US2284882A - Process of heel seat fitting - Google Patents

Description

June 2, 1942. P. I .rslNcLAlR 2,284,882

PROCESS 0F HEEL SEAT FITTING Filed March 5, 1941 Sheets-Sheet i INVENTOR.

BY Hay ,L .NM zu June 2, 1942. P, slNcLAlR 2,284,882

PROCESS OF HEEL SEAT FITTING Filed Marchv 5, 1941 g sheets-sheet 2 l Patented June v2, 1942 PROCESS OF HEEL SEAT FITTING Percy L. Sinclair, Auburn, Maine, assignor to Lumbard-Watson' Co.,` Auburn,

poration of Maine Maine, a cor- Application March 5, 19411, Serial No. 381,775

1l) Claims. The present invention consistsr in a novel process of fitting the heel seats of rubber soled shoes,

in which term I include shoes having soles of any resilient material more exible than leather.

In preparingshoes for the reception of wood `L; heels it is customary to trim the margin of the heel seat portion of the sole by removing a U- shaped chip leaving the sole shaped to lit within the concave attaching face of the heel and to form at opposite sides of the reduced heel seat portion of vthe s'ole a pair of laterally extending shoulders against which the breast of the heel abuts. The reduced or trimmed heel seat portion of the sole is vpreferably shaped l'to engage substantially. the entire attaching face of thei heel in order` to provide a solid foundation of considerable'area for supporting vthe heel, and

should be reduced sufficiently to permit the rim of the attaching face of the heel snugly to engage the counter portion of the upper. Moreover, the laterally extending shoulders should be accurately positioned lengthwise of the sole in order to engage the breast of the heel of the 1inished shoe. Y

The heel lseat fitting operation has been successfully carried outV in manufacturing leather soled shoes by machines which include cooperating members for deforming the heel seat portion of the shoe, in combination with a blade movable for splitting the heel seat lengthwise while held under such deforming pressure. A machine of this general type is disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,980,371 dated November 13, Great difliculty has been encountered, however, in tting the heel seats of rubber soled shoes by any machine or by any process heretofore known.V In fact the difficulty has been so great that; manufacturers have been driven to use leather heels with rubber soled shoes, although on account of theirlighter weight and better style characteristics wood heels are to be preferred. When a rubber soled shoe is present- Y ed to a machine of the type above mentioned a very imperfect and inaccurate splitting operation results and in some instances the splitting blade has been damaged by improper setting of theV sole deforming members in an endeavor to hold the heel seat properly for the heel seat fitting operation. y

The present invention is based upon my discovery that by stiffening the rear end of the rubber sole by means of van attached fibrous tuck of someV such material as pasteboard, the heelseat end of the `sole may be controlled accurately and dependably and a perfect tting operation achieved. In one aspect therefore Vthe present invention consists in a process of tting heel seats of rubber soled shoes which is characterized by the step of securinga brous tuck to one face of the heel seat portion of the rubber sole, concaving the heel seat and itsv attached tuck by surface pressure, and lengthwise splitting the heel heat while so concaved and pressed. While the reasons for the strikingbeneficial results of this procedureare not entirely plain, it appears that a more accurate deforming of the heel seat is possible when it is stiiened by brous reinforcement than when not so treated, that its spreading and consequent thinning is restricted and that a more favorable positioning of the de- Aforming instrumentalities is permitted. For example, in attempting to deform a rubber soled shoe for heel seat tting in the machine of Patent No.rl,980,371, the outer presser member must be depressed practically into the plane of the blade movement. This of course is an impossible adjustment, but when the deforming presser member is supplemented by'a fibrous tuck its effective range is increased and no damage is done plate,

to the splitting knife even if it shaves away a portion of the tuck in the tting operation.

These and other features of my invention rwill be best understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of one manner in which it may be put into practice as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view illustrating so much of the machine of Patent No. 1,980,371 as is necessary to understand its operation when used in carrying out the process of my invention,

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective ofthe matrix Fig. 3 is a fragmentary View in perspective of a rubber soled shoe having a tuckv attachedv to its heel seat preparatory to the heel seat fitting operation,

Figsfi and 5 are views in perspective of the chip removed in the tting operation, the chip in Fig. 5 being inverted, and

Fig. 6 ,is a fragmentary view in perspective of the shoe at the conclusion of the heel seat fitting operation. Y l

In the accompanyingfdrawings I have illustrated the heel seat fitting operation as carried out upon an oxford shoe having an upper I0 and a rubber sole Il provided with a mock welt l2. The sole is attached to the shoebottom by cement and, as herein shown, a leather welt strip is attached to the margin of the sole iby a line of stitching. l'I'he sole herein Vshown for purposes of illustration is lof a rubber composition known to the trade as Napline and it will be understood that this is but one example of the type of sole that may be successfully fitted by the practice of my invention.

