CA1153548A

CA1153548A - Sole with skewed cleating arrangement

Info

Publication number: CA1153548A
Application number: CA000370257A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Jeffrey O. Johnson
Original assignee: Nike International Ltd
Current assignee: Nike International Ltd
Priority date: 1980-02-07
Filing date: 1981-02-06
Publication date: 1983-09-13
Also published as: DE3103360A1; JPS56151001A; GB2068707A; US4378643A; GB2068707B; FR2475371A1

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure _ _ ... . _ Curved last soles for athletic shoes are disclosed, including one embodiment wherein cleats are arranged with grip-ping edges in the arch and heel that are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis passing therethrough, whereas in the toe cleats are arranged with gripping edges that are aligned in rows that are perpendicular to a line generally defining the direction of travel while the athlete abducts his or her feet during the propulsion phase of running. Cleats in the ball portion of the sole fan out to provide a smooth transition from the cleats in the arch to the cleats in the toe.
In a second embodiment the cleats are disposed throughout the sole in rows which maintain a perpendicular relationship relative to the longitudinal axis of the heel, but the orientation of the gripping edges of the cleats in the toe and ball portions are varied in such manner as to com-pensate for the aforementioned abducting effect. Cleats of two different heights are provided, relatively tall ones in the ball, relatively short ones in the toe and arch and both heights in the heel.
In a third embodiment especially intended for racing, the cleats are closely spaced between curved-bottom grooves in a very lightweight sole of expanded synthetic rubber. The cleats are aligned in bar-like rows which are oriented to com-pensate for the aforementioned abducting effect.

Description

115354~

Background of the Invention The present invention pertains generally to cleated athletic shoes and more particularly to an improved arrange-ment and structure of cleats integrally molded with the outer sole of the shoe.
The prior art includes numerous examples of cleat-ing arrangements on the soles of athletic shoes, some of which are disclosed in U. S. Patent Nos. 3,793,750 and 4,098,011. In the primary embodiment of the athletic shoe disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 3,793,750, a uniform arrange-ment of square-shaped cleats is provided on the bottom surface of the outer sole. All of the cleats are arranged in parallel staggered rows and the orientation of each cleat is such that its front and rear edges are aligned parallel with respect to the parallel alignment of rows.
Although this so-called "waffle" sole structure has been particularly successful as a recreational jogging shoe, the more demanding requirements of various other sporting activities call for special adaptations and improvements over the "waffle" sole structure.
It has been observed that most athletes tend to abduct ~point their toes outward from the direction of travel) during the propulsion phase of running at a slight angle of between 10 to 14. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a sole for an athletic shoe having a cleating arrangement which takes advantage of this tendency to abduct in order to maximize the effective force transfer between the foot and the ground as the athlete drives his or her body forwardO

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Summary of the Invention It is therefore an object of an aspect of the present invention to provide a sole for an athletic shoe with a skewed cleating arrangement in the forefoot region of the sole wherein a plurality of gripping edges on cleats are aligned so that they tend to be substantially perpen-dicular to the direction of travel of the athlete while driving forward against the ground during the propulsion phase of running.
various aspects of the invention are as follows:
A sole for an athletic shoe comprising a molded base having a forefoot region and a rearfoot region, the forefoot and rearfoot regions being separated by a transverse plane which is perpendicular to a major exterior surface of the base and to a first line which substantially bisects the rearfoot region in the longitudinal direction, a plur-ality of discrete cleats integrally molded to said base and extending outwardly from the major exterior surface in the forefoot region of the sole, said cleats being spaced in both the longitudinal and transverse direction of the sole, said cleats having rearwardly facing gripping edges from which projecting lines extend to intersect the transverse plane to the inside of the sole at angles which correspond in magnitude to an angle of abduction formed between the first line and a line defining the direction of travel during the propulsion phase of running by a typical athlete who abducts his or her feet slightly outward while pushing forwardly against the ground.
A sole for an athletic shoe comprising a molded base having a plurality of integrally molded cleats extend-ing outwardly from a major exterior surface of the base including first cleats spaced in both the longitudinal _~

