Articulated cushioning article with tensile component and method of manufacturing a cushioning article

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;
• wherein the bladder has 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;
• wherein the inwardly-protruding bonds include straight transverse bonds, each of the straight 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 any of the other straight transverse bonds;
• wherein the inwardly-protruding bonds further include two longitudinal bonds extending from the peripheral flange at the forward end of the bladder to the peripheral flange at the rear end of the bladder, the two longitudinal bonds intersecting each of the straight transverse bonds without intersecting one another;
• and
• wherein the two longitudinal bonds are the only longitudinal bonds extending from the peripheral flange at the forward end of the bladder to the peripheral flange at the rear end of the bladder.

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;
• wherein the bladder has 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;
• wherein the inwardly-protruding bonds include straight transverse bonds, each of the straight 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 any of the other straight transverse bonds;
• wherein the inwardly-protruding bonds further include two longitudinal bonds extending from the peripheral flange at the forward end of the bladder to the peripheral flange at the rear end of the bladder, the two longitudinal bonds intersecting each of the straight transverse bonds without intersecting one another;
• wherein the straight transverse bonds include forward transverse bonds spaced apart from one another and a rear transverse bond disposed rearward of the forward transverse bonds;
• and
• wherein the inwardly-protruding bonds further include diagonal bonds extending rearward and transversely outward from intersections of a rearmost one of the forward transverse bonds and the longitudinal bonds to the peripheral flange.