US3858336A

US3858336A - Removable outsole for sport shoes

Info

Publication number: US3858336A
Application number: US420542A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ronald E Brown
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1973-11-30
Filing date: 1973-11-30
Publication date: 1975-01-07
Anticipated expiration: 1992-01-07

Abstract

A removable outsole for sport shoes having cleats mounted thereon. The outsole comprising a rubber or like material having an outer smooth floor engaging surface and toe and heel engaging portion for retaining the out sole on the sport shoe and a plurality of discretely arranged projections on the inner portion thereof which engage with the cleats and assist in retaining the outsole on the sport shoe.

Description

tates Patent 11 1 rown 1 Jan. 7, 1975 REMOVABLE OUTSOLE FOR SPORT 2,958,963 ll/l960 Lougheed 36/2.5 AN SHOES 3,313,047 4/1967 Svien 36/25 AN [76] Inventor: Ronald E. Brown, 10 N. Quaker Ln., Alexandria, Va.

[22] Filed: Nov. 30, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 420,542

[52] [1.8. Cl 36/2.5 AN, 36/73 [51] llnt. Cl A43b 1/10 [58] Field of Search 36/2.5 R, 2.5 AN, 7.1, 36/73 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,811,781 6/1931 Degge 36/25 AN Primary ExaminerPatrick D. Lawson [57] ABSTRACT A removable outsole for sport shoes having cleats mounted thereon. The outsole comprising a rubber or like material having an outer smooth floor engaging surface and toe and heel engaging portion for retaining the out sole on the sport shoe and a plurality of discretely arranged projections on the inner portion thereof which engage with the cleats and assist in retaining the outsole on the sport shoe.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures REMOVABLE OUTSOLE FOR SPORT SHOES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many sports require the wearing of cleats on the playing field for providing the wearer of shoes with such cleats with greater traction. However, when the wearer of such cleated shoes walks on concrete or macadam surfaces, the cleats do not penetrate into these surfaces and are in reality very slippery to the wearer of such shoes. Also, club houses, particularly golf club houses, do not permit for the wearer of such cleated shoes into certain designated areas such as the dining room, reception area, and the like, with the results that one wearing such cleated shoes must remove the same before entering into such areas and change to uncleated shoes before being admitted into these restricted areas. As can be appreciated, much wear is occasioned to the cleats when walking on concrete or macadam surfaced areas. The cleats to function at their very best in affording traction to the wearer thereof must remain in a sharpened or pointed condition so as to enable the same to penetrate into the ground of the playing field.

Numerous attempts have been made to provide a suitable protective sole for cleated shoes, but all such previous attempts have met with some drawbacks and this has lessened the use of such protective soles.

With the above in mind, it is the primary object of the invention to provide a protective sole for cleated sport shoes which may be used with the cleated shoes manufactured by different shoe manufacturers regardless of the exact position of such cleats on the undersurface of the sole of the shoe.

Another object of the invention is to provide a protective sole for cleated shoes with a surface having a plurality of discretely arranged projections which will permit for the cleats on the sport shoe to firmly engage with such projectionsand to assist in retaining the protectivesole in proper position on the cleated shoe.

Another object of the invention is to provide a protective sole for cleated shoes which may be easily manufactured as by a molding process which will form the entire sole in one molding operation thus obviating the necessity of further handling of the sole in the manufacture thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a protective sole for cleated or spiked shoes which may be easily applied to and removed from the cleated or spiked shoe and when not in use may be conveniently folded and placed in storage in a golf bag or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a protective sole for spiked or cleated shoeswhich will present a smooth outer surface and with an inner surface provided with a plurality of discretely arranged projections which will automatically accommodate any set of cleats or spikes regardless of the position of such cleats or spikes mounted in the sole of the shoe.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved device for shielding the spikes or cleats of shoes equipped with such protuberances.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cleat or spike protective device which may be made at low cost and which is easily stored or carried when not in use.

