U.S. patent number 3,597,863 [Application Number 04/801,509] was granted by the patent office on 1971-08-10 for sports shoes.
Invention is credited to Clive Jonathan Austin, Marcus Luther Austin.
United States Patent |
3,597,863 |
Austin , et al. |
August 10, 1971 |
SPORTS SHOES
Abstract
A shoe, such as a golf shoe having a molded sole embodying a
plurality of preformed molded members of higher mechanical strength
than the main sole body each molded member comprising a receptacle
portion for removably securing a spike, and an integral plate
portion sandwiched within the thickness of the sole and performing
the function of distributing ground pressure on a spike secured in
the receptacle over a large area of the sole, the molded members
being embodied in the sole as individual units or as a multiple
unit or multiple units of interconnected preformed molded
members.
Inventors: |
Austin; Marcus Luther (Bedford,
Bedfordshire, EN), Austin; Clive Jonathan (Bedford,
Bedfordshire, EN) |
Family
ID: |
9866822 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/801,509 |
Filed: |
February 24, 1969 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Feb 26, 1968 [GB] |
|
|
9173/68 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
36/59R; 36/134;
36/127; 264/277 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A43C
15/165 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A43C
15/16 (20060101); A43C 15/00 (20060101); A43b
023/28 (); A43c 015/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;36/2.5,59,67 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Lawson; Patrick D.
Claims
We claim:
1. A shoe having a sole comprising,
a main sole body of molded material,
a plurality of preformed molded members of higher mechanical
strength than the main sole body embodied in the main sole
body,
each preformed molded member having a retaining portion for a spike
and an integral plate portion sandwiched within the thickness of
the main sole body for distributing the ground pressure on a spike
over a larger area of the sole than that occupied by the retaining
portion,
said plate portion being convex on its lower surface.
2. A shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plate portion is
concave on its upper surface.
3. A shoe having a sole comprising,
a main sole body of molded material,
a plurality of preformed molded members of higher mechanical
strength than the main sole body interconnected as a preformed
multiple unit embodied in the main sole body,
each preformed molded member having a retaining portion for a spike
and an integral plate portion sandwiched within the thickness of
the main sole body for distributing the ground pressure on a spike
over a larger area of the sole than that occupied by the retaining
portion.
4. A shoe as claimed in claim 3, wherein the interconnecting of
said molded members to form said multiple unit is by portions
formed integrally with said molded members during the molding
thereof.
5. A shoe as claimed in claim 3, wherein the interconnecting of
said molded members to form said multiple unit is by a mesh.
6. A shoe as claimed in claim 3, wherein the plate portions of said
molded members also serve to interconnect the retaining portions to
form the multiple unit.
7. A shoe as claimed in claim 3, wherein the retaining portions of
the multiple unit lie in different horizontal planes and flangeless
spikes of equal length are located in said retaining portions
whereby they project by different lengths from the underside of
said sole.
8. A shoe as claimed in claim 6, wherein said retaining portions
have their spike receiving axes inclined at different angles to the
underside of the sole and flangeless spikes are secured in said
retaining portions.
9. A shoe as claimed in claim 3, wherein all the molded members in
the forepart of the sole are interconnected as a multiple unit.
10. A shoe as claimed in claim 3, wherein all the molded members in
the heel part of the sole are interconnected as a multiple
unit.
11. A shoe as claimed in claim 1, wherein said retaining portion
extends to the underside of the sole and is there provided with a
flange which thus lies flush with the underside surface of the
sole.
12. A shoe having a sole comprising,
a main sole body formed of a soft polyvinyl chloride,
at least one preformed molded member formed of a hard polyvinyl
chloride and having a higher mechanical strength than the main sole
body and bondable to said main sole body,
each said molded member being embedded within and bonded to said
main sole body and having a retaining portion for a spike and an
integral plate portion sandwiched within the thickness of the main
sole body for distributing the ground pressure on a spike over a
larger area of the sole than that occupied by said retaining
portion.
13. The shoe of claim 1 which further includes a spike which is
detachably secured to said retained portion.
Description
This invention relates to boots and shoes (hereafter referred to
simply as shoes) of the kind having a molded sole in which are
incorporated receptacles adapted to receive studs or spikes
(hereafter referred to simply as spikes) and has particular, but
not exclusive, application to golf shoes.
