US2467821A

US2467821A - Sole and method of making the same

Info

Publication number: US2467821A
Application number: US518790A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gregg Jon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1944-01-19
Filing date: 1944-01-19
Publication date: 1949-04-19
Anticipated expiration: 1966-04-19

Description

April 19, 1949. J GREGG 2,467,821

SOLE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Jan. 19, 1944 INVENTOR JON GPECJG 8 ATTORN EY Patented Apr. 19, 1949 SOLE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Jon Gregg, New Hope, Pa., assignor to Lynne D. Gregg, New Hope, Pa.

Application January 19, 1944, Serial No. 518,790

14 Claims. 1

This invention relates to soles and methods of making the same, and is an improvement of the article and method disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 401,179, filed July 5, 1941, Patent No. 2,361,938, issued on November 27, 1944. It is particularly directed to an outsole for a shoe, slipper or like article of footwear.

It has been found that soles, such as described in my co-pending above-mentioned application, when made with reclaimed rubber or rubber of poor quality, there is insufficient penetration of the rubber into the fibers during the molding operation. When such a sole is subjected to rough wear the fiber strips or braid, being soft, squash down or flatten tending to tear away from the rubber and eventually causing spreading of the sole. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved method of making outsoles of the character described which will prevent spreading. This object is attained by incorporating into the braid during the braiding operation a thread or core or strand of uncured rubber or moldable plastic material which will integrate with the moldable strip between the braid whereby to facilitate integration or connection of the strips wound with the braid.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved outsole of the character described constructed to prevent spreading by incorporation into the braid of a metallic wire or filament passing through the braid.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sole of the character described which will withstand a great deal of wear and hold its shape.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved method for making an outsole of the character described in which integrating of the moldable material during the molding operation is facilitated.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a strong, rugged and durable outsole of the character described which shall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and which shall yet be practical and eflicient to a high degree in use.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the combination of steps, features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the apparatus and method hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possible illustrative embodiments of this invention,

Fig. 1 is a side view of a piece of braid with which the improved sole embodying the invention is made, and showing the strands, the cores, and the strip of moldable material opened up for the purpose of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a sole made in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. l but illustrating a modified construction;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but illustrating a further modified form of the invention;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 and illustrating still another modified form of the invention; and

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, l0 designates a sole embodying the invention. The sole is made by winding into the general shape of an outsole, a braided strip ll shown in Fig. 1, to one side of which has been attached a strip if! of uncured rubber or moldable plastic material such as Vinylite, acetate, ethyl cellulose or any other suitable plastic material.

The braid ll may be made from strands of cotton, jute, istle, flax, sisal or manila. The braid l I may be made as shown in Fig. l for the purpose of illustration, of 3-ply, 3-carrier braid, braided about parallel cores I6. Thus Fig. 1 shows a 3-carrier, 3-ply construction as there are three strands l5 coming off each spool, and there are three spools or carriers during the braiding operation, as is well known in the art.

The braid I l although shown for the purpose of illustration as a 3-carrier, 3-ply braid may of course, be of any other suitable construction.

The cores [6 are preferably made of uncured rubber or plastic material.

Extending through one or both of the cores H5 or encased therein, may be a thin flexible filament or wire such as steel, magnesium alloy, copper or any other suitable metal. Furthermore, filament, thread or wire l8 may be twisted with, or lie alongside a thread or core of uncured rubber or moldable plastic material. Filament I 8 may also be a thread of cotton, jute, manila, vegetable fiber'or any other suitable material. The strip l2 may be narrower than the braid, and the edges lZa thereof are preferably spaced from the upper and lower edges l'la of the braid. The strip l'2 may be extruded and rolled between rollers together with the braid H. The strip I2 is in tacky condition as it comes from the extruder and is pressed against one side of the braid I i and sticks thereto.

The braid II is made using uncured rubber or moldable plastic cores during the braiding operation. The braid together with the strip l2 stuck thereto is wound into the general shape of an outsole in the usual manner, and the wound outsole is then placed in a mold and molded under heat and pressure. The uncured or plastic cores I6 will flow through the strands l5 and the strip I2 will also flow causing an integration. Furthermore, the cores and strip [2 during the molding operation will flow into the fibers of the strands to produce a sole of definite shape and size.

Wires [8 further strengthen the sole and prevent the braids from splitting apart even with extremely rough wear.

In Fig. 5 there is shown a braid 26 similar to braid II but in which one strand l5a coming off each carrier is made of uncured rubber or moldable plastic material. In the braid 2B the cores lGa may be either of the same material as the strands IE or they may also be of uncured rubber or plastic material, and if desired they may be provided with wires I3. Strands l5a will contact the strip l2 and cause a good integration during the molding operation.

In Fig. 6 there is shown a braid 3B in which all of the strands I52) coming off one carrier are made of uncured rubber or plastic material. Otherwise the braid is the same as in Fig. 5. Here also the strands I5b contact the strip 12 and are molded thereto during the molding operation. In braid 39 likewise cores [5 of uncured rubber or plastic material may encase, be twisted with or run alongside of a filament, thread or wire of fiber or metal. The wire or filament can be omitted if desired.

