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US-12616274-B2 - Textiles and articles and processes for making the same

US12616274B2US 12616274 B2US12616274 B2US 12616274B2US-12616274-B2

Abstract

Films, fibers, filaments, yarns and textiles including thermoplastic elastomeric compositions are described, as are methods of making the films, fibers, filaments, yarns and textiles. These films, fibers, filaments, yarns and textiles can be used to make articles of apparel, footwear, and sporting equipment. When thermoformed, the thermoplastic elastomeric compositions can impart abrasion resistance, traction, and other advantageous properties to the articles. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.

Inventors

  • Devon Frazier
  • Walter M. Hancock
  • Dave Klinger
  • Robert Mervar
  • Brian G. Prevo
  • Hilary Walker

Assignees

  • NIKE, INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20221220

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A textile, comprising: a thermoformed network of yarns comprising a first core yarn and a first thermoplastic composition, wherein the first thermoplastic composition consolidates the thermoformed network of yarns by surrounding at least a portion of the first core yarn and occupying at least a portion of spaces between yarns in the thermoformed network of yarns, and wherein the first thermoplastic composition is a thermoplastic elastomeric composition comprising a thermoplastic elastomeric styrenic copolymer; wherein the thermoformed network of yarns is a thermoformed product of a first textile comprising a first network of yarns including a coated yarn comprising the first core yarn with a coating surrounding the first core yarn, the coating including the first thermoplastic composition, wherein, in the thermoformed network of yarns, the first thermoplastic composition consolidating the thermoformed network of yarns is a re-flowed and re-solidified product of the first thermoplastic composition of the coating of the coated yarn; wherein the first core yarn comprises a second thermoplastic composition, the first thermoplastic composition of the coating has a first melting temperature, the second thermoplastic composition of the first core yarn has a deformation temperature, and the deformation temperature of the second thermoplastic composition of the first core yarn is at least 20 degrees Celsius greater than the first melting temperature of the first thermoplastic composition of the coated yarn.
  2. 2 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the textile is a knit or crochet textile, and the first network of yarns includes connected loops of the coated yarn.
  3. 3 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the textile is a woven textile, and the first network of yarns includes interlaced sets of yarns comprising the coated yarn in a warp direction, or in a weft direction, or in both the warp and weft directions.
  4. 4 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the textile is a non-woven textile, and the first network of yarns includes entangled or bonded yarns comprising the coated yarn.
  5. 5 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the first core yarn comprises a first core yarn composition, and the first core yarn composition comprises a polyester or a polyamide.
  6. 6 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the coating is axially centered surrounding the first core yarn, and a first coating thickness leads to a nominal average outer diameter of the coated yarn of up to about 1.0 millimeter.
  7. 7 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the coating has an average radial coating thickness of about 50 micrometers to about 200 micrometers.
  8. 8 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the first thermoplastic composition has a melting temperature greater than about 110 degrees Celsius and less than about 190 degrees Celsius.
  9. 9 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the first thermoplastic composition has a glass transition temperature of less than 20 degrees Celsius.
  10. 10 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic elastomeric styrenic copolymer comprises a styrene butadiene styrene (SBS) block copolymer, a styrene ethylene/butylene styrene (SEBS) copolymer, a styrene acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN), or any combination thereof.
  11. 11 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the first thermoplastic composition has (1) a Taber Abrasion Resistance of from about 10 milligrams to about 40 milligrams as determined by ASTM D3389; (2) a Durometer Hardness (Shore A) of from about 60 to about 90 as determined by ASTM D2240; (3) a specific gravity of from about 0.80 grams per cubic centimeter to about 1.30 grams per cubic centimeter as determined by ASTM D792; (4) a melt flow index of about 2 grams/10 minutes to about 50 grams/10 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius using a test weight of 2.16 kilograms as determined using ASTM D1238-13; and (5) a modulus of about 1 megapascal to about 500 megapascals as determined using the Plaque Modulus Test.
  12. 12 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein, when the thermoformed network of the textile has (1) a mass loss of less than 0.05 weight percent after 300 cycles as determined by the Akron Abrasion Test; (2) a mass loss of less than 0.20 weight percent after 3,000 cycles as determined by the Akron Abrasion Test; (3) the thermoformed network of the textile passes at least 1,200 cycles of the Stoll Abrasion Test; and (4) the thermoformed network of the textile passes at least 75 cycles of the Bally Flex Test.
  13. 13 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the textile produces a ball spin rate of at least 220 revolutions per minute as determined using the Textile-Ball Impact Test.
  14. 14 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the first thermoplastic composition has an abrasion loss of less than 0.50 cubic centimeters as determined using the Akron Abrasion Test, or wherein the first thermoplastic composition has an abrasion loss of less than 0.30 cubic centimeters as determined using the DIN Abrasion Test.
  15. 15 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the first thermoplastic composition has a dry dynamic coefficient of friction of at least 1.0 as determined against dry smooth concrete using the Sample Coefficient of Friction Test, the first thermoplastic composition has a wet dynamic coefficient of friction of at least 0.5 as determined against wet smooth concrete using the Sample Coefficient of Friction Test, and wherein a difference between the dry dynamic coefficient of friction and the wet dynamic coefficient of friction of the first thermoplastic composition as determined against smooth concrete is less than 40 percent as determined using the Sample Coefficient of Friction Test.
