The present invention relates to removable cleats for athletic shoes, in particular, removable cleats for golf shoes.
Athletic shoe cleats, in particular golf cleats, have been subject to changing designs in recent years, to attempt to provide users with a variety of advantages. For many years, a cleat took a simple form of a spike, usually made of metal, attached the bottom of a shoe. Because such spikes could damage non-athletic surfaces, and some athletic surfaces as well, variations have been made from the simple form. For example, UK Patent Application 2,098,457 to Perks, discloses surrounding a spike element of a cleat with soft material, to decrease damage done to surfaces. Other designs do not use metal spikes but rather projections of different shapes, typically made of plastic, to lessen damage to surfaces; an example can be seen in U.S. design patent D432,770 to Breault et al., which shows projections of different heights. Another design, which provides a directional golf cleat, is the CHAMP TRAC™ spike made by MacNeill Engineering Company, Inc.
In a first embodiment of the invention there is provided a removable cleat. The removable cleat has a coupling element and a ground-engaging element. The ground-engaging element has a perimeter with a plurality of projections. The projections may be divided into at least a first set of projections, made of a first material, and at least a second set of projections, made of a second material. Every other projection may be of the first set and interspersed with the projections of the second set. Further, the projections may include at least one projection extending beyond the perimeter of the ground-engaging element, and at least one projection not extending beyond the perimeter of the ground-engaging element. In addition, at least one of the plurality of projections may project in a direction perpendicular to a plane formed by the perimeter of the ground-engaging element.
In a related embodiment, the cleat may be a directional cleat, with some projections not extending beyond more than half of the perimeter of the ground-engaging element. In an alternative embodiment, none of the projections extend beyond the perimeter of the ground-engaging element.
In a further related embodiment, the first set of projections may be longer than the second set of projections. In addition, the first material may be softer than the second material. In yet a further related embodiment, the removable cleat may further include a third material that possesses a different characteristic from the first and second materials. Further, the coupling element may be made of the third material. In yet another related embodiment, two of the materials may be characterized by a different color, to ease installation of the cleat in the proper direction.
In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a removable cleat having a coupling element and a ground-engaging element, wherein the ground-engaging element has a perimeter with a plurality of projections. Several projections may be oriented substantially perpendicular to the ground or angled inwardly, and several projections may be angled outwardly to extend beyond the perimeter of the ground-engaging element. Preferably, the outwardly angled projections do not extend beyond more than half of the perimeter of the ground-engaging element. The cleat may have one set of projections longer than another set of projections. One set of projections may be made of a softer material than another set. In a preferred embodiment, the longer projections may be made of a softer material, and the shorter projections made of a harder material. The two sets may be interspersed. Further, the coupling element may be made of a third material. In yet another related embodiment, two of the materials may be characterized by different colors, to ease installation of the cleat in the proper direction.
In yet another embodiment, there is provided a rotating oversized cleat for a shoe. The rotating oversized cleat comprises a coupling element, such that the cleat is removable, and a ground-engaging element. The ground-engaging element has a perimeter with a plurality of projections. Some of the projections may not extend beyond the perimeter, and the projections may be divided into at least a first set of projections made of a first material and at least a second set of projections made of a second material. In addition, the cleat may further include a ratchet, such that the oversized cleat may rotate in only one direction.
In a related embodiment, the ground-engaging element may further include a center portion and an outer portion, wherein the outer portion may be capable of rotation, and the center portion may remain static with respect to the shoe unless the oversized cleat is removed. In addition, the coupling element may include an attachment structure including at least three equally spaced radial coupling projections. Each coupling projection may be asymmetric with respect to an axis projecting radially outward from the center of the attachment structure through the radial center of the projection, and the radial center of the coupling projection may have a convex curved radial end. The coupling projection may thus be capable of interacting with a corresponding cleat receptacle so that less force is required to engage the cleat with the receptacle than to disengage the cleat from the receptacle.
