US2043819A - Device for leveling shoe soles - Google Patents

Description

June 9, 1936. J. TWEEDIE DEVICE FOR LEVELING SHOE S OLES Filed April 10, 1935 bade-N782.- w

HA5 flrromvers.

Patented June 9, 1936 PATENT OFFICE DEVICE FOR LEVELING SHOE SOLES John 'Tweedie, Jefferson City, Mo., assignor of one-half to Charles Tweedie, Jefferson City,

Application April 10, 1935, Serial No. 15,524

6 Claims.

My invention relates to means for leveling the soles of shoes, that is, to means whereby the stitching and. lips of the channels are flattened down even with the adjacent surface of the sole and whereby the front and heel portions of the sole are flattened and the intervening shank portion is given the proper convex curvature. Heretofore the common practice of leveling soles of McKay stitched shoes has been to pull the last, insert an iron last in the shoe, apply a topform to the sole and then squeeze or press the sole between said iron last and the top form. This common method of leveling has several disadvantages, namely, it was expensive because it required a full quota of iron lasts and top forms corresponding with the various styles,'widths and sizes of shoes and because there was much'delay in continually shifting such top forms and iron lasts which are quite heavy. Another disadvantage of the common practice is that the iron last cannot uniformly fit the shoe as well as the last on which the shoe was lasted and the ill fitting of the iron last shows in the work after leveling.

' Heretofore the common practice of leveling soles of Welt processed shoes has been to .mount the lasted upper with sole attached on the last in a leveling machine commonly known as a Goodyear leveler, which has a device which levels the bottom or sole with a pressure roll which rolls the bottom smooth. This common method has several disadvantages, namely, the rolling process has a marked tendency to squash the toe box out of shape, is a slower method and does not produce a clearly defined shank and ball line.

Heretofore the common practice of leveling soles of turn processed shoes has been to rub the bottom or sole smooth after the turned shoe has been relasted. This common method has several disadvantages, namely, the rubbing process, done either by hammer rub, stick rub, or by powerpropelled rolls with flattened surfaces, has not produced consistency smooth bottoms by reason of not reaching all of the surface at the same time, and has little or no effect on smoothing or leveling the seam-ridge and lip on the inside of the shoe from inseamingthe upper to the sole.

The principal object of the present invention is to produce a device for use in leveling shoes which device will dispense with iron lasts and top forms and enable the leveling to be done with the shoe on the last on which it was lasted and which is used in subsequent operations under the McKay process above described, and which will overcome the disadvantages under the welt process above described, and which will overcome the disadvantages of the turn process above described, and which will be advantageous in leveling shoes under other processes of shoemaking. The invention consists in the device hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts wherever they occur,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my device with the metal layer shown in dotted lines,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line 22 I in 'Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a cross-section through the shank portion on the line 33 in Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a view of the preferred form of metal layer,

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the extra metal toe section,

Y Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating a modification,

Fig. 7 is a view of the metal layer adjacent shank portion of the modification illustrated in Fig. 6,

Fig. 8 is a cross-section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

My device comprises a layer l of metal between two or more layers 2, .3 of leather or fabric sewed together along their margins to 'form a thin casing. To the upper surface of the casing is, cemented a layer 4 of hard leather or other suitable material with a smooth, wear-resistant outer surface. The shape of the leather layers and of the metal layer is similar to the shape of a shoe sole but such layers are made wide enough and long enough for the device to be used with soles of various widths and lengths. V

The metal layer of my device is preferably made up of a single flat metal plate M for the heel portion, a single fiat metal plate 5 for the forepart and a series of transversely arranged sections 6 for the shank portion, the general outline of the metal layer as a whole being similar to the outline of a sole. As there is considerable pleating of the upper leather at the toe of the shoe, it is preferable to insert an extra section or thickness I of metal at the toe portion. The front section of the metal layer is flat and the heel section is substantially fiat and higher than the front section but the shank sections are preferably made with their sides to curve upwardly, under pressure. The heel section is offset upwardly from the front section and the intermediate shank section slopes upwardly, all after the manner of the sole of a finished shoe.

