US2265008A

US2265008A - Shoe tree

Info

Publication number: US2265008A
Application number: US351987A
Authority: US
Inventors: William L Seavey
Original assignee: DAVID S CARR
Current assignee: DAVID S CARR
Priority date: 1940-08-09
Filing date: 1940-08-09
Publication date: 1941-12-02
Anticipated expiration: 1958-12-02

Description

Dec. 2, 1941 w. L. SEAVEY I 2,265,008

SHOE TREE Filed Aug. 9, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Dec. 2; 1941.

W. L. SEAVEY SHOE TREE Filed Aug. 9, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 nvmvron 55am a 1 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 2, 1941 UNITED STATES r QFFICE 2,265,008 SHOE TREE William L. Seavey, Berkeley, Calif., assignor to David S. Carr, Berkeley, Calif.

and which is designed and arranged for use in combination with a shoe rack and upon which shoes may be quickly and readily mounted when not being worn and which will provide for a support of the shoes off of a fioor or other plane supporting surface, and will hold the shoes prop-,

erly distended to preserve their shape.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe tree and rack of the character above which may be readily installed in a closet or in a closet door or other wall surface.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combination rack and shoe tree of the character above which will enable a removal of the shoe tree from the rack and the use of the shoe tree separate and apart from the rack.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification. derstood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawings and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a shoe tree constructed in accordance with the present invention and shown operatively associated with a shoe, the latter being indicated in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the shoe tree illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front view of a combination rack and shoe tree embodying a modified form of the invention.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the rack and tree illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a part of the shoe tree and is taken substantially on the plane of line 5-5 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the plane of line 6,-6 of Figure 3.

Figure '7 is a side elevation of the shoe tree alone, shown in detached position from the rack.

The shoe tree of the present invention consists essentially of a portion adapted for insertion into the interior toe part of a shoe and a portion extending longitudinally and rearwardly therefrom and offset to project out through the open I top of the shoe, and a member mounted on the It is to be unsecond named portion and adjustable longitudinally therealong and extending laterally therefrom to engage in the interior rear part of the shoe to hold the latter distended. Preferably, the second portion aforementioned is formed of resilient material to apply a resilient elongating force to the shoe. Also and as an important feature of the construction, the part of the tree extending to the exterior of the shoe is adapted for connection to a wall bracket or the like for suspension of the tree and supported shoe.

As a modified form of the shoe tree and rack, the same consists briefly of the combination of an outsid support for a portion of the shoe, an inside support'for another portion of the shoe and atension member connecting the supports and providing a forced separation thereof for distending a shoe when the latter is operatively engaged therewith. I also may combine with the aforesaid combination a third support for the shoe which, in accordance with the present arrangement, is carried by the tension member and which may be used in conjunction with the first two supports or may be used in combination with the inside shoe support alone upon detachment of the tension member from the first mentioned outside shoe support.

With reference morespecifically to the accompanying drawing, the shoe tree of the present invention consists of a unit 8 having a front portion 9 formed in approximate conformity to and. adapted for insertion into the interior toe portion H v of a shoe l2. Extending rearwardly from the portion 9 is a second portion l3 which is offset laterally so as to project out through the open top portion [4 of the shoe at a part 16 of the portion. Inthe present construction and as preferred, theportionll is formed of a cast plastic material or of wood or the like and the portion I3 is formed as an elongated resilient wire member, the latter here being in the form of a fiat steel strap or ribbon. Distenti'on of the 'shoe is provided by the engagement in 'the'i'nterior rear part I! 'of the shoe, a member 18 having an oper'ative connection to the resilient part It of the unit. The attachment of the member Hi to the part .l6of the unit is so arranged 'as to provide longitudinal displacement of the member relative to the unit so as to fit into different length shoes. As here shown, the member l8 has an exterior form conforming generally to the rear interior counter-portion of the shoe and has connected thereto a laterally extending arm l9 which slidably engages the ribbon l3. The outward extending part of the arm I9 is formed with a ,loop 2| defining opposite substantially parallel .door orthe like. receiving portions .29 are formed as

recesses legs

22 and 23 which are perforated as at 24 and 26 to receive the ribbon I3. In the present construction the arm I is formed of relatively thin stock strap metal and the spacing between the

legs

23 and 24 provides a connection to the member I3 such as will normally permit fre relative longitudinal displacement but which will bind and hold fast against relative longitudinal displacement upon subjecting of the connection to relative bending or torsional force. Thus the member I8 may be moved longitudinally relative to the toe member 9 and the resilient member I3 until pressed forcibly against the interior part I! of th shoe and when released from such a forced longitudinally extended position, the same will be automatically held in such positiondue to the bending action at the slidable connection set up by the reactive force of the shoe portion I1 against the member I 8. Accordingly it will be seen that the insertion and adjustment of the shoe tree in an ordinarytype oxford shoe,as here illustrated, may be easily and readily effected ,by merely inserting the toe part 9 of the tree into the toe of the shoe and thenretracting the member I8 to forcibly distend the shoe, when the member I8 may be released and the shoe automatically heldin proper distended position.

