US2806300A

US2806300A - Snug tie for shoes

Info

Publication number: US2806300A
Application number: US566702A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr Gerard E Morgan; Joseph V Lukasik
Original assignee: JOHN T RIDDELL Inc
Current assignee: JOHN T RIDDELL Inc
Priority date: 1956-02-20
Filing date: 1956-02-20
Publication date: 1957-09-17
Anticipated expiration: 1974-09-17

Description

Sept. 17, 1957 G. E. MORGAN. JR., ETAL SNUG TIE FOR SHOES Filed Feb. 20, 1956 Mam nite

SNUG TIE FQR SHORE Gerard E. Morgan, Jr., Glenview, and Joseph V. Lukasik,

Chicago, Ill., assignors to John '1. Ridtieii, lac, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of lliinois Application February N, 1956, Serial No. 566,762

3 Claims. (Cl. 362.5)

This invention relates to footwear and more particularly to a laced shoe and to means for securing it snugly around the ankle of a wearer.

No adequate provisions are made in conventional laced shoes to draw the shoe tightly around the foot at or below the level of the ankle and thus prevent accidental dislodgment or rubbing of the shoe against the ankle bone and the back of the wearers foot. The present invention therefore is directed to the use of a snugging strap positioned at a suitable level around or immediately below the wearers ankle and adapted to be drawn tightly therearound.

Another object is to provide a shoe with a snugging strap which is not separated from the foot by the interposition of a stiff counter or the like, which would prevent it from being drawn tightly around the foot.

Another object is to provide a shoe with a strap of sufficient width to prevent discomfort when drawn tight and one which is not twisted along its length so that one edge thereof binds sharply against the sides or the top of the foot.

Another object is to provide a shoe with a strap which is flexible to conform to the surface of the foot, but is not loose-fitting or stretchable.

Another object is to provide means for using the strap with all categories of highand low-cut laced shoes, with shoes employing stiff counters and with those devoid of counters, and particularly with shoes used by athletes, workmen, outdoorsmen and the like where extraordinary foot movements, stresses and pulls are encountered.

The invention can be understood readily by reference to the accompanying drawing wherein, in the interest of clarity, certain features are shown on a somewhat exaggerated scale and wherein a Figure l is an oblique top view of a laced track shoe embodying features of the invention,

Figure 2 is a schematic partial top elevation of a shoe similar to that of Figure 1 illustrating certain features of the invention, and

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a football-type shoe having a stiff counter and embodying features of the invention.

The track shoe illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawing is of generally conventional design and comprises a plain toe vamp section 10, a pair of saddle sections 11, a pair of quarters 14, an outside back stay 18, a lace stay and rows of eyelets 13 for engaging a lace 12. Such shoes are often unlined and are generally made without a counter. In the illustration of Figure l, the quarters 14 are provided adjacent the collar 21 of the shoe with pairs of approximately vertical slots 15 through which a snugging strap 16 is threaded so that it passes around the wearers foot above the heel and below the ankle bone. The strap 16 is made of essentially inelastic material and is sufficiently wide to avoid discomfort to the wearer when it is drawn taut. The strap-supporting means comprising the loops 17 between adjacent slots 15 which support the strap 16 are preferably relatively narrow and 2,8663% Patented Sept. 17, 1957 the snugging strap 16 is preferably threaded under them so that it lies principally on the outside of the quarters 14, the latter thus being drawn snugly against the ankle when the strap is tightened and providing a certain amount of padding between the strap and the foot. Other convenient strap-supporting means can, of course, be employed.

The strap-supporting means are positioned carefully with respect to the contour of the back and sides of the foot of a wearer of the shoe so that the fiat inelastic snugging strap 16 lies in its supported position smoothly along the surface of the foot throughout its entire length and remains untwisted even when drawn taut. The strap 16 is preferably slidable longitudinally in the supports 17 although it can be sewn or otherwise secured at the back of the shoe, e. g. to the back stay 18, if desired. Due to the particular contour of the human foot, the snugging strap 16 is supported so that its forward ends slope slightly upward with respect to the rerward sections of the strap.

The snugging strap 16 extends forwardly along each side of the shoe and terminates with each of its ends located approximately vertically above, or even slightly to the rear of, the center of theshank of the shoe. The strap is thus fashioned as to length so that it does not extend forward far enough to overlie the top of the wearers foot when the ends of the strap are drawn forward to tighten it. Conventional strap lace-engaging means It? e. g. eyelets or hooks, are secured at the ends of the snugging strap.

The snugging strap can be tightened, as shown more particularly in Figure 2, by engaging the eyelets 19 at its ends with strap-tightening loops 22 formed in the lace 12 employed in lacing up the shoe, the other end of the strap-tightening loop engaging a shoe eyelet 13. The shoe and the snugging strap can thus be tightened on the foot during the same lacing operation, the lace being finally tied at the top of the lace stay as at 26 of Figure 2.

