US2761159A

US2761159A - Last for footwear

Info

Publication number: US2761159A
Application number: US306598A
Authority: US
Inventors: L Hollier Leslie Howard; Chester A Riley
Original assignee: BF Goodrich Corp
Current assignee: Goodrich Corp
Priority date: 1952-08-27
Filing date: 1952-08-27
Publication date: 1956-09-04
Anticipated expiration: 1973-09-04
Also published as: DE951433C; DE1061232B

Description

P 4, 1956 L. H. L'HOLLIER EI'AL 2,761,159

LAST FOR FOOTWEAR Filed Aug. 27, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l JHL/EH/UEE L 5555 HZZb/Z 'EL [has TEE .EZEi/ z P 4, 1956 L. H. L'HOLLIER ETAL 2,761,159

LAST FOR WEAR 2 Sheets-s 2 I vvhmhvi United States Patent LAST non FOOTWEAR Leslie Howard LHollier, Newton, and Chester A. Riley, .Melrose, Mass., assignors to lf'he B. F. Goodrich Compally, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 27, 1952, Serial No. 366,598

14 Claims. (Q1. 12-433) This invention relates to footwear and pertains more particularly to a last upon which footwear may be assembled.

it is an object of this invention to provide a last upon which footwear having a gusset-type closure member may be constructed.

Other. objects of this invention will be apparent from the description and drawings which follow.

In the construction of certain articles of footwear, such as boots, shoes, gaiters and the like, it has been found desirable to incorporate therein an expansion member for the purpose of permitting the article to be easily pulled on or removed from the foot and yet to provide an article of footwear which is capable of closely encompassing the foot while it is being worn. To obtain this desired result, a gusset member is normally incorporated inthe body of the boot or shoe which has been slitted to receive the gusset member. The conventional gusset member consists of a pre-assembled pocket formed by folding a coated fabric member back upon itself and is incorporated in a boot or shoeby seaming or sealing the edges of the gusset to an opening in the body of the boot or shoe, a time-consuming and tedious operation.

Articles of footwear having conventional gusset members incorporated therein have not proven entirely satisfactory, however, since the junctures along which the gusset member is seamed or sealed to the body of the article are relatively stiff, as a result of the double wall thickness necessarily occurring along these zones, causing discomfort to the wearer. Also, if the gusset is joined to the body of the boot or shoe with an adhesive material, such as a rubbery cement, additional stilfness along these junctures results. The uneven interior surface of the boat or shoe caused by the aforementioned seams chafe the leg of the wearer, particularly in the regions adjacent the ankle bone causing additional discomfort to the wearer.

Other disadvantages of boots or shoes incorporating conventional gusset members are that the body of the boot or shoe has a tendency to tear at the apex of the slitted portion during use and that the seams along which the gusset is joined to the body of the boot or shoe become separated, causing premature failure of the boot 0 shoe.

Furthermore, in boots or shoes in which a lace is used to maintain the boot or shoe securely bound to the wearer, in order to provide a sufficient opening at the entrance of the boot or shoe to allow it to be easily pulled on or removed from the foot, it is necessary to completely remove the lace from substantially all of the eyelets or hooks of the boot or shoe to allow gusset memher to be folded outwardly to an'open condition.

Still other limitations in the conventional gusset member become apparent when the gusset member is incorporated in insulated footwear designed to protect the wearers feet from cold for sustained periods of time. To incorporate the desired heat-insulating properties in footwear, one or more layers of heat-insulating material are 2 incorporated into the body of the boot or shoe. However, 1t '18 impossible to incorporate heat-insulating material in the body of the boot or shoe along those zones of the body to which the conventional gusset member is joined resulting in zones of the body of the boot or shoe which are uninsul-ated.

Our invention attains the objectives set forth above and eliminates the deficiencies in footwear enumerated above by providing a last upon which footwear containing a novel gusset-type closure member may be constructed and by providing an insulated article of footwear having heat:

insulating material which completely encompasses the foot and ankle of the wearer.

For a clear understanding of this invention, specific reference will be made, henceforth, to a last embodying this invention and to a boot employing our novel gusset Fig. 5 is a side elevation view partly broken away and in section of a boot embodying this invention;

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 5,and Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section similar to the section of Fig. 6 showing the body portion of the boot in a closed condition.

