Footwear Sole Structure With Multi-Chamber Bladder Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sole structures for footwear lack a comprehensive design that effectively balances cushioning, support, and durability, particularly in the heel region, while also providing customizable cushioning characteristics across different foot regions.
Innovation Solution
A sole structure comprising a chassis with a cushioning element and cradle, which supports a bladder with multiple chambers, and pillars of varying materials to provide differential cushioning and support, enhancing the midsole's ability to adapt to foot pressure and provide tailored comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fluid-filled bladder is used to provide cushioning, then cushioning performance is improved, but the ability to provide differential cushioning across different foot regions is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The bladder is divided into multiple chambers (first chamber, second chamber, third chamber) that can be independently filled with fluid to different pressure levels. This segmentation allows different regions of the midsole (heel, midfoot, forefoot) to provide customized cushioning characteristics, resolving the contradiction between providing overall cushioning and enabling regional differentiation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different chambers of the bladder are filled with fluid to different pressure levels to create localized cushioning properties. The heel region, midfoot region, and forefoot region can each have tailored cushioning characteristics by adjusting the fluid pressure in corresponding chambers, allowing the midsole to adapt to varying pressure requirements across different foot regions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If pillars of varying materials are used to support the bladder, then customized cushioning is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Pillars supporting the bladder are made from materials with different hardness levels (softer material for first pillar, harder material for second pillar) to provide localized support characteristics. This allows the midsole to offer customized cushioning in different regions while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure that integrates these varied material pillars into the existing midsole architecture.
3Ease of operation
If the bladder is allowed to expand freely, then cushioning comfort is improved, but structural support and durability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The bladder is segmented into multiple chambers that are independently constrained by corresponding pillars. This segmentation allows each chamber to expand and provide cushioning comfort while being individually controlled and supported by its dedicated pillar, preventing uncontrolled expansion that would compromise structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
Pillars act as intermediary elements between the expanding bladder chambers and the midsole structure. These pillars provide localized support and constraint to the bladder chambers, allowing the bladder to expand sufficiently for cushioning comfort while preventing excessive expansion that would compromise structural support and durability.
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 cushioning and support by allowing the bladder to expand differently in peripheral and interior regions, offering a customized feel and improved durability through the use of materials with varying hardness, thus addressing the balance of comfort and wear resistance.
Implementation Method 1
The bladders may contain air, and are designed with an emphasis on balancing support for the foot and cushioning characteristics that relate to responsiveness as the bladder resiliently compresses under an applied load to attenuate ground-reaction forces
Implementation Method 2
The midsole provides cushioning for the foot and may be partially formed from a polymer foam material that compresses resiliently under an applied load to cushion the foot by attenuating ground-reaction forces
Data Source
AI summary
An article of footwear includes a sole structure having a chassis and a bladder. The chassis includes a cavity and a plurality of pillars extending into the cavity. The bladder is disposed within the cavity and includes one or more chambers. Each of one or more chambers is supported by at least one of the pillars. The chassis may include a first plurality of the pillars extending from a first side of the cavity and a second plurality of the pillars extending towards the first plurality of the pillars from a second side of the cavity, whereby the bladder is supported between the first plurality of the pillars and the second plurality of the pillars. The one or more chambers of the bladder includes an interior chamber and a peripheral chamber at least partially surrounding the interior chamber and the peripheral chamber has a different pressure than the interior chamber.