Claims
- 1. An athletic shoe having a force responsive sole, comprising a first sole portion having spaced cleats extending therefrom; a second sole portion having correspondingly spaced apertures for receiving said cleats and having margins about the circumference of each of said apertures; force responsive, resilient means held between said first and second sole portions at least partially covering said apertures and cooperable with said cleats for normally maintaining said first and second sole portions spaced apart, with the cleats of the first sole portion aligned with the receiving apertures of the second sole portion; cleat guide means in which the cleats of the first sole portion are positioned so that said guide means restricts lateral relative movement of said first and second sole portions; a correspondingly apertured support plate covering the second sole portion to protect the margins of said second sole portion surrounding the apertures thereof against damage by movement of the resilient means thereagainst when being stretched; means interconnecting said first sole portion and said second sole portion; a shoe upper for receiving a wearer's foot; and ground-contacting wearing surface for said sole.
- 2. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 1, wherein the resilient means is a resilient membrane means covering said apertures.
- 3. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 2, wherein the cleat guide means is a cleat guide plate substantially coextensive with the sole portions and the membrane means and having apertures corresponding to that of the second sole portion.
- 4. An athletic shoe with force responsive sole according to claim 3, wherein the support plate is adhesively attached to the second sole portion, and the membrane means is adhesively attached to said support plate.
- 5. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 4, wherein the cleat guide plate is secured to the resilient membrane means by an adhesive.
- 6. An athletic shoe having a force responsive sole, comprising a first sole portion having at least one cleat extending therefrom, said cleat having a length and including at least one cleat shoulder intermediate the length of the cleat; a second sole portion having at least one aperture corresponding to and for receiving said at least one cleat, said aperture having a depth and including at least one aperture shoulder positioned intermediate the depth of the aperture for relative side-by-side movement with respect to said at least one cleat shoulder; force responsive, resilient means, between said first and second sole portions at least partially covering the at least one aperture shoulder and cooperable with said at least one cleat shoulder for normally maintaining said first and second sole portions spaced apart, with the at least one cleat of the first sole portion aligned with the corresponding at least one receiving aperture of the second sole portion; means interconnecting said first sole portion and said second sole portion; a shoe upper for receiving a wearer's foot; and ground-contacting wearing surface for said sole.
- 7. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 6, wherein the resilient means is a ring of resilient material positioned between the cleat shoulder and the aperture shoulder.
- 8. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 6, wherein the at least one aperture is formed in a cleat guide member extending from the second sole portion.
- 9. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 6, wherein the shoe has a heel portion, and wherein the at least one cleat and at least one aperture are in only the heel portion of the shoe.
- 10. An athletic shoe having a force responsive sole, comprising a first sole portion having spaced cleats extending therefrom; a second sole portion having correspondingly spaced apertures for receiving said cleats; a plurality of force responsive, resilient means, each of the force responsive, resilient means being held between said first and second sole portions at least partially covering an aperture and cooperable with said cleats for normally maintaining said first and second sole portions spaced apart, with the cleats of the first sole portion aligned with the receiving apertures of the second sole portion whereby the cleats of the first sole portion extend into the apertures of the second sole portion to stretch the resilient means when a force is applied between the first and second sole means; means interconnecting said first sole portion and said second sole portion; a shoe upper for receiving a wearer's foot; and ground-contacting wearing surface for said sole.
- 11. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 10, including cleat guide means in which the cleats of the first sole portion are positioned so that said guide means restricts lateral relative movement of said first and second sole portion.
- 12. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 11, where the plurality of force responsive resilient means are mounted in respective frame portions of a carrier frame.
- 13. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 12, wherein a side of the carrier frame toward the first sole portion includes receiving apertures for the cleats of the first sole portion and forms the cleat guide means.
- 14. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 10, including a cover around the perimeter of the sole, said cover comprising an apron or skirt and a flexible, perimetrical sealing strip sealingly interposed between said apron or skirt and the sole.
- 15. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 10, wherein the sole comprises a longitudinal, intermediate, solid portion of elastomer material and cleated toe and heel portions.
- 16. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of force responsive, resilient means is a plurality of individual bands of resilient material, each band associated with an aperture and its corresponding cleat.
- 17. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 16, wherein each aperture includes aperture shoulder means, wherein each cleat includes cleat shoulder means adapted to fit and move between the aperture shoulder means of an aperture, and wherein the resilient means is positioned between the aperture shoulder means and the cleat shoulder means.
- 18. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 17, wherein the bands are O-rings.
- 19. An athletic shoe having a force responsive sole, comprising a first sole portion having at least one cleat extending therefrom; a second sole portion having at least one aperture corresponding to and for receiving said at least one cleat, said aperture having a depth and including at least one aperture shoulder positioned intermediate the depth of the aperture; force responsive, resilient means, supported between said first and second sole portions by the at least one aperture shoulder and cooperable with said at least one cleat for normally maintaining said first and second sole portions spaced apart, with the at least one cleat of the first sole portion aligned with the corresponding at least one receiving aperture of the second sole portion; means interconnecting said first sole portion and said second sole portion; a shoe upper for receiving a wearer's foot; and ground-contacting wearing surface for said sole.
- 20. An athletic shoe with a force responsive sole according to claim 19, wherein the shoe has a heel portion, and wherein the at least one cleat and at least one aperture are in only the heel portion of the shoe.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 969,243 filed Feb. 19, 1993, entitled "Athletic Shoe With A Force Responsive Sole", now abandoned, which resulted from PCT/US91/05946 filed Aug. 20, 1991, which was a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 570,906, filed Aug. 21, 1990, also entitled "Athletic Shoe With A Force Responsive Sole", now abandoned.
PCT Information
Filing Document |
Filing Date |
Country |
Kind |
102e Date |
371c Date |
PCT/US92/01354 |
2/20/1992 |
|
|
2/18/1994 |
2/18/1994 |
Publishing Document |
Publishing Date |
Country |
Kind |
WO93/03639 |
3/4/1993 |
|
|
US Referenced Citations (11)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
3507295 |
Sep 1986 |
DEX |
666436 |
Aug 1964 |
ITX |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
570906 |
Aug 1990 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
969243 |
Feb 1993 |
|