US2718020A

US2718020A - Cleat cleaner

Info

Publication number: US2718020A
Application number: US244202A
Authority: US
Inventors: Homme Olai
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1951-08-29
Filing date: 1951-08-29
Publication date: 1955-09-20
Anticipated expiration: 1972-09-20

Description

Sept. 20, 1955 O. HOM ME CLEAT CLEANER Filed Aug. 29, 1951 ATTORNEYS -based cleat having a slightly greater height.

United States Patent CLE'AT CLEANER `=lai Homme,` Granite Falls, Minm Application August 29, 1951, Serial No. 244,2ll2

solaims. (ci. ls-sm This invention relates to apparatus for the cleaning of cleats whichare attached to the soles of athletic shoes and is 'especially adapted to be used during the progress of athletic games to remove mud and other foreign material which may cling to` and between the cleats of such shoes wom by the players.

It has long been the Tpractice of `players in athletic competition to wear `footwear whichl is especially adapted for Arthesparticular Vgame which they .are playing. Thus, baseyballplayers wear a-moderately soft shoe which contains metal cleats of a more or'less standard arrangement which are adapted to pierce the earth to a proper degree to prevent slipping of the players foot while he .is running or :jumping and still will-oier butr minimum interference with his-other activities such as batting, ysliding and throwing. Further, the cleats are designed so as to be elective with ythe least danger to other: players Aand the least likelihood of catching in the ,players clothes. Football shoes .require a larger and more sturdy construction'with a broader Likewise, track shoes have longer and sharpercleats. -Each of these specially adapted shoes havethe common difficulty of collecting mud and `foreign-material whichreduces theeffectiveness of the gripping action Vof the cleats and becomes a continual annoyance to the player. This is es- .pecially true wheregames Vare played on damp ground.

Since the advent of night football and baseball, the `players nd that `dew on the grassy portion :ofthe iield will cling to the-soles of their-shoes-and willpickup dustrand yother foreign material which accumulates between l-the cleats of their shoes and lthen becomes caked. It has been the practice'of-athletic contestants experiencing this diiculty to use some Vextraneous means of removing the caked mud -or `foreign material. For example, baseball players may yoften been seen to strike the side of their shoes with a bat to dislodgesome of the material. Ifit is badly caked they may dig at` it with their fingers or in some instances they may be required totake time out to use a pointed stick, knife or any other makeshift tool which -they `may find in the vicinity. In any event, Vthe cleaning job is unsatisfactory and further, the knocking `or rapping of'theshoe'by the baseball players bat `will soon-cause irreparable damage to theshoe. `Football playyrers'likewise must remove the caked mud and foreign material in order to utilize the full benefit of the gripping action of their cleats. Here again there is no satisfactory methodof removing such caked material and lmakeshift tools or the -rplayers y-iingers are `usually employed to re- .move at leastfa portion of the material.

vIt is therefore a principal object of `this invention to 4provide'for a cleat cleaning apparatus which will quickly and eficiently remove substantially allthe cakedmud'or foreign material which may form on the sole and between the cleats of an 'athletic contestants shoe at intervals as required during Vthe -course -of the game vwhichr'he islp'lay ing and which does not necessitate the use of the players hands or removal of the shoe from the players foot.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cleat and brush and ig.r2. Y f

cleaning apparatus which will quickly and .positively remove all the caked material .from betweenzthe cleats-of the athletic contestants shoes by the .simple-expedient of -the ,player .placing his foot with the cleats of his ashoesqbetween-the guides which .are in predetermined spacedvrelation to one another 4and .pulling his -foot .downwardlyzin a natural movement such as he mayemployto wipe or scrape the soles of ordinary shoes .wihich do notlbear cleats.

It is another object of the invention to .providelguide means for'the cleatrcleaner which wl1 .position.the;foot in a positive manner and ,prevent thejaccidental .twisting or turning of the players foot while theshoe .isbeingmoved in predetermined travel across :the cleat cleaning dev-ice which is necessarily .powered to afdegree Ycreating a-force against which the player cannot voluntarily hold-hisfoot. in the desired relationship.

lt is a still further object .of this invention Vto zprovide for a cleat cleaning device which has moving brush-'means for removing the-rcakedrnud and foreignmaterialufrom between the cleats of the players shoes and which has--a novel and simple means forradjustingthe elTective-length of the bristles available Yfor cleaning .in accordance -with .the type of `cleatedfshoe which :is to rbe-cleaned.

