Footwear with an air cushion and a method for making the same

A method for making an article of footwear, comprising the steps of:

• preparing an upper that has a peripheral wall with a bottom end that defines a bottom opening, and an insole that covers the bottom opening and that is connected to the bottom end of the peripheral wall;
• preparing an outsole having a horizontal base, and formed with a plurality of studs that project from the horizontal base;
• mounting the upper on a last;
• forming an inflatable air cushion that includes a top wall with a peripheral edge, a bottom wall with a peripheral edge, and a cushion peripheral wall interconnecting the peripheral edges of the top and bottom walls and cooperating with the top and bottom walls to confine an air chamber thereamong, the bottom wall having a horizontal wall portion, and a plurality of grooves, each of which is confined by a groove-confining wall that extends inwardly of the air chamber from the horizontal wall portion;
• placing and assembling the air cushion, the outsole, and the upper which is mounted on the last in a mold in such a manner that the air cushion is sandwiched between the insole and the outsole, that the top wall confronts the insole, that the horizontal wall portion of the bottom wall confronts the horizontal base, and that each of the studs extends into a respective one of the grooves;
• injecting air into the air chamber so as to permit expansion of the air cushion and so as to permit abutment of the cushion peripheral wall against an inner side wall of the mold, abutment of the top wall against the insole, and abutment of the horizontal wall portion of the bottom wall against the horizontal base;
• and
• thermally molding assembly of the air cushion, the outsole, and the upper in the mold so as to shape the cushion peripheral wall in accordance with the shape of the inner side wall of the mold and so as to permit bonding between the top wall and the insole, between the horizontal wall portion of the bottom wall and the horizontal base, and between each of the studs and the respective groove-confining wall.

An article of footwear comprising:

• an upper with an insole;
• an outsole spaced apart from and vertically aligned with said insole;
• and
• an air cushion sandwiched between said insole and said outsole and including a top wall that is bonded to said insole and that has a peripheral edge, a bottom wall that is bonded to said outsole and that has a peripheral edge, and a cushion peripheral wall that interconnects said peripheral edges of said top and bottom walls, and that cooperates with said top and bottom walls to confine an air chamber thereamong, said air cushion further including a plurality of partitions that sealingly interconnect said top and bottom walls to divide said air chamber into a plurality of closed cells, each of said partitions being formed with an aperture so as to permit fluid communication between adjacent closed cells.