Granted Patent B2

US 7,428,790 · App. 09/771,416 · Granted Sep 30, 2008

Abstract

Claims (24)

1. A universal cleat suitable for use with a plurality of different athletic shoes, each different shoe having uniquely shaped generally triangular recesses in the sole each for receiving a cleat, each recess having a threaded opening therein for receiving a retaining screw to hold a cleat in place and each recess having a recess perimeter, the cleat comprising:

(a) a generally triangular base having two straight sides of equal length with a substantially flat bottom, the dimensions of the substantially flat bottom being sized to fit within each uniquely shaped recess perimeter, vertices of said triangular base being rounded;

(b) a grip projecting substantially perpendicularly from the base;

(c) an oblong shaped mounting hole recessed within the base for receiving the retaining screw; and

(d) a metal insert positioned inside the base around the oblong shaped mounting hole,

wherein the area of the base is smaller than the areas of each of the recesses so that in the absence of the retaining fastener a cleat can wiggle in a recess, and

wherein the ratio of a length of the mounting hole to a width of the mounting hole is from about 8:7 to about 10:7.

2. The cleat of claim 1 wherein the area of the base is from 85 to 95% of the area of the recess.

3. The shoe of claim 2 wherein all of the cleats are universal cleats.

4. An athletic shoe comprising:

a sole;

multiple recesses in the sole sized for receiving a cleat;

a threaded opening in each recess;

cleats mounted in at least some of the recesses, at least one cleat being a universal cleat comprising (i) a generally triangular base with a substantially flat bottom, the dimensions of the substantially flat bottom being sized to fit within a plurality of differently shaped recess perimeters, (ii) a grip projecting from the base in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of the base, and (iii) a mounting hole in the base, at least one of the mounting holes being oblong shaped;

a retaining fastener for each cleat extending through the mounting hole and threaded into the respective threaded opening for retaining the respective cleat in place; and

a metal insert positioned inside the base around the oblong shaped mounting hole, wherein the area of the base of each universal cleat is smaller than the area of the respective recess so that in the absence of the retaining fastener, the cleat wiggles in the recess, and wherein the ratio of the length of each oblong shaped mounting hole to the width of the oblong shaped mounting hole is from about 8:7 to about 10:7.

5. The shoe of claim 4 wherein the area of the base is from 85 to 95% of the area of the recess.

6. A universal cleat usable in any one of a plurality of athletic shoes, all of said shoes sharing the common characteristic of the bottom of each shoe of said plurality having at least one generally triangularly configured cleat mounting surface with a recess for receiving said cleat with a threaded receptacle positioned within said recess for receiving a retaining screw to hold the cleat in place, said cleat comprising:

(a) a generally triangular base having a bottom planar surface adapted for facing contact with said recess of said cleat mounting surfaces of said shoes of said plurality;

(b) a grip projecting perpendicularly from the base in a direction oppositely from that of a plane defined by the base planar surface portion;

(c) an oblong aperture in the planar portion of said base for passage therethrough of said retaining screw; and

(d) a metal insert positioned inside the base around the oblong aperture.

7. The cleat of claim 6 wherein the area of said base is smaller than the smallest area of the recess of any of the shoes of said plurality so that in the absence of the retaining fastener, the cleat may wiggle within the recess.

8. The cleat of claim 6 wherein the ratio of length to width of the oblong aperture is from about eight to seven (8:7) to about ten to seven (10:7).

Assignments (9)