llS354~
and transverse directions of the sole in a rearfoot reyion of the base and second cleats in a forefoot region of the base, the forefoot and rearfoot regions being separated by a transverse plane which is perpendicular to the major exterior surface and to a first line which substantially bisects the rearfoot region in the longitudinal direction, the first cleats having gripping edges aligned substan-tially parallel to the transverse plane, the second cleats having rearwardly facing gripping edges from which project-ing lines extend to intersect the transverse plane to theinside of the sole at angles which correspond in magnitude to an angle of abduction formed between the first line and a line defining the direction of travel during the propulsion phase of running by a typical athlete who abducts his or her feet slightly outward while pushing forwardly against the ground.
Other objects as well as various inherent advan-tages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of several illustrative embodi-mentsthereof when read in conjunction with the accompan~-ing drawings.
Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of an athlete shoe having a cleated sole structure in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention looking at the outside surface of a left shoe.
Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the sole of Fig.
1 showing a first preferred arrangement of cleats on the sole.
Fig. 3 is a slightly enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the heel portion of the sole of Fig. 2.

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~53S48 Fig. 5 is a slightly enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view similar to Fig. 2 showing a cleating arrangement in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

-3b-~ ig. 7 is a slightly enlargecl fragmentary cross-section taken alony line 7-7 of Fig. 6.
Fig. ~ is a bottom plan view similar to Fig. 2 show-ing a cleating arrangement in accordance with a third emboc~iment of the present invention.
Fig. 9 is a sli~htly enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken along line 9-9 of Fig. 8.
~ ig. 10 is a fragmentary ~erspective view of a por-tion of the cleating arrangement shown in Fig. 8.
Fig. 11 is a slightly enlar~ed frag~entary cross-section taken along line 11-11 of Fig. 3.
The various parts in each of the figures are drawn essentially to scale. Although only left sole structures are illustrated, the following description and the appended claims apply as well to mirror-imaged right sole structures.
Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring to Fig. 1, an athletic shoe in accordance with the present invention is illustrated and designated qen-erally by reference numeral 10. The shoe 10 includes an essen-tially conventional shoe upper 12 which is joine~ to a multi-layered sole assembly including a cleated outer sole 14 and a heel lift sole layer 16. It will be appreciated that the sole layers 1~ and 16 can be integrally formed as a single unit rather than being provided sel~arately as in the present example.
Since this embodiment is intended to serve as a relatively long-lived training shoe, the cleated outer sole 14 preferably co~-prises a relati~ly hard rubber or other moldable, resilient, polymeric material which is highly resistant to wear and abusive treatment. The sole 14 includes a base 18 having a major ex-terior surace 20. IntecJrally ~ormed witll and extelldillg out-wardly from the base 18 are a I~lurality of clcats w~ose struc-1153S~8 ture and arrang~ment on the sole are depicted more clearly inFigs. 2-S.
With specific referencc to Fig. 2, it will be appre-ciated that the sole is of the curved last type wherein one longitudinal axis substantially bisects a rearfoot region as depicted hy line Ll and another longitudinal axis substantially bisects a forefoot region as depicted by line L2. A transverse line L3 is used to depict a reference plane which is designated by numeral 22. The reference plane 22 is perpendicular to the lQ rearfoot longitudinal axis Ll and divides the rearfoot and forefo regions of the sole 14. A line L4, which is dra~n to the in-side of the line Ll in the forefoot region and intersects it in the rearfoot region, is used to depict the direction of travel of the typical athlete who abducts his or her foot dur-ing the propulsion phase of running b~ an angle ~ fro~ therearfoot longitudinal axis Ll.
