cutting and sewing, thereby forming a seamless unitary textile construction. The process creates a seamless, full gauge, dimensionally stable footwear upper, as a unitary textile construction with an integrated anatomically appropriate heel. The entire upper, including the closure element of the upper, may be completed exclusively by the knitting machine, ready for the following shoe making process.
D04B 1/24 - Procédés de tricotage trame pour la production de tricots ou d'articles ne dépendant pas de l'emploi de machines spécialesTricots ou articles définis par de tels procédés spécialement conçus pour le tricotage d'articles de configuration particulière articles vestimentaires
A43B 1/04 - Chaussures caractérisées par les matériaux en fibres ou en tissus faits de celles-ci tressées, nouées, tricotées ou au crochet
Systems and methods for manufacturing knitted shoe uppers. An article of fully finished three-dimensionally weft knitted footwear is manufactured through a knitting process which can be performed by an automated V-bed flat knitting machine. The knitting process includes manipulating one or more double-knit stitch types and joining the stitches exclusively in the knitting process to create a seamless upper to fit a foot. A resulting upper advantageously has no sewn seams and requires no manual post process to cut or sew the upper to create the dimensional shape. The process creates a seamless, full gauge, dimensionally stable footwear upper, as a unitary textile construction with an integrated anatomically appropriate heel. The entire upper, including the closure element of the upper, may be completed exclusively by the knitting machine, ready for the following shoe making process.
D04B 1/24 - Procédés de tricotage trame pour la production de tricots ou d'articles ne dépendant pas de l'emploi de machines spécialesTricots ou articles définis par de tels procédés spécialement conçus pour le tricotage d'articles de configuration particulière articles vestimentaires
A43B 1/14 - Chaussures caractérisées par les matériaux en matière plastique
System and method of manufacturing a unitary construction of a weft knit article with one or more warp insert in an integrated knitting process by using a weft knit machine. The unitary construction comprises one or more yarn materials which are incorporated into one or more weft and warp stitch structures. The knitting machine is equipped with a warp feeder assembly, including a weft knit warp feeder, a warp knitting guide needle block operable to hold a plurality of warp strands, a strand guide bar configured to guide the plurality of warp strands to the weft knit warp feeder, and a cam box. The cam box includes at least a weft stitch cam, a weft guard cam, a warp stitch cam, and a warp guard cam.
Systems and methods for manufacturing knitted shoe uppers. An article of fully finished three-dimensionally weft knitted footwear is manufactured through a knitting process which can be performed by an automated V-bed flat knitting machine. During the knitting process, a plurality of knitted members are knitted into shape sequentially and connected to one another through knitted live hinges, each member being a ply, a layer, a layer portion or an appendage. The knitting machine manipulates the knitted members into their destined places as in the final product without cutting and sewing, thereby forming a seamless unitary textile construction. The process creates a seamless, full gauge, dimensionally stable footwear upper, as a unitary textile construction with an integrated anatomically appropriate heel. The entire upper, including the closure element of the upper, may be completed exclusively by the knitting machine, ready for the following shoe making process.
D04B 1/24 - Procédés de tricotage trame pour la production de tricots ou d'articles ne dépendant pas de l'emploi de machines spécialesTricots ou articles définis par de tels procédés spécialement conçus pour le tricotage d'articles de configuration particulière articles vestimentaires
A43B 1/04 - Chaussures caractérisées par les matériaux en fibres ou en tissus faits de celles-ci tressées, nouées, tricotées ou au crochet
An automated unspooling mechanism capable of dispensing of knitting material strands in a dynamically-controlled tension on a knitting machine. An unspooling device is configured to sense the tension of a strand fed to the knitting machine, and responsively adjust the strand deployment speed to avoid too little or too much strand dispensing without interrupting the knitting process. The unspooling device includes a variable motor drive that can rotate the strand package in various speeds, and a spring arm trigger that can sense the current tension of the dispensed material. The spring arm trigger can vary its arm position based on the sensed tension. The arm position is then processed and converted to a signal to vary the motor speed. Therefore, the deployment speed of the strands can be dynamically controlled based on a sensed tension of feeding the strand.
B65H 59/02 - Réglage ou commande de la tension du matériau filiforme, p. ex. pour empêcher les vrillesUtilisation d'indicateurs de tension par régulation de la délivrance du matériau à partir du paquet d'approvisionnement
D04B 15/44 - Dispositifs de tension pour fils individuels
D04B 15/99 - Mécanismes d'entraînement non prévus ailleurs commandés électriquement
B65H 59/04 - Réglage ou commande de la tension du matériau filiforme, p. ex. pour empêcher les vrillesUtilisation d'indicateurs de tension par régulation de la délivrance du matériau à partir du paquet d'approvisionnement par dispositifs agissant sur le paquet ou le support
B65H 59/38 - Réglage ou commande de la tension du matériau filiforme, p. ex. pour empêcher les vrillesUtilisation d'indicateurs de tension par régulation de la vitesse du mécanisme d'entraînement des dispositifs de déroulage, de dévidage, d'avance, d'enroulement ou d'emmagasinage, p. ex. en réaction automatique aux variations de tension
D04B 15/46 - Dispositifs de tension pour fils individuels pour fils élastiques
6.
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR KNITTING COMPOSITE PANEL STRUCTURES
A knitting mechanism for knitting a polymer reinforcing structure to a shape as predefine in the final product. Stiff materials in the form of knitting yarns are knitted on a V-bed weft knitting machine to create a polymer reinforcing panel structure and any additional knitted textile elements with completely finished the edges. The resulting three-dimensional textile element is a unitary construction completed entirely by the knitting machine in the knitting process, and is ready for a subsequent polymer resin application and/or a molding process.
