US2673360A

US2673360A - Expandable shoe tree

Info

Publication number: US2673360A
Application number: US97363A
Authority: US
Inventors: Bascom Henry
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1949-06-06
Filing date: 1949-06-06
Publication date: 1954-03-30
Anticipated expiration: 1971-03-30

Description

March 30, 1954 H. BAscoM 2,673,360

EXPANDABLE SHOE TREE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.Avv

Filed June e, 1949 INVENT-OR;

HENRY BAscoM ATTORNEY.

March 3o, 1954 H BSCOM 2,673,360

EXPANDABLE SHOE TREE Filed June 6, 1949 2 Sheets-Shei 2 Illiblll lll INVENTOR'. HENRY BAscoM lav/74M] i@ ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 30, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EXPANDABLE SHOE TREE Henry Bascom, St. Louis, Mo.

Application June 6, 1949, Serial No. 97,363

2 Claims.

My invention has relation to improvements in an expandable shoe tree, and it consists in the novel features of construction more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

The primary purpose of the invention is to provide a shoe tree especially adapted for holding shoes for the purpose of shining or cleaning the same.

The invention comprises a bracket and what I choose to term a shoe tree adapted to be mounted in said bracket, the tree terminating in a plurality of cooperating parts as will be more fully described hereinafter.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a shoe tree that may be expanded within the shoe so as to hold the shoe securely and in the approximate shape that it would take on the foot of a wearer. It is the further object of the invention to provide such degree of expansibility to the tree that it is readily adaptable to shoes of varying sizes, whether mens or womens shoes. These advantages, together with others inherent in the invention, will be better apparent from a detailed description thereof in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improved shoe tree and support therefor in engagement with a shoe (shown dotted) Figure 2 is a top plan of the invention; Figure 3 is a side elevation of the bracket and shoe tree showing both its released and operative positions (the latter dotted); Figure 4 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2; Figure 6 is a vertical cross section taken on the line Ii-G of Figure 2; Figure 7 is a horizontal section taken on line '1 -'I of Figure 1 showing the tree in operative position; Figure 8 is a section similar to that shown in Figure '7 with the tree in inoperative position; Figure 9 shows the application of my tree to a type of ladys shoe which does not embody a counter; and Figure 10 is a crosssectional detail taken on the line Ill- I0 of Figure 9.

Referring to the drawings (for the present Figures 1 to 8, incl.) I represents a bracket in which is mounted an adjustable supporting arm 2 having a toe-piece L fixed to its lower extremity. The bracket I is provided with a longitudinally disposed channel 3, the bottom of which is provided with serrations 4 for engagement with complementary serrations 5 formed on the up- 2 per surface of horizontal member 6 of the supporting arm 2. The bracket also has lateral anges 1, 'I provided with screw holes whereby it may be secured to the underside of a chair seat S or an equivalent support. In order that the bracket I may be secured to a vertical supporting member, such as a wall, it is also provided with a vertical component 8 having

suitable perforations

9, 9 to receive screws or bolts.

The side walls I6, I0 forming channel 3 have downwardly extended ears II, II in which is mounted a lever I2 having a horizontal component I3. The lever I2 has its free end within a slot I 4 formed in a cam member I5 which is pivotally mounted at I 6 between ears I I, I I. The cam I5 has a depending handle I'I from opposite sides of which project pins I8, I6 adapted to engage the rounded edge I9 of component I3. Thus, when the handle is depressed the pins I3, I8 will ride over the rounded edge I9 of the component I3 so as to lock the lever I2 in they position shown dotted (Figure 3). At the same time the cam I5 will engage the underside of the horizontal member 6 of supporting arm 2. This causes the supporting arm to be firmly clamped between the cam member I5 and the channel 3.

The arm 2 terminates at its lower end in a horizontal component which is bifurcated so as to receive a rib 2| centrally disposed within the element 22 of the toe-piece L. Traversing the space s in the bifurcated member 20 are two

pins

23 and 24 so disposed that the notched extremity 25 of the rib 2| is slideable therebetween. In addition to the element 22 the toe-piece L is also provided with

side members

26, 26 pivotally mounted at 2l, 27 to the element 22.

It will be observed that the horizontal component 20 of the arm 2 is provided with oppositely `disposed bosses 211, 271 provided respectively with

inciined faces

28, 28 and the

side memfbers

26, 26 are provided with

ribs

29, 29 terminating in

nclined faces

30, 30 for cooperative action with the

inclined faces

28, 28 on the member 20. It is quite obvious that as the element 22 is moved inwardly on the horizontal component 20 of the arm 2 the

inclined faces

28 and 30 will be brought together and as the movement of the element 22r continues the

side members

26, 26 will be spread apart. The purpose of this action is to completely ll the shoe that is being fitted over the toe-piece L for the purpose of shining the same (Figures 1 and 9).

After the shoe has been mounted on the toepiece L the operator depresses the lever I1 to lock the arm 2 firmly to the bracket I and at 3 the same time to lock the lever I2 into the position shown dotted in Figure 3. The locking of the lever I2 securely holds the shoe on to the toe-piece L so that the operator may Work on the shoe either to shine or clean the shoe as desired. It will be observed that there are a plurality of pins 3| disposed in the lever I2 so as to project slightly from the rear thereof to assist in holding the shoe in place. It will also be observed that the lever I2 has a series of indentations 32 formed on its rear surface which will assist in holding certain types of shoes (particularly feminine shoes) which have only a strap 33 at the rear instead of the customary counter.

'Ihe lever member I2 is the heel engaging piece and together with the toe-piece L constitute the shoe tree as a whole.

From the foregoing it is apparent that I have provided a shoe last that is particularly adapted for purposes of shining or otherwise reconditioning shoes which hold the shoe securely in place and at the same time completely lls the same for the purpose of facilitating the operations performed thereon.

It will be observed that I have also provided oppositely disposed handle pieces 3d, 34 on the shoe tree 2 to facilitate the handling thereof and remove from the supporting member S. I have also provided oppositely disposed

clips

35, 35 on the shoe tree 2 wherein the shoe laces may be lodged to keep them clear of the operations when a shoe is being worked on.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. An expandable shoe tree including a supporting bracket, an adjustable supporting arm carried by said bracket, said arm terminating in a toe-piece, a heel-piece carried by said bracket, said toe-piece and heel-piece together comprising a shoe tree the'heel-pieoe including a lever arm, means for locking the supporting arm to the bracket, said locking means having an element engaging the lever arm of the heelpiece to move the same outwardly from the toepiece.

2. An expandable shoe tree including a sup- References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 657,634 Wilcox Sept. 11, 1900 750,570 Benkert Jan. 26, 1904 754,072 Kinsey et al. Mar. 8,V 1904 784,207 Dunn Mar. 7, 1905 795,871 Watson Aug. 1, 1905 827,391 Petrillo July 31, 1906 830,632 Anderson Sept. 1,1, 1906 838,198 Miller Dec. 11, 1906 838,234 Brosnam Dec. 11, 1906 866,542 Waldron Sept. 17, 1907 954,828 Sonntag Apr. l2, 1910 1,104,396 Walsh July 21, 1914 1,346,008 Di Maggio July 6, 1920 1,416,378 Pedersen et al May 16, 1922 1,862,600 Long June 14, 1932 2,446,931 Jackson Aug. 10, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 32,538 Switzerland Feb. 2, 1905 40,746 `Switzerland Sept. 5, 1907 527,159 Germany June 13, 1931 733,923 France July 19, 1932 751,516 France June 19, 1933 515,848 Great Britain Dec. 15, 1939