In carrying out the process of my invention a fibrous tuck is prepared corresponding in contour to the contour of the heel seat to be fitted and extending forwardly to a point in advance of the breast line. Such a tuck I3 may be died out from cardboard or other stiff fibrous material. One economical source of such tucks is the waste cardboard from'shoe cartons. The tuck I3 is secured by a coating or spot of paste, 'orf cement to the heel seat face of the sole as suggested in Fig. 3. The heel seat may then be temporarily deformed by cooperating pressure members such as a matrix plate having a U- shaped opening and a correspondingly shaped plunger and in this operation the heel seat of the sole and the tuck I3 act as a composite sheet- While so pressed and deformed a pair of transverse breast cuts I4 and I5 are made in opposite sides of the heel seat as suggested in Fig. 4 and a splitting knife isv advanced from the rear end of the heel seat until it meets the breast cuts. In this operation it trims a U-shaped chip I1 from the margin of the heel seat. This chip is terminated by the breast cuts and includes the rear ends I2 of the welt strip which normally extend behind the breast line of the shoe. The U- shaped chip I1 is removed from the sole with the attached tuck I3 leaving the heel seat of the sole II` accurately shaped and fitted for the reception of the wood heel as shown in Fig. 6.

To complete the disclosure of the processof my invention I will now proceed to explain how it may be carried out with the assistance of such a machine as thatdescribed in U, S. Patent No. 1,980,371.

This machine as illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a matrix or crease plate 26 having a U-shaped opening and being constructed and arranged to support the marginal heel seat portion of the sole II. Cooperating with the matrix plate 2l] is a U-shaped presser member 2I mounted for vertical movement to clamp the margins .of the heel seat portion and the sole against the plate 2U, a pair of knives 33 which move past the forward or breast edges of the matrix plate 20 to form the heel breast receiving shoulders upon the sole, a bulger 25 mounted for vertical movement to force the central part .of the heel seat and the sole through the opening of the matrix plate and a fiat blade 35 mounted for horizontal movement along the bottom of the matrix plate to trim the margin of the heel seat portion and form the tongue or reduced areaof the fitted sole.

In Fig. 1 the frame of the machine is substantially omitted since this is not necessary to an understanding of the functions of its operating instrumentalities. However, the frame provides a rigid support shaped to kreceive interchangeably one of a plurality of matrix plates 2D provided with U-shaped openings of various sizes and shapes according to the size of the heel seat desired. The inner portion of the plate around its U-shaped opening is cut away to provide a bevelled face extending from one end of the opening to the other and terminating in a feather edge which lies in a plane and defines the size and shape of the reduced heel seat portionv of the sole.

The sole of the shoe is positioned lengthwise upon the matrix plate 20 by a back gauge 39 slidably mounted in the machine frame and normally urged by a compression spring forwardly of the machine with respect to an adjustable stop plate 4I, the lengthwise position of which is controlled by a heel gauge not herein shown. A portion of the cam 40 which advances the stop plate in this controlled manner is shown in Fig. 1 butJ the rest of the mechanism is omitted.

The splitting knife 35, as already stated, is flat and travels against the lower flat face of the matrix plate 20. The contour of its cutting edge corresponds in shape to the contour of the shoulder forming knives 33. The knife 35 is adjustably mounted in a carrier 42 by a clamping screw and backed by an adjusting screw 31 which is threaded into an abutment block 36 having a dependant portion arranged to interlock with the shank of the knife 35. The clamping screw may be loosened to permit this adjustment and tightened to clamp the knife to the carrier 42.

It is desirable to clamp the sole against the bevelled face of the matrix plate in order that the sole may be tensioned around the bottom of the bulger 25 as the bulger forces the central part of the heel seat portion of the sole through the opening below the lower face of the plate 20. Accordingly the U-shaped pressure member 2| is pivotally mounted upon a carrier plate 22 secured to the lower end of a vertical sleeve 23. The presser member and its plate 22 are detachable and interchangeable with plates of different shape in accordance with the shape of the matrix in use. Concentrically mounted within the sleeve 23 is a rod 26 having a flange ai; its lower end against which is detachably held the bulger 25 which as already indicated is shaped lto pass through the opening of the matrix plate 20. The rod 26 and the upper end of the sleeve 23 are surrounded by a cylindrical sleeve 29 enclosing a compression spring 3D. The upper end of the sleeve 29 is engaged by check nuts threaded upon the rod 26. At its upper end the rod 26 carries a head 28 and this is connected through a link to the operating lever 21 of the machine.

The shoulder forming cutters 33 are spaced to form the breast cuts I4 and I5 (see Fig. 4) and are adjustably mounted by clamping screws 34 in a carrier 3| which in turn is mounted for heightwise adjustment and backed up by adjusting screws 32 in a reciprocatory operating slide.