By "pro~ulsion phase" as used herein is meant that portion of a stride or leg cycle during which the foot is planted on the ground and the center of gravity of the athlete is ahead of tne foot. In this embodiment, the angle ~ is selected to be 12 whicll is midway between the 10 to 14 range of foot abduction which cllaracterizes the anatomlcal dynamics of most athletes during the propulsion phase of running. An angle ~ is forn~ed between the rearfoot and forefoot longitu-dinal axes L1 and L2. In a typical curved-last athletic shoe, the angle ~ t~ill be about 1~.
The rearfoot region of the sole 14 is substantially symmetrical about the Ll axis and includes a plurality of first gripping cleats 24 predominently in an arch portion and a ~ear 3Q ~ plug 2~ occu~ying most of thc arca of a hcel portion. The clcats 24 includc a rot~ of four cleats adjacent to the line L3, a column ._5_ llS35~8 of three cleats along an outside ~dge 28, a column of three cleats along an inside edge 30 and a column of four cleats centered along t;le Ll axis and longitudinally staggered with respect to the cleats along the sides edges. Each of the cleats 24 is preferably square in horizontal cross-section.
It will be understood that horizontal as used herein means substantially parallel to the major exterior surfa_e 20 and vertical means pexpendicular thereto.
The forefoot region of the sole 14 is skewed to the inside of the Ll axis and includes a plurality of second gripping cleats 32 disposed in parallel rows in a toe portion and a plura-lity of third gripping cleats 34 disposed in two sl~ewed rows in a ball portion. Each of the second cleats 32 is preferably square in horizontal cross-section and each o- the third cleats is pref-erably trapezoidal in horizontal cross-section.
Referrin~ to Fig. 3, a cross-sectional outline of a typical cleat will be describcd. The cleat includes a gen-erally forward-facing surface 36, a generall~J rear~ard facing surface 3~ and an essentialls~ flat outer surface 40. The outer surface 40 preferably lies parallel with respect to the major ex-terior surface 20 and is the primary ground engaging surface of tlle clea~. A nipple-sllaped protrusion 42 preferably extends outwar~ly from the outer surface 40.
In accordance with an important featurc of the present invention, the orientation o~ tlle clcats 32 as depicted in Fig. 2 tends to maximize the effective forced transfer '~ctween the foot and the ground for the typical athlete who toes out by about 12 during the propulsion phase of running. It will be appreciated that the rcar~larcl-facing surface 38 and the outer surface ~0 of eacll cleat define a rcal~ard ~ri~ping edge as typificd in Fig. 3 and desigllated by rcfcrence numcral 44.
The rcarward grippill~ ed(1cs of ~lle cleats 32 in thc toe portion 1~53548 are aligncd perpcndicular to tlle direction of travel defined by the line 14. Furthermorc, in this embodiment, it is pre-ferred that the gripping edges 44 in each row of cleats 32 in the toc portion of the forefoot region be colinear and project to intersect the transverse plane 22 by the angle of abduction ~ . This relationship is typified by the projecting line L5 in Fig. 2.
It is presently preferred that the cleats 24 in the rearfoot region of the sole 14 have their gripping edges 44 aligned substantially parallel to the transverse plane 22.
Accordingly, in order to provide a smooth transition from the cleats 24 in the arch to the cleats 32 in the toe, the cleats 34 in the ball portion are arrangcd as two rows of e~ge-aligned trapezoids which become progressively srllaller in ~oving from the outside edge 2~ to the inside ed~e 30, thereby providing a fanned-out effect. This arrangement of tra~ezoidal cleats 34 not only serves to provide uniform support throughout the ball portion but also is deemed to be cosmeticall~ pleasing.
The angles by ~hich the forward-facing a~d rean~ard-,acing edges of the cleats 34 s]cew from parallel with respect to the transverse plane 22 vary proyressively in 3 incr~ments fro~
3 to 12.
Referring now to Fig. 4, the preferred structure of the wear plug 26 will be described. ~he wear plug 26 is simi-lar in function to the laryc-area heel cleats described in U.S. Patcnt No. 4,09~,0ll and represents an ~mprovement there-over. The primary function of the wear plu~ 2~ is to add wear-ing surface areas at about the same or at a sli~htly greater vcrtical distance from thc major extcrior surface 20 as tile OUtCl sur~accs 40 o~ thc nearby clcats 2~, thcrcby extcndilly the use-ful lif~ o~ tll~ solc 14.

