US20130118036A1 - Footwear outsole inlcuding gripping tread - Google Patents

Abstract

An outsole for an article of footwear including a plurality of laterally extending walls where each pair of adjacent walls defines a channel. The outsole also includes a plurality of receptacles between the adjacent walls where the channel extends across each of the receptacles.

Description

BACKGROUND
• Outsoles are the outermost layer of a shoe that directly contact the ground and are made with different materials and patterns depending on the environmental conditions and terrains that the shoes are used in. In this regard, outsoles on shoes used for physical activities, such as running or biking, must be durable and provide sufficient support to handle the wear and tear and impact forces generated during those activities.
• Off road biking, such as mountain biking, is a popular outdoor activity and consists of riding bicycles off-road using specially adapted cycling equipment. Most mountain biking occurs on rough terrain, such as steep hills and trails, which requires significant endurance and agility and the proper equipment. To enhance the rider's stability and control on such rough terrain, the rider's shoes must provide sufficient support and flexibility as well as securely grip the pedals and the ground.
• The terrain in the locations where mountain biking occurs varies and in some areas may include combinations of dirt, gravel, sand and rock. The rider's shoes therefore need to be able to sufficiently grip the different terrains. The shoes must also securely grip the pedals so that the user's feet do not slide along or slip off of the pedals during riding which can be dangerous and lead to severe injuries.
SUMMARY
• An article of footwear is provided with an outsole including a plurality of walls extending between medial and lateral sides of the outsole and a plurality of receptacles between adjacent pairs of the walls. The receptacles engage a surface of a pedal for securely holding the article of footwear on the pedal while the walls limit forward and rearward movement of a the article of footwear on the pedal to help prevent the article of footwear from sliding or slipping off of the pedal.
• In an embodiment, an outsole for an article of footwear is provided that includes a plurality of laterally extending walls where each pair of adjacent walls defines a channel. The outsole also includes a plurality of receptacles between the adjacent walls where the channel extends across each of the receptacles.
• In another embodiment, an article of footwear is provided and includes an outsole having a front side, a rear side, a medial side and a lateral side, and a plurality of walls extending between the medial and the lateral sides of the outsole, where each pair of adjacent walls defines a channel. A plurality of receptacles are defined between the adjacent walls where the channel extends between the medial and the lateral sides of the outsole. The article of footwear also includes a toe tread portion located at the front side of the outsole and a heel tread portion located at the rear side of the outsole.
• In a further embodiment, an outsole for an article of footwear is provided and includes a plurality of laterally spaced receptacles where each of the receptacles includes a plurality of angled surfaces meeting at a center point.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• FIG. 1 is a bottom perspective view of the present footwear outsole.
• FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of a central tread portion of the footwear outsole ofFIG. 1.
• FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of the toe tread portion of the footwear outsole ofFIG. 1.
• FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of the heel tread portion of the footwear outsole ofFIG. 1.
• FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of another embodiment of the present footwear outsole.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• Referring now toFIGS. 1-4, the present footwear includes a central tread portion configured to securely grip a pedal on a bicycle or other pedal driven device and first and second tread portions respectively located at the toe and heel portions of the outsole for gripping the underlying terrain.
• The present outsole generally designated as20, includes acentral tread portion22, atoe tread portion24 and aheel tread portion26. Thecentral tread portion22 is configured to interface or interlock with a pedal on a bicycle (not shown), such as a mountain bike or off-road bike, or other suitable pedal driven bicycles and devices. Specifically, thecentral tread portion22 of theoutsole20 engages teeth projecting from the bike pedal to allow lateral movement of the outsole on the pedal, such as when a user places their foot onto or off of the pedal, while inhibiting forward or rearward movement of the outsole relative to the pedal. As shown inFIG. 2, thecentral tread portion22 includes a plurality of zig-zagging,triangular walls28 protruding from theoutsole20 and extending between themedial side30 and thelateral side32 of the outsole. In the illustrated embodiment, thecentral tread portion22 does not extend to theperipheral edge34 of theoutsole20 or to thetoe portion36 or theheel portion38 of the outsole. It should be appreciated that theoutsole20 may have one or more portions including the zig-zaggingwalls28 where the zig-zagging walls may extend to theperipheral edge34, thetoe portion36 or theheel portion38.
• Thewalls28 are arranged on theoutsole20 so that there is achannel40 or space between adjacent pairs of thewalls28 where the channel allows the teeth on the pedal to move laterally between the medial and thelateral sides30,32 of the outsole. This lateral movement makes it easier for a user to slide their shoe onto the pedal when starting to ride their bike and off of the pedal for contacting the ground to stop the bike. While riding, a user's shoes must securely engage and grip the pedals to maintain stability and control of the bike. If the one or both shoes slide along or slip off of the pedals, the rider could lose control of the bike and be seriously injured. To inhibit forward or rearward movement of theoutsole20 on the pedal, thewalls28 of theoutsole20 are integrally formed, i.e., do not include spaces or channels, thereby forming a closed wall pattern which acts as a stop when the teeth engage the walls. It should be appreciated that thewalls20 may have a zig-zag pattern or any closed pattern such as a rounded wave pattern or other suitable pattern.