Conventional spikes generally have flanges which lie against the
underside of the sole in order to transmit the pressure of the
ground on the spike point to a wider area of sole, so aiding
lateral stability of the spike and reducing spike pressure on the
underside of the foot. Conventional spike receptacles designed to
receive such flanged spikes have the disadvantage that when mud and
grass collects beneath the flange and hardens, the resulting
misalignment of the spike eventually leads to loosening of the
receptacle within the sole. With the invention of softer and more
flexible sole materials (for example cellular materials) the
problem of satisfactorily incorporating the spike receptacles in
the soles has become more acute.
The initial object of this invention was to obviate the presence of
spike flanges on the undersurface of the sole and so eliminate a
main cause of the problem. However the invention in meeting this
object provided, as will become apparent, an advantageous
arrangement for use with conventional flanged spikes particularly
in cases where the aforesaid softer and more flexible sole
materials are used.
According to this invention in a shoe of the kind having a molded
sole, a preformed molded member of higher mechanical strength than
the main sole body is embodied in the main sole body and has a
receptacle portion for securing a spike to the sole and an integral
plate portion sandwiched within the thickness of the sole and
extending over an area of the sole outside the confines of the
receptacle portion to distribute the ground pressure on a spike
secured in said receptacle over said area of the sole.
Said plate portion may extend as a flange surrounding said
receptacle portion or it may be remote from said receptacle
portion, said spike pressure being transmitted from the receptacle
portion to the plate portion by an interconnecting portion.
Said plate portion may be concave on its upper surface and convex
on its lower surface.
In one embodiment of the invention a plurality of said molded
members are interconnected to form a multiple unit, the
interconnecting portions serving to transmit spike pressure
throughout the unit.
In another embodiment of the invention as a multiple unit, the
plate portions also serve as interconnections between receptacle
portions.
In a still further embodiment as a multiple unit a plurality of
said molded members may be interconnected by a mesh.
In order that the invention may be readily understood, embodiments
of the invention will now be described by way of example with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a fragmentary section through a molded sole body
according to one embodiment,
FIGS. 2 and 3 show modifications of the molded member embodying the
spike receptacle shown in FIG. 1,
FIG. 4 shows a fragmentary perspective view of a molded sole body
embodying two interconnected molded members of the form shown in
FIG. 1,
FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 show molded members of the form shown in FIG. 4
interconnected in various ways to form multiple units of spike
receptacles,
FIG. 8 shows in elevation a further form of multiple unit,
FIGS. 9 and 10 show respectively a plan view and elevational view
of a still further form of multiple unit,
FIG. 11 shows a sectional view through yet another form of multiple
unit, and
FIG. 12 is a fragmentary section through a molded sole body in
which the receptacle portion of the molded member extends to the
underside surface of the sole, the molded member being of slightly
different form from that shown in FIG. 1.
In the different embodiments corresponding parts have been given
the same reference numerals.
Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a portion
of a molded sole body 1 having embedded wholly within its thickness
a member 2 of molded material. The member 2 has a central boss
forming a spike receptacle portion 3 with threaded bore 4 into
which a spike 5 is screwed to secure the latter to the sole 1. In
the specifically illustrated embodiment, the spike 5 is shown as
being detachably secured to bore 4; however, it will be apparent to
one skilled in the art that the concepts of this invention are
equally applicable to an arrangement wherein the spike 5 is formed
integrally with member 2. Extending from the receptacle portion 3
is a plate portion 6 defining a circular flange around the
receptacle portion 3 and curved to give the member 2 a dished or
concave upper surface and a convex lower surface which renders it
compatible with the contours of the sole when the latter is flexed
during walking. The spike 5 shown in full line in FIG. 1 is a
flangeless spike having flats at 7 for engagement by a tool to fit
or remove the spike 5. The plate portion 6 serves to distribute
upward pressure on the point of the spike 5 over a wider area of
the sole and aids lateral stability of the spike 5. It thus serves
the function of the flange of a flanged spike. In order to perform
this junction effectively it must have greater mechanical strength
than the main sole body 1 in which it is embedded, that is to say
greater tensile, compressive and shear resistance than the sole
body 1. Nevertheless the sole body 1 and molded member 2 can be
selected to be chemically compatible so as to achieve a
satisfactory chemical bond between them; for example the sole body
1 could be soft P.V.C. and the molded member 2 hard P.V.C. Another
suitable material for the molded member 2 is nylon.
