US2707791A

US2707791A - Process of reinforcing wood heels

Info

Publication number: US2707791A
Application number: US435128A
Authority: US
Inventors: James F Fitzsimmons
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1954-06-08
Filing date: 1954-06-08
Publication date: 1955-05-10
Anticipated expiration: 1972-05-10

Description

May 10, 1955 J. F. FITZSIMMONS PROCESS OF REINFORCING woon HEELS Filed June 8. 1954 wn r1 1 INVENTOR.

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United States Patent PROCESS OF REINFORCING WOOD HEELS James F. Fitzsimmons, Winchester, Mass.

Application June 8, 1954, Serial No. 435,128

1 Claim. (Cl. 12-147) This invention comprises a new and improved process of reinforcing high wood heels for womens shoes and at the same time fitting the heels for the reception of replaceable top lifts.

I am the owner of United States Letters Patent No. 1,947,840, Feb. 20, 1934, and No. 1,995,058, March 19, 1935, and in one aspect the present invention is an improvement on the process of those patents.

The current styles in womens shoes demand extremely high wood heels with extremely small top lifts, and these requirements result in heels of very delicate structure. The small area of the top lift reduces its life in wear to barely ten days, and if the top lift is not replaced in good season the heel cover is damaged and the shoe ruined beyond repair. The process of the present invention provides at one and the same time an efiicient reinforcement for the heel structure and a fitting to receive a replaceable top lift.

Going more into detail, my novel process is characterized by the step of first drilling a circular hole into the body of the heel from the top lift end, and then forcing into the hole a stiff metal tube of triangular cross-section exceeding in its transverse dimensions the diameter of the hole while rigidly supporting the tube upon an internal mandrel, thus simultaneously causing the corners of the tube to broach passages for themselves in the wall of the hole and then withdrawing the mandrel leaving the tube in situ. In this way the tube is firmly anchored in the heel and provides a metallic reinforcement therefor which is effective even though the heel may be cracked transversely.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the heel structure selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a view in elevation, partly in section, showing the drilled hole,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the heel,

Fig. 3 is a view, partly in section, showing the tube as being inserted,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the complete heel,

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the top lift, and

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are detail views on a larger scale of the top lift.

The heel 10 shown in Fig. 1 is typical of those to which the invention relates and may be turned from maple. It has an overall height of 2" or more, and includes an elongated shank portion of small cross-section and delicate structure. The heel seat surface 11 of the heel is given a concave curvature to fit the heel seat of the sole of the shoe. The first step of the process consists in any suitable composition.

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drilling a circular hole 13 from the top lift or tread face 12 of the heel, and as herein shown the hole 13 extends toward the heel seat face 11 for about two-thirds of the length of the heel.

The reinforcing element comprises a metallic tube 14 which is triangular in cross-section and has sharp vertex edges. It is somewhat greater in its cross-sectional dimensions than the diameter of the hole 13 and can be inserted into the hole only by exerting suflicient pressure thereon to cause its sharp vertex corners to broach welldefined passages in the walls of the hole 13. To effect this operation the tube 14 is telescoped upon a solid steel mandrel 15 which may project from the head 16 of an arbor press. The tube 14, reinforced and supported throughout its full length upon the mandrel 15, is forced into the hole 13, and having been fully inserted, the mandrel is withdrawn leaving the tube 14 in place. In Fig. 3 the mandrel 15 is shown as slightly retracted after the inserting step.

It will be apparent that in addition to imparting a high degree of tensile strength to the heel and thus preventing it from bending and breaking in wear, the tube on account of its triangular cross-section positively holds all portions of the shank of the heel against twisting and so eliminates a second source of weakness.

The tube may be used as a receptacle or socket for replaceable top lifts of the type shown in Figs. 5-8. As therein shown a tubular shank 17 is provided which is also triangular in cross-section and of such dimensions as to telescope and fit snugly within the tube 14. The shank is provided at its outer end with prongs 19 that are embedded in the top lift 18, the latter being of leather or One face of the shank 17 is slotted and a loop 20 of spring wire is fastened within the shank in position to protrude through its face and make firm frictional engagement with the inner wall of the tube 14 when the shank 17 is forced into it. A convenient means of fastening the spring loop is by forming a small transverse eye or loop 21 in its inner end that may be forced into place and held by the triangular configuration of the shank.

The process herein disclosed supersedes attempts to form a triangular hole in the heel by running a drill at high speed inside a triangular chisel. That procedure was not satisfactory because it is slow and because such chisels are expensive and very fragile. Drilling of a round hole without the chisel and subsequent insertion of the sharp cornered tube is therefore a distinct forward step in economy and efficiency.

Having thus disclosed the process of my invention and described in detail an illustrative manner of practicing it, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

A process of reinforcing wood heels of small crosssection which comprises the steps of drilling a circular hole from the top lift end of the heel in the longitudinal axis of the heel and extending at least half way toward its heel seat face, forcing into the hole a stiff metal tube of triangular cross-section, the tube exceeding in its transverse dimensions the diameter of the hole as drilled, meanwhile rigidly supporting the tube by an internal mandrel and simultaneously causing the corners of the tube to broach passages for themselves in the walls of the hole thus anchoring the tube firmly in the heel, and then withdrawing the mandrel leaving the tube in situ for the reception of a top lift shank.

No references cited.