US1648872A - Football cleat - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 8, 1927. l 648 872 w. H. ALBEE FOOTBALL CLEAT Filed 001:. 21 1926 INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 8, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. ALBEE, OF MARLBORO, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 KOEHLER MANU- FAC'IURING COMPANY, OF MARLBORO, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAS- SAGHUSETTS.

FOOTBALL CLEAT.

Application filed October 21, 1926, Serial No. 143,206.

This invention relates to football cleats and to processes of manufacturing them.

The usual process heretofore practiced of equipping a shoe with a football cleat has consisted in cementing together pieces of leather to build up a block or blank of the desired height, then nailing this assembled piece to the bottom of a shoe, and finally trimming said piece either with a knife or with a hammer and chisel to form a cleat or the desired shape and size. This process ob viously requires a great deal of hand labor, it produces cleats which are not uniform in size or shape, and there is great danger of cutting the sole or heel of a shoe in trimming the cleat. In fact, this process really involves performing the greater part of the manufacturing operations on the cleat after it has been secured to the shoe.

The present invention aims to improve this process with a view to reducing the expense involve-d, improving the quality of the work produced, substantially eliminating the danger ofinjuring the shoe, and producing a superior cleat. The invention also provides a novel cleat.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following descrip tion when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cleat blank or block;

Fig. .2 is a perspective view of the block after it has been trimmed;

Fig. I) is a perspective view of a completed cleat;

Fig. at is a transverse, vertical, cross-sectional view of the cleat shown in Fig. 3;

Fig.5 is a cross-sectional view showing the manner in which the cleat preferably is secured to the sole of a shoe;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of another form of cleat embodying this invention;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the cleat shown in Fig. 6; and

Figs. 8 and 9 are side views of portions of mechanisms which may conveniently be used in performing certain of the cleat triming operations.

According to the present process the manufacturing operations on thecleat are first completed and subsequently it is secured to the bottom of a shoe.

The cleat may be made of any suitable material but usually it consists of several lifts of leather 2 cemented together, one on top of the other, to form a blank of the desired dimensions. This blank is then run through or between cutters which trim its edges or sides, producing the inclined edge faces which give it the shape of a frustum of a pyramid, as shown in Fig. 2. The cleat is next molded or compressed in suitable dies or molds for the purpose of consolidating the stock, and of concaving the bottom of the cleat, as indicated at 3 in Figs. 3 and 4. That is, the bottom is inwardly curved, being given substantially the shape of the surface of a section of a cylinder, the axis of which extends lengthwise of the cleat, so that the two edges at opposite sides of the base of the cleat lie below .the remainder of the base; This makes the base of the cleat confo in substantially to the curvature of the sole of a shoe so that when it is nailed on the sole the edges of the cleat will hug the sole tightly. The concave shape of the basealso has the advantage of preventing the edges of the cleat from curling up when the cleat is nailed to the ShOe, which has been an objectionable feature of prior constructions.

During the molding operation and while the surfaces of the cleat are confined against distortion, several holes, usually four, are punched almost through the cleat from the upper surface thereof, these holes being designed to receive the nails or other fasten ings by means of which the cleat ultimately will be secured on the bottom of the shoe. The cleat in this condition forms an article of commerce. I prefer, however, before marketing the cleat, to drive into it the fastenings by means of which it is to be secured to the shoe, thus producing a cleat that is entirely self-contained. A particular advantage of this arrangement is that the nails can all be driven at once by machinery so that a substantial saving in labor is effected, the nails are driven uniformly, and the attaching ofthe-cleat to the shoe is facilitated. The punching of the holes practically through the cleat avoids the danger which otherwise would be present of the nails be ing diverted during the driving process,

with the consequent damage to the cleat and probably also to the shoe. Figs. 3 and i show the cleat C with nails l partially driven therethrough, the head and a substantial length of each nail projecting above the upper surface of the cleat. These nails preferably are driven into the position shown in Figs. 3 and a while the base of the cleat rests on a curved support so that the curvature of the bottom of the cleat will not be distorted. The points of the nails may p 'ick through the bottom face of the cleat.

The entire trimming operation need not precede the molding; in fact it is preferable under some circumstances to trim the block longitudinally to produce the opposite inclined edge or side faces, then compress it, and subsequently, while the block is in the more consolidated and stable condition, to trim the remaining pair of edges or end faces. The holes are punched later while the cleat is supported against distortion.

