US3040360A - Shoe shining fixture - Google Patents

Description

June 26, 1962 Filed Jan. 4, 1961 S. FRIEDMAN SHOE SHINING FIXTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

BY 4.1m

June 26, 1962 s. FRIEDMAN 3,040,360

SHOE SHINING FIXTURE Filed Jan. 4, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United StatesPatent O 3,040,369 SHOE SHHNTNG FIXTURE 4 Samuel Friedman, Brooklyn, N.Y., assignor to Re-Ly-Qn The present invention relates to a device for facilitating a shoe shining operation and, more specifically, one which will provide optimum support for a shoe while it is being shined. It is specially adapted for home use, particularly because of its collapsability and storage features, but is not limited thereto.

The shining of a shoe while it is in place on the foot of its wearer presents problems, particularly revolving about supporting the shoe in such an attitude that all portions of the shoe maybe properly polished, and doing so in such a way as to permit the foot of the wearer to be maintained in a satisfactory, and preferably not un- 'comfortable,"attitude.' Ordinarily, a shoe rest is mounted on a base in a fixed position which is a, compromise between comfort for the wearer and best presentation of the various parts of the shoe surface to the polisher. The shoe shining fixture of the present invention, according to one aspect thereof, provides for an articulate mounting of the shoe rest on the base, the rest being movable between angularly related positions, those positions being compatible with comfort for the wearer of the shoe and at the same time permitting the shoe to be supported in different attitudes correlated with the different portions of the shoe surface which are to be polished.

One major problem, particularly insofar as home polishing activity is concerned, is that it is awkward, difficult and often quite ineffective for a person to try to polish a shoe on his own foot. It is also extremely difiicult to hold a shoe with one hand and polish it with the other. Indeed, certain polishing operations, such as bufilng with the cloth, really require the use of two hands on the cloth if the task is to be done properly, thus making it impossible properly to perform that operation satisfactorily while holding the shoe in the hand. Furthermore, hand support is unsturdy and uneven, and will not provide the proper resistance to a brushing or buffing operation.

The device of the present invention not only can be used to support a foot-borne shoe, but also can be used to support, with proper firmness, a shoe off the foot. It may be adapted to mount shoes of difierent sizes and types. Moreover, it can present those shoes to the polisher in various attitudes best designed to facilitate the polishing of all of the exposed surfaces thereof.

The device is readily transportable, may be collapsed to facilitate its storage in a minimal amount of space, and is preferably provided with a hollow base structure within which various items of shoe shining equipment (brushes, polish, cloths and the like) may be stored. The parts are all sturdy, simple, and easily manufactured and assembled.

To the accomplishment of the above, and to such other objects as may hereinafter appear, the present invention relates to the construction of ,a shoe shining device as defined in the appended claims and as described in this spe- 3,4036% Patented June 26, 1962 ICC,

6:: 'FIG. 4 is a cross sectional 'view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3, the toe plate being shown in full lines for illustrative reason;

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

' FIG. 6 is a fragmentary three-quarter perspective view showing an alternative embodiment in which the foot rest is articulatedly mounted on the base for pivotal movement about an axis;

, FIG. 7 is a cross'sectional view taken along the line 7--7 of FIG. 6 and showing, in solid and broken lines respectively, the two extreme positions of the shoe rest of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary side elevationalviewshowing an alternative articulate mounting for the foot rest on the base.

Turning now to the embodiments of FIGS. l-5, the shoe shine device comprises a base generally designated 2 comprising a bottom wall 4, side walls6 and. end walls 8 defining a hollow container, one end wall 8 being shorter than the other, the upper edges of the side wall 6 being inclined to correspond to the differences in heights of the two end walls 8. The interior of the base 2 may be used for storage purposes, as indicated in broken lines in FIG. 4, and may be provided with a partition wall 10 or any other subdividing or supporting structure in order to facilitate its storage function. The top of the base 2 is defined by a wall 12 which is articulately connected to i wall 12 by means of posts 20. This rest 22 is inclined relative to the horizontal by reason of the inclination of the wall 12 and the height of the posts 24 so that a person wearing a shoe may place that shoe upon the rest 22, the shoe there being supported while it is polished.

