ARTICLE STRAP WITH INTEGRATED RETAINING FEATURES
An article with an elongated strap having a length and connected to the article. The article includes an adjustment buckle slideably disposed on the strap and a plurality of knit retaining features that extend substantially perpendicular to the length of the strap. The plurality of retaining features are configured to retainably engage with at least a first portion of the buckle and prevent the buckle from sliding along the length of the strap.
1 . An article comprising:
an elongated knit strap having a length and connected to the article;
an adjustment buckle slideably disposed on the strap; and
a plurality of knit retaining features that extend substantially perpendicular to the length of the strap, wherein the plurality of retaining features are configured to retainably engage with at least a first portion of the buckle and prevent the buckle from sliding along the length of the strap.
2 . The article of claim 1 , wherein the strap and the knit retaining features form a continuous knit structure.
3 . The article of claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of retaining features comprise one of a groove, channel, concavity, protrusion, stepped portion, convex shape, or ridge.
4 . The article of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of retaining features comprise a repeating series of grooves that are adjacent to respective channels.
5 . The article of claim 2 , wherein the buckle comprises a first opening and a second opening and a first engagement region corresponding with the first opening and a buckle corresponding with the second opening.
6 . The article of claim 5 , wherein a first knit retaining feature of the knit retaining features is configured to engage with the first engagement region and a second knit retaining feature of the knit retaining features is configured to engage with the second engagement region.
7 . The article of claim 2 , wherein the strap is connected to the article at a first end and is connected to the buckle at a second end.
8 . The article of claim 2 , wherein the retaining features comprise a plurality of ridges, wherein a distance from the center of a first ridge to the center of a second ridge is 3.0 millimeters (mm)-9.0 mm.
9 . The article of claim 2 , wherein the retaining features comprise a plurality of ridges and adjacent grooves, wherein a distance from the topmost surface of a first ridge of the plurality of ridges and the bottom most surface of an adjacent first groove of the plurality of grooves is 0.2 mm-1.5 mm.