U.S. patent application number 09/822880 was filed with the patent office on 2001-10-04 for studs for sports footwear and method of manufacture.
This patent application is currently assigned to Bauer Italia S.p.A.. Invention is credited to Annovi, Giuseppe.
Application Number | 20010025440 09/822880 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 11451896 |
Filed Date | 2001-10-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010025440 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Annovi, Giuseppe |
October 4, 2001 |
Studs for sports footwear and method of manufacture
Abstract
A method of producing studs for sports footwear, in particular
for use in football, is described; each stud comprises a body and a
tip portion which can be fixed to the body, the tip portion of the
stud being produced from a semi-finished tip formed by blanking
from sheet metal.
Inventors: |
Annovi, Giuseppe;
(Montebelluna, IT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Kevin R. Casey
Ratner & Prestia
One Westlakes, Berwyn, Suite 301
P.O. Box 980
Valley Forge
PA
19482-0980
US
|
Assignee: |
Bauer Italia S.p.A.
|
Family ID: |
11451896 |
Appl. No.: |
09/822880 |
Filed: |
March 30, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
36/128 ;
36/67R |
Current CPC
Class: |
A43C 15/16 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
36/128 ;
36/67.00R |
International
Class: |
A43B 005/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 4, 2000 |
IT |
PD2000A000078 |
Claims
1. A method of producing studs for sports footwear, in particular
for use in football, each stud comprising a body and a tip portion
which can be fixed to the body, characterized in that the tip
portion of the stud is produced from a semi-finished tip formed by
blanking from sheet metal.
2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of
drawing of the semi-finished tip to form a hollow element
constituting the tip portion of the stud.
3. A method according to claim 2 which provides for the further
step of producing the body of the stud by injection moulding of
plastics material, the body being moulded onto the tip portion so
that the latter is at least partially incorporated in the body.
4. A method according to claim 3 in which means are provided for
holding the tip portion on the body of the stud.
5. A method according to claim 4 in which the holding means
comprise at least one appendage which extends substantially
radially from the semi-finished tip.
6. A method according to claim 5 in which at least one hole extends
through the at least one appendage.
7. A method according to claim 5 or claim 6 in which the at least
one appendage is bent substantially at right angles to the
semi-finished tip during the drawing step.
8. A method according to one or more of claims 5 to 7 in which
three radial appendages are provided, spaced at regular angular
intervals.
9. A method according to one or more of the preceding claims, in
which the tip portion is blanked from steel sheet.
10. A method according to claim 9 in which the tip portion is
blanked from stainless steel sheet.
11. A stud for sports footwear, particularly for use in football,
comprising a body and a tip portion which can be fixed to the body,
characterized in that the tip portion comprises a hollow drawn
element produced by blanking from sheet metal.
12. A stud according to claim 11, in which the hollow element
comprises a base and at least one appendage extending substantially
at right angles from the base.
13. A stud according to claim 12 in which the at least one
appendage comprises at least one through-hole.
14. A stud according to claim 13, comprising three appendages
extending substantially at right angles from the base and spaced at
regular angular intervals.
15. A stud according to one or more of claims 11 to 14 in which the
tip portion is made of steel.
16. A stud according to claim 15, in which the tip portion is made
of stainless steel.
17. A stud according to one or more of claims 11 to 16, in which
the body of the stud is made of plastics material and the tip
portion is at least partially incorporated in the body.
18. Sports footwear comprising a sole with studs in which the studs
are produced in accordance with one or more of claims 11 to 17.
19. Footwear according to claim 18 in which the studs are
removable.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to a method of producing studs
for sports footwear, in particular for use in football, according
to the preamble to the main claim. The invention also relates to
studs produced by the method, as well as to sports footwear or to a
sole provided with studs formed in accordance with the
invention.
[0002] In football, it is known to use footwear with fixed or
removable studs which vary in shape, size, number and arrangement,
and which are selected by the footballer according to the various
conditions of the pitch in order thus to achieve the best
performance in any conditions which may be encountered during
sports activities.
