US1987806A - Heel rest - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 15, 1935. L STARK 1,987,806

HEEL REST Filed May 23, 1934 INVENTOR 00/5 5 r/IRK Patented Jan. 15, 1935 HEEL REST A Louis 'S tark, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Kastar Spec1alty Mfg.'Co., Inc., Newllork, N. Y., a

corporation of New York ApplicationMay .23, 1934, SerialNo. 727,118

2 Claims.

This invention relates'to heel rests, especially to a heel rest adapted tobe used upon the floor of an automobile adjacent to afoot-operated lever, and more particularly to the type of heel rest 5 intendedto be sold toyand applied by, the individual user. a 1 .1 I

The general objectof the invention is to provide a heel rest in the 'form of a relatively small pad of resilient, elastic material, with an adhesive surface by which the pad can be readily secured in desired position upon the floor of a car, without the use of other fastening means, and to furnish the pad with asep'arately formed expendable protective cover =self adherent to said adhesive surface and which will maintain the latter for-an indefinite period in fresh adhesive condition, but can be readily stripped therefrom when the heel rest is to be installed.

. Another object of the invention is to provide heel rest characterized by sufficient flexibility to facilitate its accommodation to floor surfaces in angular relation to each other, and to such inequalities of surface as may exist upon the floor.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such a heel rest with an upper surface of the elastic material formed with a series of. several heel seats adapted respectively to receive the heel of the user in any'selected one of a series of positions, and thus toaid the user automatically to place the heel properly, having regard to the length of the users foot and to the desirable position of the foot in different operative positions of an accelerator pedal or other foot operated lever, .it being a fact well known 35" to drivers of cars that certain positions of the foot are more comfortable and restful to the user when the car is being driven at a steady, high speed, than the position desirably occupied by the foot at the time of starting the car, for example.

Among other objects of the invention is to provide a heel rest possessing the above characteristics, and which is formed of sponge rubber, which acts as a cushion for the heel of the user, preventing the transmision of jars and vibrations to the user body, and protecting both the heel of the user and the floor or floor covering of the car against the mutual wear ordinarily occurring in driving an automobile.

A cognate object is to provide such a heel rest as a one-piece article of manufacture of simple but sturdy and durable composition, not liable to change its position, nor to deteriorate or get out of order, and which can be manufactured and sold profitably at a price which makes it possible to satisfy an increasing present demand for such heelrests, the need for which has been long: experienced but has not been met by articles of more complicated structure, owing partly to their prohibitory cost and partly to difficulties in their application and to various inconveniences in their use. 1 w

The above, and other features of the invention, are illustrated and described fully in the accompanying drawing and specification and are pointed out'in the claims.

In the drawing:

Fig; 1-is a plan view of the heel rest in accordance with my invention;

Fig.-2 is a view in section illustrating the manner of removing the protective member from the adhesive surface of the heel rest preparatory to aflixing the latter in its operative position; and

Fig. 3=isa view in'side elevation of a somewhat" schematic nature, showing a heel rest embodying the present" invention as applied to the floorof an automobile, the device being shown in use.

In the illustrative embodiment of the invention, the reference character 11 designates generally a heel rest formed of sponge rubber of suitable thickness, say one halfof an inch, more or less, and desirably greater in width than the largest shoe heel likely to be encountered in use, a suitable over-all width of three to four inches having been found serviceable inthose already manufactured and used in sufficient quantities to yield satisfactory performance.-

The over-all length may vary as found desirable, and the peripheral contour is not important, the heel rest illustrated taking the form of an over-sized heel lift of conventional shape, about four inches in length, as a pad of the proportions shown has an area sufficient to permit the provision in the upper surface 12 of a series of arcuate recesses 13, approximately semicircular in extent (somewhat less, in practice) arranged in tandem relation from front to rear.

Each of these recesses may desirably have a relatively flat bottom 14, the plane of each inclining rearwardly and inwardly relatively to the bottom plane of the pad, and each recess terminating in an arcuate abutment 15 to be engaged selectively by the user's heel, while the forward margin 16 of each recess bottom is preferably tangent to, or near the peripheral rear margin of the next recess, so that the heel will easily pass from one to the other.

