US2439172A - Shoe forepart bottom filler - Google Patents

Description

April' 6, 1948. E. LA CHAPELLE SHOE FOREPART BOTTOM FILLER Filed March 13, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fay IN V EN TOR.

April 1948. E. 1. LA CHAPELLE 2,439,172

SHOE FOREPART BOTTOM FILLER Filed March 13, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 6, 1948 SHOE FOREPART BOTTOM FILLER Euclid I. La Chapelle, Brockton, Mass.,

assignor of one-fourth to Albert L. La Chapelle, one-. fourth to Beatrice H. La Chapelle, and onefourth to Rachel E. La Chapelle Application March 13, 1946, Serial No. 654,130 1 v 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to and more particularly to shoe forepart bottom fillers adaptable to boots and shoes of the Goodyear welt type or the like.

The term shoe" occurring in the specification and in the claims is to be interpreted to include the term "boot."

Conventional shoe forepart bottom fillers extend from side to side and from the toe-end to the shankpartof the shoe forepart bottom cavity to be filled and, so far as I am aware, all such fillers have been formed as a unit, at least along the central portion thereof. Such unitary formashoe bottom fillers tion 'of shoe forepart bottom fillers, when of hard I set filler material, such as in the socalled setite process, which is generally adopted, notably in shoes of the well known Goodyear welt type. causes the flller to react against the free flex of the insole and outsole of the shoe in it being strained lengthwise in a rearward direction from the toe-end under the influence of the flex of the forepart of the shoe in the act of walking, and disadvantageous disarrangement of the fore portion of the filler under the effect of the rearward lengthwise strain thereupon when the filler is being flexed in wear; and, when formed of soft filler material, such as soft rubber, which is well recognized to be the best comfortable cushioning filler material known, then the reaction of the filler against the free flex of the insole and outsole of the shoe is practically nil, but the effect of the undue draw of the rubber upon the entire forepart of the foot makes for the impracticability of such a shoe forepart bottom filler.

With the aim in view of reducing, at least to a substantial lesser degree, the above noted objectionable conditions, I have conceived the improved welt shoe forepart bottom filler herein disclosed. a

As shown in the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of a sole, which I, preferably, have substituted for the conventional welt shoe insole for greater flexibility of the inseam;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the full thickness of the said turn shoe sole;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of a soft rubber disk with a flange portion:

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view'showing the full thickness of the soft rubber disk, shown in Fig. 3;

Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of a partly made Goodyear welt shoe with the said soft rubber disk disposed within the bottom cavity formed by the inseamedforepart of the shoe;

Figure 6 is a view similar to the one shown in Fig. 5, but then with the conventional resilient "bottom filler material disposed within the forepart bottom cavity of the shoe, extending over the flange portion of the soft rubber disk and to the toe-end of the shoe;

Figure 7 is a view of the finished Goodyear welt shoe incorporating my improved shoe forepart bottom filler and broken away to show the insole and the soft rubber disk as interposed therebetween and the outsole of the shoe; and c Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the finished Goodyear welt shoe, taken on line 8-8 Fig. 7;

As further shown in the drawings:

The sole I has a stitch receiving portion 2, formed by the channel 3, and a square shoulder 4, in contradistinction to the conventional welt shoe insole having a shoulder-lip situated outwardly of the channel-lip, upstanding and counteracting the flexibility of the inseam, and the shoulder of the said sole is formed substantially perpendicularly to the face of the sole, as best shown inFig. 2, and such substantially square shoulder is common on soles intended for turn shoes and forms no part of my invention. The advantages of such a sole in a Goodyear welt shoe, as herein proposed, may be enumerated to be:

(a) That a more flexible solid leather welt shoe insole is thereby made possible; (1)) that a smoother contour of the shoe adjacent to the welt results; and (c) that a substantial saving is affectedin that there being no shoulder-lip, the lip-turning machine and the cost of its operation are'eliminated.

It is to be appreciated, however, that although such a square shouldered sole in a Goodyear welt shoe may advantageously serve, in combination with my improved shoe forepart bottom filler which is also more flexible than the conventional shoe forepart-bottom filler in having a hingelike loose joint situated midway or thereabouts of its length, where its two distinct portions meet, the said improved filler is not limited to use by the type of insole incorporated in a shoe and it 3. may be also advantageously used in a Goodyear welt shoe embodying the conventional welt shoe insole.

