Footwear article with doffing ledge
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A footwear article comprising:
- a sole having a ground-contacting surface, a superior surface facing a foot-receiving cavity, a lateral edge, a medial edge, and a sidewall;
an upper coupled to the sole and comprising an ankle collar that is movable between a lowered state positioned closer to the sole and a raised state positioned farther from the sole;
a collar elevator operable to return the ankle collar from the lowered state to the raised state, the collar elevator having 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 near a rear portion of the ankle collar, wherein the center connecting band comprises a forwardly inclined angle equal to or less than 65 degrees relative to a horizontal reference plane when the ankle collar is in the raised state, wherein the medial lever arm and the lateral lever arm attach to a base comprising a forward terminal edge and a posterior terminal edge, wherein the forward terminal edge and the posterior terminal edge each begins at the lateral edge of the sole, extends linearly and continuously across the superior surface of the sole, and terminates at the medial edge of the sole, and wherein the terminal posterior edge is spaced forwardly of a rearmost point of the superior surface; and
the sidewall comprising a doffing ledge that is in a heel portion of the sole and that protrudes outwardly from a doffing-ledge first portion closer to the upper to a doffing-ledge second portion farther from the upper, wherein the doffing ledge comprises a doffing surface that declines from the doffing-ledge first portion to the doffing-ledge second portion at a doffing angle, which is relative to the horizontal reference plane and is less than the forwardly inclined angle.
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Abstract
A footwear article includes a doffing ledge that may provide a lever for pressing the footwear article in one direction, while the wearer slides his or her heel out of the footwear article in a different direction. A doffing angle of the doffing ledge is based, at least in part, on a forwardly inclined angle of a center connecting band near a rear portion of the ankle collar.
88 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A footwear article comprising:
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a sole having a ground-contacting surface, a superior surface facing a foot-receiving cavity, a lateral edge, a medial edge, and a sidewall; an upper coupled to the sole and comprising an ankle collar that is movable between a lowered state positioned closer to the sole and a raised state positioned farther from the sole; a collar elevator operable to return the ankle collar from the lowered state to the raised state, the collar elevator having 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 near a rear portion of the ankle collar, wherein the center connecting band comprises a forwardly inclined angle equal to or less than 65 degrees relative to a horizontal reference plane when the ankle collar is in the raised state, wherein the medial lever arm and the lateral lever arm attach to a base comprising a forward terminal edge and a posterior terminal edge, wherein the forward terminal edge and the posterior terminal edge each begins at the lateral edge of the sole, extends linearly and continuously across the superior surface of the sole, and terminates at the medial edge of the sole, and wherein the terminal posterior edge is spaced forwardly of a rearmost point of the superior surface; and the sidewall comprising a doffing ledge that is in a heel portion of the sole and that protrudes outwardly from a doffing-ledge first portion closer to the upper to a doffing-ledge second portion farther from the upper, wherein the doffing ledge comprises a doffing surface that declines from the doffing-ledge first portion to the doffing-ledge second portion at a doffing angle, which is relative to the horizontal reference plane and is less than the forwardly inclined angle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A footwear article comprising:
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a sole having a ground-contacting surface, a superior surface facing a foot-receiving cavity, a lateral edge, a medial edge, and a sidewall; an upper coupled to the sole and comprising an ankle collar that is movable between a lowered state positioned closer to the sole and a raised state positioned farther from the sole; a collar elevator operable to return the ankle collar from the lowered state to the raised state, the collar elevator having 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 near a rear portion of the ankle collar, wherein the center connecting band comprises a forwardly inclined angle in a range of 45 degrees to 70 degrees relative to a horizontal reference plane when the ankle collar is in the raised state, wherein the medial lever arm and the lateral lever arm attach to a base comprising a forward terminal edge and a posterior terminal edge, wherein the forward terminal edge and the posterior terminal edge each begins at the lateral edge of the sole, extends linearly and continuously across the superior surface of the sole, and terminates at the medial edge of the sole, and wherein the terminal posterior edge is spaced forwardly of a rearmost point of the superior surface; and the sidewall comprising a doffing ledge that is in a heel portion of the sole and that protrudes outwardly from a doffing-ledge first portion closer to the upper to a doffing-ledge second portion farther from the upper, wherein the doffing ledge comprises a doffing surface that declines from the doffing-ledge first portion to the doffing-ledge second portion at a doffing angle, which is relative to the horizontal reference plane and is less than the forwardly inclined angle. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A footwear article comprising:
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a sole having a ground-contacting surface, a superior surface facing a foot-receiving cavity, a lateral edge, a medial edge, and a sidewall; an upper coupled to the sole and comprising an ankle collar that is movable between a lowered state positioned closer to the sole and a raised state positioned farther from the sole; a collar elevator operable to return the ankle collar from the lowered state to the raised state, the collar elevator having 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 near a rear portion of the ankle collar, wherein the center connecting band comprises a forwardly inclined angle equal to or less than 65 degrees relative to a horizontal reference plane when the ankle collar is in the raised state, wherein the medial lever arm and the lateral lever arm attach to a base comprising a forward terminal edge and a posterior terminal edge, wherein the forward terminal edge and the posterior terminal edge each begins at the lateral edge of the sole, extends linearly and continuously across the superior surface of the sole, and terminates at the medial edge of the sole, and wherein the terminal posterior edge is spaced forwardly of a rearmost point of the superior surface, and wherein the center connecting band includes a length extending from a first endpoint along a longitudinal orientation to a second endpoint along the longitudinal orientation; and the sidewall comprising a doffing ledge that is in a heel portion of the sole and that protrudes outwardly from a doffing-ledge first portion closer to the upper to a doffing-ledge second portion farther from the upper, wherein the doffing ledge comprises a doffing surface that declines from the doffing-ledge first portion to the doffing-ledge second portion at a doffing angle, which is relative to the horizontal reference plane and is less than the forwardly inclined angle, such that when a first force is applied normal to the doffing surface, and when a second force is applied normal to the center connecting band having the forwardly inclined angle equal to or less than 65 degrees in the raised state, a direction of the first force is more vertical relative to the horizontal reference plane than a direction of second force, wherein the doffing surface comprises a doffing-surface length extending from the doffing-ledge first portion to the doffing-ledge second portion; and wherein the doffing-surface length is equal to or larger than one and one-third of the length of the center connecting band. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification