US3354487A - Wrapped sole shoe - Google Patents

Description

lNOV- 28, 1967 J. GLASSMAN ETAL- WRAPPED SOLE SHOE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 4, 1962 /77fa n me y s,

United States Patent Office 3,354,437 Patented Nov. 28, i967 3,354,487 WRAPPED SOLE SHOE Joel Glassman, Gilbert F. Jonas, and Andrew L. Bass, Jr.,

Nashville, and Stephen H. Pate, Hendersonville, Tenn.,

assignors to Geneseo, Inc., Nashville, Tenn., a corporation of Tennessee Filed Sept. 4, 1962, Ser. No. 221,014 3 Claims. (Cl. 12-142) This disclosure is addressed to the manufacture of shoes, and is particularly directed to a shoe wherein the sole is wrapped up over the lower part of the upper.

Such a shoe has a number of attractive features, among which might be mentioned its interesting design, its resistance to soil, and the fact that the sole can be made of thin material. thereby reducing the weight and increasing` the flexibility Whilestill having a satisfactory appearance. On the other hand, this type of shoe has Ibeen difficult to manufacture because of the careful handwork required in shaping the sole and properly securing it to the upper. A leather or rubber-based composition sole must be hand shaped and cemented at its margin to the lower part of the upper supported on the last and in a manner such that the margin of the sole is completely anchored without marring the adjacent surface of the upper exposed above the top line of the sole. When the upper is formed of leather or other material which is dicult to cement, the surface portion of the upper which is to be covered by the sole must be roughened or otherwisespecially prepared to receive the adhesive. This task islcomplicated by the necessity of matching the edge of the ,sole with the edge of the roughened or adhesive coated area of the upper. If this is done carelessly, there will be an unsightly show of adhesive or roughened area on the upper above the sole, or the top margin of the sole will not be fully anchored to the upper.

Accordingly, an object of this disclosure is to provide a simpler, more economical process of a construction for shoes of this character where the sole extends upwardly over a lower portion of the upper. It is thought the process disclosed will permit a substantial reduction in the cost of such shoes and thereby open a much wider market therefor.

Briey, the process disclosed herein contemplates that an overlay strip of readily cemented material will be sewn or otherwise attached to the upper along a line corresponding to the desired top line of the sole while leaving a portion of the overlay projecting upwardly free of the upper beyond the line of attachment. The sole is cemented to this overlay with the adhesive coated area thereof reaching above the aforesaid line of sewing but terminated short of the upper edge of the overlay. The overlay and sole are then trimmed simultaneously along or adjacent the aforesaid line of attachment while using the line of attachment as a guide for a trimming tool, thereby assuring that the edge of the sole is properly secured and that, the adjacent portion of the upper above the trimmed edge of the sole is unmarred. The process further contemplates that the upper may be sewn off a last to a sock lining along a seam spaced below the aforesaid line of attachment between the overlay and upper. Also, the sole may be pre-molded from a sheet of moldable synthetic polymer using a vacuum molding technique, and the overlay may be formed of a similar material to simplify the operation of securing the sole to the overlay. A shank. and cushioning or other protective material may be sandwiched between vthe sock lining and sole to provide any desired degree of protection for the foot. A heel may be attached to the sole before or after the sole is laid.

Other features will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and will be mentioned in the following detailed description. The drawings are as follows:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shoe made in accordance with this disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section through the shoe of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the top of an upper with an overlay secured to its lower margin;

FIG. 4 is a reversed perspective view partly in section illustrating the upper, the overlay and a sock lining sewn to the upper and overlay;

FIG. 5 is a detail view similar to FIG. 4 showing how the sock lining may be secured to the upper with their edges abutting;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing another way of attaching the sock lining;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view partly in section, showing a molded sole preparatory to assembly with the upper; and

FIG. 8 is a view similarv to FIG. 7 with the sole laid and partly trimmed.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is shown a shoe having an upper 1, an outsole 3 and a heel 5. The outsole is shaped with its margin 7 extending upwardly over or wrapped against the lower portion 9 of the upper. The height of the sole wrap 7 may be varied, depending upon the design effect desired, but is substantially greater than the thickness of the sole. A wrap measuring about three-eighths of an inch from the bottom surface of the sole is Suggested.A

The outsole 3 is preferably formed from relatively thin sheet material, a polyvinyl sheet about one-sixteenth of an inch or less being suggested. Other polymers may be used alon'e or in combination to achieve the desired ilexibility, although it is desirable to avoid a combination of plastic and plasticizers, the flexibility of which is unduly sensitive to temperature changes. It may -be noted that a thin outsole is permissible, since many synthetic polymers have excellent wearing qualities, and the wrapped sole margin overcomes the problem of appearance, that would othewise arise with the use of a thin sole.