As a further and important feature of the present invention, the shoe tree is particularly formed and adapted for permitting of a hanging up of the same on a wall or the like so as to conveniently remove the shoes supported thereby from the floor of a room or closet. In the present construction the rear end portion 27 of the member I3 is offset from the part I5 of the member so as to extend behind the heel part of theshoe exteriorly of the shoe into a position in approximate longitudinal alignment-with the under part of theshoe and is provided at its free end 28 with a hook which-isadapted to engage in a wall bracket 29. The latter, 'as here shown, may be simply composed of a vertical sleeve or recess adapted to receive the downwardly turned hook end 28 of the member and preferably, a plurality of such receiving portions may be conveniently formed by stamping or otherwise forming the same in an elongated strip 3| of metal or other material. The strip 3| is ,here provided with a plurality of openings which are .adapted to receive screws 32 for fastening the strip to a supporting wall I such as a closet wall, In the present instance the which cooperate with the opposed surface of the wall to define an enclosure for the hook end 28 of the resilient member.

-A modified form of the invention is illustrated in Figures 3 to '7 Of the drawings, wherein as aforementioned, an exterior support for the shoeis used in conjunction with an interior support and aresilient connecting member to obtain a proper distention of the shoe. The arrangement'here shown consists in a combination rack and shoe tree, including a supporting member I05, here in the form of a vflat plate or board, which is desirably, though not necessarily, fixed to a supporting surface I01 such as a closet wall, door or the like.

The member I06 is provided acrossone side thereof with a ledge or shoulder I08'in outstanding relation to the adjacent plane surface I 09 of the member. Preferably, the

:member is mounted as here shown, as by means of screws III or the'like, with the surface I09 in a vertical plane and with the shoulder or ledge I 08 at the lower extremity of the 1:18:11

her and projecting outwardly from the wall I01 and the surface I09. In this manner the outstanding ledge I08 is adapted to receive and support the heel H2 of a shoe II3 when the latter is positioned with the toe portion II4 thereof downwardly and with the underside of the shoe at the heel positioned against the member I 06. While preferably and as here shown, the ledge I08 extends continuously across the lower side of the member I06, it will be understood that this ledge may be divided into a plurality of shoulders or the like equal in number to the number of shoes to be supported from the member.

Secured to the plate I06 adjacent the upper edge I6 thereof and extending downwardly and a holding'of the shoe in proper form for preserving its shape. Preferably and as here shown, the tension member III is formed of a resilient wire which permits of a springing of the member H9 into and out of the interior of the shoe and for a springing of the shoe relative to the ledge I08. In the use of the device, the member H9 is preferably-first inserted into the toe portion of the shoe and then the shoe lifted to place the member I I! under resilient stress to engage the forward sideI2I of the heel over the shoulder I00, whereby the member H9 will be resiliently pressed forward to distend the shoe to proper shape. To facilitate the positioning of the shoe onto the rack and tree, I prefer to pivotallymount the upper end I22of the tension member to the fixed member I 66, so that the shoe tree may be swung outwardly from the wall on which the device is supported for more convenient insertion of the member II9 into the shoe. As here shown, the end I22 of the wire III is mounted between a pair of bearing plates I23 and I24, here shown fastened to the forward surface I09 of the supportingplate. Means for securing the plates in place here include screws I25 fixing the inner plate I23 to the backing member, and a stud I30 extending from the plate I23 through an opening in plate I 24 and engaged at the outer side of the latter by a knurled nut I35.

To permit of adjustment of the shoe tree to fit various lengths and sizes of shoes, the forward end II8 of the tension wire is preferably adjustably connected to the member I I9 to permit the fixing of the member I I9 at various longitudinal This is effected as here shown by threading the'end I-I8 into the body of the member H9 and providing the wire with a lock-nut I26 which engages against a rear thrust face I21 of the member H9 to hold the member H9 in adjusted position.

