Article with ribbon structure and embroidered edges
An article of footwear is formed with an upper including a ribbon structure. Ribbon elements can be laid down in straight and winding sections, and the ribbon elements can be stitched or attached to a backing layer. A periphery of the ribbon structure can be embroidered to tack down any raised portions of the ribbon at the periphery.
1 . An upper for an article of footwear comprising:
a backing layer;
a ribbon layer disposed over at least a portion of the backing layer and comprising a ribbon element that extends over the portion of the backing layer, wherein the ribbon element possesses a width that is greater than a thickness to provide a two-dimensional appearance, and a length of the ribbon element is greater than the width of the ribbon element; and
a securing layer disposed over at least a portion of the ribbon layer so as to secure the ribbon layer to the backing layer, the securing layer consisting of at least one securing thread that overlies the ribbon element and extends through the backing layer to secure the ribbon element to the backing layer, wherein the securing thread has a high ratio of length to diameter to provide a one-dimensional appearance.
2 . The upper of claim 1 , wherein the ribbon element includes a straight ribbon section.
3 . The upper of claim 1 , wherein the ribbon layer includes a plurality of ribbon elements.
4 . The upper of claim 3 , wherein each ribbon element crosses over at least one other ribbon element along the ribbon layer.
5 . The upper of claim 4 , wherein the securing layer consists of a plurality of securing threads, and each securing thread crosses over at least one other securing thread.
6 . The upper according to claim 5 , wherein the securing threads secure the ribbon elements to the backing layer via embroidered stitches.
7 . The upper according to claim 1 , wherein the ribbon layer includes a plurality of straight ribbon sections and a plurality of curved ribbon sections.
8 . The upper according to claim 7 , wherein at least one curved ribbon section forms a turn providing a substantial change in direction of the ribbon element, thereby allowing the ribbon element to wind back and forth to form the ribbon layer.
9 . An upper for an article of footwear comprising:
a backing layer;
a ribbon layer disposed over a portion of the backing layer, the ribbon layer comprising a plurality of ribbon elements, wherein each ribbon element possesses a width that is greater than a thickness to provide a two-dimensional appearance, and a length of each ribbon element is greater than the width of each ribbon element; and
a securing layer consisting of an embroidered structure disposed over a portion of the ribbon layer, the embroidered structure consisting of a plurality of securing threads that overlie ribbon elements and secure ribbon elements of the ribbon layer to the backing layer, wherein each securing thread has a high ratio of length to diameter to provide a one-dimensional appearance, and each securing thread crosses over at least one other securing thread.
10 . The upper according to claim 9 , wherein each ribbon element crosses over at least one other ribbon element along the ribbon layer.
11 . The upper according to claim 9 , wherein the ribbon elements of the ribbon layer comprise a plurality of straight ribbon sections and a plurality of curved ribbon sections.
12 . The upper according to claim 11 , wherein at least one curved ribbon section forms a turn providing a substantial change in direction of the ribbon element defined by the at least one curved ribbon section, thereby allowing the ribbon element to wind back and forth to form a portion of the ribbon layer.
13 . The upper of claim 1 , wherein the securing thread is stitched to the backing layer on one side of the ribbon element, passes over an opposing side of the ribbon element and further stitched to the backing layer on the opposing side of the ribbon element.
14 . The upper of claim 1 , wherein the securing thread extends through the ribbon element.
15 . The upper of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of securing threads of the embroidered structure secure ribbon elements to the backing layer without extending through the ribbon elements.
16 . The upper of claim 9 , wherein at least some of the securing threads of the embroidered structure extend through ribbon elements.