Referring to the drawings, last 10 comprises a foot portion 11 of conventional contour and a leg or shank portion 12, the fore part 13 of leg portion 12 meeting the rear part 14 of leg portion 12 laterally along relatively sharp obtuse-

angled junctures

15, 15 forming a pair of

protruding edges

16, 16 disposedone on each side of last 10 and extending from the top margin 17 of leg portion 12 and from just forward of the breast or

quarter portions

18, 18 of last 10 downwardly and gradually forwardly to about mid-instep level 19. Preferably,

junctures

15, 15 gradually converge toward each other and decrease in depth or magnitude as they extend downwardly from the top margin 17 of leg portion 12 toward the mid-instep level 19 of last 10 and, preferably, extend rapidly forwardly at about mid-instep level 19, as shown in Fig. l, to conform to the general curvature of the instep of the foot.

"Although leg portion 12 has a contour resembling the general contour of a leg up to about mid-calf height, the contour of fore part 13 of leg portion 12 gradually flares outwardly as it extends from about mid-instep level to top margin 17 of last 10 as compared with the contour of a leg and the contour of the lateral portions of leg portion 12 gradually flare outwardly as they extend from about ankle level to top margin 17 of last 10 as compared with the contour of a leg to form leg portion 12 to a general funnel-shaped contour, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, providing footwear having fullness in the forward and lateral portions of the body of the boot or shoe to allow the footwear to be easily pulled on. or removed fromthe foot.

Last 10 may be constructed of any material conventionally used in fabricating lasts or forms for footwear, such as cast metal compositions, and may be of a hollow or solid construction.

As shown in Fig. 5, a boot Ztl made in accordance with this invention and assembled on last 10 comprises a flexible leg-enclosing upper portion 21 which extends generally to about mid-calf height and a sole assembly.

flexible resilient waterand moisture-impervious rubberlike outer barrier 22, a soft flexible outer insulating member 23,-, a soft flexible inner insulating member 24 and a flexible resilient waterand moisture-impervious rubberlik inner. barrier 25 and has a contour resembling. the general surface configurations of last 10. including outwardly extending ridges or.

junctures

26, 26 which are formed at the junctures of the fore part portion 30 of upper portion 21 with the'rear portion. thereof 'and which are disposed one on each side of upper portion 21 and which extend from the. upper margin 27 of boot 20 and from. just. forward. of the breast or

quarter portions

28, 28 of. boot. 20 downwardly and gradually forwardly to about mid-instep level 2a.

Ridges

26, 26 of upper portion. 21, also, gradually converge toward each. other and decrease in. magnitude or depth. as they extend downwardly from the upper margin 27 of boot 2i) and extend rapidly forwardly at aboutmid-instep level to conform to the. general. configuration ofthe instep of the foot.

The fore part. portion 30 of upper portion 21 which extends from ridge 26. on one side of boot 20 around the frontof boot2l to ridge 26 on the other side of boot 20 gradually flaresoutwardly as it extends from about midinstep level 29 to upper margin 27 of boot 26 and. in conjunction with the lateral portions of upper portion 21, which also flare gradually outwardly as they extend from about ankle level to upper margin 27 of boot 20, form upper portion 21 toa' general funnel-shaped contour to allow the boot to be' easily pulled on andremoved from the foot.

Outer insulating member 23 disposed over the inner face of barrier 22 extends upwardly from the bottom margin of midsole 31 to any desired height and extends continuously around the footand ankle-enclosing or footand leg-enclosing portion of upper portion 21. The insulating material of member 23 may be any soft flexible heat-insulating,material,such as-deep'pile fabric, shearling, spun. glass, spun nylon, rabbit hair, and the like.

Inner insulating member 24 extends from midsole 31 upwardly to approximately the same height as member 23and lies in-face-to-face contact therewith extending continuously around the footand ankle-enclosing or footand leg-enclosing portion of upper portion 21. Inner insulating member 24 may be constructed of the same heat-insulating. material as outer insulating member 23 and hasinner barrier 25 disposed over its entire inner face.

Midsole 31 may be constructed of any flexible resilient heat-insulating. material, preferably a firm and relatively incompressible heat-insulating material, such as wool felt,

andv is assembled with inner insulating member 24 and outer insulating member 23 in a manner to form a contiguous heat-insulating layer about the entire foot and ankle of the wearer.

Fabricreinforcing member 32 with a waterand. moisture-iinperviousrubber-like material on its inner and outer faces extends upwardly from the bottom margin of mid sole 3 1 to the upper margin 27 of boot 2'1) and continuously around the foot and ankle-enclosing or footand legenclosing portion of. upper portion 21 and is disposed over and adhered-to the outer face of outer insulating member 23 and in the region of the upper margin 27 of boot- 20 to barrier 25, as. shown in Fig. 5.

