Nike patents shoes with motorized laces and swappable battery midsoles
This filing describes footwear with a motorized system that automatically tightens a cord running through the shoe to adjust its fit. The design places the battery and control unit inside a removable midsole, allowing the power source to be swapped out or replaced easily.
In the filing’s own words
An article of footwear may include an upper configured to receive a foot of a wearer and a sole structure fixedly attached to the upper, the sole structure including a ground-contacting outer member and a removable midsole. The footwear may further include a motorized tensioning system including a power source, a control unit, a tensile member, and a motorized tightening device, the motorized tightening device being attached to an outer surface of the upper, and the tightening device being configured to apply tension in the tensile member to adjust the size of an internal void defined by the article of footwear. In addition, the power source and the control unit of the tensioning system may be configured to be removably disposed in the removable midsole.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A system, comprising: an upper configured to receive a foot of a wearer, having an instep portion configured to extend over an instep of the foot of the wearer; a sole structure fixedly attached to the upper, the sole structure including a ground-contacting outer member and a removable midsole; an adaptive motorized system including: a motorized adaptive device; and a tensile member having a first end connected to the motorized adaptive device and a second end connected to the motorized adaptive device, the tensile member extending from the first end forwardly along a side of the upper to a forefoot region of the upper and then across the instep portion and then rearwardly along an opposed side of the upper, the motorized adaptive device being configured to adapt the tensile member to adjust the size of an internal void defined by the article of footwear.
Facts
- Company
- Nike (NIKE, Inc.)
- Official title
- FOOTWEAR HAVING MOTORIZED ADJUSTMENT SYSTEM AND REMOVABLE MIDSOLE
- Publication number
- US20260283308A1
- Application number
- 19695250
- Filed
- Jun 2, 2026
- Published
- Sep 24, 2026
- Inventors
- 2
- Claims
- 18
Classified under
A43C 11/22 Human necessitiesA43B 3/34 Human necessitiesA43B 11/00 Human necessitiesA43B 17/00 Human necessitiesA43C 11/165 Human necessitiesA43D 86/00 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.