A sole portion for an item of footwear having a plurality of cleat systems, cleats, or plate structures that dissipate force by deflecting, deforming, displacing or otherwise shifting under selected force, or by facilitating cleat movement around a radial line during ground engagement.

A sole portion for an item of footwear having a plurality of cleat systems, cleats, or plate structures that dissipate force by deflecting, deforming, displacing or otherwise shifting under selected force, or by facilitating cleat movement around a radial line during ground engagement.

A sporting footwear having a front sole (21) and heel (23) with the sole having a primary frictional support (30) and the heel having a secondary frictional support (25) which has substantially less frictional support than the primary frictional support.

An article of footwear may include a first ground engaging member extending substantially downward from a baseplate, the first ground engaging member may have a substantially triangular cross-sectional shape in a substantially horizontal plane, the first ground engaging member having a first sidewall edge, a second sidewall edge, and a third sidewall edge forming vertices of the substantially triangular cross-sectional shape. In addition, a first sidewall may have a concave portion that is concave in the substantially horizontal plane. Further, the first ground engaging member may be disposed proximate a peripheral edge of the outer member with the first sidewall edge disposed opposite the concave portion of the sidewall, and the first sidewall edge oriented facing toward the peripheral edge. Also, the concave portion of the first sidewall may be oriented in a substantially lateral direction, facing away from the peripheral edge of the outer member.

An interchangeable cleat system for an article of footwear includes an outer sole member with a plurality of fixed cleat members and a plurality of removable cleat members. The spacing between the removable cleat members and the fixed cleat members may be approximately constant in at least one portion of the article of footwear. The differences in height between the removable cleat members and the fixed cleat members may be approximately constant within a portion of the outer sole member. The cleat system can include at least three sets of cleat members that can be interchanged over different portions of the outer sole member.

An article of footwear may include an upper and a sole structure fixedly attached to a bottom portion of the upper. The sole structure may include a sole component including a baseplate having a bottom surface and at least a first ground engaging member extending substantially downward from the bottom surface of the baseplate, the first ground engaging member having a substantially circular cross-sectional shape. In addition, the sole structure may also include a tapered support structure having a substantially pyramidal shape and extending substantially downward from the bottom surface of the baseplate, abutting the first ground engaging member at a side portion, and partially surrounding the first ground engaging member such that a portion of the first ground engaging member is exposed between edges of the tapered support structure. Also, the tapered support structure may extend downward from the baseplate less than the first ground engaging member.

A shoe sole (100) comprising a bottom surface, the bottom surface having a front array (110) of ground engaging formations having a first height or depth, and a rear array (120) of ground engaging formations having a second height or depth, the rear array of ground engaging formations generally located at a heel portion of the sole, wherein the first height or depth is greater than the second height or depth.

An athletic shoe including a moveably attached cleat is intended to displace relative to the sole on the shoe in certain situations. This allows the cleat to more easily disengage the turf than a convention fixed cleat. The moveably attached cleat allows the shoe to disengage from the turf when the wearer is subjected to side impact forces, thus reducing the likelihood of traumatic knee injuries for the wearer. However, when the wearer is running forward, there is a reaction force on the cleat from the turf, acting in the forward direction which does not cause the cleat to displace to the retracted position and it can remain in the extended position.

An article of footwear includes a sole having a lower surface, and a reactive element disposed on the lower surface of the sole. The reactive element has an exposed surface, and the reactive element is configured to transition the exposed surface between a first state and a second state in response to a compression force applied to the reactive element by an external ground surface in a user activity, to prevent accumulation of ground surface material, such as mud, dirt, clay, sand, slush, etc., compacting on the sole of the article of footwear in the user activity. The reactive element may include an elastomeric dome shaped popper that compresses flat in response to a compression force and then pops back to a non-compressed state in response to release of the compression force.

A sports shoe with a sole comprising a novel cleat. A sports shoe may comprise a first cleat at the ball area of the sole and a second cleat at the heel area of the sole. The cleats have a circular wall that extends outward from the sole, the circular wall having a substantially straight outer surface, a graded inner surface, and a rim. The cleats are constructed of a substantially rigid material and have a front section higher than a rear section. The graded inner surface of the wall is curved. The graded inner surface of the wall has a radius of curvature that remains the same from the rim to the base and from the front section to the rear section of the cleat. In alternate embodiments the radius of curvature may vary from the rim towards the base of the cleat where the cleat connects to the sole, and from the front section of the cleat to the rear section of the cleat.