US2308250A

US2308250A - Increaser for lasting shoes

Info

Publication number: US2308250A
Application number: US379948A
Authority: US
Inventors: John F Teehan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1941-02-21
Filing date: 1941-02-21
Publication date: 1943-01-12
Anticipated expiration: 1960-01-12

Description

Jan. 12, 1943. L1. F. TEHAN l 2,308,250

INCREASER FOR LASTING SHOES Filed Feb. 21, 1941 Patented Jan. 12, 1943 i rs PATENT tries 4 Claims.

This invention relates to an increaser for use in lasting shoes which are made with slide fasteners to close and secure the front opening of th shoe.

When the shoe upper is lasted, it is customary practice to pull the margins of the upper strongly over the edges of the last, particularly at the instep, so as to get a tight smooth fit of the upper against the surface of the last. The resulting tension on the upper, and particularly on the instep -portion thereof, causes the front portion of the quarters to press tightly against the last, so that Where the upper is made with a slide fastener of the type customarily known as zipper fastener, the slide element cannot be moved after the upper has been lasted. In order to unfasten the front opening of the shoe for the delasting of the shoe, it has been necessary to relieve this pressure against the last by some suitable means. For example, as described in my copending application Serial No. 293,968, filed September 8, 1939, pursuant to which Letters Patent No. 2,244,031 were granted June 3, 1941, a removable increaser is inserted between the front portion of the upper and the adjacent surface of the last when the upper is pulled over the last. After the shoe has been completed, this increaser may be removed, thus relieving the pressure on the upper surface sufficiently to permit the operation of the fastener slide preparatory to the delasting of the shoe. In actual practice, more or less trouble and delay are caused by occasional difficulty in removing the increaser. ator also forgets at times to remove the increaser so that damage results in the shoe in the eifort to delast the same.

According to the present invention, an improved increaser is provided whereby the fastener slide can be readily operated Without the previous removal of the increaser. This is made possible by providing an increaser having a frontal channel which is adapted to underlie the path of movement of the fastener slide. The increaser must be correctly located so that it will register with such path when the shoe is lasted. Upon Figure 5 is an elevation of a modified form of increaser embodying the invention.

The opercompletion of the shoe, the operator can readily operate the fastener slide to open the front of the shoe and permit delasting thereof.

For a more complete understanding of the inis located an increaser embodying the invention. 55

Figure 6 is a fragmentary bottom view of a shoe upper, without the tongue, prepared for use with the increaser shown in Figure 5.

In Figure 4 is illustrated an increaser l0 consisting of a lpad which is preferably molded of suitable plastic material. This material is preferably flexible and substantially incompressible and may conveniently be a rubber compound or any other suitable equivalent. The increaser has maximum thickness at its upper end I2, this thickness tapering off along the sides and bottom of the increaser to a relatively sharp edge I4. The increaser is also preferably transversely and longitudinally curved to accommodate it to the sharply curved front surface of a last, so that transverse sections of the increaser are crescentshaped as indicated in Figures 2 and 3. In the front or convex face of the increaser a longitudinal channel I6 is provided, this channel being of suitable width and depth to accommodate the under portion of a slide element 20 which is a part of the slide fastening device 22 of the type known as a zipper.

It is essential that when the shoe is lasted, the increaser will be accurately positioned so that the channel I6 will directly underlie the path of the slide element 20. Since operators who last shoe uppers cannot be depended upon to locate the uppers on the lasts in the same position relative to the lasts, it is not safe to attach an in- -creaser of the kind described to the last itself.

In order to ensure correct positioning of the increaser with respect to the path of the fastener slide 20, the increaser is preferably inserted in a pocket formed in the tongue-of the shoe. The shoe tongue may be in the form of an extension 24 of the lining 26 of one of the quarters, this extension 24 being in the form of a ap of approximately the same size and shape of a conventional shoe tongue and projecting across the front of the last so as to underlie the front portions of both quarters. A facing piece 30 is secured along its side edges to the extension 24 so as to form therewith a pocket adapted to receive an increaser l0. The location of the pocket with respect to the front opening of the shoe can be accurately determined in assembling the parts which make up the upper. Hence, when the increaser I0 is inserted in the pocket, the frontal channel I6 is accurately located with respect to the path of travel of the slide 2% regardless of variations in the position of the upper itself on the last. The facing piece 3@ is preferably of thin soft leather so that it yields readily into the channel I6 to permit the actuation of the slide 20.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the front portion of an upper having a shoe tongue of the conventional type, this tongue consisting of a back member 32 and a facing member 311 joined at the edges to form a pocket for an increaser H3. The usual practice in 'assembling a shoe upper which includes a tongue of, conventional form is to attach the tongue to one of the"- quarter linings by a short'line of stitching 35 j it is easy for the slide to be operated so as to l undo the fastening and permit the removal of the shoe from the last.

Figure 5 shows an increaser lil which may be of substantially the same size and shape as the increaser I9 illustrated in Figure e. This increaser, however, is provided with a number of ears l2 and Ml made of metal or some suitable equivalent. These ears are for the purpose `olf-g accurately positioning the increaser between the tongue and the front of the upper in a shoe upper which has no tongue pocket or its equivalent. To receive the ears 2, a pair of slots i5 are cut in the lining of the upper and are suitably spaced apart. To receive the ears M a pair of slots 48 are cut in the lining of the upper near the throat. By inserting the ears 42 and i4 in the slots '36 and 48, the correct position of the increaser 40 is determined and maintained so that the slide will operate properly after the completion of the shoe on the last.

It is evident that various modifications and changes may be made in the embodiments of the invention herein shown and described without departing from the spirit or scope thereof as dened in the following claims,

I claim:

l. An increaser for lasting a shoe having a slide fastener, which comprises a pad of flexible substantially incompressible material shaped to l:lit over the portion of the last which underlies the tongue of the shoe, said increaser having a frontal channel adapted to underlie the path of the slide element of the fastener.

2.- An increaser for lasting a shoe having a slide fastener, which comprises a pad of flexible substantially incompressible material having the approximate length and width of a shoe tongue and a substantial thickness tapering to thin side and bottom edges, said increaser having a frontal channel therein adapted to underlie the path of the slide element of the fastener.

3. Steps in a method of shoemaking, which comprise assembling a shoe upper with a slide fastener, mounting within said upper a flexible member having a longitudinal frontal groove arranged so that said groove underlies said fastener, lasting the upper with said member therein, finishing the shoe, and operating thev fastener slide to open the fastener.

4. Stepsin a method of shoemaking, which comprise assembling a shoe upper with a slide fastener, lasting said upper with a flexible increaser between the front part of the last and the upper with a frontal groove registering with and underlying the slide fastener, finishing the shoe, and operating the fastener slide to open the fastener.

JOHN F. TEEHAN.