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CN-118639385-B - Auxetic articles

CN118639385BCN 118639385 BCN118639385 BCN 118639385BCN-118639385-B

Abstract

The invention relates to a knitted fabric (50) for an article of apparel (60) or footwear, comprising (a) a first portion (51) that is auxetic, and (b) a second portion (52) that is non-auxetic, and wherein the second portion (52) is adjacent to the first portion (51).

Inventors

  • TOM O'HARE
  • Martha Rachel Grazad

Assignees

  • 阿迪达斯股份公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20210630
Priority Date
20200701

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A knitted fabric (50), comprising: (a) A first portion (51) of auxetic; (b) A second portion (52) other than auxetic, Wherein the second portion (52) is adjacent to the first portion (51), Wherein the knitted fabric (50) is an integral knitted fabric comprising the first portion (51) and the second portion (52), and Wherein the first portion (51) comprises a first substantially flat element (56 a) and a first protruding element (57 a), the auxetic behaviour being produced by a transition between the three-dimensional and flat knitted first portion.
  2. 2. The knitted fabric (50) according to claim 1, wherein the first portion (51) further comprises a second substantially flat element (56 b) and a second protruding element (57 b), wherein the first substantially flat element (56 a) and the second substantially flat element (56 b) each belong to a flat element (56), the first protruding element (57 a) and the second protruding element (57 b) each belong to a protruding element (57), the flat elements (56) and the protruding elements (57) being arranged in an alternating manner.
  3. 3. The knitted fabric (50) according to claim 2, wherein the first portion (51) comprises a plurality of planar elements (56) and a plurality of protruding elements (57), wherein the repeating unit of planar elements (56) comprises at least four adjacent planar elements (56).
  4. 4. A knitted fabric (50) according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the first portion (51) further comprises an alternating pattern of front stitches and reverse stitches.
  5. 5. The knitted fabric (50) of claim 4, wherein the alternating pattern of obverse stitches and reverse stitches form a reverse side rib structure.
  6. 6. A knitted fabric (50) according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the first portion (51) is configured to be stretched in the wale direction when worn.
  7. 7. A knitted fabric (50) according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the first portion (51) further comprises a corrugation pattern, and/or a reverse corrugation pattern, and/or a tubular jacquard pattern.
  8. 8. The knitted fabric (50) of claim 7, wherein the tubular jacquard pattern comprises a triangular pattern.
  9. 9. A knitted fabric (50) according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the first portion (51) further comprises at least one elastic yarn.
  10. 10. The knitted fabric (50) according to claim 9, wherein the first portion (51) further comprises at least one inelastic yarn, wherein a first row of knitting comprises the elastic yarn and at least five consecutive rows of knitting comprise inelastic yarns.
  11. 11. An article of apparel comprising a knitted fabric (50) according to any of claims 1 to 10.
  12. 12. A bra (60) comprising the knitted fabric (50) according to any one of claims 1 to 10.
  13. 13. The bra (60) of claim 12, wherein the first portion (51) is disposed in at least one of (a) a lower chest band (61), (b) a cup region (62), and (c) a harness region (63, 66).
  14. 14. An article of footwear comprising a knitted fabric (50) according to any one of claims 1 to 10.
  15. 15. A method of making a knitted fabric (50), comprising: (a) Knitting a first portion (51) of auxetic; (b) Knitting a non-auxetic second portion (52) such that the second portion (52) is adjacent to the first portion (51), Further comprising knitting a first substantially flat element (56 a) and a first protruding element (57 a) in said first portion (51) such that the auxetic behaviour is produced by a transition between the three-dimensional and flat knitted first portion; Wherein the method is to knit the knitted fabric (50) on a single knitting machine in one manufacturing step, the knitted fabric (50) being an integral knitted fabric comprising the first portion (51) and the second portion (52).
  16. 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising: knitting a second substantially flat element (56 b) and a second protruding element (57 b) in the first portion (51), wherein the first substantially flat element (56 a) and the second substantially flat element (56 b) each belong to a flat element (56), the first protruding element (57 a) and the second protruding element (57 b) each belong to a protruding element (57), and -Arranging the flat elements (56) and the protruding elements (57) in an alternating manner.
  17. 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising knitting a plurality of planar elements (56) and a plurality of protruding elements (57) in the first portion (51), and arranging at least four adjacent planar elements (56) into a repeating unit of planar elements (56).
  18. 18. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, further comprising knitting an alternating pattern of front and back stitches in the first portion (51).
  19. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the alternating pattern of positive and negative turns forms a negative rib structure.
  20. 20. The method of any of claims 15 to 17, further comprising configuring the first portion (51) to be stretched in a wale direction when worn.

