Article of footwear with improved performance characteristics

Abstract

An upper for an article of footwear includes a mesh textile portion including pillars including one or more first yarns aligned in a first direction and defining a major axis of the mesh textile portion and links including one or more second yarns and aligned in a second direction defining a minor axis of the mesh textile portion. The minor axis is transverse the major axis, the pillars have a greater thickness and/or greater denier than the links, and the major axis is offset from a lengthwise dimension of the upper by a bias angle ranging from about 30° to about 60°.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . An upper for an article of footwear, the upper comprising a mesh textile portion including pillars comprising one or more first yarns and aligned in a first direction defining a major axis of the mesh textile portion and connecting links comprising one or more second yarns and aligned in a second direction defining a minor axis of the mesh textile portion, wherein the minor axis is transverse the major axis, the pillars have a greater thickness than the links, and the major axis is offset from a lengthwise dimension of the upper by a bias angle ranging from about 30° to about 60°. 
     
     
         2 . The upper of  claim 1 , wherein the bias angle is about 45°. 
     
     
         3 . The upper of  claim 1 , wherein a first thickness of the pillars is at least 2 times greater than a second thickness of the links. 
     
     
         4 . The upper of  claim 1 , further comprising voids defined between intersecting pillars and links of the mesh textile portion, wherein each void has an elongated shape with a greatest dimension of each void oriented in a direction of the major axis for the mesh textile portion. 
     
     
         5 . The upper of  claim 1 , wherein the mesh textile portion comprises a first panel that extends along at least a portion of a lateral side of the upper and a second panel that extends along at least a portion of a medial side of the upper. 
     
     
         6 . The upper of  claim 5 , wherein the major axis of the first panel is offset from and transverse the major axis of the second panel. 
     
     
         7 . The upper of  claim 6 , wherein the pillars along the major axis of the first panel at the lateral side converges at a convergence location of the upper with the pillars along the major axis of the second panel at the medial side. 
     
     
         8 . The upper of  claim 7 , wherein the convergence location of the upper comprises a toe cage portion of the upper. 
     
     
         9 . The upper of  claim 5 , wherein the major axis of the first panel is about parallel with the major axis of the second panel. 
     
     
         10 . The upper of  claim 5 , wherein at least some of the pillars of the first panel and the second panel extend between the medial side and the lateral side of the upper. 
     
     
         11 . The upper of  claim 1 , wherein the mesh textile portion comprises a knit structure. 
     
     
         12 . The upper of  claim 1 , wherein the upper further comprises a plurality of layers, the plurality of layers comprising a first layer including the mesh textile portion and a second layer coupled with the first layer. 
     
     
         13 . The upper of  claim 12 , wherein the second layer comprises a polyurethane laminate material. 
     
     
         14 . The upper of  claim 12 , wherein the first layer defines an exterior surface portion of the upper, and the second layer is disposed beneath the first layer. 
     
     
         15 . An article of footwear comprising a sole structure and the upper of  claim 1  coupled with the sole structure. 
     
     
         16 . An article of footwear comprising:
 a sole; and   an upper coupled to the sole, the upper comprising an open textile structure including a plurality of strands, wherein the textile further comprises:   pillar members including a first pillar member spaced from a second pillar member by a gap; and   a plurality of linking members extending from the first pillar member to the second pillar member, the plurality of linking members permitting relative movement between the first pillar member and the second pillar member.   
     
     
         17 . The article of footwear of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the open textile structure is a knit textile comprising courses and wales; and   the pillar members comprise a interconnected loops formed of one or more strands.   
     
     
         18 . The article of footwear of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the open textile structure is a woven structure comprising a warp and a weft;   the weft incudes a weft strand; and   the warp includes a first warp strand twisted around a second warp strand between picks of the weft strand.   
     
     
         19 . The article of footwear of  claim 16 , wherein the linking members define a plurality of openings along the gap between the first pillar member and the second pillar member. 
     
     
         20 . The article of footwear of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of strands comprises a plurality of hard yarns.