US1681217A - Composite heel - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 21, 192s. 1,681,211

D. w. BUNKER conosm: HEEL Ffiled llaljch l2, 1926 Figli; l

Patented Aug. 21, 192s.

UNITED STATES '1,681,217 PATENT oFFlcE.

S W. BUNKER, OF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITEDCSHQE MA GHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSO JERSEY.

N, NEW JERSEY, A. CORPORATION` OF NEW.

' 4 Application filed March 12, 1926. Serial No. 84,201.

This invention relates to shoe heels of the so-called 4composite type, and is herein illustrated as embodied in a heel comprising a base section which, broadly' considered, is scoop shaped and a molded top section, for exam le of rubber, having a rigid,'substantially at nail anchoring insert.

- As heretofore manufactured, a heel base of the scoop shaped type has been so molded as to impart to its attaching face 'a concave shape such as to fit approximately the heel seat of the shoe to which the base was to be attached. The outer face of the base was correspondingly convex, and difiiculties aroseif it were dell sired to employ such a base in combination witha molded top section having a Hat nail anchoring insertV such, for example, as a known type of rubber heel which has a substantially flat insert of plywood at its attaching face. If it were attempted to t the rubber heel to the base by gouging or scooping out material from its att-aching face to form a cup or concavity to accommodatethe convex face of the base the strength of the wooden insert would be seriously impaired or destroyed. If it were attempted to fit the heel toV the base by adding suiiicient rubber to the attaching face of the heel to produce the necessary concavity the edge of the rubber heel would be undesirably thick and the composite heel would be too high; also the added rubbernecessary to produce the concavity to match the base convexity would extend inward from the edge across the nailing line and constitute Y a. yielding element between the wooden insert and the base. Therewould thus be lost one of the conspicuous advantages of the type of rubber heel above referred to, which is that the nail anchoring insert maybe nailed down solidly, directly upon jthe heel base in relatin to which it will'not thereafter shift, with a resultant loosening of the nails, as doesa rubber heel of the washer t in which there is yielding bber between t e nail anchoring washers an the surface to which the heel is nailed.

It is. an object of the present invention to produce an improved composite heel which will combine to a maximum degree the advantages of both the scoo type of base and A the flat. insert type of rub r heel or to section, and at the same time overcome the a vementioned dicullties. To this end I have so modified`both the base section and the top section that I am enabled to combine themin a composite heel which may be readily attached to a shoe with the commercial heeling machinery already in use in shoe factories and which, w en so attached, is solid andA secure and will give excellent service when the shoe is` worn. -A further object is to produce a v new and` improved heel base which can be manufactured at low cost.

In the illustrated embodiment of the in-A venti'on the base section of t-he heel is com- 65 posed of lifts built up to form an individual blank of the maximum thickness required and molded to a generally concave-convex or scoop shape. The attaching face ofthe blank is,

.concave and its shape 1s such as to correspond "I0 approximately to that of the heel seat of the shoe to which the heel is to `be attached. In. the molding operation, in which Vthisl sha e is imparted to the attaching face of the bla the outer face of the blank becomes correspondinglyv convex. Suiiicient material is re- Y moved from the central portion of this convex face, by cutting or otherwise, to thin its central portion .and produce a substantially flat area comprising at leastva considerable part of the entire, area of the-face. VPreferably, but not necessarily, the fiat area lis some-y what less than fthe ent-ireouter face of the .x base, leaving a molded marginal portion outside of the fiat area which is beveled.

In one aspect of the invention, therefore,

-a novel method of making heel-bases is provided, which method comprises buildingup an individual heel blank to the maximum,n

ing such blank toconcavo-convex sha e, and thinning lthe `central portion of the ank by removing from the convex face thereof suiiicient material to produce a Substantially flat foundation for a top section' having a flat 95 center. y 4 A The molded top section of the-heel'fhas, at

.its attaching face, a rigid substantially at central portion of a proximately the Vsame size and shape as the at area on the base, sur- 109.

rounded by a raised, inclined rim of molded material' shaped to iit approximately the beveled margin of the base. y

y The base andtop sections above described are combined eitherbefore or at the time of at- 105 .tachment to the shoe, the cooperating at faces of the base and to` section insuring against the top section roc 'ng upon the base, and the molded rim around the margin of the top section facilitating the ttingtogether of 1W thickness desired in the finished base, moldvS20' the two parts, aiding in securing correct register between the two sections, and producing a tight and perfect joint between lthe top section and the base.

It will be found in practice that the amount of material which it is necesary to remove from the convex face of the base is'ver small, resulting in a waste of material whic 1 is practically negligible, and the removal of this material may be cheaply and rapidly accomplished. A good practical embodiment of the 1nvention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved heel base;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in perspective and partly in cross section of a Icushion heel top section adapted to be combined with the base;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the base and the top section arranged in assembled relation but before the application 'of the attaching pressure;

Y Fig. 5'is a cross sectional view of the heel seat end of a shoe with the heel attached thereto.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a two-lift heel base having a generally -scoop shaped concave attaching face 12 formed to fit approximately the heel seat of a shoe to which the heel is to be attached. While two lifts are shown, it should be understood that it is within the scope of the invention to use either more or less than two lifts, asfmay be required to produce, in combination with the rubber heel to bel used, a composite heel of the height desired. v

The base 10, as shown, has, on its outer face a substantially flat area 14 comprising a considerable part of the entire area of said face. Surrounding the flat area 14 is a beveled marginal portion 16 which is illustrated ashavin a lcurvature approximately the same as t at of the-corresponding portion of the attaching face 12, although this may be modiied within the limits within which it is practicable to roduce the face 16 by compression or mo ding. Y

