Article of footwear with adjustable stiffness
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsPatricia L. Smaldone, Stephen D. Pelletier, Jr., Jeremy L. Connell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An article of footwear with adjustable stiffness is provided. The article of footwear in the form of a snowboard boot is provided with adjustable tensioning systems that are disposed on either side of an inner liner of the snowboard boot. The adjustable tensioning system includes a comb body structure having flex portions made of a plurality of extending fingers with a flexibility that can be controlled by the adjustable tensioning system. Depending on the level of tension applied by the tensioning system, or lack thereof, a range of flex profiles having varying amounts of stiffness are available to the wearer to adjust the overall stiffness of the snowboard boot.
Claims18
An article of footwear comprising:
- an upper;
- a body structure extending along the upper between a first end and a second end and movable between a relaxed state having a first geometry and a flexed state having a second geometry different than the first geometry, the body structure including leg members extending from a central portion to a peripheral portion defining an outer periphery of the body structure;
- and
- a cable extending (i) into the body structure and (ii) in a direction from the first end toward the second end along the central portion between opposing leg members, the cable operable to move in a direction away from the second end toward the first end to move the body structure from the relaxed state to the flexed state.
An article of footwear comprising:
- an upper;
- a body structure extending along the upper between a first end and a second end and movable between a relaxed state having a first rigidity and a flexed state having a second rigidity different than the first rigidity, the body structure including leg members extending from a central portion to a peripheral portion defining an outer periphery of the body structure;
- and
- a cable extending (i) into the body structure and (ii) in a direction from the first end toward the second end along the central portion between opposing leg members, the cable operable to move in a direction away from the second end toward the first end to move the body structure from the relaxed state to the flexed state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.