Footwear article with tongue reinforcer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11219274-B2
Application number	US-201916662628-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 24, 2019
Priority date	Dec 21, 2018
Publication date	Jan 11, 2022
Grant date	Jan 11, 2022

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.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A footwear article comprising:
an upper coupled to a sole, the upper comprising a medial side, a lateral side, 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;
a medial-side connector attaching the tongue to the medial side;
a lateral-side connector attaching the tongue to the lateral side and spaced apart from the medial-side connector 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.

2. The footwear article of claim 1 , wherein the collar elevator stores potential energy by elastically deforming from a first configuration to a second configuration when an applied force moves the ankle collar from the raised state to the lowered state, and wherein the potential energy returns the collar elevator to the first configuration upon removal of the applied force.

3. The footwear article of claim 2 , wherein the collar elevator includes a medial lever arm, a lateral lever arm, and a center connecting band that couples the medial lever arm to the lateral lever arm and that is located in a rear portion of the ankle collar.

4. The footwear article of claim 1 , wherein the tongue includes a first material layer having a first stiffness; and wherein the tongue reinforcer includes a second material layer having a second stiffness equal to or greater than the first stiffness.

5. The footwear article of claim 1 , wherein the tongue includes a first material layer having an outward-facing surface and having an inward-facing surface, and wherein the inward-facing surface is between the tongue reinforcer and the outward-facing surface.

6. The footwear article of claim 1 , wherein the tongue includes a first material layer having an outward-facing surface and having an inward-facing surface, and wherein the outward-facing surface is between the tongue reinforcer and the inward-facing surface.

7. The footwear article of claim 1 , wherein the medial-side connector includes a first part of a first hook-and-loop connector, wherein a second part of the first hook-and-loop connector is attached to the medial side, wherein the lateral-side connector includes a first part of a second hook-and-loop connector, and wherein a second part of the second hook-and-loop connector is attached to the lateral side.

8. The footwear article of claim 1 , wherein the tongue includes a tongue reference point that interests a latitudinal midline reference plane of the footwear article, and wherein a portion of the tongue reinforcer having the second length is positioned between the tongue reference point and a topline edge of the tongue.

9. A footwear article comprising:
an upper coupled to a sole, the upper comprising a medial side, a lateral side, 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, and a tongue reference point intersecting a latitudinal midline reference plane of the footwear article;
at least one connector attaching the tongue to either the medial side or the lateral side; and
a tongue reinforcer coupled to the tongue and having at least a portion that overlaps with the at least one connector, wherein the portion is positioned between the tongue reference point and the topline edge.

10. The footwear article of claim 9 , wherein a second distance between the tongue reference point and the portion is equal to or larger than half of a third distance extending from the tongue reference point to the topline edge.

11. The footwear article of claim 9 , wherein the collar elevator stores potential energy by elastically deforming from a first configuration to a second configuration when an applied force moves the ankle collar from the raised state to the lowered state, and wherein the potential energy returns the collar elevator to the first configuration upon removal of the applied force.

12. The footwear article of claim 11 , wherein the collar elevator includes a medial lever arm, a lateral lever arm, and a center connecting band that couples the medial lever arm to the lateral lever arm and that is located in a rear portion of the ankle collar.

13. The footwear article of claim 9 , wherein the connector includes a first part of a hook-and-loop connector, and wherein a second part of the hook-and-loop connector is attached to the medial side or the lateral side.

14. The footwear article of claim 9 , wherein the tongue includes a first material layer having an outward-facing surface and having an inward-facing surface, and wherein the inward-facing surface is between the tongue reinforcer and the outward-facing surface.

15. The footwear article of claim 9 , wherein the tongue includes a first material layer having an outward-facing surface and having an inward-facing surface, and wherein the outward-facing surface is between the tongue reinforcer and the inward-facing surface.

16. A footwear article comprising:
an upper coupled to a sole, the upper comprising a medial side, a lateral side, 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 and a tongue reference point intersecting a latitudinal midline reference plane of the footwear article;
at least one connector attaching the tongue to either the medial side or the lateral side; 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.

17. The footwear article of claim 16 , wherein the tongue-reinforcer bottom edge is positioned between the tongue reference point and the topline edge.

18. The footwear article of claim 16 , wherein the tongue-reinforcer includes a portion that overlaps with the at least one connector and wherein the portion is between the tongue reference point and the topline edge.

19. The footwear article of claim 18 , wherein the tongue-reinforcer top edge comprises the tongue-reinforcer width.

20. The footwear article of claim 19 , wherein the tongue-reinforcer bottom edge comprises the tongue-reinforce width.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Orand Austin J
• Weast Aaron B
• Williams Ii Peter P

Classifications

• A43B1/0081

  made at least partially of hook-and-loop type material  (hook and loop-type straps for fastening purpose A43C11/1493) · CPC title

• A43B23/16

  made of impregnated fabrics, plastics or the like {(A43B23/086 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• A43B23/26 Primary

  Tongues for shoes · CPC title

• A43C11/004

  Fastenings fixed along the upper edges of the uppers · CPC title

• A43C11/08

  Hook fastenings; Rotary hooks · CPC title