Patent ID: 11957210
Assignee: NIKE, INC.
Field: Other consumer goods (Other fields)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 14:
15. An article of footwear comprising:
a footwear upper defining an ankle opening and a foot-receiving cavity;
a sole structure secured to and underlying the footwear upper; and
a device configured to surround a portion of the foot-receiving cavity at a heel region of the article of footwear, the device comprising:
a control bar including:
a center segment;
a medial side arm extending downwardly and forwardly from the center segment; and
a lateral side arm extending downwardly and forwardly from the center segment;

a medial base arm extending rearwardly from the medial side arm to a medial terminal end, the device including a medial anterior extremity at the medial base arm and a medial posterior extremity at the medial terminal end; and
a lateral base arm extending rearwardly from the lateral side arm to a lateral terminal end, the device including a lateral anterior extremity at the lateral base arm and a lateral posterior extremity at the lateral terminal end;
wherein:
the center segment is disposed at the footwear upper rearward of the ankle opening and extends along the ankle opening;
the sole structure and the footwear upper meet at and define a biteline;
both the medial anterior extremity and the medial posterior extremity of the medial base arm are below the biteline at the sole structure; and
the device defines a gap between the medial terminal end and the lateral terminal end.