Textile Sheet Product

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/816,168, filed 27 Aug. 2024, which claims foreign priority benefit under Title 35, united States Code, Section 119 to Swiss Patent Application No. CH 000932/2023, filed 31 Aug. 2023, the priority document, and its entire teachings are incorporated, by reference, into this specification. This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 19/071,363, filed 5 Mar. 2025 and Ser. No. 19/169,607, filed 3 Apr. 2025; which are continuation applications of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/028,399, filed 24 Mar. 2023, now U.S. Pat. No. 12,342,903, issued on 1 Jul. 2025; which is a U.S. National Stage filing under § 371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/EP2021/076857, filed 29 Sep. 2021, which claims the priority of Swiss Patent Application No. CH 01239/20, filed 30 Sep. 2020. The above-referenced applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety and is made a part hereof, including but not limited to those portions which specifically appear hereinafter.

The present invention lies in the field of textile technology, in particular for garments, and relates to a textile sheet product, an upper for a shoe and a shoe with such an upper.

Textile products are traditionally and most commonly produced as regular structures, for example as a knit or woven, or in irregular structures, such as a non-woven. While such techniques are reliable and established, they suffer from various drawbacks. For example, methods to tune the properties of the textile throughout the textile are significantly limited. For example, during knitting, it is hardly possible to provide a textile whose yarn has predefined locations a higher thickness than in others. Furthermore, providing cut-outs in the textile can be difficult, depending on the production technique this may loosen-up the textile structure and ultimately destroy the textile.

A drawback of shoe uppers having been made from such traditional textiles is that the force transmission during running from the foot of the wearer to the sole is inefficient. Often, significant portions of these forces are lost or not transmitted to the sole. For example, the knots in knits are relatively flexible, in particular with respect to loop movements relative to each other. This flexibility often prevents an efficient force transmission during running. As non-wovens are irregular structures, they also often cannot efficiently transmit force from the foot of the wearer via the upper to the sole.

Another drawback of such traditional textiles in shoe uppers is that they require significant human workforce as well as complicated and large textile production machines. Furthermore, these uppers can hardly be adjusted to the specific and individual properties and requirements of a runner's foot, but are often produced as bulk commodity in a few different sizes.

Another drawback of such traditional textiles is that they require a relatively large amount of material and are therefore relatively heavy. In particular for sports shoes, such as running shoes, or garments and bags, this is highly disadvantageous, since it accelerates wearer's fatigue and weakens their performance.

Furthermore, more recent approaches even focus on 3D-printing of regular structured textiles. For example, it has been described to manufacture the weft and warp yarn structures of a woven layer by layer by 3D-printing. This concept is for example described in WO2020/216606 A1 by the applicant. 3D-printing shows a significantly improved flexibility. For example, it is possible to vary the structure of a filament throughout the textile. It is possible to increase the thickness of a filament or even its material composition at predefined positions of the textile. However, 3D-printing of these filaments is relatively time consuming, which significantly increases production costs and is therefore typically not suited for bulk commodity products.

It is the general object of the present invention to advance the state of the art in the field of textile technology and preferably to overcome the disadvantages discussed above fully or partly. It is further the object of the invention to provide a textile sheet product which can be used as an upper in a shoe which allows to efficiently transmit forces during running from the wearer's foot to the sole and thereby support the running movement. Furthermore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a textile sheet product which can be manufactured in a time efficient manner.

The general object is achieved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Further advantageous embodiments follow from the dependent claims and the overall disclosure.

In a first aspect, the invention relates to a textile sheet product. The textile sheet product comprises, or may in some embodiments consist of, a thermoplastic filament which extends along a filament path.

The thermoplastic filament may in some embodiments form along the filament path a plurality of superimposed loops and a plurality of crossings. At the crossings, the thermoplastic filament crosses and also contacts itself and forms a material-bonded, in particular fused, connection with itself.

A textile sheet product as used herein refers to a fiber-based, in particular filament-based, material. The textile sheet product may have a larger length and width than thickness. While the thickness may be defined by the fiber, particularly filament, thickness, the length and width is typically significantly larger. For example, while the thickness may be in the range of 50 micrometers to 0.5 cm, the length and width can for example be in the range of 10 cm or more.

