Article Of Footwear With Tongue And Heel Openings
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorErin Elizabeth Toraya
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An article of footwear may have an upper and a sole structure secured to the upper. The upper includes a tongue opening and a heel opening. The tongue opening extends through a tongue of the upper, and the tongue opening is located in a rearward area of the tongue. The heel opening extends into a heel region of the upper. In donning an article of footwear a first finger may extend through an opening in a tongue of the article of footwear. A second finger is located through an opening in a heel region of the article of footwear. The fingers are separated to expand a size of an ankle aperture of the article of footwear, and foot is inserted into the article of footwear through the ankle aperture.
Claims16
An article of footwear having an upper and a sole structure secured to the upper, the upper comprising:
- a tongue opening extending through a tongue of the upper, the tongue opening being located in a rearward area of the tongue, a dimension extending across the tongue opening being at least 1.5 centimeters;
- and
- a heel opening extending into a heel region of the upper, a dimension extending across the heel opening being at least 1.5 centimeters.
An article of footwear having an upper and a sole structure secured to the upper,
- the upper comprising:
- a covering element having an exterior surface and an opposite interior surface, the exterior surface forming a portion of an exterior of the article of footwear, and the interior surface defining a portion of a void within the upper for receiving a foot of a wearer, the covering element extending (a) along a lateral side of the void, (b) along a medial side of the void, (c) over the void in a forefoot region of the article of footwear, and (d) around the void in a heel region of the article of footwear, and an upper edge of the covering element defining an ankle aperture in at least the heel region for providing the foot with access to the void;
- a throat area located in at least a midfoot region of the article of footwear, the midfoot region being located between the forefoot region and the heel region, the throat area including a plurality of lace-receiving elements and a lace engaged with the lace-receiving elements;
- and
- a tongue located in the throat area and extending under the lace;
- and the upper including:
- a tongue opening extending through a portion of the tongue located adjacent to the ankle aperture;
- a heel opening extending through the exterior surface and toward the interior surface in the heel region, the heel opening being spaced downward from the upper edge of the covering element;
- and
- a pocket located between (a) the exterior surface and the interior surface of the covering element and (b) the heel opening and the upper edge of the covering element, the pocket being an area where materials forming the covering element are unsecured to each other, and the heel opening providing access to the pocket.
A method of donning an article of footwear, the method comprising:
- extending a first finger through an opening in a tongue of the article of footwear;
- locating a second finger through an opening in a heel region of the article of footwear and between two material elements forming the heel region;
- separating the fingers to expand a size of an ankle aperture of the article of footwear;
- and
- inserting a foot into the article of footwear through the ankle aperture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.