US2261072A

US2261072A - Conductive shoe

Info

Publication number: US2261072A
Application number: US389431A
Authority: US
Inventors: Leo J Monahan
Original assignee: Donnell Shoe Company O
Current assignee: O'DONNELL SHOE Co
Priority date: 1941-04-19
Filing date: 1941-04-19
Publication date: 1941-10-28
Anticipated expiration: 1958-10-28

Description

Oct. 28, 1941. l.. J. MONAHAN CONDUGTIVE SHOE Filed April 19, 1941 abbo/911443 Patented Oct. 28, 1941 CONDUCTIVE SHOE Leo J. Monahan, Humboldt, Tenn., assignor to ODonnell Shoe Company, Humboldt, Tenn., a corporation of Minnesota Application April'19, 1941, Serial No. 389,431

(Cl. 12S-382) 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to conductive footwear and more particularly to a conductive shoe having a conductive insole and a conductive outsole, together with efficient means for establishing electrical contact or providing a conductive path between the two.

Footwear of the character set forth above is so designed that static electrical charges are not readily gathered by the human body. Furthermore, such electrical charges, if gathered, are

practically instantaneously discharged through the shoe directly to the supporting surface which constitutes an electrical ground or discharge body for the condenser act-ion of the human body. Footwear of this character is found useful by surgeons, nurses and other attendants in operating rooms where the fumes of ether or other combustible vapors or gases are apt to be present. This type of footwear is also found useful in certain industrial trades as for example in powder plants and other places where explosives are manufactured as well as-in gunnery turrets or powder magazines on board warships and in other places where extreme caution is required to prevent accumulation and accidental discharge of static electrical charges from the human body or from the clothing worn thereby.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a conductive shoe having a conductive insole and a conductive outsole together with relatively simple and inexpensive yet highly efflcient means for providing a conductive path between the two soles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe oi this character which presents to the foot of the wearer a relatively wide area of contact yet which at the same time is comfortable to the foot. A related object is to provide such a shoe which is characterized by an absence of metallic inserts such as would ordinarily provide a direct skin-to-metal contact with its attendant discomfiture.

Anc-ther object of the invention is to provide a conduct-.ve shoe having a sole which is formed of conductive material that offers a relatively high resistance to static charges of electricity gathered in the human body whereby such charges are passed to ground slowly Without creation of an attendant spark.

Yet another object of the invention is to pro- -vide a conductive shoe of the type set forth above in which the means whereby a conductive path is established between the conductive insole and the conductive outsole also constitutes a fastenlng means which assists in maintaining the heel of the shoe in position as well as maintaining the conductive insole anchored Within the shoe.

Other objects and advantages of the invention, not at this time set forth, will become readily apparent as the following description ensues.

In the accompanying single sheet of drawings forming a part of this specification one embodiment of the invention is shown. In the drawing:

Figure l is a sectional view taken longitudinally and substantially centrally through a conductive shoe manufactured in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

In both of the above described views, like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts throughout.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the improved conductive shoe is designated in its entirety at lil and includes a conductive outer sole l2 which may be formed of rubber or other relatively soft material which has been treated by a metallizing or other operation to render the same conductive. Overlying the outer sole I2 and cemented or otherwise secured thereto coextensively is a non-conductive sole of leather or the like as shown at I4. Conventional stitching l5 is applied to the two soles i2 and I4 to assist in' maintaining these parts together as well as for lending a finished appearance to the shoe. A heel portion |'8 includes an upper leather section 20 and a lower outer section 22 which is preferably formed of rubber and which is secured to the upper section 20 by a series of nails 24.

An insole 26 of conductive rubber or other relatively soft conductive material is disposed Within the shoe upper 28 and a plurality of ordinary nails 30 are driven through the insole and through the outer soles i 2 and I 4 and extend into the leather portion 20 of the heel I8. The nails 30 perform the dual function of establishing electrical contact between the conductive irsole 26 and the conductive outer sole l2 as well as serving to anchor the insole in position within the shoe. A sock lining which is preferably formed of conductive rubber overlies the conductive insole 26 and may be united thereto in any suitable manner. The sock lining 32 is preferably coextensive with the conductive insole and thus affords a relatively wide area of contact for the foot of the wearer in order that static electrical charges may readily be passed through the shoe to ground.

The term relatively soft as used herein is applicable to conductive rubber and leather or other similar material which has been rendered conductive by a suitable processing operation. Such a term is designed to distinguish the conductive material of the outer sole I2, the insole 2l. and the sock lining 32 from harder and more rigid materials such as metal which are perfect conductors and, unlike these softer materials, do not afford a slow leakage path for static electrical charges to the ground.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawing or described in this speciilcation as various changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention. Only insofar as the invention has been particularly pointed out in the accompanying claims is the same to be limited.

What is claimed is:

1. A conductive shoe including an outer sole of relatively soit flexible material, said sole being electrically conductive material which offers a relatively high resistance therethrough, an insole likewise formed of relatively soft ilexible material which is electrically conductive and which oiIers a relatively high resistance therethrough, and means electrically connecting the insole and the outsole.

2. A conductive shoe including an outer sole of relatively soit ilexible material, said soie being electrically conductive material which offers a relatively high resistance therethrough, an insole likewise formed of relatively soft ilexible material which is electrically conductive and which oil'ers a relatively high resistance therethrough, a heelv secured to said outsole, and means extending through said insole and outsole and projecting into the heel for establishing electrical contact between the conductive insole and the conductive outsole. 4

3. A conductive shoe including an outer sole of relatively soft ilexible material, said sole being electrically conductive material which oers a relatively high resistance therethrough whereby static clectrical charges gathered in the human body and conducted by the foot to said outsole are passed to the ground slowly, and means disposed in the shoe and designed for contact with the foot for electrically connecting the latter to said outer sole.

4. A conductive shoe including a sole of relatively soft flexible material, said sole being electrically conductive material which offers a relatively high resistance therethrough whereby static electrical charges gathered in the human body and conducted by the toot to said sole are passed to the ground slowly.

LEO J. MONAHAN.

DISCLAIMER October 28, 1941. Disclaimer led July 14, 1

Shoe Company. Hereby enters this disclaimer to claim 4 of said patent.

[O cial Gazette August 25, 1942.]

942, by the assignee, Donnell D l S C L A l M E R 2,261,072.-Leo J. Monahan, Humboldt, Tenn. CONDUCTIVE SHOE. Patent dated October 28, 1941. Disclaimer led July 14, 1942, by the assignee, ODonnell Shoe Company. Hereby enters this disclaimer to claim 4 of said patent.

[Oficial Gazette August 25, 1.942.]