Footwear article with collar elevator
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsTimothy P. Hopkins, Austin J. Orand, Wade Flanagan, Aaron B. Weast, Peter P. Williams, II
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Abstract
A footwear article includes a heel structure that returns an ankle collar from a second state that is conducive to donning up to a first state that secures the wearer's foot during wear. The footwear article includes an upper having a foot insertion opening. The foot-insertion opening defines a first circumference when the heel structure is in the first state, and wherein the heel structure expands the foot-insertion opening to a second circumference when the heel structure is in the second state, such that the second circumference is larger than the first circumference.
Claims16
A footwear article capable of hands-free donning, comprising:
- a sole;
- an upper coupled to the sole, the upper having an ankle region, a heel region, a foot-insertion opening, and an ankle collar that is movable between a first state and a second state, wherein the ankle collar is more rearwardly deflected in the second state as compared to the first state;
- a heel structure operable to return the ankle collar from the second state to the first state, wherein the heel structure is formed from a material having a greater stiffness than the upper in at least the heel region;
- and
- wherein the foot-insertion opening defines a first circumference when the heel structure is in the first state, and wherein the heel structure expands the foot-insertion opening to a second circumference when the heel structure is in the second state, such that the second circumference is larger than the first circumference.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.