These and otherobjects and advantages `ofmyinvention `will .more fully appear Ifrom `the Hfollowingfdescription rmade in rconnection with the:aecornpanyinggdrawings wherein vlike reference 4characters Trefer -to :similanparts throughout the several -viewsrand in-which:

.F.ig. .l is a perspective viewofmy invention.

Fig. .2 is a :side-elevation of my'vcleat-cleaning device showing in dotted -linerepresentationan athleticshoe and .an adjusted new jposition ofthe -motor with attached-brush.

Eig. 3 shows ra -segmented :section of .the athletic rshoe guide elements-taken onithe line 3-3-.of

Referringcto itherdrawin'g my invention lincludes `a xe'd n structure having `a -base 10 extending substantially under ,the entire device. vtenedra housing .H .havingend -walls lflrand 1112 and side lAlongne A:edge -of fthe -base 1,0 isffa-swalls .'13 and :14. Thefend `Walls 11=and 1.2fcontain arched `openings 15 adjacent ythe base -10 whiehv-serveas openings for cleaning sout -any accumulated dirt an'd :foreigdma- :.terial Iwhich .may f gather on the :inside Aof fthe :housing lH -dened by the walls above described. ilhefs'rde-Wallsll .and 14 `form at their top edges raplane -la'ngular to 1.the

surface-of base 10. Guard members L16 and i17-exten`d across the beveled edges -of walls ,13 and 14 to pr'event :mud and lforeign material `from `being uncontrollably ejected from the device in an undesirable-manner.

Also securedrto 'base -10arefinountingbrackets :18 and x19. The brackets .-18 .and A-19 'are fparallelrtothe side l=wall /13 and are situatedin :spaced :relation fforfthe-mounting of-a motorunit `20 in the preferredlformbf fmyinvention. It'is to beunderstoodfoffcourse, thatwhere independent .powermeans is Supplieda journalfassembly vmayfbe sub- `stituted `for 'the :motor v2l) `and likewise -be yadjustably mounted-uponthebrackets s1'8 and-19. Stud bolts 21 4are aixed vto 4the hbrackets 18 Vand -19 `so tas Eto =be @positioned in ythe `slots `22-fof the base f2s. vWing nuts 24 =may1be `threaded -upon the studs 21 .for cadjustably :securing the journal assembly or motor. 20 -upon the brackets vf18 and 19. The journalled `shait :or Smotor shaft '25 extends through a slotted opening 26 formed in theI-side :131.to allow for lateral adjustment of the motor `together =with Vits shaft V2S uponthemountingfbrackets 18y and 19. Fixed to the shaft 25 .androtatingl-therewith isabrush=element 27. The bristles `28 ofthebrush 27ext'end:radially out ward from the-shaft 2S and areconstructed froml=a=stii The bristles 2"8 are formed in a circular brush which is centrally located between the

side walls

13 and 14. Fixed to the top of the housing element H and angulated from one side to the other is a guide, the guide having a pair of bars 29 and a slot or guideway extending longitudinally thereof and continuing in unobstructed manner through the bottom edge of the guide. The guide has a at and plane upper surface at each of the bars 29 and also has vertical cleat contacting surfaces in opposed relation at the inside edges 'of bars 29, the vertical cleat contact surfaces defining said guideway or slot. The guards 16 and 17 close a portion of the guideway from communication with the interior of housing H but define a rectangular opening or aperture through which the circular brush bristles 28 may extend. The entire unit may be conveniently portable and a handle 30 aiiixed to the base 10 may be employed` athletic shoe to be cleaned` The bristles need not bear heavily against the sole of the shoe, it being merely necessary that they wipe the ends and sides of the cleats 31 of the shoe 32 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. When a player is troubled with an accumulation of mud or foreign material between the cleats of his shoes, he stands forwardly of the surface of the inclined top of housing element H and places each foot consecutively upon and near the top of guide bars 29 with the cleats 31 positioned therebetween. He then brings his foot slowly downward so as to maintain the cleats within the guide space and bearing simultaneously upon the stiff bristles 28 of the brush element 2.7. The direction of rotation of the brush element 27 is such that the bristlesrin contact with the cleats 31 are moving forwardly and -upwardly to oppose the downward movement of the foot. The player in overcoming the action of the stiff bristles brings his foot firmly back down to the ground in front of the apparatus in a natural, wiping action. The spaced relation of the guide bars 29 and their natural angle make the entire lcleaning operation an extremely quick and simple one.