It is generally understood herein that the term “comprising” is interpreted as meaning that it includes those features following this term, but that it does not exclude the presence of other features, as long as they do not render the claim unworkable. On the other hand, if the wording “consist of” is used, then no further features are present in the corresponding apart from the ones following said wording.

A filament path as used herein, describes the path the thermoplastic filament follows through the textile sheet product. In some embodiments, the filament path may be delimited by two opposing hypothetical boundary lines between which the superimposed loops formed extend. In certain embodiments, these two hypothetical boundary lines contact the outer periphery of the loops formed by the continuous filament. The two opposing hypothetical boundary lines may in certain sections extend linearly and/or in parallel to each other. However, the two hypothetical boundary lines and thus the filament path, may also form curves. In some embodiments, the filament path may cross itself or may overlap with itself.

The thermoplastic filament may comprise multiple filament sections, such as for example an upper and lower section as described herein, or also an intermediate section being for example arranged between two adjacent loops, respectively between an upper section of a first crossing of a first loop and a lower section of a second crossing of a second loop. There may also be a loop forming section which may form together with an upper and lower section a loop. The term “section” with reference to the filament typically refers to sections or areas along the extension direction of the filament.

A fused connection of the thermoplastic filament is a connection being formed by directly fusing at least two sections, in particular only two sections, of the thermoplastic filament together. A fused connection is devoid of an additional, i.e. external adhesive. A fused connection may be formed by providing at least one, or even both, of the filament sections in molten form. During curing (i.e. cooling below the filament melting temperature), a direct material-bonded connection is formed, which is devoid of external, respectively additional, adhesives.

A crossing as used herein is a structure at which the thermoplastic filament crosses and contacts itself. That is, a first section of the thermoplastic filament (such as an upper filament section) may cross a second section of the thermoplastic filament (such as a lower filament section). A loop as used herein is a section formed by the thermoplastic filament which starts at a crossing (e.g. a crossing formed by the thermoplastic filament which is part of the loop), extends, in particular continuously extends, along the thermoplastic filament and arrives again at the same crossing. A loop can have any desired shape. For example, the loops can be round and particularly circular or oval, such as elliptic, or they can be polygonal. Preferably the loops are round. Partially superimposed loops are loops which are partially arranged on top of each other and thus partially overlap. However, the loops are not completely aligned with each other, but offset to each other. In other words, the loops partially overlap with each other. In other words, the loops may in some embodiments form a helix, e.g. an oblique or offset helix. A crossing may for example be formed from two filament sections forming together a loop, i.e. the crossing is formed by a single loop. As another example, a crossing may also be formed from two filament sections forming different loops, i.e. such a crossing is formed by two or more overlapping loops.

Typically, the loops are consecutively arranged along the filament path one after another.

The thermoplastic filament may in some embodiments be a continuous filament. In certain embodiments, the continuous filament may form at least 100, in particular at least 1000, in particular at least 5000 loops. In some embodiments, the entire textile sheet product is formed of a single thermoplastic filament. Thus, in such embodiments, all superimposed loops and all crossings are formed by the single thermoplastic filament.

In some embodiments, at least one, or the majority (i.e. at least 50%), or at least 75%, or even all of the crossings consist of two filament sections which cross each other once. In some embodiments, a portion of the crossing formed by the thermoplastic filament comprises, or consists of, more than two filament section crossing each other, i.e. at the same position.

In some embodiments, the textile sheet product is a laid textile sheet product. In a laid textile sheet product, the loops are not inter-looped, respectively entangled or chain linked with each other. In contrast, the loops are arranged partially on top of each other, respectively stacked on each other, in particular along the filament path.

In some embodiments the plurality of superimposed loops are stacked on top of each other along the filament path. In some embodiments, the plurality of superimposed loops form a stacked structure. It is understood that the term “stacked on top of each other along the filament path” means that each subsequent (i.e. downstream) loop is arranged or shifted further downstream than the previous upstream loop. During production, this means that each downstream loop is formed after its upstream loops.

In some embodiments, the textile sheet product comprises a filament crossing density of at least 100 crossings per cm, in particular 200 crossings per cm, in particular at least 300 crossing per cm, more particular at least 400 crossings per cm, more particular at least 500 crossings per cm, more particular at least 600 crossings per cm, even more particular at least 700 crossings per cm.

