“Power laces. Alright!” So says Marty McFly after sliding his foot into Nike’s self-lacing shoe in Back to the Future Part II. The sneakers predicted by science-fiction are now a reality.The ’2015 Nike Mag’ use a system that automatically tightens the laces in the lower part of the shoe, around the foot, and also constricts a strap in the upper part, around the ankle.
How it works
The mechanism behind Nike’s ‘power laces’ was described in US patent 8769844, published 8 July 2014. Basically, each shoe contains a motorized system where the laces and straps are tightened by winding them around spools. The automatic lacing system consists of two separate parts around the foot and ankle.In the lower part, the self-lacing system (annotated ’122′ in figure 13 of the patent application) has a strap moving mechanism (1202) located in a cavity (1287) within the sole of the shoe. It’s powered by a small motor (1230) that rotates a driveshaft (1232) with two gears (1240 and 1242). The gears transfer power to two belts (1250 and 1252) attached to the laces (111 to 114).
The ankle cinching (belt) system in the shoe’s upper part (’124′ in fig. 22) uses a different mechanism (2222) and would lie behind your achilles tendon. It uses a coil spring (2204) wrapped around a shaft (2232) that ultimately pulls on the ankle strap (150). The belt stays tight thanks to a locking mechanism (2299), which is disengaged by the shoe’s control system.forbes
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