In carrying out the method Iof my invention with the assistance of the mechanism above described the shoe is presented as suggested in Fig. 1 with the margin of the tuck-reinforced rubber sole II resting upon the bevelled face of the matrix plate 20. The tuck I3 is, of course, interposed beneath the operative face of the presser 2| and of the bulger 25. The presser member 2I is lowered into pressing engagement with the margin of the sole and this is the position of the parts as illustrated in Fig. 1. With the work in this position the shoulder forming knives are depressed to form the shoulder cuts I4 and I5, in this operation passing through the tuck I3, and are then immediately elevated. `The bulger 25 is now advanced forcing the center portion of the sole downwardly below the plane of the lower face of the matrix plate 20 and in this operation the tuck-reinforced heel seatI portion of the sole is abruptly concaved and the bulger may advance so that the tuck I3 is carried into or slightly below the cutting plane as determined by the 2,234,882 plate 20. With the heel lower face of the matrix seat of the sole held under pressure and deformed in this manner the knife 35 is advanced until it meets the shoulder forming cuts I4 and I thereby forming the chip shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In the chip the tuck I3 retains permanently the impress of the deforming action to which it hasv been subjected by the cooperative movements of the bulger with respect to the matrix plate 2U. In its movement lengthwise through the heel seat of the just beneath the lower surface of the tuck I3 or it may shave into the material ofthe tuck without any damage to its own edge. Accordingly when thev deforming operation is effected in part through the medium of the tuck a more pronounced and accurate deformation is possible than is the case when the deforming medium must be carefully maintained above the path of the splitting knife.y

In Fig. 5 the inner face of the tuck I3 in the chip is represented as having been cleared by the splitting knife but in many instances the exposed face of the tuck Within the U-shaped chip I'I will show that a scarf has been removed therefrom in the splitting operation.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail the best manner now known to me of putting it into practice I claim vas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The process of fitting heel seats of rubber sole shoes, which consists in deforming by surface pressure the heel seat portion of a rubber sole, employing therefor instrumentalities which include a layer of cardboard in direct contact with the outer face of the sole, and then lengthwise splitting thevheel seat while so pressed and deformed. Y

2. The process of fitting heel seats of rubber sole shoes, which is characterized by the step of securing a cardboard tuck to the outer face of the heel seat, concaving the heel seat and its attached tuck by surface pressure, and lengthwise splitting the heel seat While so concaved and pressed. 3. The process of Iitting heel seats of rubber sole shoes, which is characterized by securing to the outer face of the rubber sole a iibrous tuck which extends forward of the breast line, deforming the heel seat and tuck by surface pressure, breast-cutting through the tuck and sole at opposite edges thereof, and lengthwise splitting the deformed sole therebyremoving a. U- shaped chip covered by the tuck.

4. The process of fitting heel seats of rubber sole shoes, characterized by deforming the heel seat of the sole by instrumentalities which include sole the` knife 35 may pass .a fibrous contact member, and lengthwise splitting the heel seat while so deformed, employing in-that step a blade movable in a path practically contacting with the brous contact member.

5. The process of fitting heel seats of rubber sole shoes, characterized by covering the heel seat with a fibrous tuck, concaving the combined tuck and sole in the heel seat, and while so deformed, lengthwise splitting the heel seat by a blade moving so that it shaves the tuck.

6. The process of iitting heel seats of rubber sole shoes, characterized by covering the heel seat with a fibrous tuck, and then deforming and lengthwise splitting the heel seat in such manner as to remove a U-shaped chip covered by the tuck or -a portion thereof.

7. The process of fitting heel seats of rubber sole shoes, characterized by covering the heel seat with a fibrous tuck, depressing the central area ofthe tuck with the sole beneath it, and

then trimming away the marginal portion of the Y `heel seat without disturbing the contact of the tuck and the end of the sole.

8. The process of tting heel seat of Ia rubber sole shoe, having a mock welt, which is characterized by cementing to the heel seat of a rubber sole a iibrous tuck which extends forward of the breast line and above the rear ends of the mock welt, then ooncaving the heel seat end of the sole by pressure exerted on one side through the medium of the tuck, and While so pressed longitudinally splitting the heel seat by a iat blade traveling in close proximity to the tuck, and thereby removing the tuck with a U- shaped chip beneath it together with the severed ends of the welt. f

9. The process of iitting heel seats of rubber sole shoes, which is characterized by stiifening the rear end cfa rubber sole by means of an attached fibrous tuck, and then cutting olf a `U-shaped stiiened chip from the thus-stiifened end of the sole.

10. The process of fitting heel seats of rubber sole shoes, which is characterized by stiffening the rear end of a rubber sole by means of an attached fibrous tuck coinciding in contour substantially with the contour of the heel seat, clamping the marginal portion of the heel seat in part through the medium of the tuck, bulging the center portion of the heel seat with respect to its clamped marginal portion also in part through the medium of the tuck, and then cutting a U-shaped chip from the rubber sole while thus clamped and bulged.

PERCY L. SINCLAIR.

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