US 12,064,007 B2
Articulated cushioning article with tensile component and method of manufacturing a cushioning article
Arick Auyang, Portland, OR (US); Page J. Bailey, Portland, OR (US); Jeremy L. Connell, Hillsboro, OR (US); Derek Houng, Portland, OR (US); and Jason R. Meeker, Hillsboro, OR (US)
Assigned to NIKE, Inc., Beaverton, OR (US)
Filed by NIKE, Inc., Beaverton, OR (US)
Filed on Jan. 3, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/092,674.
Application 17/095,088 is a division of application No. 15/982,731, filed on May 17, 2018, granted, now 10,863,792, issued on Dec. 15, 2020.
Application 18/092,674 is a continuation of application No. 17/095,088, filed on Nov. 11, 2020, granted, now 11,633,011.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/508,035, filed on May 18, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2023/0147255 A1, May 11, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A43B 13/20 (2006.01); A43B 9/12 (2006.01); A43B 13/04 (2006.01); A43B 13/18 (2006.01); B29K 23/00 (2006.01)
CPC A43B 13/20 (2013.01) [A43B 9/12 (2013.01); A43B 13/04 (2013.01); A43B 13/186 (2013.01); B29K 2023/086 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An article of footwear having a forefoot region, the article of footwear comprising:
a cushioning article including:
a bladder disposed in the forefoot region and having a forward end, a rear end, and a peripheral flange, the bladder enclosing an interior cavity and retaining a gas in the interior cavity;
a tensile component disposed in the interior cavity, the tensile component including tensile layers and a plurality of tethers connecting the tensile layers, the tensile layers connected to an inner surface of the bladder such that the tethers span across the interior cavity;
the bladder having inwardly-protruding bonds that are disposed at the inner surface of the bladder and join the inner surface of the bladder to an outer surface of the tensile component, protrude inward into the interior cavity, and partially traverse the plurality of tethers such that the bladder is narrowed at the inwardly-protruding bonds and the gas in the interior cavity fluidly communicates across the inwardly-protruding bonds;
the inwardly-protruding bonds including parallel transverse bonds extending from the peripheral flange at a medial side of the bladder to the peripheral flange at a lateral side of the bladder without intersecting one another; the parallel transverse bonds including forward transverse bonds spaced apart from one another and a rear transverse bond disposed rearward of the forward transverse bonds, adjacent ones of the forward transverse bonds being spaced closer to one another than a spacing between a rearmost one of the forward transverse bonds and the rear transverse bond.