Fabric reinforcing member 34. coated with a water-- and moisturerimpervious rubber-like material on its inner and outer faces is disposed over and adhered to the upper margin of member 32 to provide additional reinforcement for the upper margin 27 of boot 26. A relatively flexible fabric liner 35- coated with a rubbery cement on its inner andouter'face's is disposed over and adhered to-the bottom face of midsole 31- and barrier 22 is disposed over and adhered to reinforcing

members

32 and 34 and liner 35'.

A woven fabric reinforcing layer 36 is disposed over and adhered to the heel portion of barrier 25. A heel counter 37' extends? over and is adhered to the outer face of. reinforcing layer 36 and'has disposed over and adhered to its outer face a'second woven fabric reinforcing-layer 38 which is adhered to the inner face of insulating member 24. A relatively flexible fabric line 39 coated with a rubbery cement on its inner and outer faces is disposed over and adhered to the upper face of midsole 31, the upper face of liner 39 being adhered to barrier 25.

As shown in Fig. 5, barrier 22, which extends over the entire outer surface of the insulating assembly, and barrier 25, which extends over the entire inner surface of the insulating assembly, are sealed together along their top peripheries providing a moisture-impervious rubber-dike sheath that completely encompasses the insulating assembly preventing moisture from diflusing into

members

23 and 24. and midsole 31 to destroy the heat-insulating properties thereof.

A flexible fabric heel-reinforcing strip 49 extending from midsole level upwardly along the inner rear face of upper portion 21 and adhered thereto and a similar toe-reinforcing strip 41 extendingupwardly from mid-sole level along the inner front face of upper portion 21* and adhercdthere to permit the boot to be easily pulled on and removed. from. the foot of the wearer.

A heel stiffener 42 of woven fabric reinforcing material coated on its inner and outer faces with a rubber-like material extends. over the heel zone of upper portion 21- and is adhered thereto. A second reinforcing layer 43 coated on its. outer face with a rubber-like material is disposed over heel stiffener 42 and the heel zone of upper portion- 21 and. is. adhered thereto.

A foxing strip 44 of flexible resilient rubber-like material reinforced with a woven fabric material disposedover its. inner face is adhered to the lower marginal zone of upper portion 21 and extends from just forward of the quarter portion of the boot on one side forwardly aroundthe toeof the boot to just forward of the quarter portion ofthe boot on the other side and overlying the forwardportions ofreinforcing layer 43.

A we cap 45 of flexibleresilient rubber-like material isdisposed over the toeportion of foxing strip 44 and upper portion 21 and is adhered thereto.

A relatively flexible resilient rubberlike outsole 46 is disposed over liner 35 and over the lower marginal zones of. too cap 45, foxing strip 44 and reinforcing layer 43.

Securing flaps 47, 4.7 of rubber-like material secured to: upper portion 21, as shown in- Figs. 5, 6, and 7, areprovided with

eyelets

48, 48 allowing the boot to be tightly lacedto the wearers foot and ankle.

A- flexible heat-insulatinginsole 49 constructed of afirm and relatively incompressible heat-insulating material, such as. wool. felt, is disposed over barrier 25 and adheredthereto to. provide additional insulation for the bottom portion of. the bootand a soft foundation upon which the wearers footv rests.

As shown in Fig. 6, upper portion 21, when in a normay open condition, provides an ample opening for allowing: the boot to be easily pulled on or removed: from. the foot without it being necessary that the bootlace 50 be removed-from.

eyelets

48, 48 as is necessary in footwear having a conventional gusset expansion member therein which requires that the portions of the upper portion folded-backupon itself to form the gusset be fully extended to cause the upper portion of the boot to be formed to anopen. condition.

To-secure boot20 snugly to the foot and ankle, bootlace 50threadedthrough eyelets 48, 48- is pulled tight causing, zones. 51,. 51 of upper portion. 21 to foldv inwardly andbaclc uponthernselves, as shown in-Fig. 7, to form a folded gusset configuration. faces of. insulating

members

23 and 24 be clipped or sheared along zones 51, 51, as shown in Fig. 6, toprovidez greater flexibility for these zones as a result of the reduced wall-thickness. to allow the upper tomore readilybe-folded back upon: itself asthe' boot is laced securely to: the wear-' as leg;

A preferred method of constructing boot 205 is to coat It is preferable that the opposing i E, j last with a moisture-impervious rubber-like material, such as by dipping last 10 in rubber latex, to form inner barrier 25, and, if it is desirable, the coating or deposit of rubber-like material is dried. Heel-reinforcing strip 40, and toe-reinforcing strip 41 and insole 49 are adhered to barrier and the assembly is removed from the last and turned inside-out. The reversed assembly is again drawn over last 10 with heel-reinforcing strip and toe-reinforcing strip 41 facing inwardly.

