Claims
- 1. A shoe cleat and holder combination in which one of said cleat and said holder comprises a screw-threaded spigot and the other component comprises a screw-threaded socket, said spigot being arranged to be inserted with rotation into said screw-threaded socket to secure the two components together, and wherein a locking means of the components is arranged to become interengaged during insertion of said spigot into said socket in order to resist subsequent unscrewing of the assembly, wherein said locking means comprises a ring of free-standing posts extending axially from one of said components and a ring of radially projecting teeth on the other component, said rings being co-axial with said screw axis, and during at least later stages of insertion of said spigot into said socket, on relative rotation of said rings, engagement of said teeth with said posts causes said posts to deflect resiliently in a radial direction and engagement of said teeth between said posts causes interengagement of said locking means.
- 2. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 1, wherein the number of teeth is an integer multiple of the number of posts.
- 3. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 1, wherein said spigot is provided on said cleat and said socket on the holder.
- 4. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 1 wherein said ring of posts is provided on said cleat and said ring of teeth is provided on said holder.
- 5. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 4, wherein said holder comprises a hub having a cylindrical outer surface, said teeth project from said surface and said socket is formed in said hub, and wherein said teeth are received within said ring of posts said hub being received in an annular well formed between said spigot and said posts.
- 6. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 1 wherein said posts have a radially inner surface with a convex profile towards said ring of teeth.
- 7. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 6, wherein said circumferential ends of said surface have different profiles.
- 8. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 1, wherein said posts are arranged in pairs, each pair having a common base.
- 9. A shoe cleat and holder combination according claim 1, wherein each post is free-standing.
- 10. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 1, wherein said screw thread of said spigot and socket is a three-start thread.
- 11. A shoe cleat and holder combination in which said cleat has a screw-threaded spigot and said holder has a screw-threaded socket, said spigot being arranged to be inserted with rotation into said screw-threaded socket to secure the two components together, and wherein a locking means of the components is arranged to become interengaged during insertion of said spigot into said socket is order to resist subsequent unscrewing of the assembly, wherein said locking means comprises a ring of free-standing posts extending axially from said cleat and a ring of radially projecting teeth on said holder, said rings being co-axial with said screw axis, said holder having a hub with a cylindrical outer surface from which said teeth-project, and on insertion of said spigot into said socket said teeth are received within said ring of posts, said hub being received in an annular well formed between said spigot and said posts, and during at least later stages of insertion of said spigot into said socket, on relative rotation of said rings, engagement of said teeth with said posts causes said posts to deflect resiliently in a radial direction and engagement of said teeth between said posts causes interengagement of said locking means.
- 12. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 11 wherein the number of teeth is an integer multiple of the number of posts.
- 13. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 11 wherein said posts have a radially inner surface with a convex profile towards said ring of teeth.
- 14. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 13 wherein said circumferential ends of said surface have different profiles.
- 15. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 11 wherein said posts are arranged in a pairs, each pair having a common base.
- 16. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 11 wherein each post is free-standing.
- 17. A shoe cleat and holder combination according to claim 11 wherein said screw thread of said spigot and socket is a three-start thread.
- 18. A shoe cleat and holder combination in which one of said cleat and said holder comprises a screw-threaded spigot and the other component comprises a screw-threaded socket, said spigot being arranged to be inserted with rotation into said screw-threaded socket to secure the two components together, and wherein a locking means of the components is arranged to become interengaged during insertion of said spigot into said socket in order to resist subsequent unscrewing of the assembly, wherein said locking means comprises at least two free-standing posts extending axially from one of said components and a ring of radially projecting teeth on the other component, and during at least later stages of insertion of said spigot into said socket, on relative rotation of said components engagement of said teeth with said posts causes said posts to deflect resiliently in a radial direction and engagement of said teeth between said posts causes interengagement of said locking means.
- 19. A method of locking a shoe cleat to a cleat holder, the cleat holder being of the type comprising a screw-threaded socket within a hub having a plurality of circumferentially spaced teeth projecting to a predetermined location radially outward from the hub, said cleat being of the type having a threaded spigot adapted to be threadedly received and engaged in said socket during installation of said cleat, said method comprises the steps of:(a) providing at least one radially resiliently deflectable locking member on said cleat at a location that, when the spigot and hub are being threadedly engaged during installation, is radially outward of the hub but radially inward of said predetermined location when the locking member is radially undeflected; (b) deflecting said locking member radially outward with each of said teeth in succession as said spigot is being threadedly engaged in said socket during installation, and permitting said locking member to be radially undeflected when not radially aligned with one of said teeth; and (c) providing said locking member with sufficient resistence to radially outward deflection to preclude inadvertent rotational movement of said hub relative to said locking member.
- 20. The method of claim 19 wherein step (a) includes providing a plurality of substantially identical locking members spaced circumferentially from one another at a common radial distance from the spigot, each of said locking members functioning in the manner described in steps (b) and (c).
- 21. The method of claim 20 wherein said locking members extend longitudinally with said spigot from a common surface of said cleat, said method further comprising the step of:(d) resisting radial deflection of said locking members to a greater extent from radial forces applied closer to said surface than from radial forces applied more remotely from said surface, whereby inadvertent rotational movement between said locking member and said hub is more forcefully resisted as the spigot is increasingly inserted into said socket.
Priority Claims (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
9717618 |
Aug 1997 |
GB |
|
9814586 |
Jul 1998 |
GB |
|
Parent Case Info
This application is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 09/138,110, filed Aug. 21, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,700.
This application claims priority of British Patent Application No. 9717618.4, filed Aug. 21, 1997, Provisional Application Serial No. 60/057,967, filed Sep. 5, 1997, and British Patent Application No. 9814586.5, filed Jul. 7, 1998.
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Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/057967 |
Sep 1997 |
US |