An article of footwear can include an upper. The upper includes a knitted portion having yarns partially fused to adjacent yarns and filaments of the partially fused yarns that are partially fused to adjacent filaments. Methods for manufacturing an article of footwear including an upper having a partially fused knitted portion are also described.

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)).

A skate having a skate boot with a non-lasted boot shell, the shell having a first non-lasted three-dimensional sub-shell and a second non-lasted three-dimensional sub-shell, the second sub-shell being interior to and adjoining the first sub-shell, the first sub-shell comprising a first material having a first density and the second sub-shell comprising a second material having a second density, the second density being less than the first density, the shell being shaped so as to have a heel portion, an ankle portion, a lateral portion, a medial portion, and a sole portion; and a ground-engaging assembly disposed on an underside of the skate. Additional sub-shells are possible. Methods of manufacturing the skate boot shell, including molding and build-up, are also disclosed.

A method for manufacturing an article of footwear, the article of footwear comprising at least one shell, the shape of which is set by external heating, the manufacturing method comprising a reference step in which a first shell is positioned on a last, the first shell comprising at least one at least partially hot-melt or thermoformable material, the last extending lengthwise from a rear end to a front end, widthwise between a lateral side and a medial side, and heightwise from a base to a top. The manufacturing method comprises at least one manufacturing step, subsequent to the reference step, the manufacturing step comprising at least one operation of hot-pressing at least a portion of the surface of the first shell arranged on the last.

A composite shell for an upper may include a base layer and a fiber-reinforced layer. The base layer may comprise a mesh or other type of textile material and may extend at least over sides of a generally foot-shaped interior region of the upper. The fiber-reinforced layer may be at least partially bonded to the base layer. The fiber-reinforced layer may extend at least from a lower portion of the base layer generally corresponding to a footbed perimeter to at least a top portion of the base layer generally corresponding to part of an instep region. The fiber-reinforced layer may include a plurality of strips extending from the lower portion to the top portion, the strips separated by inter-strip gaps in the fiber-reinforced layer.

Articles of wear having one or more textiles that include a low processing temperature polymeric composition and a high processing temperature polymeric composition, and methods of manufacturing the same are disclosed. The low processing temperature polymeric composition and the high processing temperature polymeric composition can be selectively incorporated into a textile to provide one or more structural properties and/or other advantageous properties to the article. The textile can be thermoformed to impart such structural and/or other advantageous properties to the article of wear. 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 may have an upper and a sole structure secured to the upper. The upper includes a base layer, a plurality of strand segments, and a deposition layer. The base layer has a first surface and an opposite second surface. The strand segments are located adjacent to the first surface and extend substantially parallel to the first surface for a distance of at least five centimeters. The deposition layer is deposited upon the first surface and the strand segments, and the deposition layer is joined with the first surface and the strand segments. The deposition layer is applied using a screen printing process. Different inks can be used during the screen printing process to form the deposition layer and an indicia layer.

A shoe having a shoe upper including multiple welds in selected locations on the shoe upper. The welds may be selectively located on the upper to provide structure and support to the specific portions of a shoe upper.

Described are methods of two-dimensionally and three-dimensionally forming an article of wear using vacuum forming in an automated process. In the two-dimensional method, the article of wear comprises a generally flat shape with three-dimensional features molded into the first material layer.

Methods for manufacturing articles of footwear including forming a first upper on a textile manufacturing machine and forming a second upper on the textile manufacturing machine at a time that at least partially overlaps with formation of the first upper. The first upper and the second upper are formed at separate locations of the textile manufacturing machine.