• As shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, thewalls28 form a plurality of diamond-shaped receptacles orrecesses42 arranged in rows extending between the medial andlateral sides30,32 of theoutsole20. Each of the diamond-shaped recesses42 includes four angled orslanted surfaces44 that extend from atop edge46 of thewalls28 to acenter point48 of the respective recess. Therecesses42 also include a plurality ofsteps49 or ridges that gradually decrease the width of the recess from the top edge of the walls to the center point. The narrowingrecesses42 enable a tooth on a bicycle pedal to be easily inserted into the wider top opening of each recess while securing the tooth in the narrowed bottom portion of that recess. Thus, the teeth on a pedal easily engage and are securely held in therecesses42 when theoutsole20 of the shoe engages the pedal.
• Referring now toFIGS. 1 and 3, thetoe tread portion24 of theoutsole20 includes rearwardly-facing, overlappinglugs50 that enhance the gripping of the outsole on an underlying surface or terrain such as rocks, gravel, dirt or other surfaces. It is contemplated that thetoe tread portion24 may have one or a plurality of thelugs50. Eachlug50 is formed by a pair ofangled walls52 connected by astraight wall54 where each of thewalls52,54 has a straight or flatouter surface56. In the illustrated embodiment, one or more of thewalls52,54 have angledouter surfaces57 that form an undercut59 (FIG. 3) for enabling thelugs50 to dig into and grip the ground. Thelugs50 extend from the medial tolateral sides30,32 to theperipheral edge34 of theoutsole20. Additionally, the rearwardly facinglugs50 slant upwardly from the front of the shoe to the rear of the shoe. This allows thelugs50 to act as teeth that engage and dig into an underlying surface or terrain such as when a user is walking on a flat surface or up a mountain or hill.
• Referring now toFIGS. 1 and 4, theheel tread portion26 includes a plurality oflugs58 that face forwardly or toward thetoe portion36 of the shoe and overlap each other as described above. Theselugs58 haveangled walls60 forming a triangular shape that are separated by a flat orstraight wall62. Theouter surface64 of each of the walls is generally straight or flat, but may be angled to form an undercut66. It should be appreciated that theheel tread portion26 may include one or a plurality of thelugs58 where the lugs may be arranged laterally (extending between the medial tolateral sides30,32 of the outsole) or in any suitable configuration. Similar to thelugs50 on thetoe tread portion24, thelugs58 on theheel tread portion26 are angled or sloped upwardly from theheel portion38 toward thetoe portion36 of theoutsole20 and form teeth-like structures that help grip theheel tread portion26 to the underlying terrain when a user is stopped on a downward sloping incline, slippery surface or other similar surface. It should be appreciated that thelugs58 on theheel tread portion26 may be any suitable size and shape.
• Theperipheral edge34 of theoutsole20 includes a plurality of recesses ornotches68 that vary in size. Thesenotches68 help to displace dirt or gravel from theoutsole20 and away from the shoe. It should be appreciated that thenotches68 on theperipheral edge34 of theoutsole20 may be any suitable size or shape.
• Theoutsole20 is made by first inserting a first material into a press mold that compresses the first material to form thecentral tread portion22 of the outsole. After thecentral tread portion22 is formed, the same material is placed adjacent to thecentral tread portion22 to form theperipheral edge34, thetoe tread portion24 and theheel tread portion26 of the outsole. Accordingly, the central, toe andheel tread portions22,24,26 of theoutsole20 are co-molded using a press mold or any suitable molding process.
• In operation, a user places their shoe, and more specifically, theoutsole20 of their shoe onto a bicycle pedal by sliding theoutsole20 laterally onto the pedal so that the teeth engage therecesses42 in between thewalls28 of thecentral tread portion22 and slide laterally within thechannels40 between thewalls28 until the user's foot is positioned stably on the pedal. The teeth on the pedal engage therecesses42 so that if the user's foot moves forward or rearward on the pedal while the teeth are engaged in the recesses, the teeth contact the adjacent zig-zagging walls28 where the walls act as a stop to prevent the teeth from moving substantially forward or rearward relative to theoutsole20. If the user stops riding their bike and has to place their foot or feet on the underlying terrain, thelugs58 in the toe andheel tread portions36,38 help grip theoutsole20 to the underlying terrain and prevent the user's foot or feet from slipping or sliding on the terrain.
• Referring now toFIG. 5, another embodiment of the present outsole is shown where anoutsole70 includes thecentral tread portion22 described above and atoe tread portion72 and aheel portion74. Thetoe tread portion72 includes a plurality of overlapping lugs76 that face or extend rearwardly (toward the toe portion) and are arranged in a row laterally across theoutsole70. Eachlug76 includes two angledwalls78 that meet at acenter point80 to form a triangular shape where thelugs76 are separated by a straight orflat wall82. Theheel tread portion74 includes overlapping lugs84 that face or extend forwardly (i.e., from the heel to the toe portion). Thelugs84 are formed in the same way as thelugs76 and have a triangular shape but face or extend in an opposite direction to thelugs76 as shown inFIG. 1. It should be appreciate that thelugs76,84 may be any suitable size and shape.
• While a particular embodiment of the present article of footwear has been described herein, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the invention in its broader aspects.

