SHOE UPPER
A shoe upper comprising a knitted fabric has tubular portions having axial directions parallel to a tongue of the shoe upper, being knitted tubularly, and having shoelace holes. The tubular portions are filled with a filler so that the knitted fabric of the tubular portions is reinforced. The knitted fabric around the shoelace holes may be easily reinforced.
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The present invention relates to a shoe upper made of a knitted fabric and particularly relates to reinforcing shoelace holes.
BACKGROUND ARTSome of shoe uppers for sports shoes, sneakers, trekking boots, other boots, and the like are made of knitted fabrics in order to reduce the traditional processes such as cutting and sewing for making shoe uppers of woven fabrics. For example, Patent Document 1 (JP 2013-220357A) proposes shoe uppers made of knitted fabrics with polymer material coatings on required portions thereof so as to restrict the stretchabilities of the knitted fabrics. Furthermore, it proposes multilayer polymer coatings on the shoelace hole portions to reinforce the portions.
Patent Document 2 (JP 2008-266854A) is a prior patent filed by the applicant and proposes to knit hollow knitted fabrics and to fill the hollow portions with cushion materials, heat insulating materials, heat retaining materials, or the like so as to impart to the knitted fabrics desired properties such as cushioning properties or heat retaining properties.
CITATION LIST Patent LiteraturesPatent Document 1: JP 2013-220357A
Patent Document 2: JP 2008-266854A
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the InventionThe shoelace holes of shoe uppers are repeatedly subjected to strong forces from the shoelaces, and the knitted fabrics without reinforcement are sometimes split from the holes. For this problem, when the multilayer polymer coatings proposed by Patent Document 1 are performed, accurate coating technology for performing coatings according to the desired patterns is needed, and the number of processes increases due to the multi-layer coatings. Further, the original textures of the knitted fabrics of the shoe uppers are lost.
It is an object of the present invention to reinforce the knitted fabrics around the shoelace holes easily.
Means for Solving the ProblemA shoe upper according to the present invention is made of at least a knitted fabric,
in the knitted fabrics, tubular portions knitted seamlessly and tubularly, having a closed periphery, having an inside space, and extending in a direction joining a toe and an ankle are provided, the tubular portions have shoelace holders provided with shoelace holes,
the tubular portions are filled with a filler and the knitted fabric around the shoelace holes is reinforced.
The tubular portions comprise a front knitted fabric and a rear knitted fabric and are knitted tubularly. Inside the tubes, at least a filler is filled, and the knitted fabrics are reinforced around the shoelace holes. Furthermore, it is not necessary to perform coatings plural times to reinforce the knitted fabrics. A pair of the tubular portions are provided on both sides of the tongue, and the axial directions of the tubular portions are parallel to the direction of the tongue (direction joining the toe and the ankle).
Preferably, the filler contains a thermofusing or thermosetting synthetic resin, and in either case, the synthetic resin is fused and adhering to the knitted fabrics of the tubular portions. The synthetic resin in the filler is fused and adhering to the knitted fabrics to reinforce the knitted fabrics around the shoelace holes. The fusion of the synthetic resin in the tubular portions generates at least a structure which supports a shoelace and reinforces the knitted fabrics around the shoelace holes. By selecting a heating temperature, type, and the like of the synthetic resin, degree of swelling and elasticity of the tubular portions are controlled from a state where the tubular portions are hardened in a shape of a plate or film and are slightly swollen to a state where the synthetic resin is made foam-like (cushion-like), and the tubular portions swell and have substantial elasticity. Furthermore, with adjusting the material of the synthetic resin and the heating temperature, the synthetic resin is prevented from leaking onto the surface of the tubular portions, and the original texture of the knitted fabrics is maintained.
Preferably, the filler containing a thermofusing synthetic resin or a thermosetting synthetic resin is injected in a string form or a fibrous form, while may be injected in a bead form or a powder form. Although a filler in a liquid form may be injected, the liquid may leak onto the surface of the knitted fabrics and damage the texture of the knitted fabrics. In any case, it is preferable to inject the filler with an air stream.
The tubular portions have a length of, for example, about a several centimeters, and it is not easy to uniformly fill the tubular portions with the filler. Whether injection is uniform or not affects whether the tubular portions uniformly swell and have a uniform thickness or not, or whether the tubular portions have a uniform hardness or not. Accordingly, by dividing each tubular portion into a plurality of sections and injecting each section with a filler, a uniform filling is easily performed, because the range of one filling is made smaller. In order to provide the sections, it is preferable to intersect knitting yarns of the front and rear knitted fabrics so as to close the tube, or to bind the front and rear knitted fabrics with tucks or the like. Note that a filling machine including a plurality of injection nozzles may also be used to perform uniform filling.
