Article of footwear having a flexible fluid-filled chamber
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorScott C. Holt
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An article of footwear may include an upper forming a void within the footwear, a sole structure secured to the upper, and a chamber that encloses a pressurized fluid. The sole structure includes a depression. The chamber is located within the void of the upper and located on the depression of the sole structure. The chamber may include a plurality of fluid-filled subchambers, a manifold, and a connection fluidically-connected at least one of the subchambers to the manifold. The subchambers may enclose the pressurized fluid at different pressures. The subchambers may be separated from one another by a bonded area in the direction extending between the heel and toe of the chamber.
Claims20
A mold for manufacturing fluid-filled chambers for articles of footwear, the mold comprising:
- a first region defining a right-footed shape for a first of the fluid-filled chambers, the first region delimiting the right-footed shape to include a first plurality of distinct subchambers spaced along a length thereof and a first manifold running along a medial or lateral side thereof and being in fluid communication with each of the first plurality of distinct subchambers via distinct first connections;
- a second region defining a left-footed shape for a second of the fluid-filled chambers, the second region delimiting the left-footed shape to include a second plurality of distinct subchambers spaced along a length thereof and a second manifold running along a medial or lateral side thereof and being in fluid communication with each of the second plurality of distinct subchambers via distinct second connections;
- and
- a main indentation extending between and in fluid communication with a first recess and a second recess delimiting a shape of the first manifold and the second manifold, respectively, via a respective first secondary indentation and second secondary indentation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.