US1970254A

US1970254A - Tread member for shoes

Info

Publication number: US1970254A
Application number: US709444A
Authority: US
Inventors: Peter B Sullivan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1934-02-02
Filing date: 1934-02-02
Publication date: 1934-08-14
Anticipated expiration: 1951-08-14

Description

1934. PVB. SULLIVAN I TREAD MEMBER FOR SHOES Filed Feb, 2, 1934 derstood from the following description when brought thereto in such a relationship that its Patented Aug. 14, 1934 1 UNITED sTATss smear FFEQE TREAD MEBEER FOR. SHOES Peter B. Sullivan, Randolph, Mass.

Application February 2, 1934, .Serial No. 709,444

8 Claims. (Cl. 3636) This invention relates to the construction of to in substantially the manner illustrated in Figs. the bottom members of boots and shoes, herein- 1, 2 and 3. after referred to generically as shoes. Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the construc- As is well known by those skilled in this art, tion there shown comprises a wood heel 2 which,

I it is a common practice to secure a leather orrubas shown in Fig. 3, may be covered in the usual 1061 top lift to the bottom of theheel of a shoe manner. Formed in the bottom or tread face of where it forms the tread member. Practically this heel is a cavity 3 which may, if desired, exall of the wear of the heel comes on this tread tend through to the breast surface of the heel in element and since this wear usually occurs more case the tread face of the heel is of very small '10 rapidly at one margin than the other of the heel, dimensions, this, however, not usually being it is desirable to renew these members before the necessary. Secured to said bottom face is a metal wear has proceeded far enough to distort the upplate a having suitable holes punched thereper of the shoe. This is particularly true in through to receive the screws, nails, or other faswomens high heeled shoes. Much the same tenings by means of which it is secured in place.

15 problem occurs also in the forepart of ashoe when The top lift or tread element for this heel is it is desired to attach tread members of any kind shown at 5, and preferably consists of a rubber to the outsole. lift provided with an integral lug 6 extending up The present invention deals especially with Wardly from its upper surface. This lug should these considerations, and it aims to devise a conbe of greater length than width and may con- 2Q struction which will securely hold such tread veniently be given the shape of an ellipse, as members in their normal or operative positions, shown. Formed through the plate 4 is an aperwhile at the same time facilitating the renewal of ture 7 of the same shape and dimensions as the such members when occasion arises. horizontal outline of the lug 6, so that this lug The nature of the invention will be readily uncan be inserted through the plate when it is read in connection with the accompanying drawlongitudinal axis registers with that of the apering, and the novel features will be particularly ture '7. After the lug has been pushed through pointed out in the appended claims. the aperture, the entire tread member 5 with the In the drawing, lug 6 may be rotated in a clockwise direction, as

' 30 Figure 1 is a perspective View of portions of a indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, until the side -5Q her embodying features of this invention; ture '7 where they will bite into the side of the heel for a womans shoe embodying features of of the lug 6 brings up against a stop 8, Figs. 1 and this invention; r 2, projecting upwardly from the plate 4 and Fig. 2 is a plan viewof certain of the parts formed integral with it. This prevents further illustrated in Fig. l but showing them removed rotation of the lug and tread member, but at this 35 from the heel; time the longer horizontal dimension of the lug Fig. 3 is a vertical, longitudinal, sectional view extends at right angles to that of the aperture 7 of a heel of the general construction illustrated so that its ends are projecting over the edges of in Fig. 1; the plate 4, these edges biting into the very short Fig. 4 is a bottom View of a shoe showing addin k w h ts the lu 6 With' ts supp tin 40 tional tread members removably secured in posimember 1 fact, this neck y be e S tion by means embodying features of this inven- P y Cutting i o the pp s ds 0f t e 111% ti v V at approximately its junction with the main body Fig. 5 is a vertical, sectional view on approxiof the e colilsequently. When e -m the i Fig I parts are in this relationship, the tread member 4 Fig 6 is a perspective View of One of the metal is secured firmly to the lower face of the heel 2 and in its operative relationship to said heel. g g i theiorepalft the $11.08 shwn In order to lock the top lift or other tread member 5' against backward rotation, a series Fig. '7 is an angular view of another tread memof teeth 9 are formed in the edge of the amp 8 is a Vertibal, Sectional V w through a lug 6, these teeth being inclined in the direction portion of a Shoe equipped h the member H1115- of original rotation of the lug so that they exert t a i and v a highdegree of resistance against backward Fig. 9 isa bottom view of the heel endof a shoe rotation, thus practically locking the lug against 55 showing additional tread members secured theresuch backward rotative movement.

When the tread member has become worn and it is desired to renew it, sufiicient force can be applied to the old member to back it up against the resistance of the teeth 9, it being then immaterial whether or not the teeth ruin the lug. When this rotative movement has proceeded far enough to bring the lug into register with the aperture 7, the member 5 may be removed by pulling the lug out of the aperture, after which this member may be replaced by a new one in the manner above described.

The invention thus provides a construction which will securely hold the top lift to the heel or other bottom member of the shoe but with V which, nevertheless, renewal of the tread member can easily be effected when desired. By making the upper surface of the member 5 somewhat concave, as shown in Fig. 1, its edges can be made to hug the lower surface of the plate 4 closely so that a good fit of this member against the plate is obtained.