Such a shoe might be made by lasting the upper to an inner sole and by then lasting an outer sole over the inner sole land upper, the 4margin of the outer sole being hand wrapped over and cemented directly to the bottom margin of the upper. This approach involves difficulties, however. lf the outer sole and upper are formed of different materials (such as leather and plastic), it is frequently diicult to cement the plastic to the leather without first roughening the surface of the leather. The outsole must be hand shaped over the last and made to hold the desired shape, whereupon the outsole is removed for trimming to the desired top line. After trimming, the outsole is placed back over the last and the upper is marked 'with the top line of the sole in order to determine the area of the upper which is to be prepared for and coated with adhesive; The outsole is then removed and the area of the upper below the mark is roughened and coated with adhesive, whereupon the outsole may nally be laid. Obviously, this procedure involves considerable handwork requiring a high degree of care in order to avoid misalignment between the outsole and upper.

The process herein disclosed avoids these problems by the convenient expedient of sewing or otherwise attaching an oversize overlay 11 to the upper along a line 13 corresponding to the desired top line of the outsole, as shown in FIG. 3. The overlay may then be coated with adhesive, thecoated area extending above the line 13 of attachment but terminating short of the top edge 15 of rthe overlay. An outsole is then laid with its margin being wrapped upwardly over the overlay to extend beyond the line 13. The wrapped margin of the outsole becomes glued to the overlay and then both outsole and overlay are trimmed immediately above line 13 (FIG. 8) to leave a neat trim appearance without adhesive showing on the upper or a loose edge at, the top line of the outsole.

A particularly convenient method of manufacture involves securing the upper 1, with attached overlay 11, to a sock lining 17, and then laying the sole. The upper and sock lining are out or marked to pattern for shape and size, so that they may be aligned at their edges and t-hen sewn to produce the desired shaping in the manner of making slip-lasted shoes. The edges of the upper and sock lining may be abutted together and secured with a zigzag stitch 19, as shown in FIG` 5, or the edges may be lapped and secured with a straight stitch 21, as shown in FIG. 6 Alternatively, the open upper without an attached sock lining might be stretched over a last and held by thin lingers extending between the, upper and overlay against the line 13 of stitching while the sole is laid. The sock lining method is recommended, however, since it simplifies the shaping operation and facilitates the addition of insole cushionin-g and stiffening components.

Referring to FIG. 7, the insole with attached sock lining is slipped over a last and a cushion 23 of sponge material, or the 1ike is glued to the fore portion of the sock lining. A stiiener 25 of berboard, or the like, is cemented over the shank and rear portion of the sock lining. The exposed portions of the cushion 23, stiifener 25,ar1d overlay 11 are then coated with adhesive and the outsole 7 is laid. As mentioned earlier, the adhesive on the overlay should extend down at least to its line 13 of attachment to the upper, so that the sole' will be properly secured up to this line.

The sole may be an unformed piece of sole material, which is shaped by wrapping it over the parts on the last, or more preferably, the sole may be preshaped, as by vacuum-forming plastic sheet material over a. sole pattern, as disclosed in a copending application. In either event, the margin of the sole should extend beyond the line 13 of attachment -between overlay and upper., When a plastic outsole is utilized, it is suggested that adhesive problems may be simplied by forming the overlay of a plastic or other material, which readily takes adhesive compatible with the outsole materia-l. The overlayl is completely concealed,` hence its appearance is not a matter of concern.

After laying the outsole, its margin (and the free portion of the overlay) is trimmed away to produceY a neat appearance. This is very conveniently accomplished4 by running a trimming tool between the upper and overlay against the line, of stitching 13, i.e-., by using the line. 13 of stitching as a guide for trimming the, outsole and overlay. Sinee the. sole is trimmed after attachment, there is no critical problem of alignment with` the upper, and the outsole itself need not be precut or be made to,y precise measurements at its margin.

After the margin` is trimmed, the, last is removed, a heel is; attached with heel nails being covered by a c011- ventional heel pad.l The, heel. may be attached to. they outsolezbefore it is cemented to the upper, however.

