ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 4 -- United States Patent no. 12,317,962, issued on June 3, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Three-dimensional printing of a traced element" was invented by Yoav Sterman (Portland, Ore.) and Todd A. Waatti (Battle Ground, Wash.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A method of forming a traced element is disclosed. The method may include printing layers of a traced element and incorporating a textile strand in overlapping polymer layers of the traced element. In some embodiments, the traced element may be formed on a base layer. The traced element may be incorporated into an upper for an article of footwear."
The patent was filed on Aug. 17, 2022, under Applicatio...