MODIFIED SPORTS FOOTWEAR

This invention relates to modified sports footwear. More specifically, it relates to modified sports footwear for use in sports such as association football (soccer) which involve kicking a ball. The invention further relates to a kit for modifying conventional footwear.

The present invention has been developed for use in sports involving the kicking of a ball, and is thus particularly suited for use in association football (soccer). The invention will therefore be described herein with particular emphasis on the sport of football, though it should be understood that the invention is also relevant to rugby, American football, and any other sports which involve kicking a ball. The terms "footwear" and "football boots" as used herein should each be understood to encompass both football boots having studs for playing on grass, and training shoes without studs for playing indoors or on all- weather surfaces; whilst the scope of the invention should also be understood as extending to include the modification of non-sports footwear.

Conventionally, football boots are constructed to conform to the shape of the player's foot. The upper of the boot is thus formed with a convex outer surface in order comfortably to accommodate the player's toes, instep and bridge of the foot. This arrangement is desirable from the point of view of maximising the player's comfort and minimising the risk of injury, as well as aesthetic considerations. However, the presentation of a convex outer surface for contact with a ball during kicking means that the contact area between the ball and the player's boot is relatively small.

Clearly, the smaller the contact area between the boot and the ball, the less control the player will have over the manner in which the ball moves. The terms "control" and "ball control" as used herein refer to all aspects of the movement of a football consequent upon being kicked by a player. The term is thus used to encompass such aspects as power, speed, spin, swerve, accuracy, grip etc. The player's control over each of these aspects can be enhanced by increasing the size of the contact area between the boot and ball.

The upper of a conventional football boot will typically be constructed from leather or a polymeric material which will be flexible to some degree, but must also have a certain degree of rigidity in order to protect the player from injury.

Thus, whilst some minor deformation of the convex upper will occur when the player kicks a ball, so giving a slightly increased contact area, the inherent rigidity of the upper means that this has only a minor effect on the player's control over the motion of the ball. Over the years, a number of attempts have been made to increase the contact area presented by the upper of a player's boot to a football during kicking, so as to enhance the player's control over a ball, whilst maintaining the preferred convex upper construction. A simple way of achieving this is described in DE 27 43 666, and provides a plurality of ball control elements in the form of deformable projections on the upper of the football boot. This increases the power which the player is able to impart to a shot or long pass, but has little or no beneficial effect on accuracy.

A more sophisticated system is described in EP 0544 841 , and involves the provision of a plurality of ball control elements in the form of rib-like projections on the upper, each having slits to divide the crests of the ribs into separately deformable parts. This enables a player to increase his or her control over the accuracy of the ball's trajectory, and its spin properties.

A more recent development is described in EP 1 430 800 and EP 1 430 801. The uppers of the football boots described in these publications are provided with a plurality of ball control elements in the form of projections made up of multiple layers each having different properties with respect to flexibility or rigidity. This enables the projections to deform upon contact with the ball in such a way as to wrap around the ball, giving enhanced grip. The player is thus able to improve his or her close control of the ball giving rise to improved dribbling skills.

All of the above described systems have met with some success. However, they share a common shortcoming in that the locations of the ball control elements on the upper are pre-determined by the football boot manufacturer and cannot be altered by the player. Whilst the manufacturer will no doubt take care to locate the ball control elements at what are considered to be the optimum positions, this cannot take account of individual variations in a player's game.

The need for variation in the location of the ball control elements becomes apparent when one considers the differing styles and positions of players within a typical football team. No two players kick a football in exactly the same way, nor are the intended effects ever identical. For example, one player may specialise in imparting spin to the ball, whilst another player may specialise in close control skills for dribbling, and a further player may specialise in power shots.

The present invention seeks to address the above issue by providing modified sports footwear, and a kit for modifying conventional footwear, which achieves the benefits of the modified sports footwear of the prior art as discussed above, but which also allows customisation of the location of ball control elements on the footwear to suit a player's own individual style and requirements.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided modified sports footwear comprising a sole, an upper presenting an outer surface for contacting a ball during kicking thereof, and a plurality of ball control elements removably attached to the outer surface, thereby to enable a player to customise the arrangement of the ball control elements on the footwear.

