Shoe covering for traction and/or sports
A covering for a shoe, the covering including: a body portion corresponding to a body portion of the shoe; a bottom portion corresponding to at least one of a sole and heel of the shoe; and one or more spikes arranged on the bottom portion, the one or more spikes being configured for one of football, baseball, soccer and golf.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to shoes and coverings therefore, and more particularly to shoe coverings for traction and/or sports.
2. Prior Art
Shoes that are worn by most people are prone to slippage on ice, snow, grass and other slippery surfaces. Shoe manufacturers have attempted to make the bottom surface of the shoes such that they better grip the ground surface. Shoes with protruding surfaces of various geometry are fabricated that increase resistance to slippage by digging into the snow and other surfaces that allow certain level of penetration by these protruding elements. However, for highly slippery surfaces, particularly those surfaces that are relatively hard and slippery and therefore resistant to penetration at relatively low pressure levels such as ice or hard snow, the aforementioned protruding surfaces cannot produce an adequate amount of traction. This is particularly the case since such protruding surfaces are commonly made of synthetic polymers that are relatively soft and used to make the shoe bottom and heel. As a result, the wearer can still slip on ice and the like.
To increase pressure between the aforementioned protruding elements and the ground surface, such elements have to be made with small surface area, i.e., to distribute the supporting weight over a small surface area to achieve a high contact pressure. To support the resulting pressure, the protruding elements, have to be constructed with relatively rigid and high strength materials such as steel or high stiffness and strong synthetic materials as relatively sharp “spikes”. During the walking over ice or other similar hard and slippery surfaces, the sharp spikes “dig” into the surface of the ice or hard snow, and provides for a significant traction between the shoe and the ice surface, thereby allowing the wearer to walk without slipping. Hereinafter, all protruding elements that are provided to increase traction between the shoe and the ground surface by “digging” into the surface such as ice or hard snow, are referred to as “spikes”, irrespective of whether they are integral part of a base plate, etc., or not.
A user wearing a shoe with the bottom surface covered with the aforementioned relatively sharp spikes can walk over ice, hard snow or the like with relative safety with little possibility of slippage. However, the user can wear the shoe only when on ice or the like. Wearing such spiked shoes can easily damage rugs, scar hard wood floors or other coverings indoors and would actually be unsafe over concrete and other similar hard surfaces since they would have a significantly lower friction than their aforementioned (softer) protruding elements. In addition, the spikes can damage asphalt and loose its sharpness. It is therefore desirable to wear such spiked shoes while walking over ice, hard snow or other similar surfaces and not indoors or over other outdoor surfaces.
A need therefore exist for methods and devices that would enable a person to wear shoes that are equipped with the aforementioned spikes to provide traction on ice, hard snow and the like, and returning the shoes to a no-spike wearing condition for use on other surfaces where such spikes are no longer needed for safe walking.
Such methods and devices may also be used in sports such as golf to allow the wearer to walk freely off the course, such as in the clubhouse and have appropriately spiked shoes for walking on grass. As a result, a wearer does not to carry an extra shoe and does not have to exchange shoes before going into the grass covered field.
Such methods and devices may also be used to provide traction for devices such as walkers, canes, crutches, and the like, where the user can use then to reduce the chances of slipping over ice, hard snow and the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccordingly, a covering for a shoe is provided. The covering comprising: a body portion corresponding to a body portion of the shoe; a bottom portion corresponding to at least one of a sole and heel of the shoe; and one or more spikes arranged on the bottom portion, the one or more spikes being configured for one of football, baseball, soccer and golf.
At least the body portion can be an elastomer for stretching over the shoe. The bottom portion can also be an elastomer.
The one or more spikes can be fixedly secured to the bottom portion. The one or more spikes can comprise a stud disposed in a corresponding hole in the bottom portion and the stud includes an enlarged portion for fixedly securing the one or more spikes to the bottom portion. The covering can further comprise a washer having a hole corresponding to the hole in the bottom portion, the washer and a head portion of the spike sandwiching the bottom portion. The bottom portion can comprise a counter bore for accommodating at least a portion of the enlarged portion of the stud.
The one or more spikes can be removably secured to the bottom portion. The one or more spikes can comprise a threaded stud disposed in a corresponding hole in the bottom portion and a mating nut for fixedly securing the one or more spikes to the bottom portion. The covering can further comprise a washer having a hole corresponding to the hole in the bottom portion, the washer and a head portion of the spike sandwiching the bottom portion. The bottom portion can comprise a counter bore for accommodating at least a portion of the nut.
Also provided is a method for playing a sport. The method comprising: wearing shoes not specifically configured for the sport; covering the shoes with a covering having one or more spikes specifically configured for the sport; and participating in the sport with the covering on the shoes.
The covering can comprise stretching the covering over the shoes.
The method can further comprise decorating the covering so as to appear as a sport shoe.
The method can further comprise fixedly securing the one or more spikes to the covering.
The method can further comprise removably securing the one or more spikes to the covering. The method can further comprise removing at least one of the one or more spikes and replacing the removed one or more spikes.
Still further provided is a golf covering for a shoe. The golf covering comprising: a body portion corresponding to a body portion of the shoe; a bottom portion corresponding to at least one of a sole and heel of the shoe; and one or more spikes arranged on the bottom portion, the one or more spikes having a plurality of fingers configured for golf.
At least the body portion can be an elastomer for stretching over the shoe.
