US2024154A - Sole pressing means and method of making shoes - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 17, 1935. 5 J NN 2,024,154

SOLE PRESSING MEANS AND METHOD OF MAKING SHOES v Filed Aug. 14, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 17, 1935. 5 J, N 2,024,154

SOLE PREISSING MEANS AND METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Filed Aug. 14, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 5. //V\ f/V TU/L 9% 2 m mm Patented Dec. 17, 1935 PATENT oFFICE SOLE PRESSING MEANS AND METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Sidney J. Finn, Beverly, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation,- Paterson, N. .L, a corporation of New Jersey Application August 14, 1931, Serial No. 556,996

25 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of shoemaking and particularly to methods and apparatus for pressing and shaping the bottoms of shoes.

In one system of shoemaking' in commonu se, pressure is applied to the shoe bottom, that is,.to the outsole, by means of a flexible diaphragm which is pressed against the shoe bottom by fluid pressure, the shoe and sole being provided with suitable cement to insure the permanent attachment of the'sole to the shoe under this pressure and without the use of other fastenings. In the use of this system, the shoes are required to remain under pressure a considerable time for the cement to" become thoroughly set, and, in order to provide a suitable factor of safety, the shoes are often left under pressure for a time after the cement has set. Frequently, because of the flexibility of "the diaphragm, the considerable pressure applied through it to the solev of the shoe, and the length of time that the shoe remains under pressure, the irregularities of the surface of the shoe to which the sole is applied are reproduced, to an extent, on the outer surface of the sole. It is also difiicult so to control the flexibility of the diaphragm that the margin of the sole will not be bent up at the'forepart more than is desired for some kinds of shoes.

Objects of this invention are to impart to the shoe sole while the cement is setting the exact shape desired for the sole of the finished shoe and to avoid the necessity of further shaping of the shoe sole after the cement has set.

Further objects of this invention are to provide a method and apparatus whereby it is possible to produce, on right and left shoes and throughout a run of sizes, shoe bottoms which, except for size and right and left. characteristics, are practically identical and of the character presented by a given sample.

It should be noted that the method and apparatus of this invention are equally applicable 'whether the final shape is imparted to the sole as a part of the cement sole attaching operation or whether the final shape is imparted to the sole as a separate operation afterthe sole has been previously secured to the shoe by means other than cement.

A feature of the invention consists in a mold or matrix of semi-rigid, resilient material having its shoe engaging face shaped to the contour it is desired to impart to the shoe bottom. The

.portions of said mold which engage the margin of the shoe bottom may be less rigid inresponse to pressure than the central portion. As illustrated, the marginal portions of mold are reed shoe. Preferably, the semi-rigid material of the mold is resilient so that the overmolded portion can yield under the sole conforming pressure and will re-assume its initial overmolded contour upon release of the pressure. As set forth herein,

the matrix or mold, which has one face shaped 5 substantially to correspond to the shape it is desired to impart to the shoe bottom, may be made from a sheet of hard rubber in a high state of vulcanization or of porous hard rubbenpreferably provided with non-porous surfaces. In another aspect, the invention consists of a shoe press having a shoe holder,a dilatable pad, and a sole engaging member, illustrated herein as a mold or matrix, to be located between the sole and the pad, said member being sufflciently rigid to prevent the latter from conforming to the lesser irregularities of the shoe bottom and yet sufliciently flexible to be conformable under pressure of the dilatable member to the shoe bottom as a whole so that it will assume the longitudinal and transverse curvatures of different shoes of the same style.

In another aspect the invention consists in a method of shaping shoe bottoms which comprises applying a replica, formed in semi-rigid mateas rial and having the shape which it is desired to impart to a shoe bottom, to the sole of the shoe, and then pressing the replica against the shoe bottom to cause the shape of the replica to be imparted to the shoe sole. Preferably the pres- 40 sure applied tothe margin of the sole is greater than that applied to its central portion.

Preferably. the moldable material from which the replica is made is such that it can be softened by heat so that it will respond to pressure of the form andwhen cool will retain the shape imparted to it. Preferably also the material'is semi-rigid and resilient so that it can befi'fiexed slightly underpressure either longitudinally or transversely to enable it to confo b more accurately to the bottoms of shoes whichit ough intended to be identical, may have slight variations due to non- ,uniformityof the materials from which they are ing sufllcient to cause it to return to its initial shape when the pressure is released. Celluloid is another example of suitable material from which the replica may be molded.

These and other features of the invention will appear more fully from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a model shoe the form of the bottom of which is to be reproduced in other shoesi this figure may also be used to represent other shoes treated in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a lasted shoe ready to have a sole cemented thereto;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a sole prepared for application to the shoeshown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away and-in section, of a mold or matrix embodying the "present invention and having its upper face contoured to correspond to the shape it is desired to impart to a shoe bottom; and

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of sole pressing apparatus, the shoe and the shoe holding means being shown in side elevation.