In pursuance of the invention, the bottom face 17 of the pad. is provided with an adhesive surface 18, either by the application of a separately formed adhesive substance, such as rubber cement, or by treatment of the rubber by a suitable solvent, or otherwise, to render it desirably adhesive with respect to the wooden floor of an automobile, or to such conventional floor coverings as rubber mats, etc.

In further pursuance of the invention, means 19 are provided to protect this adhesive surface against casual deformation and to' maintain it against deterioration by atmospheric action for the indefinite period intervening between manufacture and utilization of the pad, and as a now preferred form of such Y protective means, the

drawing illustrates a ply of holland linen 19, as

this material has been found very satisfactory in use.

It is not easily soiled and therefore keeps an attractive appearance until it is to be stripped from the pad, and as the material is very' tough, the stripping operation can be readily performed without rupturing the ply and leaving Darts thereof on the adhesive surface. It is desirably moisture repellant. and non-wilting under trying atmospheric conditions,

In applying the novel heel rest above disclosed, after a simple cleansing of the floor surface upon which the pad is to be set, as by the use of the readily available asoline,..the protective covering 19 is stripped from the pad. and gasoline is applied lightly to the adhesive surface 18 thus exposed. Then the pad is pressed firmly against the cleansed portion of the floor in its desired position, where it will adhere firmly, without the need for nailing or other separate fastenings whereby the door might be marred.

In use, the flexibility of the pad permits its adjustment to any angle of the floor boards; the user can easily fit his or her shoe heel'into that one of the recesses 13 which is. best adapted to hold the heel in proper driving position, according to the length of the users foot, and the nature of the driving operation at any time, a slight lifting of the heel facilitating any desired adjustment of position,

Such adjustment does not require any special effort on the part of the user, nor distract his attention from thedriving operations. and when the heel is seated, the clinging action of the rubber prevents slipping in any direction.

This relievesthe user of one notable element of fatigue in driving, and the cushioning action of the rubber obviates the element of fatigue resulting from the transmission of jolts and vibrations to the users foot which always occurs in the absence of such protection.

The heel and floor are mutually protected against wear. and there is no greater wear upon the pad, but when it is worn out it can be removed readily and a fresh pad substituted at inconsiderable cost.

The relatively small size of the individual pads makes it possible to provide two or more in desired positions, such provision resulting in a neater arrangement than if a single large pad be utilized, and if one of the pads Wears out sooner than another, it may be replaced without disturbing the others, and at less cost of replacement than if a single large pad has to be replaced.

Other advantages resulting from the use of the invention disclosed will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the illustrated structure may be modified to meet the exigencies of particular applications of the invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

I claim:

1 As an article of manufacture a heel rest of the class described, comprising a pad or body of resilient, flexible material formed in one piece with a series of recesses in its upper surface to receive the heelof a users shoe in any of several positions, said pad havingv on its lower face an adhesive surface, and an expendable ply of suitable material in adherent relation with said. surface and adapted to be stripped manually therefrom to expose said adhesive surface for application to the floor of an automobile, said heel rest being further characterized by having said recesses respectively each occupying an area so disposed that the bottom of each recess occupies a plane tilted upwardly and forwardly from an upright abutment rear wall to the level of the upper surface of the pad.

2. As an article of manufacture a heel rest of the class described comprising a pad or body of sponge rubber formed in one piece with a series of recesses in its upper surface to receive the heel of a users shoe in any of several positions, said pad having on its lower face an adhesive surface, and an expendable ply of suitable material in adherent relation with said surface and adapted to be stripped manually therefrom to expose said adhesive surface for application to the floor of an automobile, said heel rest being further characterized by having said recesses respectively each occupying an area substantially semicircular in form, and so disposed that the bottom of each recess occupies a plane tilted upwardly and forwardly from an upright arcuate abutment rear wall to the level of the upper surface of the pad, and the forward margin of each of the rearward recesses is defined by a chord of the semi-circular area closely adjacent to the arcuate abutment of the next recess in order.

LOUIS STARK.

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