A shoe includes a sole and upper secured to the sole. The upper has a knitted element formed of unitary one-piece construction on a knitting machine. The knitted element includes a Moc seam allowance within a toe region, lateral and medial metatarsal regions, and lateral and medial ball regions. The upper has a Moc seam formed in part by the knitted element. The Moc seam is in at least the toe region, the lateral metatarsal region, and the medial metatarsal region. The Moc seam includes a core around which the Moc seam allowance is wrapped and stitched to itself to contain the core at least partially within a cavity formed by the Moc seam allowance.

An article of footwear with an upper including a ribbon structure is disclosed. The ribbon structure comprises ribbon sections running in at least two different directions. Ribbon sections are connected at nodes. Between nodes portions of ribbon act like links joining the nodes. The links can be arranged in various geometries, including a rectangular grid and a triaxial grid. The ribbon structure may extend the entire length of the article of footwear, and may extend through a forefoot, midfoot and heel.

An article and method includes a nonwoven textile forming at least part of an upper of an article of footwear and binding fibers entangled with fibers of the folded portion and the major portion, the edge being secured, at least in part, to the major surface. The nonwoven textile is comprised of fibers and has a major portion and a folded portion, the folded portion including an edge of the nonwoven textile folded over to bring the edge in contact, at least in part, with a major surface of the major portion to form a folded edge.

An article comprised of tape segments embroidered in place is disclosed. One embodiment includes tape segments embroidered to a self-supporting embroidered structure. Another embodiment includes tape segments embroidered together to form an embroidered lattice structure. In one embodiment, some of the tape segments may expand when exposed to heat and may be used to form cushioning regions for the article.

A shoe (34) of the present invention includes a sole (32) and an upper (33). The upper (33) is composed of a fabric having a knit structure, and contains fiber reinforcement portions (23, 24, and 25) in predetermined portions of the upper (33) integrally. The fiber reinforcement portions (23, 24, and 25) are formed of a float stitch with a plurality of float stitch yarns (19). The shoe of the present invention imparts a proper fit to a wearer's foot by forming the upper composed of the fabric having the knit structure that stretches properly. Also, in the case where the direction of foot force is suddenly changed while the sole contacts the ground, the shoe can hold the foot in desired predetermined positions by the fiber reinforcement portions situated in predetermined positions of the upper integrally. Thus, the present invention provides a shoe having proper holding properties while maintaining fitting properties.

Manufacturing of a shoe or a portion of a shoe is enhanced by executing various shoe-manufacturing processes in an automated manner. For example, shoe parts may be retrieved and temporarily assembled according to preset relative positions to form part stacks. The part stacks may be retrieved with the relative positioning of the shoe parts being maintained and placed at a stitching machine for more permanent attachment via stitching of the parts to form a shoe assembly. Movement during stitching of a conveyance mechanism that transfers the part stack from the stacking surface to the stitching machine and movement of a needle associated with the stitching machine may be controlled by a shared control mechanism such that the movements are synchronized with respect to one another. Vision systems may be leveraged to achieve movement and position information between and at machines and locations.

An upper for a shoe, in particular a sports shoe, includes at least one tape covering at least 50% of the upper. At least one tape portion includes a plurality of connected tapes. A further aspect relates to an upper for a shoe, in particular a sports shoe, including at least one tape portion including a plurality of connected tapes. In some connected tapes, the tapes are zig-zag stitched to each other on their edges.

Textile Components, such as upper members for articles of footwear, include: (a) a first portion having a first edge, wherein the first edge includes a first portion of material engaged with a first seam support material via a first thermoplastic material; (b) a second portion having a second edge, wherein the second edge includes a second portion of material engaged with a second seam support material via a second thermoplastic material; and (c) structure to engage the first and second edges in an abutting edge joint (such as a zig-zag stitch). The resulting textile components may be lightweight and breathable (e.g., due to use of lightweight upper fabric), having a comfortable fit (e.g., due to the abutting edge joint), while still providing a strong, stable, and durable construction (e.g., due to the presence of the seam support member(s)).

The process for making an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics, consists in knitting a first part of the upper with a group of needles having an overall maximum number of needles in a tuck stitch or loop position or in a plain drop stitch position or in a missed stitch position, the maximum number of needles being equal to the number of needles present in a cylinder of a circular knitting machine.

The invention is a high heel shoe with an upper that will provide comfort and flexibility for the wearer. In a preferred embodiment the upper consists of two at least two materials: 1) a firm fabric, such as leather, that will hold the shape of the design and have limited flexibility; 2) a flat knitted elastic, such as knit elastic, which will not narrow, or not narrow significantly, when stretched. In addition, the firm fabric is configured to have a flex-point and in a preferred embodiment is formed of two pieces of the firm material having a split between them providing the desired flex-point.