Liner 39 and reinforcing layer 36 are adhered over barrier 25 and heel counter 37 is adhered over reinforcing layer 36. Reinforcing layer 38 is adhered over heel counter 37 and reinforcing layer 36. Insulating member 24, which has previously been formed to the desired configuration, is drawn over the assembly and midsole 31 is lasted to line 39.

Insulating member 23, which has previously been formed to the desired configuration, is drawn over insulating member 24 and liner 35 is disposed over and adhered to midsole 31. Reinforcing member 32, which has previously been formed to the desired configuration is drawn over and adhered to insulating member 23 and reinforcing member 34 is adhered over the upper margin of reinforcing member 32. The exposed surfaces of the assembly are coated with a moisture-impervious rubberlike material, such as by dipping the assembly in rubber latex, to form barrier 22 and the coating is allowed to dry.

Heel stiffener 42 is lasted to barrier 22 and reinforcing layer 43 is disposed over heel stiffener 42 and barrier 22 and adhered thereto. Foxing strip 44 is lasted over barrier 22 and the forward portions of reinforcing layer 43. Toe cap 45 is lasted over foxing strip 44 and barrier 22, and outsole 46 is lasted over liner 35 and over the lower marginal zones of toe cap 45, foxing strip 44 and reinforcing layer 43. Securing flaps 47, 47 are lasted to barrier 22, the assembly is vulcanized in the usual manner to form an integral unit, and insole 49 is adhered over the inner face of barrier 25.

A last within the purview of this invention provides a means for forming an upper portion for a'boot or shoe which in its normal open condition provides a sufficiently large opening for allowing the boot or shoe to be readily pulled on or removed from the foot, it being unnecessary to partially unthread the lace from the boot or shoe as is necessary in footwear having a conventional gusset type expansion member.

Our last also provides an upper for a boot or shoe which, although it is normally biased to an open unfolded contour, when laced tightly to the leg and foot of the wearer folds inwardly and upon itself along desired zones to form a contour similar to a conventional gusset type expansion member in a folded closed condition.

Our invention, further, provides an article of footwear which insulates the entire foot and ankle of the wearer from temperatures below the body temperature of the wearer, the heat radiated from the foot of the wearer being prevented from diffusing to the surrounding atmosphere by the heat-insulating construction completely encompassing the foot and ankle of the wearer.

The water-impervious rubber-like coating disposed over the entire inner and outer surface of a boot within the purview of this invention prevents moisture and water from dampening the insulating members of the foot preventing the destruction of the insulating properties of the insulating members.

It is clear that obvious modifications and variations of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A last for footwear comprising in combination a foot portion and a leg portion, said leg portion including a front portion and a rear portion, each having two continuously-smooth generally-divergent surfaces which meet complementary surfaces of the other portion laterally orieach side of the last along a line of juncture, said lines of juncture extending downwardly from the upper margin of said leg portion just forward of the quarter portion of said last one on each side thereof to about mid-instep level to define an abrupt obtuse angled change of the surface contonr along said lines of juncture of said last.

2. A last for footwear comprising, in combination afoot portion and a leg portion, said leg portion including a front portion and a rear portion each having two continuously-smooth generally-divergent surfaces which meet complementary surfaces of the other portion laterally at outwardly-directly obtuse-angled junctures, said junctures being disposed one on each side of said last and each extending from the upper margin of said leg portion just forward of the quarter portion of said .last downwarda ly and forwardly to about mid-instep level and gradually converging toward each other as they extend downwardly from said upper margin of said leg portion to about mid-instep level.

3. A last for footwear comprising, in combination, a foot portion and a leg portion, said leg portion including a forward portion and a rear portion each having two continuously-smooth generally-divergent surfaces which meet complementary surfaces of the other portion lateral- 1y to form a pair of relatively sharp obtuse-angled outwardly-directed junctures disposed one on each side of said last and each extending from the upper margin of i said leg portion and from just forward of the quarter portion downwardly and gradually forwardly to about midinstep level and extending rapidly forwardly at about 'mid-instep level to conformto the general curved contour of the instep of a foot.

