Various articles, such as footwear, apparel, athletic equipment, watchbands, and the like, and methods of forming those articles are presented. The articles are generally formed, in whole or in part, using rapid manufacturing techniques, such as laser sintering, stereolithography, solid deposition modeling, and the like. The use of rapid manufacturing allows for relatively economical and time efficient manufacture of customized articles. Portions of the articles may be manufactured using rapid manufacturing and those portions may be joined with portions formed using conventional, non-rapid manufacturing techniques. The methods may also include performing a scan of an appropriate body part of a user, such as a foot, in order to create a customized article of footwear for the user.

An upper for an article of footwear is configured to be connected to a sole structure and is configured to receive a foot. The upper includes a knitted component having a strobel portion that is configured to be disposed underneath the foot. The strobel portion defines an interior surface and an exterior surface of the knitted component. The strobel portion defines a strobel passage between the interior surface and the exterior surface. Also, the upper includes a tensile strand that extends through the strobel passage.

An article of footwear may have a knitted component with an overfoot portion and an underfoot portion. At least one sole structure may be secured to the underfoot portion of the knitted component. A first knit surface of the underfoot portion may face toward a foot-receiving void, while a second knit surface may comprise a first thermoplastic material. A skin layer may be located between and directly coupled to the sole structure and the second knit surface.

Articles for footwear, uppers for articles of footwear, and methods for fabricating articles of footwear are provided. In one example, an upper for an article of footwear includes a knitted component. The knitted component includes a plurality of knitted cushioning structures that define a cushioning region.

Films, fibers, filaments, yarns and textiles including thermoplastic elastomeric compositions are described, as are methods of making the films, fibers, filaments, yarns and textiles. These films, fibers, filaments, yarns and textiles can be used to make articles of apparel, footwear, and sporting equipment. When thermoformed, the thermoplastic elastomeric compositions can impart abrasion resistance, traction, and other advantageous properties to the articles. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.

An article of footwear includes a braided upper comprised of a unitary braided structure. The unitary braided structure of the braided upper may be engineered with specific features tailored to particular activities. Different regions of the upper may have different braided configurations. For example, higher braid densities may be used in specific areas of the footwear to provide additional structural support or compression. Also, strands of a different material may be incorporated in different regions of the braided upper to provide specific properties to the footwear in those areas.

The present invention relates to a rubber composition with an excellent grip force; a method of producing the rubber composition; a shoe sole, a shoe, and a tire each using the rubber composition; and a method of improving a frictional force of a rubber component.

The present invention is concerned with [1] a rubber composition containing a rubber component (A), a lignin degradation product (B), and a specified amine compound (C); [2] a rubber composition composed of a blend of a rubber component (A), a lignin (B), and a specified amine compound (C); [3] a shoe sole using the aforementioned rubber composition; [4] a shoe having the aforementioned shoe sole; [5] a tire using the aforementioned rubber composition; [6] a method of producing a rubber composition, including blending a rubber component (A), a lignin (B), and a specified amine compound (C) and vulcanizing the blend; and [7] a method of improving a frictional force of a rubber component, including blending a rubber component (A), a lignin (B), and a specified amine compound (C).

Articles for footwear, uppers for articles of footwear, and methods for fabricating articles of footwear are provided. In one example, an upper for an article of footwear includes a knitted component. The knitted component includes a plurality of knitted cushioning structures that define a cushioning region.

The present disclosure relates generally to three-dimensionally printed molds, and associated methods, for use in manufacturing articles such as footwear. In some embodiments, for example, a three-dimensionally printed mold may be a master mold that is used to manufacture a secondary mold. The secondary mold may be used, in certain embodiments, to provide a cured material that can be transferred to a substrate, such as a textile, thereby providing the manufactured article. The use of such arrangements can, according to certain embodiments, allow for the production of improved articles of footwear and/or customized articles of footwear.

A yarn or thread may include a plurality of substantially aligned filaments, with at least ninety-five percent of a material of the filaments being a thermoplastic polymer material. Various woven textiles and knitted textiles may be formed from the yarn or thread. The woven textiles or knitted textiles may be thermal bonded to other elements to form seams. A strand that is at least partially formed from a thermoplastic polymer material may extend through the seam, and the strand may be thermal bonded at the seam. The woven textiles or knitted textiles may be shaped or molded, incorporated into products, and recycled to form other products.