While various methods may be employed for producing a semi-rigid mold or matrix having a sole engaging surface that corresponds to a given sample shoe and'for duplicating, reversing and grading such forms to provide for a run of shoe sizes and for rights and lefts, the following illustrative'example of a practicalmethod is given:

A sample shoe, for example a sample right shoe as illustrated in Fig. 1, will be made, which shoe has its sole untrimmed but the bottom of which has been shaped or leveled," and also, if necessary, beaten out and buffed down by hand or otherwise to the exact contour which the manufacturer desires to reproduce indefinitely in rights and lefts and in a run of sizes, particular attention being given, of course, to the shaping of the shank and forepart.

This sample shoe cannot be used directly to shape by pressure a form for use in shaping other soles because it is not sufficiently rigid to withstand the pressure required without destroying the fine lines and delicate characteristics which have been imparted to it and which it is desired to reproduce not only in other right shoes but also in left shoes and in a run of sizes. Therefore, an intaglio replica. of the bottom of the shoe is made by pressing the shoe into molding sand or by making a cast of it in plaster-of- Paris. Thus, without distortion of the shape of the shoe bottom, its shape is reproduced in the sand or plaster. From this intaglio sand or plaster mold a plaster cast is made which faithfully reproduces the shape of the sand or plaster mold and hence represents the original shoe bottom.

Preferably the bottom of this plaster form is slightly reduced about the peripheral margins at locations and to an amount suflicient so that if this plaster form could be used to impart by pressure its shape to a blank of materials suitable for a shoe bottom pressing mold or matrix the resulting intaglio impressions would be like the impression made by the shoe except that the margins thereof formed by the reduced portion of the male form, would be slightly lifted so that they would engage the shoe first and apply pressure to the shoe first about its periphery before the center portion came into bearing. Since, however, this plaster form is not strong enough and lefts.

for such use, it is employed to make in plaster a female mold which corresponds to the shape of the shoe bottom desired, except that the margins of the mold are somewhat overmolded; that is, the transverse curvature of the mold, especially at 5 its margins, is slightly greater than that of the sample shoe. From this plaster mold a cast is made in strong rigid material, for example Woods metal. This metal form is utilized as a pattern in a last lathe from which wooden duplicates are turned in a run of sizes and in rights Last lathes suitable for this purpose are disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,733,207, granted October 29, 1929, on application of Ryan and Burke, and in United States Letters Patent No. 1,860,723, granted May 31, 1932, upon the application of George F. Ryan. Thus, a series of wooden forms of the required sizes and rights and lefts are provided each of which has the bottom characteristics of the go sample shoe plus the overmolding as described. To produce from this series of wooden forms intaglio or female molds or matrices for use in shaping shoe bottoms, each isused as follows: A sheetof material as large as the bottom of the g5 mold is provided, the material being preferably of a nature which can be rendered moldable by heat and become substantially rigid and preferably resilient when cool.' This sheet is heated and placed in a suitable press on a yielding support, for example, in a machine of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,549,243, granted August 11, 1925, on applicationof E. E. Winkley. Theform is then pressed into the material sufficiently to form therein an intaglio u impression corresponding to the shoe bottom shape'plus the overmold.

While various semi-rigid materials'which can be rendered responsive to pressure by heat may be employed for forming the matrices such, for 40 example, as balata and celluloid or pyroxylin,

I have found porous hard rubber to be best suited for the purpose. This material can readily be obtained commercially in sheets one quarterof an'inch thick and having thin, non-porous sur- I face layers, the interior portion, however, being quite porous and similar to sponge rubber but having a higher degree of vulcanization so that it is resilient'and semi-rigid when cold but when heated is moldable under'pressure into the shape of the shoe bottom without alteration of its cellular structure and retains the molded shape when cool.

The sheet of material is then removed and preferably trimmed to substantially the sole size, 58 the impression therein serving to indicate the line to which it should be trimmed. After trimming, the margin of the sole-shaped matrix is preferably reduced in thickness on the side which does not engage the sole to form a beveled mar- 00 ginal portion. This reduction of the margin, of course, renders the margin of the matrix more easily flexed and responsive to pressure than the remainder of the matrix. Similar matrices are made from the other wooden forms to produce 05 a series of molds or matrices in rights and lefts and in a run of sizes. One of the series of matrices 10 is illustrated in Fig. 4 in which the reduced margin is indicated at l2.

