Footwear article with asymmetric ankle collar

Abstract

A footwear article includes an asymmetric ankle collar that may expand in a manner that facilitates donning and doffing the footwear article, such as when the wearer slides his or her heel out of the footwear article. The footwear article may also include a collar elevator.

Claimed is: 
     
         1 . A footwear article comprising:
 a sole;   an upper coupled to the sole and having a heel region and an ankle region;   an ankle collar positioned in the ankle region and having an ankle-collar medial side and an ankle-collar lateral side,
 wherein the ankle collar is movable between a lowered state positioned closer to the sole and a raised state positioned farther from the sole, 
 wherein the ankle-collar medial side includes a medial-side topline edge and the ankle-collar lateral side includes a lateral-side topline edge, which does not mirror the medial-side topline edge; and 
   a collar elevator positioned in at least the heel region and operable to move the ankle collar from the lowered state to the raised state.   
     
     
         2 . The footwear article of  claim 1 , wherein the collar elevator stores potential energy by elastically deforming from a first configuration to a second configuration when an applied force moves the ankle collar from the raised state to the lowered state, and wherein the potential energy is to return the collar elevator to the first configuration upon removal of the applied force. 
     
     
         3 . The footwear article of  claim 1 , wherein the collar elevator includes a medial lever arm, a lateral lever arm, and a center connecting band that couples the medial lever arm to the lateral lever arm and that is located in a rear portion of the ankle collar. 
     
     
         4 . The footwear article of  claim 1 , wherein the medial-side topline edge includes a first topline-edge portion extending longitudinally in an anterior-posterior direction, wherein the lateral-side topline edge includes a second topline-edge portion extending longitudinally in the anterior-posterior direction, and wherein the first topline-edge portion comprises a superior-most extent of the upper and includes a deeper valley than the second topline-edge portion. 
     
     
         5 . The footwear article of  claim 4 , wherein a most inferior portion of the first topline-edge portion is closer to the sole than a most inferior portion of the second topline-edge portion. 
     
     
         6 . The footwear article of  claim 4 , wherein the first topline-edge portion is longer than the second topline-edge portion. 
     
     
         7 . The footwear article of  claim 1 , wherein the medial-side topline edge includes a first topline-edge portion extending longitudinally in an anterior-posterior direction, wherein the lateral-side topline edge includes a second topline-edge portion extending longitudinally in the anterior-posterior direction, and wherein the second topline-edge portion is straighter than the first topline-edge portion. 
     
     
         8 . The footwear article of  claim 7 , wherein the second topline-edge portion extends more parallel than the first topline-edge portion with respect to a horizontal reference plane. 
     
     
         9 . The footwear article of  claim 7 , wherein the second topline-edge portion extends more horizontally than the first topline-edge portion. 
     
     
         10 . The footwear article of  claim 1 , wherein the collar elevator comprises:
 a medial lever arm,   a lateral lever arm,   a center connecting band that couples the medial lever arm to the lateral lever arm and that is located near a rear portion of the ankle collar, and   a base that is affixed at a first junction to the medial lever arm and at a second junction to the lateral lever arm, the base continuously extending from the first junction, around a backside of the footwear article, to the second junction.   
     
     
         11 . The footwear article of  claim 10 , wherein the medial lever arm, the lateral lever arm, the center connecting band, and the base comprise a uniform thickness between an inner side facing towards a foot receiving cavity and an outer side facing away from the foot receiving cavity. 
     
     
         12 . The footwear article of  claim 11 , wherein the medial lever arm, the lateral lever arm, the center connecting band, and the base comprise a single continuous body. 
     
     
         13 . The footwear article of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the medial-side topline edge includes a first topline-edge portion extending longitudinally in an anterior-posterior direction;   wherein the lateral-side topline edge includes a second topline-edge portion extending longitudinally in the anterior-posterior direction;   wherein the first topline-edge portion comprises a superior-most extent of the upper and includes a deeper valley than the second topline-edge portion with a trough closer to the sole than an inferior-most portion of the second topline-edge portion; and   wherein the second topline-edge portion is straighter than the first topline-edge portion and extends more parallel than the first topline-edge portion with respect to a horizontal reference plane.   
     
     
         14 . The footwear article of  claim 13 ,
 wherein the collar elevator comprises a medial lever arm; a lateral lever arm; a center connecting band that couples the medial lever arm to the lateral lever arm and that is located near a rear portion of the ankle collar; and a base that is affixed at a first junction to the medial lever arm and at a second junction to the lateral lever arm, the base continuously extending from the first junction, around a backside of the footwear article, to the second junction; and   wherein the medial lever arm, the lateral lever arm, the center connecting band, and the base comprise a single continuous body having a uniform thickness between an inner side facing towards a foot receiving cavity and an outer side facing away from the foot receiving cavity.