US3255491A - Apparatus for making shoes - Google Patents

Description

June 14, 1966 H. HARDY APPARATUS FOR MAKING SHOES Filed Dec. 23, 1963 INVENTOR. E6222 Jar BY j M 44 flir w m'r'y:

Unitcd States Patent 3,255,491 APPARATUS FOR MAKING SHOES Henry Hardy, Cambridge, Mass., assignor to International Vulcanizing Corporation, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Dec. 23, 1963, Ser. No. 332,593 2 Claims. (Cl. 18-17) This application is a continuation-in-part of my abandoned application Serial No. 28,763, filed May 12, 1960, and abandoned December 29, 1963.

This invention relates to attaching bottoms to shoes and more especially to attaching moldable bottom-forming material to lasted uppers by vulcanizing or injection molding.

In my Patent No. 2,878,523, dated March 24, 1959, there is shown apparatus for attaching bottoms to shoes comprising a pair of diametrically disposed lasts mounted on a shaft for rotation of one of the lasts into a position above a mold in readiness to be pressed downwardly into engagement therewith, and the other to a position above the shaft for assembly of an upper thereon, and means for raising and lowering the shaft to press the last, at the underside of the shaft, into engagement with the mold during attachment of the bottom and .to disengage the finished shoe from the mold following attachment. When attaching a bottom blank by vulcanization, it is desirable to preheat the bottom of the upper and/or the blank to shorten the time required to effect attachment and/ or to activate adhesive, stiffening agents, and the like, applied to the bottom. When attaching a bottom by injecting a liquid bottom-forming composition into the mold beneath the upper, it is desirable to preheat the upper to prevent premature cooling during injection which might interfere with uniformly filling the mold or completion of filling and also to activate adhesive or stiffening materials applied to the entire bottom or to parts thereof.

In accordance with the invention a heating member having a flat heat-radiating surface is mounted above the bottom of the last, situated above the supporting shaft, by means which permits universal movement of the fiat radiating surface relative to the bottom of the last. The supporting means comprises a ball and socket coupling secured to the distal end of an arm disposed in a horizontal position substantially parallel to the bottom of the last,

the arm being supported for swinging movement in aplane parallel to the bottom of the last about an axis perpendicular thereto situated at one end of the last; for movement to and from the bottom of the last; and for movement of the coupling on the arm radially with respect to its pivot axis thus enabling positioning the radiating surface over any part or all of the surface of the bottom at any desired distance therefrom and at any angle.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of the mold apparatus to which the present invention is applied, showing the heating member supported above the uppermost one of the lasts and a sole blank resting on the bottom of the last to enable preheating of both the bottom of the upper and the sole blank, showing the heating member in positions parallel to and inclined lengthwise of the bottom of the last and in positions close to and further from the bottom of the last;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation showing the heating member in positions parallel to and inclined crosswise of the bottom of the last;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the heating member shown disposed lengthwise of the bottom of the last;

3,255,491 Patented June 14, 196 6 FIG. 4 is a plan view of the heating member shown disposed crosswise of the bottom of the last atthe toe or heel;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the heating member shown rotated to dispose a diagonal lengthwise of the last; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the heating member disposed in positions above the bottom of the last and at'either side thereof.

Referring to the drawings (FIG. 1), the molding apparatus comprises essentially a mold 10 and a horizontal-- ly disposed shaft 12 mounted on supports 14-14 for movement heightwise of the mold and for rotation about its horizontal axis. Heightwise movement of the-shaft is effected by means of a handle 16 and rotation of the shaft is effected by means of a handle 18, as fully explained in the aforesaid patent.

A pair of lastsL are mounted at diametrically disposed positions on the shaft 12 so that when one of the lasts is in a position above the shaft, the other is situated below the shaft directly above the mold. An upper U is mounted on the last at the upper side of the shaft whereupon the shaft is rotated to bring it into a position directly above the mold and then it is lowered into engagement with the mold for attachment of a bottom, in the form of an outsole, thereto. The upper is drawn tightly onto the last by string lasting or if an insole is employed is forcelasted thereon.

