US-12624483-B2 - Article with ribbon structure and embroidered edges

US12624483B2US 12624483 B2US12624483 B2US 12624483B2US-12624483-B2

Abstract

An article of footwear is formed with an upper including a ribbon structure. Ribbon elements can be laid down in straight and winding sections, and the ribbon elements can be stitched or attached to a backing layer. A periphery of the ribbon structure can be embroidered to tack down any raised portions of the ribbon at the periphery.

Inventors

Tom Luedecke
Carmen Zhu

Assignees

UNDER ARMOUR, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20241016

Claims (16)

1 . An upper for an article of footwear comprising: a backing layer; a ribbon layer disposed over at least a portion of the backing layer and comprising a ribbon element that extends over the portion of the backing layer, wherein the ribbon element possesses a width that is greater than a thickness to provide a two-dimensional appearance, and a length of the ribbon element is greater than the width of the ribbon element; and a securing layer disposed over at least a portion of the ribbon layer so as to secure the ribbon layer to the backing layer, the securing layer consisting of at least one securing thread that overlies the ribbon element and extends through the backing layer to secure the ribbon element to the backing layer, wherein the securing thread has a high ratio of length to diameter to provide a one-dimensional appearance.
2 . The upper of claim 1 , wherein the ribbon element includes a straight ribbon section.
3 . The upper of claim 1 , wherein the ribbon layer includes a plurality of ribbon elements.
4 . The upper of claim 3 , wherein each ribbon element crosses over at least one other ribbon element along the ribbon layer.
5 . The upper of claim 4 , wherein the securing layer consists of a plurality of securing threads, and each securing thread crosses over at least one other securing thread.
6 . The upper according to claim 5 , wherein the securing threads secure the ribbon elements to the backing layer via embroidered stitches.
7 . The upper according to claim 1 , wherein the ribbon layer includes a plurality of straight ribbon sections and a plurality of curved ribbon sections.
8 . The upper according to claim 7 , wherein at least one curved ribbon section forms a turn providing a substantial change in direction of the ribbon element, thereby allowing the ribbon element to wind back and forth to form the ribbon layer.
9 . An upper for an article of footwear comprising: a backing layer; a ribbon layer disposed over a portion of the backing layer, the ribbon layer comprising a plurality of ribbon elements, wherein each ribbon element possesses a width that is greater than a thickness to provide a two-dimensional appearance, and a length of each ribbon element is greater than the width of each ribbon element; and a securing layer consisting of an embroidered structure disposed over a portion of the ribbon layer, the embroidered structure consisting of a plurality of securing threads that overlie ribbon elements and secure ribbon elements of the ribbon layer to the backing layer, wherein each securing thread has a high ratio of length to diameter to provide a one-dimensional appearance, and each securing thread crosses over at least one other securing thread.
10 . The upper according to claim 9 , wherein each ribbon element crosses over at least one other ribbon element along the ribbon layer.
11 . The upper according to claim 9 , wherein the ribbon elements of the ribbon layer comprise a plurality of straight ribbon sections and a plurality of curved ribbon sections.
12 . The upper according to claim 11 , wherein at least one curved ribbon section forms a turn providing a substantial change in direction of the ribbon element defined by the at least one curved ribbon section, thereby allowing the ribbon element to wind back and forth to form a portion of the ribbon layer.
13 . The upper of claim 1 , wherein the securing thread is stitched to the backing layer on one side of the ribbon element, passes over an opposing side of the ribbon element and further stitched to the backing layer on the opposing side of the ribbon element.
14 . The upper of claim 1 , wherein the securing thread extends through the ribbon element.
15 . The upper of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of securing threads of the embroidered structure secure ribbon elements to the backing layer without extending through the ribbon elements.
16 . The upper of claim 9 , wherein at least some of the securing threads of the embroidered structure extend through ribbon elements.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/360,376, filed Jul. 27, 2023, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/526,253, filed Nov. 15, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/787,842, filed Feb. 11, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/026,713, filed Jul. 3, 2018, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties. BACKGROUND Embroidery is a traditional method of decorating, tailoring, mending, patching, or reinforcing textile materials by sewing with a needle and stitching material. Hand-embroidered goods date back as late as the Warring States period in China. During the industrial revolution, the invention of the sewing machine and dedicated embroidery machines expanded the use of the technique. Modern embroidery techniques may utilize machine-readable code to autonomously create an embroidery pattern on a sheet of textile materials. Textile materials include fabrics such as cotton, wool, or silk, as well as leather, foam, polymer sheets, and synthetic equivalents. On the textile materials, a number of stitch techniques (such as the chain stitch, the buttonhole or blanket stitch, the running stitch, the satin stitch, or the cross stitch) may be used depending on the purpose of the embroidery. The stitching techniques may be used in combination to form a variety of set patterns. The stitching patterns may be decorative; for example, the pattern may form a flower or series of flowers. Alternatively, the stitching may be structural, such as stitching along the edges of a garment to reinforce the seams. In further cases, the stitching may be both decorative and functional, such as the use of a floral pattern used to reinforce a patch. Typically, a thread or yarn is used as the stitching material and stitched into the textile. Commonly, the thread or yarn may be made of cotton or rayon, as well as traditional materials like wool, linen, or silk. However, embroidery may also sew in dissimilar materials to the textile, usually for decorative purposes. For example, thread created out of precious metals such as gold or silver may be embroidered within more traditional fabrics such as silk. Additional elements (such as beads, quills, sequins, pearls, or entire strips of metal) may be sewn in during embroidery. These elements may be sewn in along with yarn or thread using a variety of stitching techniques, depending on the desired placements of the elements. SUMMARY In one aspect, an article of footwear includes an upper with a ribbon structure. The ribbon structure includes an inner side, an outer side and a peripheral portion. The ribbon structure further includes a curved ribbon section disposed adjacent to the peripheral portion. The upper also includes an embroidered border element that is embroidered along the peripheral portion and covers the curved ribbon section on the outer side. In another aspect, an article of footwear includes an upper with a ribbon structure. The ribbon structure includes an inner side, an outer side and a peripheral portion. The ribbon structure further includes a first open loop portion disposed at the peripheral portion and the ribbon structure includes a second open loop portion disposed at the peripheral portion. The first open loop portion overlaps with the second open loop portion. In another aspect, an article of footwear includes an upper with a ribbon structure. The ribbon structure includes an inner side, an outer side and a peripheral portion. The ribbon structure also includes an open loop portion disposed at the peripheral portion and the article includes a lace extending through the open loop portion. In another aspect, a method of making an upper for an article of footwear includes laying down a continuous ribbon element on a backing layer, where laying down the continuous ribbon element includes laying down a straight ribbon section and a curved ribbon section. The method also includes stitching the continuous ribbon element in place and embroidering a border element over the curved ribbon section. In another aspect, a method of making an upper for an article of footwear includes laying down a continuous ribbon element on a backing layer, where laying down the continuous ribbon element includes laying down an open loop portion of the continuous ribbon element. The open loop portion includes a first straight ribbon section, a second straight ribbon section and a curved ribbon section. The method also includes stitching the continuous ribbon element in place by embroidering an embroidered portion across the first straight ribbon section and the second straight ribbon section. In another aspect, a method of making an upper for an article of footwear includes laying down a continuous ribbon element on a backing layer to form a first open loop portion, stitching the first open loop portio