The present teachings generally include a heel spring device for an article of footwear.
Traditionally, placing footwear on a foot often requires the use of one or both hands to stretch the ankle opening of a footwear upper, and hold the rear portion during foot insertion, especially in the case of a relatively soft upper and/or an upper that does not have a heel counter.
Devices for easing foot entry into an article of footwear are disclosed herein. Each of the devices may enable hands-free foot entry, such as by loading the device with the foot to access a foot-receiving cavity from a rearward position, and sliding the foot forward and downward into the foot-receiving cavity.
Within the scope of the present teachings, an article of footwear may comprise an upper defining a foot-receiving cavity with an ankle opening. A sole structure may be secured to and may underlie the upper. A heel spring device may be connected to a heel region of the upper. The heel spring device may include a control bar having a center segment connected to the upper rearward of the ankle opening, a medial side arm extending downwardly and forwardly from the center segment at a medial side of the upper, and a lateral side arm extending downwardly and forwardly from the center segment at a lateral side of the upper. The center segment, medial side arm, and lateral side arm may be portions of an integral, one-piece component, or may be separate components attached to one another. The heel spring device may further include an extension disposed in a back portion of the article of footwear and extending upwardly toward the control bar. At least a portion of the control bar may be elastically deformable under an applied downward force depressing the control bar toward the extension. The extension may limit downward movement of the control bar. The control bar and the upper may return to an unloaded position upon removal of the applied load. The upper may move with the center segment and may deform such that the ankle opening may be closer to the sole structure when the control bar is depressed than when the applied load is removed.
In one or more embodiments of the article of footwear, ends of the medial side arm and the lateral side arm opposite the center segment may be anchored, such as to the sole structure. In such embodiments, for example, the extension may be secured to the upper or to the sole structure in the back portion of the article of footwear, such as in a rear-facing portion of the heel region.
In one or more embodiments of the article of footwear, the extension may be centrally disposed on the back portion of the article of footwear and the heel region of the upper may deform towards the foot-receiving cavity when the control bar is depressed.
In one or more embodiments of the article of footwear, the center segment of the control bar may include an aperture, and the article of footwear may further comprise a tab extending from the heel region of the upper through the aperture and secured to the heel region of the upper adjacent to the control bar to connect the upper to the control bar.
In one or more embodiments of the article of footwear, the upper has a first thickness at a first location between the control bar and the extension and a second thickness at a second location between the first location and the extension. The second thickness may be less than the first thickness. This may encourage folding of the upper at the thinner, second location when the control bar is under the applied load.
In one or more embodiments, the article of footwear may further comprise a base having a medial base arm connected to the medial arm of the control bar, a lateral base arm connected to the lateral arm of the control bar, and a center segment connecting the medial base arm to the lateral base arm. The extension may be disposed on the center segment of the base and may extend away from the medial base arm and the lateral base arm.
In one or more embodiments, the extension may have a beveled outer surface with a concave upper bevel extending forwardly from a rearmost extent of the extension, and a lower bevel that slopes downwardly and forwardly from the rearmost extent of the extension. The sole structure may slope downwardly and forwardly from the lower bevel.
An upper surface of the center segment of the control bar may slope forwardly and downwardly into the foot-receiving cavity. In one or more embodiments, at either or both of the medial side and the lateral side of the control bar, the upper surface of the center segment extends along a ledge projecting forwardly above a descending portion of a corresponding one of the medial side arm and lateral side arm. The ledge may be referred to as a raised ledge and may be adapted to be depressed by a user's foot. The ledge may help wearers who have limited dexterity or accuracy of foot placement as it may more easily enable depression of the control bar to occur even in the event that the foot is not precisely centered over the control bar.
In one or more embodiments, the footwear upper may be characterized by the absence of a rigid heel counter in the heel region. For example, in embodiments in which the device includes a base, there may be an absence of a rigid heel counter between the control bar and the base aft of a junction between the control bar and the base.
Within the scope of the present teachings, a device configured to surround a portion of a foot-receiving cavity at a heel region of an article of footwear comprises a control bar having a center segment, a medial side arm extending from the center segment, and a lateral side arm spaced from the medial side arm and extending from the center segment. The device may comprise an extension extending toward the control bar. At least a portion of the control bar may be elastically deformable under an applied force depressing the control bar toward the extension, and the extension may limit movement of the control bar. The control bar may be adapted to return to an unloaded position upon removal of the applied force.
