Woven Shoe Upper

Abstract

The present invention concerns a shoe upper comprising a woven portion, wherein the woven portion comprises a plurality of warp yarns; a plurality of weft yarns; at least one stitching yarn, wherein the stitching yarn is integrally woven into the fabric during the weaving process by laterally displacing the stitching yarn substantially along the weft direction and moving the stitching yarn in and out of at least one open reed gap in a reed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A shoe upper comprising a woven portion, wherein the woven portion comprises:
 a plurality of warp yarns;   a plurality of weft yarns;   at least one stitching yarn, wherein the stitching yarn is integrally woven into the fabric during the weaving process by laterally displacing the stitching yarn substantially along the weft direction and moving the stitching yarn in and out of at least one open reed gap in a reed.   
     
     
         2 . The shoe upper according to  claim 1 , wherein the stitching yarn has a tensile modulus greater than the tensile modulus of the warp yarns and/or the weft yarns. 
     
     
         3 . The shoe upper according to  claim 1 , wherein the stitching yarn comprises a meltable component. 
     
     
         4 . The shoe upper according to  claim 1 , wherein the stitching yarn is located in a midfoot region of the shoe. 
     
     
         5 . The shoe upper according to  claim 1 , wherein the stitching yarn is located within 2 cm from at least one lace eyelet. 
     
     
         6 . The shoe upper according to  claim 1 , wherein the stitching yarn is located in a sole region of the shoe upper. 
     
     
         7 . The shoe upper according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one stitching yarn makes an angle of between 30° and 60° with the warp or weft yarns between at least two different interlacing points. 
     
     
         8 . The shoe upper according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one stitching yarn and/or one weft yarn and/or one warp yarn is dissolvable in a solvent. 
     
     
         9 . The shoe upper according to  claim 8 , wherein the solvent is water. 
     
     
         10 . The shoe upper according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one stitching yarn comprises carbon fiber. 
     
     
         11 . A method of making a woven portion for a shoe upper, comprising:
 providing a plurality of warp yarns and a plurality of weft yarns;   interweaving the plurality of weft yarns and the plurality of warp yarns;   providing at least one stitching yarn, arranged substantially parallel to the warp yarns; and   simultaneously interweaving the stitching yarn during the weaving process by laterally displacing the stitching yarn substantially along the weft direction and moving the stitching yarn in and out of at least one open reed gap in a reed.   
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the reed comprises at least two groups of reed gaps, wherein a reed gap of the first group is at least partially covered by an insertion bevel, and wherein a reed gap of the second group is not covered by an insertion bevel. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the stitching yarn comprises a meltable component. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the stitching yarn is located within 2 cm from at least one lace eyelet. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein at least one stitching yarn is interwoven at an angle of between 30° and 60° with the warp or weft yarns between at least two different interlacing points. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises forming a reinforcement region comprising:
 stitching at least one stitching yarn along a first direction;   changing the direction of the stitching yarn to a second direction, which is at an angle of at least 30 degrees to the first direction;   changing the direction of the stitching yarn to a third direction which is at an angle of at least 30 degrees to the second direction; and   changing the direction of the stitching yarn to a fourth direction which is at an angle of less than 30 degrees to the first direction.   
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising configuring at least one stitching yarn as a lacing yarn, comprising: extending at least one stitching yarn beyond the edge of the woven portion and configuring said stitching yarn to be moveable within the woven portion. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein providing a plurality of warp and weft yarns, and at least one stitching yarn comprises providing at least one stitching yarn and/or one weft yarn and/or one warp yarn that is dissolvable in a solvent and dissolving the dissolvable warp, weft, and/or stitching yarn in the solvent. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein the solvent is water. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one stitching yarn comprises carbon fiber.