Adjustable footwear for playing football

Abstract

A football shoe or football boot includes a sole, and an upper including a throat region provided by flexible material of the upper, the throat region defining a boundary of the flexible material, with a canopy or tongue extending within the boundary, wherein the canopy or tongue includes a central portion and one or more protuberances disposed laterally of the central portion, the protuberances being formed of material added to material defining the canopy or tongue, wherein the central portion has none or a negligible amount of the added material forming the protuberances.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A football shoe or football boot, including:
 a sole; and   an upper including a throat region provided by flexible material of the upper, the throat region defining a boundary of the flexible material, with a canopy or tongue extending within the boundary;   wherein the canopy or tongue includes a central portion and one or more protuberances disposed laterally of the central portion, the protuberances being formed of material added to material defining the canopy or tongue, wherein the central portion has none or a negligible amount of the added material forming the protuberances.   
     
     
         2 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the application of the fluid material is separated on either side of the central region with none or a negligible amount of fluid material applied within the central region. 
     
     
         3 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed  claim 1  wherein the canopy is formed of an extensible material. 
     
     
         4 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the canopy is attached along the boundary of the flexible material and the canopy is of a different construction or material than substantially the remainder of the upper. 
     
     
         5 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the canopy and substantially the remainder of the upper are constructed from the same material, with substantially the remainder of the upper clad or covered in a flexible material with lower extensibility than the canopy. 
     
     
         6 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the central portion is less rigid than the one or more protuberances. 
     
     
         7 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the central portion is of a lower hardness relative to the one or more protuberances. 
     
     
         8 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in any  claim 1  wherein the protuberances are formed by the application of a fluid to the tongue or canopy. 
     
     
         9 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the protuberances are formed by the application of settable plastics material to the tongue or canopy. 
     
     
         10 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 9  wherein the settable plastics material is disposed on a lower surface of the canopy or tongue. 
     
     
         11 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 9  wherein the protuberances are formed of an injectable material injected between the inner and outer surfaces of the canopy or tongue. 
     
     
         12 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 9  wherein the canopy or tongue is formed of a first layer and a second layer with the injected material disposed between the first and second layers, with the injected material being in direct contact with the first and second layers. 
     
     
         13 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the protuberances are formed by the application of a non-settable material to the tongue or canopy. 
     
     
         14 . A football shoe or football boot, including:
 a sole; and   an upper including a throat region provided by flexible material of the upper, the throat region defining a boundary of the flexible material, with a canopy or tongue extending within the boundary;   wherein the canopy or tongue includes a central portion and one or more protuberances disposed laterally of the central portion, the central portion configured to provide a lower level of ball damping relative to the one or more protuberances.   
     
     
         15 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 14  wherein the football shoe or football boot includes a fastening mechanism to fasten the shoe or boot in place and the fastening mechanism is associated with a fastening region that contains, underlies, or overlies one or more components of the fastening mechanism and the canopy or tongue is disposed at least in part within the fastening region. 
     
     
         16 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 15  wherein the tongue is secured by the fastening mechanism. 
     
     
         17 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 15  wherein the entire central portion lies within the fastening region. 
     
     
         18 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 15  wherein at least a portion of the protuberances are positioned rearward of the fastening region. 
     
     
         19 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 15  wherein the entire central portion lies rearwardly of the fastening region. 
     
     
         20 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 14  wherein there is a single protuberance disposed at each side of the central portion arranged to define a crest at each side of the central portion. 
     
     
         21 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 20  wherein the crests converge inwardly at their forward ends and also converge inwardly at their reward ends but to a lesser extent than at the forward end. 
     
     
         22 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 20  wherein the height of the crests relative to the upper surface of the canopy or tongue tapers in the forward direction and flattens into the upper surface of the tongue or canopy. 
     
     
         23 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 20  wherein the crests taper in width in the forward direction. 
     
     
         24 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 14  wherein the canopy extends rearwardly into a collar portion, which collar portion extends about an ankle or lower leg of a wearer when the shoe or boot is worn. 
     
     
         25 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 14  wherein the upper includes a canopy without a distinguishable tongue. 
     
     
         26 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 14  wherein the upper includes both a canopy and a tongue. 
     
     
         27 . A football shoe or football boot, including:
 a sole; and   an upper including a throat region provided by flexible material of the upper, the throat region defining a boundary of the flexible material, with a canopy or tongue extending within the boundary;   wherein the canopy or tongue includes a central portion and one or more protuberances disposed laterally at each side of the central portion, the protuberances having been formed by the incorporation of fluid material with the canopy or tongue.   
     
     
         28 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed  claim 27  wherein the fluid material comprises a settable plastics material. 
     
     
         29 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed  claim 27  wherein the fluid material comprises a non-settable material. 
     
     
         30 . A method of forming a ball control region on an upper of a football shoe or football boot, the upper including a throat region provided by flexible material of the upper, the throat region defining a boundary of the flexible material, with a canopy or tongue extending within the boundary, the method including:
 incorporating a fluid material with the canopy or tongue to define one or more protuberances at each side of a central portion, the protuberances and the central portion defining the ball control region.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30  wherein the fluid material comprises a settable plastics material. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 30  wherein the fluid material comprises a non-settable material. 
     
     
         33 . A football shoe or football boot, including:
 a sole; and   an upper including a throat region provided by flexible material of the upper, the throat region defining a boundary of the flexible material, with a canopy extending within the boundary;   wherein the canopy includes a central portion and one or more protuberances disposed laterally of the central portion, the one or more protuberances on each side defining a crest alongside the central portion such that the crests and the central portion define a ball control region and wherein the canopy includes extensible material such that the spacing between the crests is variable.   
     
     
         34 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 33  wherein the canopy is attached along the boundary of the flexible material and the canopy is of a different construction or material than substantially the remainder of the upper. 
     
     
         35 . The football shoe or football boot as claimed in  claim 33  wherein the canopy and the remainder of the upper are constructed from the same material with substantially the remainder of the upper clad or covered in a flexible material with lower extensibility than the extensible material of the upper.