US3507059A - Shoe sole - Google Patents

Description

April 21, 1970 F. VIEII'AS SHOE SOLE Filed may. 1968 United States Patent US. CI. 3659 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shoe sole of flexible resilient material adapted for use on synthetic turf or running material. The lower surface of the sole is formed with a series of ridges extending across the sole. The ridges are each defined by walls lying in planes angular to one another with similar ridges arranged in a plurality of groups. The ridges of one group each have the planes bisecting the angle defined by its wall inclined toward the toe of the sole and the ridges of the other group each having the planes bisecting the angle defined by its walls inclined toward the heel of the sole. A series of longitudinal or lengthwise extending grooves cut across the ridges.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION With the advent of synthetic turfs which are made of resilent materials and their increasing acceptance for use in indoor football and baseball fields and tracks, there has been an increasing desire to provide improved footwear for use in connection with such material. Conventional cleated footwear is not acceptable for this synthetic material because cleats damage the synthetic turf by cutting it and tearing it. Other footwear conventionally available and including, for example, sneakers and conventionally designed sneakers or shoes with ribbed soles have not been acceptable either because they do not provide satisfactory lateral gripping and because they have other defects which limit the wearers ability to run easily and turn effectively on the material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved sole construction which is adapted for use in a wide variety of athletic footwear and which is especially designed for use in connection with synthetic turfs of the type previously described.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved sole construction which is adapted for use on synthetic turfs of the type previously described but which is not prohibitively expensive and which will permit the adaption of the invention to athletic shoes sold at competitive prices. A further object of the present invention is to provide improved shoe sole construction for use on athletic footwear of the type described in which the sole is designed for secure attachment to the upper of athletic footwear.

In the present invention there is provided a shoe sole formed of flexible resilient material having a series of ridges on the lower surface of the sole which extends transversely from one side to the other. The ridges are defined by walls lying in planes angular to one another. The ridges are arranged in a plurality of groups with the ridges of one group each having the plane bisecting the angle defined by its walls inclined toward the toe of the sole and the ridges of the other group each having the plane bisecting the angle defined by its walls inclined toward the heel of the sole.

3,507,059 Patented Apr. 21, 1970 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The foregoing objects and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a footwear embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of a shoe sole embodying the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional elevation taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings there is shown a shoe upper 1 'with a shoe sole 2. The shoe upper 1 is shown in outline form and may comprise any one of a variety of footwear uppers. For example the upper 1 may comprise a track shoe upper, a football upper, low cut or high out, a baseball upper or any other type of footwear upper that is used in a sport that is adapted to be played on synthetic turf of the type made by such companies as Monsanto Chemical Company, or any other similar type of synthetic material having a resilient composition and which is intended to be used for athletic contests in which it is desirable not to damage the material with cleats or other relatively hard components of shoes.

For purposes of ease and description it will be assumed that the upper 1 is intended for use as a low cut football shoe.

The shoe sole 2 is secured to the upper by conventional means of stitching or cementing. The sole 2 however is provided withflat portions 3 and 4 respectively at its toe and heel so as to provide a flat surface at the heel and toe in whichextra stitching 5 may be placed to assure a relatively good interengagement between the sole and the upper. A Wedge 7 at the heel extending from the rear of the shoe forwardly past the shank may be provided to raise up the heel portion of the wearer. This insert 7 may be secured by conventional and known techniques.

The sole 2 is provided with a series of ridges or transverse members 8. Each of these ridges 8 is defined bywalls 9 and 10 which lie in planes angular to one another and intersect to form the edges 11 remote from the upper surface of the sole 2. The ridges 8 are arranged in a plurality ofgroups 13, 14, 15 and 16 with the ridges ofgroups 13 and 16 each having the planes bisecting the angle defined by the ridge walls inclined towards the toe of the sole, and the ridges of theother groups 14 and 15 each having the plane bisecting the angle defined by the ridge walls inclined toward the heel of the sole. While the number of groups may vary there are preferably four of such groups as illustrated. Thus there is provided a sole in which there are alternate bands of rearwardly and forwardly projecting ridges. The number of ridges in each group are preferably substantially equal.

The overall height of the ridges preferably is in the order of A but may vary depending upon the particular degree of traction desired, preferably within the range of 1 to /2". The wider wall -17 of each ridge is preferably inclined at angle to the horizontal of approximately 45 while the angle of thenarrower wall 18 is preferably at an angle of between and to the horizontal. The sole 2 has an overall thickness which may vary depending upon the particular shoe design but preferably is in the order of /2". It may vary from approximately A" to depending upon the specific athletic footwear with which it is to be used. The heel end of the sole however, is slightly thicker and may taper from a uniform thickness forward of the instep to a wider portion which preferably should be about 25% thicker at theextreme heel end 19 than at thetoe end 20.

The sole is provided with a series ofgrooves 21 that" extend longitudinally of the sole and are cut into the ridges. These grooves have a width in the order of A" to and preferably in the order of /2". The grooves are preferably at least 1" long and have a depth that extends preferably at least one-half the height of the ridges. In the preferred embodiment five of such grooves are provided, with two grooves in the heel extending parallel to oneanother across all of the ridges that form the heel portion of the sole. A single groove is provided longitudinally across the shank. This single groove has its forward end extending on an axis angular to its rearward end. The two grooves in the forward part of the sole extend from the shank to the toe area and are angular to one another as illustrated.

It has been found that the grooves function to permit quick lateral movement without slipping and it is believed the side edges of the groove effectively dig into and engage the surface of the synthetic turf without damaging it. The forwardly and rearwardly inclined ridges permit rapid acceleration and deceleration while running without impairing the runners ability and without damaging the synthetic turf.

What is claimed is:

1. A shoe sole formed of flexible, resilientmaterial and having a series of ridges on the lower surface thereof extending transversely from one side to the other, said ridges each defined by walls lying in planes angular to one another, said ridges arranged in a plurality of groups with the ridges of a first-style group each having the plane bisecting the angle defined by its Walls inclined toward the toe end of said sole and the ridges of a second-style group each having the plane bisecting the angle defined byit's walls inclined toward the heel end of said sole, the heel region of said sole having a first-style group extending from the lower surface thereof, the toe region of said sole having a second-style group extending from the lower surface thereof, the shank region of said sole having both firstand second-style groups extending from the lower surface thereof, and means forming a plurality of narrow, elongated grooves lengthwise of said sole and across said ridges with said grooves extendinginto said heel, toe, and shank regions.

2. A shoe sole as set forth in claim 1 having a plurality of said grooves in each of said toe and heel regions.

3. A shoe sole as set forth in claim 1 wherein a firststyle group on said shank is positioned closer to the toe area of said sole than said second-style group on said shank.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,687,294 10/1928 HopWOOd. 2,833,057 5/1958 .Hack. 2,981,011 4/1961 Lombardo. D. 190,162 4/1961 Hubbard.

' FOREIGN PATENTS 249,549 9/1966 Austria. 1,434,840 2/1966 France.

ALFRED R. GUEST, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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