In one or more embodiments of the device, the extension may have a rear protrusion that has a beveled outer surface with a concave upper bevel extending forwardly from a rearmost extent of the rear protrusion, and with a lower bevel that slopes downwardly and forwardly from the rearmost extent of the rear protrusion.
In one or more embodiments of the device, the device further comprises a base connected to both the medial side arm and the lateral side arm, and the extension may extend from the base. The medial side arm and the lateral side arm may extend downwardly and forwardly from the center segment of the control bar to define an acute angle with the base when in the unloaded position.
In one or more embodiments of the device, the medial side arm and the lateral side arm may extend downwardly and forwardly from the center segment of the control bar to define an acute angle with the base when in the unloaded position.
In one or more embodiments of the device, the base may have a medial base arm connected to the medial side arm of the control bar, a lateral base arm connected to the lateral side arm of the control bar, and a center segment connecting the medial base arm to the lateral base arm, and the extension may be a rounded protrusion extending upwardly from the center segment of the base.
In one or more embodiments of the device, the center segment of the base may have a rear protrusion extending away from the medial base arm and the lateral base arm.
In one or more embodiments of the device, the rear protrusion may have a beveled outer surface with a concave upper bevel extending forwardly from a rearmost extent of the rear protrusion, and a lower bevel that slopes downwardly and forwardly from the rearmost extent of the rear protrusion.
In one or more embodiments of the device, an upper surface of the center segment of the control bar slopes forwardly and downwardly. In one or more embodiments of the device, the center segment of the control arm may have an aperture extending through the center segment. The aperture may be configured as a curved slot. In one or more embodiments of the device, at either or both of the medial side and the lateral side of the control bar, an upper surface of the center segment may extend along a ledge projecting forwardly above a descending portion of a corresponding one of the medial side arm and lateral side arm. The ledge may be referred to as a raised ledge, and may be adapted to be depressed by a user's foot. At least a portion of the device may be a relatively low coefficient of friction (e.g., relative to the material or materials of the upper). For example, in one or more embodiments of the device, at least a portion of the device may comprise a polyether block amide.
The device may store potential energy, such as elastic energy and/or spring energy, which returns the control bar to the unstressed position upon removal of the applied load. As used herein, elastic bending may also be referred to as resilient bending, and entails resilient deformation or elastic deformation. For example, a foot partially inserted into the foot-receiving cavity of the upper can press down on the control bar, and the heel region of the foot can then slip into the foot-receiving cavity to complete foot entry without requiring the use of a hand or of any tool to adjust the upper. In one example, the extension limits the amount of deformation of the control bar, thereby preventing plastic deformation. Because plastic deformation could cause rupture of the device due to failure of the material of the device over time, the extension may prolong the useful life of the device.
In one or more embodiments of the device, an upper surface of the center segment of the control arm may slope forwardly and downwardly. This ramped surface may help direct the foot downward and forward into the foot-receiving cavity during application of the downward force on the control bar. At least a portion of the device may comprise a material having certain properties, such as a relatively low coefficient of friction to encourage the foot to slide downward and forward in this manner. For example, at least a portion of the device may include a material with a lower coefficient of friction than the material or materials of the upper. For example, at least a portion of the device may include a coating having these properties. In one example, at least a portion of the device may comprise a polyether block amide. If at least a portion of the device comprises a material with a relatively low coefficient of friction, this may ease foot entry whether the foot is bare or a sock is disposed on the foot, as both bare skin or any of various sock materials may slide with greater ease downward and forward into the foot-receiving cavity when sliding against the at least a portion of the control bar that includes a material with a relatively low coefficient of friction.
In one or more embodiments of the device, the device, including the control bar and the base, if any, may be a single, unitary, one-piece component. In one or more embodiments of the device, the first side arm and the second side arm bow apart from one another when the control bar is in the loaded position. With a footwear upper attached to the side arms, a foot-receiving cavity of the footwear upper is opened wider when the side arms bow apart, thus further easing foot entry into the foot-receiving cavity.
