US1435636A - Method of making rubber footwear - Google Patents

Description

A. A. GLIDDE N, T. E. LAFAYETTE, AND J. J. GAUGHAN.

METHOD OF MAKING RUBBER FOOTWEAR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I7, I92].

Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

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Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED A. GLIDDEN, OF VVATERTOWN, THEODORE E. LA FAYETTE, 0F WELLESLEY, AND JOHN J. GAUGI-IAN, OF CAMBRIT)Grill, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO HOOD RUBBER COMPANY, OF WATERTOW'N, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF MAKING RUBBER FOOTWEAR.

Original application filed December 30, 1920, Serial No. 434,042. Divided and this application filed June 17, 1921. Serial No. 478,380.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that we, ALFRED A- GLIDDEN,

Tnnononn E. LA FAYETTE, and JOHN J. GAUGHAN, citizens of the United States, and residents of )Vatertown, Massachusetts, WVellesley, Massachusetts, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making Rubber Footwear, of which the. following is a specification, this application being a division of an application filed by us-on the 30th day of December, 1920, Serial No. 434,042.

Our present invention relates to improvements in rubber footwear and aims to pro vide a method which will simplify the construction and reduce the number of parts thereby effecting a saving of merchandise and the labor required in the makingof the article, which will produce an article of great-flexibility and elasticity whereby overshoes embodying our invention will have a greater range of adaptability to shoes of different sizes, enabling the manufacture of half sizes and many widths to be eliminated, and which article will not be liable to open up and leak at the edge of the sole.

We have in the present application selected the foot-hold type of overshoe to illustrate an embodiment of our invention although it will be understood that we do not limit ourselves in this respect, the main features of the invention being applicable to any type or style of rubber footwear.

In foot-holds as heretofore manufactured it has been customary to build these up on a last from a considerable number of pieces. These include the following parts, (1) an upper lining, (2) a gum upper or covering, (3) an insole stay, (4) a heel piece or strap, (5) a toe piece or tip, (6) an outsole stay, (7) a sole filler, (8) an insole and (9) an outer sole. These are applied successively by hand and rolled down by a squeegee or pressing roller, the usual method being to place the insole on the last bottom, stretch the lining snugly over the last and secure its edges adhesively to the insole, apply the filler, coat the lining with a rubber cement and then apply the gum upper or covering, whereafter the out-sole, toe, tip and strap are individually applied, the parts as they are successively applied being rolled down or pressed together and against the last by a hand roller to secure firm adherence and a smooth exterior surface. This requires a large number of distinct operations and the use of parts which it is one of the objects of the presentinvention to materially reduce. Furthermore, in such a shoe all the parts join at or near the edges of the sole in a distinct corner which must accurately fit the sole of the shoe upon which the overshoe is worn, therefore elasticity or stretchability in the soles of, such overshocs is undesirable, and there is always a tendency of cracking or breaking of the overshoes at the joints, which objection is eliminated by the present invention. j

WVith these and other objects in View which will hereinafter appear, our invention includes the novel process of manufacture hereinafter described and particularly defined by the appended claims.

To facilitate anunderstanding of our invention wehave appended hereto drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the upper blank.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the fillerblank.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a section of the binding strip.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the sole and heel strap blank and Fig. 5 is a similar view of the toe cap.

Fig. 6 is'a side elevation of the assembled parts in place upon a last.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the foot-hold removed from the last, and

Fig. 8 is a transverse section looking towards the toe.

In making up .a foot-hold according to our present invention we use but five parts of pieces as shown in the figures of Sheet 1 of the drawings.

The part 1 is of elastic fabric coated with rubber gum and may be cut to the desired shape, such as shown for example in Fig. l, by a cutting die, the shape being such that when its edges 1 are joined in a suitable manner a pocketed construction, so to speak, is formed, which is then drawn upon a last 6, the seam formed by the joined edges lying centrally of the bottom of the last.

than that indicated in Figures 7 and 8.

The portions of the upper whichextend underneath the bottom of the last constitute in effect an inner sole, to which is applied the filler, indicated at 2, the filler adhering to the unvulcanized rubber surface so that no cement is necessary.

From a sheet of stock, run on an engraved calender roll to give tov one side a beaded or otherwise suitably configured surface, we cut, by a suitable die, a blank of the shape shown in Fig. a, having a front portion 4: conforming to the sole of the last and having a widened out rear portion a provided with a central opening 4. The portion of the blank around this opening constitutes the back orheel strap which 1s designated at 4;, (Figs. 6 and '7'), the edges of which are preferably folded or curled over as indicated at d to give a finished effect. If preferred, the calender roll can be so engraved that a bead will be formed at the edges of the strip thereby avoiding the necessity of folding or curling over the edges.

The toe cap is next applied as at 5 in Figures 6 and 7.

The smooth side of the sole applied to the bottom of the last and pressed firmly against the filler andupper, the edge of the sole being preferably carried slightly up over the sides, as shown, and the strap portion stretched or carried up over the heel portion of the last in proper position.

Tl'iereafter the binding strip applied as indicated at 8, and the shoe isvarnished and vulcanized in the usual manner. I

By reducing the number of parts we not only effect a saving in merchandise cost and reduce the number of labor operations in building up the shoe as will be apparent from the foregoing but effect a correspondindicated tures.

ing reduction in the preparatory manufacturing processes, which effects a material saving in labor. I

Furthermore, the shoe produced. byoui process is free from the joints and sharp corners at the edges of the sole'and is stretchable thereby enabling us to eliminate half sizes and widths and yet secure effective fits.

VVhile we have selected a foot-hold as a convenient and desirable embodiment of our invention it should be understood that, in its broader aspects, it is not limited to this type of shoe, being applicable to any type of rubber footwear, and where inthis specification, we use the term rubber shoe it is to be understood as inclusive of any article of footwear composed of fabric and rubber compounds. i

Having thus described our invention What we claim is 1. Theherein described method of manufacturing rubber footwear of the foot-hold type which comprises shaping a sheet of rubber coated fabric to form upper and-sole portions, stitching together the edgesof Said sole portions, applying the article so formed to a last, applying to the sole portion a sole having an integral heel band, and stretching said band over the heel of the last.

, 2. The herein described method of making rubber footwear of the foot-hold type which comprises applying to the front portion of a last rubber coated fabric'to form the front portion of the shoe, subsequently applying to the sole portion a sole layer having an integral band, and thereafter stretching the band over the heel of the last.

3. The herein described method of making rubber footwear of the foot-hold type which comprises stretching over the front portion of a last a pocket or bag-shaped pertion of elastic fabric coated with rubber portion, and thereafter stretching said loop or band portion over the heel of the last.

In testimony whereof, we our ALFRED enema. rnnononis n in. riirrirrn JOHN J. GAUGHAN.

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