The wear plug 26 includes two forward, mirror-imaged segments 50a and 50b and two rearward, mirror-imayed segments 52a and 52b. Each forward segment 50a, 50b has at least about twice the ground-engaging area of one of the gripping cl eats 24 in the rearfoot region. The rearward segments 52a and 52b are substantially larger than the forward segments 50a and 50b.
Transversely aligned slots 54a and 54i~ separate respective forward and rearward segr;lents of the wear plug 26. The slots 54a and 54b are provided in order to increase the longitudinal flexibility in the heel portion of the base 18. As a way of further increasing such longitudinal flexibility, the present invention contemplates providing additional transverse slots.
For example, the rearward segments 52a and 52b could each be divided in half by transverse slots (not shown) similar to the slots 54a and 54b. Those skilled in the~ art will appreciate that the provision of a unitary wear plug in place of the seg-mented weàr plug 26 would ~a}~e the entire heel portion rela-tively inflexible and thereby tend to cause a lever action or slapping-down effect as the heel makes initial contact with 0 the ground during running. Such leve`l~ action can cause shin splints by straining l:he muscles in the foreleg. The trans-verse slots 54a and 54b provide sufficient longitudinal fle~-ibility in the heel portion to substantially obviate such lever action. In similar fasllion, a longitudinal gap 54c sep-arates tlle rearward segments 52a and 52b in order to provide sufficient lateral fl~xibilil:y.
~eferring to Fig. 5, certain prefcrred dimcnsions ill be described. I~ach of the cleats preferably has a ver-tical dimension, A, mcasurillg about 3/16 inch from the major ext:erioL- surface 20 to tlle outer surface 40. Tl~e pr~trusion ~2 extends farthc!l- outwartl by about: 1/16 inch so that the llS3548 total vertical ~imension of each cleat prior to wear ls about 1/4 inch. mhe vertical ~imension B of the wear plug 26 is prefcrably about 1/4 inch. Thus althougll the relatively small protrusions 42 will tend to wear away quic~.ly the SUl^-faces 40 of at least those cleats near the wear plug 26 will tend ~o wear relatively slowly due to the protection afforded by the more massive wear plug 26 extending 1/16 inch farther outward. ~n additional preferred feature of the t~ear plug 26 is the provision of transversely orie~lted gripping ribs 56 which are semicircular in cross-section witll a 1/16 inch radius.
The ribs 56 extend fully across each of the four segments of the wear plug 26 to provide the entire ground-engaging surface area of the wear plug. The various outwardly-e~tending sur-faces of the wear plug 26 and each of the cleats on the base 1~ are tapered preferably at an angle of about 7 from the vertical as indicated in Fig. 5. The taper facilitates cleaning of mud and debris from the various spaces between cleats and segments of the wear plug 26. The ~Yidth (longitudinal dimension) of the slots 54a and 54b is preferably about 1/8 inch.
A second embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 6 wherein similar reference numerals are used to des-ignate parts which are similar to previously described parts.
In this sole embodiment 11~ all of the cleats are square in horizontal cross-section and are arranged in rows which are aligned parallel to the transverse plane 122. Cleats of two different heights are integrally moldcd together with their sup-porting base llo preferably using the same hard rubbery material used to fabricate the previously described embodiment.
Referrin~ to Fig. 7 a typical cleat of each type 30` is illustrated onc being a rclativcly sllort clcat 124 having a single ccntral protrusioll 142 and the otl~cr bcing a rclatively tall cleat 125 having a three-by-three square cluster o nine protrusions 143. In effect, the pea];s of the protrusions 143 provide the primary ground-engaging surfaces of the cleat 125 whereas the horizontal outer surface 140 provides the primary ground-engaging surface of the cleat 124. The pea]~ vertical dimension, C, of the talL cleat 125 is pre-fera~ly about 0.210 inch and the peak vertical dimension, D, of the short cleat 124 is preferably about 0.183 inch.
The protrusion 142 is a hemispi~ere of 0.063 radius. It will be appreciated that the gripping edge 144 defined at the inter-section of the rea~ard surface 13~ and the outer surface 140 is located at a height of about 0.120 inch from the major exterior surface 120. The tall cleat 125 does not have a well-defined sharp corner to serve as a gripping edge like the edge 144 on cleat 124. However, for ~urposes of this speci-fication and the appended clai~s, the term "gripping edge" as applied to the tall type of cleat 125 will be understood to mean those aligned points 145 at which the cleat's rearward surface 139 is tangential to the three rearmost protrusions 143.
