US2965237A

US2965237A - Shoe support

Info

Publication number: US2965237A
Application number: US602266A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wilby Richard Wells
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1956-08-06
Filing date: 1956-08-06
Publication date: 1960-12-20
Anticipated expiration: 1977-12-20

Description

Dec. 20, 1960 J. B. WELLS SHOE SUPPORT Filed Aug. 6, 1956 Fig. 1

Fig.2

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. JOEL B. WELLS GENT Dec. 20, 1960 Filed Aug- 6, 1956 J. B. WELLS SHOE SUPPORT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 8

INVENTOR. JOEL B. WELLS ATTORNEY United States Patent-O ard Wells' Wilby, executor of said'Joel 1;. Wells, de- 1 i ceased Filed Aug. 6, 1956, Ser. No. 602,266

Claims. (Cl. 21135) This invention relates to shoe supports, and more particularly to novel apparatus for supporting shoes in a fixed position.

portant advantages with regard to the security of holding the shoes in place andwith regard to ease of placing shoes in position in, and removing shoesfrom, the support, these features being obtained together ina superior manner in the apparatus according to the invention. 7

"Theinvention will be more fully described in con:

nection with the attached drawing, inwhich Figures 1' and 2 are side and front views respectively of oneembodii ment of apparatus according to the invention, Figures and 4 are sideand front, partial views of a second embodiment; Figures 5 and 6 are side and front, partialviews of a third embodiment, Figure 7. is a'front' viewf offifourth embodiment, Figure 8 is a front view of a fifth embodiment, andFigure9isapartial front view ofasixth v being nserted in the toes of the shoes.

embodiment. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a metal plate 10' is se cured to a vertical wooden support 11 by means of screws 12. Coil spring sections, 13 are'rigidly secured 'attheif outer ends 14 to the plate 10, as for example, by soldering or other suitable means. Metal rods 15 are secured to the spring 13, and may be integral therewith. The rods 15 are rigidly secured also to plate or'shank 16. As shown, rods 15 are connected with each other by means of a rod 17, integralwith the rods 15 andrigidlysecured,

Patented Dec. 20, 1960 rather thanclosed, loops can be employed if, de sired Plates rather than loops can be employed if desired.

When the shoes 22 are not in place, the spring means '13 hold the loops 21flat against surface 11. In order to put the shoes in position, one grasps the plate16, pulls the lower end thereof away from surface 11, places'the shoes in the positions indicated in Figure 1, and releases the plate 16, so that the spring means 13 press theloops 21 against the soles of the shoes. v 5 Turning now to Figures 3 and 4, a ditferent construction is shown for that part only of the apparatus which is attachedto the lower end of shank 16. Metal-rod 30 has a c'entral portion 31 which is pivotally secured within a turned-under portion 20 of shank 16' and has side 'por; tions f 32 which extend toward vertical surface- 11 and also" laterally away from shank 16 as viewed .in Figure ice , 4. The rod 30 also has portions 33 which extend-upf' The apparatus according to the invention provides iniwardly, in' a direction generally parallel to'surface 11. Secured to the upper ends of portions 33- are shoe toe engaging heads 34, which are shaped in such manner as to stretch the toes of the's'hoes in which they are inserted. Any suitable known construction for toe engaging heads can be employed.

As illustrated, when shoes are not'in place'in the apparatus, the heads 34 are held flat against surface 11 by spring means 13.] To place shoes in position, the sh'a'nl; 16 is pulledaway from surface 11, and portion 31 0!? rod 30 pivots" within portion 20 "of shank'16 unde'r'the int fluenceot gravity and/ or manual pressure, thus'pertnitting shoes to beplaced in the desired position with their soles against surface 11. The spring 13 is then allowed to force shank: 16" toward surface 11, the heads. 34' meanwhile Instead of'the rod'portions 32 being integrally." nected to each other through portion 31,the portions 32 canbe independently pivotally connected to shank 16,

I so that one of the portions 3-2 can be pivoted whilethe' other remains stationary. However, highly satisfactory as by welding or other-suitable nieansf'within aturned-j struction is'n'otessential. The rods 15 and the plate 16 constitute together a shanksecured at one end to the face'll by those spring means.

Rods 23 are secured to plate 16 by means of rod ,19, integral with rods 23; rod 1 9 is rigidly secured within turned-under portion 20 of plate '16. Rods 23 extend laterally away from the longitudinal axis of plate 16 and also extend toward surface 11. Rods 23 are rigidly se cured at their lower ends to shoe engaging means provided by the wire loops 21. Rods 23,- rod 19, and loops 21 may if desired be constructed of a single metal wire, as shown;' however, this construction, is not essential. Loops 21, which are securedto the shank provided by plate 16 byvmeans of

rods

23 and 19,.'are adapted to hold, under the influence of spring means 13, the shoes 22 in vertical position with their soles against surface 2-1. Suitable cloth or other pads not shown can be secured to loops 21 to protect the shoes if necessary.

The loops 21 constitute shoe engaging means adapted to engage the soles of shoes 22, and are secured to shank 16 by means of connecting rods 23, which are substantially normal to the plane of the loops 21 and to the sole of the shoes 22. The loops can if desired be curved to QQniQrm to the shape of the sole of the shoe. Arcuate,

' is preferred because it provides operation can be obtained with the simpler construction described above; In the apparatus shown in Figures 3 and 4, each head 34'is' connected to shank 16 by means of'rod portion" 33 which constitutes a rod extending-downwardly'from' head I34,1and.by means of rod po'rtion30 which constitutes asecondr'od secured to the shank and to the rodportion; 33t-at the latters lower end. I .-,.Toe engaging heads such as the heads 34 can be em-' ployedvwith either a rigid connection to shank 161154115.

