Anti-Stretch Treatment Of Leather For Articles Of Footwear

Abstract

An anti-stretch treatment of natural leather or suede materials for articles of footwear is provided. The anti-stretch treatment is used to prevent or reduce the degree or amount of variation in stretch property of an upper or vamp of articles of footwear. The anti-stretch treatment includes a plurality of welds in the material of the upper that provide resistance to stretching along a longitudinal direction, a lateral direction, or both, that assists with preventing or reducing stretching out of the upper of an article of footwear or otherwise losing shape or form.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An article of footwear comprising:
 an upper, the upper being made of a natural leather or suede material;   the upper including a vamp portion disposed across a midfoot region of the article; and   an anti-stretch treatment disposed across at least a portion of the vamp portion;   wherein the anti-stretch treatment comprises a plurality of welds in the material of the upper.   
     
     
         2 . The article of footwear according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of welds includes at least one weld that is disposed across the upper in a generally lateral direction. 
     
     
         3 . The article of footwear according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of welds includes at least one weld that is disposed across the upper in a generally longitudinal direction. 
     
     
         4 . The article of footwear according to  claim 1 , wherein the anti-stretch treatment includes a first group of welds and a second group of welds; and
 wherein the first group of welds and the second group of welds are disposed in different directions across the upper.   
     
     
         5 . The article of footwear according to  claim 1 , wherein the anti-stretch treatment extends along the vamp portion of the upper from at least a top end portion of the upper adjacent to an entry hole for a foot in a direction towards a toe end portion of the upper disposed in a forefoot region of the article. 
     
     
         6 . The article of footwear according to  claim 5 , wherein the anti-stretch treatment further includes at least one weld disposed on the upper adjacent to the toe end portion of the upper in the forefoot region. 
     
     
         7 . The article of footwear according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of welds of the anti-stretch treatment have an approximately uniform spacing between each of the welds. 
     
     
         8 . An article of footwear comprising:
 an upper made of a natural leather or suede material;   the upper including a vamp portion disposed across a midfoot region of the article; and   an anti-stretch treatment comprising a plurality of welds in the upper disposed across at least a portion of the vamp portion;   wherein the upper is associated with a first width across the vamp portion between a midfoot lateral edge and a midfoot medial edge when the article is in an unstretched configuration;   wherein the upper is associated with a second width across the vamp portion between the midfoot lateral edge and the midfoot medial edge when the article is in a stretched configuration; and   the first width being approximately equal to the second width.   
     
     
         9 . The article of footwear according to  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of welds of the anti-stretch treatment are disposed on the vamp portion between the midfoot lateral edge and the midfoot medial edge. 
     
     
         10 . The article of footwear according to  claim 8 , wherein the anti-stretch treatment is configured to resist stretching of the upper along at least one of a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction. 
     
     
         11 . The article of footwear according to  claim 10 , wherein the anti-stretch treatment is configured to resist stretching of the upper along both of the longitudinal direction and the lateral direction. 
     
     
         12 . The article of footwear according to  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of welds of the anti-stretch treatment are disposed in a curved arrangement across the vamp portion of the upper. 
     
     
         13 . The article of footwear according to  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of welds of the anti-stretch treatment have an approximately uniform spacing between each of the welds. 
     
     
         14 . The article of footwear according to  claim 8 , wherein the anti-stretch treatment includes a first group of welds and a second group of welds; and
 wherein the first group of welds and the second group of welds are disposed in different directions across the upper.   
     
     
         15 . The article of footwear according to  claim 8 , wherein the article of footwear further includes a plurality of tensile strand elements disposed along at least one of a lateral side and a medial side of the upper adjacent to the anti-stretch treatment. 
     
     
         16 . A method of providing a resistance to stretching to an article of footwear having an upper made of natural leather or suede materials, the method comprising:
 welding a portion of the material of the upper across a vamp portion of the upper to form a plurality of welds in the material;   wherein the plurality of welds in the material form an anti-stretch treatment that is disposed across a generally lateral direction of the upper; and   wherein the anti-stretch treatment provides resistance to stretching in the lateral direction to the upper.   
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16 , further comprising:
 welding a first group of welds across the vamp portion of the upper in the generally lateral direction; and   welding a second group of welds across the vamp portion of the upper in a generally longitudinal direction.   
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein the second group of welds are configured to provide resistance to stretching in the longitudinal direction of the upper. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of welds of the anti-stretch treatment are disposed in a curved arrangement across the vamp portion of the upper. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of welds of the anti-stretch treatment have an approximately uniform spacing between each of the welds.