In a related embodiment, there is provided the outsole of a shoe, comprising a rotating oversized cleat described above and at least one other removable cleat. The at least one other removable cleat of the outsole may be a directional cleat.
In still another embodiment, there is provided a removable cleat for coupling to a shoe sole. The cleat includes a coupling element and a surface-engaging element. The surface-engaging element includes a perimeter and a plurality of projections. The projections include at least a first set of projections, which may be made of a first material and a second set of projections, which may be made of a second material. The first set of projections is oriented in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to a plane formed by the perimeter. The second set of projections is oriented in a direction that is substantially parallel to a plane formed by the perimeter. Further, the second set of projections may be longer than the first set of projections, and the first material may be softer than the second material.
In still another embodiment, the ground-engaging element has a bottom-most portion made of a first material, an intermediate portion located above the bottom-most portion and made of a second material, and a base portion located above the intermediate portion and made of the second material or a third material. The base-portion's material is harder than the first material. The intermediate portion forms flexible cantilevered fingers. The bottom-most portion may be located at the cleats' central axis, and the intermediate and base portions may be wider than the bottom-most portion. The base portion may include on its bottom surface crenellations, which may be located to receive the flexible cantilevered fingers when the flexible cantilevered fingers are bent upwardly.
The foregoing features of the invention will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description, taken with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Disposed at the perimeter of the cleat is a plurality of projections 18. The projections 18 bear the weight of a user on a surface, when the removable cleat 10 is attached to an athletic shoe worn by the user, but the projections are preferably made of plastic so as to be less likely to damage the surface. When weight is applied to the cleat 10, the projections 18 flex in an upward direction, away from the surface, as well as in an outward direction, away from the center of the ground-engaging element 14.
In the embodiments shown in
Any of the embodiments of the invention described herein may use one or more wear indicators. A single wear indicator 11 is shown as the logo 9, for example, on the removable cleat 10 in
The first set of projections 20 may be longer than the second set of projections 22, and made of a material that is softer than the material of second set of projections 22. The softer material that composes the first set of projections 20 may be made of, for example but not limited to, a thermoplastic urethane, acetal resin, nylon, or thermoplastic rubber. For a thermoplastic urethane used as a softer material, the durometer may be in the range of 60 shore A to 90 A, and in a preferred embodiment is 90 shore A. Thermoplastic urethanes, acetal resins, and nylons can also be used as the material for harder projections, such as the first set of projections 21. In this case, the durometer may range from 95 shore A to S60D, with the preferred embodiment being 95 shore A. It is also possible to use one of these harder graded materials to make the coupling element 12. The first set of projections 20, being longer and made of a softer material, would come into contact with a surface first and bend more easily, causing less damage to the surface. The second set of projections 22, being shorter and made of a harder material, would provide additional support and stability on surfaces. The flexibility of the first set of projections 20 may be increased, as well. For example, as is known in the prior art, the structure and shape of the projections may increase their flexibility. Such an example is when the cross-section of the projection is made smaller or thinner. Thus, it is possible to make projections of a particular structure and shape with different materials, effectively increasing the possible amount of flexibility in the projection. It is also possible to vary the structure and shape of projections within a set, further increasing the different characteristics that removable cleat 10 may advantageously use.
Further, the various different materials that form the different groups of projections in a directional cleat, as described by example above, may each be a different color. Such coloring may be used to help ease correct installation of such a directional cleat. For example, the outsole of the shoe may be marked with different colors in order to assist the wearer in the aligning the cleats in the preferred manner.
The plurality of projections may include further groupings made in the manner described above, such that there could be a group of projections made of a third material and oriented in a third direction relative to the plane, a group of projections made of a fourth material oriented in a fourth direction relative to the plane, and so on. Further, it is possible for other materials to be incorporated into the removable cleat without adding other projections. For example, the coupling element of the removable cleat may be made of a third material. If a further grouping or groupings of projections were included in such a cleat, the third group of projections could be made of a fourth material, the fourth group of projection could be made of a fifth material, and so on.
