Issued Patents

This week I will focus on issued patents.  Below is a summary of selected patents that have been recently issued in textile related classification codes:

Article of footwear:  A method of making a sole for an article of footwear is disclosed. The method includes steps of attaching a double sided acrylic adhesive film to a composite plate. The composite plate is then attached to an outer member of the article of footwear using the acrylic adhesive film.  Patent:  8756831.  Inventor:  Spanks and Foxen.  Assignee:  Nike, Inc.

Garment pocket system for securely holding personal items with easy access:  A garment pocket system securely holds personal items with easy access to a touch screen feature of an electronic device. The garment includes a pocket system accessible from one or more garment surfaces allowing a user to store an external electronic device having a touch control surface. The pocket system includes a guiding system for receiving and positioning the touch control surface.  Patent:  8756716.  Inventor:  Jordan and Payne.  Assignee:  Scottevest, Inc.

Polyolefin fiber reinforced rubber:  Rubberized polyolefin fabrics and a method for vulcanizing rubber without melting or lowering the performance of the fibers. A plurality of fibrous layers are molded and rubberized under high pressures, producing fabrics having customized stiffness properties.  Patent:  8759236.  Inventor:  Bhatnagar and Cordova.  Assignee:  Honeywell International, Inc.

Method for producing an upper part of a shoe, in particular of a sports shoe:  The method produces an upper part of a sports shoe with enhanced wearing comfort. The method entails supplying a shoe last, which corresponds to the inner shape of the upper part of the shoe to a radial braiding machine having an annular creel, which is designed for weaving and/or braiding along three axes; Guiding the at least one shoe last through the center of the creel and simultaneously weaving and/or braiding along three axes using a fiber material around the outer circumference of the shoe last; and terminating the weaving and/or braiding and removing the woven and/or braided material from the shoe last.  Patent:  8757038.  Inventor:  Siegismund  Assignee: Puma SE

Radially collapsible and expandable textile sleeve and method of construction thereof:  A textile sleeve for routing and protecting fiber or cable bundles and method of construction.  The sleeve has a wall of interlaced monofilament and/or multifilament yarns. Opposite edges of the wall extend along a central axis of the sleeve. The opposite edges are biased into a self-wrapping, overlapping relation with one another to create a tubular cavity. A plurality of stitched hinges formed with the interlaced yarns extend along the length of the sleeve in parallel to the central axis of the tubular cavity with the hinges separating relatively rigid, arcuate regions of the wall from one another. The hinges allow the sleeve to be collapsed and nested with one another to allow significantly increased numbers of the sleeves to be shipped and stowed in a significantly reduced volume of space.  Patent: 8737215.  Inventor:  Burdy  Assignee:  Federal-Mogul Powertrain, Inc.

Hoodie with three groups of connectors on an opening edge of the hood:  A garment with a hood, wherein three connectors are installed around the open edge of the hood surrounding the face of the wearer. Each group of the three  connectors are positioned at a vertex of a triangle shape. When the hood has been put on the head of the wearer, the exposure area of the wearer's face is to be adjusted to be smaller or larger, by tightening or untightening one or more pair of the connectors. When tightened, the hood provides better protection for the user against severe weather including cold, wind and snow.  Patent:  8756713.  Inventor:  Fu.  Not Assigned.

Cushioned athletic cleat:  A reinforcing elastic polymer, such as a urethane/rubber material, is selectively spray-applied over upper, midsole or outsole components of articles of footwear. Such a material sprayed over the toe area of baseball shoes, for example, that is subjected to increased wear during use, serves to improve the durability of that area. A cleated midsole constructed of a lightweight foamed material such as EVA, has an elastic polymer outsole layer selectively spray-applied over the outer surface of the cleated midsole to form a combination midsole/outsole that provides improved durability and traction, as well as superior shock absorption characteristics.  Patent:  8756834.  Inventors:  Halberstadt and Hockerson.  Assignee:  Heart And Sole USA, LLC.

Lacing closure system for an object:  A heavy duty lacing system where the laces are run down each side of the lace eyelets as an initial step.  The laces are the laced up normally, but are interlaced with the lace itself instead of the eyelets.  Patent:  8756833.  Inventor:  Heard.  Assignee:  Nike, Inc.

Jim Carson is a principal of RB Consulting, Inc. and a registered patent agent.  He has over 30 years of experience across multiple industries including the biotechnology, textile, computer, telecommunications, and energy sectors.  RB Consulting, Inc. specializes in providing management, prototyping, and regulatory services to small and start-up businesses.  He can be reached via email at James.Carson.Jr@gmail.com or by phone at (803) 792-2183.