Article of footwear having a bladder with angled tethers

Abstract

An article of footwear that includes a sole structure that has a ground contact surface extending in a forefoot region and in a heel region of the sole structure. The sole structure includes a bladder defining a fluid-filled interior cavity with a tensile component disposed in the fluid-filled interior cavity and including tensile layers and a plurality of tethers connecting the tensile layers. The sole structure is configured to rest in an upright position with the ground contact surface in both the forefoot region and in the heel region of the sole structure on a horizontal ground plane with the bladder disposed above the ground contact surface and with the tethers extending in tension at an acute angle relative to the ground contact surface and the horizontal ground plane in the absence of a threshold compressive force on the bladder.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An article of footwear comprising: 
 a sole structure having a ground contact surface extending in both a forefoot region and in a heel region of the sole structure; the sole structure including: 
 a bladder defining a fluid-filled interior cavity; and 
 a tensile component disposed in the fluid-filled interior cavity and including tensile layers and a plurality of tethers connecting the tensile layers, the tensile layers connected to opposing sides of an inner surface of the bladder such that the tethers span across the fluid-filled interior cavity; 
   wherein the sole structure is configured to rest in an upright position with a ground contact surface in both the forefoot region and in the heel region of the sole structure on a horizontal ground plane with the bladder disposed above the ground contact surface and the bladder tilted relative to the ground contact surface and the horizontal ground plane with the tethers extending in tension at an acute angle relative to the ground contact surface and the horizontal ground plane in the absence of a threshold compressive force on the bladder.   
     
     
         2 . The article of footwear of  claim 1 , wherein the tethers extend at least partially forward in a direction from a lower extent of the tethers to an upper extent of the tethers. 
     
     
         3 . The article of footwear of  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the bladder includes a first polymeric sheet and a second polymeric sheet bonded to one another at a peripheral seam to define the fluid-filled interior cavity;    the peripheral seam extends around a side periphery of the bladder; and   an upper extent of the tethers is nearer to an inner surface of the first polymeric sheet and a lower extent of the tethers is nearer to an inner surface of the second polymeric sheet than to the first polymeric sheet.   
     
     
         4 . The article of footwear of  claim 3 , wherein the peripheral seam is centered along the side periphery of the bladder. 
     
     
         5 . The article of footwear of  claim 1 , wherein the bladder declines continuously in a forward direction of the sole structure from a rear of the bladder to a front of the bladder. 
     
     
         6 . The article of footwear of  claim 1 , wherein the bladder is disposed in the heel region of the sole structure. 
     
     
         7 . The article of footwear of  claim 1 , wherein the bladder is exposed at an exterior of the sole structure. 
     
     
         8 . The article of footwear of  claim 7 , wherein the sole structure further includes a foam midsole disposed between the ground contact surface and the bladder. 
     
     
         9 . The article of footwear of  claim 8 , wherein: 
 a surface of the foam midsole slopes downward in a direction from the heel region toward the forefoot region; and   the bladder overlies the surface of the foam midsole.   
     
     
         10 . The article of footwear of  claim 9 , wherein: 
 the foam midsole includes a first foam midsole layer and a second foam midsole layer;   the surface of the foam midsole is a surface of the first foam midsole layer;   the second midsole foam layer has a surface overlying an upper surface of the bladder; and   the surface of the second foam midsole layer slopes downward in the direction from the heel region toward the forefoot region.    
     
     
         11 . The article of footwear of  claim 8 , wherein the foam midsole defines a pocket with the bladder disposed in the pocket. 
     
     
         12 . The article of footwear of  claim 1 , wherein the bladder is exposed at an exterior of the sole structure. 
     
     
         13 . The article of footwear of  claim 12 , wherein the bladder is exposed at one or both of a medial side of the sole structure and a lateral side of the sole structure. 
     
     
         14 . The article of footwear of  claim 12 , wherein the bladder is exposed at a rear of the sole structure. 
     
     
         15 . The article of footwear of  claim 1 , wherein the bladder is disposed in the sole structure with a lowest extent of a rear of the bladder further displaced from the horizontal ground plane than a highest extent of a front of the bladder. 
     
     
         16 . The article of footwear of  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the tethers are disposed in rows; and   the rows extend in a transverse direction that is perpendicular to a longitudinal midline of the sole structure.   
     
     
         17 . An article of footwear comprising: 
 a footwear upper defining a foot-receiving cavity;   a sole structure secured to the footwear upper and having a ground contact surface configured to rest on a horizontal ground plane such that a foot inserted into the foot-receiving cavity rests on the sole structure over the ground contact surface; and   wherein the sole structure includes a bladder tilted downward from a rear of the bladder to a front of the bladder and defining a fluid-filled interior cavity including tethers spanning in tension in the fluid-filled interior cavity in a direction from a bottom of the bladder to a top of the bladder at an acute angle relative to the ground contact surface and the horizontal ground plane in the absence of a threshold compressive force on the bladder.   
     
     
         18 . The article of footwear of  claim 17 , wherein the sole structure is configured to rest in an upright position with the ground contact surface of the sole structure in both a forefoot region and a heel region of the sole structure on the horizontal ground plane with the tethers extending at least partially forward in a direction from a lower extent of the tethers to an upper extent of the tethers. 
     
     
         19 . The article of footwear of  claim 17 , wherein the bladder is exposed at an exterior of the sole structure. 
     
     
         20 . The article of footwear of  claim 17 , wherein the sole structure includes a midsole defining a pocket and the bladder is disposed in the pocket.