Article of footwear

A primary sole part comprising:

• a foot facing surface;
• and
• a ground facing surface,
• wherein the foot facing surface comprises a plurality of openings, respectively, defining a plurality of open volumes having a closed end for receiving an injected material,
• wherein the plurality of open volumes extend in a vertical direction from the foot facing surface towards the ground facing surface,
• wherein the foot facing surface is configured to be joined to an upper by receiving the injected sole material extending between a ground facing surface of the upper and a foot facing surface of the primary sole part,
• wherein the plurality of openings are arranged in a plurality of rows in the foot facing surface of the primary sole part,
• wherein the primary sole part further comprises:
• a first set of grooves on the ground facing surface, the first set of grooves extending in a lateral direction of the ground facing surface, and
• a second set of grooves on the ground facing surface, the second set of grooves extending in a longitudinal direction of the ground facing surface, such that the second set of grooves transversely intersects the first set of grooves,
• wherein respective inner surfaces of the first set of grooves define respective longitudinally facing sidewall surfaces of the plurality of open volumes,
• wherein respective inner surfaces of the second set of grooves define respective laterally facing sidewall surfaces of the plurality of open volumes, whereby the plurality of open volumes are enclosed on all lateral sides, and
• wherein the primary sole part defines a mold cavity of a secondary sole part, where the plurality of open volumes of the primary sole part at least partly define the mold cavity of the secondary sole part.

A primary sole of footwear comprising:

• a primary sole body extending in a lateral direction, a longitudinal direction, and a height direction that extends orthogonally to both the lateral direction and the longitudinal direction, the primary sole body having a foot facing side and a ground facing side, and the primary sole body including:
• a plurality of cavities, being distinctly interspaced from each other and aligned in rows laterally and longitudinally, each cavity having an opening through the foot facing side, and each cavity being defined by one or more inner sidewalls that extend(s) in the height direction from a closed end at the ground facing side to the opening,
• a plurality of laterally extending grooves extending substantially in the lateral direction on the ground facing side, a depth of the plurality of laterally extending grooves being such that respective pairs of opposing inner sides thereof pass between respective sidewalls of longitudinally adjacent cavities of the plurality of cavities, and
• a plurality of longitudinally extending grooves extending substantially in the longitudinal direction on the ground facing side, a depth of the plurality of longitudinally extending grooves being such that respective pairs of opposing inner sides thereof pass between the respective sidewalls of laterally adjacent cavities of the plurality of cavities,
• wherein the respective openings of the plurality of cavities align in multiple lateral rows between adjacent laterally extending grooves and in multiple longitudinal rows between adjacent longitudinally extending grooves such that each opening is segmented, and
• whereby the respective closed ends of the plurality of cavities are aligned in the height direction to corresponding ground contact points on the ground facing side of the primary sole body.