When a shoe is supported in a fixed position, as'when it is placed upon the fixed shoe rest 22, certain portions of the shoe surface, depending upon the particular position thereof, are effectively presented to the person performing the polishing operation while other portions thereof are not as accessible to him. Accordingly, as indicated in FIGS. 6-8, it is desirable that the shoe rest 22a be articulately mounted on the wall 1-2 so as to be movable between positions in which different portions of the shoe supported on the rest 22a may be presented to the person performing the polishing operation with substantially equal degrees of accessibility. To that end, in the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 the shoerest 22a is mounted on the wall 12 by means of a leaf 24 having an upper flange 26 fixed to the rest 22a by means of screws 28 or the like, the lower end of the leaf 24 being rotatable about pin 30 fixed to the wall 1 2 by means of brackets 32 and screws or the like 34. The axis of the pin 30 is parallel to the width of the wall 12, so that the shoe rest 22a is movable between a relatively upwardly and forwardly inclined position in which its heel part rests upon the wall 12 and a relatively downwardly and forwardly inclined position in which its toe part rests upon the wall 12, these positions being shown in solid and broken lines respectively in FIG. 7. In the former position the toe of the shoe supported on the rest 22a is best presented, while in the latter ,the heel of the shoe is best presented.

In FIG. 8 an alternative articulate mounting for the shoe rest 22a is disclosed. There one leaf 25 of a hinge generally designated 27 is secured to the underside of the spans-so rivets 41, tothe base 12. With this type of mounting the foot rest 22a is not only movable between the forwardly and rearwardly inclined positions characteristic of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-6 by pivoting of the hinge leaf 25 about the hinge pin 31, thereby exposing the heel and toe surfaces of the shoe respectively, but isalso pivotal laterally about the pivot so that one side or the other of the shoe rest 22a engages the wall 12, thereby presenting one side or the other of the shoe for polishing.

Because of the fact that, insofar as shoe shining in the home is concerned, there are relatively few instances when a person is available to shine shoes on the feet of an other, and because it is very difllcult for a person to per: form anything but a superficial shining operation on shoes on his own feet, there is a great need for a device which will reliably support empty shoes in an attitude and with a firmness which will permit those shoes to be polished. To accomplish this most desirable result the device of the present invention is provided with an arm generally designated 36 which is movable between the lowered position shown in FIG. 2 and the raised position shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. This arm is substantially U-shaped, and comprises a pair of lengths 38 connected by a substantially horizontally extending portion 49. The lower ends of each of the lengths 38 extend over plates 42, which are mounted in any appropriate manner on the exterior of the side walls 6. Screws 44 extend out from the plates 42 and pass through vertically elongated slots 46 formed in the lower ends of the lengths 38. The tips of the lengths 38 are provided with notches 48 into which lugs 56 struck out from the body of the plates 42 are adapted to be received.

Mounted on the horizontally extending portion at in any appropriate manner, as by welding, is a sleeve 52. An externally accessible thumb screw 54 is adapted to penetratethe sleeve 52. via'aperture 56. The sleeve 52 is adapted to receive a shoe holder generally designated 58. This holder 58 comprises a rearwardly extending part 69 adapted to be telescopably received within the sleeve 52 and to be there engaged and held in position by means of the thumb screw 54. It is preferred, for reasons which will become'apparent hereinafter, that both the sleeve 52 and the part so be of circular cross section. Fixedly mounted on the part 60 is a depending heel-engaging plate 62 and a flattened sleve 64 provided with a thumb screw 56. An 'arm generally designated 68 is slidably receivable in the sleeve s4, and comprises a part 763 actually slidable through the sleeve 64, a part 72 bent down therefrom, and a part 74 extending substantially forwardly from the part 72. A toe plate 76 is adapted to be re removably secured to the part '74 by means of screw 7S and nut 80. Different size toe plates 76 may be provided, in order to cooperate with shoes of different widths. The shoeholder 58 is adapted to cooperate with shoes of different lengths by adjustably positioning the arm 68 relative to the heel-engaging plate 62, as indicated by the solid and broken lines in FIG. 3.