In one or more embodiments of the device, the first side arm and the second side arm may each twist outwardly along their respective longitudinal axis from the base to the center segment of the control bar. The outward twist may help to encourage the down and back movement of the center segment during loading by the foot.
In one or more embodiments of the device, the first side arm and the second side arm may be asymmetrical with respect to (i.e., about) a longitudinal axis of the article of footwear extending between the first side arm and the second side arm. For example, the first side arm may be a medial side arm and the second side arm may be a lateral side arm. The medial side arm may be shorter than the lateral side arm, may have a greater lateral curvature than the lateral side arm, or both, similar to the shape of a typical heel region of a foot.
In one or more embodiments of the device, the base may have an inwardly-extending flange. For example, the flange may be seated in a recess of a sole structure and secured to the foot-receiving surface of the sole structure in a heel region of the sole structure.
In one or more embodiments in which the device includes a base, the base may be a continuous base that extends from the medial side arm to the lateral side arm of the control bar. The base may be referred to as continuous if it is without breaks or connections through other components in extending from the first side arm to the second side arm.
Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numbers refer to like components,
The device 10 is configured to surround a portion of a foot-receiving cavity 47 at a heel region 13 of an article of footwear 12, as shown in
The device 10 includes a control bar 14 that has a center segment 16, a first side arm 18 extending downwardly and forwardly from the center segment 16, and a second side arm 20 spaced from the first side arm 18 and also extending downwardly and forwardly from the center segment 16. The first side arm 18 is a medial side arm and the second side arm 20 is a lateral side arm.
The device 10 also includes a base 22 supporting the control bar 14 and connected to the control bar 14 at a resiliently bendable junction 24A, 24B. The base 22 is continuous and extends between and connects to the first side arm 18 and the second side arm 20. The base 22 is continuous, in that it is without breaks or connections through other components in extending from the first side arm 18 to the second side arm 20. The base 22 has a center segment 26, a first base arm 28, and a second base arm 30 all disposed in a common plane. The common plane P is parallel with a horizontal surface when the base 22 of the device 10 rests on a horizontal surface, and is best indicated in
The junction 24A, 24B includes a first joint 24A at which the base 22 and the first side arm 18 connect, and a second joint 24B at which the base 22 and the second side arm 20 connect. The first joint 24A is the connection of the first base arm 28 to the first side arm 18. The second joint 24B is the connection of the second base arm 30 to the second side arm 20.
The control bar 14 has an arced shape from the first joint 24A to the second joint 24B. Similarly, the base 22 has an arced shape from the first joint 24A to the second joint 24B. With this arrangement, the control bar 14 and the base 22 are configured as a full elliptical leaf spring as described herein. The device may be referred to as a heel spring. Additionally, the device 10 is a single, unitary, one-piece component. For example, the device 10 may be injection molded as a single, unitary, one-piece component.
The control bar 14 is biased to an unloaded position shown in
As shown in
The flexible footwear upper 38 defines at least a portion of an ankle opening 39. The base 22 underlies the control bar 14 and is secured to the footwear upper 38 with the first side arm 18 secured to a medial side 41 of the footwear upper 38, and the second side arm 20 secured to a lateral side 43 of the footwear upper 38. As best indicated in
The upper 38 may include a flexible covering 42 (also referred to as a flexible cover layer) for receiving and covering a foot 46 (indicated in
Traditionally, slipping a foot into an upper often requires the use of one or both hands to stretch the ankle opening and hold the rear portion during foot insertion, especially in the case of a relatively soft upper and/or an upper that does not have a heel counter secured to the flexible fabric rearward of the ankle opening. The device 10 alleviates these issues, and allows the foot 46 to enter into a foot-receiving cavity 47 formed by the upper 38 without the use of hands or other tools. Only the foot 46 is used to gain entry. Specifically, using the bottom of the foot 46, a force F is applied to press on the control bar 14 as shown in
To further ease entry of the foot 46 into the foot-receiving cavity 47 of the upper 38, the center segment 16 of the control bar 14 has a ramped surface 50 that declines toward an inner periphery 52 of the center segment 16, as indicted in
With reference to
The material of the device 10 is selected to provide the ability to elastically deform by elastic bending as described, and store potential energy, such as elastic energy, that returns the device 10 to the unloaded position (also referred to as the unstressed position). Example materials include plastics (such as thermoplastics), composites, and nylon. Another example material is a polyether block amide such as PEBAX® available from Arkema, Inc. in King of Prussia, Pa. USA. Another example material is a fiberglass reinforced polyamide. An example fiberglass reinforced polyamide is RISLAN® BZM 7 0 TL available from Arkema, Inc. in King of Prussia, Pa. USA. Such a fiberglass reinforced polyamide may have a density of 1.07 grams per cubic centimeter under ISO 1183 test method, an instantaneous hardness of 75 on a Shore D scale under ISO 868 test method, a tensile modulus of 1800 MPa under ISO 527 test method (with samples conditioned 15 days at 23 degrees Celsius with 50% relative humidity), and a flexural modulus of 1500 MPa under ISO 178 test method (with samples conditioned 15 days at 23 degrees Celsius with 50% relative humidity).
