Nike patents shoe sole with wavy internal sheets for cushioning
Nike describes a shoe sole containing a gas-filled bladder with internal sheets bonded in a wavy pattern. These wavy bonds hold the bladder walls together while allowing gas to flow freely, preventing the formation of sealed air pockets.
In the filing’s own words
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.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An article of footwear comprising: a sole structure having a cushioning component, the cushioning component including: a bladder including a first barrier sheet and a second barrier sheet, the first barrier sheet and the second barrier sheet together defining an interior cavity between opposing inner surfaces of the first barrier sheet and the second barrier sheet, and the first barrier sheet and the second barrier sheet coupled to one another along a peripheral bond to enclose the interior cavity and retain a gas in the interior cavity; and a core disposed in the interior cavity and spaced inward of the peripheral bond, the core including 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 to tether the first barrier sheet to the second barrier sheet, the at least one polymeric sheet displaced from the opposing inner surfaces by the gas at unbonded areas of the at least one polymeric sheet, the plurality of wavy bonds arranged with waves having peaks and valleys extending in a fore-aft direction of the article of footwear and such that the gas in the interior cavity is in fluid communication around the at least one polymeric sheet without the at least one polymeric sheet creating any sealed chambers within the bladder that are not in fluid communication with the interior cavity, wherein a distance in a transverse direction of the cushioning component from an outer perimeter of the at least one polymeric sheet to the peripheral bond is greater in a heel region of the article of footwear than in a forefoot region of the article of footwear.
Facts
- Company
- Nike (NIKE, Inc.)
- Official title
- CUSHIONING COMPONENT FOR A WEARABLE ARTICLE
- Publication number
- US20260262791A1
- Application number
- 19659559
- Filed
- Apr 27, 2026
- Published
- Sep 10, 2026
- Inventors
- 4
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
A43B 13/186 Human necessitiesA43B 13/20 Human necessitiesMore from Nike in Clothing & sport
- Nike patents clothing that stiffens instantly to protect against impacts Sep 15, 2026
- Nike patents underwear with electric straps that adjust tightness Sep 17, 2026
- Nike patents fabric that tightens when it gets wet Oct 15, 2026
- Nike patents shoe that pumps fluid to heel for cushioning Sep 8, 2026
- Nike patents top with built-in pocket for breast pumps Oct 1, 2026
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.