The present invention may indeed be put into effect in the form of a modified football boot as described above. However, it is considered at least as likely that the invention will be put into effect in the form of a kit for modifying conventional footwear. In addition to the capability of such a kit for modifying conventional football boots or other conventional sports footwear, it is envisaged that it will also be utilised for the modification of non-sports footwear - for example, by children who may wish to modify their school shoes for the purpose of playground sports. Therefore, according to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a kit for modifying conventional footwear having a sole and an upper presenting an outer surface for contacting a ball during kicking thereof, said kit comprising a plurality of ball control elements adapted to be removably attached to an outer surface of an upper, thereby to enable a player to customise the arrangement of the ball control elements on the footwear.

Unless otherwise specified, the following discussion of the preferred features of the invention should be understood as referring equally to the first and second aspects of the invention.

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Customisation of the arrangement of the ball control elements on the footwear may be achieved in one of two ways: the ball control elements may be adapted to be disposed of and replaced with like elements after a single use; or alternatively, the ball control elements may be adapted to be repeatedly removed, re-arranged and re-attached at will.

The ball control elements preferably comprise adhesive tabs in order to achieve the removable attachment of the elements to the outer surface of the upper. Most preferably, the ball control elements are generally disc-shaped, having a first side provided with adhesive for attachment to the outer surface of the upper, a second side presenting a ball control surface, and optionally, one or more intermediary layers. Preferably, a contact adhesive is used.

Forming the ball control elements with a laminar construction having one or more layers between the first and second sides, provides the option of including a gel-based intermediary layer. The gel is intended to act as a dampener to absorb the impact when a player strikes the ball, thus increasing the time during which the ball control surface is in contact with the ball, and so enhancing the player's control of the ball.

The ball control elements preferably present a ball control surface comprising projections raised relative to the outer surface of the upper. The projections may be adapted to impart enhanced control over one or more aspects of the motion of a ball, selected from power, speed, spin, swerve, accuracy and grip to the ball upon kicking thereof. This may be achieved by forming the projections according to the constructions described in one or more of DE 27 43 666, EP 0544 841 , EP 1 430 800 and EP 1 430 801 . Alternatively, or additionally, some or all of the ball control elements may present a ball control surface having a tacky, high friction (grip) or abrasive finish. To achieve these various objectives, the ball control surface is preferably formed from one or more materials selected from silicon-based materials, treated leather, sandpaper, and rubber and foam materials (both synthetic and natural). Silicon- based materials are selected where enhanced grip is required, particularly in dry conditions; a specially treated leather finish is used to enhance ball control in wet weather conditions; abrasive surfaces like sandpaper are selected for their high

friction properties; whilst synthetic and natural rubber and foam materials can also be used to provide a finish with a high co-efficient of friction.

In order to maximise the capability for a player to customise the layout of the ball control elements, the modified footwear or the kit preferably comprises a range of interchangeable ball control elements, which may conveniently be further divided into sets of elements having a particular property or characteristic.

In a currently preferred embodiment of the present invention, the range of interchangeable ball control elements comprises a first set of elements adapted to enhance ball control in dry weather conditions, and a second set of elements adapted to enhance ball control in wet weather conditions.

So as to enhance the aesthetic appeal of the present invention, the ball control elements may have a logo or design applied thereto. Each element in a set may have the same design applied thereto, or alternatively may have a fragment of a larger design applied thereto, so that the entire design is visible when the elements are arranged in a pre-determined configuration on the outer surface of a football boot upper. The design might for example be the name or crest of a particular football club or the logo of a sports footwear manufacturer.

Whilst the logo or design may be applied directly to the ball control surface, it is preferred, where the nature of the materials used allows, that the ball control surface should instead be formed with a generally transparent appearance. This enables the logo or design to be carried on an intermediary layer between the first and second sides of the ball control elements, and to be visible through the generally transparent ball control surface. It is considered that the generally transparent appearance will be particularly appropriate where the ball control surface is formed with a tacky or high friction (grip) surface as hereinbefore described. The intermediary layer carrying the logo or design may be included in addition to, in place of, or combined integrally with, the gel-based intermediary layer as hereinbefore described.

In order that the present invention may be better understood, a preferred embodiment thereof will now be described, though only by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a modified football boot according to the present invention.

