US2165150A - Article for cleaning shoes - Google Patents

Description

y 4, 1939- H. c. PARKER ET AL 2,165,150

ARTICLE FOR CLEANING SHOES Filed Oct. 8, 1935 Patented July 4, 1939 e,

, UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE ARTICLE FOR CLEANING SHOES Henry 0. Parker and Elizabeth W. Parker, Washington, D. G.

. Application October 8, .1935, Serial No. 44,091 3 Claims. (Cl. 15-105) This invention relates to article for cleaning ly, and can be accomplished without soiling the shoes; and it comprises an article of rubber or hands. Moreovera rubber cleaner can be readily the like adapted to be rubbed, for example, on shaped to fit into the recess between the sole a white shoe and impregnated with sufiicient and'the vamp, which is always difiicult to reach 5 white pigment filler to leave a visible pigment with liquid cleaners. The cleaner can be conmark when so rubbed; and it also comprises a structed in such fashion that there is no danger method of cleaning white shoes, for example, of whitening the sole of the shoe. The rubber wherein said article is rubbed on such a shoe l ner is i exp sive and h cleaning p until said shoe is cleaned and pigmented; all tion is easily and quickly accomplished.

as more fully set forth and as claimed. We usually construct our rubber cleaner with 10 The cleaning of pigmented shoes of the nature two ends-connected with a hand grip. It is also of white shoes has long presented a problem to advantageous to provide an attached brush for the art. The lack of a suitable cleaning method removing detached p r i les of rubber or for has greatly restricted their use. The best cleandusting Off the Shoes prior to eleaning- If desired ers which have thus far been developed comp r can also be p v W usually shape 15 prise various aqueous suspensions of chalk and the rubber ends Such manner that y are the like which are applied by means of a rag, particularly d p ed t0 fit the contour of the sponge or brush. This procedure is supposed Shoe. It is convenient to have the two ends t deanes n as t whiten t Shoes t th of the cleaner of different rubber composition.

amount of cleaning obtained .is negligible. At One for example y be f s b i lly best the dirty shoe is coated with a white chalky pure rubber W th the usual amount of fillers and layer i h poorly conceals it t condition can be used for cleaning where whitening is not and which, in time, flakes off. These cleaners required- It can also be usedfor removing y cannot be applied uniformly and a streaked coatte markings which may h been pp m is produced The Operation is extremely accidentally to the sole of the shoe. In any case 25 messy and t eohsuming t i impossible t it is advantageous to have at least one edge made prevent, the cleaner from reaching and soiling Of ordinary rubber which can be used 101 cleanthe sole of the shoe which is not supposed to be Without Whitening. It is also desirable to white and it is difiicult to remove the cleaner provide a prejectil'lgeemer edge Shaped 0 fit from t Sole t is h wonder t t shoe into the recess between the sole and the vamp. 30 shining parlors charge more for cleaning w t and in this case the edge which comes into conahd th i t d shoes th for shoes 0f tact with the solecan be made of ordinary rubether h ber in order to prevent contamination of the Rubber is one of the most universally employed 801ecleaning agents. Rubber erasers have been used In Compounding the'rllbber used in y c eaner 35 for fifty years or more. And. it is not new to for white shoes any of the usual whitenin introduce sufficient filler inter rubber erasers terials can be employed which are now used in to produce slight tints. For example it has been the liquid cleaners. Prepared chalk, whiting, suggested to introduce a greenish colored filler zinc white, white lead, barytes, titanium oxide 4 into rubber erasers in order to imitate the color and t k are examples Ordinarhy the same 40 of w i i p p and to counteract theusual pigment can be employed in the cleaner that Smudge left upon erasure- Apparently 1t has is used in coloring the-leather of the shoe during never been suggested, however, to employ rubber manumctura The pigment is mixed with the m cleanmg 2 Whlte i g h f rubber by milling in the ordinary way .and is 45 use 0 sponge m er app ors 1S excep e employed in quantities sufiicien't to leave a dis- Ordinary'rubber erasers are not satisfactory for the cleaning of white shoes owing to the fact vtmct plgmented mark on the h The exact proportions to be employed vary to some extent that they are incapable of removing the stains which are produced When the Shoes are Worn in with the pigment which is used. The determinathe rain, for example. We have found, however, tion of suitable proportions is well within the 50 t t when rubber is impregnated t m t skill of the art. It will be found ordinarily that white, chalk-like filler to make a distinct white rellghly twice the usual ount of filler used mark when rubbed on a shoe a highly satisfactory in making rubber erasers must be mp y s y cleaning and whitening action is produced. No from 40 to 85 percent by weight, depending upon liquid is necessary, hence the operation is cleanthe pigment used. The quantity should not 55 projecting corner 1 found to be highly satisfactory as shoe cleaners.

