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US 10,455,898 B1Granted
Footwear article with tongue reinforcer
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsAustin J. Orand, Aaron B. Weast, Peter P. Williams, II
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A footwear article includes a tongue and a tongue reinforcer, which helps the tongue maintain a shape and position when the tongue is subjected to forces or adjustments, such as from other footwear-article elements or from a wearer. For example, the tongue reinforcer may help the tongue maintain a shape and position when a wearer is inserting his or her foot into the footwear article or when medial and/or lateral quarters press inward on the tongue.
Claims20
A footwear article comprising:
- an upper coupled to a sole, the upper comprising a medial quarter, a lateral quarter, a heel region, and an ankle collar movable between a lowered state positioned closer to the sole and a raised state positioned farther from the sole;
- a collar elevator positioned in at least the heel region and operable to move the ankle collar from the lowered state to the raised state;
- a tongue having an outward-facing surface;
- a medial-side connector attaching the outward-facing surface to the medial quarter, wherein the medial-side connector includes a medial-connector midpoint;
- a lateral-side connector attaching the outward-facing surface to the lateral quarter, wherein the lateral-side connector includes lateral-connector midpoint spaced apart from the medial-connector midpoint by a first length;
- and
- a tongue reinforcer coupled to the tongue and having a tongue-reinforcer medial edge and a tongue-reinforcer lateral edge that are spaced apart from one another by a second length, wherein the second length is equal to or greater than the first length.
4 more elements
A footwear article comprising:
- an upper coupled to a sole, the upper comprising a medial quarter, a lateral quarter, a heel region, and an ankle collar movable between a lowered state positioned closer to the sole and a raised state positioned farther from the sole;
- a collar elevator positioned in at least the heel region and operable to move the ankle collar from the lowered state to the raised state;
- a tongue having a topline edge, an outward-facing surface, and a tongue reference point intersecting a latitudinal midline reference plane of the footwear article;
- a medial-side connector attaching the outward-facing surface to the medial quarter;
- a lateral-side connector spaced a first distance apart from the medial-side connector and attaching the outward-facing surface to the lateral quarter;
- and
- a tongue reinforcer coupled to the tongue and having at least a portion with a tongue-reinforcer medial edge, a tongue-reinforcer lateral edge, and a tongue-reinforcer width from the tongue-reinforcer medial edge to the a tongue-reinforcer lateral edge, wherein tongue-reinforcer width is larger than the first distance and wherein the at least the portion is positioned between the tongue reference point and the topline edge.
4 more elements
A footwear article comprising:
- an upper coupled to a sole, the upper comprising a medial quarter, a lateral quarter, a heel region, and an ankle collar movable between a lowered state positioned closer to the sole and a raised state positioned farther from the sole;
- a collar elevator positioned in at least the heel region and operable to move the ankle collar from the lowered state to the raised state;
- a tongue having a topline edge, an outward-facing surface, and a tongue reference point intersecting a latitudinal midline reference plane of the footwear article;
- a medial-side connector attaching the outward-facing surface to the medial quarter;
- a lateral-side connector attaching the outward-facing surface to the lateral quarter;
- and
- a tongue reinforcer coupled to the tongue and having a tongue-reinforcer width extending from a tongue-reinforcer medial edge to a tongue-reinforcer lateral edge and having a tongue-reinforcer length extending from a tongue-reinforcer top edge to a tongue-reinforcer bottom edge, wherein the tongue-reinforcer width is larger than the tongue-reinforcer length, and wherein the tongue-reinforcer top edge is between the tongue reference point and the topline edge.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.