Patent ID: 8141276

Claim:
A footwear or orthotic device, comprising: a footwear or orthotic sole; and an insert including at least one outer bladder having an uppermost surface curved concavely relative to an intended wearer's foot location in the footwear or orthotic device, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when the footwear or orthotic sole is upright and in an unloaded condition; said outer bladder forming a component of the footwear or orthotic sole; and at least one inner bladder inside the outer bladder, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section, said inner bladder including one or more resilient structural elements; at least one said structural element extending from at least proximate to a part of an upper outer surface of said at least one inner bladder to at least proximate to at least a part of a lower outer surface of said at least one inner bladder, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when said footwear or orthotic sole is in an upright, unloaded condition, and a gas located at least inside of said inner bladder between two inner surfaces of said inner bladder and outside of said one or more structural elements, when said insert is in an unloaded condition, said inner bladder including one or more openings; said outer bladder and said inner bladder being separated at least in part by an internal sipe, wherein said internal sipe is formed by an inner surface of said outer compartment and an outer surface of said inner compartment; and the inner and outer surfaces forming the sipe oppose each other, are separate from each other and therefore can move relative to each other in a sliding motion; and at least a portion of each of said surfaces forming the sipe are proximate to each other in an unloaded condition.