Additionally, the relative dimensions and shape of the device 10 at the joints and at the side arms 18, 20 contributes to the spring-biased nature of the device 10, and its ability to elastically deform under a desired amount of loading and return to its original unstressed position. The device 10 may be configured to elastically bend under a maximum force of 160N. For example, with reference to
Additionally, the side arms 18 and 20 are each twisted outwardly along their respective longitudinal axis 23A, 23B from the joints 24A, 24B at the base to the center segment 16. Stated differently, the inward-facing surfaces 60 of the side arms 18, 20 flow continually into a slightly upward-facing surface 62 as a ridge 64 along the side arm 18 or 20 turns from an upward extending ridge to a partially rearward extending ridge at the back of the center segment 16, as best shown in
The device 10 is also configured to widen as it is moved from the unstressed position to the loaded position. This helps ease insertion of the foot 46 into a flexible upper 38, as the first side arm 18 and the second side arm 20 bow apart from one another when the control bar 14 is depressed, pulling the upper 38 attached to the inward-facing surfaces 60 outward. The bowing of the device 10 in the loaded position 10A is indicated in the plan view of
While the device 10 is thus configured to ease foot entry with its ability to resiliently deform and store elastic energy, it is also configured to limit the amount of deformation to prevent plastic deformation. More specifically, the control bar 14 has an extension 70 that extends generally toward the base 22. The extension 70 is spaced apart from the base 22 when the control bar 14 is in the unstressed position of
In the embodiment of
A center segment of the control bar 414 of the device 410 has a thinned portion 445 where the flexible covering 442 of the upper 438 is stitched to the device 410. The foam collar 435 is also stitched to the device 410 at the thinned portion 445 as shown in
The center segment 16 has an aperture 2445, and the upper 2438 has a heel pull tab 2449 that extends through the aperture 2445, further securing the upper 2438 to the device 2410. The center segment 16 also has an extension 2470 that extends downward from the center segment 16 and may limit bending of the device 10 by interference with the base 22, preventing plastic deformation similarly as described with respect to extension 70. The extension 2470 has a fastener opening 2451 that receives a stud (not shown) that can be used to secure the heel pull tab 2449 to the extension 2470. Alternatively, or in addition, the heel pull tab 2449 may be secured to a mounting surface 2472 of the extension 2470 with another fastener such as a snap or a button, or with adhesive or otherwise.
The base 22 supports the control bar 14 and is connected to the control bar 14 at resiliently bendable junction 3224A, 3224B. The base 22 is continuous and extends between and connects to the first side arm 18 and the second side arm 20. The base 22 is continuous in that it is without breaks or connections through other components in extending from the first side arm 18 to the second side arm 20. The base 22 has a center segment 26, a first base arm 28, and a second base arm 30 all disposed in a common plane, as described with respect to the device 10 of
The junction 3224A, 3224B includes a first joint 3224A at which the base 22 and the first side arm 18 connect, and a second joint 3224B at which the base 22 and the second side arm 20 connect. The first joint 3224A is the connection of the first base arm 28 to the first side arm 18. The second joint 3224B is the connection of the second base arm 30 to the second side arm 20. The joints 3224A, 3224B may be referred to herein as hinged joints, or as a hinged junction.
