Patent ID: 11910867
Assignee: NIKE, INC.
Field: Other consumer goods (Other fields)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 12:
13. An article of footwear comprising:
a sole structure;
a footwear upper having a front upper portion secured to the sole structure and a rear upper portion secured to the sole structure, the front upper portion defining a front of an ankle opening and the rear upper portion defining a rear of the ankle opening; and
a device comprising a control bar having:
a center segment secured to the rear upper portion rearward of the ankle opening;
a medial side arm extending downwardly and forwardly from the center segment at a medial side of the article of footwear outward of the footwear upper and fixed to the sole structure; and
a lateral side arm extending downwardly and forwardly from the center segment at a lateral side of the article of footwear outward of the footwear upper and fixed to the sole structure;

the control bar depresses under an applied force to a loaded position as the medial side arm and the lateral side arm resiliently bend, storing potential energy that returns the control bar to an unloaded position upon removal of the applied force, the rear upper portion moving with the control bar;
the front upper portion and the rear upper portion overlap at and are at least partially decoupled from one another at the medial side and at the lateral side to enable movement of the rear upper portion with the control bar independently of the front upper portion
the front upper portion has a medial side outer wall and a lateral side outer wall;
the rear upper portion includes a medial side inner wall and a lateral side inner wall, the medial side inner wall extending forward from the rear of the ankle opening inward of the medial side outer wall to the sole structure, and the lateral side inner wall extending forward from the rear of the ankle opening inward of the lateral side outer wall to the sole structure;
a rear medial edge of the medial side outer wall includes a first segment and a second segment, the first segment of the rear medial edge of the medial side outer wall is adjacent to the ankle opening and the second segment of the rear medial edge of the medial side outer wall is between the first segment of the rear medial edge of the medial side outer wall and the sole structure and further forward than the first segment of the rear medial edge of the medial side outer wall;
a rear lateral edge of the lateral side outer wall includes a first segment and a second segment, the first segment of the rear lateral edge of the lateral side outer wall is adjacent to the ankle opening and the second segment of the rear lateral edge of the lateral side outer wall is between the first segment of the rear lateral edge of the lateral side outer wall and the sole structure and further forward than the first segment of the rear lateral edge of the lateral side outer wall; and
the front upper portion is secured to the rear upper portion at the second segment of the rear medial edge of the medial side outer wall and at the second segment of the rear lateral edge of the lateral side outer wall, and is decoupled from the rear upper portion at the first segment of the rear medial edge of the medial side outer wall and at the first segment of the rear lateral edge of the lateral side outer wall.