Dynamic fit footwear

• US 10,722,000 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2019
• Issued: 07/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nike, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Nike, Inc.
• Inventors: Walker, Steven H., Meneau, Phillip
• Primary Examiner(s): Bays, Marie D
• Application Number:
  US16/685,081
• Publication Number:
  US 20200077749A1
• Time in Patent Office: 256 Days
• Field of Search: 36 501
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 1/0054 provided with magnets, magnetic parts or magnetic substances
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 13/125 characterised by the midsole or middle layer
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 13/14 characterised by the constructive form
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 13/18 Resilient soles skating boots provided with resilient means A43B5/1658
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 17/00 Insoles for insertion, e.g. footbeds or inlays, for attachment to the shoe after the upper has been joined
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/0031 provided with a pocket, e.g. for keys or a card
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/34 with electrical or electronic arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/36 with light sources
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/38 with power sources
• CPC Class Codes: A43B 3/44 with sensors, e.g. for detecting contact or position
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 1/00 Shoe lacing fastenings garment fastening devices A41F
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 1/003 Zone lacing, i.e. whereby different zones of the footwear have different lacing tightening degrees, using one or a plurality of laces laces combined with another system A43C11/008; zone tightening using straps A43C11/14
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 1/006 Rear lacing, i.e. with a lace placed on the back of the foot in place of, or in addition to the traditional front lace
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 1/02 with elastic laces
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 1/04 with rings or loops
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 1/06 tightened by draw-strings
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 11/00 Other fastenings specially adapted for shoes dress fastenings in general A44B
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 11/008 Combined fastenings, e.g. to accelerate undoing or fastening
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 11/14 Clamp fastenings , e.g. strap fastenings; Clamp-buckle fastenings; Fastenings with toggle levers
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 11/165 characterised by a spool, reel or pulley for winding up cables, laces or straps by rotation
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 7/00 : Holding-devices for laces
• CPC Class Codes: A43C 7/08 : Clamps drawn tight by laces
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1036 : Measuring load distribution, e.g. podologic studies
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6807 : Footwear
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/12 : using electric or magnetic means G01D5/06 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/145 : influenced by the relative movement between the Hall device and magnetic fields see G01R33/06
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/24 : by varying capacitance
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/2405 : by varying dielectric
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/34 : the beams of light being detected by photocells
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/12 : by measuring variations in the magnetic properties of materials resulting from the application of stress
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/14 : by measuring variations in capacitance or inductance of electrical elements, e.g. by measuring variations of frequency of electrical oscillators
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/142 : using capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 1/144 : with associated circuitry G01L1/146 and G01L1/148 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 5/0009 : Force sensors associated with a bearing testing of bearings G01M13/04
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 5/0014 : by using capacitive sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 5/0071 : Specific indicating arrangements, e.g. of overload
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 5/12 : for measuring axial thrust in a rotary shaft, e.g. of propulsion plants
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 5/16 : for measuring several components of force
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 5/165 : using variations in capacitance
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 5/24 : for determining value of torque or twisting moment for tightening a nut or other member which is similarly stressed
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 : electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/048 : Monitoring; Safety
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/24015 : Monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 : Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A foot presence sensor system for an active article of footwear can include a sensor housing configured to be disposed at or in an insole of the article, and a controller circuit, disposed within the sensor housing, configured to trigger one or more automated functions of the footwear based on a foot presence indication. In an example, the sensor system includes a capacitive sensor configured to sense changes in a capacitance signal in response to proximity of a body. A dielectric member can be provided between the capacitive sensor and the body to enhance an output signal from the sensor.

Claims

1. A method for automatically adjusting an active article of footwear during a footwear use period that is between donning and doffing events, the method comprising:

sensing, using a body sensor in the article of footwear, a change in a position of a foot inside the article of footwear; and

in response to the change in the position of the foot as sensed by the body sensor, controlling a lacing engine to adjust a fit of the article of footwear relative to the foot.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating, using a processor circuit, a lacing engine control signal for the lacing engine, wherein the lacing engine control signal indicates whether the change in the foot position as sensed by the body sensor meets a response criteria, and wherein controlling the lacing engine includes in response to the lacing engine control signal.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving a sensor signal from the body sensor, the sensor signal indicating a position of the foot over time;

and

wherein the processor circuit is configured to determine whether the change in the foot position meets the response criteria by comparing the sensor signal to a signal morphology limit.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the lacing engine control signal includes using the processor circuit to characterize a location of the foot relative to the body sensor.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the lacing engine control signal includes using the processor circuit to characterize an orientation of the foot relative to the body sensor.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the lacing engine control signal includes using the processor circuit to characterize a rotation of the foot relative to a toothed of the article of footwear.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein controlling the lacing engine includes suppressing actuation of the lacing engine to maintain a tension characteristic of the article of footwear about the foot.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein controlling the lacing engine includes actuating the lacing engine to decrease a tension characteristic of the article of footwear about the foot.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a gesture signal from the wearer, using a gesture sensor, and wherein controlling the lacing engine includes in response to the gesture signal.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein sensing the change in the foot position includes changing a baseline or reference characteristic of the body sensor based on an environment in which the article of footwear is used.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a drive signal for the body sensor using a signal generator; and

receiving the drive signal at the body sensor and, in response, generating an electric field in the article of footwear and adjacent to the body sensor;

wherein sensing the change in the foot position includes identifying a change in the electric field adjacent to the body sensor that is caused at least in part by the foot position.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the drive signal at the body sensor includes receiving the drive signal at an electrode that comprises a portion of a capacitive sensor.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein sensing the change in the position of the foot includes sensing a reference position of the foot inside the article of footwear and subsequently, sensing a different second position of the foot inside the article of footwear.

14. An article of footwear comprising:

a footwear structure including a footwear upper coupled to a footwear sole;

a body detector system disposed in the footwear structure and including a body sensor configured to detect a change in a foot position of a wearer during a footwear use period that is between donning and doffing events; and

an automated tensioning engine coupled to the footwear structure and configured to tighten or relax the article of footwear about a foot of the wearer based on the change as detected by the body detector system.

15. The article of footwear of claim 14, wherein the body detector system is configured to detect the change in the foot position of the wearer based on a change in an electric field.

16. The article of footwear of claim 15, wherein the body detector system includes a signal generator configured to provide a drive signal to the body sensor, and wherein the body sensor is configured to generate the electric field.

17. The article of footwear of claim 14, wherein the body detector system is configured to actuate the automated tensioning engine when the change as detected meets a foot position change criteria.

18. The article of footwear of claim 17, wherein the foot position change criteria includes a foot rotation criteria.

19. An article of footwear comprising:

a footwear structure including a footwear upper and a footwear sole coupled to the footwear upper;

a lacing cable;

a motorized lacing engine coupled to the footwear structure and configured to change a tension characteristic of the article of footwear about a foot using the lacing cable; and

a body detector system configured to;

detect a change in a location of the foot inside the article of footwear when the article is worn and is in use during a use period that is between donning and doffing events; and

based on the change in the location of the foot as detected, selectively actuating the lacing engine to change the tension characteristic of the article of footwear about the foot.

20. The article of footwear of claim 19, wherein the body detector system is configured to detect a rotation of the foot relative to the footwear sole and, in response, actuate the lacing engine to tighten the article of footwear about the foot.

21. The article of footwear of claim 19, wherein the body detector system is configured to generate an electric field inside the footwear stricture and detect the change in the location of the foot based on a detected change in the electric field.