# US 12,004,588 B2 · Footwear with jointed sole structure for ease of access > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,004,588 B2 - Document ID: US12004588B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/306,357 - Filed: 2023-04-25 - Published: 2023-09-28 - Granted: 2024-06-11 - Earliest claimed: 2018-12-28 - Assignees: NIKE, Inc. - Applicants: NIKE, Inc. - Inventors: Rory S. Blanche; Timothy P. Hopkins; Elizabeth Langvin; Kaigin Olafson; Haley L. Toelle - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12004588B2 ## CPC - A43B 3/24: Collapsible or convertible - A43B 13/141: {with a part of the sole being flexible, e.g. permitting articulation or torsion} - A43B 3/246: {characterised by the sole} - A43B 11/00: Footwear with arrangements to facilitate putting-on or removing, e.g. with straps - A43B 13/14: characterised by the constructive form - A43B 13/28: characterised by their attachment, also attachment of combined soles and heels - A43B 13/37: Sole and heel units - A43B 23/0295: {Pieced uppers} - A43B 23/088: {Heel stiffeners (A43B23/10, A43B23/14, A43B23/16, A43B23/17 take precedence)} - B33Y 80/00: Products made by additive manufacturing - A43B: CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF FOOTWEAR; PARTS OF FOOTWEAR - B33Y: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING ## Abstract An article of footwear includes a sole structure that has a front midsole component and a rear midsole component. A connecting member connects the front midsole component to the rear midsole component. The connecting member defines a groove at a lower side of the sole structure between the front midsole component and the rear midsole component. The front midsole component and the rear midsole component are pivotable relative to one another at the groove between a use position and an access position. Confronting surfaces of the connecting member at the groove are closer to one another in the access position than in the use position so that the groove is relatively open in the use position, and the groove is relatively closed in the access position. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An article of footwear comprising: a sole structure including: a front midsole component and a rear midsole component; and a connecting member connecting the front midsole component to the rear midsole component and defining a groove at a lower side of the sole structure between the front midsole component and the rear midsole component; wherein the front midsole component and the rear midsole component are pivotable relative to one another at the groove between a use position and an access position; wherein confronting surfaces of the connecting member at the groove are closer to one another in the access position than in the use position so that the groove is relatively open in the use position, and the groove is relatively closed in the access position; wherein the front midsole component includes a heel footbed that extends over the groove and overlays the rear midsole component in the use position; wherein the rear midsole component includes a rib that projects over a foot-facing surface of the rear midsole component; wherein the heel footbed includes a tab protruding at a periphery of the heel footbed; wherein the tab interfaces with the rib when the sole structure moves from the access position to the use position, the tab being disposed below the rib in the use position. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The article of footwear of claim 1, wherein the rear midsole component includes a stiffening component that defines the rib and a recess below the rib, and the tab is disposed in the recess when the sole structure is in the use position. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The article of footwear of claim 1, wherein the heel footbed includes a body and an external stiffening layer on a periphery of the body, the external stiffening layer defining the tab. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The article of footwear of claim 3, wherein the body has a first hardness and the external stiffening layer has a second hardness greater than the first hardness. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The article of footwear of claim 1, wherein a side wall of the front midsole component and a side wall of the rear midsole component confront one another above the groove in the use position. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The article of footwear of claim 5, wherein a rear edge of the side wall of the front midsole component and a front edge of the side wall of the rear midsole component angle forward from the groove in the use position, with the side wall of the rear midsole component extending partially over the side wall of the front midsole component forward of the groove. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The article of footwear of claim 5, wherein: a front surface of the side wall of the rear midsole component is disposed at an acute angle to an exterior side surface of the side wall of the rear midsole component; and a rear surface of the side wall of the front midsole component is disposed at an obtuse angle to an exterior side surface of the side wall of the front midsole component. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The article of footwear of claim 5, wherein: a front surface of the side wall of the rear midsole component angles rearward from an outer edge of the front surface to an inner edge of the front surface; and a rear surface of the side wall of the front midsole component angles rearward from an outer edge of the front surface to an inner edge of the front surface. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The article of footwear of claim 1, wherein: the heel footbed is spaced apart from the rear midsole component in the access position. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The article of footwear of claim 9, wherein: the heel footbed includes a body and a plate embedded in or secured externally to the body; and the plate is relatively more rigid than the body. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The article of footwear of claim 1, wherein: the sole structure includes an outsole; the rear midsole component defines a ridge at a rearmost extent of the rear midsole component; and the outsole wraps upward along the rear midsole component over the ridge. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The article of footwear of claim 1, wherein: the sole structure further includes an outsole having a bottom portion secured to a bottom of the rear midsole component and a rear portion secured to a rear wall of the rear midsole component; and the bottom portion of the outsole is a ground-contact surface with a horizontal ground plane in the use position, and the rear portion of the outsole is the ground-contact surface with the horizontal ground plane in the access position. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The article of footwear of claim 1, further comprising: a footwear upper fixed to the sole structure. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The article of footwear of claim 13, wherein the footwear upper is configured as a divided footwear upper including a front upper portion fixed to the front midsole component and a separate rear upper portion fixed to the rear midsole component; wherein at least parts of the front upper portion and the separate rear upper portion are spaced further apart from one another in the access position than in the use position. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The article of footwear of claim 1, wherein the rear midsole component is non-integral with the front midsole component. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The article of footwear of claim 1, wherein: the rear midsole component is non-integral with the front midsole component; the connecting member includes a front wall secured to the front midsole component, a rear wall secured to the rear midsole component, and a peak at which the front wall is connected to the rear wall; the front wall, the rear wall, and the peak are one piece; and the front midsole component and the rear midsole component are pivotable relative to one another at the groove between the use position and the access position by the connecting member flexing at the peak. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The article of footwear of claim 1, wherein deformation and recovery of the sole structure provides an auditory and/or sensory signal to a wearer that the sole structure has completed movement from the access position to the use position. ### Claim 18 An article of footwear comprising: a sole structure including: a front midsole component and a rear midsole component; and a connecting member connecting the front midsole component to the rear midsole component and defining a groove at a lower side of the sole structure between the front midsole component and the rear midsole component; wherein the front midsole component and the rear midsole component are pivotable relative to one another at the groove between a use position and an access position; wherein confronting surfaces of the connecting member at the groove are closer to one another in the access position than in the use position so that the groove is relatively open in the use position, and the groove is relatively closed in the access position; wherein the front midsole component includes a heel footbed that extends over the groove and overlays the rear midsole component in the use position, the heel footbed is spaced apart from the rear midsole component in the access position, the heel footbed includes a body and a plate embedded in or secured externally to the body, the plate is relatively more rigid than the body; and wherein the plate is entirely rearward of the groove in the use position or the plate extends at least to the groove in the use position. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The article of footwear of claim 18, further comprising: a footwear upper fixed to the sole structure. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The article of footwear of claim 19, wherein the footwear upper is configured as a divided footwear upper including a front upper portion fixed to the front midsole component and a separate rear upper portion fixed to the rear midsole component; and wherein at least parts of the front upper portion and the separate rear upper portion are spaced further apart from one another in the access position than in the use position.