An athletic shoe assembly for inhibiting knee and ankle injuries during athletic activities includes a shoe that may be worn during athletic activities. A front cleat unit and a back cleat unit are each positioned on the sole for engaging ground during the athletic activities to enhance traction. Each of the front and back cleat units are rotatably coupled to the sole and the shoe is rotatable about a vertical axis extending through the sole and each of the front and back cleat units. Thus, the front cleat unit and back cleat units inhibit knee and ankle injuries during the athletic activities resulting from a stationary foot and a twisting leg.

A spike is operable to be removably coupled to an article of footwear. The spike includes a first portion that is substantially rigid. The spike also includes a second portion that is resilient.

A sole designed for attachment to an article of footwear, made of a hard polymer outsole connection plate affixed to a flexible polymer outsole that has a series of threaded imbed anchors housed therein for the attachment of various designs of interchangeable cleats. The cleats reside in detents formed on planar channels across the width of the outsole and extend above a series of tapered raised pads formed on the bottom face of the outsole.

A footwear construction is provided including a sole assembly having one or more active gripping pods that collapse upon themselves to grip underfoot surfaces and terrain. The gripping pods can include a generally centrally located actuator lug that engages a ground surface and collapses upward and optionally into the sole assembly, and while so doing, pulls one or more adjacent lug rings toward it along corresponding arcuate paths. The collapse and pull in of the lug rings causes those elements to grip the ground surface with a predetermined force.

A spike is operable to be removably coupled to an article of footwear. The spike includes a first portion that is substantially rigid. The spike also includes a second portion that is resilient.

A spike is operable to be removably coupled to an article of footwear. The spike includes a first portion that is substantially rigid. The spike also includes a second portion that is resilient.

A spike is operable to be removably coupled to an article of footwear. The spike includes a first portion that is substantially rigid. The spike also includes a second portion that is resilient.

A force absorbing device for a footwear appliance includes a shoe sole having a planar sole surface, such that the shoe sole is adapted to be disposed against a ground surface such as turf, grass or dirt. A ground interface member having a general appearance of a footwear cleat extends from the planar sole surface. Within the sole, the ground interface member couples to a force mitigation assembly for absorbing forces against the cleat. The force mitigation assembly includes an elastic field of a resilient, compressible material, and an inclined surface is disposed against the elastic field and oriented to compress the elastic field. A linkage or connecting surface transmits a displacement force for disposing the inclined surface across the elastic field, where the inclined surface compresses the elastic field as it moves across. In response, the elastic field exerts a counterforce against the ground interface member.

A force absorbing device for a footwear appliance includes a shoe sole having a planar sole surface, such that the shoe sole is adapted to be disposed against a ground surface such as turf, grass or dirt. A ground interface member having a general appearance of a footwear cleat extends from the planar sole surface. Within the sole, the ground interface member couples to a force mitigation assembly for absorbing forces against the cleat. The force mitigation assembly includes an elastic field of a resilient, compressible material, and an inclined surface is disposed against the elastic field and oriented to compress the elastic field. A linkage or connecting surface transmits a displacement force for disposing the inclined surface across the elastic field, where the inclined surface compresses the elastic field as it moves across. In response, the elastic field exerts a counterforce against the ground interface member.

An article of footwear with self-cleaning cleats and a method of making an article of footwear. The article of footwear may include a sole plate having cleats associated with resilient members. The resilient members may be disposed on the cleats. The resilient members may prevent mud from accumulating on the cleats and/or a bottom surface of the sole plate by compressing against a surface of the ground and then springing back, preventing mud from sticking to the resilient member.