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US 6,598,324 B1Granted
Bowling shoes having customizable ground engagement
AssigneeAmerican Bowling Services, Inc.
InventorTatsuo Tsuji
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A bowling shoe construction having various options for adjustment with removable and replaceable slide parts to attach to the tread surface of a slide shoe. The slide parts can attach interchangeably using hook and pile loop fasteners. A kick shoe includes an interchangeable kick part covering the toe area. The kick part can be attached using adhesives or hook and pile loop fasteners.
Claims29
A pair of shoes for bowling, comprising:
- a slide shoe including:
- a first sole and a first heel fixedly attached to the first sole,
- a frame overlying and being fixedly attached to the first sole, the frame and a portion of the first sole having substantially congruent respective outer perimeters, the frame defining a central aperture, and
- an interchangeable slide pad being inset within and substantially occluding the central aperture, the slide pad including at least one cleat arrangement received in a corresponding hole defined by the slide pad, and the at least one cleat arrangement including an annular cleat having a central opening and a cleat, the cleat occluding the central opening and a combination of the annular cleat and the cleat occluding the corresponding hole;
- and
- a kick shoe including:
- a second sole having a ground engaging face and a lateral edge extending from an outer boundary of the face, and
- an interchangeable kick part enveloping the face and the edge at a toe portion of the second sole.
5 more elements
A slide shoe for a pair of bowling shoes, the slide shoe comprising:
- a sole and a heel fixedly attached to the sole;
- a frame overlying and being fixedly attached to the sole, the frame and a portion of the sole having substantially congruent respective outer perimeters, the frame defining a central aperture;
- and
- an interchangeable slide pad being inset within and substantially occluding the central aperture, the slide pad including at least one cleat arrangement received in a corresponding hole defined by the slide pad, and the at least one cleat arrangement including an annular cleat having a central opening and a cleat, the cleat occluding the central opening and a combination of the annular cleat and the cleat occluding the corresponding hole.
1 more element
A method for customizing ground engagement of a pair of bowling shoes, the method comprising:
- providing a sliding shoe including:
- a first sole and a first heel fixedly attached to the first sole, and
- a frame overlying and being fixedly attached to the first sole, the frame and a portion of the first sole having substantially congruent respective outer perimeters, the frame defining a central aperture;
- inserting within the central aperture a selected one of a set of interchangeable slide pads, the selected slide pad substantially occluding the central aperture and having a first selected ground engaging coefficient of friction relative to the frame;
- inserting in a corresponding hole defined by the selected slide pad a selected one of a set of interchangeable cleat arrangements;
- inserting a selected one of a set of an annular cleats having a central opening and inserting a selected one of a set of cleats occluding the central opening, the selected annular cleat having a second selected ground engaging coefficient of friction relative to the selected slide pad and the selected cleat having a third selected ground engaging coefficient of friction relative to the selected annular cleat;
- providing a kick shoe including a second sole having a ground engaging face and a lateral edge extending from an outer boundary of the face;
- and applying to a toe portion of the second sole a selected one of a set of interchangeable kick parts, the selected kick part enveloping the face and the edge at the toe portion of the second sole and having a fourth selected ground engaging coefficient of friction relative to the second sole.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.