GB1584692A - Article of footwear - Google Patents

Description

(54) AN ARTICLE OF FOOTWEAR (71) I, LEONIDAS TSINIVIDES, a Greek subject, of c/o Omega S.A. 16th Klm., Leoforos, Lavriou, Paiania, Athens, Greece, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to an article of footwear. Footwear is used in this specification to include shoes, boots and sandals.

The use of synthetic resin material for soles has frequently met with a certain customer resistance as the type of upper which is used with such soles has not generally been given the appearance of being a quality leather product. Usually shoes of this type have been made bv sticking the upper to the sole with compatible adhesives and this has lead to the production of footwear which has not been particularly attractive.

It is, however, very well known that synthetic resin materials used for soles of footwear particularly polyurethane, have exceptionally good wear resistance characteristics. The fact that these soles are not preferred to others used on what are generally referred to as "quality footwear" appears to be because the presentation of leather exhibited in having synthetic resin material soles has been markedly inferior and constituted an important factor in the degree of commercial success achieved by this type of footwear.

According to the invention there is provided an article of footwear comprising a sole made from synthetic resin material, an upstanding rib extending around the entire periphery of the sole adjacent the upper edge thereof, the rib being integrally formed with the sole, a single continuous piece of material which forms a lining secured to the sole and also forms at least part of an upper secured to the said rib, and a further piece of material which is folded over the said rib so as to embrace it.

An embodiment of this invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a sole for use in the present invention; and Figure 2 shows a cross-section through part of a sole and upper.

Fig. 1 shows a sole 3 having an outer vertical edge 2. The sole is manufactured from a synthetic resin, preferably polyurethane, an can be made in a conventional moulding process. The sole has an integral upstanding peripheral rib 4 projecting from the top surface 5 of the sole closely adjacent the vertical edge 2.

As shown in Fig. 2 a leather piece 14 is folded over the rib 4 so as to embrace it, the piece 14 being secured to the vertical edge of the sole and around the rib 4 by means of an adhesive layer 9. An upper 5 and the piece 14 are stitched to the rib 4 as diagrammatically indicated at 10. The sole 3 has a narrow peripheral edge 11 around the bottom 12 thereof against which the free edge 13 of the piece 14 is located. This prevents scuffing of the leather of the piece 14 against the ground during use but does not detract from all-leather appearance of the complete shoe or boot.

The whole of the upper surface of the sole has a leather lining 16, a single continuous piece of material forming the lining and at least part of the upper 15. In addition to the stitching 10, the piece of material may be secured to the flat surface of the sole by the adhesive layer 9, though this additional sewing can be omitted in the case of very inexpensive footwear.

The above described footwear can be inexpensively manufactured using moulded synthetic resin soles and the footwear can, where desired, be made to resemble quality articles as set forth above, but it has the added advantage that the soles can be moulded in permanently coloured material to match upper materials. The rib integrally formed with the sole greatly facilitates the attachment of the uppers firmly thereto without having to retry on an adhesive strength bonding between upper and sole or on having to embed attachment members or the edges of upper in the sole material during moulding.

Attention is directed to our co-pending application No. 21291/77 (Serial No.

1 584 691) which also relates to an article of footwear.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. An article of footwear comprising a sole made from synthetic resin material, an upstanding rib extending around the entire periphery of the sole adjacent the upper edge thereof, the rib being integrally formed with the sole, a single continuous piece of material which forms a lining secured to the sole and also forms at least part of an upper secured to the said rib, and a further piece of material which is folded over the said rib so as to embrace it.

2. An article of footwear as claimed in claim 1, in which a narrow peripheral projecting ledge is provided around the bottom of the sole, the said further piece of material terminating on the outside of the article on top of the ledge.

3. An article of footwear as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the upper is secured by stitching to the said rib of the sole.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (3)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. application No. 21291/77 (Serial No.

1 584 691) which also relates to an article of footwear.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. An article of footwear comprising a sole made from synthetic resin material, an upstanding rib extending around the entire periphery of the sole adjacent the upper edge thereof, the rib being integrally formed with the sole, a single continuous piece of material which forms a lining secured to the sole and also forms at least part of an upper secured to the said rib, and a further piece of material which is folded over the said rib so as to embrace it.

2. An article of footwear as claimed in claim 1, in which a narrow peripheral projecting ledge is provided around the bottom of the sole, the said further piece of material terminating on the outside of the article on top of the ledge.

3. An article of footwear as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the upper is secured by stitching to the said rib of the sole.