Foot Support Components for Articles of Footwear Including Multiple Flexible Projections at the Ground-Facing Surface

Abstract

Foot support components for footwear include a sole member made from one or more parts and including a base surface. A plurality of medial side primary traction elements (e.g., soccer cleats) and a plurality of lateral side primary traction elements (e.g., soccer cleats) extend in a direction away from the base surface. A central space is defined between interior extents (e.g., interior-most surfaces) of the plurality of medial and lateral side primary traction elements, and this central space may be free of primary traction elements (e.g., free of cleats). A projection field comprising a plurality of projections is located at least partially in the central space. These projections can readily bend under the weight of the user and help provide better “feel” for a ball, e.g., by transmitting force from the ball to the wearer's foot and providing audible feedback when contacting the ball.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A sole structure having a ground-facing surface and an upper-facing surface, the sole structure comprising:
 a sole member made from one or more parts and including a base surface, a medial side, and a lateral side;   a plurality of primary traction cleats extending in a direction away from the base surface, wherein each cleat of the plurality of primary traction cleats extends from the base surface to a free end surface; and   a projection field engaged with an exterior surface of the base surface or integrally formed with at least one or more parts of the sole member, wherein the projection field comprises a plurality of projections that extend beyond the base surface and have exposed free ends, wherein the plurality of projections includes at least 20 projections in the projection field, wherein at least a majority of the plurality of projections in the projection field readily bend under force applied by weight of a user of the sole structure, and wherein with the sole structure supported on its ground-facing surface on a horizontal support surface, a first subset of the plurality of projections have a longitudinal length sufficient such that their free ends extend toward the horizontal support surface beyond the free end surface of a closest primary traction cleat to the respective projection of the first subset.   
     
     
         2 . The sole structure according to  claim 1 , wherein the projection field includes a projection field base having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, and wherein the plurality of projections originate at the second surface and extend from the projection field base in a direction away from the first surface and the second surface. 
     
     
         3 . The sole structure according to  claim 2 , wherein the first surface of the projection field base is engaged with the exterior surface of the base surface of the sole member. 
     
     
         4 . The sole structure according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of primary traction cleats includes a plurality of medial side primary traction cleats located on the medial side of the sole member and extending in a direction away from the base surface and a plurality of lateral side primary traction cleats located on the lateral side of the sole member and extending in a direction away from the base surface,
 wherein a central space is defined between interior extents of the plurality of medial side primary traction cleats and the plurality of lateral side primary traction cleats,   wherein the projection field is located at least partially in the central space, and   wherein the first subset of the plurality of projections have a length of at least 8 mm.   
     
     
         5 . The sole structure according to  claim 4 , wherein the projection field includes a projection field base having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, and wherein the plurality of projections originate at the second surface and extend from the projection field base in a direction away from the first surface and the second surface. 
     
     
         6 . The sole structure according to  claim 5 , wherein the first surface of the projection field base is engaged with the exterior surface of the base surface of the sole member. 
     
     
         7 . The sole structure according to  claim 4 , wherein a portion of the projection field extends between at least two of the plurality of medial side primary traction cleats and/or a portion of the projection field extends between at least two of the plurality of lateral side primary traction cleats. 
     
     
         8 . The sole structure according to  claim 1 , wherein an area defined within outermost extents of the plurality of projections in the projection field covers at least 2400 mm 2 . 
     
     
         9 . The sole structure according to  claim 1 , wherein at least a majority of the projection field is located in a forefoot region of the sole structure. 
     
     
         10 . The sole structure according to  claim 1 , wherein the projection field extends continuously from a forefoot region to a midfoot region of the sole structure. 
     
     
         11 . The sole structure according  claim 1 , wherein at least 20 projections of the plurality of projections have a largest transverse cross sectional dimension of 8 mm or less. 
     
     
         12 . The sole structure according to  claim 11 , wherein said at least 20 projections taper in cross sectional shape in their length dimensions to a smallest transverse cross sectional size at the free ends of the respective projections. 
     
     
         13 . The sole structure according to  claim 1 , wherein at least 20 projections of the plurality of projections have a largest transverse cross sectional dimension of 5 mm or less. 
     
     
         14 . The sole structure according to  claim 1 , wherein at least 20 projections of the plurality of projections have a rounded transverse cross sectional shape with a diameter of 8 mm or less. 
     
     
         15 . The sole structure according to  claim 1 , wherein at least 20 projections of the plurality of projections have a rounded transverse cross sectional shape with a diameter of 5 mm or less. 
     
     
         16 . The sole structure according to  claim 1 , wherein at least 20 projections of the plurality of projections have a polygonal transverse cross sectional shape with a largest polygon side dimension of 8 mm or less. 
     
     
         17 . The sole structure according to  claim 1 , wherein at least 20 projections of the plurality of projections have a rectangular transverse cross sectional shape with a wide side dimension of 8 mm or less and a narrow side dimension of 4 mm or less. 
     
     
         18 . The sole structure according to  claim 1 , wherein the sole member includes an outsole component that includes the plurality of primary traction cleats, and wherein the projection field is integrally formed with the outsole component. 
     
     
         19 . The sole structure according to  claim 1 , wherein a portion of the projection field extends between at least two of the plurality of primary traction cleats on one side of the sole member. 
     
     
         20 . An article of footwear, comprising:
 an upper; and   a sole structure engaged with the upper, the sole structure comprising:
 a sole member made from one or more parts and including a base surface, a medial side, and a lateral side; 
 a plurality of primary traction cleats extending in a direction away from the base surface, wherein each cleat of the plurality of primary traction cleats extends from the base surface to a free end surface; and 
 a projection field engaged with an exterior surface of the base surface or integrally formed with at least one or more parts of the sole member, wherein the projection field comprises a plurality of projections that extend beyond the base surface and have exposed free ends, wherein the plurality of projections includes at least 20 projections in the projection field, wherein at least a majority of the plurality of projections in the projection field readily bend under force applied by weight of a user of the sole structure, and wherein with the sole structure supported on its ground-facing surface on a horizontal support surface, a first subset of the plurality of projections have a longitudinal length sufficient such that that their free ends extend toward the horizontal support surface beyond the free end surface of a closest primary traction cleat to the respective projection of the first subset.