The present invention concerns a shoe upper comprising a woven portion, wherein the woven portion comprises a plurality of warp yarns; a plurality of weft yarns; at least one stitching yarn, wherein the stitching yarn is integrally woven into the fabric during the weaving process by laterally displacing the stitching yarn substantially along the weft direction and moving the stitching yarn in and out of at least one open reed gap in a reed.

A wearable article, a system, and methods include a structural material configured to enable the wearable article to the worn on a body, a piezoelectric generator, positioned with respect to the structural material in a configuration to be flexed to output a voltage, a data translator, coupled to the piezoelectric generator, configured to output electronic data based on the voltage, and an electronic data storage, coupled to the data translator, configured to store the electronic data from the data translator.

A wearable article, a system, and methods include a structural material configured to enable the wearable article to the worn on a body, a piezoelectric generator, positioned with respect to the structural material in a configuration to be flexed to output a voltage, a data translator, coupled to the piezoelectric generator, configured to output electronic data based on the voltage, and an electronic data storage, coupled to the data translator, configured to store the electronic data from the data translator.

An article of apparel, a system, and methods include a structural material configured to enable the article of footwear to the worn on a body. A wireless transmission circuit is included and a piezoelectric generator is positioned with respect to the structural material in a configuration to be flexed to induce a voltage signal output. A voltage sensor is configured to sense the voltage profile and output a sensor signal indicative of the voltage profile. An electronic data storage, coupled to the voltage sensor, is configured to store voltage profile information based on the sensor data. A comparator, coupled to the electronic data storage, is configured to identify a change in the voltage profile information over time. The wireless transmission circuit is configured to transmit data indicative of a physical status of the article of footwear based on the change in the voltage profile information over time.

An article of apparel, a system, and methods include a structural material configured to enable the article of footwear to the worn on a body. A wireless transmission circuit is included and a piezoelectric generator is positioned with respect to the structural material in a configuration to be flexed to induce a voltage signal output. A voltage sensor is configured to sense the voltage profile and output a sensor signal indicative of the voltage profile. An electronic data storage, coupled to the voltage sensor, is configured to store voltage profile information based on the sensor data. A comparator, coupled to the electronic data storage, is configured to identify a change in the voltage profile information over time. The wireless transmission circuit is configured to transmit data indicative of a physical status of the article of footwear based on the change in the voltage profile information over time.

A tool for inflating a chamber (50) in an article composed at least partially of polymer layers, such as thermoplastic layers. The tool can allow for forming an aperture in a polymer layer (350), inflating a chamber (50) or volume (130) in fluid communication with the aperture, and then welding or sealing the chamber (50) so that the inflation fluid is substantially retained in the chamber (50) and/or does not escape via the aperture. In various aspects, the formation of the aperture, inflation of the chamber (50), and sealing of the chamber (50) or aperture can be performed by a single tool and/or based on a single registration of the thermoplastic article with a tool. In some aspects, formation of the aperture is enabled in part by using a punch (100, 201, 205) with a cupped surface (341) that allows the top layer of a thermoplastic article to be breached without forming a hole in at least one lower layer (350).

Described are methods, systems, and devices for at least partly manufacturing a piece of apparel (e.g., a shoe), which incorporate manipulating at least one component of the piece of apparel with a particle jamming device.

A needle assembly for a stitching machine comprises a stitching jig comprising a needle holder, a needle clamp hoop and a fixing jig. The needle holder has needle sockets to hold a plurality of needles. The needle clamp hoop is connected to the needle holder to retain needles in the sockets. The fixing jig is connected to the needle clamp hoop to couple with a reciprocating bar of the stitching machine. A method for manufacturing an article of footwear upper comprises laying out a first sheet of material; positioning a second sheet of material to overlap with the first sheet of material at an overlap; positioning a felt material adjacent the overlap so that the second sheet of material is between the first sheet of material and the felt material; and felting the felt material to draw fibers of the felt material through the first and second sheets of material.

A sole structure for an article of footwear comprises a sole plate including a foot support portion with a foot-facing surface and a ground-facing surface. An opening extends through the foot support portion from the foot-facing surface to the ground-facing surface. The sole plate includes a bridge portion underlying the opening and secured to the foot support portion fore and aft of the opening. The sole structure includes a piston that has a body and a support arm extending transversely from the body. The body extends through the opening. The support arm is supported on the bridge portion, trapped below the ground-facing surface by the foot support portion, and extends under the ground-facing surface at medial and lateral sides of the opening.

A walking simulator includes: a lower-limb prosthetic device having at least a foot portion, a tibial element, and an ankle articular center suitable to connect the foot portion to the tibial element; a base structure, an arm coupled to the base structure via a coupler that allows the arm to rotate or pivot about a substantially horizontal axis of rotation, wherein the arm includes a fastener for constraining the prosthetic device to the arm so that it extends substantially parallel to the arm; a substantially horizontal base positioned under the prosthetic device, wherein the base includes a top portion suitable to receive in abutment a sole of the foot portion of the prosthetic device; a first actuator associated with the arm for creating a pivoting or oscillating rotary motion of the arm about the axis of rotation and for controlling the leg angle of the prosthetic device constrained to the arm.