B29B 11/16 - Fabrication de préformes caractérisées par la structure ou la composition comprenant des charges ou des agents de renforcement
D04B 1/22 - Procédés de tricotage trame pour la production de tricots ou d'articles ne dépendant pas de l'emploi de machines spécialesTricots ou articles définis par de tels procédés spécialement conçus pour le tricotage d'articles de configuration particulière
D04B 7/30 - Métiers à tricoter rectilignes avec aiguilles mobiles indépendantes spécialement adaptés pour le tricotage de tricots de configuration particulière
7.
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR KNITTING A POLYMER REINFORCING FIBER FOOTWEAR UPPER
Systems and methods for manufacturing knitted shoe uppers. An article of fully finished three-dimensionally weft knitted footwear is manufactured through a knitting process which can be performed by an automated V-bed flat knitting machine. The knitting process includes manipulating one or more double-knit stitch types and joining the stitches exclusively in the knitting process to create a seamless upper to fit a foot. The process creates a seamless, full gauge, dimensionally stable footwear upper, as a unitary textile construction with an integrated anatomically appropriate heel. The entire upper, including the closure element of the upper, may be completed exclusively by the knitting machine, ready for the following shoe making process. The knitting process includes knitting one or more reinforcement knitting yarns into one or more portions of the upper. These portions are then transformed into fiber-reinforced polymer composite fabric sections of the upper in a post process.
A43B 1/04 - Chaussures caractérisées par les matériaux en fibres ou en tissus faits de celles-ci tressées, nouées, tricotées ou au crochet
A43B 13/38 - Semelles intérieures intégrées jointes aux tiges lors du procédé de fabrication, p. ex. premières de montagePremières intérieures collées aux chaussures lors du procédé de fabrication
B32B 5/10 - Produits stratifiés caractérisés par l'hétérogénéité ou la structure physique d'une des couches caractérisés par les caractéristiques de structure d'une couche comprenant des fibres ou des filaments caractérisés par une couche fibreuse renforcée par des filaments
B32B 5/02 - Produits stratifiés caractérisés par l'hétérogénéité ou la structure physique d'une des couches caractérisés par les caractéristiques de structure d'une couche comprenant des fibres ou des filaments
Systems and methods for manufacturing knitted shoe uppers. An article of fully finished three-dimensionally weft knitted footwear is manufactured through a knitting process which can be performed by an automated V-bed flat knitting machine. The knitting process includes manipulating one or more double-knit stitch types and joining the stitches exclusively in the knitting process to create a seamless upper to fit a foot. A resulting upper advantageously has no sewn seams and requires no manual post process to cut or sew the upper to create the dimensional shape. The process creates a seamless, full gauge, dimensionally stable footwear upper, as a unitary textile construction with an integrated anatomically appropriate heel. The entire upper, including the closure element of the upper, may be completed exclusively by the knitting machine, ready for the following shoe making process.
D04B 1/24 - Procédés de tricotage trame pour la production de tricots ou d'articles ne dépendant pas de l'emploi de machines spécialesTricots ou articles définis par de tels procédés spécialement conçus pour le tricotage d'articles de configuration particulière articles vestimentaires
A43B 1/14 - Chaussures caractérisées par les matériaux en matière plastique
Systems and methods are provided for feeding thread at a knitting machine. One embodiment is a thread feeding device which includes a spool that supplies thread to a knitting device through a thread path and a motor that drives the spool. The device and further includes a mobile guide in the thread path that changes position due to changes in thread tension as the knitting device draws thread through the mobile guide. The thread feeding device also includes a sensor that measures a change in position of the mobile guide, and a controller that determines an amount of tension applied to the thread by the knitting device based on the change in position, and adjusts a speed of a motor that drives the spool based on the amount of tension.
B65H 59/38 - Réglage ou commande de la tension du matériau filiforme, p. ex. pour empêcher les vrillesUtilisation d'indicateurs de tension par régulation de la vitesse du mécanisme d'entraînement des dispositifs de déroulage, de dévidage, d'avance, d'enroulement ou d'emmagasinage, p. ex. en réaction automatique aux variations de tension
B65H 59/04 - Réglage ou commande de la tension du matériau filiforme, p. ex. pour empêcher les vrillesUtilisation d'indicateurs de tension par régulation de la délivrance du matériau à partir du paquet d'approvisionnement par dispositifs agissant sur le paquet ou le support
D04B 15/44 - Dispositifs de tension pour fils individuels
An article includes a knitted component of unitary knit construction. The knitted component has a first edge and a second edge. The knitted component has a length that is measured between the first edge and the second edge. The length is substantially fixed. The knitted component also includes a base structure and an adjustment member that is integrally knit to the base structure. The adjustment member includes a bunched region that is configured to slide along the base structure between a first position on the knitted component and a second position on the knitted component.
A43B 1/04 - Chaussures caractérisées par les matériaux en fibres ou en tissus faits de celles-ci tressées, nouées, tricotées ou au crochet
D04B 1/24 - Procédés de tricotage trame pour la production de tricots ou d'articles ne dépendant pas de l'emploi de machines spécialesTricots ou articles définis par de tels procédés spécialement conçus pour le tricotage d'articles de configuration particulière articles vestimentaires
A41F 9/00 - Ceintures, cordelières ou gros-grains pour pantalons ou jupes
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