For the purpose of illlllilllg a cleat to the bottom of a shoe an iron last usually is inserted withinthe shoe. The cleat C is placed in the desired position on the shoe bottom, and the nails i are then driven through the cleat and into the shoe sole, the points 5 of the nails clenching on the ear face of the iron last.- danger of splitting the cleat during this operation, or at least distorting it so much that it presents an unsightly appearance, and in order to overcome this objection I prefer to confine the lateral faces or edges of the cleat while the fastenings are being driven. For this purpose the cleat preferably is attached by means of a tool like, or similar to, that shown in my Patent No. 1,568,308, dated January 5, 1926, this tool having a cavity to receive the cleat and support its lateral edges While the fastenings are being driven.

Fig. 5 shows the cleat in cross-section after it has been secured to the bottom of the sole of a shoe S, the end 5 of the nail 4 being clenched, as clearly illustrated. By shaping the cleat, as above described, and supporting its faces against distortion during the operation of punching holes therein and driving fastenings therethrough, any danger of splitting the cleat, or distorting it substantially is completely avoided. Consequently, when the process has been completed, the cleat presents a neat and finished appearance. Furthermore, this invention not only results in giving the cleats a uniform and more satisfactory appearance, but it applies them to the shoe in' such a manner that they are stronger and there is substantially less danger of their becoming loosened than when applied by the processes heretoforepracticed. In attaching prior cleats there has been considerable tendency for the There is considerable edges to curl up and thus providea crease between the cleat and the face of the sole into which dirt and mud would work. The

crease also facilitates for loosening of the cleat. The construction above described, however, effectually prevents such an occurrence, the longitudinal edges of the cleat the base hugging the sole tightly. Any danger of cutting the shoe is completely avoided, and damage to the shoe or the'cleats due to improper driving of the fastenings is eliminat d. Furthermore, the cleats provided by this invention are preferred by the trade because they can be applied to the shoe more easily, particularly when they are loaded with nails, as above described.

it is a common practice to secure a considerable number of these cleats, frequently seven, on the sole of a shoe, and usually three are nailed to the heel of a football shoe. In playing on a muddy field it is found that the mud packs badly between the cleats so that much of their usefulness is lost. I have found that this diiiiculty can be reduced very substantially by making the cleats in the form shown at D in Figs. 7 and 8. These cleats are made from a blank like that shown in Fig. 1, the longitudinal edges being trimmed by forcing the blank between stationary inclined knives set. at the proper angle to produce the inclined lateral edge faces, as above described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2. The cleat in thiscondition is then trimmed to produce rounded or convex inclined ends, as shown at 66 in Figs. 6 and 7. This trimmingoperation may conveniently be performed in the machine shown in another application, cetrain features of this machine beingshown in Fig; 8.

Referring to the latter figure it will be observed that the machine includes a holder 7 provided with a cavity 8 in which the partially trimmed cleat is inserted. Preferably the cleat has been molded before this end trimming operation is performed, and the holder serves to prevent any substantial distortion of the cleat during this operation, the holder having surfaces to engage the inclined edges and the concave bottom of the cleat. A spring pressed plunger 9 holds the cleat compresed and firmly secured in the holder 7, while knives 1010 carried by a rotary head 12 which is mounted to. rise and fall, shave or trim the surplus stock off-the ends of the cleat. The holder 7 preferably is stationary while the knives rotate about it, these knives revolvingabout an axis extending vertically and centrally through the cleat D. As the cutter head 12 is lowered the knives trim off substantially all the material projecting beyond the edges of the holder and produce the convex end surfaces 66, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Substantially the same organization can also be used in trimming frusto-conical cleats-as shown in Fig. 9, the cleat blank being sup ported on a post or holder 7, While the knives 10-10 carried in the rotating and rising and falling head 12 trim the blank down to the desired size and shape.

The cleats shown in Figs. 6 and 7 preferably have holes punched in them in the manner above described in connection with thecleat shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and they are loaded with nails in the same way, care being taken to prevent them from being split or distorted while the holes are being punched and the nails driven.

These round ended cleats do not present the same opportunity for the packing of mud between adjacent cleats as do the cleats shown in Fig. 3. That is, they do not present broad fiat surfaces in opposed contiguous relationship to each other where the mud can wedge in between them. At the same time they have the strength and ground gripping properties of the cleat shown 1n 1 1g.

The method or process disclosed in this application is not claimed herein but is claimed in my divisional application Serial No. 178,7 32, filed March 26, 1927.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. A football cleat having a long and relatively wide base and a narrow top with inclined edge faces extending longitudinally thereof-at its opposite sides, said cleat having oppositely inclined rounded end faces.

2. A football cleat having a long and relatively wide base and a narrow top with inclined edge faces extending longitudinally thereof at its opposite sides, said cleat having oppositely inclined end faces and the bottom face of said cleat being concave for its entire length, whereby the opposite edges thereof lie in different planes from the cen ter line of said bottom face.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

WILLIAM H. ALBEE.

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