Nike patents shoe sole with air pockets and connecting pins
This filing describes a shoe sole design that uses a cushioning layer with holes running through it. An air-filled bladder sits above the cushion, while the outer sole has pins that poke through the holes to hold the bladder in place.
In the filing’s own words
A sole structure for an article of footwear defines a footbed and includes a chassis having a lower cushioning element including an upper side and a bottom side disposed on an opposite side from the upper side, the lower cushioning element including one or more apertures extending from the upper side to the bottom side. A bladder is disposed adjacent to the upper side of the lower cushioning element and an outsole is disposed adjacent to the bottom side of the lower cushioning element and includes one or more protrusions each extending through a respective one of the one or more apertures and engaging the bladder.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A sole structure for an article of footwear, the sole structure defining a footbed and comprising: a chassis including a lower cushioning element having an upper side and a bottom side disposed on an opposite side from the upper side, the lower cushioning element including a first aperture and a second aperture each extending from the upper side to the bottom side; a bladder disposed adjacent to the upper side of the lower cushioning element; and an outsole disposed adjacent to the bottom side of the lower cushioning element and including a first protrusion extending through the first aperture and engaging the bladder and a second protrusion extending through the second aperture and engaging the bladder, the first protrusion being disposed closer to an anterior end of the sole structure than the second protrusion.
Facts
- Company
- Nike (NIKE, Inc.)
- Official title
- SOLE STRUCTURE FOR ARTICLE OF FOOTWEAR
- Publication number
- US20260256241A1
- Application number
- 19649488
- Filed
- Apr 16, 2026
- Published
- Sep 3, 2026
- Inventors
- 8
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
A43B 13/40 Human necessitiesA43B 7/1425 Human necessitiesA43B 7/144 Human necessitiesMore from Nike in Clothing & sport
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.