US2852866A

US2852866A - Shoe heel mounting

Info

Publication number: US2852866A
Application number: US623964A
Authority: US
Inventors: Justin P Quirk
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1956-11-23
Filing date: 1956-11-23
Publication date: 1958-09-23
Anticipated expiration: 1975-09-23

Description

G m KT Rm llo UM Qm .E WH JE O un S Filed Nov. 25, 1956 HTToen/Ev/s United States Patent Oiitice SHOE HEEL MOUNTING Justin P. Quirk, Clayton, Mo. Application November 23, 1956, Serial No. 623,964

4 Claims. (Cl. 36-42) This invention relates generally to shoe construction, and more particularly to the construction of the heel portion of the shoe to provide an improved mounting for a shoe heel.

The current styles of womens shoes require a wide variety of shapes and designs of heels, some of which are made of plastic or other materials having insufficient mass or strength alone to support the heel portion of the shoe in wear. Other shapes of heels are narrow in cross section and, even when made of materials such as wood having relative inherent strength, have insuflicient mass to provide the strength necessary to support the heel when worn.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a shoe heel mounting including a support having adequate strength to support shoe heels substantially independently of the shoe heel body, and which support also provides for mounting heels of various shapes and designs'.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for attaching a heel body to the rear portion of a shoe whereby, when the shoe is worn, back and forth movement of the heel will be avoided and there will be no pulling away at the back of the heel body or at the breast, Y

as well as preventing separation of the upper face of the heel from the sole throughout the area of attachment. Furthermore, the heel will thus be prevented from any breakage even though placed under abnormal strains when the shoe is worn.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe heel mounting having requisite strength during wear independently of any support afforded by the heel body, thereby to provide adequate resistance to normal compressive strains, and bending or buckling and other strains to which the heel may be subjected in wear.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe heel mounting whereby the heel body is so clamped in place that the heel will be secured to the shoe sole independently of direct attaching means between the contiguous face of the heel and shoe sole.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe heel mounting in which the parts are arranged as substantially the sole support for the load imposed by the wearer, in which the compressive force is supportedby a member positioned on a vertical axis normal to the tread surface of the heel.

Another object of the invention is to` provide a structure that may be readily attached and detached at the heel seat portion of a shoe to mount heels of various exterior and interior formation in order to provide means for interchange or replacement of the heels, whether such heels have relatively solid or hollow bodies.

Other advantages such as relatively low cost, facility of mounting, removal and replacement, and durability will appear from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a bottom plan view of the plate adapted to be attached to the inner face ofthe shoe sole at the heel seat;

2,852,866 Patented Sept. 23, 1958 Figure 2 is a view 'showing the members of the heel` Figure 5 is a vertical section illustratingthe association of the parts of the mounting with one form of heel body attached to the rear section of a shoe sole;

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical section of the lower v part of the shoe heel body and the lower section `of the supporting stem in place with the heel lift shown in assembled position; and

Figure 7 is a vertical section similar to the construction illustrated in Figure 5, but additionally illustrating the application of a heel to a shoe which .includes a shank stiffener and an insole.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, the shoe heel mounting is shown as including a plate 10, which plate has the configuration of the interior rear section of a shoe and yof a dimension to substantially cover the area bounded by the interiorwalls of the heel seat section. This plate is provided with a series of prongs 11 on the underface thereof and carries at a suitable position on its inner surface and integrally formed therewith a threaded boss 12. This plate is adapted to be seated securely within the internal heel seat section of the sole of the shoe with the boss extending through an opening 13 through` the shoe sole, as clearly shown in Figure 5.

While in Figure 5, the illustration shows simply the rear section of an outsole at the heel seat, it will be 'understood that, if the shoe is constructed, for example,

In Figure 7, the shoe is illustrated as including, in

addition to the heel seat, an insole a, a. shank stiffener b interposed between thevinsole and outsole c. When these additional elements are embodied in the shoe construction, the opening 13, it will be understood, extends Vthrough these three elements and the plate 10 will overlie them. The boss 12 is then extended through the opening in the three elements, as clearly illustrated in Figure 7. When the heel is applied to a shoe of this construction, an extremely iirm attachement of the heel results. It will be noted that in both the construction illustrated in Figure 5 and that illustrated in Figure 7 the plate 10 is substantially coextensive with the heel seat and has metal extending both fore and aft of the boss 12. With both constructions, therefore, there is an. extremely firm attachment of the heel at the bottom of the heel seat of the shoe, and when the shoe is in use it is prevented from displacement as it is held against tilting even when subjected to abnormal strains when the shoe is worn.

It is contemplated that in the construction of the plate and the attachment of the boss thereto the plate will be parallel with the plane of the shoe sole; but the angularity of the boss in respect to the plate will be such that, when the shoe heel is in assembled position, the axis of the threaded portion of the boss will be normal to the plane of the tread portion of the heel.

A stem 14, preferably of light metal although other materials having suflicient strength may be employed, has a threaded upper section 15 that is adapted to thread into the internal threaded portion or socket 16 ofthe boss 12. The lower section of the stem 14 is provided with a recess 17, the wall of the recess being serrated as indicated at 18. The bottom opening of the recess is ared outwardly to form a `narrow flange 19. The stem 14 .constitutes the means of supporting the load imposed upon the heel section when the shoe is worn, it being understood that whatever material is employed for fabricating the steml it will have suficient strength alone to Vconstitute the full support-for the compression load, and sufficient strength to avoid any buckling or bending.

