US2084892A

US2084892A - Shoe and method of making same

Info

Publication number: US2084892A
Application number: US97896A
Authority: US
Inventors: Cocozella Anthony
Original assignee: DEL MAC SHOE PROCESS CORP
Current assignee: DEL MAC SHOE PROCESS CORP; DEL-MAC SHOE PROCESS Corp
Priority date: 1936-08-26
Filing date: 1936-08-26
Publication date: 1937-06-22
Anticipated expiration: 1954-06-22

Description

June 22,1937. A. C ZE LA 2,084,892

SHOE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Aug. 26, 1.936 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR June 22, 1937. A COCOZELLA 2,084,892

SHOE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Aug. 26, i936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m 5 K fif/ //7 WflWW' W 3 m i 1 w v is: m x m F;

. g 41 w 7 W77 my m I INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented June 22, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT ,OFFIC SHOE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Anthony Cocozella, Lynn, Mass, assignor to The Del-Mac Shoe Process Corporation, a corporation of New York Application August 26, 1936, Serial No. 97,896

8 Claims.

- 1 the blank. Leather sole blanks of such thickness are proportionately much more expensive and not so readily available as the lighter weights, with the result that manufacturers supplying the low priced volume trade cannot afiord to practice this improved shoemaking method and the superior flexibility and wearing qualities of single-soled shoes of this type have not been made available to the great majority of the people. I

More specifically, it has been the general practice to provide a sole blank of approximately eight I and one-half irons uniform thickness and to split oii an insole about two and one-half irons thick having a central opening in itsforepart, thereby leaving remaining an outsole having about six irons thickness throughout the shank and heel expensive seven iron outsoles commonly used in volume production, it has been found that the foreparts of the sole members are decidedly more flexible and of adequate weight for long wear, but the shank portion of the outsole, reduced to approximately four and one-half irons, is so thin that it is drawn in on opposite sides of the usual steel shank stifiener when the outsole is attached to the shoe, forming objectionable deep lateral depressions or gutters in the margins of the tread surface of the shank portion of the shoe, so that the finished shoe lacks the usual and proper transverse arching at ,the tread surface of the shank and is unsaleable. It is a principal object of my invention, therefore, to provide improved sole members for shoes of this character from lighter and less expensive sole blanks, and to provide an improved shoe in which the foreparts and the shank and heel portions of the sole will be better balanced and proportioned. Another object is to provide an improved shoe of this type in which the outsole is rendered softer and more flexible. Other and further objects will appear from the follawing 55 specification.

Referring to the drawings which form. a part of this specification:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a rounded outsole blank.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a similar longitudinal sectional view showing the blank divided into insole and outsole portions.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the insole portion of the blank having a reinforcement cemented, over the shank and heel portion thereof.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the outsole having a plurality of transverse cuts formed therein across the elevated central area of the ball portion to render the outsole forepart softer and more flexible.

Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional 'view of a light rounded outsole blank having a relatively stifi reinforcement cemented over the shank and heel portions thereof.

Figure 7 is a similar sectional view showing the manner in which the sole blank illustrated in Figure 6 is divided, and

Figure 8 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing a finished shoe embodying my improved sole construction.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a rounded outsole blank In of moderate thickness equal to the combined thickness of the insole and outsole forepart portions desired. The blank is thendivided in planes substantially as indicated by the line x-'a: in Figure 2 to obtain an insole portion 20 having a skeleton forepart 2| of the full insole .thickness desired, and an integral shank and heel portion 22 of less thickness than the forepart and materially lighter than would be adequate for the insole of a shoe.

After removal of the insole portion, there will remain an outsole 30 having a shank and heel portion 32 of thickness nearly equal to the thickness of the blank. The central area 34 of the ball portion of the outsole retains the full thickness of the blank III, while the forepart is reduced entirely about said area at 33 to less than the thickness of the shank and heel portion, as will be readily understood, said outsole and the insole portion-of the blank being counterparts.

Assuming the blank In to have a thickness of seven irons, the proportions shown in the drawings indicate an insole shank and heel portion having thickness of only one iron, while the corresponding outsole portion of the blank is of six irons thickness, adequate to obviate the objection able guttering above referred to; v

For the purpose of rendering the thicker cen-' tral forepart portion of the outsole softer and 5 more flexible, I prefer to form a plurality of wide transverse cuts 35 in the surface of the island-like outsole projection 34, as shown in Figure 5, or the outsole may be otherwise scarified over this .area as by cross hatching or abrading the surface. A reinforcement 25 of fibre or other suitable and relatively stiff material having its forward end edges skived or beveled at 25', is then cemented to the split surface of the thin shank and heel areas of the insole portion 20 of the blank to build 15 up an insole 28 as shown in Figure 4, the portion 22 integral with the forepart 2| forming a thin veneer over the reinforcement.

The insole 28 may then be rounded or otherwise trimmed to proper size and contour. How- 20 ever, the insole may be predefined and initially formed by incisions in the insole portion of the blank before splitting as described in U. S. Patents Nos. 1,988,282 and 2,012,913 issued to Fred Maccarone. Also, although I have illustrated 5 and described that the

sole portions

20 and 30 are formed as divisions of an outsole rounded blank,

it will be understood that an unrounded blank may be similarly divided and the divisions thereafter died out or rounded to their respective proper sizes and contours.

Thus formed and properly sized, the insole 28 may be further prepared for lasting, where necessary, and is secured to the bottom of a.v suitable last, after which the upper 50 is lasted and secured r to the margins of the insole in any of the ways and by any of the means wellknown to those skilled in this art. A steel shank stifl'ener 5| of usual form is secured to the insole shank portion and, after the upper and insole have been lasted 40 and secured together, the outsole." is attached in mating relation to the insole, either by stitching or cement, depending upon the type of construction desired. A heel 52 is attached, a sock lining 53 is inserted, and such other finishing operations 45 are performed as may be required.

