Foamable and foamed textiles, the process of manufacturing the same, and articles incorporating the same

Abstract

A textile component includes a yarn which includes a thermoplastic material. A blowing agent with at least activation condition is included into the textile, either by inclusion in the yarn or impregnating in the textile after forming an un-foamed textile. Upon triggering the activation condition of the blowing agent, the blowing agent introduces a plurality of cavities, i.e. cells, into the thermoplastic material. The textile then comprises a multicellular foam area of the textile wherein the multicellular foamed area comprises a multicellular foam surrounding a core yarn. The textile, in either its un-foamed or foamed condition, can be incorporated into a variety of articles, such as an article of footwear.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An upper for an article of footwear comprising:
 a textile including a first yarn, the first yarn comprising a core yarn and a first thermoplastic material forming an unfoamed coating at least partially surrounding the core yarn;   wherein the core yarn comprises a plurality of fibers or filaments, each of the plurality of fibers or filaments comprising a core material; and   wherein the first thermoplastic material comprises at least one first thermoplastic polymer chosen from a thermoplastic polyurethane, a thermoplastic polyolefin, a thermoplastic polyester, a thermoplastic polyether, a thermoplastic polyamide, or any combination thereof; and a chemical blowing agent, wherein the chemical blowing agent is present in the first thermoplastic material in an amount effective to foam the unfoamed coating of the first thermoplastic material into a multicellular foam.   
     
     
         2 . The upper for an article of footwear of any  claim 1 , wherein the textile is a knitted textile, and the knitted textile further comprises a second yarn. 
     
     
         3 . The upper for an article of footwear of  claim 2 , wherein the first yarn is inlayed in the knitted textile between courses of the second yarn. 
     
     
         4 . The upper for an article of footwear of  claim 2 , wherein the second yarn is interlooped with at least one loop of the first yarn. 
     
     
         5 . The upper for an article of footwear of  claim 1 , wherein the first thermoplastic material comprises the thermoplastic polyolefin and the thermoplastic polyolefin includes a thermoplastic ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, wherein the chemical blowing agent is a thermally-activated chemical blowing agent, wherein the first thermoplastic material further comprises a thermally-activated cross-linking agent, and wherein the core material comprises a thermoplastic polyester. 
     
     
         6 . An upper for an article of footwear comprising:
 a textile comprising a multicellular foam at least partially surrounding and attached to a core yarn;   wherein the core yarn comprises a plurality of fibers or filaments, each of the plurality of fibers or filaments comprising a core material; and   wherein the multicellular foam is the product of processing an unfoamed coating at least partially surrounding the core yarn to expand the unfoamed coating into the multicellular foam;   wherein the multicellular foam comprises a first polymeric material including at least one first polymer chosen from a polyurethane, a polyolefin, a polyether, a polyamide, or any combination thereof; and the degradation product of a chemical blowing agent.   
     
     
         7 . The upper for an article of footwear of  claim 6 , wherein the unfoamed coating comprises a first thermoplastic material including at least one first thermoplastic polymer chosen from a thermoplastic polyurethane, a thermoplastic polyolefin, a thermoplastic polyester, a thermoplastic polyether, a thermoplastic polyamide, or any combination thereof; and a chemical blowing agent, wherein the chemical blowing agent is present in the first thermoplastic material in an amount effective to foam the unfoamed coating of the first thermoplastic material into the multicellular foam. 
     
     
         8 . The upper for an article of footwear of  claim 7 , wherein the first polymeric material is a cross-linked polymeric material. 
     
     
         9 . The upper for an article of footwear of  claim 8 , wherein the unfoamed coating comprises a first thermoplastic material including at least one first thermoplastic polymer chosen from a thermoplastic polyurethane, a thermoplastic polyolefin, a thermoplastic polyester, a thermoplastic polyether, a thermoplastic polyamide, or any combination thereof; a cross-linking agent; and a chemical blowing agent, wherein the chemical blowing agent is present in the first thermoplastic material in an amount effective to foam the unfoamed coating of the first thermoplastic material into the multicellular foam. 
     
     
         10 . The upper for an article of footwear of  claim 7 , wherein the multicellular foam has a hardness from about 30 to about 60 as measured by an Asker C durometer. 
     
     
         11 . The upper for an article of footwear of  claim 7 , wherein the textile further comprises a second yarn, and the second yarn is exposed on a first surface of the textile. 
     
     
         12 . The upper for an article of footwear of  claim 7 , wherein the multicellular foam defines a foamed area on the first surface of the textile. 
     
     
         13 . The upper for an article of footwear of  claim 12 , wherein the textile includes a plurality of the foamed areas, and at least three of the plurality of foamed areas are regularly spaced or periodically arranged relative to each other. 
     
     
         14 . The upper for an article of footwear of  claim 12 , wherein the textile includes a plurality of the foamed areas, and the plurality of foamed areas are randomly dispersed across the first surface of the textile. 
     
     
         15 . The upper for an article of footwear of  claim 12 , wherein the foamed area has a shape, and the shape is a representative shape. 
     
     
         16 . A method for processing an upper for an article of footwear, the method comprising the steps of:
 forming a foamed area in a textile portion of the upper by expanding at least a portion of an unfoamed coating of a yarn present in the textile into a multicellular foam by increasing a temperature of the yarn to a first processing temperature;   after expanding the unfoamed coating into the multicellular foam, decreasing a temperature of the multicellular foam to a second processing temperature at which the multicellular foam adheres to the core yarn, adheres to a surrounding portion of the textile, and solidifies while retaining its multicellular structure, thereby forming the foamed area in the textile portion;   wherein the yarn comprises a core yarn and a first thermoplastic material forming the unfoamed coating, the first thermoplastic material at least partially surrounds the core yarn, the core yarn comprises a plurality of fibers or filaments, and each of the plurality of fibers or filaments comprising a core material;   wherein the first thermoplastic material comprises at least one first thermoplastic polymer chosen from a thermoplastic polyurethane, a thermoplastic polyolefin, a thermoplastic polyester, a thermoplastic polyether, a thermoplastic polyamide, or any combination thereof, the first thermoplastic material further comprises a blowing agent, and the blowing agent is present in the first thermoplastic material in an amount effective to expand the unfoamed coating of the first thermoplastic material into a multicellular foam; and   wherein the first processing temperature is a temperature at or above a softening temperature of the first thermoplastic material.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the multicellular foam is a cross-linked foam, and the first thermoplastic material further comprises a cross-linking agent. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the core material is a second thermoplastic material, and the first processing temperature is a temperature at least 20 degrees Celsius below a softening temperature of the second thermoplastic material. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the blowing agent is a thermally-activated blowing agent, and the first processing temperature is a temperature at or above the activation temperature of the thermally-activated blowing agent, and optionally, when the multicellular foam is a cross-linked foam and the first thermoplastic material further comprises a thermally-activated cross-linking agent, the first processing temperature is a temperature at or above the activation temperature of the thermally-activated cross-linking agent. 
     
     
         20 . An upper for an article of footwear made by the method of  claim 16 .