In the present showing, the shoe trees have been arranged in pairs for supporting a pair of shoes and in such case the tension members I ll of the shoe trees substantially parallel each other in side-by-side relation. It will be under stood, however, that any number of shoe trees may be secured to the backing plate I 06. Where the shoe trees are grouped in pairs as here shown, the bearing plates I23 and I2 lare formed to accommodate a pair of ends I22 of the tension members of the shoe trees and as illustrated in Figure 1, the ends I22 and I22 of the adjacent tension members are ofiset in opposite relation to each other so as to engage laterally in the bearing plates in opposed end-to-end position, thereby spacing the tension members from each other and providing for a pivotal support of the tension members along a coincident horizontal axis.

As a further feature of this modified form of the invention, I may combine with the interior and exterior supports for the shoe, a second interior support similar to the arrangement in the preferred form of the invention. As here shown, I may mount on the tension member II! of the shoe tree a member I28 which is adapted to fit into and engage the rear portion of the shoe. The member I23 is here formed with an enlarged head portion I29 which is adapted for mounting at the interior of the shoe and a shank or stem portion I3I which extends laterally from the head and is provided with a bore I32 which slidably engages over the wire II'I. As in the preferred form of the invention, the member I28 will bind on the wire and become fixed thereon against longitudinal displacement upon subjecting of the member to a bending stress about the wire, such as produced by the insertion of the head portion I29 of the member into the interior of the shoe and pressing the member upwardly on the wire so as to force the counter-portion of the shoe into proper distended position. In such position of the member I28, the head portion I29 is forced downwardly by the counter portion and thereby tends to swing around its place of engagement with the wire 1, to thereby bind the member I28 in place on the wire.

The use of the auxiliary member I28 also enables the supporting of the shoe exclusively by the supporting members I28 and I29 and the tension member I H, as in the preferred embodiment, without the use of the backing plate and hence when desired, the shoe tree may be removed from the backing plate and used merely as a conventional shoe tree, as illustrated in Figure-7. In such case, the member 9 is first inserted into the toe part of the shoe and the member I28 placed against the rear counter of the shoe and then the wire tension member is pressed forwardly of the shoe, while the member I28 is retracted rearwardly on the wire so that upon release of the wire and the member I28, the latter will bind on the wire and securely hold the supporting members 9 and I28 in forced longitudinal distention. To remove the shoe trees from the rack plate I06, one has only to loosen the nut I35 sufiiciently to enable the removal of the wire ends I22 from between the bearing plates I23 and I24, and conversely the trees may be as conveniently repositioned on the supporting rack by replacing the wire ends and re-tightening the nut.

I claim:

1. A shoe tree comprising, a portion adapted for insertion into the interior toe portion of a shoe and a rearwardly extending laterally ofiset portion adapted to project outwardly through the open top of the shoe and to a position exterior of the shoe in approximate alignment with said first portion and adapted for connection to a wall bracket or the like, a member engageable in the rear heel part of the shoe, and connection means for said member and second named portion providing a longitudinal adjustment of said member along said portion and an automatic holding of said member against longitudinal displacement on said portion when subjected to a bending stress.

2. A shoe tree comprising, a member adapted for insertion into the toe portion of a shoe, a curved resilient wire connected to said member, a second member adapted for insertion into the heel portion of the shoe and having a slidable connection on said wire, said connection providing a binding of said second member on said wire upon subjection of said connection to a bending stress.

3. A combination shoe tree and rack comprising, a supporting member having a ledge for supporting the heel of a shoe, a member adapted for insertion into the toe portion of a shoe, and a resilient wire member pivotally connected at one end to said first member and fastened at its other end to said second member and supporting the latter in spaced relation to said ledge.

4. A combination shoe tree and rack comprising, a supporting member adapted for connection to a wall or the like and having a ledge thereon for supporting the heel of a shoe, a resilient wire member pivotally mounted on said first member in spaced relation to said ledge and being curved outwardly and downwardly from said first member, a member adapted for insertion into the toe portion of a shoe and fixed to the lower end of said wire member and adapted for springing into the interior of a shoe when the latter is supported on said ledge, and a member slidably carried on said wire member and extending laterally therefrom for engagement in the heel portion of said shoe.

5. A shoe tree comprising, a member adapted for insertion into the toe portion of a shoe, a curved resilient wire threadably connected to said member for longitudinal adjustment thereof, a second member slidably carried on said wire and extending transversely therefrom and adapted for engagement in the heel portion of the shoe, said wire assuming a form when subjected to resilient stress between said first and second members to bind said second member against sliding movement on said wire.

WILLIAM L, SEAVEY.