Figure 8 is illustrative of the relationship of the sole members in the finished shoe in which the central area of the outsole forepart is of the full thickness of the original blank and the shank and 50 heel portion of the outsole is of nearly the same thickness. The insole forepart consists entirely of material excised from the common blank and the shank and heel portion of the insole comprises a very thin integral layer of said material cement- 55 ed in facing relation over the relatively stifl? reinforcing portion 25. The shank and heel portion of the insole is of suflicient thickness and. stiffness so that the usual shank piece may be dispensed with. Differently stated, the reinforcing portion 25 of the insole compensates for the usual shank piece and is-therefore provided without adding to the cost of the shoe.

A variation of the above described procedure providing similarly proportioned insole and out- 65 sole members from like materials is illustrated in scribed in connection with the splitting of the blank l0.

Preferably the reinforcement 4| is cementedin position to build up the blank 40 before rouhd- 1 ing and the laminated blank is rounded in a machine built. in accordance with the principles taught in the U. S. Patent No. 2,012,913 above mentioned, whereby the insole 45 is predefined and initially formed by an incision 43 in the margins of the blank, the incision extending to a depth 10 corresponding to the thickness of the desired insole 45. Then, when the blank is divided into insole and outsole portions, a waste rand 41 is removed and the insole portion of the blank is trimmed to proper size and contour. However, the rounded blank 40 may be built up after the parts are given shape, if desired, and the insole portion may be sized subsequent to the splitting operation.

It will be noted that whereas the outsole 4B is similar to the outsole 30, the insole 45 difiers from the insole 28 in that the reinforcing portion 4| thereof is cemented to the flesh surface of the blank rather than to the split surface of the insole portion. Therefore, if an insole 45 were to be 20 incorporated in a shoe having an outsole formed from theidentical blank, the reinforcing portion 4| of the insole would have to be faced against the,last and would occupy a position. innermost in the finished shoe. The shoe may be so made, if 30 desired. However, as it is desirable to have the unitary portion of the insole innermost in the shoe, I prefer to invert the insole. This requires that the insole obtained from a blank 40 rounded for the right foot'be .used for making the left shoe and vice versa, but the completed shoe will nevertheless appear substantially as illustrated in Figure 8.

It may appear from the drawings, which are somewhat exaggerated for the purposes of this 40 disclosure, that some difficulty would be experienced in carrying out this practice. However, the beveled margins of the insole openings are in fact very light and flexible and readily conform with the beveled shores of the island-like outsole elevation so smoothly that it is difllcult to discover by simple observation on which side of the insole the bevel is formed, with the result that the interior of the finished shoe is so smooth and flush as to be indistinguishable from shoes in which the divided portions of the same blank are assembled together.

Whether the reinforcing portion of the insole is applied to the blank before or after splitting,

I prefer to divide the blank in one continuous and progressive operation in a splitting machine by die and roll methods in which the blank is distorted by a suitably formed die to position the different portions thereof in. difierent planes for engagement by the fixed knife of the machine. The die may be formed. integral with or carried by the splitting machine roll, or it may comprise a template adapted to be fed with the sole blank between the plain rolls of a standard leather splitter.

My improved shoe members may be made very economically as above described, but by whatever methods and means they are provided they will be found to enhance greatly the qualities characteristic of the shoes in which they are incorporated, obtaining an improved balance between the lighter and more flexible forepart and the sturdy outsole shank foundation.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a shoe, an outsole having greater thickness at the central area of the forepart and less thickness entirely about said area than in the shank and heel portion thereof, theinner surface of said outsole having a plurality of cuts therein over said area of greater thickness to render the forepart softer and more flexible, an insole comprising a shank and heel member of stiff material and a flexible forepart of full insole thickness having an opening therein and having an integral shank and heel portion of less thickness overlying said member and adhesively secured thereto.

2. In a, shoe, an insole comprising a shank member of stiff material and a flexible forepart of 'full insole thickness having an opening therein and having an integral shank portion of less thickness overlying said member and adhesive-,'

ly secured thereto, and an outsole having greater thickness at the central area of the forepart and less thickness entirely about said area than in the shank and heel portion thereof.

3. In a shoe, an outsole comprising a single layer of leather having greater thickness at the central area of the ball portion and less thickness entirely about said area than in the shank and heel portion thereof.

4. In a shoe, an insole comprising a shank member of stiff material, a flexible forepart of full insole thickness having an opening therein and having an integral shank portion of le thickness'overlying said member and adhesively secured thereto.

5. In shoemaking methods wherein a blank comprising a leather sole member is divided into an outsole portion having a central projection on the forepart thereof and an insole portion having an'opening therein, that improvement which comprises splitting the. shank and heel portion of the blank in a plane further removed from the grain surface of the leather sole member than the plane in which the forepart edges are divided, and forming a plurality of cuts in the surface of the outsole projection to render the outsole forepart softer and more flexible.

6. In shoemaking methods wherein a blank comprising a leather sole member is divided into an outsole portion having a central projection on the forepart thereofand an insole portion having an opening therein, that improvement which comprises splitting the shank and heel portion of the blank in a plane further removed from the grain surface of the leather sole member than the plane in which the forepart edges are divided.

'7. In shoemaking, that improvement which comprises providing a sole blank of uniform thickness, dividingsaid blank to remove therefrom an insole portion of desired insole thickness at the forepart and of less thickness at the shank and heel thereof, and cementing a layer- ANTHONY COCOZELLA.