  16. 16 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the thermoformed network of the textile has a dry dynamic coefficient of friction of at least 0.8 as determined against dry smooth concrete using the Sample Coefficient of Friction Test, the thermoformed network of the textile has a wet dynamic coefficient of friction of at least 0.5 as determined against wet smooth concrete using the Sample Coefficient of Friction Test, and wherein a difference between the dry dynamic coefficient of friction and the wet dynamic coefficient of friction of the thermoformed network of the textile as determined against smooth concrete is less than 50 percent as determined using the Sample Coefficient of Friction Test, and wherein a difference between a static coefficient of friction of the dry surface and a wet surface of the textile is less than 40 percent as determined using the Sample Coefficient of Friction Test.
  17. 17 . The textile of claim 1 , wherein the thermoformed network of the textile has a dry dynamic coefficient of friction of at least 1.0 as determined using the Textile-Ball Coefficient of Friction Test, the thermoformed network of the textile has a wet dynamic coefficient of friction of at least 0.5 as determined using the Textile-Ball Coefficient of Friction Test, and wherein a difference between the dry dynamic coefficient of friction and the wet dynamic coefficient of friction is less than 40 percent as determined using the Textile-Ball Coefficient of Friction Test, or wherein the thermoformed network of the textile has a dry static coefficient of friction of at least 1.2 as determined using the Textile-Ball Coefficient of Friction Test, the thermoformed network of the textile has a wet static coefficient of friction of at least 0.9 as determined using the Textile-Ball Coefficient of Friction Test, and a difference between the dry static coefficient of friction and the wet static coefficient of friction of the thermoformed network of the textile is less than 40 percent as determined using the Textile-Ball Coefficient of Friction Test.
  18. 18 . An article comprising the textile according to claim 1 .
  19. 19 . The article of claim 18 , wherein the article is a component of an article of apparel, footwear, or sporting equipment, or is an article of apparel, footwear, or sporting equipment.
  20. 20 . The article of claim 18 , wherein the article is a component of an article of footwear, or is an article of footwear.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. nonprovisional application entitled “TEXTILES AND ARTICLES AND PROCESSES FOR MAKING THE SAME” having Ser. No. 16/945,530, filed Jul. 31, 2020, which claims priority to, and the benefit of, co-U.S. provisional application entitled “TEXTILES AND ARTICLES AND PROCESSES FOR MAKING THE SAME” having Ser. No. 62/882,008, filed Aug. 2, 2019, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure is directed to textiles, components of articles, and articles, such as articles of apparel, articles of footwear, and articles of sporting equipment. More specifically, the present disclosure is directed to textiles which include a coated yarn, and components of articles, and articles which comprise the textiles. The present disclosure is also directed to methods of making the textiles, components and articles described herein. BACKGROUND Traditionally, vulcanized rubber has been used to provide traction and abrasion resistance to articles such as apparel, footwear and sporting equipment. The need to vulcanize the rubber at high temperatures and/or pressures typically makes it necessary to form a separate vulcanized rubber component which is then affixed to the article using adhesives or stitching or both, as other components of the article may not be able to withstand the temperatures and/or pressures required by the vulcanization process. Alternatively, in footwear uppers, crosslinked polyurethanes can be used as durable covering layers, synthetic leather textiles, or laminate film layers. A need remains for new materials that can provide the same types of protection as vulcanized rubber or crosslinked polyurethane in addition to traction or abrasion resistance or both, and for new ways of incorporating these materials into articles. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further aspects of the present disclosure will be readily appreciated upon review of the detailed description, described below, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1A is a top and side perspective view of an article of footwear in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a bottom and side perspective view of the article of footwear of FIG. 1A, in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIG. 1C is a top and side perspective view of an alternative aspect of the article of footwear of FIG. 1A in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a side view of an article of apparel, primarily illustrating an elbow patch, in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIG. 2B is a close-up view of the elbow patch of the article of apparel of FIG. 2A in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a schematic depiction of a textile having three types of textile zones, in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIGS. 4A-4J depict exemplary knit structures in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIG. 5A is a schematic representation of three interconnected courses of loops with the middle course of loops being formed of a different yarn than the outer courses of loops, in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIG. 5B is a schematic representation of the interconnected courses of loops of FIG. 5A after being exposed to a thermoforming process, and showing the middle course of loops being transformed into a component including re-flowed polymeric composition which no longer has the configuration of a yarn upon thermoforming, where the two outer courses of loops remain in the configuration of yarns, in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of a cross-section of the component including re-flowed polymeric composition of FIG. 5B, and showing a portion of a yarn from one of the outer courses of loops being encapsulated within the re-flowed polymeric composition, in accordance with aspects of the present invention. FIG. 7A shows a textile comprising coated yarns according to the present disclosure prior to thermoforming, while FIG. 7B shows the same textile after thermoforming. FIG. 7C shows a textile comprising coated yarns and an additional yarn according to the present disclosure prior to thermoforming, while FIG. 7D shows the same textile after thermoforming. FIG. 7E shows a textile comprising coated yarns on both a top and bottom face of the textile and incorporating coated yarns in the core of the textile prior to thermoforming, while FIG. 7F shows the same textile after thermoforming. FIGS. 8A-8M show various articles of footwear, apparel, athletic equipment, container, electronic equipment, and vision wear in accordance with the present disclosure. FIGS. 8N(a)-8Q(e) illustrate additional details regarding different types of footwear. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Thermoplastic elastomers have been identified which can be incorporated into polymeric composit