'2 c y surface curves Continuously from side to side,

The manner of using the device is as follows.

7 My device is mounted on a stiffly'resilient rubber block or cushion ofthe kind used in laying soles with the hard leather surface of my device uppermost. After the sole is stitched to the upper, the last, upon which the shoe was originally lasted (or one like it) is in the shoe and the shoe is then laid sole downward on my device. Pressure is then applied in any suitable way to press the sole against my device. As the workis thickest along the stitching and channel lips, the pressure will be greatest there as the front and heel portions of the metal, which are stiflly resilient,

as illustrated in Fig. 3.

act, to a certain extent, after the manner ofa solid block and it is desirable tomake the front and heel portions of thej'work flat As for the V shank portion, the narrow strips of metal are 7 more resilient so as to be able to conform to the. shape of the shank of the sole'both transversely and longitudinally. In actual practice, I have .had very'satisfactory results with blue steelspring metal of a thickness of e of an inch made in sections of the shapeindicated'in the drawing The device hereinbefore described is particularly adapted to'thevtype of shank wherein the When it is desiredIto produce a shank'with an angle along the middle portion thereof, I prefer to divide the metal layer lengthwise along the middle of the shank portion} In such case, the shank portion may be: 7 made with a single plate 9 on one side'of the medial line and a single, plate H] on the opposite side of the medial line of shank, instead of using a multiplicity of narrow stripsarranged transversely. In such case, the front ends of the shank pieces are'substantially straight lines that exs-tend obliquely forward and'outward asshown in V rrj'Figr'l. 1 I

What I claim is:

'1. 'Ashoe leveling device comprising an upper 7 layer and a lower layer of flexible material secured together to form a sole shaped casing, and

'asole shaped layer of separate stiflly resilient metal plates secured insaid casing, said metal layer comprising one stiffiyresilient plate of the generalshape of the forepart of the sole, a second 'stifily resilient plate of the general shape of the heelportion and a-plurality of separate resilient plates spaced apart throughout the shank'por tion. 7

'2. A shoeleveling device comprising an upper layer and a lower layer of, flexible material se- V cured together to form a sole shaped casing, a sole shaped layer of separate metal platessecured in said casing, and a layer of hard leather or other suitable material secured flatwise to the 5 s top of said casing said metal layercomprising one stifily resilient plate of the general shape of the forepart of the sole, a second stiflly resilient plate of the general shape of the heel portion and a plurality of separate resilient plates spaced 10; 7

apart throughout the shank portion.

3.- A shoe' leveling device comprising an upper layer and a lower layer of flexible material se5 cured together to form a sole shaped casing, and

a sole shaped layer of separatemetal plates se- 15 cured in said casing, the forepart of said metal layercomprising a stifily resilient plate of the general shape thereof, the heel portion 101, said 'm'etal layer comprising a stifilyresilient plate of r the general shape of said heel portion and the 20 shank portion of said metal layer comprising-a plurality ofrelatively narrow resilient plates that extend fromside' edge to side edge of said metal layer. V"

4. A shoe leveling device comprising an upper 2 layer and a lower layer of flexible material secured together to form a sole shaped casing, and

a sole shaped layer of metal secured in said cas ing, the shankportionof said metal layer'comprising a plurality of relatively narrow separate Q 7 comprising 'twoseparate plates on opposite sides 4o 7 of .said shank'portion. V I

6. Ashoe leveling device comprising an upper layer and alower layer of flexible. material se cured together to'form a sole shaped casing, a

sole shaped layer of separate met-a1 parts secured r in said Icasing, and a layer of hard leather or other suitable material secured flatwise on said 1 upper layer, the shank portion of said metal layer being separate from the front and heel portions and comprising two separate plates onopposite sides of said shank portion.

JOHN

Images