Patent ID: 8914994

Claim:
An article of footwear comprising: an upper for securing the article of footwear to a wearer; and a sole assembly operatively coupled to the upper, the sole assembly including a bladder that contains a fluid, the bladder having a posterior portion, an anterior portion, and a middle portion disposed between the posterior and anterior portions, the posterior portion having a heel recess that is approximately coincidental with a center of a heel of the wearer, the middle portion including a neck chamber that extends between the posterior and anterior portions, the neck chamber being elongate and having a width that is less than both the posterior and anterior portions, and the anterior portion having a plurality of toe recesses that extend generally away from the neck chamber; wherein the bladder includes a plurality of layers that at least partially overlap and that are coupled together to define a chamber therebetween for containing the fluid; wherein the plurality of layers are welded together to define the chamber therebetween; and wherein the posterior portion partially defines an outer periphery of the bladder, and wherein the posterior portion includes a pair of nonlinear, elongate inner weldments on opposite sides of the heel recess and that each curve inwardly from the outer periphery generally toward the heel recess.