By rubbing these strips over a soiled white shoe, it was found that the shoe could be both cleaned and whitened.

In the accompanying drawing we have shown several illustrative embodiments of shoe cleaners of various shapes and styles within our invention.

In this showing: 7

Fig. 1 represents an elevational view of a double ended rubber cleaner,

Fig. 2 is a side view of the cleaner shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3is an elevation of a single ended cleaner,

Fig. 4 is a side view of the cleaner of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 shows a modification with a metal insert, while, V

Fig. 6 shows a further modification.

In the various figures like parts are indicated by like reference numerals. In Fig. 1 a metal casing l is shown, in one end of which is secured a rubber cleaner 2 having a white filler. At the other end a similar piece 3 of ordinary rubber is shown. A brush 4 is also mounted on one side of the casing I. The rubber pieces 2 and 3 are roughly shaped to fit the curvature of a shoe as shown at 5. The projecting ends 7 and 8 are adapted to enter and clean the recess between the sole and the vamp.

The edges may be merely blunt as shown 'at 9 or may be tapered in arcuate manner as shown at ill, see Fig. 2. I

The purpose of providing a portion 3 of the cleaner of ordinary rubber is to enable a person to clean the shoes before whitening. This has been found to be an advantageous method of cleaning and whitening shoes. After the whitening operation, the detached particles of rubber may be brushed 011 if desired. To leave these particles on the shoe produces a duller finish.

In Fig. 2 an embodiment is shown wherein the rubber piece 3 has a concave face I 0 roughly shaped to fit the contour of a shoe.

The embodiment shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is provided with a handle H with a brush 4 at one end and the cleaner 2 at the other. The handle I I may be molded from any of the ordinary plastic compositions or may be hard rubber or metal. The cleaner 2 is provided with a strip l2 of rubber having a smaller amount of filler. This strip can be obtained by applying a coating of rubber solution to this edge of the cleaner or this strip of rubber can be vulcanized to the larger piece or rubber containing white filler. The purpose of strip I2 is to prevent the sole of the shoe from being marked during cleaning.

The cleaner of Figs. 3 and 4 is provided with a adapted to clean the recess between the sole and the vamp.v It also has an dent to those skilled in the art.

arcuate surface [3 which roughly fits the contour of the shoe.

In Fig. 5 a metal insert I5 is shown attached to one edge of the cleaner. This metal protects the sole from being marked. It also can be used as a scraper. The metal can be secured to the rubber by known adhesives forming a tight joint.

In Fig. 6 a modification is shown in which two pieces of rubber are vulcanized together, one piece 2 containing pigment and the other piece 3 containing insufficient pigment to color the shoe. The cleaner is tapered to a point which comes at the joint between the two rubber sections. Thus a pigmenting portion and a cleaning portion are provided. If point 9 is rubbed into the recess between the sole and the vamp of a shoe the sole will not be whitened.

It is of course obvious that many other modifications can be made which fall within the scope of our invention. cleaner may be used. It is not even necessary to employ a handle since the brush can be secured directly to the rubber. And a brush can be dispensed with in the cheaper forms. Various types of white fillers can be employed. Or if the shoes-- are of colored suede a filler can be used which matches the color of the shoe. Thus a bronze colored filler can be used for cleaning bronze suede, etc. In this case a wire brush can be provided for brushing up the nap of the suede. Our

invention is thus applicable to the cleaning of all types of pigmented shoes, that is, shoes which require an application of pigment when cleaned.

Various shapes and sizes of.

It is possible to employ theso-called synthetic rubber and rubber substitutes in our invention in place of true rubber. The term rubber in the following claims is intended to cover such equivalents. Many other modifications within the. scope of the following claims will What we claim is:.

1. A cleaner for pigmented shoes comprising a piece of rubber having a projecting portion adapted to clean the recess between the sole and the vamp of a shoe and an adjacent arcuate section being a continuation of said projecting por-' tion adapted to fit the contour of the vamp, said piece of. rubber containing suflicient colored pigment to produce a visible rubbed on a shoe.

2. The cleaner of claimYl wherein one edge of said projecting portion is provided with means for protecting the sole of the shoe from pigment while being cleaned.

3.'An article for cleaning and coloring pigmented shoes comprising a two-faced portion adapted'to clean between the sole and the vamp of a shoe, one of said.- faces being adapted to be rubbed against the sole of said shoe without coloring the same and the directly opposed face being adapted to be simultaneously rubbed against the vamp of said shoe; said latter face being composed of rubberhaving sufficient pigment compounded therewith to produce a visible colored mark on said shoe. 7

HENRY c. PARKER. ELIZABETH w. PARKER.

pigmented mark when V be immediately evi- 7

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