Claims (16)

What is claimed is:

1. An outsole for an article of footwear comprising:

a plurality of laterally extending walls, each pair of adjacent walls defining a channel; and

a plurality of receptacles between said adjacent walls, said channel extending across each of said receptacles.

2. The outsole ofclaim 1, wherein each of said walls is integrally formed and extends between a medial side and a lateral side of the outsole.

3. The outsole ofclaim 1, wherein each of said walls has a zig-zag shape.

4. The outsole ofclaim 1, wherein each of said receptacles is diamond-shaped.

5. The outsole ofclaim 1, wherein each of said receptacles includes inwardly extending surfaces meeting a center point.

6. The outsole ofclaim 5, wherein each of said surfaces of said receptacles includes a plurality of steps.

7. An article of footwear comprising:

an outsole having a front side, a rear side, a medial side and a lateral side;

a plurality of walls extending between said medial and said lateral sides of said outsole, each pair of adjacent walls defining a channel;

a plurality of receptacles between said adjacent walls, said channel extending between said medial and said lateral sides of said outsole;

a toe tread portion at said front side of said outsole; and

a heel tread portion at said rear side of said outsole.

8. The article of footwear ofclaim 7, wherein said toe tread portion includes rearwardly facing lugs.

9. The article of footwear ofclaim 8, wherein said heel tread portion includes fowardly facing lugs.

10. The article of footwear ofclaim 7, wherein said toe tread portion and said heel tread portion each include lugs, said lugs of said toe tread portion and said heel tread portion extending in opposite directions.

11. The article of footwear ofclaim 7, wherein said outsole includes a peripheral edge and said walls extend to said peripheral edge on said medial and lateral sides of the outsole.

12. The article of footwear ofclaim 7, wherein said toe tread portion and said heel tread portion each include a plurality of overlapping lugs.

13. An outsole for an article of footwear comprising:

a plurality of laterally spaced receptacles, each of said receptacles including a plurality of angled surfaces meeting at a center point.

14. The outsole ofclaim 13, wherein said angled surfaces of said receptacles each include steps.

15. The outsole ofclaim 13, further comprising a channel extending across said receptacles.

16. The outsole ofclaim 13, wherein each of said receptacles is diamond-shaped.

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