ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 13 -- United States Patent no. 12,522,960, issued on Jan. 13, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Knit component bonding" was invented by Bhupesh Dua (Portland, Ore.), Karen A. Hawkinson (Portland, Ore.) and Benjamin A. Shaffer (Saratoga, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An article may include first and second components comprising non-woven textiles and a third component positioned between the first two components. A first surface of the third component that is adjacent the first component comprises a thermoplastic polymer material, and the third component is fused with a first region of the first component and unfused with a second region of the first co...