Shoe with Anti-Skid Sole

Abstract

Footwear with a sole formed from an elastomeric material whose grip is improved on ground where the interface may include an intermediate foreign substance, this sole comprising lugs ( 31 ) separated from each other by grooves ( 35 ). The walls of the grooves ( 35 ) are cut into the thickness of the elastomeric material and delimit patterns with sharp angles in the profile of said lugs ( 31 ) which can pierce said foreign substance to establish direct dry contact between the two surfaces. Each lug ( 31 ) forms a star-shaped pattern having at least five arms in the form of stems ( 32 ) distributed over its, profile and each stem ( 32 ) is orientated radially towards the outside of the pattern and terminates in an end. Each stem ( 32 ) is separated from its neighbor by a recess ( 38 ) in the profile of the lug. Finally, each lug ( 31 ) has a stem ( 32 ) engaged in a space of the adjacent groove ( 35 ) which is delimited by a recess ( 38 ) between two neighboring stems in the profile of a second lug neighboring the first lug.

1 - A footwear comprising a sole having a base of elastomeric material of which at least one area is provided with contact lugs which emerge from its lower face so as to come into contact with the ground, and in which these contact lugs are separated from each other by grooves delimiting stems at angles of less than 75 degrees in each contact lug, the contact face of each lug being in the shape of a star with at least five arms distributed over the profile of the contact face, each stem being separated from its neighbor on the lug by a recess pointing towards the centre of the star shape, this sole being characterized in that, for a plurality of first contact lugs of said area, each of said first contact lugs has at least one stem-to-recess coupling of a first stem to a recess separating two neighboring stems in the profile of a second contact lug neighboring the first lug in said area; that is to say, the end of this first stem is positioned inside a circle circumscribing the second lug, and wherein each lug has at least one slit in the thickness of the lug, opening on to its contact surface, each slit having two ends, one of these ends opening into a recess. 
     
     
         2 - The footwear according to  claim 1  wherein each lug has a plurality of slits and these slits have common ends located within said lug. 
     
     
         3 - The footwear according to  claim 2  wherein the depth of each slit is between 20% and 80% of the depth of the grooves separating said lugs. 
     
     
         4 - The footwear according to  claim 3  wherein, in at least one portion of the sole, the orientations of the slits of one lug are offset angularly with respect to the slits of at least one of the neighboring lugs. 
     
     
         5 - The footwear according to  claim 1  wherein each first lug in the area has:
 (i) at least two couplings of its stems to recesses separating neighboring stems in the profile of neighboring lugs, and 
 (ii) at least two couplings of its recesses between neighboring stems in its profile to stems of neighboring lugs. 
 
     
     
         6 - The footwear according to  claim 5  wherein each first lug in the area is surrounded by a set of at least four lugs distributed over its circumference, each of which is associated by a stem-to-recess coupling with the lug surrounded by this set. 
     
     
         7 - The footwear according to  claim 1  wherein, in at least one area of the sole, each lug ( 31 ) can be inscribed in a circle having a diameter of less than 20 millimeters. 
     
     
         8 - The footwear according to  claim 7  wherein each lug ( 31 ) can be inscribed in a circle having a diameter of not more than 10 millimeters and not less than 4 millimeters. 
     
     
         9 - The footwear according to  claim 1  wherein, in at least one portion of the sole, the star shapes of the neighboring lugs have their orientations offset angularly from each other. 
     
     
         10 - The footwear according to  claim 1  wherein each stem is delimited by the walls of two grooves and in that the wall of at least one groove separating a stem of a first lug engaged in the recess of a second lug is inclined with respect to the base of the sole at a taper angle of more than 0 degree, this taper angle being measured with respect to a line perpendicular to the contact surface of the lug. 
     
     
         11 - The footwear according to  claim 10  wherein the taper angle of the wall increases along the groove up to the end of the stem. 
     
     
         12 - The footwear according to  claim 1  wherein the sole comprises at least one boss acting as a stone removing device, this boss projecting from the base at the intersection of at least two grooves delimiting the ends of two stems.