Nike patents shoe armor with overlapping plates to protect feet
Nike has been granted a patent for a shoe design that adds a protective layer to the front of the foot. This armor system uses overlapping, flexible plates made of a harder material than the rest of the shoe to shield the toes and mid-foot while still allowing the shoe to bend.
In the filing’s own words
An article of footwear includes an upper formed of a first material, and an armor system including a shroud covering a forefoot region of the upper. The shroud includes an articulable shroud vamp having a plurality of overlapping lames arranged in series along a ball portion of the shroud, each of the lames being formed of a second material having a greater hardness than the first material. The shroud may include a toe cap covering a toe portion of the upper and a saddle covering a mid-foot portion of the upper. The shroud vamp is disposed between the toe cap and the saddle. The saddle and the toe cap may be formed of the second material. The second material may be an up-cycled polyethylene composite.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An article of footwear comprising: an upper including a flexible base layer, the upper extending from a heel portion, through a mid-foot portion, toward a toe portion of the article of footwear; and a shroud including an articulable shroud vamp having a plurality of overlapping lames arranged in series along a ball portion of the shroud, wherein the shroud vamp extends between the mid-foot portion and the toe portion, wherein a first lame of the plurality of overlapping lames includes a posterior end and an anterior end, the posterior end attached to a posterior edge of the shroud vamp, wherein the posterior end of the first lame is located in a forefoot portion, and wherein a second lame of the plurality of overlapping lames includes a posterior end directly attached to the flexible base layer, the anterior end of the first lame disposed above the posterior end of the second lame forming a portion of the layered series, and wherein the posterior end of the first lame of the plurality of overlapping lames is attached to the flexible base layer.
Facts
- Company
- Nike (Nike, Inc.)
- Official title
- Protective upper for article of footwear
- Patent number
- US12765641B2
- Application number
- 18434349
- Filed
- Feb 6, 2024
- Granted
- Oct 20, 2026
- Inventors
- 1
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
A43B 23/0235 Human necessitiesA43B 23/0205 Human necessitiesMore from Nike in Clothing & sport
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.