Nike patents shoe soles with moving parts that fit your foot
Nike describes a shoe sole design featuring small, movable pieces that slide up and down within holes in the bottom of the shoe. These pieces have flat surfaces on the inside that are shaped to match the curve of a wearer's foot.
In the filing’s own words
A sole system for an article of footwear can include a sole member and a protruding member assembly. The sole member includes outwardly and inwardly facing surfaces, and a plurality of spaced apart first apertures extending through the sole member. The protruding member assembly includes a plurality of first protruding members, each being vertically movable within a corresponding first aperture of the sole member. Each first protruding member has a first end portion, a second end portion, and an intermediate portion where an inwardly facing surface of the first end portion is flat and oriented to conform to a shape of a foot of a wearer of the article of footwear.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A sole system for an article of footwear, comprising: a sole member comprising an outwardly facing surface, an inwardly facing surface, and a plurality of spaced apart first apertures extending through the sole member, between the inwardly facing surface and the outwardly facing surface; and a protruding member assembly comprising a plurality of first protruding members, wherein each first protruding member is vertically movable within a corresponding first aperture of the plurality of spaced apart first apertures of the sole member, wherein each first protruding member has a first end portion, a second end portion, and an intermediate portion disposed between the first and second end portions, and wherein an inwardly facing surface of the first end portion is flat and oriented to conform to a shape of a foot of a wearer of the article of footwear.
Facts
- Company
- Nike (NIKE, Inc.)
- Official title
- MOVEABLE SENSORY ELEMENTS IN FOOTWEAR SOLES
- Publication number
- US20260262783A1
- Application number
- 19662362
- Filed
- Apr 29, 2026
- Published
- Sep 10, 2026
- Inventors
- 12
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
A43B 7/146 Human necessitiesA43B 13/226 Human necessitiesA43B 13/26 Human necessitiesA43C 15/14 Human necessitiesMore from Nike in Wearables
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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.