Article of footwear, sole and pump arrangement for use in same, and method of making same

A sole for use in an article of aerated footwear, comprising:

• a) a sole body connectable to a shoe upper, the sole body provided with peripheral walls which together define a cavity therein;
• b) a membrane connected to the walls or adjacent to the walls at a perimeter of the membrane and dividing the cavity into at least a first chamber and a second chamber, wherein the membrane and the walls on one side of the perimeter of the membrane define the first chamber, and the membrane and the walls on the other side of the perimeter of the membrane define the second chamber;
• and
• c) the sole is configured such that movement of the membrane within the cavity causes changing of interior volume within the chambers and thus pumping of air into or out of the chambers for air circulation.

A pump assembly for an article of aerated footwear comprising a pump membrane having:

• a) a membrane member fixedly connected to peripheral walls or adjacent to the peripheral walls of a sole body, and situated in cavity of the sole body of, the article of footwear;
• the membrane member extending across the sole body in the cavity;
• and
• b) an actuation member connected to the membrane member for effecting movement of the membrane member in response to bending or unbending of the sole, such as to provide air circulation to the article of footwear.

A method of manufacturing a sole body for an article of footwear, comprising steps of:

• a) moulding a sole member with surrounding walls such that the surrounding walls defining a cavity therebetween;
• b) providing a membrane member defining a perimeter and sized and shaped to connect to the surrounding walls at the perimeter;
• c) fixedly connecting the membrane member to the surrounding walls;
• and
• d) enclosing the cavity by connecting a covering member to the surrounding walls.