Footwear Cushioning Bladder With Wavy Bonds for Shape Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cushioning components in wearable articles, such as footwear, face challenges in maintaining a flat shape before inflation and effectively withstanding repeated stresses without delamination, particularly due to the use of traditional tensile components that require complex molds for bond formation.
Innovation Solution
A cushioning component with a core composed of polymeric sheets bonded to barrier sheets using wavy bonds and anti-weld material, allowing the component to lay flat before inflation and enhance robustness against lateral forces by utilizing anti-weld material to control bond patterns and geometry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a fluid-filled bladder is used as a cushioning component, then cushioning performance is improved, but the bladder adopts a ball-like shape when inflated
Solution Approach 1:
The bladder is segmented into multiple chambers by inserting a core structure with transverse and longitudinal walls that divide the interior cavity. This segmentation prevents the bladder from forming a single large spherical shape while maintaining cushioning performance through distributed pressure across multiple chambers.
Solution Approach 2:
The core structure incorporates localized bonding regions with varying bond strengths and configurations. The bonds between the core and bladder wall are strategically positioned and sized to control local deformation characteristics, preventing overall spherical collapse while allowing localized cushioning deformation.
2Shape
If a core structure is added to restrain the bladder shape, then shape control is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The core structure merges multiple functions into a single component: it provides shape control through its rigid walls, divides the bladder into chambers, and bonds to the bladder wall to transfer loads. This integration reduces the need for separate structural elements and simplifies the overall assembly process.
Solution Approach 2:
The core structure utilizes curved surfaces and geometric shapes that naturally resist spherical deformation of the bladder. The specific curvature and arrangement of the core walls create structural stability that prevents ball-like shaping while maintaining manufacturability through standard molding processes.
3Shape
If complex bonding patterns are used to control bladder shape, then shape control is improved, but manufacturing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The core structure is pre-formed with integrated bonding surfaces and attachment features before bladder assembly. This preliminary preparation allows for simpler bonding operations during final assembly, as the bonding locations and patterns are predetermined and built into the core structure rather than requiring complex post-assembly bonding processes.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides enhanced robustness against repeated stresses and delamination while maintaining a flat pre-inflation shape, improving manufacturing ease and cushioning performance by using wavy bonds and anti-weld material to control bond patterns.
Implementation Method 1
Some cushioning components are configured as fluid-filled bladders that enclose an interior cavity to retain a gas in the interior cavity, providing cushioning when loaded
Implementation Method 2
The core is disposed in the interior cavity and is spaced entirely inward of the peripheral bond. The core includes at least one polymeric sheet traversing the interior cavity between and directly bonded to the opposing inner surfaces of the first barrier sheet and the second barrier sheet at a plurality of wavy bonds
Data Source
AI summary
An article of footwear includes a sole structure having a cushioning component. The cushioning component includes a bladder defining an interior cavity between opposing inner surfaces of a first barrier sheet and a second barrier sheet, and the barrier sheets sealed to one another along a peripheral bond. A core is disposed in the interior cavity and spaced entirely inward of the peripheral bond. The core includes at least one polymeric sheet traversing the interior cavity between and directly bonded to the opposing inner surfaces of the barrier sheets at a plurality of wavy bonds to tether the barrier sheets to one another. The wavy bonds are arranged with waves having peaks and valleys extending in a fore-aft direction such that the at least one polymeric sheet does not create any sealed chambers within the bladder that are not in fluid communication with the interior cavity.