The'heel body 20 may have any desired outer contour and may be of wood, plastic or other suitable material; Inasmuch as the heel body proper is relieved from supporting the load, it is not necessary that it be of material having any substantial strength, and indeed may be made in skeleton form with relatively thin walls. The heel body is formed with a core or axial opening 21 extending therethrough in which the stem 1,4 is received in such a manner that the upper threaded end 15 thereof threads into the threaded socket 16 with the flange 1.9.abutting` against the lower surface of the heel body at thepbottom end of the core 21.

After the heel has been thus assembled and the stem mounted therein, the upper end is tightened down into the socket 16. This operation may be accomplished conveniently by the use of such a tool as an Allen wrench fragmentarily indicated at 2S, the upper end of which is serrated in order that it may enter the recess 17 and interlockingly engage the side walls of the recess.

This operation serves to clamp the upper face of the heel body firmly against the exterior surface of the outsole at the heel seat, thereby firmly holding the heel body in place without requirement for any other attaching means between the contiguous surfaces of the upper face of the heel body and the outer face of the sole. The tension effected bymounting the stem 14 is sufficient to rmly hold the heel body in place for the reason that the flange 19 serves as an abutment at the lower end of the heel, and the upper face of the heel firmly abuts against the heel section of the outsole, in effect providing thereby a tievrod clamp for the heel body.

This clamping action draws the underface of the plate 10 in close contact with the inner surface of the heel portion of the shoe and causes the prongs 1.1 to bite into the material, thereby preventing any turning move- 'ment of the plate. Therefore, it will be noted that, when the heel body'is clamped in place, substantially the entire weight is imposed upon the plate 10 and transmitted to the stern 14 by its connection into the boss 12, and the load is carried directly axially downwardly to contact with such supporting surface that may be traversed by the wearer.

A heel lift 26 in the form of a disc, the periphery of which conforms to the side wall of the bottom of the heel body, is provided with an upwardly projecting stem Z7, thevperiphery of which stem is serrated complementarily to the inner surface of the recess 17. Therefore, the stem may be seated in the recess with a press fit, and held in position against turning movement by the cooperation of the surface of the stern in the recess. In order that the upper face of the member 26 may be brought liush with the bottom surface of the heel body, a channel or groove 28 may be formed in the upper face of the disc 26, and when the parts are fully assembled the iiange 19 will seat in this channel giving a finished appearance to the heel.

As has been noted, it is important that the axis of the stem 14 be so associated with the boss 12 on the plate 10 that its axis is normal to the tread face of the heel, in order that the weight imposed on the stem when the shoe is worn will be substantially directly vertically downwardly, normal to the plane of the normal wear surface of the bottom of the heel. The mounting disclosed, therefore, will effectively prevent in wear any back and forth movement of the heel or heel body tilting forwardly at the back edge or pulling forwardly at the breast edge, since the clamping effectively holds the upper surface of the heel body so closely against the outer surface of the outsole that there is no opportunity for the upper surface of the heel to pull away from the area of the outsole to which it is clamped. Thus, the heel body is so firmly supported that there is no likelihood that under normal conditions there will be any breaking of the edges of the heel body, and the heel will be durable in wear.

Furthermore, it is obvious that the heels may be readily attached to shoes and removed therefrom so that the heel may be easily replaced or interchanged with other style designs. It is likewise apparent that, as the heel lift is readily removable and replaceable, various materials may be employed as the operation of replacing a heel lift may be easily and inexpensively accomplished.

It is obvious also that the mounting lends itself for the use with heel bodies of various materials, and of various contours in order to meet the growing tendency of styling the shapes and designs of heels used principally on womens shoes.

Further modification in structural details are contemplated as being Within the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A mounting for attaching a heel to a shoe having a heel seat with a central opening therethrough comprising, in combination: a heel body having a seat area cornplementary to the heel seat of the shoe, and a tread surface generally horizontal, a bore through the heel body normal to the tread surface and at an angle to the heel seat, and adapted to be aligned with the opening through the heel seat; a rigid plate having an area substantially coextensive with the heel seat portion of the shoe, a boss integral with the plate, having a threaded projection therein extending from the lower surface of said plate, positioned at the middle of the plate, the boss being arranged to extend through the opening in the heel seat and into the bore, with the rigid plate extending laterally in all directions from the boss, to engage the inside of the shoe, the boss having a threaded portion coaxial with the bore, at an angle normal to the tread surface of the heel, and a threaded stem insertable into the bore from the lower end thereof, and having a threaded upper end attachable to the threaded portion of the boss, the stem having a shoulder at its lower end and the heel body having a lower horizontal wall against which the shoulder is adapted to engage, whereby when said stern is threaded into engagement with the threaded portion of the boss the heel body will be securely clamped to the heel seat and restrained against tilting movement when the shoe is in use, and when the shoe is in use, the stern is substantially vertical, and a top lift secured to the tread of the heel body below the stern.

2. The mounting of claim 1 in combination with the shoe, the `shoe lhaving a shank stitfener extending backwardly adjacent the heel seat to beyond the opening through the heel seat, the stiifener having an aligned opening, so that the boss of the plate can engage in both openings, and the mounting can be stabilized by the stifener.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein the stem has a socketextending upwardly from its bottom, and the top lift has a plug extending upwardly from its top and engageable into the socket for holding the top lift onto the heel.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein the socket and plug are complementary and non-circular, so that a noncircular wrench may be fitted into the socket prior to insertion of the top lift plug, to turn the stem tightly onto the threads of the boss.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,340,910 Preo et al. May 25, 1920 1,375,671 Cerf Apr. 26, 1921 1,772,293 Skovronek Aug. 5, 1930