It is to be noted that, because of the particular disposition ofthe'snugging strap 16 with respect to the quarters 14 and the other parts of the shoe, the projected center lines of the end sections of the snugging strap 16 intersect the lace stay 20 of the shoe at a distance considerably removed from its upper end. In order to avoid the exertion of a laterally directed component of force on the snugging strap when it is tightened, and a consequent flaring of the strap along the side of the foot which would be occasioned thereby, the lace-tightening loops 22 are usually arranged to engage a shoe eyelet which is also removed from the upper end of the lace stay. In the illustration given, each strap-tightening loop 22 extends from a single shoe lace-engaging eyelet, i. e. from the second eyelet from the top, although, as pointed out previously, the strap-tightening loops 22 may, depending upon the cut of the shoe and the extent to which itis laced up the front, engage any other suitable shoe eyelet lying on or adjacent a prolongation of the central axis of the end sections of the strap 16. The strap-tightening loop can also, if desired, be spread at its forward end so that it engages a pair of eyelets rather than a single eyelet. In any event, the strap-tightening loops 22 should ex ert a force as nearly along the projected central line of the strap as possible.

The strap-tightening loops 22 of the lace 12 lie essentially entirely along a region of the outer surface of the shoe Where they are underlaid both by the quarter or saddle of the shoe and a section of the tongue 25. These two layers of leather, or of other material from which the shoe is constructed, provide sufficient padding below the strap-tightening loops 22 to avoid any discomfort to the wearer which might be occasioned by the pressure of the narrow laces on the foot. In a typical instance, the effective length of the strap between its eyelets was approximately inches and the length of each strap-tightening loop of the lace between .the shoe eyelet and the strap eyelet when the shoe was laced and the strap tightened was approximately l fi. inches, the length of the strap thus being about 80 percent of the combined lengths of the strap and two loops.

It is to be noted that it is disadvantageous to provide a snugging strap with an effective length between the strap lace-engaging means appreciably greater than that described even thoughthe strap-tightening loop might engage the same eyelet on the shoe as before. The changing direction of the strap and the cont'our of the upper part of the foot against which the forward ends of such longer straps lie when tightened inevitably cause a portion of the upper edge of the strap to flare outwardly and the corresponding portion of the lower edge to bind tightly againstthe foot f 4 t j ,7

It should further be noted that if the strap were too short, the strap-tightening loops being correspondingly longer would extend sufliciently far 'rearwardly along the side of the foot to cause discomfort by bearing tightly on the foot through the thin quarter.

The strap itself must be wide enough to avoid discomforting localized pressure and should be essentially inelastic to prevent undue stretching. Itshould be relatively thin to avoid bulkiness and should be free, pli able and flexible. In practice, a strap of reinforced synthetic resin, approximately thick and wide has been used with entire satisfaction.

Figure 3 illustrates the application of the invention to a football shoe as an example of a shoe made with a stiff counter. In the particular football shoe illustrated, the quarter 14 is overlaid with an external counter piece 23, the quarter and counter piece being secured together, e. g. by stitches 29, and a stiff counter, shown in dotted outline at 28, is enclosed between the counter piece and the quarter. The width or height of the stiff counter 28 is less than the distance from the sole 27 to the collar binding 21, the shoe thus having an unstiffened section around it adjacent the collar where the snugging strap 16 is positioned without overlying the counter 28. The snugging strap is supported by loops 17 in the counter piece and quarter similar to those described in connection with Figures 1 and 2. The counter piece and counter can, of course, be located inside the quarters 14, if desired, and entirely analogous results obtained. When the shoe is lined or when for any reason the section around the shoe adjacent the collar consists of more than one layer of leather or of other material, it is often convenient and desirable for the slots to extend only' through the outermost layer. When the snugg'ing strap 16 is threaded through the 'slots 15 in such an instance, it remains separated, by a continuous layer of material, from the foot of the wearer. Such a construction is often of some advantage as furnishing a certain amount of padding under the entire length of the strap.

We claim:

1. In a laced shoe: an upper; a section of said upper extending around the shoe above the heel and below the level of the ankle bone of the shoe wearer, said section being devoid of a stiff counter; a fiat, flexible, substantially inelastic strap of substantial width positioned above the heel and below the level of the ankle bone of the shoe wearer and supported by said section in a generally horizontal position around the back and forwardly along both sides of said shoe and terminating at points approximately vertically above the transverse 5 center line of the shank of said shoe, the entire length of said strap lying in fiat, untwisted, conforming relation to said section; a lace-engaging means on said shoe positioned in spaced relation forwardly of each of the ends of said strap and approximately on the forwardly projected center line thereof; and lace-engaging means on said strap whereby the strap can be drawn taut into fiat pressure relationship throughout itsentire length with respect to the adjacent surface of the Wearers foot by loops of lace extending generally horizontally between the lace-engaging means on said strap and the lace-engaging means on said shoe.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein a stiff counter is provided in said shoe below the level of said strap.

3. In a laced shoe having an upper devoid of a stiff counter and having lace-engaging means on said shoe, the combination including: a flat, flexible, substantially inelastic strap of substantial width positioned above the heel and below the level of the ankle bone of the shoe wearer and supported by said upper in a generally horizontal position around the back and forwardly along both sides of said shoe and terminating at points approximately vertically above the transverse center line of the shank of said shoe, the entire length of said strap lying in flat, untwisted, conforming relation to said upper; a lace-engaging means on said shoe positioned in spaced relation forwardly of each of the ends of said strap and approximately on the forwardly projected center line thereof; and lace-engaging means on said strap whereby the strap can be drawn taut into fiat pressure relationship throughout its entire length with respect to the adjacent surface of the wearers foot by loops of lace extending generally horizontally between the lace-engaging means on said strap and the lace-engaging means on said shoe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS