US1937716A - Footwear and process of making the same - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 5, 1933. G. M. RAY Y1,937,716

' FOOTWEAR AND PROCESS OF MAKING' THE SAME I Filed Jan. 28. 1931 Patented Dec. 5v, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1,937,716 FOOTWEAR PROCESS OF MAKING THE A Application January 28,

12 Clair-ns.

This invention pertains to footwear and relates more particularly toimprovements in that part of the shoe which supports the heel of the `foot and to a method of constructing a shoe embodying such improvements.

In the usual construction, the upper surface of the shoe bottom at that part on which the heel of the wearer rests is substantially flat or straight in a transverse direction, thus failing to conform to the'normal contour of the human heel. The ordinary shoe having a high heel, and particularly one provided with a Louis heel which has a very small tread surface, throws the foot out of its natural position and greatly increases the difculty of preserving the balance in walking, and if for any reason the vertical line of pressure of the heel of the foot is thrown laterally outside of the tread surface of the shoe heel, or even very close to one edge of the ltread surface, the difficulty of maintaining a proper balance is greatly increased, since the foot tends to turn in the shoe and the flat heel-supporting surface offers little resistance to such turning. This frequently results in sprained ankles or in pulling the heel from the shoe. Moreover, irrespective of the type of shoe heel employed, the flat surface upon which the wearers heel rests fails to dstributepthe pressure properly, causing undue fatigue and being a contributing factor in many foot troubles to which people wearing modern shoes are subject.

While certain previous attempts have been made to provide the shoe with a properly shaped heel-supporting surface, such prior proposals have been of little practical utility. Thus, for example, while it has been proposed to mold the surface to proper shape, such a process requires the provision of many expensive molds, since shoes of different sizes and styles could not be prepared by the use of the same mold. Moreover, molding imparts a convex curvature to the under or seat surface of the inner sole, so that it becomes necessary to use a shoe heel having a specially shaped seat surface, as otherwise the attachment of the heel would immediately destroy the molded shape of the inner sole. Others have attempted to attain the desired results by scooping out a portion of the upper surface of the inner sole, but this leaves little thickness for reception of the heel-attach ing fasteners and is unduly expensive. It has also been proposed'to arrange a specially shaped or molded pad on top of the inner sole at the heel but this is objectionable, rst because of the expense of making pads of all ofthe requisite sizes, and second because such a'pad is a conspicous element, obviously not an integral part of the shoe and thus objectionable from the selling standpoint. Difficulty is also experienced in keeping such a pad in proper position in the 1931.A Serial No. 511,776

shoe during wear and the `same objection applies to the proposed provision of a bevelled rand strip resting upon the top of the inner sole upon which the marginal portion of the Wearers heel rests.

In accordance with the `present invention I provide a shoe having aheel-supporting surface, which substantially conforms to the contour ofthe human heel, without conspicuously changing the appearance of the inside of the shoe and without unduly increasing the expense of manufacture, and in such a manner that the shape of the heel-supportingsurface is permanent. The means by which this result is obtained forms a permanent and integral part of the shoe construction. It requires no special or expensive apparatus in its production, and is applicable to shoes employing heels of any type. The result is attained in its preferred form by arranging a fille` strip, preferably a bevelled rand strip, beneath the rear or heel portion of the upper or main member of the inner sole, such strip extending along the margin of said member so as to support such margin at a level somewhat above the central part of said member upon which the heel rests.

Preferably after this iiller or rand strip has been secured to the main member of the inner sole, a relatively stiff and substantially flat reinforce or tuck piece is secured beneath the rand strip. The composite inner sole thus produced is assembled with the upper in usual manner and lasted, preferably employing a last having its heel surface somewhat more convex than usual so as to force the central part of the upper or main member of the inner sole into a concave form, the relatively greater stiffness of the tuck piece preventing the latter from bend, ing during the lasting process, so that in the lasted shoe the seat surface of the inner sole, as defined by the tuck piece, is substantially flat, While its upper surface defined by the main member is concave. Thus when the shoe heel is attached, the concavity of the upper surface of the inner sole is not-affected.

In the accompanying drawing, I have illus` trated a shoe embodying the present invention, together with certain preferred steps in the process of producing such a shoe.

