A trim component for attachment to a vehicle seat includes a first portion and a second portion. The first portion is disposed on a first side of the trim component and defines a first knit. The second portion is disposed on a second side of the trim component and defines a second knit distinct from the first knit. The first and second portions are integrally knitted. The trim component is configured to be installed on or more support members of the seat. The first side is configured to face the support member. The second portion is configured communicate with an occupant of the seat. In various aspects, the first portion includes a first yarn and the second portion includes a second yarn that is distinct from the first yarn with respect to one or more of density, thickness, and material. In various aspects, the first yarn is a heat-activated yarn.

The present invention relates to a car seat cover and a method for knitting the same. The car seat cover comprises a headrest portion, a backrest portion and a seat cushion portion; the headrest portion comprises a front headrest piece and a rear headrest piece which are connected, a lower opening of the headrest portion being tightened; the backrest portion comprises a front backrest piece and a rear backrest piece which are connected, the front backrest piece being knitted by cubic knitting, sides of the backrest being knitted by Short Row and by adjusting the knitting tightness; and the seat cushion portion comprises a front seat cushion piece and a rear seat cushion piece which are connected, a seat cushion skirt portion being knitted by cubic knitting, and sides of the seat cushion being knitted by Short Row and by adjusting the knitting tightness. By knitting a seat cover by cubic knitting, the resulting products are cubic. Compared with the traditional way of wrapping a seat by stitching and splicing, the cover will fit the surface of the seat better. The procedures of knitting, dyeing, combining, cutting and stitching are reduced, the generation of scraps is avoided, and high degree of automation, high production efficiency, environmental protection, and reliable quality are realized.

Systems and methods for manufacturing knitted shoe uppers. An article of fully finished three-dimensionally weft knitted footwear is manufactured through a knitting process which can be performed by an automated V-bed flat knitting machine. During the knitting process, a plurality of knitted members are knitted into shape sequentially and connected to one another through knitted live hinges, each member being a ply, a layer, a layer portion or an appendage. The knitting machine manipulates the knitted members into their destined places as in the final product without cutting and sewing, thereby forming a seamless unitary textile construction. The process creates a seamless, full gauge, dimensionally stable footwear upper, as a unitary textile construction with an integrated anatomically appropriate heel. The entire upper, including the closure element of the upper, may be completed exclusively by the knitting machine, ready for the following shoe making process.

Systems and methods for manufacturing knitted shoe uppers. An article of fully finished three-dimensionally weft knitted footwear is manufactured through a knitting process which can be performed by an automated V-bed flat knitting machine. The knitting process includes manipulating one or more double-knit stitch types and joining the stitches exclusively in the knitting process to create a seamless upper to fit a foot. The process creates a seamless, full gauge, dimensionally stable footwear upper, as a unitary textile construction with an integrated anatomically appropriate heel. The entire upper, including the closure element of the upper, may be completed exclusively by the knitting machine, ready for the following shoe making process. The knitting process includes knitting one or more reinforcement knitting yarns into one or more portions of the upper. These portions are then transformed into fiber-reinforced polymer composite fabric sections of the upper in a post process.

A knitting mechanism for knitting a polymer reinforcing structure to a shape as predefine in the final product. Stiff materials in the form of knitting yarns are knitted on a V-bed weft knitting machine to create a polymer reinforcing panel structure and any additional knitted textile elements with completely finished the edges. The resulting three-dimensional textile element is a unitary construction completed entirely by the knitting machine in the knitting process, and is ready for a subsequent polymer resin application and/or a molding process.

Systems and methods for manufacturing knitted shoe uppers. An article of fully finished three-dimensionally weft knitted footwear is manufactured through a knitting process which can be performed by an automated V-bed flat knitting machine. The knitting process includes manipulating one or more double-knit stitch types and joining the stitches exclusively in the knitting process to create a seamless upper to fit a foot. A resulting upper advantageously has no sewn seams and requires no manual post process to cut or sew the upper to create the dimensional shape. The process creates a seamless, full gauge, dimensionally stable footwear upper, as a unitary textile construction with an integrated anatomically appropriate heel. The entire upper, including the closure element of the upper, may be completed exclusively by the knitting machine, ready for the following shoe making process.

Aspects of the present invention relate to a method (500) of fabricating a cover for an interior trim component or an exterior trim component for a vehicle. The method comprising forming a 3D knitted structure (510) by knitting together at least one heat activated yarn and at least one non-heat activated yarn. The structure may be arranged whereby, during a subsequent heat treatment process (520) in which the cover is heated to a temperature at or above an activation temperature, the heat-activated yarn is activated thereby to form an automotive cover having a knitted structure of increased stiffness once cooled.

A compression article and method for its production on a flat-bed knitting machine are provided for providing an improved fit to a body part. In the compression article, respectively the number of stitches per stitch row is matched to the radial circumference of the body part to be treated by the compression article. The compression article has a plurality of points which are distributed over its circumference and at which, in a stitch row, at least one of a stitch increase and a stitch reduction is realized. The number of stitches in the wale direction varies over the circumference of the compression article and is matched, in the longitudinal direction of the body part, to the shape of the body part to be treated.

Provided are: a seat skin material which is composed of a solid knit fabric that achieves both seating comfort and heating comfort and that further exhibits excellent abrasion resistance; and a seat comprising said seat skin material. A seat skin material according to the present disclosure is composed of a solid knit fabric that comprises: a front-layer knitted fabric; a back-layer knitted fabric; and a connecting strand that connects the front-layer knitted fabric and the back-layer knitted fabric.

A three-dimensional knitted fabric with a large-diameter circular knitting machine is knitted with a plurality of stitches that form a plurality of stitch courses oriented in each case in a stitch-course direction of the knitted fabric and a plurality of stitch wales oriented in each case in a stitch-wale direction of the knitted fabric, wherein at least one of the stitches is in the form of at least one corrugation-forming stitch, which extends in the stitch-wale direction over a plurality of stitch courses and binds at least one corrugation in the knitted fabric.