Description

Auxetic articles The application is a divisional application of Chinese patent application with the application date of 2021, 06 month and 30 days, the application number of 202110735590.2 and the name of "auxetic product". Technical Field The present invention relates to a knitted fabric for clothing or footwear and a method for manufacturing the same. The knitted fabric includes a first portion that is auxetic. Background Knitting is a technique that allows the manufacture of a variety of fabrics for apparel or footwear. Knitted fabrics are generally preferred due to their high elasticity and corresponding wearing comfort. However, there remains a need for improvement, particularly for sports applications, where the dynamic properties of the fabric are particularly relevant. For example, during athletic activities, the fabric may be stretched due to movement of the wearer's body. In a conventional knitted fabric, if the knitted fabric is stretched in a first direction, it will shrink in a second direction that is substantially perpendicular to the first direction. This may cause discomfort to the wearer during athletic activities. It is known that certain materials are auxetic, meaning that if the material is stretched in a first direction, it responds by stretching in a second direction that is substantially perpendicular to the first direction. US2018/0199651 A1 relates to an article of apparel having at least one panel comprising a first material having a first modulus of elasticity and a second material having a second modulus of elasticity, the first modulus of elasticity being greater than the second modulus of elasticity. The auxetic structure is provided by a first material on the panel and includes a pattern of concave shapes. US2017/0290376 A1 relates to a knitted or woven bra which may include a knitted or woven structure that varies within a region, varying the modulus of elasticity of yarns used to form the region and/or varying the modulus of elasticity of knitted or woven material by a particular stitch orientation or weaving technique. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fabric for clothing or footwear which allows to improve the wearing comfort compared to the prior art, in particular for sports applications. A particular problem of the present invention is how to create and control the strong auxetic effect in knitted fabrics. Disclosure of Invention This object is achieved by the present invention, in particular by a knitted fabric for clothing or footwear, comprising (a) a first part that is auxetic, (b) a second part that is non-auxetic, and wherein the second part is adjacent to the first part. Thus, the first portion comprises a knitted fabric and the second portion comprises a knitted fabric. In the context of the present invention, the term auxetic refers to any material having a negative poisson's ratio. Thus, when the first portion is stretched in a first direction, the first portion responds by expanding in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction. Substantially perpendicular means within the typical deviation experienced by a knitted fabric, for example between 70 ° and 110 °. The second part is non-auxetic, meaning that its poisson's ratio is equal to or greater than zero. Due to the auxetic nature of the first portion, the wearer may experience a damping effect due to the expansion of the area of the knitted fabric that is in contact with the wearer when the knitted fabric is stretched. This results in both a reduction in the pressure exerted by the knitted fabric on the wearer and a better distribution of the pressure and compression exerted by the knitted fabric. Furthermore, when improved ventilation is most desirable, i.e. when the knitted fabric is stretched due to physical activity, the permeability and breathability of the knitted fabric are improved at those moments. Knitted fabrics also allow improved damping and absorption of energy from low and high frequency motion. In summary, support and wearing comfort are improved over the prior art. The inventors' key insight is that in order to control the stretch properties of the knitted fabric, it is important to introduce a second part that is not auxetic. In the context of the present invention, the article of apparel may be a piece of clothing, such as a shirt, T-shirt, jacket, hat, pants, shorts, socks, or the like. The article of footwear may be a shoe, such as a running shoe, soccer shoe, hiking boot, tennis shoe, basketball shoe, golf shoe, sandal, or the like. The first portion may include a first substantially planar element and a first protruding element. This arrangement allows the auxetic properties of the first part to be produced by the geometric auxetic effect and has the advantage of being particularly simple to implement for the large number of yarns used during knitting. In other words, the auxetic behaviour is produced by a transition between the three-dim