In Fig. 7 there is shown a braid llb entirely covered by a sheath 40 of uncured rubber or plastic material and said sheath takes the place of strip l2. The sheath 40 could be applied to the braid llb by dipping said braid through a bath of the uncured rubber or plastic material. Here likewise the coated braid is wound into the general shape of an outsole and then molded under heat and pressure to form an outsole. The cores of braid llb may also be of uncured rubber or plastic material and may have threads or wires therein, or twisted therewith or running alongside. In Fig. 7 the filament I8 is shown alongside the core l6.

Instead of employing flat braid such as braid II, III), 20 or 30, regular coiled rope or sash cord or clothes line made of either twisted or braided strands of vegetable fiber may be used. Such rope or cord should have an element or strand of moldable or vulcanizable material either in the form of one or more cores, or the moldable element may be one of the twisted or braided yarns, the dominant feature of the invention being the incorporation into an elongated member of vegetable fiber, an element of moldable or vulcanizable material. The rope or cord may have both a core as well as a cover yarn of rubber, plastic or other moldable or vulcanizable material which will set upon applying pressure and heat and the proper curing compounds. The rope or cord will also have strips of moldable material wound therewith before the molding operation, which will fuse with the moldable filament or strand therein, during the molding operation to prevent spreading open of the sole when given rough wear.

The strips I2 as well as the cores It or yarns I50. or I5b or the sheath 40 may be made of moldable material in which is incorporated strands or threads, preferably of lengths from about A to 4". One way of obtaining such material is by grinding carcasses of tires and then mixing with rubber, either reclaimed or new or plastic material together with vulcanizing compounds. The fiber content of this material gives additional strength. Thus the vulcanizable material with the threads in it is of enhanced strength. Of course, any suitable threads may be added to either new or reclaimed rubber or plastic material in order to mix the threads with the vul canizable material.

It will thus be seen that there is provided an article and method in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An outsole made of wound braid comprising strands of fibrous material, one or more cover strands of molded material, and one or more cores of molded material.

2. An outsole made of wound braid comprising strands of fibrous material, one or more strands of molded material, and molded material between the windings of the outsole,

3. An outsole made of wound braid comprising strands of fibrous material, one or more cover strands of molded material, said braid having one or more cores of molded material, and molded material between the windings of the outsole.

4. An outsole made of wound braid, said braid comprising cover yarn braided around cores, and including cover yarn of moldable material and cover yarn of textile thread, adjacent windings of said braid being fused together by said moldable material.

5. An outsole made of wound braid, said braid comprising cover elements braided around core elements, at least one of the cover elements comprising molded material, at least one of said core elements comprising molded material.

6. An outsole made of wound braid, said braid comprising cover elements braided around core elemenm, at least one of the cover elements comprising molded material, at least one of said core elements comprising molded material, one of said elements of molded material having a flexible, substantially unstretchable filament embedded therein.

7. A sole made of contiguous braided strip portions having a core, and cover yarn of molded material, and cover yarn of fibrous thread, the moldable cover yarn of adjacent strip portions being fused.

8. An article made of contiguous strip portions having strands of moldable material, and fibrous strands, the moldable strands of adjacent strip portions being fused together to unite said strip portions.

9. A sole comprising a wound braided strip, said strip comprising a core, and cover yarn of thermoset material and cover yarn of fibrous thread, the thermoset yarn in adjacent windings of the braided strip being fused together and penetrating the fibrous threads to unite the windings.

10. A sole comprising a wound braided strip, said strip comprising cover yarn of thermoset material and cover yarn of fibrous thread, the thermoset yarn in adjacent windings of the braided strip being fused together and penetrating the fibrous threads to unite the windings, said braided strip having core yarns of textile thread about which the cover yarns are braided.

11. A sole made of a wound strip of textile material, the thickness of the sole being equivalent to the width of said strip, said strip comprising fibrous yarn and thermoset yarn, the thermoset yarn in adjacent winding-s of the strip being fused together and penetrating the fibrous yarn to unite the windings.

12. A sole made of a wound strip of textile material, the thickness of the sole being equivalent to the width of said strip, said strip comprising fibrous yarn and thermoset yarn, the thermoset yarn in adjacent windings of the strip being fused together and penetrating the fibrous yarn to unite the windings, the thermoset yarn having a core of fibrous thread.

13. An article of manufacture, comprising a braided strip wound in a single plane, said strip comprising cover yarn of thermosetting material and cover yarn of fibrous thread, the thermoset yarn in adjacent windings of the braided strip being fused together and penetrating the fibrous threads to unite said windings, said braided strip having cores about which the cover yarns are braided.

M. An article of manufacture, comprising a strip of textile material wound in a single plane, the thickness of said article being equivalent to the width of said strip, said strip comprising fibrous yarn and thermoset yarn, the thermoset yarn in adjacent strips being fused together and penetrating the fibrous threads to unite the windings.

JON GREGG.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 546,932 Mayer Sept. 24, 1895 1,087,220 De La Torriente Feb. 1'7, 1914 1,205,345 Hatfield Nov. 21, 1916 1,236,244 Yzagvirre et a1. Aug. 7, 1917 2,307,401 Gregg v Jan. 5, 1943 2,315,759 Wilpan Apr. 6, 1943 2,361,938 Gregg Nov. '7, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 807,678 France Oct. 19, 1936 814,061 France Mar. 8, 1937