Importance

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Abstract

An article of footwear with a bladder system providing cushioning and dynamic motion control in a multi-bladder system. The bladder system gives the needed amount of motion control by stiffening a portion of the footwear in response to the individual user's side-to-side motion. When used in the heel, the bladder system takes into consideration a center-of-pressure pathway of the foot to increase medial stiffness in response to lateral-to-medial rotation of the foot, so the more a user pronates, the stiffer the medial portion of the footwear is made. The bladder system provides comfort and control without the extra weight and bulk of prior art support structures. The bladder system dynamically changes the stiffness of a portion of the footwear when pressure is applied thereto, and returns to equilibrium when the pressure is removed.

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First Claim