Patent attributes
Systems and methods for manufacturing knitted shoe uppers. An article of fully finished three-dimensionally weft knitted footwear is manufactured through a knitting process which can be performed by an automated V-bed flat knitting machine. During the knitting process, a plurality of knitted members are knitted into shape sequentially and connected to one another through knitted live hinges, each member being a ply, a layer, a layer portion or an appendage. The knitting machine manipulates the knitted members into their destined places as in the final product without cutting and sewing, thereby forming a seamless unitary textile construction. The process creates a seamless, full gauge, dimensionally stable footwear upper, as a unitary textile construction with an integrated anatomically appropriate heel. The entire upper, including the closure element of the upper, may be completed exclusively by the knitting machine, ready for the following shoe making process.