Preferably, the tubular portions are respectively provided with at least an inlet through which the filler is injected. The inlets are formed in a knitted structure of a mesh structure or the like having holes in the tubular portions, and the holes serve as the inlets. Thus, the injection nozzles may be inserted into the tubular portions without damaging the knitted fabric. Note that, if the gauge of the knitted fabric is wide and the size of the stitches is sufficiently larger than the diameter of the nozzles, the nozzles may be inserted into the stitches without the inlets. Note that the diameter of the nozzles may be smaller if fibers are injected, but may be larger if beads or the like are injected.
Preferably, the tubular portions are further provided with collars that enclose the ankle. This shoe upper includes the collars and the shoelace holders that are filled with a filler or fillers and may be easily knitted on a flat knitting machine or the like.
Further preferably, the collars are filled with an elastic filler, and the shoelace holders are filled with a filler including a thermally-fused synthetic resin or a thermally-set synthetic resin. In this shoe upper, the collars are elastic, and the shoelace holders are strong to support the shoelace and are durable.
Particularly preferably, tubular stretch stoppers extending from the shoelace holders into both side surfaces of the shoe upper are further provided in the tubular portions, and the stretch stoppers are filled with a filler that includes a thermally-fused synthetic resin or a thermally-set synthetic resin. In this shoe upper, the stretch stoppers prevent the deformation of the shoelace holders that are pulled by the shoelace.
From now on, the best embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described.
EMBODIMENTCollars 35, shoelace holders 36, and stretch stoppers 37 are tubular, and the collars 35 and the shoelace holders 36 are located at one ends of the areas 32 and 33. The collars 35 are knitted as shown in
The embodiments have the following features.
1) The tubular portions 8 are provided, and the structures 16 are provided so as to reinforce the shoelace holes 10. Repetitive polymer coatings or the like are not needed, a coating of different material is not performed, and the filler does not leak from the tubular portions 8. Therefore, the original texture of the knitted fabric is kept.
2) The tubular portions 8 are strong, in addition, thick, elastic and are feel-good to the touch.
3) The structures 16 made of a thermosetting resin filler are not softened by insolation or the like.
4) The tubular portions 8 are divided into a plurality of sections 21, and therefore, the filler is easily and uniformly filled.
5) The inlets 22 are provided in a mesh structure or the like, and therefore, the nozzles 82 are inserted without damaging the knitted fabric of the tubular portions 8.
6) The shoe upper having collars, shoelace holders, and stretch stoppers may be knitted easily.
7) The collars may be provided with elasticity, the shoelace holders and the stretch stoppers may be provided with strength, and therefore, breakage or deformation due to repeated tensions by the shoelace may be prevented.
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- 2, 30 Shoe upper 4 Instep 5 Inner sole
- 6 Tongue 8 Tubular portion 10 Hole 12 Shoelace
- 14 Front knitted fabric 15 Rear knitted fabric 16 Structure 20 Dividing portion
- 21 Sections 22 Inlet 32 to 34 Area
- 35 Collar 36 Shoelace holder 37 Stretch stopper
- 64 Knitting yarn 68 Double stitch 69 Hooked stitch 80 Filling machine
- 82 Nozzle 84 Air pipe 86 Filler supplying part
- 90 Shoe upper 92 Instep 94 Shoelace holder
- L1, L2 Knitting start line L3 Line
Claims
1. A shoe upper made of a knitted fabric and reinforced around shoelace holes, said shoe upper comprising:
- tubular portions knitted seamlessly and tubularly, said tubular portions having a closed periphery defining an inside space, and extending in a direction joining a toe and an ankle, wherein the tubular portions have shoelace holders provided with shoelace holes, and wherein the tubular portions are filled with a filler.
2. The shoe upper according to claim 1 wherein the filler contains a thermofusing or thermosetting synthetic resin fused and is adhered to the tubular portions inside the tubular portions.
3. The shoe upper according to claim 1 wherein the tubular portions are respectively divided into a plurality of sections.
4. The shoe upper according to claim 1, wherein the tubular portions are respectively provided with an inlet for allowing injection of the filler.
5. The shoe upper according to claim 1, wherein the tubular portions are respectively further provided with collars that enclose an ankle.
6. The shoe upper according to claim 5 wherein an elastic filler is filled inside the collars and that a filler containing a thermally-fused synthetic resin or a thermally-set synthetic resin is filled inside the shoelace holders.
7. The shoe upper according to claim 6 wherein the tubular portions are respectively further provided with tubular stretch stoppers extending from the shoelace holders into both side surfaces of the shoe upper and the stretch stoppers are filled with a filler containing a thermally-fused synthetic resin or a thermally-set synthetic resin.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 23, 2015
Publication Date: Jun 8, 2017
Applicant: SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. (WAKAYAMA-SHI, WAKAYAMA)
Inventors: ISAO YUMIBA (WAKAYAMA-SHI, WAKAYAMA), YOSHINORI SHIMASAKI (WAKAYAMA-SHI, WAKAYAMA), MANABU YUI (WAKAYAMA-SHI, WAKAYAMA)
Application Number: 15/320,452