The one or more spikes can be removably secured to the bottom portion.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the apparatus of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
Although the present invention is applicable to numerous types of shoes, it is particularly useful in the environment of shoes for providing traction during walking on snow and ice. Therefore, without limiting the applicability of the present invention to shoes and attachments for providing traction on shoe and ice, it will be described in such environment. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the shoes and attachments of the present invention can be utilized for general uses and for providing traction for sports, such as on golf shoes and baseball, soccer and football cleats.
The present invention provides spikes of various sizes and shapes that are distributed with some pattern and density over the bottom of shoes. The wearer is, however, able to remove or otherwise retract the spikes at will and with minimal effort. As a result, the user is provided with shoes with high traction over slippery surfaces such as ice, hard snow and the like, and is able to turn the shoe into a regular shoe that could be worn on any other surface where traction is not needed.
One embodiment is shown in
In the schematic of
In the schematic of
In another embodiment, the traction surface elements are designed to snap onto the shoe. One such embodiment is shown in the schematic side view of
In yet another embodiment, the traction surface element 40, as shown in
In yet another embodiment shown in
In yet another embodiment shown in
Another method of providing traction surface elements is provided where the spikes are retractable into a housing, such as the sole and/or heel of the shoe, or on a surface of the shoe, and are deployed by the user. The spikes may be those discussed above, such as being configured for snow, ice, football, baseball, soccer and golf. The deployment (and retraction) mechanism may require certain manual action or an action of the leg (foot). The deployment (retraction) action can be simple and easy to perform, particularly considering the harsh environment in which they have to be operated. In addition, since water, snow, ice, dirt, sand, etc., are almost always present, the mechanism can be capable of operating without hindrance in all such environments. The primary objective is to eliminate the need to change shoes and/or the need of putting the traction surface elements on when needed and taking them off when they are not needed (and possibly the need to carry around the traction surface elements in case they are needed).
In one embodiment of the present invention, the spikes are assembled into the shoe and are deployed or retracted at will by the user. In one such embodiment, the assembly is an integral part of the shoe. A side view of one embodiment is shown schematically in
The member 71 can be made as an angle 76 as shown in the side view of
Alternatively, attachment housing with the retractable spikes can be attached to the shoe by the user using, for example, one of the attachment methods described in the embodiments of
Although the spikes shown in the figures are shown in two-dimensional rows, they can be disposed in any pattern on the base elements, such as patterns that are used in golf, baseball, football, and soccer shoes. The spikes can also be proved in a variety of sizes, such as being very small for ice and longer for snow.
While there has been shown and described what is considered to be preferred embodiments of the invention, it will, of course, be understood that various modifications and changes in form or detail could readily be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended that the invention be not limited to the exact forms described and illustrated, but should be constructed to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A covering for a shoe, the covering comprising:
- a body portion corresponding to a body portion of the shoe;
- a bottom portion corresponding to at least one of a sole and heel of the shoe; and
- one or more spikes arranged on the bottom portion, the one or more spikes being configured for one of football, baseball, soccer and golf.
2. The covering of claim 1, wherein at least the body portion is an elastomer for stretching over the shoe.
3. The covering of claim 2, wherein the bottom portion is an elastomer.
4. The covering of claim 1, wherein the one or more spikes are fixedly secured to the bottom portion.
5. The covering of claim 4, wherein the one or more spikes comprises a stud disposed in a corresponding hole in the bottom portion and the stud includes an enlarged portion for fixedly securing the one or more spikes to the bottom portion.
6. The covering of claim 5, further comprising a washer having a hole corresponding to the hole in the bottom portion, the washer and a head portion of the spike sandwiching the bottom portion.
7. The covering of claim 6, wherein the bottom portion comprises a counter bore for accommodating at least a portion of the enlarged portion of the stud.
8. The covering of claim 1, wherein the one or more spikes are removably secured to the bottom portion.
9. The covering of claim 8, wherein the one or more spikes comprises a threaded stud disposed in a corresponding hole in the bottom portion and a mating nut for fixedly securing the one or more spikes to the bottom portion.
10. The covering of claim 9, further comprising a washer having a hole corresponding to the hole in the bottom portion, the washer and a head portion of the spike sandwiching the bottom portion.
11. The covering of claim 10, wherein the bottom portion comprises a counter bore for accommodating at least a portion of the nut.
12. A method for playing a sport, the method comprising:
- wearing shoes not specifically configured for the sport;
- covering the shoes with a covering having one or more spikes specifically configured for the sport; and
- participating in the sport with the covering on the shoes.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the covering comprises stretching the covering over the shoes.
14. The method of claim 12, further comprising decorating the covering so as to appear as a sport shoe.
15. The method of claim 12, further comprising fixedly securing the one or more spikes to the covering.
16. The method of claim 12, further comprising removably securing the one or more spikes to the covering.
17. The method of claim 16, further comprising removing at least one of the one or more spikes and replacing the removed one or more spikes.
18. A golf covering for a shoe, the golf covering comprising:
- a body portion corresponding to a body portion of the shoe;
- a bottom portion corresponding to at least one of a sole and heel of the shoe; and
- one or more spikes arranged on the bottom portion, the one or more spikes having a plurality of fingers configured for golf.
19. The covering of claim 18, wherein at least the body portion is an elastomer for stretching over the shoe.
20. The covering of claim 18, wherein the one or more spikes are removably secured to the bottom portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 1, 2006
Publication Date: Jan 3, 2008
Inventors: Johangir S. Rastegar (Stony Brook, NY), Thomas Spinelli (East Northport, NY)
Application Number: 11/479,768
International Classification: A43B 3/16 (20060101); A43B 15/00 (20060101); A43C 15/00 (20060101);