In some embodiments, the textile sheet product comprises a filament crossing density of 200 to 10000 crossings per cm, in particular of 200 to 5000 crossings per cm, in particular of 300 to 5000 crossings per cm, in particular of 300 to 3000 crossings per cm, in particular of 400 to 3000 crossings per cm.

In some embodiments, the textile sheet product comprises a filament crossing density of 200 to 10000 crossings per cm, in particular 400 to 10000 crossings per cm, in particular of 400 to 5000 crossings per cm, in particular of 400 to 5000 crossings per cm, in particular of 400 to 3000 crossings per cm, of 400 to 3000 crossings per cm.

The number of crossings may be obtained from a corresponding microscopic image of the textile sheet product. For this a 1 cm×1 cm square is arranged on the microscopic image, in particular such that one of the four sides of the square extends through the center of a loop, e.g. such that the loop is divided in half by this side of the square. Such a crossing density provides an increased stability, in particular tearing strength, since any occurring forces are well distributed over a vast amount of crossings. Furthermore, due to the material-bonded connection, forces can be efficiently transmitted through the textile sheet product. This is particularly advantageous for shoe uppers comprising or consisting of such a thermoplastic textile material, because forces occurring during running and being exerted on the upper can be transmitted to the sole and thereby support the push-off process of the runner, which improves the runner's performance.

In some embodiments, the textile sheet product comprises a loop density as defined herein of 0.5 to 15 loops per cm, in particular 0.7 to 10 loops per cm, more particular 0.7 to 5 loops per cm. As used herein, the loop density is the number of loops being formed by the thermoplastic filament per cm. For this measurement, a surface of 4 cm(2 cm×2 cm square) is arranged such that the center of a loop is aligned with the center of the 2 cm×2 cm square. For determining the loop density, only the number of loops which are completely (and thus not only partially) arranged inside the 2 cm×2 cm square is determined and divided by 4.

In some embodiments, the thermoplastic filament forms a plurality of fused bulge portions, formed from multiple fused together filament sections of the thermoplastic filament. In particular embodiments, the fused bulge portions are formed from at least two, in particular at least three, in particular at least four, in particular at least five, in particular at least six, filament sections being fused together. It is understood that the fused bulge portions are different from the formed crossings. In particular, fused bulge portions may have a larger cross-sectional area than a crossing, and/or length, i.e. extension in one direction in particular along the direction the filament extends. While a length of a crossing may for example be in the range of 100% to 300%, in particular 100% to 200% of the maximum filament thickness of the thermoplastic filament, respectively of the filament sections of the thermoplastic filament, a length, respectively extension in one direction of a fused bulge portion may be larger than 300%, in particular larger than 500% or even larger than 1000% of the maximum filament thickness of the thermoplastic filament, respectively of the filament sections of the thermoplastic filament. In general, fused bulge portions may be considered as a thickening in the textile sheet product as compared to the individual filament sections and optionally to the crossings.

In some embodiments, one or more fused bulge portions may extend along the filament path, e.g. in the filament path direction. In particular embodiments, one or more fused bulge portions may extend along, especially in parallel to, the plurality of loops. In some embodiments, two or more fused bulge portions of the textile sheet product are spaced apart from each other and extend essentially at least over a portion of the textile sheet product in parallel to each other.

In certain embodiments, multiple sections of the formed loops may be fused together in such fused bulge portions. Fused bulge portions generally have the advantage that the tearing strength and the general stability of the textile sheet product is significantly increased. The fused bulge portions may for example be formed by multiple filament sections which merge together at the bulge portion and/or which diverge from each other from the fused bulge portion. The fused bulge portions may in some embodiments have an extension in one direction of 1 mm or more, in particular of 10 mm or more, in particular of 20 mm or more. It is understood that the bulge portion has a larger thickness than the maximum filament thickness of the individual thermoplastic filament sections. The fused bulge portions may in some embodiments also comprise one or more crossings formed by the thermoplastic filament. In such embodiments, the crossings are fused into the fused bulge portion.

In some embodiments, the textile sheet product has a longitudinal elongation (along the direction of the filament path) at break according to test method 1 as described herein, of 15 to 100 N, in particular of 20 to 70 N, more particular of 20 to 60 N.

