ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,696,961, issued on Aug. 4, was assigned to NIKE Inc. (Beaverton, Ore.).
"Autolacing footwear motor having rotary drum encoder" was invented by Holli Pheil (Portland, Ore.) and Summer L. Schneider (Portland, Ore.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An article of footwear and related method includes a midsole, an upper secured with respect to the midsole, and a lace extending through the upper. A motorized lacing system positioned within the midsole, configured to engage with the lace to increase and decrease tension on the lace. The motorized lacing system includes a motor, including a motor shaft, a spool, coupled to the motor shaft, configure...