Figures 1 and 2 or. a pivoted connection to shank '16 as in Figures 3- and 4. Similarly, shoe engaging members such as the loops 21 can, be employed with either "a rigid or pivotal connection toshank 16. A pivotal connection greater ease of manipu-i lation. 1

,Turning now to Figures 5 and 6, a variation of the apparatusshown Figures 1 and 2 is illustrated therein, the two shanks 50 replacing the single shank 16 ofFigures'l' and 2. Each shank 50 is rigidly secured to connect-,

ingmember 51,.to which the rods 15 are also secured, The, rods 15 are also secured, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, to the springmeans 13. With this construction;- the ..rods 5.0 can. be sufficiently flexible to permit some,

" fiexi'ng'of the rods'50 to facilitate placing the shoes therebeneath, but they are not so flexible as to be incapable of transferring the force exerted by spring means 30 to shoe engaging members, through connecting rods 52, sufiiciently for that force to hold the shoes against surface 11. Substantially nonflexible shanks can, of course, be employed if desired.

In Figure 7, spring 13 is rigidly secured to a plate 10 by means of a screw 72 which bears upon looped section 71 of the spring, section 71 being formed by curving the in that plane to form the loop. Integral shanks 70 extend downwardly from the outerends of the spring 13. Suitable shoe engaging members, notshown, are attached to the lower; ends of each shank" 70. The'shoe engaging members illustrated in other figuresare examples of suitablemembers that can be-used with the apparatus of Figure 7. p v

The various parts of the shoe, supports according to the invention can if desired be made integral with each other. Thus, referring to Figure 8 the spring 13, the shank 16, and the shoe engaging member 21 canbecoirstructed of a single wire-suitably sha'pedto provide the desired construction and relationship, of the parts to each other. Also, the, outer ends of the spring can be shaped into a loop 41 in a plane. parallel to the plane of surface 11, so that the spring can be directly attached to the surface 11 by'screws 12 inserted through the loops at either end.

If desired, a plurality of the shoe supports according to the invention can be secured to a flat surface, e.g., a metallic or wooden surface, to provide a shoe rack adapted to hold a plurality of shoes and to be placed in any suitable location, e.g., against a wall or door, etc.

It is not essential, according to the invention, that the surface 11 be a vertical surface, since the invention is applicable to horizontal or. inclined surfaces also. However, the maximum utility and convenience of the in vention, is obtained where the surface is substantially vertical, or at least inclined more to the, vertical than to the horizontal. I

his not essential that the shoe be held by the apparatus according to the invention with its" toe toward;. thc spring 13 since the. invention isapplicable rearrange meats where the heel or other portion of the shoe is closest to the spring. However, superior, results are-ob- If desired, the apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2v can be modified by providing, as shown in Figure 9, in each of the members 23 a coiled, spring section adjacent theconnecting member 19 which is rigidly secured to shank 16 Such springsections and the

members

19 and 23 be constructed, for example, from a single wire 42 by tightly coiling the wire in two portions 43 thereof separated by the central portion 19, the outer uncoiled portions of the wire constituting the members 23. In operation, the member 23 and shank 16 can be moved in relation to each other by exerting manual pressure, thus facilitating insertion and removal of shoes. In the abscnceof such pressure, the spring sections hold the membersin the desired relationship to each other.

The invention claimed is:

1. A shoe holder which comprises: spring means secured to a support; connectingmeans comprising shank means secured at one end to said spring means and extending therefrom, and two portions mounted on said shank means and extending laterally toward said support; two shoeengaging members connected to the ends of said portions and urged toward said support by said spring means to hold, solely by the lateral force of said assess-r 4 spring means exertedthrough saidmembers, two shoes in fixed positions with their :soles against said support.

2. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein said shank means consist of a single shank.

3. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein said shank means consist of two shanks, to each of which shanks :one of said shoe-engaging members is connected.

4. Shoe holder according to claim 3 wherein a portion of said spring meanson eof said shanks, a'connecting rod and one ofjsaid shoerengaging members are constructed of a single wire, and wherein the remaining portion of said spring means, the other of said shanks, a second connecting rod and the other of said shoe-engaging members are constructed of another single wire.

5. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein said shank means and said shoe'engaging members are rigidly connected to each other by means of connecting rods.

6. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein a connecting rod is rigidly secured to each of said shoe-engaging members and pivotally connected to such shank means, and wherein each of the two connecting rods extends outwardly from the shoe-engaging member to which it is attached, whereby the pivotal connection of the connecting rodto the shank means facilitates introduction of and removal of the shoe-engaging member from a shoe.

7. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein each of said shoe-engaging members comprises a member adapted to engage the sole of said shoe over an extended area, said area being the only area of contact of said member with the shoe.

8. Shoe holder according to claim '1 wherein each of said shoe-engaging members, comprises a toe-engaging headconnec'tedtd said shank meansby a connectingrod having a, portion secured at one end to the rear of said head and extending toward the heel of the shoe and a second portion substantially. perpendicular to the first portion and secured to said shank means and to the other end of. said first .portion.

'9. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein the shank means extend straight from their junction with the spring means to their junction with the connecting rods attached to saidv shoe-engaging members.

10. Shoe holder according to claim 1 wherein a coil is provided in each of two connecting rods secured to said shank means, the coils being disposed on either side of and adjacentto said shank means and wherein a shoeengaging member is secured to each of said rods.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS