Patent attributes
A volumetric weaving approach employs a vertical aspect of woven warp and weft fibers to generate volumetric structures through formation of tie-downs. Tie downs define warp and weft fibers that take a vertical path or component extending perpendicular to a weave plane. Independently controlled heddles provide selective warp fibers control, and a two-dimensional creel that dispenses the warp fibers at differing feed rates allows manipulation of the fibers into three dimensional structures or portions. As a shuttle draws the weft fiber, different layers are raised and lowered to lend a vertical axis to the resulting volumetric structure. Interconnections between the portions include the use of the tie downs to connect multiple portions to define 3-dimensional panels of a finished article such as a shoe. A single pass defining all the interconnected portions of the shoe generates the fully formed shoe without subsequent cutting and seaming of different textile panels.