The accompanying drawing and the following discussion should be understood as being equally applicable to either a modified football boot according to a first aspect of the present invention, or a conventional football boot modified with a kit according to the second aspect of the present invention. Referring now to Figure 1 , there is shown a football boot, generally indicated 10, having a sole 1 1 and an upper 12, presenting an outer surface 13 for contact with a ball (not shown) during kicking thereof.

A plurality of generally disc-shaped ball control elements 14 is located on the outer surface 13 of the upper 12. The ball control elements 14 have a first side (not visible in Figure 1 ) in contact with the outer surface 13 of the upper 12, and having a re-usable adhesive applied thereto, and a second side presenting a ball control surface 15 adapted to enhance a player's control over the motion of the ball when kicked. The ball control elements 14 may desirably also be formed with a gel-based intermediary layer (not shown) between the outer surface 13 of the upper 12 and the ball control surface 15, said gel-based intermediary layer acting as a dampener to increase contact time between the ball control surface 15 and the ball.

The ball control surface 15 is raised relative to the outer surface 13 of the upper 12. Upon kicking a ball, this results in a larger surface area of the boot 10 being in contact with the ball than for a conventional boot, leading to greater control over the motion of the ball.

The ball control surface 15 of each ball control element 14 may be formed with one of a range of different finishes or textures, depending on the particular aspect(s) of the motion of the ball over which the player wishes to exert greater control - i.e. power, speed, spin, swerve, accuracy, grip etc - and the weather conditions in which the football match is being played. In the example shown in Figure 1 , the ball control surface 15 is formed with a plurality of deformable projections 16 adapted to give enhanced grip, thereby to improve the player's close control of the ball during dribbling, and improved power when shooting. Alternatively, the ball control surface 15 may be formed with a tacky, high friction or abrasive finish to provide greater control over other aspects of the motion of the ball, or adapted to suit wet or dry weather conditions. It is envisaged that the modified football boot according to the first aspect of the

present invention, or the kit for modifying a football boot according to the second aspect of the present invention would each be supplied with a number of interchangeable sets of ball control elements 14 having different properties as described above. The player could then select a particular set to suit the weather conditions and the aspect(s) of ball motion over which greater control is desired, or could "mix and match" between the sets to provide a customised ball control surface 15 unique to that player.

The number and location of the ball control elements 14 on the outer surface 13 of the upper 12 is also customisable by the player to form a unique ball control surface 15. To achieve this, the player detaches a ball control element 14 by peeling it away from the outer surface 13 of the upper 12 so as to break the bond formed by the reusable adhesive between the first side of the ball control element 14 and the outer surface 13 of the upper 12. The removed ball control element 14 can then be re-attached to the outer surface 13 at a different location on the upper 12, by pressing the ball control element 14 firmly against the upper 12 so as cause the reusable adhesive to form a new bond between the first side of the ball control element 14 and the outer surface 13 of the upper 12.

If the player does not wish to use a particular ball control element 14 at a particular time, it can instead be attached to a storage location such as a suitably finished backing sheet (not shown) which may be supplied with the modified footwear according to the first aspect of the present invention, or on which the ball control elements 14 may be supplied in the kit according to the second aspect of the present invention.

By repeating the operation described above, the player can create a virtually infinite number of different ball control surfaces 15, and through experimentation can develop his or her own unique "signature" arrangement of ball control elements 14 most suited to his or her style of play.

Arrangements of ball control elements 14 on the upper 12 may also be developed in order to form a particular shape or configuration. This option is particularly relevant where ball control elements 14 carry a logo or design (not shown), or a part of a larger design visible when the ball control elements 14 are arranged on the upper 12 in a particular configuration. In such embodiments of the present invention, the ball control surfaces 15 are formed with a generally

transparent appearance, enabling viewing of an intermediary layer (not shown) therebeneath, carrying the logo or design.

Ideally the reusable adhesive applied to the ball control elements 14 should enable the ball control elements 14 to be capable of being removed and re-attached to the outer surface 13 of an upper 12 of a football boot 10 an infinite number of times. In practice however, this is unlikely to be achievable, and a supply of adhesive (not shown) may therefore be provided together with the modified footwear according to the first aspect of the present invention, or as part of the kit according to the second aspect of the present invention.