US2464023A

US2464023A - Arch support

Info

Publication number: US2464023A
Application number: US698990A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gordon B Carson
Original assignee: SELBY SHOE Co
Current assignee: SELBY SHOE Co
Priority date: 1946-09-24
Filing date: 1946-09-24
Publication date: 1949-03-08
Anticipated expiration: 1966-03-08

Description

March 8, 1949. Q CARSON 2,464,023

ARCH SUPPORT Filed Sept. 24, 1946 IN VEN TOR.

Patented Mar. 8, 1949 UNITED STATES FATE? ARCH SUPPORT Application September 24, 1946, Serial No. 698,990

(Cl. 36-"l1) 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to improvements in shoes and to improvements in the construction of inner or shank portion of insole wh'ch eflectively supports the inner side of the a of t foot in shoes of the orthopedic or corrective type. More particularly, this invention relates to fin-- provements in an arch support oi the type closed generally in U. S. Patent No. 2,13%? I; William D. Moore, granted February 21, 1:: Fl.

It has been conventional in the past to provide the shank portion of an insole with an integral wing extension which curves upwardly to overlap the inner side of the arch of the foot and give support thereto. Moreover it has been a al to form the insole from pliable or this. material such as is obtained by splitting a piece of stock. The reason for this is to provide an insole is not rigid enough to tend to stiffen and lellflc'l' inflexible the forepart of the shoe.

In this class of insole the wing extension oi necessity is comparatively limp and 1'eq1....res some form of reinforcement to give it sufficient ri. .v to enable it to act as an arch support. Unl re inforced the Wing serves only as a wedge like filler or pad.

Moore provided this reinforcement by means of a steel plate underlying and supporting the wing. The Moore arch support was pr vided with pair of attaching prongs extending from either of the plate through. both sides of an inseam lip. It has been found that the Moore arch support adds too much weight to a shoe and in addition is bulky and causes a ridge in the completed. shoe. In addition, the steel used in forming the Moore support has so high a modulus of elasticity that too much springing action against the wearers foot is produced.

Briefly, it has been the objective of this inventor to provide a metal plate for underlying and supporting the wing which plate has a coined or die-formed edge of tapering cross-section to eliminate any appearances of a line in the finished shoe along the outer edge of the plate.

A further object has been the provision of plate which is provided with attaching prongs, one of which extends from the forward corner of the plate across the insole while the other extends from a point spaced between the front and back ends of the plate, thus leaving the heel section of the shoe free from transverse prongs open for assembly of the various parts of the completed heel portion of the shoe.

A still further object has been the provision of a metal plate manufactured from a light metal aircraft alloy of aluminum or magnesium base to provide a light weight plate having a modulus of elasticity approximately one-third hat of steel so that the plate will tend to yield to moving along the foot as a wearer of walks, but will spring back immediately against the foot as soon as pressure is relieved, thus to (i mg to assist and support the loot structure out causing callouses or soreness due to exteme rigidity.

Other objects and further advantages of the invention will be more fully apparent from description of the accompanying drawings in Figure 1 is a plan view of the o r or bottom side of an insole embodying the improveme Figure 2 is a plan view similar to Figure 1 but With a shank stifiene included.

Figure 3 is a side view of the insole illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view show. thearch supporting plate before attachment to a shoe.

Figure 5 shows schematically the used in forming and coining the plate and plate is formed.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along 6--6, Figur 3 including in section a portion of an upper for a welt shoe and an outer sole stitched together and to the insole.

Referring to the drawing in an inso e of conventional construction and pattern embodying a wing or lateral extension 2 projccting from the inner side of th s it. or e diate portion 3 thereof. T1115 wing generally designated by the trade as a cookie and is add d to the insole to form a support for the portion of the arch of the foot which it under as shoe. It usually is of a length substantially equal to that of the shank portion of the insole and has a curved outer edge.

In the finished shoe wi g bends upwardly in a curve to overlap the inside or the upper 3 and embrace a determined area of the inner of the foot. It is usually tapered by skiving its under side from a base line in radiating direc tions in order to provide a feathered outer edge which prevents uneven surfaces which might cause discomfort or even injury to t e foot.

