US2391165A

US2391165A - Stocking foot

Info

Publication number: US2391165A
Application number: US454492A
Authority: US
Inventors: Kasket Guenther
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1942-08-12
Filing date: 1942-08-12
Publication date: 1945-12-18
Anticipated expiration: 1962-12-18

Description

Patented Dec. 18., 1945 Es Peri*Iflffjlsl'rv oFF-1 CE .STbGKINeFloor i n' Guenther. vI-asket, NewYork, v -'Application Angustia, 1942,.seria1,N0.4'5 4',4a2

s ciaimsg (o1. 36-10) invention relatesto improvements. in articles ofl footwear, and,more particularly, to`

stocking feet ending at or below theA ankle of the Weares foot.`r g. A

'Sucnstocking feet may be worn .underneath or' over ordinary"stockings or socks, or without stockings, depending upon Athe' purpose. .For instance, a 'stocking foot'l may be used when lapplying a' medication"forholdingv the latterV in place, or for'pro'tecting a.v stocking properfr'm being affectedthereby. stocking footfmax'r also' ser'v'e'io'r reducing the wearer Van ordinary stock ing., A stocking foot m'ayal'so be favorable" asv an 'additional liningv or filling. vwhenfvlfe'afrir'ig'- sport fshoe's,'ski."shoes] and' the" like.'v Lastly', such stockingv feetl are worn for reasons of fashion,v

especially for 'provi'dir'g` rrorefconifoit when wearing shoes without 'visible' socks or stockings.l One of the. drawbacks of the'customary stock` ing feet is their tendency to come out ofplalce.

either by sagging down into the shoe 'or bycreeping out of it, i causing discomfort' Y or ,dis-' orderly appearance. rIt has been suggested to provide the opening 'of stocking feet with ahem Ycontaining elastic band vorto line -the'fheel portion 'with relatively 'rigid material in order.

Y to prevent the'stocking heel from creeping up-` wardly arid out of the shoe. Both 'means are imperfect as regardscomfort and app'earancaf Itlis an object" of', my invention, in one of `its' aspects, to improvestocking feet forithe above-1 mentioned purposes so as vto eliminate .discomfort'. due to l `Jca1ized' y elastic orri'gid pressure' while providing a snug t anda tendency 'of the' article to stay in proper place on' the'wearers" foot,vl

Another object' ,of the. invention is to provide new" cuts for blanks 'which' 'are' 'easy 'to fabricate and atthesame timev to 'ensure a'very'snug'and even tV over atleast the' entire heel,\tendon andj arch portion of the wearers `foot.' A further object oftheinvention vis the pro` visionjof stocking feetapplicable 'and 'especially designed for v` open-heel;shoes,r sandals andf'the like footwear.k AThe,knownstockir'ig' Yfeet cannot' Well befworn Awith 'shoes of thesejtypesrbecausev th'e'heei and middieportions of the stocking `feet would bervisible through theopenings Vandiriten" stices of these shoe constructions@ An object Yis also to simplifythe stocking feet to be Worniinjcases where the protection of' the tee portion of'ordinary stockings or the applica tion of medications tol thetoes or ba'llsisl the'i main purpose.

The inventionlwi-ll l be'v understood freni :the

embodiments described hereinafter in connectionwith the drawing in which v Y Y Fig. l is aperspective View of a stocking 'foot embodying features of the invention;

Figs. f2v and 3 rare representations. of two blanks, shown in developed form,A used in. fabri' eating a stocking footfsuchas shown in Figgl;

flig .4v is a view of the stocking foot o'flig. 1, foldedflat upon a table showing the *relative position cf thetwoblanks of Figs. 2 and 3 properly joined together; ."lig.' 51s asideview-of another embodiment, shown fo1dednat;` Y w Fig, 6 illustrates the same article, opened up', and rr aperspective View; and

Fig. 7 is aperspective'view of a further embodiment.

Referring to Figs. l, 2,.'3 and 4, .the stocking foot hereillustrated iscomp'osed of two blanks I and 2,

curved line pointed 'at towards. 'the long straight tge'f y The two blanks arecut aterial such rial.' The .blank 2, destined to form the heel per from textile-or the:V like:

tionof the stocking foot, consists of a material" .with different degrees' of'stretch in different.

directions. I prefer using knit material which has greatest stretch in one direction and 1s relatively;A yielding at right angles thereto.