The control bar 14 has an arced shape from the first joint 3224A to the second joint 3224B. Similarly, the base 22 has an arced shape from the first joint 3224A to the second joint 3224B. With this arrangement, the control bar 14 and the base 22 are configured as a full elliptical leaf spring as described herein. The device 3210 may be referred to as a heel spring. Additionally, the device 3210 is a single, unitary, one-piece component. For example, the device 3210 may be injection molded as a single, unitary, one-piece component.
The center segment 16 of the control bar 14 has the ramped surface 50 that declines toward an inner periphery of the center segment 16 between the first side arm 18 and the second side arm 20 and helps direct the foot downward and forward into the foot-receiving cavity 47 during application of the downward force F on the control bar 16 as described with respect to device 10. Additionally, the first side arm 18 and the second side arm 20 are each twisted outwardly along their respective longitudinal axis from the junction 3224A, 3224B near the base 22 to the center segment 16 of the control bar 14. The outward twist helps to encourage the down and back movement of the center segment 16 during loading by the foot.
The article of footwear 3212 includes a sole structure 3232, and the flexible footwear upper 38 has a medial side 41 and a lateral side 43, and defines an ankle opening 39 and a foot-receiving cavity 47, as described with respect to the article of footwear 12. The sole structure 3232 includes one or more sole components that may be sole layers, such as an outsole, a midsole, or a sole layer 3234 that is a unitary combination of an outsole and a midsole and may be referred to as a unisole. The sole layer 3234 underlies the upper 38 and the foot-receiving cavity 47 defined by the upper 38. A lower portion 40 of the footwear upper 38 is secured to the sole layer 3234, such as by adhesive or otherwise. The base 22 is secured to the sole layer 3234 such as by bonding with adhesive, thermal bonding, or otherwise.
As best shown in
The control bar 14 is biased to an unloaded position shown in
The control bar 14 can be depressed under an applied force F shown in
As best indicated in
With reference to
As best indicated in
The heel spring device 3310 is configured to secure to the upper 38 at forwardmost portions of the side arms 18, 20, and via a heel tab extending through an aperture 3245 of the center segment 16 as indicated with respect to the upper 38 shown in phantom in
In addition to attaching to the upper 38 (or outer portion 38A) at the forwardmost portions 3371, 3375, the upper 38 may be secured to the heel spring device 3310 via a heel tab 3249 (see
The device 3510 is configured to surround a portion of a foot-receiving cavity 47 formed by the upper 38 at the heel region 13 of the article of footwear 3512. The heel spring device 3510 is connected to and surrounds the heel region 13 of the upper 38. The article of footwear 3512 includes a sole structure 3532 secured to and underlying the upper 38. As shown, the sole structure 3532 includes one or more sole components that may be sole layers 3534, such as an outsole, a midsole, or a unitary combination of an outsole and a midsole that may be referred to as a unisole. In
The device 3510 includes a control bar 14 having a center segment 16, a medial side arm 18 extending downwardly and forwardly from the center segment 16 along the medial side 41 of the upper 38, and a lateral side arm 20 spaced from the medial side arm 18 and extending downwardly and forwardly along the lateral side 43 of the upper 38 from the center segment 16. The center segment 16, the medial side arm 18, and the lateral side arm 20 may be portions of an integral, one-piece component as in the embodiment shown, or may be separate components attached to one another.
In one or more embodiments, such as is in the embodiment shown, the device 3510 includes a continuous base 22 connected to both the medial side arm 18 and the lateral side arm 20. Similar to device 10, the continuous base 22 is connected to both a forward extent of the medial side arm 18 and a forward extent of the lateral side arm 20 and extends rearwardly therefrom under the control bar 14 around a rear of the heel region 13 of the upper 38. In one or more embodiments of the article of footwear 3512, the device 3510 need not include a base, and ends of the medial side arm 18 and the lateral side arm 20 opposite the center segment 16 are anchored, such as to the sole structure 3532. In such embodiments, for example, rather than extending from a center segment of a base, the extension may be a secured to the upper 38 or to the sole structure 3532 in the back portion 3513 of the article of footwear 3512, such as in a rear-facing portion of the heel region 13.
