The 3 common types of knitted uppers: warp knitting, horizontal knitting, and weft knitting

Date：2023-03-10 18:06:53

Warp knit upper
At present, warp knit upper material is mainly based on double needle bed spacer fabric, commonly used models are RDPJ5/1, RDPJ7/1 and other double needle bed warp knitting machines with one jacquard comb, using the jacquard jacquard principle to outline the shape of the upper on one side of the spacer fabric, and using different jacquard tissue structure to meet the needs of different functional areas and fashion design.

Transverse knitting upper
Cross-knitted uppers are sports shoe uppers with rich color variations that can be fully or semi-formed by knitting with colorful yarns on computerized flat knitting machines. Because of its high degree of forming, and its strong advantages in reducing labor costs, lowering production costs and improving production efficiency, it has been a hot spot in the industry in recent years.

Weft knitting upper
Weft knitting equipment knitting principle is similar to flat knitting machine, is the use of needle barrel and needle plate are able to electronically select the needle and turn the needle function, in addition to some partial knitting, collection and release needle function, flat knitting machine can achieve the jacquard and structure, weft knitting on all can be achieved, but the efficiency of circular knitting machine is about 10 times than the horizontal machine (depending on the different tissue structure), so the production of upper materials on circular knitting machine has a great potential advantage.
Features of knitted shoe materials

Personalized and fashionable: knitted upper materials use the knitting principle and adopt the jacquard process, which makes patterns, colors and styles varied and beautiful.
Low carbon and environmental protection: The production of knitted upper materials is different from other leather and rubber shoe materials that produce large pollution, but use knitting equipment to knit and form directly in warp knitting machine, flat knitting machine or circular knitting machine, which has the advantage of low carbon and environmental protection.
Breathable and comfortable: Knitted upper materials are often made of chemical fiber filaments, and the knitted uppers are very light and soft, and with the knitted coils and mesh structure, the upper materials are breathable and do not smell sweaty on the feet of consumers.
Cost saving: Knitted upper materials are less expensive to produce, shortening the shoe production process without the need for traditional shoe cutting materials to sew and glue the various parts of the shoe together. Finished shoe manufacturers can simply purchase the sole and glue it into a complete pair of shoes, saving many processes and reducing labor costs.
Development trend of knitted shoe materials
Diversification: Diversification in all aspects of raw materials, upper structure, styles, and color matching. Raw materials include polyester color silk, low melting point leather core silk, nylon ammonia covered silk, full fusion silk, polypropylene and other new functional raw materials; upper structure from a single jacquard, single structure to the combination of jacquard and structure, the combination of different structure direction development; style and color matching more abundant.
Functionalization: knitted upper materials are not only in line with the conventional performance of sports shoes in terms of wear resistance, top breakage, breathability and comfort, light weight and softness, but also in the direction of moisture absorption and perspiration, anti-bacterial and anti-odor.
Intelligent: intelligent from layout design, weaving, finishing, and finished shoes.