Forpurposes of'illu'str'ation, areasY I6 have been depicted as knitted areas 'in blank 'I, and areas I1, have been indicated as 'knitted areas in,

blank 2. VThe material is so arranged when cutfA ting the blank 2 that'the greatest stretch extends in lthe direction ofthe arrow 25. The blank I,

forming the toe' 'andballjportion of thestocking foot, consists preferably' of the same material. However, the cut'is 'so directedthat the greatest stretch of blank I extends substantially as indicated kby the 'arrow I5, i. e. at right angles to the stretch of the heel `blank 2. This is further demonstrated by thefact' that the wavy linesof areas I6 are transversely dispo sed to the' wavy lines of areas I1 in Figs. 1 and 2.

yWhen assembling the two folded along lthe line A-B so as to form a crease between ythose points. Now, theftwo half-arcsas woven or .preferably vknit mate-j blanks, blank I is` lie flat on one another, with the outer peripheral edges II and I2 in registry with each other, as the inner peripheral edges I3 and I4 are in registry with each other. Consequently, end points D and F are in registry with each other, as are end points E and G, as is apparent from Fig. 4. Then, the edges II and I2 are joined together, preferably by sewing, along the entire arcuate portion of the outer periphery so as to form a seam extending from point A to points E and G. This seam is denoted by 3 .in Fig. 1.

The next step of manufacture is to attach blank 2 to blank I so that the long edge 2I joins the

ends

26 and 21 of blank I as indicated in Fig.

4. As a result, the

short edges

22 and 23 `form a continuation of the edges I3 and I4, respectively, of the blank I. Finally, the two 'portions of the curved edge 24 are joined togetherso as t0 form a seam extending from point C` upwardly to the registering points H and I. The .latter seam appears in Fig. 1 at 4. Scams 3 and 4 extend in the longitudinal and axial directions of the finished article, vwhile the seam resulting from the joining together of the tWo blanks extends transversely as is apparent in Fig. 1 at 5. The sequence of the folding and joining operations can, of course, be varied without affecting the result. Likewise, the heel blank 2, if cut in the then proper direction relative `to the stretch of the material, may also be arranged so that the long edge 2I forms the continuation of the iines I3 and I4 while the

short edges

22 and 23 abut against the ends D-E land F-G, respectively, .0f blank I.

The finished stocking foot has the following properties. The heel portion is elastic in the horizontal or longitudinal direction of the foot of the wearer, but virtually unstretchable in the'vertical direction, as appears from the wavylines of stretch of area II. The front portion of the article, however, is inherently `elastic in the `vertical direction, as appears from the wavy lines of stretch of areas IB.- Owing to the horizontal pull acting in theheel portion when worn, vthe latter is tightly held lagainst thev wearers foot, but its vertical inelasticity prevents Vit from creeping vertically. As a result, the stocking foot is elastically held in place merely by the inherent diiferences in stretchability of the material. This suices, as

a rule, to obtain the desired advantages without' requiring additional holding means, `although such means may also be employed additionally if, for instance, special requirements aref-to be met.

For instance, the rim of the stocking'foot may be rreinforced by hemstitching, bias tape or van elastic band, or a reinforcingA lining may be arranged at the upper end of the heel portionas is indicated at 6 in Fig. 1. Such a lining, however, may besmaller and lower than heretofore customary, as it need not contribute to holding the article in place and should not Ainterferey with the .eiectof the vertically elastic heel portion.

When providing the stocking shoe with an elastic rim portion, advantage can be taken of another feature of my invention also embodied in the example illustrated in Fig. l. According `to this illustration, the upper :rim of the foot opening, `at least along the edges I3 and I4 (see 1 .and 2)., is-formed 'by a downwardly extending peripheral zone I of increased horizontal elasticity (elongation) in order .to obtain a snugt over the entire arch and tendon area of the ar-v ticle. This increased .elongation can be `.obtained by corresponding knitting methods, forinstance. It is preferable,.however, to provide thev material with elastic threads or strands, such as rubber bands, which surround the footopening partially or wholly, each extending substantially in a horizontal direction when in proper wearing position. The strands are so imbedded or otherwise integrated with the material and cover a relatively extensive area that they are not visible as such and cannot cause localized pressure or warping of the material. The strands lying closer to the opening are shorter than those farther away so that the article tends to adapt itself closely'and evenly to the foot of the wearer without exerting localized pressure at any point of the area.

