CA1205626A - Athletic shoe for field sports - Google Patents

Abstract

Athletic Shoe For Field Sports Abstract Footwear including an upper and a sole with a plurality of cleats extending from the sole arranged in groupings or cleats adapting the footwear to field sports. A counter extends upwardly of the sole around the heel for providing support and rigidity in the lower cuboid area, and a flex area is provided in the sole in the general off-center alignment of the heads of the metatarsal bones.

Description

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Descriptior .~thletic Shoe ~or ~ield Sports rechnical Field The invention relates to an athletic shoe of the type 5 fo~ use in field sports, such as football, soccer, and the like. rrhe athletic shoe inclu~es an upper which supports an improved countcr, and a sole which has a cap~`~llity of flex-ing within the region generally of the ~etata~sal head bon_ group in the forefoot.
~ack~round Art Athletic shoes accordins to recent design and construc-tion development generally have tended toward fabrications from soft, pliable, light-weight materials to ~ermit the 5 conduct of exercise without unnecessarily adding to the stress of the ~ercise as undoubtedly would be the case ir 'reavier, more rigid shoes were worn. r;~hile there have been i~provements in the dcsign and construc.ion of athletic snoes it has not been unco~mon that mary use~s have developed 20 -njury which oftentimes may be traced directly to foot pro-lems, arising ~rom possible shortcomings in the basic design ~sd construction of the athletic shoes tnat a~e worn. In ~articular, ~any o~ the athletic shoes do not provide the necessary support of the foot or support at the joints to 25 compen~ate for the forces developed durins the athletic 2C~ ivity. Thus, the industry has looked toward improving the athletic shoes for whatever may be the a'hletic activity including running, jogging, and the like, which activity may be carried out on any surface including road, track and field.
During the cycle o~ foot movement during running, j~gging and the like typically recognized as including heel strike, '~11 strike, pronation, release and supina~ion, it is nece sary to provide support and stabilization security in the rear foot 1~ the neutral plane. r:ecent aesigns and corstructions O r `';

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athletic shoes have addressed the question of a need for support and stabilization security for the foot, and one solution of the problem may be appreciated from a read-ing of United States Letters Patent ~o. 4,2~8,92~ to Norton 5 et al.
While the use of a control device described by Norton et al has resulted in a successful solution of the problem of support and stabilization within the rear foot, th~
design and construction of athletic shoes, such as the shoe 10 of.Norton et al, have not satisfactorily addressed other problems that may arise because of a lack of capability of proper flex alona the off-center alinment of the metatar~al head bone group in the forefoot, as well as flex in that region of the athletic shoe with substantially less resis-tance to flex than is normally encountered in prior art shoeconstructions.
The athletic shoe of the invention which is particularly suited for use with field sports not only functions to con-~rol pronation by red~1cing the potential of over-pronation, ~o and thereby eliminate or at least reduce incidents of running related injury, it also functions to eliminate or at least reduce the potential for stretching of a key ligament in the bottom of the foot as may result from improper or inadequate flex capability of the sole of the athletic shoe.
Summary Of The Invention The invention is dixected to an athletic shoe of the type used for ~ield sports-and to a sole which is attached to a lasted upper. The sole includes a flex bar which is anatom~ically designed to follow the off-center alignment of the metatarsal head bone ~roup in the forefoot. The flex bar is pre~erably virtually centered between the groups of cleats in the forward and ball areas of the foot, and the flex bar is formed so that it is somewhat less in thickness than the overall elevation of the sole.

~2~56,~ -~ urther the lasted upper includes a counter which provides unique support and rigidity in the lower cuboid area of the shoe. In a preferred embodiment the counter may he a double density counter having a base layer of a thick-5 ness a?proximately twice that of a surface layer, with thelayers being laminated toge~her along an area of overlap of the layers.

