US2904902A - Skating shoe - Google Patents

Description

A. E. MURRAY Sept. 22, 1959 SKATING SHOE Filed Oct. 25, 1957 FIG.5

INVENTOR. 141a L. Murray ATTO R N United States Patent 2,904,902 KA SHOE Alan E. Murray, Bridgeport, Conn". Application October 25, 1957, Serial, No. 692,414. 3 Claims. (CI, 36-25) This application relates to shoes designed for attachment of skates having flat plates of the type that are screwed or riveted to the shoe and to a process of producing the same, and is a continuation-in-part. of. my earlier application Serial No. 372,685, filed August .6, 1953, now abandoned.

Broadly speaking, in making the shoes of the present invention, casts are made of the wearers feet, which casts may be made in any desired manner as shown in my earlier Patent No. 2,120,987, dated June 21, 1938, and in my copending applications Serial Nos- 621,226 and 650,924. On such a cast a molded shoe liner of felt impregnated with latex is formed so that it will exactly conform to the Wearers foot. These liners. completely cover the feet and run up around the ankles high enough to give the support which skaters ordinarily demand. Outside of these liners I build up a virtually completely rigid structure which runs under the soles of. the wearers feet and up around and Over the toes and around the heels. These cups are formed of a plurality of layers of moldable plastic material such as a celluljosic ester; for example, cellulose nitrate or cellulose acetate which are molded over the liner and are virtually united into a single piece, as by the use of a solvent. By having a plurality of layers, added stiifness is given to the structure which embraces and holds the foot firmly and closely but substantially without any flexibility whatsoever.

Outside of these cups and liners 1 preferably have a covering layer and finally build up the heel and sole portions under the forward part of; the foot to form flat platforms to which the steel plates of the skates may be screwed. 7

By this construction I have the comfortable fitting liners which hold the users feet firmly down intothe rigid cups and have the rigid cups which follow the. contours of the sole of the foot and give the foot the support and stiifness which is of great importance in a skating shoe. The shoes which I produce are so rigid that it would be virtually impossible to use them for ordinary walking but inasmuch as they are to, be screwed to the steel plates of a skate, this rigidity is desirable.

The exact nature of the shoes and the 'way in which they are made can be readily understood from the following illustrative example, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in whichi- Fig. 1 is an elevation ofmy shoe attached to a skate with a part of the heel broken away'to show details of construction; 1

Fig. 2 is an elevation showing the way the shoe is built up on a cast;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a further step in the construction;

Fig. 4 is detail showing the heel construction, and

Fig. 5 is a bottom View showing the heel in place but with the flat platforms for attachment of the skate not added.

In making the shoe of my invention, I attach to the ice 2 cast 28 at the top line of the shoe to be made, a hori-' zontal rear edge liner 34 of soft leather and then attach to the front of the cast 28 a front leather edge liner 35 having wings 37 of the same vertical dimension as the rear edge liner 34 so that said wings produce abutting" joints with the ends of the rear edge liner 34 as shown in Fig. 2. Next I put on to the bottom of the cast 28 a monks cloth sole-piece 38 which extends under the whole bottom portion of the cast and up all around the same to just below the top of theundercut line as showtiin Fig. 2.

The sole-piece 38, being made to adhere to the cast 28,

is made with thin or thick latex as described in my Patent No. 2,493,310. This is applied wherever the sole-piece 38 contacts the cast. Then I apply to the cast a soft overall cover-piece of monks cloth 39 shaped as shown in Fig. 3, so that the front edges form an abutting joint 39a over the top front of the. cast, tucks being made and out off below the sole-piece 38 to which some thick or thin latex, also some plaster of Paris, is applied. Now I apply over the overall cover-piece a thin ,5 thick felt-piece 40 for smoothness and warmth. This member 40 is.

initially'of a general horseshoe shape and runs around the back of the heel and with the meeting edges over the front of the shoe. It extends down underneath the bot; tom of the sole-piece 38 forming front and rear puckers underneath the cast which are cut off to produce meeting edges. For this purpose the felt-piece 40 as well as the overall cover-piece 3.2 with which it contacts will be impregnated or coated with thin or thick latex, s,ome, powdered plaster of Paris being applied to the latex if desired. I then apply to the bottom of felt-piece 40 a.

felt-piece 41 for cushioning and warmth, this piece being about 7 thick and of the same shape as the solepiece 38. It extends up on the sides and back about as, high as the sole-piece 38 making a joint wit the feltpiece 40. This likewise is attached with latex, with or without plaster of Paris and should. be pressed up against the cast to conform to the under surface Of the cast. The edges of pieces 40 and 41 can be tapered if desired when being applied. The shoe is then'dried for abouttwo days and the exposed surfaces of the pieces 4!), and,4 1 are brushed oif to leave them clear for attachment of the rigid cups which are a feature of my invention.

It will be noted that at this stage in the manufacture of the shoe I have a complete shoe-like member which exactly conforms to the shape of the foot and will have a cushioning contact with the foot.