The base 22 has a medial base arm 28 connected to the medial side arm 18 of the control bar 14, a lateral base arm 30 connected to the lateral side arm 20 of the control bar 14, and a center segment 26 connecting the medial base arm 28 to the lateral base arm 30. In one example, the control bar 14 has an arced shape, and the continuous base 22 has an arced shape as indicated by
The base 22 may be secured to the sole layer 3534 such as by bonding with adhesive, thermal bonding, or otherwise. The continuous base 22 is mounted on the sole structure 3532. For example, similar to the device 3310, the base 22 has an inwardly-extending flange 3521, shown in
Additionally, the base 22 may be secured to a lower portion of the upper 38 with which it is in contact. The control bar 14 is also secured to the upper 38 as the center segment 16 is connected to the upper 38 rearward of the ankle opening 39 of the upper 38. As best shown in
The medial side arm 18 and the lateral side arm 20 extend downwardly and forwardly from the center segment 16 of the control bar 14 to define an acute angle A1 (referred to as a first acute angle or as a first angle) with the continuous base 22 when in the unloaded position of
At least a portion of the control bar 14 is elastically deformable under an applied downward force F depressing the control bar 14 toward the continuous base 22, as shown in
The continuous base 22 includes an extension 3574 disposed on the center segment 26 of the base 22, centrally disposed at the back portion 3513 of the upper 38, and extending upwardly toward the control bar 14 as best shown in
The extension 3574 is shown as a single rounded protrusion extending upwardly from the center segment 26 of the base 22, but is not limited to this shape. The extension 3574 is generally centrally disposed on the center segment 26 and tapers in width in the transverse direction of the footwear 3512, as shown in
As best shown in
An upper surface 3562 of the center segment 16 of the control bar 14 slopes forwardly and downwardly, as best shown in the cross-sectional view of
As best shown in
As shown in
As best shown in
As is evident in
The various embodiments of heel spring devices disclosed herein enhance the ease of foot entry, allowing hands free foot entry into an article of footwear.
To assist and clarify the description of various embodiments, various terms are defined herein. Unless otherwise indicated, the following definitions apply throughout this specification (including the claims). Additionally, all references referred to are incorporated herein in their entirety.
An “article of footwear”, a “footwear article of manufacture”, and “footwear” may be considered to be both a machine and a manufacture. Assembled, ready to wear footwear articles (e.g., shoes, sandals, boots, etc.), as well as discrete components of footwear articles (such as a midsole, an outsole, an upper component, etc.) prior to final assembly into ready to wear footwear articles, are considered and alternatively referred to herein in either the singular or plural as “article(s) of footwear” or “footwear”.
“A”, “an”, “the”, “at least one”, and “one or more” are used interchangeably to indicate that at least one of the items is present. A plurality of such items may be present unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. All numerical values of parameters (e.g., of quantities or conditions) in this specification, unless otherwise indicated expressly or clearly in view of the context, including the appended claims, are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about” whether or not “about” actually appears before the numerical value. “About” indicates that the stated numerical value allows some slight imprecision (with some approach to exactness in the value; approximately or reasonably close to the value; nearly). If the imprecision provided by “about” is not otherwise understood in the art with this ordinary meaning, then “about” as used herein indicates at least variations that may arise from ordinary methods of measuring and using such parameters. As used in the description and the accompanying claims, unless stated otherwise, a value is considered to be “approximately” equal to a stated value if it is neither more than 5 percent greater than nor more than 5 percent less than the stated value. In addition, a disclosure of a range is to be understood as specifically disclosing all values and further divided ranges within the range.
The terms “comprising”, “including”, and “having” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, or components. Orders of steps, processes, and operations may be altered when possible, and additional or alternative steps may be employed. As used in this specification, the term “or” includes any one and all combinations of the associated listed items. The term “any of” is understood to include any possible combination of referenced items, including “any one of” the referenced items. The term “any of” is understood to include any possible combination of referenced claims of the appended claims, including “any one of” the referenced claims.
For consistency and convenience, directional adjectives may be employed throughout this detailed description corresponding to the illustrated embodiments. Those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that terms such as “above”, “below”, “upward”, “downward”, “top”, “bottom”, etc., may be used descriptively relative to the figures, without representing limitations on the scope of the invention, as defined by the claims.