~rief DescriPtion Of The Drawing ~ Figure l is a side elevation of the athletic shoe of the invention;
~ igure 2 is a bottom view of the construction of the sole of the athletic shoe;
Figure 3 is a plan view of the sole o~ the athletic shoe;
~igure ~ is a view in section as seen along the line 4-4 in Fi~. l;
Figure 5 is an exploded view of the layers of the counter of the athletic shoe; and Figure 6 is a partial sectional vie~ of a portion cf the sole in a normal disposition and a disposition of flexure.

~est Mode for Carrying Out The Invention The athletic shoe lO (hereafter "shoe") as may be seen in Fig. l is of the tvpe having a particula~ adaptation to field sports such as soccer. The shoe includes a lasted upper 12 formed of leather or it may be formed of a synthetic fabric material such as nylon. The upper may also be formed of other fabrics which are conventionally used in the con-struction of shoes of the type described herein.
The upper generally masr be considered as pro~riding~afoot receiving opening and a lacing system 14 for securing tl1e up~er around the arch of the foot of the wearer.
tongue 16 carried bv the upper is disposed between the foot and the lace; and a backtab 18 extends up~ardly from the heel O `

~S6,~i senerally within the region of the Achilles tendon.
~ sole 20, according to the general discussion, above, completes the shoe. The sole may be seen perhaps to best advantage in Fia. 2, and preferably will be formed of a 5 material having properties including durability and flexi-bility among possible others to render it useful in combina-tion with the upper in a construction of shoe and for pur-poses discussed herein. In a preferred embodiment, the sole may be formed of nylon 12 material.
The sole 20 is of one-piece const-uction including a base portion 22 and an outer portion having a section 24 within the region of the forefoot at the ball of the foot and extending below the arch to the heel of the foot. A
further section 26 is located within the forward section of 15 the foot. The sections of the outer portion are spaced ; longitudinally of the shoe and each section provides at least one area extending generally across the shoe between the medial and late~al sides. Particularly, the forward section provides an area 25a, and tne section extending below 20 the arch and heel provides areas 24a, 24b. These areas each serve as a mounting surface for a pai- of cleats 2S located within the region of the medial and lateral sides of the shoe.
The cleats may be attached to the sole 20 in any conventional manner, and both the sole and upper ~av be attached in any conventional manner as well. For example, a plurality of rivets 2~ may serve as the instrumentality for attachment o the sole and upper.
The forward extreme of area 24a of section 24 is cut away at 2ac thereby to define a bar 30 The purpose of the bar is to allow the shoe to flex more evenly than would otherwise be expected. The flex bar is substantially center-ed between the ~roupings of cleats 23 ~ithin the sections 24 and 26. Tne flex bar, further, is disposed in an off-center alignment thereby to follow the heads of the metatarsal bones in the front of the ankle and arch of the foot.

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The sole 20 may be of substantiall~r any thickness, and the base port7on 22 may comprise the major portion of the overall thic~.ness. For example, the base portion may com-p~ise about two-thirds of the overall thickness. Tne flex bar, likewise, may comprise about two-thirds of the overall thickness. ~ithout any intent to limit the invention, but rather to set out ~hat may be considered a preferred embodi-ment, the sole may have an overall thickness of about 4mm ancl the base portion may be about 2.5~ in thickness.
~urther, the flex bar will be about 23mm in length (or width across the shoe as heretofore set out).
It is the function of the flex bar to permit flexing of the shoe under circumstances of less resistance to flexure, and it is considered that the flex ~ar will enhance function 5 of the shoe from an initial break-in standpoint to a perfor-mance and feel-of-the-surface stand-point. Further still, the flex bar and the ability of an even flex of the shoe under circumstances of less resistance ~ill impart a capa-bility of reduction of stretchin~ of ligaments in the bottom 20 Of the foot, a condition that is com~only referred to as plantar facitis.
Reference may be had to Fig. 6 which represents an enlarged, partial view of the sole 20, and the manner of flexu~e of both the ~ase portion 22 and t~e section 2G of 25 the outer por~ion about flex bar 30.
A counter 32 extends upwardly from the sole 20 within the resion of the heel of shoe 10. The counter extends around the heel from the re~ions of the ankles on the medial and lateral sides of the foot and comprises two layers of a 30 plastic material which provides support and rigidity in the lower cuboid area of the snoe. The counter, thus, has a particular Eunction of reducin~ the potential of over-pronation or supination, and it reduces the potential for the destruction of the athletic shoe.
Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, the counter 32 includes a :, ~Z~56.~