Referring to the drawing: f

Fig. 1 is aside elevation of a shoe embodying the invention showing the `rear part of the shoek in vertical section substantially along the median longitudinal line of the shoe; the relative thickness of certain parts of the shoe'being exaggerated for purposes of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of an innersole embodying the present invention, before assemblage with the shoe upper;

' other suitable material.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the composite inner sole of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the inner sole of Fig. 2 with a part of the tuck piece broken away; Fig. 5 is atransverse section to larger scale on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a filler piece or welt strip bent to the form which is assumes when applied to the upper member of the inner sole;

Fig. '7 is a transverse section to larger scale on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a transverse section through the heel portion of a last of a form particularly adapted for use in the practice of my improved process.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the outer member of the shoe upper, said upper having a lining 2 and being provided at its rear portion with the counter 3 vinterposed between the lining 2 and the outer mem'- ber l. It is to be understood that the parts of the upper are of any usual construction and material and that the invention is not in any manner limited to any particular construction of shoe upper. The shoe also comprises an outer sole 4, the-heel 5, and an inner sole comprising the upper or main member 6. This member 6 may be of usual construction, shape and material, it being usual '-.to employ a material which is relatively soft and flexible for this purpose. This piece 6 usually extends substantially from the toe of the heel of the shoe and may be of integral one-piece construction or of any other desired form.

In accordance with the present invention I provide a filler or rand strip 10, which may be of leather, paper, fiber, rubber or in fact any other suitable material, preferably such as may be bent to follow the contour .of the Arear part of the inner sole. To facilitate its bending, one edge of this strip may be notched, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and '6. Preferably this'strip 10 is tapered in width from its outer edge 11 toward its inner edge .12,- (Fig. LT) 4and preferably the endsy of the strip are beveled or skived, as shown at 13 (Fig. 6). This :strip is preferably secured to the under side of the inner sole by means of adhesive or other suitable fastening means, for example stitches, and may be run on by means of a welt attaching machine or applied by hand or otherwise, as may be preferred. Since this stripis flexible and capable of bending, and since itmay be cut to any desired length it is obvious that such ller or rand strip material 'may be provided of ,a standard width and thickness in any desired length, from which.;suitable sections maybe cut andapplied to a `shoe of -any size by bending to .conform to the contour of the inner sole. 1

Preferably I `combine with the members 6 and 10 a relatively hard and stiff reinforce or truck member 7, whichmay be of fiberboard or4 any This member '7 is disposed beneath the stripl and may be secured to the member 6 by means of staples or adhesive, as is preferred. To this tuck member .7 there is preferably secured one end of the shank piece` 8,

usually of steeland attached by a staple 9, which passes through the tuck piece '1 and the member 6. This shank' piece 8 extends forwardly along the shank of the shoe and is secured by a second staple near its forward end directly to the member 6. 'Y

Having prepared a composite inner sole, as

thus described, including the parts 6 and l0, and

also the parts '1 and 8 if desired, I assemble this inner sole with the shoe upper and last the parts in usual manner, causing the edge 14 of the upper to overlap the marginal portion of the inner sole beneath the strip 10 as shown in Fig. 1. In thus lasting the shoe I prefer for best results to employ a last such as shown at L in Fig. 8, having its heel portion made somewhat more convex than usual as for example by securing a pad p to the under surface of the heel, with the result that the central part 15 (Fig. 1) of the member 6 at the heel portion of the shoe is depressed, so as to form a concavity for the reception of the heel of the foot. At the same time the stiff tuck memberA 7 remains substantially flat and straight. The outersole 4 and heel 5 are now -attached in any usual manner, and if desired an inner or slip sole 16 may be applied.

It will be noted that in the assembled and lasted sh'oe the filler or rand strip 10 is wholly concealed and in a position such that it cannot escape during use. The member 6 of the inner sole is uninterrupted at the heel portion, maintaining its usual thickness so as to provide ample anchorage for the heel attaching `fasteners and while the heel supporting surface of the shoe is concave, it does not present any such abnormal appearance as would detract from the selling value of the shoe. Since the results are attained without the use of special dies of machinery, it is clear that the improved shoe can be manufactured at a cost not greatly exceeding ordinary shoes, although possessing the advantages above described.

While I have illustrated one desirable embodiment of the invention and one mode of attaining the desired result, I wish it to be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to the specific details herein illustrated but that equivalents may be substituted for the parts or for the process steps enumerated.- that any desirable materials may be employed in carrying the process into effect, and that the Aorder of the process steps may be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

l. A shoe having an inner sole and an outer sole, a shank piece interposed between and secured to the inner sole, and a filler member below the iinner sole and extending along the margin of the latter at itsv heel portion, said filler member tapering in thickness .from its outer toward its inner edge, the inner sole being disposed substantially against the tapering portion of said ller member to provide a concave heel 4supporting surface substantially conforming to extending substantially continuously from its outer edges transversely across the shoe1 and a filler interposed between the heel portions of said upper and lower members, said fillerextending along the margins of said heel portions and tapering in thickness from its outer edge inwardly, `said lower member being relatively hard and stiff and providing a substantially flat and rigid seat for said filler, said upper member being depressed along the tapering portion of said ller and being disposed substantially in engagement with said lower member across the area enclosed by said filler to provide a concave heel supporting surface extending substantially continuously across the shoe and conforming substantially to the contour of the human'heel.

