An article of footwear includes an upper, a midsole connected to the upper, and an outsole connected to the midsole. The midsole includes a lattice structure comprising a network of laths forming a plurality of cell units, the plurality of cell units arranged in a plurality of layers on the midsole. The cell units in an upper layer are stacked upon the cell units in a lower layer and separated by a set of vertices common to cell units in both the upper layer and the lower layer.

Insole or inner sole which is intended for an item of footwear and is designed in the form of a pressure-ventilation sole (40a-e) such that a flexurally elastic pressure-exerting plate (10, 20, 30) rests on a lower sole, said pressure-exerting plate being displaceable by the user's body weight, when the user is moving, into transverse profiling in the interspace between the pressure-exerting plate (10, 20, 30), which is in the vicinity of the sole of the foot, and the lower sole and displacing the contained air volume in the manner of ventilation, wherein the lower sole of the pressure-ventilation sole (40a-e) is configured in the form of a corrugated structured sole (1) from a spring steel or a comparable plastic material, the transverse profiling thereof being designed in the form of a corrugated profile and being stable, and resistant to deformation, in relation to a compressive force acting vertically on the structured sole (1), and that the pressure-exerting plate (10, 20, 30), which is in the vicinity of the sole of the foot, can be displaced into the dimensionally stable corrugation valleys (12) of the structured sole (1) in the manner of a pumping and/or compression plate.

An upper for an article of footwear includes a first upper panel, a second upper panel, and an extruded component. The extruded component is disposed along a border between the first upper panel and the second upper panel. The extruded component joins the first upper panel to the second upper panel.

An item of footwear comprises an upper adapted to receive a foot of the wearer. A sole is secured to the upper and adapted to be the interface between the wearer and the ground, the sole having a puncture-resistant membrane connected to the sole so as to provide puncture protection for the foot of the wearer, the puncture-resistant membrane having a puncture-resistant layer. A functional layer extends with and connected directly to the puncture-resistant layer and including at least a first functional layer portion and a second functional layer portion being side by side, the first functional layer portion having a first value for a given mechanical property, the second functional layer portion having a second value for said given mechanical property.

A sole structure for an article of footwear comprises a midsole system with a plurality of cushioning units, each having multiple cushioning layers configured to work together as a system to absorb a compressive load, such as a dynamic compressive load due to impact with the ground, in stages of progressive cushioning according to the relative stiffness values of the layers. Various midsole systems disclosed include isolated cushioning units, linked cushioning units, sole layers having stanchions interfacing with the midsole system, midsole systems with sole layers having keyed and unkeyed portions overlying a bladder, and midsole systems with vertically-stacked cushioning units disposed in inverted relationship to one another.

A sole structure for an article of footwear includes a midsole coupled to an outsole. The midsole includes a plurality of sipes on a first side and a plurality of sipes on a second side opposite the first side. The sipes partition portions of the midsole body into impact attenuation cells on the first and second sides of the midsole. The second side of the midsole further includes a plurality of grooves and a plurality of protruding members separated by the grooves. The protruding members extend from a midsole body towards the outsole when the midsole is coupled to the outsole, spacing the midsole body apart from the outsole. When coupled together, the midsole and the outsole form voids at the grooves. The grooves, protruding members, and sipes provide increased flexibility to the midsole even when the midsole is coupled to the outsole.

A comfort system for Cowboy and work boots, including an insole chassis, an insole chassis backing board, and cushioning pads for absorbing and attenuating shocks encountered by a wearer of the boots. Cushioning pads are secured to a surface of the insole chassis backing board, and apertures in the insole chassis allow the cushions to pass through. Additional cushioning pads are retained in recesses in the midsole. Pads on insole chassis backing board and midsole are vertically aligned. A steel toe inset is utilized in conjunction with the comfort system for work boots. A rim may depend below the midsole to receive a foamed plastic pad.

A sole structure for an article of footwear having a heel region, a mid-foot region, a forefoot region, an interior region, and a peripheral region. The sole structure including a bladder having a chamber including an arcuate segment extending around the heel region, a first segment extending along the peripheral region on a medial side of the sole structure from the arcuate segment to a first terminal end in the forefoot region, and a second segment spaced apart from the first segment across a width of the sole structure and extending along the peripheral region on a lateral side of the sole structure from the arcuate segment to a second terminal end in the forefoot region. A peripheral outsole extends along the chamber and a first cushion is disposed between the first segment and the second segment and is exposed through an opening of the peripheral outsole.

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 midfoot region of the plate than at a forefoot 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 comprises a midsole having four stacked polymeric sheets bonded to one another to define a first cushioning layer, a second cushioning layer, and a third cushioning layer. Each cushioning layer comprises a sealed chamber retaining gas in isolation from each other sealed chamber. Bonds between adjacent ones of the sheets are arranged such that the third cushioning layer is stacked directly above the first cushioning layer with the second cushioning layer bordering both the first cushioning layer and the third cushioning layer, and the sealed chamber of the second cushioning layer includes a plurality of elongated segments each extending lengthwise across a longitudinal midline of the midsole at a respective acute angle to the longitudinal midline.