These molds, while well adapted for general use in shaping shoe bottoms, are of special utility in connection with the manufacture of compo shoes, that is, shoes in which cement such as pyroxylin cement is relied upon permanently to secure the shoe and sole together without the 18 use of other fastening means. In the manufacture ofsuch shoes it is necessary to maintain the shoe and sole pressed together under considerable pressure (sixty or seventy pounds to the square inch) for a considerable length of time, for example about half an hour, while the cement sets. This pressure is usually produced by forcing a flexible diaphragm against the shoe bottom by fluid pressure. Under such conditions the irregularities of the sole-receiving surface or bottom of the lasted shoe are apt to be reproduced to an objectionable degree on the exposed face of the sole. However, by utilizing a mold or matrix made as above described and embodying.

the present invention between the shoe sole and the flexible diaphragm, a shoe bottom may be produced which is free from the blemishes incident to prior methods but which also has reproduced therein all the characteristics of the bottom of the sample shoe which it is desired to reproduce in other shoes.

The method of using the matrices I0 is illustrated in Fig. 5 where a pad' box l4 having a flexible diaphragm l6 and shoe holding means comprising a toe pad l8 and a heel rest 20 for the last are shown. This apparatus may be similar to that disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,897,105, granted February 14, 1933, on an application flled in the name of Milton H. Ballard. A shoe 22 is prepared as usual, corresponding to the model shoe shown in Fig. 1 and having the overlasted margin of its upper 24 roughened and coated with cement which has been allowed to dry (Fig. 2). A sole 25 (Fig. 3), preferably molded to fit the last bottom, has its margin 28 roughened and coated with cement which has also been allowed to dry. A suitable solvent is then applied to the shoe or sole, or both, and the sole placed on a suitable matrix H! positioned on the diaphragm l6 of the sole press. The shoe 22 is placed on the sole 26 and held thereon by the holding means l8 and 20. Fluid pressure is then applied to the diaphragm l6 by upward movement of a plunger 30 which lifts a door-like member 32 in the bottom of a casing 34 and causes liquid in the casing to press upwardly uniformly on all portions of the diaphragm Hi. This pressure acts through the matrix ID to impart the shape of the matrix to the shoe bottom. The marginal portions l2 of the matrix M, yield to the applied pressure sufflciently toinsure the applicationof the greatest. pressure.

to the peripheral portion of the shoe bottom where the cement is located,the semi-rigidimatrix i0 yielding sufllciently as a whole toconform to the longitudinal curvature of the shoe bottom as much as may be required to conform the sole to a shoe bottom intended to'be identical with that of the sample shoe.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A mold or matrix for pressing shoe bottoms formed of semi-rigid material and having portions thereof which engage extreme marginal portions only of the sole about the forepart thereof more yielding and hence more conformable to the shoe bottom under pressure than the central portion.

2. A mold or matrix for pressing shoe bottoms formed of semi-rigid material marginal portions of which throughout the shank and forepart are continuous but are less rigid in response to pressure than the central portion and hence more easily conformable to the shape of the periphery of the shoe bottom.

3. A mold or matrix for pressingshoe bottoms formed of semi-rigid resilient material and having thin margins to render the marginal portion I more conformable to the shoe bottom under pressure than the central portion, said mold, because of its resiliency, assuming its initial shape when the pressurais removed. v

4. A mold or matrix for pressing shoe bottoms 10 formed of semi-rigid material and having marginal portions thereof overmolded to insure contact of marginal portions-.of the matrix with the sole prior to contact of theji central portion therewith when the mold is prssed upon the sole of l a shoe. f.

5. A mold or matrix for pressing shoe bottoms formed of hard rubber and having marginal portions thereof overmolded tofj insure contact of marginal portions of the matrix with the sole I prior to contact. of the central portionthere- I thickness sufllciently rigid-to prevent it from conforming to the lesser irregularities of the shoe bottom and yet sufficiently resilient to be conformable as a whole to, variations in the l0ngl-. tudinal and transverse-"curvatures ofdiiferent shoes of the same style.

7. A mold for pressing shoe bottoms, saidmold having a substantiallysmooth'sole engag n sur- I face and being formed of thermoplastic sheet material suiliciently hard and rrigid to prevent it from conforming to the 'less er'irregularities of the shoe bottom and yetsuflioiently resilient to be conformable as -aiwhole to variations in the longi- 40 tudinal and'transverse curvatures of the bottoms of diiferentslioes of the same styler 8. Afshoe pressing device comprising a. sheet of. materialfperipherally shaped like a shoe sole and having 'its sole engaging face. contoured to 45 correspond to the surface it is desired to impart tog the shoe sole by pressure of the device against the :bottomof the shoe, said device being oversheet of celluloid'having its sole engaging face contoured to correspond to the surface it is desired to impart tothe shoe sole by pressure of 55 the device against the bottom of the shoe, said device being overmolded at those portions where it engages the marginal portions of the shoe sole to cause said pressure to be intensified atthe margins of the shoe sole.

