US3035357A

US3035357A - High heel protector and repair device

Info

Publication number: US3035357A
Application number: US766599A
Authority: US
Inventors: Valenti Pasquale Thomas
Original assignee: TANGIE PRODUCTS Inc
Current assignee: TANGIE PRODUCTS Inc
Priority date: 1958-10-10
Filing date: 1958-10-10
Publication date: 1962-05-22
Anticipated expiration: 1979-05-22

Description

y 1 P. T. VALENTI 3,035,357

HIGH HEEL PROTECTOR AND REPAIR DEVICE Filed Oct. 10, 1958 INVENTOR. Pflsau/uf 7. M41 E/VT/ United States Patent 3,035 357 HIGH HEEL PROTECTOfi AND REPAIR DEVICE Pasquale Thomas Valenti, Yonkers, N.Y., assignor t0 Tangie Products, Inc., Yonkers, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 10, 1958, Ser. No. 766,59 Claims. (Cl. 36-1) This invention relates to high heels of ladies shoes and particularly refers to an ornamental device for the protection and repair of high heels of ladies shoes.

High heel shoes have been an essential part of every womans wardrobe for many years. A popular style of ladies shoes today has a high, narrow heel, commonly referred to as a spike.

As normally constructed, a high heel of a lady's shoe can withstand a large compressive force but has relatively little shear strength. As a result, ladies high heels are easily broken when any sudden transverse force is applied thereto, such as when a heel is caught in sidewalk gratings which are commonly found over underground openings such as basement windows, public utilities underground areas, subways, etc. Also, ladies high heels are frequently broken by the transverse force resulting from the wearer stumbling and in attempting to regain her balance places her weight unevenly on the heel. Recently there has been an attempt by shoe manufacturers to remedy this situation in the higher priced ladies shoes by inserting an iron rod and associated material axially in the heel unit to increase its shear strength.

If a high heel is broken while away from home, it is a serious problem to the woman involved, since the shoe can no longer be used for walking. Even if a shoe repair shop is available, the replacement of a high heel cannot ordinarily be accomplished during the period of time that the wearer can wait. Also, replacement of a high heel of a ladys shoe is a relatively expensive job. If the broken part of the heel still is available, the shoe repair shop will normally join the broken part to the heel stub by adhesive tape or other temporary means for appearance sake only. However, the heel remains not usable for walking.

Accordingly a need exists for a device which will increase the shear strength of high heels of ladies shoes and allows the repairing of a wide variety of broken high heels quickly and inexpensively and in a manner that will not detract from the appearance of the shoes.

Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a device permitting quick and easy repair of broken high heels of ladies shoes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a device for repairing broken high heels of ladies shoes in a variety of ornamental forms and shapes, which enhances the appearance of the shoes.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an attachable and detachable decorative assemblage for use with a ladys high heel shoe which adds transverse strength to the high heels and which may be easily applied by any unskilled person.

Still another object is to provide a device for use with high heels of ladies shoes that accomplishes all of the above and yet is simple, durable, inexpensive to produce and easy to use.

Other objects and features of the invention will be more apparent when the following description is considered in connection with the annexed drawings in which FIG. 1 is a perspective elevational view of one form of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of a ladys high heel shoe having the present invention secured thereto;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the rear portion of a ladies high heel shoe with its high heel broken;

FIG. 4 is an elevational sectional view showing the broken heel of the ladys shoe repaired by use of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional plan view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the high heel protecting device is a hollow, generally conical shaped protector or shell 11 adapted to encompass a high heel 12 of a ladys shoe 13 as shown in FIG. 2. Applicant has found that only a few different tapers and lengths of protector 11 will satisfactorily fit predominantly all of the wide variety of ladies high heels on the market.

A shoe heel of a type to which protector 11 is advantageously applied is illustratively shown in FIGURE 2 at 12; such heel being round at its back and side portions up to a forward breast or front portion 15 and running vertically up the heel and across the shoe, all as is familiar in the art. As shown, the heel is downwardly and inwardly flared converging into a narrow solid heel portion 16. Heel 12 is normally made of plastic, wood, composition material or the like.

Protector 11 has a vertical fiat wall or surface 14 which corresponds in shape to the front or breast surface 15 of high heel 12. The side and rear surfaces of protector 11 have a curved contour which corresponds to the round side and rear portions of heel 12 of ladys shoe 13. The curved walls of protector 11 converge downwardly and inwardly to form a narrow heel or lift portion 16a and are tapered inwardly slightly more than the side of high heel 12 for wedging heel 12 and protector 11 together upon heel 12 being inserted within protector 11, as will be described below. Due to difference in tapers between the inside surface of protector 11 and high heel 12, protector 11 is securely held in place on heel 11, resulting in positive attachment therebetween.

To insure complete protection against broken high heels, protector 11 is slidably positioned on heel 12 having fiat surface 14 of protector 11 juxtaposed to fiat-surface 15 of heel 12. Protector 11 is wedged tightly in place. The length of protector 11 chosen in such that the heel portion of protector 11 is slightly above a lift 21 when shoe 13 is worn. Applicant has found that heel protector 11 should be about three-quarters of the length of heel 12 to secure a good fit with adequate protection in the easiest manner. The height of protector 11 is greater than its Width or depth at its smallest cross section and preferably greater than its width or depth at its largest cross section. A matching mate of protector 11 is placed on the heel of the mate to shoe 13.

