An article of footwear includes a sole structure and an upper coupled to the sole structure. The upper includes a forefoot region, a heel region, and a midfoot region disposed between. The upper defines a throat opening sized to receive a foot. The upper includes a main upper body and a strap coupled to the main upper body, wherein the strap extends from the midfoot region of the upper at the throat opening, down toward the heel region of the upper, wherein the strap is configured to provide stability, and the strap is configured to keep a wearer's heel contained down and back in the article of footwear.

A shoe may include an upper portion constructed from a continuous textile (e.g., a knit textile) that includes multiple regions having different textile properties to improve the performance of the shoe, including durability and comfort. In some cases, the multi-region upper portion may include regions having different thickness and/or flexibility based on a location relative to a wearer's foot to better support the wearer's foot. For example, the multi-region upper portion may include a reinforcement region having a first thickness and a flex region having a second thickness less than the first thickness. As another example, the multi-region upper portion may include a reinforcement region having a first stiffness and a flex region having a second stiffness less than the first stiffness.

A shoe includes an upper and a sole. The upper includes an outer layer having a first knitwear and an inner layer having a second knitwear. The first knitwear differs from the second knitwear with regard to at least one of a yarn used, a stitch structure, an alignment, and a form.

The present disclosure is directed to articles that include one or more coated fiber(s) (i.e., fiber(s) with a cured coating disposed thereon), where the coating includes a matrix of crosslinked polymers and optionally a colorant (e.g., pigment particles or dye or both). The cured coating is a product of crosslinking a coating composition including uncrosslinked polymers (e.g., a dispersion of uncrosslinked polymers in a carrier, wherein the uncrosslinked polymers are crosslinked to form the matrix of crosslinked polymers). The present disclosure is also directed to articles including the coated fibers, methods of forming the coated fibers and articles, and methods of making articles including the coated fibers.

A footwear upper and a top portion for an article of footwear are provided. The footwear upper can include an outward facing portion formed from a polyester yarn and an inward facing portion formed from a combination of polyester yarn and ultra-high-molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) yarn. The inward facing portion can be directly coupled to the outward facing portion. Further, the top portion can include a weave of carbon polymer filler material plies. The plies can include weft plies and warp plies. The warp plies can follow a trajectory of a center of pressure of a foot within the article of footwear.

A method for manufacturing an integral shoe blank is provided. In the method, a reinforcement piece is woven by a flat knitting machine during a weave process, and the reinforcement piece is made unperceivable through a subsequent side overturning step when viewing from an exterior of a shoe. Thus, with the reinforcement piece, structural strength of the shoe blank is reinforced while better comfort is provided to the foot by a shoe manufactured from the shoe blank.

Methods are described for printing a three-dimensional structural component onto a base. For example, a method of printing is provided, including receiving a set of predetermined thicknesses for the three-dimensional structural component. The set of predetermined thicknesses has a first thickness and a second thickness. The first thickness is greater than the second thickness. The method further includes instructing a printing device to print a single layer for the three-dimensional structural component using the set of predetermined thicknesses. The method further includes printing a first portion of the single layer onto the base so that the first portion has the first thickness. The method further includes printing a second portion of the single layer onto the base so that the second portion has the second thickness.

Upper components for footwear include: (a) a first upper component that includes a first layer having a first material as a first filament including first plural, non-intersecting, spaced apart path segments (wherein the first filament has a width dimension of less than 3 mm wide (and in some examples, less than 2 mm wide, less than 1.5 mm wide, less than 1 mm wide, or even less than 0.75 mm wide)); and (b) a second upper component including a fabric element formed at least in part of a fusible material, wherein the fusible material of the second upper component is fused to the first material of the first upper component (e.g., in an adhesive-free manner). Additional layers of material, including additional layers including filament and/or fabric elements, e.g., of the types described above, may be included in the upper.

The present disclosure is directed to articles that include a cured coating that includes a matrix of crosslinked polymers and optionally a colorant (e.g., pigment particles or dye or both). The cured coating can include a matrix of crosslinked polymers. The cured coating is a product of crosslinking a coating composition comprising uncrosslinked polymers (e.g., a dispersion of uncrosslinked polymers in a carrier to form the matrix of crosslinked polymers), wherein the uncrosslinked polymers are crosslinked to form the matrix of crosslinked polymers. The matrix of crosslinked polymers can be elastomeric. The present disclosure is also directed to articles including these bladders, methods of forming these bladders, and methods of making articles including these bladders, where the bladders include the cured coating.

Methods are described for creating a correspondence between percentages of a spot color and print material thicknesses. For example, a method can include printing a set of printed regions on a substrate, wherein each printed region is printed according to a different percentage of a selected spot color. The method can further comprise measuring the thickness of each printed region. The method can further comprise comparing the thickness of each printed region with a target thickness for the printed region. The target thickness for the printed region can be determined according to the percentage of the selected spot color used for printing the printed region. The method can further comprise, for each target thickness, determining an adjusted spot color percentage required to print a layer of structural print material having the target thickness.