10. A shoe press comprising a shoe holder, 9. dilatable pad, a sole engaging member shaped peripherally to correspond to the shape and size of a shoe sole, said member being of substantially rigid but resilient material, and means for .dilat- 65 ing the pad.

11. A shoe press comprising a shoe holder. 1 dilatable pad, a celluloid sole.-;engaging member shaped peripheralh to correspond in shape and size to a shoe sole, and means for dilating the 70 pad.

12. A shoe press comprisingfatshoe holder, a dilatable pad, and a sole engaging member made of porous hard rubber, said member having its shoe engaging surface molded to a shape corre- 13 sponding substantially to the shape it is desired to impart to the shoe sole.

13. A shoe press comprising a shoe holder, a dilatabie pad, a sole engaging niember sufficiently rigid to prevent it from conforming to the lesser irregularities of the shoe bottom and yet sufliciently flexible to be conformable as a'whole to variations in the longitudinal and transverse curvatures of difl'erent shoes'of the same style, and means for dilating the pad.

14. A shoe press comprising a shoe holder, a dilatable pad, and a sole engaging member shaped peripherally to correspond'to the shoe sole and having its marginal portion reduced .to render said portionimore flexible than the central portion.

15. A shoe press comprising a shoe holder, a dilatable pad, and a celluloid sole engaging member shaped peripherally to correspond to the shape of the shoe sole 'and having its marginal portion reduced to render said portion more flexible than the central portion.

16. A shoe press comprising a shoe'holdena dilatable pad, and a sole engaging member shaped peripherally to correspond to the shoe sole and having its marginal portion reduced and beveled to a thin edge to render the marginal portion yielding relatively to the central portion.

1'7. A sole pressing device comprising a sheet of hard rubber having a porous interior, said sheet being shaped on one face tocorrespondto the shape of a shoe bottom.

18. A sole pressing device comprising a sheet of porous hard rubber, one of the faces of said sheet being non-porous and shaped to correspond substantially to the shape of a shoe bottom.

19. A sole pressing device comprising a sheet of celluloid one face of which is shaped to conform substantially to and receive the sole of a shoe with the concavity of its marginal portion slightly exaggerated as compared to the convexity of the shoe bottom, the opposite face of said sheet being beveled peripherally to provide a thin edge."

20. A sole pressing device comprising a sheet of porous hard rubber having non-porous faces, one of said faces being shaped to correspond sub-' stantially to the longitudinal and transverse curvatures of a shoe bottom, the transverse curvature being slightly in excess of the transverse curvature of the shoe bottom and the sheet being sumciently resilient to adapt itself: under pressure to slight variations in the longitudinal curvature of different shoes of similar style.

21. 'A shoe press comprising shoe holding means, means for applying to the shoe sole pressure substantialiy uniform per unit of area, and substantially rigid means between the sole and said pressure applying means, said rigid means having on its sole engaging face a contour corresponding substantially to that which it is desired to impart to the'sole, said engaging face having a slightly greater-transverse curvature than the 5 a member having a surface contour correspond- .ing to that which it is desired to impart to the '15 shoe sole but of more pronounced curvature at marginal portions thereof than the shoe sole is to have, said marginal portions being yieldable relatively to the remainder of the member under pressure to cause the member to correspond to the desired shape of the sole, and applying pressure between the shoeand said member while said member is yieldingly supported to cause the marginal portions of the member to yield and the shape of said member after so yielding to be imparted to at least the shank and forepart of the sole.

23. That improvement in methods of shaping the bottoms of shoes which consists in providing a member having a surface corresponding to the shape that it is desired to impart to the shoe sole but having a more pronounced curvature at its margin than the shoe sole is to have, said margins being yieldable under pressure to cause the member to assume the desired shape of the 1 sole, and applying pressure which is uniform per-unit of area to said member to cause the shape of the'member to be imparted to the shoe sole, the resistance of said margins to yielding causing greater pressure to be applied to the margins 40 of the sole than to its central portion.

24. That improvement in methods of shaping shoe bottoms which includes applying to the bottom of a shoe an intaglio mold or matrix composed of molded semi-rigid material, corresponding in shape to the bottom of a sample shoe like the shoe which is being operated on, and having its marginal portion more yielding than its central portion, and pressing the shoe bottom and the mold together while the mold is sup- 5o ported by yielding material.

25. A sole pressing device comprising a sheet of hard rubber in ahigh state of vulcanization to render the same semi-rigid and resilient, said sheet being shaped on one face to orrespond to the shape of the shoe bottom.

SIDNEY J. FINN.

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