In some embodiments the textile sheet product has a transversal elongation (along the direction perpendicular to the direction of the filament path) at break according to test method 1 as described herein, of 10 to 70 N, in particular of 150 to 50 N, more particular of 15 to 40 N.

In some embodiments the transversal elongation at break of the textile sheet product (as determined according to test method 1 as described herein) is smaller than the longitudinal elongation at break (as determined according to test method 1 as described herein). In particular, the transversal elongation at break may be at least 1 N smaller, in particular at least 2.5 N smaller, more particular at least 5 N smaller, than the longitudinal direction at break.

Test method 1 is a tensile test method. The textile sheet product is positioned and fixed to and between two holders such that it is evenly held between the holders but not stretched (this corresponds to initial force Fan initial distance d, dmay be set to 100 mm, that is the two holders are 100 mm spaced apart from each other and a single layer of the textile sheet product is positioned and fixed in between). Then the holders are moved apart from each other to stretch the textile sheet product with a speed of 1 m/min. The force F is determined in dependence of the elongation distance d (i.e. the distance the holders are moved apart from each other) is determined. The force at which the textile sheet product tears apart represents then the elongation at break.

In some embodiments, the textile sheet product is configured such that it elastically returns to its original shape and/or configuration upon stretching the textile sheet product in at least one direction.

In some embodiments, the thermoplastic filament and in particular the loops, define polygonal, e.g. essentially rhombic, or round (in particular oval, elliptic or circular) openings. These polygonal or round openings may be through going opening, which penetrate through the textile sheet material.

In some embodiments, the thermoplastic filament and in particular the loops, define triangular openings. These triangular openings may be through going opening, which penetrate through the textile sheet material.

In some embodiments, the partially superimposed loops are along the filament path arranged one after another and at least some, or the majority (more than 50%), or essentially all, of the superimposed loops, except the last loop (along the filament path) are arranged (e.g. partially arranged) underneath their next adjacently arranged loop. In other words, in such embodiments, the superimposed loops form together a roof tile structure in which the superimposed loops partially overlap and in which starting from the first loop, every loop except the last one is arranged partially underneath its next adjacent loop. Such a structure with fused crossings not only provides for a significantly resistant and stable textile sheet product, but can also be manufactured relatively easily as will be described further below.

In this context, the directional indications “downstream” refer to a direction along the filament path. In contrast “upstream” refers to the opposite direction, i.e. against the filament path. That is, a specific loop B may be arranged downstream of a specific loop A. In the embodiments described in the preceding paragraph this may mean that if loops A and B are arranged directly one after another, the loop being arranged downstream, i.e. loop B, is arranged above loop A, i.e. on top of it. Vice versa. The upstream loop, i.e. loop A is arranged underneath the downstream loop B. In general, in some embodiments the loops, in particular each loop, may be arranged underneath its adjacent downstream loop.

The filament path may have a filament path direction. This filament path direction may extend from the first loop formed by the thermoplastic filament through the center of each subsequent loop up along the textile sheet product up to the last loop formed by the thermoplastic filament. The filament path direction does not have to be linear, but may also form curves through the textile sheet product. In the filament direction, the loops, in particular each loop, may preferably be arranged underneath its next adjacently arranged loop.

In some embodiments, each partially superimposed loop (except the last loop) is along the filament path arranged underneath their at least 2, at least 5, at least 10, or at least 15, next adjacently arranged loops. Thus, in such embodiments, the loops form a relatively narrow loop structure which results in an increased number of crossings and thus to a significantly more resistant textile sheet product. In some embodiments the loops, in particular each loop, may be arranged underneath its at least 2, at least 5, at least 10, or at least 15, adjacent downstream loops.

In some embodiments, each loop formed by the thermoplastic filament defines a maximum clear distance of 5 mm to 50 mm, in particular 5 mm to 30 mm. The maximum clear distance is the maximum length of a straight line extending through the center of the loop through the open area defined by the inner periphery of the thermoplastic filament forming the corresponding loop. For example, if the loop is circular, the maximum clearing distance is equal to the inner diameter of the loop.

