Article of Footwear With One or More Auxetic Bladders
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorMatthew D. Nordstrom
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An article of footwear with a midsole has an auxetic bladder member formed from inflated components surrounding star-shaped apertures. The inflated components form one or more auxetic bladders, and may have a triangular geometry. The inflated components are fluidly connected to adjoining components. Adjoining inflated components are hingedly connected, so that they can rotate with respect to each other in the plane of the midsole.
Claims26
An article of footwear comprising an upper and a sole structure,
- wherein said sole structure comprises a midsole;
- and
- wherein the midsole comprises at least one bladder member comprised of fluidly-connected inflated components that form an auxetic structure;
- and
- wherein the fluidly-connected inflated components are connected by connecting portions that function as hinges, allowing the inflated components to rotate with respect to each other.
A bladder member for an article of footwear having a width and a length comprising:
- a plurality of apertures surrounded by inflated components, wherein the inflated components are hingedly connected to each other and fluidly connected to each other to form an inflated auxetic bladder, and
- wherein the inflated components can rotate with respect to each other such that the inflated auxetic bladder can simultaneously curve in a first direction and in a second direction, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction and wherein the first direction and the second direction are generally parallel with the bladder member.
An article of footwear comprising an upper, a midsole attached to the upper and an outsole attached to the midsole,
- wherein the midsole comprises at least one auxetic portion, and
- wherein the auxetic portion comprises inflated triangular components surrounding star-shaped apertures, and
- wherein each inflated triangular component is hingedly connected to at least one adjoining triangular component to form an auxetic structure in which the triangular components can rotate with respect to each other in a plane of the midsole, and
- wherein the triangular components are fluidly connected to each other to form an auxetic bladder.
A bladder member, comprising:
- fluidly-connected inflated components that form an auxetic structure;
- wherein the fluidly-connected inflated components are connected by connecting portions that function as hinges, allowing the inflated components to rotate with respect to each other;
- wherein the bladder member is configured to expand in a first direction and a second direction that is orthogonal to the first direction when the bladder member is tensioned in the first direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.