The improved heel base 10 may be economically produced by assemblingjrland securing together the retuired number ozlifts to produce an indiyi thickness vdesired in the finished base, mold` ing the vfiat blank thus produced to a substantially rigid concavo convex scoop shape in a. heel compressorand then removing from the outer face of the molded blank by cutting orotherwise, suicient material to thin y the central portion of the blank and produce the substantiallyl flat surface 14. The size -of the flat surface 14 will be determined b vthe degree of convexity of the molded bl ual blank 'of the maximum.

tion"`16, as shown 1n the drawings. In Fig. 3

the dotted line 18 shows the contour of the l molded blank before the material is removed from its outer face to produce the central, flat area. In making the heel base in the manner described there is no necessity for using a rand or for performing any gouging operation upon the attaching face of the blank. The flat area 14 may be produced by a simple cutting operation with a straight knife, and such a blank may be manufactured at a minimum cost for labor and material.

The top section 20 ot' the heel is shown as having a body portion 22 of rubber or equivalent eushion material and a fiat stifening, `nail anchoring insert or core 24 which, in the present instance, is made of non-moldable plywood. The rubber of a heel of this type is deformable to a certainextent without materially affecting the shape of the wooden core, the exposed face of 'whiclr is substantially'flat. The heel section 2O conse uently has, at its attaching face, a substantia ly fiat central portion of approximately the same size and shape as the fiat area 14 on the base 10. The flat, central portion of the attaching face of the rubber heel is surrounded by a raised, inclined rim 26 of rubber shaped to fit approximately the beveled margin 16 ofthe base but inclined somewhat more than the beveled margin 16 for the purpose of protducing a tight edge joint between the two sections of the heel when they are pressed tightly together. The thin edge of the rim 26 overlaps somewhat the edge of the core but, referabl does not extend inward beyon the nailing line. The heel may,.there fore, be nailed down solidly with the core in firm contact-with the base, vand there will be a thin, narrow sealing rim of rubber which.

will be pressed tightly between the base and the margin of the wooden core 24, as shown in Fig. 5; The marginal portion of thatread face of the heel section 2O is also curved slightly, as indicated at 28, so that the said tread face shall be deformed to atness when .the heel is attached. n.

' In Fig. 5, 30 and 32 indicate respectively .the outer sole and insole of a shoe to which the composite heel of the present invention is attached by nails 34 driven through both sec-` tions of the heel, through both solesvof the shoe and having their points clinched in the insole. The. heads of theattaching nails 34 are l'seated on or in the wooden core and usually will be concealed by the rubber of the heel bodyv 22c1osing overtheir headsnwhen' thev nail drivers are withdrawn.

Underthe pressure applied by the heel ati taching machine the at face of the wooden 65 and the amount of material removed. V In@ core24wil1beseated firmly upon the flat area 14 of the base 10 Where it Will be held solidly by the attaching nails. The cooperating conformation of the marginal portions of the base and the rubber heel insures a tight edge joint Without the use of cement, and accurate placing of the rubber heel upon the base is facilitated by the peculiar contours of their engaging faces.

` Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is z-f 1. A composite heel comprising a base section having a concave attaching face shaped to correspond approximately to the heel seat of a shoe and an outer face the central portion of which 'is substantially flat and the marginal portion offvhich is beveled, and a molded top section including` a substantially flat insert of non-moldable material at the central portion of the attaching face of said top section and surrounded by a raised, inclined, molded rim, shaped to fit approximately the beveled marginal portion of the base.

2. A composite heel comprising a base section having a concave attaching face shaped to iit the heel seat of a shoe and an outer face the central portion of which is substantially flatand the marginal portion of Whichis beveled, anda molded top section including a substantiallyilatnailanchoring insert at the central portion of the attaching face of said top section surrounded by a raised, in-

clined rim of molded material shaped to fit approximately the beveled marginal portion of the base.

3. A composite 4heel comprising a scoopshaped leather base section having an outer face the central portion of Which'is substantially fiat and the marginal portion of which is beveled, combined with a rubber top section having a Hat insert of plywood exposed throughout a substantial area at the central portion of its attaching face and surrounded by a raised, beveled rim of rubber, molded to t approximately the beveled, marginal por tion of the base.

4. A composite heel comprising an unyielding scoop-shaped base section combined with a rubber top section having a rigid nail anchoring insert exposed throughout a substantial area at the central portion of its attaching face and surrounded by a raised rim of rubber, the entire exposed area of said nail anchoring insert being complemental to and contacting with the corresponding area of the outer face of the scoop-shaped base.

45. A heel base, comprising one or more lifts of leather, having a concave attaching face molded to fit the heel seat of a shoe, and an outer face comprising a cut central portion which is substantially flat and a molded marginal p'ortion which is beveled.

6. The method of making heel bases which comprises building up an individual blank to the maximum thickness desired in the finished base, molding said blank to concavo-convex shape, and thinning. the central por-tion of the v blank by removing from the convex face thereof sufficient material to produce a substantially flat foundation for a top section having a fiat center.

7 The method of making heel bases Which comprises building up an individual blank to the maximum thickness desired in the finished base, vmolding said blank to concavo-convex shape, and thinning the central portion of the blank by removing from the convex face thereof suicient material to produce a substantially at surface surrounded by an inclined margin upon which a. randed top section will fit.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

DARIUS W. BUNKER.

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