An important consideration for any device for use with womens clothing is appearance. Protector 11 may have different types of surfaces or ornamentation thereon, such as serrations, crenulations or scalloping of the upper edges (as shown in FIG. 1) for use as an accessory to the shoes or clothing. Protector 11 may be made of metal or plastic and have a variety of colors and shades for use with the varied colored ladies shoes with which it is to be used.

To insure more positive attachment between protector 11 and heel 12, pointed teeth may be placed on the inner surface of shell 11 preferably on the inner heel portion of front face 14 and forced to penetrate into heel 12 to prevent dislodgement of protector 11. A further method of positively attaching protector 11 to heel 12 is to provide several openings in front face 14 for inserting nails therethrough into heel 12. These methods of attaching protector 11 to heel 12 prevent the easy removal of protector 11 as is obtained when using only friction as discussed above.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the present invention is used for repairing a broken heel 17 of a ladys shoe. The broken heel stub is trimmed as shown in PEG. 4, making the bottom surface 25 substantially paral- 3 lel to the ground when the shoe is in walking position. A shell 18, substantially Similar to shell 11 described above relative to FIGURE 1, is placed over broken heel 17 making tight frictional contact with the outer surfaces of heel 17 due to the wedging action of the tapered surfaces. A plug having the same contour but with smaller dimensions than the inner walls of shell 18 so as to abut the inner surfaces therewith is made of wood, plastic, rubber composition or similar type material. Plug 20 is trimmed so that the upper surface of plug 20 abuts the trimmed bottom face of broken heel 17, as shown in FIG. 4 when in operating position. 7

Plug 20 should preferably be about three-fourths of the length of shell 18. Plug 20 has a nail 22 therethrough, which is driven into the stub of heel 17, providing a secure attachment. Abutting the bottom face of plug 20 is a lift 23, which preferably covers the bottom, horizontal edges of shell 18. Lift 23 is secured in any suitable manner to plug 20, such as by nailing or gluing.

Shell 18 is securely held to the stub of heel 17 due to the wedging action between its inner surfaces and the outer surfaces of heel 17, as well as by the combination of plug 26, which is securely attached to heel 1.7 by nail 22 and lift 23 which abuts the bottom edge of shell 18 and is mounted on plug 20.

While the above described embodiments of the invention have a preferred construction, it is to be understood that the present invention is not necessarily restricted thereto. Thus nail 22 may be replaced by an anchoring pin or the use of nail 22 may be dispensed with by having pointed teeth facing inwardly at the upper edge of shell 18 along its front face 24 for engagement with the front face of broken heel 17. Plug 20 can be positively secured to shell 18 by having suitable holes along the lower front face of shell 18 abutting plug 20, and inserting nails therethrough into plug 21.

It will also be understood that though the shell may be of any suitable material, preferably plastic or metal, it should generally be of relatively thin construction to mask or otherwise de-accentuate the substitution.

Since many apparently different structures may be readily devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention, it is understood that the foregoing description is illustrative only, the scope of the invention being defined solely by the claims granted.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for repairing a broken high heel of a ladys shoe, comprising an integral one piece hollow body having a wide top portion, said body portion having a D-shaped cross-section corresponding to the crosssection of said heel, the curved portion of said body tapering inwardly and downwardly from the perimeter of said top portion to form a narrow heel portion, a

rigid D-shaped insert disposed within said body abutting the inner surfaces of said body, said taper of said body being slightly greater than the taper of said heel so that upon slidably inserting said broken heel into the top of said hollow body, the upper surface of said insert abuts the lower surface of said broken heel and the corresponding surfaces of said body and said heel are wedged into tight engagement, and means for fixedly securing said insert to said heel.

2. Device as in claim 1 wherein said hollow body is about three-fourths of the length of said high heel and said insert is about three-fourths the length of said hollow body.

3. A device for repairing a broken high heel of a ladys shoe, comprising a hollow body having a wide top portion and converging downwardly and inwardly from the perimeter of said top portion to form a narrow heel portion, the vertical surfaces of said body being similar in contour to the corresponding surfaces of said heel, an in sert disposed within the lower portion of said body abutting the inner surfaces of said body, said insert being of such length that upon said broken heel being received within the upper portion of said body and wedged into tight engagement therewith the upper surface of said insert abuts the lower surface of said broken heel, and means for fixedly securing said insert to said heel.

4. A device for repairing a broken high heel of a shoe comprising an integral one piece hollow rigid body having a wide top portion, said body tapering inwardly and downwardly from the perimeter of said top portion to form a narrow heel portion and having a cross section corresponding to the cross section of said heel and having corresponding mating surfaces, said taper of said body varying slightly from the taper of said heel, an insert disposed within the lower portion of said body and extending upwardly therefrom so that upon slidably inserting said broken heel into the top portion of said hollow body the upper surface of said insert abuts the lower surface of said broken heel and the corresponding mating surfaces of said body and said heel are wedged into tight engagement, and means for maintaining said insert and said heel in abutting relation.

5. A device as in claim 4 wherein said maintaining means includes a top lift abutting the lower end surface of said hollow body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 914,810 Dempsey Mar. 9, 1909 1,138,725 Capdevila May 11, 1915 1,841,027 Gruber Jan. 12, 1932 2,076,514 Huffman Apr. 6, 1937 2,109,193 Field et a] Feb. 22, 1938