BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to traction systems and methods for footwear. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to cleats or protrusions to be added or applied to an ordinary pre-existing footwear outsole for improved traction.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
It is well known that cleats or protrusions extending from the bottom outsole of footwear improve traction on various environmental surfaces including grass, artificial turf, snow, ice, and sand, among others. Cleated bottom outsoles, such as those commonly applied in athletic footwear, may be pre-formed to include cleats in the inherent outsole structure or may be pre-formed to include attachment locations, such as threaded sockets, for mating cleats to be screwed into position. More recently, cleats have been designed for insertion into ordinary pre-existing footwear outsoles through a structural change to the original pre-existing outsole as described in U.S. Pat. No. 11,330,869 to Stuart, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, crampons are known devices strapped to footwear, commonly applied for traction on ice and snow, which do not require structural changes to the outsole but change the appearance of footwear due to attachment methods.
There exists a growing demand for traction improvement for ordinary pre-existing footwear outsoles during particular activities, such as the game of golf, through attachable or additive systems or methods. Such traction improvements are desired to enable use of an increased variety of footwear with sufficient traction capabilities rather than limiting use to footwear with pre-formed cleated outsoles. According to one demand, a system or method for improved outsole traction will enable the ability to apply different footwear styles, such as various shoes, sandals, or other footwear types, during a particular activity. According to a second demand, a system or method for improved outsole traction will enable the ability to apply custom footwear, such as those containing custom orthotic adjustments, during a particular activity.
Prior systems and methods for improving traction have proven to be effective but require cleated or cleat accepting pre-formed outsoles, permanent structural changes to ordinary pre-existing outsoles, or changes to the footwear appearance due to the use of attachment methods. Therefore, a need for a cost-effective solution to improve footwear traction without altering the ordinary pre-existing outsole inherent structure or footwear appearance is still present.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The subject matter disclosed herein provides a solution to improve traction of an ordinary pre-existing footwear outsole without permanent alteration of the outsole structure or change of appearance of the footwear.
In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, a cleat has a body including a base containing a flat surface for receiving an adhesive material and a plurality of protrusions extended from the base configured to engage with environmental surfaces. The cleat body may be formed from a flexible material with a hardness between 40 to 100 Shore A. An adhesive layer in communication with the flat surface of the body base adheres the body to a footwear outsole to provide traction generated by the plurality of the protrusions to the footwear.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the protrusions of the body have a thickness greater than the thickness of the base of the body.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the base of the body has a thickness between 0.030 and 0.10 inches.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the plurality of protrusions of the body have a thickness between 0.050 and 0.15 inches.
These and other aspects, advantages, and features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and accompanying drawings, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit thereof. It is hereby disclosed that the invention includes all such modifications.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a bottom perspective view of a first exemplary adhesive cleat;
FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the adhesive cleat of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the adhesive cleat of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the adhesive cleat of FIG. 1
FIG. 5 is a side view of the adhesive cleat of FIG. 1
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a set of the adhesive cleats of FIG. 1 attached to the outsole of footwear;
FIG. 7 is a side view of a set of the adhesive cleats of FIG. 1 attached to the outsole of footwear;
FIG. 8. is a perspective view of a set of second exemplary adhesive cleats attached to the outsole of footwear;
FIG. 9. is a perspective view of an exemplary adhesive cleated sheet;
FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the cleated sheet of FIG. 9
FIG. 11 is a bottom view of the cleated sheet of FIG. 9
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The embodiments set forth herein are intended to be exemplary. It should be understood that scope of the present subject matter is not limited to this description, and it may be embodied in various other forms obvious to those of ordinary skilled in the art.
Turning to the drawings, FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 depict a first exemplary embodiment of an adhesive cleat 1 comprised of a base 2, a plurality of protrusions 3, and an adhesive layer 4. The base 2 and plurality of protrusions 3 are continuously formed to define a single continuous entity or single part, referred to herein as the body. The body of adhesive cleat 1 may preferably be composed of a flexible material such a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), urethane or polyurethane rubbers, or any other generally flexible material. The material hardness may preferably range from 40 to 100 Shore A for optimal functionality, but it is possible to use any formable material without departing from the scope of the invention. Flexible materials may be preferred to apply material properties similar to those of a standard footwear outsole to enable movement or flexing of the base 2 in coordination with movement of the footwear outsole. Although rigid materials may be applied within the scope of the invention, they may increase the risk of the adhesion failure due to the inability of rigid materials to flex or move in coordination with movement of a flexible footwear outsole. The base 2 and plurality of protrusions 3 comprising the body of adhesive cleat 1 may be formed by any common manufacturing practice including but not limited to molding, casting, or 3D printing.