The embodiment of the removable cleat shown in
The plurality of projections of this embodiment could further include other sets of projections oriented at different acute angles than the set of angled projections, with each set of projections made of a further different material. Additionally, one of the other sets of projections may be oriented in a direction substantially perpendicular to that of the plane formed by the perimeter, and made of a different material.
The rigid portion 169 may have a downwardly protruding rim 168 on its bottom surface at its periphery. Such a rim 168 improves traction on certain types of surfaces. This rim 169 may include crenellations that further improve the traction on certain types of surfaces. These crenellations may also be lined up with the fingers 167 so that the fingers are received into the crenellations when the fingers are bent upwardly. The coupling element 12 may also be made of the third material, or alternatively it may be made of a fourth material, such as a harder thermoplastic or a metal.
The oversized cleat 100 may be made to rotate when attached to a shoe using, for example, a primary connector as used in the MacNeill Engineering Q-lok™ System (described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,809, issued Jun. 23, 1998). The direction of rotation may be limited by a ratchet, such that the oversized cleat 100 is able to rotate in only one direction as determined by placement of the ratchet. This limited rotation direction may be desirable. For example, during a proper golf swing, the back leg and foot of the golfer rotate in the direction of the swing, such that the back foot points in the direction of travel of the golf ball at the completion of the swing. Though the back foot and leg rotate, ideally the foot should not otherwise move. A shoe for the back foot containing a rotating cleat such as the oversized cleat 100 would thus be advantageous. The ratchet of oversized cleat 100 could be configured such that oversized cleat 100 could rotate to permit the wearer's foot to point in the direction of travel of the golf ball. The rotating oversized cleat 100 would be placed on the front of the outsole of the shoe that the golfer wears on his or her back foot. The oversized cleat 100 would thereby provide traction to help minimize any motion of the back foot other than the desired rotation motion, while easily allowing the desired rotation motion to occur. Used in this manner, the oversized cleat 100 could help improve a golfer's swing. A non-rotating oversized cleat may be placed on the front of the outsole of the shoe that the golfer wears on his or her front foot. Conventionally sized cleats, and in a preferred embodiment directional cleats, may be located on the back of the outsoles.
As discussed above, the coupling element may comprise conventional threading, multiple-start threads, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,700, or the connectors described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,631,571 or 5,768,809. In an alternative embodiment, the coupling element may be adaptable so that the cleat may be received into different types of receptacles. A simple example of such an adaptable coupling element is one that may be accepted into a conventional metal threaded socket, or by using an adapter, may be accepted into a large-thread plastic socket. The adapter may have on its inner diameter conventional threading, so that the adapter may be screwed on over the metal threads of the coupling element. The adapter's outer diameter would have threads compatible with a large-thread socket. Thus, without the adapter, the cleat may be accepted into a conventionally threaded metal socket, and with the adapter, the cleat may be accepted into a plastic large-thread socket. Other types of adapters may be used to convert different types of coupling elements to work in different types of receptacles.
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the true scope of the invention. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative only and not restrictive.
This patent application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/452,001, filed Apr. 20, 2012, which is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/495,045, filed Jun. 30, 2009, which is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/938,140, filed Nov. 9, 2007, which is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/043,691, filed Jan. 26, 2005, which claims priority from U.S. provisional applications Nos. 60/539,244 and 60/557,488 filed Jan. 26, 2004 and Mar. 30, 2004 respectively. Accordingly, the current application also claims priority from U.S. provisional applications Nos. 60/539,244 and 60/557,488. All of the aforementioned applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60557488 | Mar 2004 | US | |
60539244 | Jan 2004 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12495045 | Jun 2009 | US |
Child | 13452001 | US | |
Parent | 11938140 | Nov 2007 | US |
Child | 12495045 | US | |
Parent | 11043691 | Jan 2005 | US |
Child | 11938140 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 13452001 | Apr 2012 | US |
Child | 14048355 | US |