The molded members 2 are formed by a premolding operation and are
embedded in the sole body 1 during the molding of the latter.
Conveniently said members 2 are preassembled with spikes 5 or with
plugs. The plugs, like the spikes are screwed into the receptacle
portions 3 but in the finished sole do not protrude from but are
flush with the underside of the sole body 1. Such plugs provide an
interchangeable fitting with the spikes for use on hard ground and
would be provided with slots or depressions in their lower ends to
enable removal by a key.
While the receptacle arrangement shown in FIG. 1 is particularly
suitable for flangeless spikes, it is equally adapted to take
flanged spikes which would be of the same general form as the
spikes 5 with the addition of a flange as shown in dotted line at 8
in FIG. 1.
It is not essential for the receptacle portion 3 to be concentric
with the plate portion 6. It could for example be eccentric as
shown in FIG. 2 or even outside it and connected to it by an
interconnecting portion 9 as shown in FIG. 3, the interconnecting
portion serving to transmit spike pressure to the plate portion
6.
In FIG. 4 two of the members 2 shown in FIG. 1 are interconnected
by limb 11, which is integrally formed with the members 2 during
the molding thereof. The limb 11 will also serve to distribute
local stresses over a wider area of the sole. The limb 11 has holes
12 through which molding material flows during molding of the sole
body 1 in order to provide a keying effect.
In FIG. 5 a multiple unit 13 comprising a plurality of the members
2 interconnected by portions 14 incorporates all the spike
receptacles for the forepart of the sole and a multiple unit 15
comprising a plurality of members 2 interconnected by portions 16
incorporates all the spike receptacles for the heel part of the
sole.
In FIG. 6 is shown a multiple unit 17 comprising three molded
members 2 and suitable for incorporation in the toe end of a sole
body. In the multiple unit 17 one member 2 is shown with an
elliptical plate portion 6, one with a circular plate portion 6 and
the third with an hexagonal plate portion. These varying shapes may
be chosen for any particular member 2 in the sole to suit various
functional requirements.
In FIG. 7 a multiple unit 18 incorporating all the spike
receptacles for the forepart of the sole comprises a plurality of
the member 2 interconnected by a mesh 19. The mesh 19 may be molded
in one with the members 2, or it could be prefabricated and the
members 2 then cemented, welded or otherwise affixed to it. During
the molding of the sole body 1 the material would be able to flow
through the mesh 19 so that the mesh 19 becomes fully integrated
with the sole body 1.
FIG. 8 shows another multiple unit in which the spike receptacle
portions 3 are remote from the plate portions 6 the latter being of
circular form with dished upper surfaces and convex lower surfaces.
The spike receptacle portions 3 are provided as the downturned ends
of molded rod 20 on which the plate portions 6 are provided during
molding. This form of multiple unit is useful for mounting spikes
close to the outside edge of the sole, the plate portions 6 being
disposed so that they lie beneath the weight-bearing portions of
the foot.
In the multiple unit shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 the interconnections
between the spike receptacles 3 also serve as the plate portions 6
for distributing the loading pressure of spikes over a wide area of
the sole. The molded plate member 21 performing this dual function
is thickened at places to define the receptacle portions 3 and the
plate portions 6. The plate member 21 is provided with flow holes
12 through which molding material flows during molding of the sole
body 1.
In FIG. 11 the receptacle portions 3 are provided in a plate member
22 in somewhat similar manner to FIGS. 9 and 10. However the plate
member 22 is thickened at the spike receptacle portions 3 so that
the spike receptacles lie in different predetermined horizontal
planes. This enables flangeless spikes of the same length as each
other to be fitted and protrude different lengths from the
underside of the sole as is desirable in certain types of sports
footwear. Further the angle at which flangeless spikes protrude
from the sole can be made different from each other by suitably
inclining the threaded bores of the receptacle portions 3.
The spike receptacle portions 3 in any of the above embodiments may
be wholly within the thickness of the sole body 1 as shown for
example in FIG. 1 or they may extend to the undersurface of the
sole. When they do extend to the undersurface of the sole they may
be provided there, as shown in FIG. 12, with a flange 23 to effect
additional keying to the sole body 1.
* * * * *