4. An inner sole for shoes comprising an upper relatively flexible member having a heel portion, and a substantially flat and relatively rigid lower member having a heel portion registering with the heel portion of the upper member, and a filler strip interposed between the margins of the heel portions of said upper and lower members, said filler strip being thick at its outer edge and tapering toward 'its inner edge, said upper member being depressed along the tapering portion of said filler strip and being disposed substantially in engagement with said lower member across the area enclosed by said lled strip to provide a concave heel supporting surface substantially conforming to the contour of the human heel.

5. An inner sole for shoes comprising upper and lower members having registering heel portions extending substantially continuously from the outer edges thereof across the shoe, the upper member being relatively soft and flexible and the lower member being substantially at and relatively hard and stiff, and a beveled rand strip seated on said lower member and extending along and between the margins of the heel portions of said upper and lower members, said upper member being depressed along the beveled rand strip and being disposed substantially in engagement with said lower member across the area thereof within the rand strip to provide a concave heel supporting surface extending substantially continuously across the shoe and substantially conforming to the contour of the human heel.

6: An inner sole for shoes comprising a member extending substantially from front to rear of the shoe and having a heel portion, a filler strip disposed below and concealed by said mem-A ber, said strip following the margin of said member and tapering in width inwardly from its outer edge thereby to support the marginal portion of said inner sole member at a higher level than the central part thereof, and a relatively hardand stiff reinforce member disposed beneath 'said 4strip and providing a substantially fiat 'seatsurface for the inner sole.

7. An inner sole for shoes comprising an upper member extending substantially continuously from the toe to and across the central portion of the heel of the shoe, said member being of `substantially uniform transverse thickness at the heel portion and having a downwardly concave upper surface to support the heel of the foot, a lower member disposed beneath the heel portion of said upper member, said lower member having a substantially flat under surface, means securing said upper andlowermembers together with the central part of the heel portion of said upper member supported by said lower member,

' and means cooperating with -these upper and to retain its substantially flat under surface after lasting of the shoe.

8. An inner sole for shoes comprising an upper member provided with a concave heel portion, a filler strip beveled along its inner edge and disposed beneath and about the margin'of 'said heel portion, a lower member of relatively hard fiberboard extending beneath said nller strip and beneath said heel portion of said upper member` to provide a rigid support for the superposed portion of both of the latter members, and means securing the aforementioned members together, said lower member having a substantially flat under surface and having sufficient stiffness to retain the latter surface substantially fiat after lasting.

9. That method of making shoes which comprises preparing a sole member, preparing a beveled rand strip, securing the rand strip to the under side of the sole member so as to extend around the rear marginal portion of the latter, securing a stiff tuck member to the under side of the sole member beneath said rand strip, assembling the aforesaid parts with an upper, and lasting the shoe.

10. I'hat method of making shoes which com` prises preparing a sole member, preparing -a beveled rand strip, securing the rand strip to the under side of the sole member so as to extend around the rear marginal portion of the latter, securing a stiff tuck member to the under side of the sole member beneath said rand strip, assembling the aforesaid parts with an upper, lasting the shoe by the use of a last having a convex heel surface such as to cause the middle part of the sole member to become concave, assembling an outer sole with the lasted shoe, and attaching a heel by means of fasteners extending through the rear portion of said sole member.

11. The method of making a shoe which comprises providing an inner sole having a flexible heel portion, providing a relatively stiff, substantially flat member to extend beneath said heel portion, assembling these parts in superposed re-V -lation with a rand strip disposed between the marginal portions thereof, depressing said heel portion against said relatively stiff substantially fiat member to form a downwardly concave upper surface on said heel 'portion substantially conforming to the contourof the human heel, and securingthese parts together in this relation, said relatively stiff substantially flat member having sufficient stiffness to retain the parts in this relationship after the lasting operation.

12. The method of making a shoe which comprises providing an inner sole having a flexible heel portion, providing a relatively stiff, substantially flat member to extend beneath said --heel portion, assembling these parts in superposed relation with a rand strip disposed between the marginal portions thereof, depressing said heel portion against said relatively stiff-substantially flat member to form a downwardly concave upper surface on said heel portion substantially conforming to the contour of the human heel, securing these parts together in this relation, said relatively stili substantially fiat member having sufficient stiffnessto retain the parts in this relationship after thelasting operation, and assembling the aforesaid parts on an upper and lasting the shoe;

- GEORGE MJRAY.

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