Referring again to Fig. 6, it will be seen that the short type of cleats 124 are found in the toe, arch and heel portions of the sole 114 and the tall type of cleats 125 are found in the ball and heel portions. The short cleats 124 in the arch and the tall cleats 125 in the heel form a first group of cleats whose respective rean~ard gripping edges 144 and 145 are aligned perpendicular to the rearfoot longitudinal axis Ll. The short cleats 124 in the toe form a second group whose rearward gripping edges 144 are aligned perpendicular to the direction of travel L2 whiLe abducting the Ll axis outward by the angle ~ , which in this embodiment is selected to be 12~.
The tall clcats 125 in the ball pcrtion fon~ a third group whose ~S3548 rearward ~ripping edges 145 are skewed relative to the trans-verse plane 122 by various angles less than or equal to the angle of abduction C)¢. . In particular, the cleats 125 in the ball ~ortion are airanged in four rows and the cleats in 5 succes`ive rows moving for~ardly fror, the reference plane 122 are pivo~ed a]~out their centers so that their gripping edges 145 are skewed respectively at 3~, 6, 9 and 12. The short cleats 124 in the heel forT;~ a fourth group whose edges are dis-posed at 45 angles to the Ll axis. The purpose of this fourth 10 group of short cleats is to provide additional wear resistance in the heel portion of the sole 114.
A third embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 8, wherein sirililar reference numerals are used to des-ignate parts which are similar to previously described parts.
In this sole embodiment 214, the base 218 and intec3rally molded cleats 224, 232 and 234 are fonned from a material commonly known as foam rubber. The sole 214 of this embodiment is intended to be employed in a racing shoe and is therefore made as light as possible. Any of various expanded synthetic polymers known to those skilled in the art are suital~le materials for the base 218.
Referring to Figs. 9-11, the preferred structure of typical cleats will be described~ It will be seen that the cleats are mesa-like in general ap~?earance, each cleat being defined bv curved-bottom grooves of two different depths~
Relatively dee~ grooves 260, whicll are seen in cross-scction in Fig. 9, extend c3enerally transversely the entire width of the sole 214, thereby fon~linc3 bar-like ro~s of cleats. Rela-tively shallo~1 grooves 262, ~hici- are seen in cross-section in Fig. 11, sel~arat:e adjacellt cleats in eaci~ row. The cle~ts 224 in the arch ancl heel l~ortions have sul~stalltially squarc oul;cr surfaccs 240a havin(3 rearw.lrd ~rippillcJ ed~cs 244a 1~53S4~
aligned perpendicular to tl~e rearfoot longitudinal axis Ll.
The cleats 232 in the toe portion, whicll consist of the three forwardmost rows, have generally rectangular outer surfaces 240b whose rearward gripping edgcs 244b are aligned perpendicular to the direction of travel L2 for an angle of abduction C~
in this embodiment of 10.5. The cleats 234 in the ball por-tion, which consist of tlle fourth through seventh rows counting from the front, have outer surfaces 240c which are generally trapezoidal in shape. The angles by whicll the forward-facing and rearward-facing edges of the cleats 234 in the ball por-tion s~ew from parallel to the transverse plane 222 vary pro-gressively in 1.5 increments from 0 to 10.5~ tllereby pro-viding a progressively fanned-out arrangement of rows in the ball portion.
Although three preferred embodiments of the inven-tion have been described in detail, it will be appreciated that various alternatives and modifications thereof are within the spirit and scope OL t.he invention as defined by the appended claims.
. l~IAT IS CL~ ~D IS:
.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A sole for an athletic shoe comprising a molded base having a forefoot region and a rearfoot region, the forefoot and rearfoot regions being separated by a transverse plane which is perpendicular to a major exterior surface of the base and to a first line which substantially bisects the rearfoot region in the longitudinal direction, a plurality of discrete cleats integrally molded to said base and extending outwardly from the major exterior surface in the forefoot region of the sole, said cleats being spaced in both the longitudinal and transverse direction of the sole, said cleats having rearwardly facing gripping edges from which projecting lines extend to intersect the transverse plane to the inside of the sole at angles which correspond in magnitude to an angle of abduction formed between the first line and a line defining the direction of travel during the propulsion phase of running by a typical athlete who abducts his or her feet slightly outward while pushing forwardly against the ground.

