Shoe upper and shoe upper manufacturing method

Abstract

Provided is a shoe upper for which a sewing operation is easy and that is superior in productivity. A shoe upper ( 1 ) includes a heel knitted fabric ( 10 ) that is formed in a shape such that it wraps around a portion ranging from the Achilles tendon to the heel of a wearer, and a body knitted fabric ( 11 ) that constitutes the portion of the shoe upper ( 1 ) other than the heel knitted fabric ( 10 ). The shoe upper ( 1 ) further includes a toe side joint portion ( 13 ) that retains a shape of a front end portion of the body knitted fabric ( 11 ) such that it wraps around the toes of the wearer. A first line (L 1 ) obtained by bringing a left edge portion ( 11 a ) and a right edge portion ( 11 b ), in the knitting width direction, of the body knitted fabric ( 11 ) into butting contact with each other, and a second line (L 2 ) obtained by folding a set up portion ( 10 s ) of the heel knitted fabric ( 10 ) into two portions so that the two portions butt against each other are in one straight line. The first line and the second line are formed at positions on the sole cover ( 2 ).

1 . A shoe upper made of a knitted fabric with a sole cover configured to cover an entire sole portion of a wearer, and an instep cover configured to cover a portion on an instep side of the wearer, forming a foot insertion opening, the shoe upper comprising:
 a heel knitted fabric that is knitted so that its set up portion is wider than its knitting end portion, the heel knitted fabric being formed in a shape such that it wraps around a portion ranging from an Achilles tendon to a heel of the wearer by the set up portion being arranged on a sole cover side in a state in which it is folded into two portions at a center in a knitting width direction of the set up portion so that the two portions butt against each other, and the knitting end portion constituting a part, on a heel side, of the foot insertion opening;   a body knitted fabric that is knitted to follow a left edge portion and a right edge portion, in the knitting width direction, of the heel knitted fabric, and constitutes a portion of the shoe upper other than the heel knitted fabric; and   a toe side joint portion that is formed by bringing edge portions on a terminal side in a wale direction of the body knitted fabric close to a center, in the knitting width direction, of the body knitted fabric and joining the edge portions to each other, and retains a shape of a front end portion of the body knitted fabric such that it wraps around toes of the wearer,   wherein a first line obtained by bringing a left edge portion and a right edge portion, in the knitting width direction, of the body knitted fabric into butting contact with each other, and a second line obtained by folding the set up portion of the heel knitted fabric into two portions so that the two portions butt against each other are in one straight line, the first line and the second line being formed at positions on the sole cover.   
     
     
         2 . The shoe upper according to  claim 1 , comprising:
 a sewn portion in which the first line and the second line are sewn.   
     
     
         3 . A shoe upper manufacturing method of knitting a shoe upper with a sole cover configured to cover a sole portion of a wearer, and an instep cover configured to cover a portion on an instep side of the wearer, forming a foot insertion opening, using a flat knitting machine provided with at least a pair of a front and a back needle bed, the shoe upper including: a heel knitted fabric that has a dimension from a heel-side portion of the foot insertion opening to a heel-side portion of the sole cover, and is configured to wrap around a portion ranging from an Achilles tendon to an heel of the wearer; and a body knitted fabric that is a portion other than the heel knitted fabric, the method comprising:
 a step α of knitting the heel knitted fabric whose set up portion is wider than its knitting end portion;   a step β of starting knitting a left portion of the body knitted fabric that follows a left edge portion, in a knitting width direction, of the heel knitted fabric, and starting knitting a right portion of the body knitted fabric that follows a right edge portion, in the knitting width direction, of the heel knitted fabric;   a step γ of knitting the left portion and the right portion in a state in which they are lined up side by side on the needle beds, and forming a tapered toe side of the body knitted fabric; and   a step δ of joining a left curved edge portion formed on the toe side of the left portion and a right curved edge portion formed on the toe side of the right portion sequentially from a boundary between the left and right curved edge portions,   wherein in the step γ, a knitting width of the left portion and a knitting width of the right portion are adjusted so that a left edge portion in the knitting width direction of the left portion and a right edge portion in the knitting width direction of the right portion are in a straight line when, after knitting the shoe upper is complete, the heel knitted fabric is folded into two portions at a center in its knitting width direction, and the left portion and the right portion of the body knitted fabric are laid on each other in a thickness direction.   
     
     
         4 . The shoe upper manufacturing method according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein in the step α, after the set up portion of the heel knitted fabric is knitted, inside widening is performed at at least two positions with a central portion in the knitting width direction interposed therebetween to increase a knitting width of the heel knitted fabric.   
     
     
         5 . The shoe upper manufacturing method according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein the step δ is followed by a step c of joining by sewing a first line obtained by bringing a left edge portion and a right edge portion, in the knitting width direction, of the body knitted fabric into butting contact with each other, and a second line obtained by folding the set up portion of the heel knitted fabric into two portions so that the two portions butt against each other.   
     
     
         6 . The shoe upper manufacturing method according to  claim 4 ,
 wherein the step δ is followed by a step c of joining by sewing a first line obtained by bringing a left edge portion and a right edge portion, in the knitting width direction, of the body knitted fabric into butting contact with each other, and a second line obtained by folding the set up portion of the heel knitted fabric into two portions so that the two portions butt against each other.