Athletic shoe cleat

Claim 2

A shoe cleat adapted to be attached to the sole of a shoe and particularly useful for shoes worn by participants in sporting events to provide engagement with an artificial turf playing surface on which the sporting event takes place comprising a grouping of projections extending generally perpendicularly from said shoe sole and having relatively nonpenetrating generally spherical termini adapted to engage said playing surface with limited penetration thereof by said projections, said grouping comprising a plurality of projections disposed in spaced apart relation with respect to each other and in a generally concentric array about a central axis, each of said projections having a cross sectional area which is small with respect to the transverse dimension of said grouping.

Claim 3

The shoe cleat of claim 1 and including means for demountably joining said cleat to said shoe.

Claim 4

The shoe cleat of claim 1 wherein at least said projections are formed of a hard rubber.

Claim 5

The shoe cleat of claim 3 wherein said cleat possesses a Shore Durometer hardness of the order of 100 as measured using the ''''A'''' scale.

Claim 6

The shoe cleat of claim 1 and including a projection extending generally perpendicularly from said shoe sole and disposed centrally of said generally concentric array of projections.

Claim 7

The shoe cleat of claim 5 wherein said central projection is of generally conical configuration having its major axis coincident with the axis of said generally concentric array of projections.

Claim 8

The shoe cleat of claim 5 and including web means joining each of said projections of said generally concentric array to said central projection.

Claim 9

A demountable shoe cleat particularly useful for shoes worn by participants in sporting events to provide engagement with an artificial turf playing surface on which the sporting event takes place comprising a base portion including a face portion adapted to abut the outsole of said shoe when said cleat is mounted on said shoe, a grouping of projections extending generally perpendicularly from said base portion opposite said face portion, said projections having relatively nonpenetrating generally spherical termini adapted to engage said playing surface with limited penetration thereof by said projections, said grouping comprising a plurality of projections disposed in spaced-apart relation with respect to each other and in a generally concentric array about a central axis, each of said projections having a cross sectional area which is small with respect to the transverse dimension of said grouping.

Claim 10

A demountable shoe cleat particularly useful for shoes worn by participants in sporting events to provide engagement with an artificial turf playing surface on which the sporting event takes place comprising a base portion including a face portion adapted to abut the outsole of said shoe when said cleat is mounted on said shoe, a grouping of projections extending generally perpendicularly from said base portion opposite said face portion, said projections having relatively nonpenetrating generally spherical termini adapted to engage said playing surface with limited penetration thereof by said projections, said grouping comprising a plurality of projections disposed in spaced-apart relation with respect to each other and in a generally concentric array about a central axis, each of said projections having a cross sectional area which is small with respect to the transverse dimension of said grouping.

Claim 11

The demountable shoe cleat of claim 9 and including a projection extending generally perpendicularly from said base element and disposed centrally of said generally concentric array of projections.

Claim 12

The demountable shoe cleat of claim 10 including web means joining said generally concentrically arrayed projections to said central projection.

Claim 13

A shoe for use by participants in sporting events to provide engagement with an artificial turf playing surface on which the sporting event takes place comprising an outsole, a plurality of cleat clusters disposed on said outsole and adapted to engage said playing surface, each of said cleat clusters including a grouping of projections extending in a direction generally perpendicular to said outsole and having relatively nonpenetrating generally spherical termini adapted to engage said playing surface with limited penetration thereof by said projections, said grouping comprising a plurality of projections disposed in spaced-apart relation with respect to each other and in a generally concentric array about a central axis, each of said projections having a cross sectional area which is small with respect to the transverse dimension of said grouping.

Claim 14

A shoe for use by participants in sporting events to provide engagement with an artificial turf playing surface on which the sporting event takes place comprising an outsole, a plurality of cleat clusters disposed on said outsole and adapted to engage said playing surface, each of said cleat clusters including a grouping of projections extending in a direction generally perpendicular to said outsole and having relatively nonpenetrating generally spherical termini adapted to engage said playing surface with limited penetration thereof by said projections, said grouping comprising a plurality of projections disposed in spaced-apart relation with respect to each other and in a generally concentric array about a central axis, each of said projections having a cross sectional area which is small with respect to the transverse dimension of said grouping.