As herein shown,'prior to the disposal of the .flller material within the bottom cavity of the the flange B, (in small, medium and largesize's) which is disposed upon the rear forepart plane face of the shoe insole, in the ball area, and which is held thereon by the light coating of cemen- .fiiler' except for the soft rubber portion 5, and

which is herein shown, for convenience only, as being formed of a mixture of grounded cork and cementitious material, and which advisedly is formed-of a filler material of lesser resiliency having far less draw upon the foot than the said soft rubber portion 5, for avoiding thereby undue draw or overheat of the foot, as hereinafter further expiained, and which is disposed within the forepart bottom cavity of the shoe upon and around the flange portion 6, of the soft rubber disk (which flange portion, obviously, is not absolutely necessary to 'the invention) and upon the toepart of the shoe insole as in the conventional manner by means of a trowel or the like. I Thus, the soft rubber disk 5, and the conventional flller material '9, which are substantially (the thickness of the conventional flllenmaterial 5, being dependent, of course, upon the depth of the cavity in the shoe tobe filled, which, inthe case of 4 portion 5, located in the ball area, due to its thickness being, at least in part, approximately that of the thickness of the less resilient portion of the filler, primarily makes for the extra resiliency thereof required to make for the flexing of that said circular portion without disarrangement of the front portion of the flller.

It is important to note that I am first to have conceived the novel combination in a shoe forein giving new beneficial results never before atpart bottom filler of two distinct portions, such as herein shown, which are relatively co-operative tained, and a claim has been directed to broadly cover and does broadly cover such a novel formation of a shoe forepart bottom filler.

It is to be further noted that due to the limited size of the soft rubber disk 5, relatively to the entire size of the area of the shoe forepart bottom cavity to be filled, the foot is not thereby, unduly drawn, during the time of wear and, as already noted, since that rear portion of the shoe forepart bottom filler is the portion which is subjected to nearly all the pressure by the forepart of the foot while the rearpart of the shoe is being lifted from the pavement in the, act of walking, the comfortable cushioning effect of the soft rubber disk 5, practically is the same as it would be were Goodyear welt shoes or the like, generally is of a depth of five thirty seconds of an inch or thereabouts), form, as a whole, the soft rubber portion a 5, invariably extending throughout the conventional filler material 9, my improved shoe forepart bottom filler III. In this connection it is important to note that the rear portion 5, and the fore portion 8, of the said fillerlll, form a hingelike loose joint, extending across the median area of the body of the filler midway or thereabouts of its length, making for free yield of the median area of the rear portion in a rearward direction independently of the median area of the fore porupon the filler when being flexed in act of walking and the filler is made also more flexible.

lit is to be appreciated thatwool-felt, cork in sheet form, or any other kinds of suitable material may be substituted for the sponge rubber disk 5.

As shown in'Fig. 6, the partly made Goodyear 'welt shoe is in readiness to be passed to the out- 7 tion, by which, is avoided undue lengthwise strain sole laying machine and, the outsole H, having- -been previously provided with a, coating of the forepart bottom cavity of the Goodyear welt shoe, all the subsequent shoemaking operations are performed in the conventional manner.

the shoe forepart bottom filler formed in its entirety of like soft rubber. Furthermore, the soft, rubber portion 5, in being, as herein shown,

in being thus very flexible and, whenever set in shoes as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, is most adaptable,

in the general run of a shoe, factory, to be properly and quickly fitted to shoes of various styles and sizes. I, however, want it well understood that my invention is not to be limited to the formation of the shoe. forepart bottom filler as herein shown in Fig. 6,'as, for example, it is conceivable that a suitable conventional flller material in sheet form may be provided and that shoe forepart bottom fillers extending, as in the conventional form,- from the toepart to the shankpart may. be cut out therefrom and that a hole then may be cut out from the filler at the rear portion thereof, through which the soft rubber disk :5, may be inserted and made part of the shoe forepart bottom flller as a whole. Then, the said filler would be substantially like the improved shoe forepart bottom filler Ill, herein shown in Fig. 6, and it would be eventually disposed as a unit within the shoe forepart bottom cavity. The claims, whenever the context -so permits, are to be interpreted in that sense. Obviously, a great saving is affected in forming the shoe forepart bottom filler as herein shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and

1, preferably, have adopted that form of procedure as it is the best and most economical form now to be known.

Having, thus explained my invention and shown the same in the best form now to me known, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A shoe filler for welt shoes, of a length adapted to fit the cavity between the inner sole and the outer sole from the shank to the toe endi of a shoe, said filler being formed of a resilient and a less resilient portion, the less resilient portion extending from the toe to the shank and comprising all of the filler except a circular portion of material of greater resiliency located in the ball area and invariably extending throughout the less resilient portion and said circular portion being, at least in part, approximately of the thick- It is to be noted that the soft rubber circular ness of .the lessresilient portion and of such size 2,489,172 a 5 as to extend approximately the full width of the filler and from the shank to approximately the UNITED STATES PATENTS midline of said filler and providing a resilient area .Number Name Date which allows flexing of this portion 0! the filler 1. Gllkerson al- 1 3 without disarrangement of the iront portion ,4 1 G l r n 3 1931 thereof. 1,850,809 Thoma Mar. 22, 1932 EUCLID 1 LA CHAPELLE 2,242,941 Daniels et a1 May 20, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date REFERENCES UITED The following references are of record in the fiz? file of this patent:

Great Britain Sept. 21, 1922

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