In some embodiments, the maximum clear distance of the loops formed by the thermoplastic filament may vary throughout the textile sheet product, in particular by at least 10%, particularly at least 20%, more particularly at least 30%, or by between 10% to 50%, particularly between 20% to 50%. Such a varying maximum clear distance influences the properties of the textile sheet product. For example, a larger maximum clear distance may lead to a larger open area and thus lead to a more breathable and lighter region. In contrast, a smaller maximum clear distance leads to a decreased open area and a higher loop density which improves the stability and the force transmission in this region. For example, the textile sheet product may comprise a first area with a plurality of loops in which each loop has a smaller maximum clear distance than each loop in a second area with a plurality of loops, or in which the mean maximum clear distance of the loops is smaller than the mean maximum clear distance of the loops in the second area. It is understood that the textile sheet product may also comprise multiple of such first and second areas.

In some embodiments, the thermoplastic filament and/or thermoplastic filament sections (e.g. individual filament sections which form the loops and/or the crossings), has a maximum filament thickness of 10 μm to 1000 μm, in particular 50 μm to 500 μm, more particular of 50 μm to 300 μm, even more particular of 75 μm to 250 μm. The maximum filament thickness is the maximum cross-sectional extension of the thermoplastic filament, respectively the filament sections. However, it should be noted that the maximum filament thickness is not measured at a fused bulge portion or at a crossing, but rather at a section of the thermoplastic filament where it forms a loop and where is not fused to other sections of the thermoplastic filament. If the thermoplastic filament has a circular cross-section, the maximum filament thickness is equal to the diameter of the thermoplastic filament. This term does however not mean that it refers to the largest filament thickness along the entire filament length, but the term “maximum” means that if the cross-section of the thermoplastic filament is for example rectangular, the maximum filament thickness is given by the diagonal between two corners and not for example by the lengths of the sides of the rectangle, since the diagonal is the largest filament thickness at this position.

In some embodiments, the superimposed loops of the textile sheet product form a regular laying pattern. A regular laying pattern is a laid pattern, which comprises at least one regularly repeating element, such as regularly repeating loops.

In some embodiments, each crossing is at least formed, or only formed, from a lower filament section of the thermoplastic filament and an upper filament section of the thermoplastic filament. The upper filament section is arranged above, i.e. on top of, the lower filament section. It is understood that the lower and upper filament sections are different sections of the thermoplastic filament, in particular of the same thermoplastic filament, which are along the thermoplastic filament spaced apart from each other. For example, a loop formed by the thermoplastic filament may commence at a lower filament section at a crossing extend along the loop and end at the upper filament section at this crossing being arranged above the lower filament section. In particular, at least one, or the majority (i.e. more than 50%) or even all of the crossings is/are formed only from a lower filament section of the thermoplastic filament and an upper filament section of the thermoplastic filament.

In some embodiments, the upper filament section at at least one, or at the majority (i.e. more than 50%), or at all crossings, is sank partially into the lower filament section. In such embodiments, the lower filament section may form a concavity, such as a bowl shaped, U shaped or V shaped concavity which accommodates a part of the upper filament section at the corresponding crossing. Such crossings may for example be formed by providing the upper filament section onto the lower filament section while the lower filament section is in a softened, e.g. molten, state. Such crossing provide for an improved stability, in particular tearing resistance, since it forms a stronger connection between the filament sections.

In some embodiments, the upper filament section is sank into the lower filament section by between 40% to 90%, in particular by between 50% to 90%, more particular by between 60% to 80% of its maximum filament thickness.

In some embodiments the upper filament section is at at least one, or at the majority (i.e. more than 50%), or at all crossings, sank such into the lower filament section that the crossing has a height being between 10% to 50%, in particular 15% to 30% larger than the maximum filament thickness. In some embodiments, the height of at least one, or at the majority (i.e. more than 50%), or at all crossings is between 10% to 50%, in particular 15% to 30% larger than the maximum filament thickness. It is understood that the term “height” as used herein is typically perpendicular to the two filament sections crossing each other at the crossing, respectively extends along the thickness of the textile sheet product.

In some embodiments, the height at at least one, or at the majority (i.e. more than 50%), or at all crossings is between 10 to 50 μm, in particular 10 to 30 μm larger, than the maximum filament thickness.