These and other objects will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a protective sole for a sport shoe.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the protective sole applied to a spiked shoe, and,

FIG. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As illustrated in the drawing, reference numeral 10 designates a protective sole for a spiked or cleated shoe constructed in accordance with the present inventive concept. The sole may be made of any suitable material such as rubber, plastic, or other suitable material, and the sole may be easily manufactured as by molding or casting the same in a manner well known in the shoe industry. The sole is provided with a smooth surface engaging outer sole 11 which may incorporate therein wear-resisting additives to prolong the life of the outsole.

Formed integral with or otherwise secured tothe sole portion 11 are

side flanges

12 and 13, a toe cap 14, and a heel engaging area 15. The side flanges, toe cap, and heel engaging areas may be made from the same material as the sole portion 11 although, if for any reason it is found more feasible to employ a different material, the same may be resorted to. The only limitation required as to the material forming the side'flanges, toe

cap, and heel engaging areas of the protective sole is that the material have some elasticity in order for these portions of the protective sole to snugly engage with the spiked shoe to which the sole is applied.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 3 of the drawing, a plurality of upstanding projections 16 are provided on the inside of the sole 10. These projections can be molded integral with the sole or may be otherwise secured theretoJThe projections are discretely arranged on the sole and are slightly spaced apart. The spacing of the projections will permit for the spikes 18 on a shoe sole 19 to fit between the projections and in case the spike, due to its location on the sole of the shoe, cannot enter into such spacing, the projections being pliable will permit for a spike to force the projection to one side thereby allowing the spike to contact the upper surface of the sole as shown at 17 in FIG. 3 of the drawing. Thus, unlike previously known protective sole structures for a spiked or cleated shoe, the sole can be used with any spiked shoe, regardless of the location of the spike on the shoe. The spacing of spikes, say, on a golf shoe, may vary with one shoe manufacturer and another so that in previously known structures, it was necessary to strategically place the spike receiving openings in the protective sole in order to accommodate the spiked shoe of one manufacturer and to make another protective sole with differently-spaced spike openings for the spiked shoes of a different shoe manufacturer. As can be appreciated, the above-described sole of the present invention will adapt itself to the spiked shoes of any shoe manufacturer.

The toe cap and heel portion being made of a material having a certain degree of elasticity will permit for the easy application of the protective sole to a spiked shoe and the same retained thereon purely by reason of the engagement of these portions of the sole with the spiked shoe so that there is no need for extraneous means for securing the protective sole to a spiked shoe. This, of course, adds to the economical manufacture of the protective sole.

Since, on most spiked shoes, the spikes are placed at the heel and the thread portion of the shoe only, the projections, aforesaid, may be left out at the arch area of the sole as shown at in FIG. 1 of the drawing.

While illustrated and described for use with golf shoes, the protective sole of this invention may be adapted for use as well with other shoes having cleats.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principle of the invention. Further, since modification and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and, accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

1 claim:

1. A protective sole for a shoe having spikes secured to the sole thereof, said protective sole comprising a smooth outer surface engaging area, side flanges extending upwardly from said protective sole and extending from adjacent the toe area to the heel portion of the protective sole, a toe cap and heel engaging areas formed integral with said surface engaging area and said flanges and a plurality of individual pliable projections formed on the upper surface of said protective sole, said projections being spaced longitudinally and laterally from each other, said projections being randomly positioned and spaced apart to thereby permit entry therebetween the spikes secured to the undersurface of a sole of a shoe and to permit said spikes to engage with the upper surface of said sole.

2. The structure recited in claim 1 wherein said projections are provided at the heel section and thread section of the protective sole.

3. The structure recited in claim 1 wherein the entire protective sole is molded of resilient material.

4. The structure recited in claim 1 wherein said toe cap and heel engaging area are formed of a stretchable material to snugly engage with the toe and heel portion of a shoe to retain the protective sole thereon.