The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 18, 2016
Filed:
Jul. 11, 2013
Applicant:
Nike, Inc., Beaverton, OR (US);
Inventors:
Patricia L. Smaldone, Portland, OR (US);
Stephen D. Pelletier, Jr., Portland, OR (US);
Jeremy L. Connell, Hillsboro, OR (US);
Steven C. McDonald, Heber, UT (US);
Assignee:
Nike, Inc., Beaverton, OR (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A43B 5/04 (2006.01); A43C 11/00 (2006.01); A43B 23/26 (2006.01); A43B 1/00 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
A43B 23/26 (2013.01); A43B 1/0018 (2013.01); A43B 5/0401 (2013.01);
Abstract
An article of footwear for snowboarding includes a tongue with adjustable stiffness. The tongue includes a flexible intermediate portion and the flexibility of the intermediate portion can be controlled by a tension control system. As the tension control system applies increased tension to the tongue, the flexibility of the intermediate portion is decreased, which increases the overall stiffness of the tongue.