Multi-Sheet Core Bladder for Footwear Cushioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cushioning components in wearable articles, such as footwear, face challenges in maintaining shape and performance when inflated, as they tend to adopt a ball-like shape due to the lack of a tensile component within the bladder.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a multi-sheet core made of polymeric sheets bonded to the inner surfaces of barrier sheets within the bladder, utilizing anti-weld material to control bond patterns and geometry, thereby preventing the formation of sealed chambers and maintaining fluid communication within the bladder.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a fluid-filled bladder is used as a cushioning component, then cushioning performance is provided, but the bladder adopts a ball-like shape when inflated
Solution Approach 1:
The bladder is segmented by introducing a tensile component (such as a sheet or mesh) that divides the internal cavity into multiple regions. This segmentation prevents the bladder from forming a uniform spherical shape while maintaining the fluid-filled cushioning structure.
Solution Approach 2:
A tensile component is introduced as a dimensional element within the bladder's three-dimensional cavity. This component provides structural restraint in the radial direction, preventing spherical expansion while allowing controlled deformation for cushioning function.
2Shape
If a tensile component is added to restrain the bladder, then shape control is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tensile component is implemented as a flexible sheet or mesh made of thin film material that can be integrated into the bladder structure. This flexible component provides shape control without adding significant structural complexity or rigidity to the overall system.
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 multi-sheet core effectively restrains the bladder when inflated, preventing a ball-like shape while allowing for controlled geometry and performance enhancements, including improved toe spring and cushioning response.
Implementation Method 1
retain a gas in the interior cavity providing cushioning when loaded
Implementation Method 2
multi-sheet core disposed in the bladder and bonded to inner sides of barrier sheets of the bladder to act as a tensile component
Data Source
AI summary
An article of footwear includes a sole structure that has a cushioning component. The cushioning component includes a bladder and a multi-sheet core disposed in the bladder and bonded to inner sides of barrier sheets of the bladder to act as a tensile component. The barrier sheets define an interior cavity and are sealed to one another along a peripheral bond to enclose and retain a gas in the interior cavity. The multi-sheet core is spaced entirely inward of the peripheral bond and is directly bonded to the opposing inner surfaces of the first and second barrier sheets. The multi-sheet core does not create any sealed chambers within the bladder that are not in fluid communication with the interior cavity. No bonds securing the multi-sheet core to the opposing inner surfaces extend continuously from a medial edge of the multi-sheet core to a lateral edge of the multi-sheet core.