Traction Cleat for Field Sports

Abstract

A cleat for use with an athletic shoe includes a hub, a stud of substantially non-flexible material and extending downwardly and away from a lower surface of the hub, a cleat connector extending upwardly and from an upper surface of the hub and configured to engage a shoe-mounted mating connector disposed on a sole of the shoe, the upper surface opposing the lower surface of the hub, and at least one dynamic traction element extending downwardly from the lower surface of the hub and adapted to flex upwardly when the cleat is connected to a shoe and the at least one dynamic traction element is forced downwardly to contact a ground surface due to a weight load applied to a shoe. The distal end of the stud extends further from the lower surface of the hub than the distal end of each unflexed dynamic traction element such that, when the shoe to which the cleat is connected is forced downward toward the ground surface, the stud contacts and/or begins to penetrate the ground surface to provide initial traction before each dynamic traction element makes contact with the ground surface.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.