Turning to FIG. 3, it will be understood that adhesive layer 4 is in communication with the flat top surface 5 of the base 2 and may consist of any adhesive substance without departing from the scope of the invention. A preferred adhesive layer 4 may consist of double-sided tapes such as Very High Bond (VHB) and 300LSE tapes manufactured by the 3M organization which contain inherent flexibility to enable the adhesive to flex or move in coordination with the movement of a flexible footwear outsole. Flexible double-side tape also enables the body of cleat 1 to be reusable by removing and replacing a worn adhesive layer 4. The flat surface 5 of the base 2 may be a smooth surface or may be a slightly textured surface to improve adhesion of the adhesive layer 4 to flat surface 5. Additionally, surface 5 may be pre-conditioned, such as with Tape Primer 94 or Adhesion Promoter 111 manufactured by the 3M organization, to improve adhesion between adhesive layer 4 and flat surface 5.
Turning to FIG. 4, the bottom view of adhesive cleat 1 displays an exemplary circle-shaped base 2 and seven circle-shaped protrusions 3 in a concentric pattern. The size and shape of base 2 and the size, shape, quantity, and pattern of protrusions 3 may consist of any combination of base size and shape and protrusion size, shape, quantity, and pattern without departing from the scope of the invention, as will be understood in the description of additional embodiments below. The side view of FIG. 5 displays the thickness 6 of base 2 being less than the thickness 7 of the protrusions 3, a feature enabling optimal traction provided by the plurality protrusions 3 in combination with optimal flexibility or movement of base 2 in coordination with the movement of a flexible footwear outsole. Increasing the thickness of base 2, such as equal to the thickness of the protrusions 3, will increase the rigidity of base 2 and thus decrease the ability of the base 2 to flex or move in coordination with the movement of a flexible footwear outsole which may lead to adhesion failure. Conversely, decreasing the thickness of protrusions 3, such as equal to the thickness of base 2, will decrease the traction capabilities of the protrusions. In preferred embodiments, the thickness 6 of base 2 may range from 0.030 to 0.10 inches and the thickness 7 of protrusions 3 may range from 0.050 to 0.15 inches; however, the thicknesses may vary without departing from the scope of the invention. The thicknesses applied for base 2 and protrusions 3, and the ratio thereof, may be dependent on a particular activity, environmental surface, or footwear type. Protrusions 3 may also contain an axial taper, such as 1 to 10 degrees, to aid in manufacturing (i.e. mold or casting release) as well as traction capability.
Turning to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, it will be understood that the adhesive layer 4 is placed in communication with the bottom outsole 10 to adhered cleat 1 to the footwear. The outsole may be pre-conditioned with a primer or adhesion promotor to improve adhesion of cleat 1 to the footwear outsole 10. The quantity and placement of the adhesive cleats 1 on the outsole 10 may be dependent on the inherent structure of the outsole, a particular activity, or environmental surface. Preferably, the adhesive cleats 1 may be placed on locations of the outsole 10 that offer flat surfaces of greatest surface area for optimal adhesion.
In another exemplary embodiment displayed in FIG. 8, the adhesive cleats 11 and 12 are formed in the shape of a standard footwear outsole, with adhesive cleat 11 attaching to the rear heal section of footwear and adhesive cleat 12 attached to the forefoot section of footwear. It will be understood that the adhesive cleats 11 and 12 are constructed with the same characteristics as previously explained, each containing a base 13a and 13b, a plurality of cross protrusions 14a and 14b, and an adhesive layer connecting the body of the cleat to the footwear outsole. It is within the scope of the invention for the adhesive cleat to take the form of an entire footwear bottom outsole, but such an embodiment may be less preferable for most footwear as the arch section of the outsole typically does not provide a surface on the same plane as the heal and forefoot sections for adhesion of the cleat. It will be understood that the size and shape of base and the size, shape, quantity, and pattern of protrusions may consist of any combination of base size and shape and protrusion size, shape, quantity, and pattern without departing from the scope of the invention
In another exemplary embodiment displayed in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the adhesive cleat may be manufactured as an adhesive cleated sheet. It will be understood that the cleated sheet is constructed with the same characteristics as previously explained, containing a base 22, a plurality of diamond protrusions 23, and adhesive layer 24. The cleated sheet may be cut into any combination of shapes by a user to best fit and adhere to a specific outsole, exemplified by the heal outsole shape 27 and circle shapes 28 displayed by the dotted lines of FIG. 11. The length 25 may be greater than a pre-determined length known to represent the length of a specific footwear outsole size and the width 26 maybe greater than a pre-determined width known to represent the width of a specific footwear size. The length 25 and width 26 may vary to accommodate adhesive cleat shape formations for different footwear size groups.
It will be understood that the embodiments of the invention shown and described herein are exemplary of the current subject matter. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention. Therefore, the scope hereof is not limited to the above description and the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Patent Application
20240225202
