The present invention deals with shoe treads. More specifically, the present invention deals with a removable tread connectable to the sole of a shoe.
The game of golf has been very popular for many years and has gained significant popularity in recent years. This is specifically true with respect to women golfers.
Conventional golf shoes include a sole, the exterior portion of which has a plurality of threaded apertures therein. The apertures are threaded to receive removable golf spikes. Traditional removable golf spikes have a circular skirt with a threaded stem extending away from the skirt in one direction, and a metal cleat extending away from the skirt in the opposite direction. The threaded stem is threadable into the threaded apertures in the shoe sole such that, when the golfer wears the shoe, the projecting metal spike is in engagement with the ground or turf.
In temperate climates, golf courses are open all year round. Such courses are typically seeded with one type of grass that grows during the summer, and is dormant during the winter months, and another type of grass which grows during the winter months. For example, many courses are planted with Bermuda grass which grows during the summer months and goes dormant in the winter. Then, in the winter months, the golf course is overseeded with rye grass which grows during the winter months, and then dies.
Walking on the dormant grass with the conventional metal golf spikes can be highly detrimental to the dormant grass, and therefore detrimental to the condition of the course. Also, many golf courses, both public and private, have decided that the conventional metal golf spikes cause an undesirable amount of damage to both the fairways and greens, even on courses which are only open during one season, or on courses on which play is not allowed when the grass is dormant. Therefore, many golf courses no longer allow conventional metal golf spikes to be used at all.
In an effort to provide alternative spikes which do not damage the golf course, others have attempted to provide "spikeless" golf treads for use with golf shoes. For example, the Deacon et al. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,259,129 and 5,367,793 show a skirt which has a threaded stem extending from one surface of the skirt. A plurality of radially, outwardly extending ridges are also provided, and extend from a second side of the skirt. The radially extending ribs purportedly provide some amount of traction, over and above flat shoes, but do not damage the course as much as conventional metal golf spikes.
However, the treads discussed in the Deacon et al. patents suffer from at least one significant drawback. Applicants have found that the radially extending ribs define channels which tend to catch and trap mud and other debris therebetween. When the debris fills in the area between the ribs, the traction-providing capacity of the treads is significantly diminished.
Also, traditional spikes, such as those shown in the Deacon et al. patents, are formed with the skirt portion being concave against the shoe sole. Such a surface is undesirably sensitive to unevenness and wear.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds