Abstract: A method of manufacturing a midsole for an article of footwear includes cutting a pattern of openings at least partway through a midsole with a cutting tool driven by an embroidery machine. An article of footwear includes a midsole defining a pattern of openings extending at least partway through the midsole. An inner surface of the midsole is contoured and the midsole includes upwardly-extending sidewalls. At least some of the openings extend relatively nonparallel with one another through the sidewalls and splay away from one another along longitudinal axes of the openings.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a data transfer device to which a master device that issues transfer requests and slave devices each having a function of responding to the transfer request may be connected. The device may include a transfer request counter that counts up or down each time a response signal is inputted thereto from any slave device, and counts down or up each time a data transfer completion signal is inputted thereto; a transfer destination selector that, based on a count value of the counter and information concerning a transfer-target slave device, determines and selects one of the slave devices as a destination of the transfer request, and connects the master device with the selected slave device; and a data transfer monitoring section that monitors completion of data transfer corresponding to the transfer request and, upon recognizing the completion, outputs the data transfer completion signal to the counter.