The last-mentioned feature of my invention contributes to improving the horizontal pull cn the vertically elastic heel portion of the stocking foot. It will be understood, however, that even without this feature a stocking foot as described above is ordinarily suiiicient to ensure good wearing qualities, and in this respect is superior to the known articles ofthis type. 0n the other hand, the use of an elastic area of downwardly increas-A ing length or diameter, as described Vin the foregoing, may also be applied with advantage to other constructions of stocking feet. This will be apparent from Figs. v5 to 7 of the drawing.

The stocking foot shown in Figs. 5 and 6 covers thetoe and ball portion of the wearers foot while leaving the heel portion and part of the middle portion open. The Varticle can be formed of a single blank, having a bag-like front lportion 8v and a strap-like rear portion 9. The strap 9' serves merely to hold the toe portion in place and is covered by the shoe. structure when worn. An elastic area I0 is provided in accordance with theA description given in connection with Figs. 41 and 2. Another elastic area Ill extends around the lower rim of the article.

Articles according to Figs. 5 and 6 are advantageous when the mainpurpose is to protect the most affected parts, i. e., the toe portion, of an ordinary stocking, or when wearing no stockings and heelless shoes or sandals.

'7 .represents the use of an elastic area 3l asset forth .above in Connection with a stocking foot 3 0 of any suitable construction, for instance a one-blank or circular-knit article. The zone 3l contains a multiplicity of elastic. Strands surrounding the foot opening., each outer strand.in

the worn state as well as relaxed, having greater length than the adjacent inner oneso that the shape of the elastic arch and tendon area follows closely the shape of the corresponding area ofthe wearers foot. i

I claim:

1. Av separate and distinct manufacture, consisting of a stocking foot, the stocking foot comprising a section for encasing the toes and the foot rearwardly therefrom to substantially the ball of the foot, and means for engagement around the foot at `the heel but well above the sole of the foot, thev engagement means and the.

section cooperating to provide an opening for inserton of the foot into' said section and an opening for projection of the heel of the foot below.

said engagement means, said section and engagementmeans having lines of greater elasticity in zones immediately adjacent theedgesof the openings than inzones removed from said edges.

2. A separate and distinct manufacture, con-v sisting of a stocking foot, the stocking foot comprising a section `for encasing the toes and the foot rearwardly therefrom to substantially the ball of the` foot, and means integral-withsaid. section for engagement around the foot at the heel but well above the sole of the foot, the engagement means and the section co-operating to provide an opening for insertion of the foot4 into said section and an opening for projection of the heel of the foot below said engagement means, said section and engagement means having lines of greater elasticity in zones immediately adjacent the edges of the openings than in zones removed from said edges.

3. A separate and distinct manufacture, consisting of a stocking foot, the stocking foot comprising a section for encasing the toes and the foot rearwardly therefrom to substantially the ball of the foot, and means for engagement around the foot at the heel but well above the sole of the foot, the engagement means and the section co-operating to provide an opening for insertion of the foot into said section and an opening for projection of the heel of the foot below said engagement means, the section and the engagement means being formed of a single piece of material, said section and engagement means having lines of greater elasticity in vzones immediately adjacent the edges of the openings than in zones removed from said edges.

4. A separate and distinct manufacture, consisting of a stocking foot, the stocking foot comprising a section for encasing the toes and the foot rearwardly therefrom to substantially the ball of the foot, and means for engagement around the back of the foot only between the heel and the ankle, the engagement means and the section co-operating to provide an opening for insertion of the foot into said section, said section and engagement means having lines of greater elasticity in zones immediately adjacent the edges of the opening than in Zones removed from said edges.

5. A separate and distinct manufacture, consisting of a stocking foot, the stocking foot comprising a section for encasing the toes and the foot rearwardly therefrom, and means for engagement around the back of the foot only between the heel and the ankle, the engagement means and the section co-operating to provide an opening for insertion of the foot into said section, said section and engagement means having lines of greater elasticity in zones immediately adjacent the edges of the opening than in zones removed from said edges.

6. A separate and distinct manufacture, consistingof a stocking foot, the stocking foot comprising a section for encasing the toes and the foot rearwardly therefrom to substantially the' ball of the foot, and means for engagement around the back of the foot between the heel and the ankle, the engagement means and the section co-operating to provide an opening for insertion of the foot into said section, said section and engagement means having lines of greater elasticity in zones immediately adjacentl the edges of the opening than in zones removed from said edges, the lines of elasticity being greater in length at a greater distance from the edges. GUENTHER KASKET.