When the device is to be stored, or when it is to be used for the shining of shoes on the foot of a person, it will be placed in the position shown in FIG. 2, in which the arm 36 is pivoted downwardly about the screws 44 to a position which does not interfere with access to the shoe rest 22. The shoeholder 58 will have been removed from the sleeve 52, and may be stored within the base 2. A spring clamp 78 may be provided on the underside of the wall 12 to retain the polishing cloths.

When the device is to be used for the shining of a shoe which is not on the foot of a person, the arm 38 is swung about the screws 44 to its raised position shown in FIG.

3, in which position it is fixed by pushing the arm'down- Wardly in the direction of its length until the notches 48 at the lower ends of the lengths 38 engage around the lugs 56', this downward movement of the arm 36 being permitted by means of the elongated nature of the slots 46 through which the screws 44 pass. The shoe holder is not inserted into the shoe, but rather, the shoe holder 58 is first inserted into sleeve 56, and the shoe is mounted on shoe holder 58, and removed after polishing. Shoe holder 58 is removed when shoes are completed or when hand polishing or touching up is required.

Because of the circular cross section of the part 60 and the sleeve as, the entire holder 5?, together with the shoe mounted thereon, may be pivoted about the axis of the part 60, as indicated by the broken lines in FIG. 4, thereby to present first one side of the shoe and then the other to the polisher. Whilethe polishing operation is going on the arm 36 is securely locked in position by reason of the engagement between the lug 5i) and the notch 48. For touching up, the shoe holder 58, with a shoe thereon, may be removed from the sleeve 52 and held in the hand. i

In order to facilitate adjusting the relative positions of the heel engaging part 62 and the toe piece 76, the arm 68 may be provided with an upwardly extending finger piece.

When the arm 36 is in its raised position its horizontally extending part 4% constitutes a handle which permits the device to be readily transported from place to place, and this whether or not not the shoe holder 58 is in position.

Thus the structure involved is simple, sturdy and reli able. it not only provides for the support of shoes, whether on or off the foot, in position for polishing but also, in the preferred embodiments here disclosed, provides for adjustment of the position of the support of the shoe in order to facilitate access to all portions of the outer surface of the shoe. The construction is such that when a shoe on the foot is to be polished those parts of the device designed for use with shoes off the foot are moved to non-interfering positions. The device may be used effectivelywith shoes of many different sizes and types.

While but a limited number of embodiments of the present invention have been here specifically disclosed, it will be apparent that many variations may be made in the details thereof, all within the spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A shoe shining device comprising a hollow base, an arm articulately mounted on said base for movement between raised and lowered positions, in both of which positions said arm is outside said base, means for retaining said arm in its raised position, a shoe holder, means for mounting said shoe holderon a portion of said arm remote from said base when said arm is in its raised position, and means providing access to the interior of said base, whereby said shoe holder may be stored therein when not in use while said arm remains outside said base.

2. The device of claim 1, in which said shoe holder comprises a shoe tree with a part extending therefrom, and in which said mounting means comprises an element with respect to which said part is detachably slidably received and is rotatable.

3. The device of claim 1, in which said arm, when in its raised position, comprises a substantially horizontally extending portion adapted to function as a carrying handle for said fixture.

4-. The device of claim 3,.in which said shoe holder mounting means is carried by said horizontally extending portion of said arm.

5. The device of claim 1, in which said arm comprises a pair of substantially parallel arm portions each articulately mounted at one end on said base, said arm portions extending exteriorly of opposite sides of said base respectively, the other ends of said arm portionsbeing connected by a laterally extending portion.

6. The device of claim 5, in which said shoe holder mounting means is carried by said laterally extending portion. 7

7. The device of claim 1, in which said arm is rotatable and longitudinally slidably mounted on said base, said base and arm respectively having means engageable through relative slidable movement When said arm is in its raised position and effective when engaged to prevent rotation of said arm relative to said base.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS France Mar. 12, 1952

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