Accumulations of mud and foreign material will lie upon the base within the housing H and will fall through either of the arched openings when the apparatus is tilted forwardly or backwardly at the end of each game. If so desired my invention contemplates the use of clean-out drawers at either end of the housing H. Where 'v the nature of the athletic footwear requires a wider space between the guide bars 29 the distance therebetween may be altered so as to allow for the entry therein of the cleats while still maintaining contact by the outeredge of the sole with the guide bar 29.

It will thus be seen that I have constructed a novel and simple arrangement of elements whereby the athletic shoe of a contestant may be cleaned while on his foot with a minimum of effort on his part and without requiring the use of fingers, sticks or other extraneous makeshift articles. The length of time required for the purpose of cleaning such shoes is thereby minimized since the players can ordinarily clean their cleats on my device during natural intervals occurring during the game without calling special time-out periods for such purposes.

It will,A of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for cleaning foreign substances such as caked mud from the cleats of an athletic shoe having cleated soles, said apparatus comprising, a fixed structure in the nature of a housing, a guide rigidly secured to the top of said housing and angulated with respect to the horizontal from one side to the other thereof, said guide having a flat and plane upper surface for at least a substantial part of its length and a straight and unobstructed vertical cleat contacting surface extending for a substantial portion of the length of said guide, a stiff-bristled brush element mounted for movement adjacent the vertical surface of said guide, the bristles of said brush terminating outwardly at least as far as the plane of said upper surface during movement of the brush, and power means for driving said brush whereby said cleats will be cleaned when the cleated shoe is pulled downwardly with the sole thereof in firm contact with the said upper surface and the cleats thereof in guided contact with said vertical surface, and said shoe being movable in such guided contact completely through the lower end of said angulated guide.

2. Apparatus for cleaning foreign substances such as caked mud from the cleats of an athletic shoe having cleated soles, said apparatus comprising, a fixed structure in the nature of a housing, a guide rigidly secured to the top of said housing and angulated with respect to the horizontal from one side to the other thereof, said guide having a flat and plane upper surface for at least a substantial part of its length and a straight and unobstructed guide slot having vertical cleat contacting surface extending all the way to the lower end of said angulated guide, a guard underlying the guide slot and having an aperture formed therethrough, a circular stiff-bristled brush element journaled for rotational movement adjacent and relative to the vertical surface of said guide, the bristles of said brush extending through the aperture and terminating outwardly atleast as far as the plane of said upper surface during rotation of the brush, and power means for driving said brush whereby said cleats will be cleaned when the cleated shoe is pulled downwardly with the sole thereof in firm contact with said upper surface and the cleats thereof in guided contact with said vertical surface and said shoe being movable in such guided Contact completely through the lower end of said angulated guide.

3. Apparatus for cleaning foreign substances such as caked mud from the cleats of an athletic shoe having cleated soles, said apparatus comprising a fixed structure in the nature of a housing, a base secured to said housing, spaced parallel guide bars rigidly secured to the top of said housing and presenting an upwardly angulated plane for positioning a marginal area of said shoe sole thereagainst with the cleats thereof positioned between the guide bars for longitudinal sliding travel, a motor mounted on said base and adjustable to one of a multiplicity of rigid positions in the same longitudinal direction as that of the spaced guide bars, and having a rotatable power shaft substantially normal to the longitudinal direction of said spaced parallel guide bars and positioned thereunder, a stiff-bristled rotary brush axially secured to said shaft, the circumference thereof lying between said guide bars, and adjustment means for effecting said rigid adjustment of the motor and rotary brush .r with respect to the base, whereby the effective circumference of said brush bristles will be advanced and retracted to rigid fixed position with the brush bristles terminating at least in the plane of said upwardly angled plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 957,992 McLeod May 17, 1910 965,176 Geraldson July 26, 1910 1,420,375 Gales June 20, 1922 2,185,638 Le Gault Jan. 2, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS 163,235 Switzerland Oct. 2, 1933