The insole is of conventional type of structure now employed in shoes in which the up er, or upper and welt, are secured together by .tching to a continuous marginal lip 52. The surface of the insole encompassed by the lip, is usually reinforced or covered with a duck or fabric layer 6, secured to the undersurface or the insole to provide a laminated or multiple ply structure. Since it is considered desirable to make the forepart of the shoe as flexible as possible, particularly in womens shoes, there has been a tendency to skeletonize the forepart of the insole so that heavy grades of material can be employed for increasing the rigidity of the shank of the shoe. These heavy grades, however, cause complications in the manufacture of the shoe and ge; erally have been found impractical. For this reason it is considered preferable to use for the insole a thin stock having sulficient body to permit marginal channeling and provide a solid but pliable forepart. Use of such thin stock however produces a relatively limp insole which must be reinforced at the shank by a metal stiffener l.

The use of a shank stiffener is a common practice in the manufacture of shoes and shank stiffeners having wing extensions or projections for underlying and supporting the wing of the insole have been employed, but require material modification of the conventional insole structure. Reinforcement for th wing is provided by means of a plate 8, which plate is separate from the shank stiffener 1.

Details of the construction of the plate 8 are shown in Figure 4. The plate 8 consists of a rounded body portion 9 and two prongs a front prong l and a rearward prong l 1 extended from a point between the ends of the plate. These prongs l0 and I! are used to attach the plate to the insole. The body portion of the plate 8 has a rounded peripherical edge [2 having the same general configuration as the wing 2. The edge I2 is tapered a sufficient amount to destroy all tendency of the plate to look bulky when installed in the shoe. In addition, as shown in Figures 3 and 6 the plate is provided with a curving crosssection to conform to and support the arch of a foot.

The forming and tapering is accomplished in apparatus of the type shown in Figure 5. A metal plate of approximate shape is cut from a sheet of pre-heat treated aluminum base or magnesium base aircraft-type alloy. The plate is heated to a suitable temperature to reduce its yield point but not sufficiently to destroy the heat treatment. The plate is then placed in a female die 53 and a male die It is lowered toward the female die 83. In this operation the plate is formed to have a rounded shape conforming to the arch of a foot; and, at the same time, the peripheral edge i2 is compressed or coined to produce a tapered or feathered edge. Thus, in a single operation the plate is both rounded and given a tapered edge. In addition, the combined coining process and forming process results in sufficient work-hardening of the edge of the plate to make it firm and prevent the plate backing away slowly under the weight of the foot.

The metal plate 3 is attached to the shoe by means of the prongs Ill and II. The prongs extend transversely across the width of the insole traversing the base of the inseam lip through slits cut for this purpose. The free ends of the prongs are fixed to the insole by rivets l or other means of fastening. I

The slitting of the lip for insertion of the prongs causes no appreciable weakening of the lip, particularly when the fore and the shank portion of the insole are of laminated construction in which case, as shown in the illustrations, the prongs lie or are embedded between the plies and operation requiring no modication of the conven- The prongs it 1 tional construction of the insole. and i 5 cross the insole at points where none of the operations of assembling the shoe take place. The front prong ill crosses the insole in the forward area of the shank portion while the other prong l l crosses the central area of the shank portion of the shoe and is well forward of the area in which the heel is attached to the shoe. Thus both prongs are conveniently located where they do not interfere with the assembly of the shoe.

As a result of the use of the arch support of this invention a single line of shoes can be made with or without the orthopedic feature by inserting or omitting the wing reinforcing plate. When the plate is omitted the wing is limp and is functionless merely adding a lining section to the upper, adjacent to it.

Having described my invention, I claim:

In a shoe, an insole having a wing extending from the inner side of the shank portion thereof and substantially coextensive in length with said shank portion to provide support for the arch of the foot, said Wing having a rounded peripheral edge and an integral aircraft-type alloy metal plate underlying and supporting the wing, said plate comprising a body portion substantially coextensive in area with the wing and a pair of attaching prongs extending therefrom in a direction transverse of the insole, said prongs passing through the inseam lips of the insole at the under side thereof and having their free ends secured to the insole at points adjacent to the edge opposite to the edge on which the plate is positioned, one of said prongs extending from the plate at the extreme forward end thereof and the other of said prongs extending from a point substantially forward of the rear end of the plate thereby leaving unobstructed the entire heel area of the insole and a portion of the shank area directly forward of said heel area, the outer edge of the body portion of the plate having a work hardened edge to compensate for the loss of rigidity resulting from the forward positioning of the rearward prong.

GORDON B. CARSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 118,660 Whidden Aug. 29, 1871 996,989 Lengemann July 4, 1911 2,147,913 Moore Feb. 21, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 495,855 Germany Apr. 11, 1930