base laver 34 and a surface layer 36. These layers,as illustrated in Fig. ~, are secured together along a marginal area O r each layer with the surface layer to the outside.
The layers of tne counter may be secured together by lamina-ting the layers ~ithin the marainal area.

In a preLerred embodiment both the hase layer and the surface layer may he a reinforced polvethvlene material, such as surlyn. And, without any intention to limit the invention, but rather to set out a description of a counter 10 tha~ has been used successfully, the base layer may have a thickness of 0.040 inches and the surface layer may have a ~hicXness of 0.020 inches.
The counter may be supported around an insole of the athletic shoe, or else the base layer mav be formed to pro-vide an inturned bottom surface (not shown) su~ported, for example, betweer the sole 20 and an insole or other heel suppor' surface.
An outer surface coverinc lamina 38, ~0 may be provided over the base and surface layers 34, 3G of counter 32. The 20 lamina may be a plastic sheet material, suede, and so forth, and may be of contrasting color to represent the counter construction in a seneralized fashion.
It is the function of the counter 32 to eliminate or virtually eliminate the destruction of the rear foot of the 25 shoe and/or over-prona~ion or supination. A r~nning action ray be characterized as including the following events, namely heel strike, ball stri~e, pronation, release and supina~ion. As used herein, the term "pronation" defines a foot roll to the medial or inside of the foot, and 30 "supination" may be considered the rotation of a joint (hip, knee, an};le and so forth) backward and away from the midline of the body. The counter situated as described provides a mechanical control in stabilization within the foot of the wearer is secured substantially in a r.eutral plane, that is, 35 the natural position of the foot while in a normal gait ~2~56~i cycle thereby to reduce the amount of roll of the foot.
Reduction in the amount of roll of the foot results in reduction in shoe destruction and/or the potential at least 'or rear foct injury.
The nylon 12 material of the sole will provide that desree of strength, sturdiness, durability, support, and so forth as necessary for the sole of the athletic shoe, as described herein. ~`his material further, is capable of being molded according to well ~nown molding techniques.

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Claims (4)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:-

1. Footwear including an upper, a sole, and a plurality of cleats mounted on the sole and extending downwardly from the sole adapting the footwear to field sports, and wherein the improvement comprises a sole including a base layer and an outer layer, said outer layer providing a surface for mounting each cleat and comprised of two separate sections, one section extending from the heel portion along a lateral and medial side of the arch and the other section extending from the toe portion of the sole toward an area of said sole of reduced thickness, said area of reduced thickness being dis-posed between opposing regions of said sections and extending to the lateral and medial sides to follow generally an off-center alignment of the heads of the metatarsal bones in the front of the ankle and arch of the foot, thereby imparting to said sole along said off-center alignment a capability of flex with less resistance, and a counter providing support and rigidity to said upper extending from the heel portion upwardly of the sole and forwardly toward the toe portion along the lateral and medial sides of the sole, said counter formed as a wall having a height throughout its length sufficient to confine the heel in the lower cuboid area, said counter formed of a material different from said sole and secured to said sole below the surface of said upper.

2. The footwear of claim 1 wherein said counter includes a base layer and a surface layer, said base layer secured to said sole and said surface layer secured to said base layer along an overlapping marginal edge.

3. The footwear of claim 2 wherein said base layer is disposed inwardly of said surface layer.

4. The footwear of claim 3 wherein said base layer is of a thickness greater than that of said surface layer.