The outsole may be formed either by a blank which may be placed in the mold cavity prior to lowering the upper into enagement with the open top of the mold for forming and vulcanizing to the bottom by heat and pressure, or by injecting a liquid bottom-forming composition into the mold beneath the bottom of the upper after it has been brought into engagement with the open top of the mold so as to fill the mold-the attachment being effected by cooling and setting of the liquid plastic while held intimately engaged with the bottom of the upper. In either mode of attaching a bottom to the upper, it is desirable to preheat the bottom of the upper prior to the attachment of the bottom thereto. When a sole blank is to be attached by vulcanizing the preheating lessens the time required to effect vulcanization. If desired and in accordance with the practice shown herein, the sole blank may also be heated to expedite the vulcanization process. Where the bottom is to be formed of a hot plastic injected into the mold, the preheating of the bottom prevents premature cooling and setting thereby insuring complete filling of the mold. In each mode of attaching bottoms, it may be desirable to apply an adhesive and stiffening material at the toe or heel and when this is the case preheating of the portions of the bottom to which the adhesive has been applied is desirable to effect its activation preparatory to attaching the bottom, and preheating of the stiffened areas is desirable to insure conformation of the bottom to the last during the bottom-attaching operation. Thus, it is desirable to be able to heat the entire bottom or portions of the bottom and to apply the heat uniformly or in different amounts.

This is accomplished herein by means of a flat, sub stantially rectangular heating member 20 disposed above the bottom of the last which is at'the upper side of the shaft 12 and supported in this position at the distal end of a horizontally disposed arm 22 by a universal coupling in the form of a ball and socket joint 24. The arm 22 is preferably jointed, having telescoping portions 22a and 22b adjustable relative to each other to permit movement of the heating member lengthwise with respect to the bottom of the last. A thumb screw 220 provides for fixing the telescoping parts in a selected position of the heating member. The proximal end of the arm 22 is joined to the upper end of a rod 26 which rises perpendicularly from a socket member 28 fastened to the support 14. The axis of the rod is perpendicular and the rod is rotatable about its axis in the socket so as to permit swinging the heating member transversely of the bottom of the last. A set screw 30, threaded through the wall of the socket against the rod 26, provides for fixing its position. The socketed end of the rod 26 also permits vertical adjustment of the heating member relative to the bottom of the last so as to move the heating member further from the bottom or closer to the bottom as desired.

As thus supported, the heating member may be tilted by means of the ball and socket connection 24 to place the heating surface in parallelism with the bottom of the last or at an angle thereto and rotate it relative to the bottom of the last to dispose it lengthwise of the last or crosswise thereof, or at any desired angle therebetween; it may be moved lengthwise of the last by means of telescoping portions 22a, 22b to dispose it opposite one end in preference to the other; it may be swung transversely of the bottom about the vertical axis of the rod 26 to move it to one side or the other of the bottom to facilitate mounting or removing the upper or shoe from the last; and it may be moved vertically relative to the bottom of the last to permit positioning the heater further from or closer to the bottom so as to vary the quantity of heat.

The essential aspect of the heating member is that it produces substantially uniform heating in a common plane hence, although the heater illustrated herein is physically flat and rectangular in geometry, it' is not limited to such a shape. The term fiat radiating surface is used for convenience only and it is intended to designate any heating member which generates parallel heat rays perpendicular to a common plane so as to produce substantially uniform heating throughout the area of its projection.

As herein illustrated, additional advantages may be obtained by making the heat-radiating surface rectangular in shape and dimensioning it so that its length approximately equals the length of an average shoe and its width equals approximately the width of an average shoe. As thus constructed, by rotating the heating member to place its diagonal lengthwise of the last, it may be used for heating the bottom of larger than average shoes without having to be replaced by a larger heating member.