There are a number of other variations inthe methods and constructions described. For example, the. overlay might be precoated on one surfacewith a heat', or solvent, activated cement or perhaps with a contact cement before the overlay is even secured to the upper. Moreover, a last is not necessary for laying the sole, since the bottom margin of the upper with attached overlay' might be pressed manually againstithe. sole, such being particularly feasible with contact cements. It may also be noted; that the overlay needv not be sewn to the upper, but can be cemented to the upper in such a way as to. leave a free margin and a line of attachment above the bottom edge of the upper (or within the outsole), the line of attachment being defined by the top of the cement area and bottom of the free area of the overlay. Indeed, the overlay might be merely a predetermined area of adhesive on the upper, which adhesive is activated in laying the sole. In such event, the sole marginwould initially project beyond the adhesive area and be trimmed back to the top ofthe adhesive area, the adhesive area being the control for trimming.

It should further be understood that this disclosure permits a wide variety of design or construction effects, as by varying the heighty of the sole wrap, by partial soles, or by procedures involving assembly of sole and upper in reversed condition followed by turning. Still other variations and modifications will suggest themselves, without departing from the spirit of this disclosure or the. scope of the claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In the process of making a shoe having a sole whose margin is wrapped over the lower margin of the upper, the improvement that comprises attaching an overlay to the lower margin of the upper along a line corresponding to the desired top line of the sole while leaving a, portion of the overlay projecting free. of the upper above said line of attachment, cementing the margin of the sole to said overlay over an area that extends above the aforesaid line of attachment to the upper but which terminates short of, the free margin of the. overlay, and thereafter simultaneously trimming the overlay and sole along aline adjacent the aforesaid line of attachment between overlay and upper, thereby to produce a shoe wherein the edge ofthe sole s fully secured to the upper through the connection of the sole to the overlay and the connection of the overlay to the upper along substantially coextensive lines- 2. In the process of making a shoe having a sole whose margin wraps upwardly over the lower margin of the upper, the improvement that comprises sewing an overlay strip of readily cemented material to the lower mal:- gin of the upper along aline corresponding tothe desired top line of the sole while leaving a marginal portion of the. overlay strip projecting upwardly free of the upper beyond said line of sewing, applying adhesive to the overlay strip to cover an area reaching above said line of sewingr lbut terminating short of the. upper edge of the overlay strip, cementing the sole to the overlay strip so that the margin of the sole reaches, above the line` of sewing, and thereafter simultaneously trimming the overlay strip andv sole along a line immediately above said line of sewing while using the line of sewing as a guide in trimming.

3. The process set forth in claim 2, wherein the upper is formed of leather, the sole. is formed ofv plastic, and the overlay strip is formed of plastic, thereby tohave a plas.- ticy to plastic cement connection between. overlay and sole.

References Cited UNITED-Y STATESv PATENTS 15,753,872 4/1930 Steed 36-14 2,481,389 91/1-949? Campagna 36-14 2,730,736` 1/1956 Perugia l2-1i4 2,770,824 11/ 1956 Murphyl 12--1i4 2,910,787 l'l'/ 1959 Mackenzie et al. 36-1'95 2,946,140 7/ 1960 Lockridge- 36-19.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 918,355. 9,/1954 Germany;

IORDANv FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.Y

R. C. MADER, Examiner.

H.` H. HUNTER, F. I. COHENAssszant'Exniners.

Claims (1)

1. IN THE PROCESS OF MAKING A SHOE HAVING A SOLE WHOSE MARGIN IS WRAPPED OVER THE LOWER MARGIN OF THE UPPER, THE IMPROVEMENT THAT COMPRISES ATTACHING AN OVERLAY TO THE LOWER MARGIN OF THE UPPER ALONG A LINE CORRESPONDING TO THE DESIRED TOP LINE OF THE SOLE WHILE LEAVING A PORTION OF THE OVERLAY PROJECTING FREE OF THE UPPER ABOVE SAID LINE OF ATTACHMENT, CEMENTING THE MARGIN OF THE SOLE TO SAID OVERLAY OVER AN AREA THAT EXTENDS ABOVE THE AFORESAID LINE OF ATTACHMENT TO THE UPPER BUT WHICH TERMINATES SHORT OF THE FREE MARGIN OF THE OVERLAY, AND THEREAFTER SIMULTANEOUSLY TRIMMING THE OVERLAY AND SOLE ALONG A LINE ADJACENT THE AFORRESAID LINE OF ATTACHMENT BETWEEN OVERLAY AND UPPER, THEREBY TO PRODUCE A SHOE WHEREIN THE EDGE OF THE SOLE IS FULLY SECURED TO THE UPPER THROUGH THE CONNECTION OF THE SOLE TO THE OVERLAY AND THE CONNECTION OF THE OVERLAY TO THE UPPER ALONG SUBSTANTIALLY COEXTENSIVE LINES.

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