4. A last for footwear comprising, in combination, a foot portion and aleg portion, said leg portion including a forward portion and a rear portion each having two continuously-smooth generally-divergent surfaces which meet complementary surfaces of the other portion laterally to form a pair of relatively sharp obtuse-angled outwardly-directed junctures disposed one on each side of said last and each extending from the upper margin of said leg portion at just forward of the quarter portion on its side of said last downwardly and gradually forwardly to about mid-instep level and extending rapidly forwardly at about mid-instep level to conform to the general curved contour of the instep of a foot, said junctures gradually decreasing in depth and gradually converging toward each other as they extend downwardly from said upper margin of said leg portion to mid-instep level.

5. A last for footwear comprising a foot portion and a leg portion, said leg portion including a forward portion and a rear portion which meet laterally to form a pair of relatively sharp obtuse-angled outwardly-directed junctures disposed one on each side of said last and extending from the upper margin of said leg portion at just forward of the quarter portion on each side of said last downwardly and forwardly to about mid-instep level, said forward portion of said leg portion gradually flaring outwardly as it extends from about mid-instep level to said upper margin of said leg portion, and the lateral portions of said leg portion gradually extending outwardly as they extend from about ankle level to said upper margin of said leg portion.

6. A last for footwear having a gusset-type closure comprising a foot portion and a leg portion extending to above ankle height, the outer surface of said leg por tion having a side thereof formed of two continuouslysmooth generally-diverging lateral surfaces meeting in a line of juncture at an obtuse angle to form an apex of a projecting ridge running from the top of the leg portion down to the foot portion, the said ridge projecting the most at the top and gradually projecting less until the ridge merges into the smooth surface of the last near the upper region of the foot portion of the last.

7. A last for footwear as defined in claim 6 in which said lateral surface to the rear of the ridge is larger than said lateral surface infront of said ridge.

' 8 A- lastfor footwear as defined in claim 6 inwhich the: said li'n'edefining the apex of said ridge extends down- Wardl'y and toward the front of the last as it merges into the smooth surface of the last.

9 A last for footwear as defined in claim 6- in which said lateral surface to the rear of the ridge is larger than said lateral surface in front of said ridge, and in which the said line defining the apex of said ridge extends downwardly and toward the front of the last as it merges into the smooth surface of the last.

16. A last for footwear having a gusset-type closure comprising a foot portion and a leg portion extending to above ankle height, the outer surface of the leg portionhaving rounded front and rear surfaces and projecting lateral surfaces extending outwardly therefrom and meeting in a line of juncture at an: obtuse angle to form the apex of a projecting ridge on each side of the last, each projecting ridge running from the top of the leg portion down to near the upper region of the foot portion and projecting. the most at the top of the leg portion and gradually projecting less until the ridge merges into the smooth surface of the last near the upper region of the foot portion of the last.

11:. A last for footwear as defined in claim in which on each side of the last the lateral surface to the rear of the ridge is larger than the lateral surface in front of said ridge.

122. A last for footwear as defined in claim 10 in-which. the: line defining the apex of said ridge on each. side of the last extends downwardly and toward the front of the last as it merges into the smooth surface of the last.

13. A last for footwear as defined in claim 10 in which oneach side of the last the lateral surface to the rear of the ridge is larger than the lateral surface in front of' saidrid'ge, and in which the line defining the apex of said ridge on each side of the last extends downwardly and toward the front of the last asit merges into the smooth surface of the last.

14. A last for footwear comprising a foot portion anda leg portion extending toabove ankle height, the crosssection of the outer surface of the leg portion attheupper region thereof having approximately a quadrangular shape in which the front and rear corners are rounded and the sidesextending from the rounded corners diverge and meet at the opposite lateraf corners of the quad-- rangle in obtuse angles, the sides extending from the rear corner being substantially longer than the sides extending from the front corner, the cross-section ofthe' said outer surface gradually changing in shape toward the said foot portion in that the distance between the opposite: lateral corners decreases and the length of the sides extending from the rear rounded corner increases.

References Cited: in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 105,727 Stuart Aug. 17, 1937 228,664' Miller June 8, 1880 1,155,644 Crowley Oct. 5, 1915 1,228,884 Crowley June 5, 1917 1,237,464 Brown Aug. 21, 1917 1,827,777 Biddle Oct. 20,. 1931 2,294,316 Parker Aug. 25, 1942 2,662,308 Loewengart Dec. 5', 1953