Steve Brunos, Sneaker Design Engineer at Converse (a Nike, Inc. company) has filed a patent for Nike Ease Challenge Utility, a new closure system.
“This Nike Ease Challenge utility patent is especially sweet,” Brunos wrote in an Instagram post unveiling the patent. “The opportunity to present my invention to Mark, his chief executive team and select Nike athletes is a career highlight that I’ll never forget.”
Interestingly, the new system would allow wearers to bend back the entire heel of whichever shoe it will be implemented on and slide their foot in easily. Next, two straps that secure beneath the heel wrap up onto the midfoot and secure the heel of the shoe onto the foot. Finally, the wearer secures the straps at designated points (102V in the diagram).
The system relies on a flex component in the midsole that moves the article of footwear between an open position (foot insertion) and a closed position (foot supporting configuration), according to the patent.
“With easy-on/easy-off footwear trending hard, would you want to see this alternative closure system in the market?” asked Brunos in his announcement. Let us know what you think of the new system in the comments below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoZXcFDh6pL/?taken-by=stevebrunos