The heating member has a flat radiating surface and is designed to generate long wave lengths in the infrared region to effect deep penetration heating of the upper material and/ or sole blank.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a bottom-attaching apparatus comprising a bottom mold, a heating member, a last movable from a position for applying an upper thereto to a position in engagement with the bottom mold for attaching of an outsole to the upper; means supporting said heating member spaced from and opposite the bottom of the last at the place of application of the upper thereto, said heating member having an exclusively fiat heat-radiating surface, and said means supporting the heating member comprising a ball and socket joint permitting universal adjustment of the plane of the radiating surface of the heating member relative to the bottom of the last, means supporting said ball and socket joint for arcuate movement in both vertical and horizontal planes and for moving said planes horizontally and vertically, said means comprising a vertical cylindrical rod mounted for rotary and vertical movement, said rod having a horizontally extending portion, a one-piece angular arm having a horizontal portion and a downwardly bent portion, said horizontal portion having a cylindrical socket receiving said horizontal extending portion of said rod and said downwardly bent portion terminating in said ball and socket joint.

2. The combination with a bottom-attaching apparatus comprising a bottom mold, a last movable from a position for applying an upper thereto to a position in engagement with the bottom mold for attachment of an outsole to the upper; a heating member and means supporting the heating member spaced from and opposite the bottom of the last at the place of applying the upper thereto, said heating member having an exclusively flat heatradiating surface and said supporting means comprising a universal coupling to which the heating member is fastened, said universal coupling to which the heating member is fastened, comprising an arm supporting the coupling above the bottom of the last, said arm having extendable portions enabling moving the heating member lengthwise of the bottom, one of said extendable portions being horizontal and of one-piece with a downwardly extending angular portion terminating in said universal coupling, a post opposite an end of the last to which the arm is secured, said post being substantially perpendicular to the bottom of the last, and means supporting the post for rotation about its longitudinal axis to permit moving the heating member transversely of the bottom of the last and for vertical movement along its axis to permit movement of the heating member toward and away from the bottom of the last, and said universal coupling permitting rocking of the radiating surface relative to the bottom of the last and rotation relative to the bottom of the last.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,718,485 6/1929 OSullivan 18l8 2,144,582 l/1939 Barna.

2,581,608 1/1952. Slatkin 18-18 FOREIGN PATENTS 826,379 1/ 1960 Great Britain.

J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner. MICHAEL V. BRINDISI, MARCUS U. LYONS,

Examiners.

J. H. FLINT, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. THE COMBINATION WITH A BOTTOM-ATTACHING APPARATUS COMPRISING A BOTTOM MOLD, A HEATING MEMBER, A LAST MOVABLE FROM A POSITION FOR APPLYING AN UPPER THERETO TO A POSITION IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BOTTOM MOLD FOR ATTACHING OF AN OUTSOLE TO THE UPPER; MEANS SUPPORTING SAID HEATING MEMBER SPACED FROM AND OPPOSITE THE BOTTOM OF THE LAST AT THE PLACE OF APPLICATION OF THE UPPER THERETO, SAID HEATING MEMBER HAVING AN EXCLUSIVELY FLAT HEAT-RADIATING SURFACE, AND SAID MEANS SUPPORTING THE HEATING MEMBER COMPRISING A BALL AND SOCKET JOINT PERMITTING UNIVERSAL ADJUSTMENT OF THE PLANE OF THE RADIATING SURFACE OF THE HEATING MEMBER RELATIVE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE LAST, MEANS SUPPORTING SAID BALL AND SOCKET JOINT FOR ARCUATE MOVEMENT IN BOTH VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL PLANES AND FOR MOVING SAID PLANES HORIZONTALLY AND VERTICALLY, SAID MEANS COMPRISING A VERTICAL CYLINDRICAL ROD MOUNTED FOR ROTARY AND VERTICAL MOVEMENT, SAID ROD HAVING A HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING PORTION, A ONE-PECE ANGULAR ARM HAV-

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