I now form around the bottom part .of the soft sl de. like member a rigid cup which will conform to the shape of the foot to embrace it firmly but will not allow of any appreciable flexing. This cup is made up by soaking sheets of cellulosic material in solvent so that they be= come soft and readily moldable. Such cellulosic material h material h heappea nc of blotting p per before having a solvent applied thereto. Such material is soaked in a so-called solvent which actually swells and softens the material rather than actually dissolving it. It then becomes plastic and can be molded to the desired shape. The sheets of plastic are cut to approximately the desired shape and then put under the cast and the shoe body already described and pressed firmly up and around the cast and up over the sides and up under and around in front of the toes. The first sheet applied designated by the numeral 42 may come up high at the heel to the area behind the ankle bone to provide a stiff counter member and perhaps a little more than half way up the toes as shown in Fig. 1. Between the toes and heel the first sheet is applied to extend up substantially above the undercut line at each side of the foot to envelop and support the curved portion of the foot along each side and the top edge of the sheet dips slightly down to pass immediately below the ankle bone of the foot. When this sheet is in place and while it is still softened with the solvent, a second sheet 43 is applied which does not come up quite as high. As best shown in Fig. l, the top edge of the second sheet approximately follows the undercut line at the side of the foot which coincides with the point of maximum breadth of the foot but in the rear this sheet extends above the undercut line to reinforce the counter member. F inally a third sheet 44 is also added which is still lower on the outside. The top edge of the last sheet extends upwardly from the sole to envelop the bottom curved portion of the foot but the top edge stops just short of the undercut line of the foot These three sheets are firmly pressed together and when the solvent dries out they form a rigid integral cup which has almost the rigidity of metal but which exactly conforms to the users foot and is fully lined and cushioned by the shoe member about which the cup is formed. It will be noted that the natural stiffness of the sole portion will be reinforced by the integral upturned sides. As the sheets do not all extend up the same height, some slight lateral flexing is permitted at the top, but these portions will be highly resilient and spring back to shape to support and contain the foot of the wearer. The members 42, 43 and 44 may be cut to desired shape but ordinarily it will be found preferable to have some excess material and trim oif this excess material with a razor blade after they are molded into position.

A heel 45 is built up with a number of layers of the plastic material softened by the solvent to give the desired heel height. As the shoe is to be mounted on a skate blade 46 carried on front and rear plates 47 and 48, it is necessary to have the front of the shoe built to conform with the front plate 47 and added plastic material is used for this purpose as indicated at 50. It will be noted that this platform replaces the usual sole on the shoe and gives the greatest attainable ice clearance laterally, but at the same time fully supports the plate 47.

Around the top of the shoe and extending downwardly around a V-shaped cut-out 53 to be made within the edge liner 35 I apply a cord 52 of cotton or other fibers which is attached with latex. Similarly a cord 54 runs around the bottom of the shoe as shown in Fig. 5. This cord will be embedded in the material 50.

As an outside cover for this shoe I apply a piece of soft leather 55 such as kid or kangaroo which covers the whole shoe without any seam at the back, the meeting edges being at the two cords 52 and 54 and down to the lower edge of the heel 45 and up to the breast or front of the heel 45. Where the leather 55 meets the cords 52 and 54, one leather edge can abut the cord and the other leather edge can be skived and extend just over and beyond the cord 4; to A". If desired, a flat leather heel-piece 56 may be cemented under the heel 45 and a flat leather-piece 57 may be cemented under the platform 50 to contact the skate plate 47. A further leatherpiece 58 can, if desired, be cemented to the breast or front of the heel 45. All these leather pieces may be applied U shoe between the arms ofthe cord 52 and the shoe is cut off at the top to within about of the cord 52.

The shoe is now substantially shaped and the cast can be removed by breaking it out if necessary. Finally the shoe is brushed out and cleaned and the eyelets 53a are inserted. If desired, a tongue 59 is formed over the cast and inserted in the shoe. This tongue preferably is made up of two pieces of leather 60 and 61 with a narrow piece of felt 62 between them. If desired, the shoe may be provided with a plurality of cut-out V-shaped notches between the eyelets to facilitate bending the ankle while skating.

By this construction I produce an integral shoe which exactly conforms to the sole of the foot of the wearer and is softly cushioned on the inside and runs up to give support to the wearer around the ankle but which is held under the wearers toes and sole and about the heel so that an absolutely firm contact is had with the wearers foot. The added platforms prevent this shaped contour from being distorted when the skate is attached to the shoe as by screws 49.

What I claim is:

1. A skating shoe comprising a soft cushioned shoe body adapted to closely embrace the wearers foot and run under the sole thereof and shaped to follow the contours of the foot, a rigid cup member made of a plurality 'of plies of resilient material united into an integral structure forming the bottom part of such shoe outside of said cushioning body, which conforms to the shape of the wearers foot and supports the foot without permitting appreciable flexing of the sole portion and which has diminishing rigidity towards the top edge thereof so that the opening at the top may be slightly expanded to receive the foot, the top edge of said cup member being extended upwardly beyond the undercut line along the side of the foot to envelop and support the curved portion of the foot along each side and said top edge being extended upwardly into the area behind the ankle to provide a stiff counter member for the heel and platforms built up below said cup at the heel and forward portions of the shoe to form, substantially flat areas adapted for attachment to the steel plates of a skate without modifying the contours of said cup member.

2. A shoe as specified in claim 1 in which the cup member is formed from a plurality of layers of resilient cellulosic plastic material molded to the shape of the foot and united into a single body with the top edges of each of said layers being positioned in staggered relationship in the side wall of the shoe.

3. A shoe as specified in claim 2 in which the top edge of one of said layers is positioned above the undercut line at the side of the foot and in which the top edge of a second one of said layers is positioned below the undercut line along the side of the foot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,147,455 Murray Feb. 14, 1939 visi

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