[0003] Footwear in which each stud is formed by a body of plastics
material produced integrally with the sole or fixed thereto, for
example, by a screw means, and bearing a tip, typically made of
metal, at its free end, are known. The use of studs with metal tips
has the advantage of substantially reducing the wear of the studs,
thus avoiding frequent replacement thereof which, in the case of
fixed studs, also requires the replacement of the footwear
itself.
[0004] Studs of this type are typically produced by forming the tip
of the stud by techniques such as pressing from bars, die casting,
sintering, or precision casting. Although these known techniques
can produce studs which are strong and abrasion resistant, they are
unsuitable for the production of studs which can be marketed at low
cost, also with regard to the complexity of the processes and of
the tooling which they normally involve. Moreover, the studs and,
in particular, their metal tips produced by the above-mentioned
methods, are generally quite heavy.
[0005] The problem upon which the present invention is based is
that of providing a method of producing studs for sports footwear
which can prevent the problems complained of with reference to the
prior art mentioned and which at the same time enables inexpensive,
light-weight studs to be produced by relatively simple
processes.
[0006] This problem is solved by the invention by means of a method
of producing studs for sports footwear according to the appended
claims.
[0007] The characteristics and the advantages of the invention will
become clearer from the following detailed description of a
preferred embodiment thereof, described by way of non-limiting
example with reference to the appended drawings, in which:
[0008] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a football boot provided
with studs formed by the method of the present invention,
[0009] FIGS. 2 and 3 are a perspective view and a plan view,
respectively, of a semi-finished tip for a stud of FIG. 1 in a
first production step of the method of the invention,
[0010] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the semi-finished tip of
FIGS. 2 and 3 during a second step of the production method.
[0011] In FIG. 1, a sports boot for use in football is generally
indicated 1 and has a sole 2 with studs 3 produced by the method of
the present invention. Moreover, the method is advantageously
suitable for the production of both fixed and removable studs
3.
[0012] Each stud 3 comprises a body 4 which extends integrally from
the sole 2 or is screwed into the sole by means, for example, of a
threaded shank or other similar means, not shown, and which
comprises, at its free end 4a, a tip portion 5 which can be fixed
to the body 4, as will be explained in greater detail below.
[0013] Each tip portion 5 is produced from a semi-finished tip 6
formed, in accordance with a first step of the method of the
invention, by a blanking operation performed on sheet metal of a
preselected thickness, indicated S in FIG. 2. The semi-finished tip
6 is preferably blanked from a stainless-steel sheet. With
reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the semi-finished tip 6 comprises a
central portion 7 with a substantially circular profile from which
three equiangularly-spaced radial appendages, all indicated 8,
extend. A respective hole 9, the function of which will become
clear from the following, is formed at the free end of each
appendage 8, preferably during the blanking step.
[0014] In a subsequent step, the semi-finished tip 6 is subjected
to a drawing operation in which the central portion 7 is deformed
to form a hollow element (FIG. 4) defined by a base 7a surrounded
by a wall 7b. During the drawing step, the appendages 8 are also
bent substantially at right angles to the base 7a. According to a
preferred selection, the base 7a is produced with a substantially
triangular shape in plan, defining three sides 10a, 10b, 10c from
each of which a corresponding appendage 8 extends.
[0015] A further step of the method provides for the body 4 of the
stud to be produced by injection moulding of a plastics material in
a mould, not shown in the drawings, in which the semi-finished tip
6 (already drawn) is positioned beforehand so that, after moulding,
the semifinished tip is at least partially incorporated in the body
4 in the region of the free end 4a thereof, thus constituting the
tip of the stud 3. During this moulding step, the hollow element of
the semi-finished tip 6 is filled by the plastics material injected
and the body 4 is also moulded over the appendages 8 of the
semi-finished tip. During the moulding, the appendages 8 and the
holes 9 constitute means for holding the tip of the stud in the
plastics material injected into the mould so as to achieve good
structural continuity as well as firm fixing of the tip 5 to the
body 4 of the stud.
[0016] The invention thus solves the problem set, achieving the
advantages set out above over known methods. In particular, the
method of the invention produces studs with metal tips with
characteristics of mechanical strength and abrasion resistance no
worse than those of known methods but with considerably reduced
weights and lower production costs.
* * * * *