The term “longitudinal” refers to a direction extending a length of a component. For example, a longitudinal direction of an article of footwear extends between a forefoot region and a heel region of the article of footwear. The term “forward” or “anterior” is used to refer to the general direction from a heel region toward a forefoot region, and the term “rearward” or “posterior” is used to refer to the opposite direction, i.e., the direction from the forefoot region toward the heel region. In some cases, a component may be identified with a longitudinal axis as well as a forward and rearward longitudinal direction along that axis. The longitudinal direction or axis may also be referred to as an anterior-posterior direction or axis.
The term “transverse” refers to a direction extending a width of a component. For example, a transverse direction of an article of footwear extends between a lateral side and a medial side of the article of footwear. The transverse direction or axis may also be referred to as a lateral direction or axis or a mediolateral direction or axis.
The term “vertical” refers to a direction generally perpendicular to both the lateral and longitudinal directions. For example, in cases where a sole structure is planted flat on a ground surface, the vertical direction may extend from the ground surface upward. It will be understood that each of these directional adjectives may be applied to individual components of a sole structure. The term “upward” or “upwards” refers to the vertical direction pointing towards a top of the component, which may include an instep, a fastening region and/or a throat of an upper. The term “downward” or “downwards” refers to the vertical direction pointing opposite the upwards direction, toward the bottom of a component and may generally point towards the bottom of a sole structure of an article of footwear.
The “interior” of an article of footwear, such as a shoe, refers to portions at the space that is occupied by a wearer's foot when the article of footwear is worn. The “inner side” of a component refers to the side or surface of the component that is (or will be) oriented toward the interior of the component or article of footwear in an assembled article of footwear. The “outer side” or “exterior” of a component refers to the side or surface of the component that is (or will be) oriented away from the interior of the article of footwear in an assembled article of footwear. In some cases, other components may be between the inner side of a component and the interior in the assembled article of footwear. Similarly, other components may be between an outer side of a component and the space external to the assembled article of footwear. Further, the terms “inward” and “inwardly” refer to the direction toward the interior of the component or article of footwear, such as a shoe, and the terms “outward” and “outwardly” refer to the direction toward the exterior of the component or article of footwear, such as the shoe. In addition, the term “proximal” refers to a direction that is nearer a center of a footwear component, or is closer toward a foot when the foot is inserted in the article of footwear as it is worn by a user. Likewise, the term “distal” refers to a relative position that is further away from a center of the footwear component or is further from a foot when the foot is inserted in the article of footwear as it is worn by a user. Thus, the terms proximal and distal may be understood to provide generally opposing terms to describe relative spatial positions.
While various embodiments have been described, the description is intended to be exemplary, rather than limiting and it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible that are within the scope of the embodiments. For example, shapes shown in the drawings and/or described in the specification, are exemplary and not limiting, and the features may have alternative shapes. Any feature of any embodiment may be used in combination with or substituted for any other feature or element in any other embodiment unless specifically restricted. Accordingly, the embodiments are not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents. Also, various modifications and changes may be made within the scope of the attached claims.
While several modes for carrying out the many aspects of the present teachings have been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which these teachings relate will recognize various alternative aspects for practicing the present teachings that are within the scope of the appended claims. It is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and exemplary of the entire range of alternative embodiments that an ordinarily skilled artisan would recognize as implied by, structurally and/or functionally equivalent to, or otherwise rendered obvious based upon the included content, and not as limited solely to those explicitly depicted and/or described embodiments.
This application is a continuation-in-part of and claims the benefit of priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 15/793,008, filed Oct. 25, 2017, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/413,062, filed Oct. 26, 2016, and which also claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/532,449, filed Jul. 14, 2017, and all of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
91547 | Leathe | Jun 1869 | A |
219436 | Beneke | Sep 1879 | A |
911025 | Blaisdell | Feb 1909 | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20180289109 A1 | Oct 2018 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
62413062 | Oct 2016 | US | |
62532449 | Jul 2017 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 15793008 | Oct 2017 | US |
Child | 16008797 | US |