An item of footwear comprises an upper adapted to receive a foot of the wearer and having a front-end portion. An outsole forms a bottom surface of the item of footwear, the outsole being single-piece monolithic and having a concave outsole shell receiving in its outsole concavity at least part of the front-end portion. A midsole being single-piece monolithic may be in direct-attach connection between the upper and the outsole, the midsole having a concave midsole shell between the concave outsole shell and the front-end portion, the concave midsole shell receiving in its midsole concavity at least part of the front-end portion. A shock-absorbing pad may be between the concave shell and the front-end portion of the upper, the shock-absorbing pad being made of a material attenuating an impact force by at least 60% in a flat surface impact test, single drop of a 8.5 kg mass, at 1.0 m/s velocity.

Multi-layered structures and methods for producing them are disclosed.

A method of forming a plate for an article of footwear is disclosed. The method includes applying a first strand portion to a base layer including positioning adjacent segments of the first strand portion to form a first layer on the base layer. The adjacent segments of the first strand portion having a greater density across a width of the plate between a medial side and a lateral side at a forefoot region of the plate than at a midfoot region of the plate and at a heel region of the plate. The method also includes applying at least one of heat and pressure to the first strand portion and to the base layer to conform the first strand portion and the base layer to a predetermined shape.

A sole structure for an article of footwear includes a chassis having a first side defining a footbed and a second side disposed on an opposite side from the first side, a first bladder attached to the second side of the chassis and including at least one first chamber defining a first polar axis oriented in a first direction, and a second bladder attached to second side of the chassis and including at least one second chamber defining a second polar axis oriented in a second direction transverse to the first direction.

The present disclosure describes molded footwear including a sole integrally connected to an upper. For example, a sole structure may include an insole and a strobel board. The insole may include a spacing structure that rests on a top surface of the strobel board to form a cavity between the insole and the strobel board. Further, the upper and/or strobel board may include perforations at least partially aligned with the cavity. Accordingly, the sole structure may be connected to the upper via injection molding material into the cavity formed between the insole, the strobel board, and the upper. The molding material may flow through the specifically located perforations in the shoe's upper and/or the shoe's strobel board such that the material bonds internally within the cavity, internally within the perforations, and externally to the shoe's upper and strobel board but within the mold cavity.

Described are methods for manufacturing a plastic component, in particular a cushioning element for sports apparel, a plastic component manufactured with such methods, for example a sole or a part of a sole for a shoe, and a shoe with such a sole. The method for the manufacture of a plastic component includes loading a mold with a first material includes particles of an expanded material and fusing the surfaces of the particles by supplying energy. The energy is supplied in the form of at least one electromagnetic field.

A fluid-filled chamber, which may be incorporated into articles of footwear and other products, may include an outer barrier and a tensile element. The outer barrier may have a first portion, an opposite second portion, and an interior surface defining an interior void. The tensile element may be secured to the first portion of the outer barrier in a plurality of first bond areas and may be secured to the second portion of the outer barrier in a plurality of second bond areas. Each of the bond areas may be connected to portions of the tensile element spaced from the interior surface.

Sole structures (e.g., midsoles and/or outsoles) and articles of footwear include heel-supporting areas and/or forefoot-supporting areas that include a central area (e.g., a central recessed area) and a plurality of surrounding rings. Additionally or alternatively, the sole structures (e.g., midsoles and/or outsoles) may include bands of material defined by recessed grooves to provide a bumpstop type impact-force attenuating structure.

An article of footwear includes a sole structure including a polymeric bladder element enclosing a fluid-filled interior cavity. The bladder element has a surface with a groove that extends generally parallel with a transverse edge from a lateral side to a medial side, and has a reduced thickness at the groove. A first length along a longitudinal midline of the bladder element from a longitudinal extremity of the bladder element to the groove corresponds with a first footwear size, and a second length along the longitudinal midline of the bladder element from the longitudinal extremity to the transverse edge corresponds with a second footwear size larger than the first footwear size. The sole structure is used in a method of manufacturing an article of footwear.

An article of footwear is provided and includes an upper and a sole attached to the upper, where the sole has a medial side and a lateral side, and a through-hole extending between the medial side and the lateral side. A support member is positioned in the through-hole of the sole, where the support member includes an upper support and a lower support and where the upper support is spaced from the lower support.