2. The sole of claim 1 including a plurality of discrete first cleats integrally molded to said base in the rearfoot region and extending outwardly from the major exterior surface thereof, said cleats in said forefoot region forming second cleats of said sole.

3. A sole for an athletic shoe comprising a molded base having a plurality of integrally molded cleats extending outwardly from a major exterior surface of the base including first cleats spaced in both the longitudinal and transverse directions of the sole in a rearfoot region of the base and second cleats in a forefoot region of the base, the forefoot and rearfoot regions being separated by a transverse plane which is perpendicular to the major exterior surface and to a first line which substantially bisects the rearfoot region in the longitudinal direction, the first cleats having gripping edges aligned sub-stantially parallel to the transverse plane, the second cleats having rearwardly facing gripping edges from which projecting lines extend to intersect the transverse plane to the inside of the sole at angles which correspond in magnitude to an angle of abduction formed between the first line and a line defining the direction of travel during the propulsion phase of running by a typical athlete who abducts his or her feet slightly outward while pushing forwardly against the ground.

4. The sole of claim 3 wherein the second cleats occupy a forward portion of the forefoot region corresponding to the toes of the foot, and further comprising third cleats in a rearward portion of the forefoot region corresponding to the ball of the foot, the third cleats having gripping edges which progressively fan out to provide a smooth transition between the first and second cleats.

5. The sole of claim 4 wherein the third cleats are aligned in rows of which at least some are skewed relative to the transverse plane at angles which are smaller than the angle of abduction.

6. The sole of claim 5 wherein each row of third cleats has gripping edges which are substantially colinear.

7. The sole of claim 4 wherein the third cleats are aligned in rows which are parallel to the transverse plane and each third cleat has a gripping edge which is skewed relative to the transverse plane at an angle equal to or less than the angle of abduction.

8. The sole of claim 4 wherein the first and second cleats are square or rectangular in horizontal cross-section and the third cleats are trapezoidal in horizontal cross-section.

9. The sole of claim 4 wherein essentially all of the cleats are square in horizontal cross-section.

10. The sole of claim 4 wherein essentially all of the cleats are aligned in rows between curved-bottom grooves of a first depth extending generally transversely the entire width of the sole and wherein curved-bottom grooves of a second depth which is shallower than the first depth separate adjacent cleats in each row.

11. The sole of claim 10 wherein the base consists essentially of an expanded synthetic polymer.

12. The sole of claim 3 wherein the angle of abduction lies in the range from 10° to 14°.

13. The sole of claim 3 wherein the angle of abduction is about 12°.

14. The sole of claim 3 wherein said base and cleats are comprised of a resilient polymeric material.

15. The sole of claim 3 wherein the first cleats are generally uniform in size and shape and are disposed primarily in the arch portion of the rearfoot region.

16. The sole of claim 15 further comprising a wear plug disposed in the heel portion of the rearfoot region and occupying most of the area of the heel portion, the wear plug being separated into at least four segments each of which has a ground engaging area substantially larger than the area of the outer surface of one of the first cleats, the four segments of the wear plug being symmetrically disposed relative to the first line such that two segments are on each side of the first line, the segments on each side of the first line being separated by a narrow slot which is aligned perpendicular to the first line.

17. The sole of claim 4 wherein the third cleats are slightly greater in height than the second cleats.

18. The sole of claim 17 wherein the first cleats include cleats of two different heights, the higher of which are essentially confined to the heel portion and the lower of which are disposed substantially throughout the rearfoot region.