Essentially the same construction can be used in securing other tread members-to the bottom of the shoe, at either the heel or forepart, as desired, and the character and the shapes of the tread members so fastened to the shoe can be varied widely. For example, Fig. 9 shows three such tread members indicated, respectively, at 10, 11 and 12, all secured to the heel base of a shoe by plates 4 and lugs 6' essentially like the plates 4 and the lugs 6 above described, except for the difierence in dimensions and shapes, the plates being secured by nails, rivets, or other fastenings, to the bottom of the heel base. At the same time any one of these members 10, 11 or 12 can be removed or replaced with a new one whenever desired.

For some purposes, as for instance in attaching tread members to the outsole of a shoe, it may be preferable to replace the plate 4 with a plate construction such as that illustrated at 14 in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. This plate is located in an aperture cut through the outsole 15 to receive it, and it has a portion provided with an aperture '7 like the aperture 7 of the device shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. At opposite ends of the aperture the plate also is provided with shouldered portions 16-16 of approximately the thickness of the outsole, and the ends of the plate are turned over at the upper edges of these shoulders to provide flanges 1'717 which lie between the insole and outsole or between other layers of the shoe bottom, these flanges being perforated to receive rivets or other fasteners for securing the plates to the shoe-bottom. An outsole with these plates located in it and riveted to it can be supplied to the trade as an article of manufacture. The tread memberssecured in these plates may be of circular form, as indicated at 20-20, Figs. 4 and 5, or they may be of any other desired shape, eachof these membersbeing provided with a lug like that shown at 6 Fig. 1. These tread members thus can be-renewed whenever desired. They are useful not only for the ordinary purposes for whichsuch tread elements are applied to the outsoles of shoes, but, in addition, they can be made of such areas as to furnish substantially the entire tread or wear receiving surface of a shoe for children and this member having an extension 21 projecting laterally therefrom and provided with an up- Wardly extending flange preferably terminating in a lip 22, this flange and the lip being designed to fit over the edge face of the sole with the lip extending into the welt crease, or other corresponding portion of the shoe, both for the purpose of protecting the edge of the sole and also to reduce the strain on the upstanding lug caused by the scuifing of the feet. This device is releasably secured to the shoe by a plate construction like those shown in any of the preceding figures.

The invention thus provides a construction for securing tread members to any portion of a shoe bottom which holds these members securely in position, while at the same time facilitating the renewal of them by the wearer whenever desired.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

. For example, if the invention is to be applied to outsoles of the molded types, such as rubber and fiber soles, the plates 14 can be molded into the body of the outsole, the molds being so designed as to produce the cavities required to receive the lugs which are inserted through the apertures in these plates.

1-Iaving thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. A shoe bottomhaving a cavity extending thereinto from the bottom face thereof, a plate secured to a member of the shoe bottom and partly covering said cavity, a tread memberhav ing a lugrigid therewith and projecting from the upper face thereof, said plate having an aperture to admit said lug when the lug is presented in a predetermined positional relationship thereto, said lug and aperture being of such dimensions as to cause a relative turning movement of said lug and said plate, after the lug has been inserted through said aperture and positioned in said cavity, to lock saidlug and said tread :member to said shoe bottom and against withdrawal therefrom.

2. A construction according to preceding claim 1, including means for limiting the rotative movement of said lug into its locking relationship to said plate, and additional means for substantially preventing a backward rotation of the lug away from said locking position.

3. A construction according to preceding claim 1, in which said plate carries a stop serving to limit the rotation of said lug into its looking relationship to the plate, and is also provided with teeth to bite into said tread member and efiectively resist backward rotation of said lug away from its locking position.

4. A construction according to preceding claim .1, in which said tread member is made of rubber and is provided with an extension projecting beyond the, main body of the member and adapted to fit around and protect the exposed edge face of the shoe bottom.

5. A construction according to preceding claim 1, in which said tread member is made of rubber and said. lug is integral, therewith and is connected to the main body of 'said member by a short neck reduced in diameter, whereby said member will fit snugly against the bottom of said plate and the edges of said lug will overlie the edges of the aperture at the top of the plate.

ioo

6. A shoe bottom member having a cavity extending thereinto from the bottom face thereof, a plate secured to the shoe bottom and partly covering said cavity, a tread member having a lug rigid therewith and projecting from the upper face thereof, said plate having an aperture of greater length than width and said lug being correspondingly shaped to pass through said aperture when inserted therein with the longer dimension of the lug registering with that of the aperture, said lug having a neck of reduced diameter connecting the main body of the lug with the main body of said tread member, whereby the lug and member may be given a partial rotation after the lug has been inserted through said aperture and into said cavity to cause the edges of the plate at opposite sides of said aperture to enter said reduced neck and leave portions of said lug overlying said edges and thereby locking said member to the shoe bottom.

'7. A construction according to preceding claim 1, in which the shoe bottom member consists of a shoe heel, said plate is secured to the lower face of said heel and has an outline conforming to that of said face, and said tread member is made of rubber and forms a top lift for said heel.

8. A construction according to preceding claim 1, in which the plate is made of metal and is shouldered at opposite ends of said aperture to extend through the shoe bottom and is provided with outwardly extended flanges above the apertured portion of the plate and offset with reference thereto to facilitate the anchoring of said plate between the layers of the shoe bottom.

PETER B. SULLIVAN.