US3410463A

US3410463A - Shoe horn

Info

Publication number: US3410463A
Application number: US549592A
Authority: US
Inventors: James A Carlos
Original assignee: James A. Carlos
Current assignee: JAMES A CARLOS
Priority date: 1966-05-12
Filing date: 1966-05-12
Publication date: 1968-11-12
Anticipated expiration: 1985-11-12

Description

Nov. 12, 1968 J. A. CARLOS 3,410,463

SHOE HORN Filed May 12, 1966 United States Patent O 3,410,463 SHOE HORN James A. Carlos, 5801 Streefkerk, Apt. D27, Warren, Mich. 48092 Filed May 12, 1966, Ser. No. 549,592 3 Claims. (Cl. 223-119) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shoe horn for invalids who have difiiculty reaching their feet. An elongated handle has a pair of spaced uninterrupted inner and outer coverging portions so shaped and dimensioned as to receive a shoe heel stay and firmly grip it at its sides.

An important object of the present invention is to provide an improved shoe horn adapted to assist invalids and others who have difficulty reaching their feet to putlon, remove and, in general, manipulate shoes, slippers and the like.

Additional objects of this invention are to provide an improved shoe horn of the above character which is adapted for use with a variety of sized shoes, has no moving parts, requires the use of only one hand, holds the shoe securely without damaging it and which is easily releasable therefrom.

Further objects include the provision of an improved shoe horn of the above character which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, rugged in construction and attractive in appearance.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a shoe horn embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow 2;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along the line 3-3 thereof; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along the line 4-4 thereofQ Broadly described, the present invention is a shoe horn comprising an elongated handle, a bifurcated working end connected to said handle, said working end including spaced, uninterrupted, concave cross-sectional portions fixed to each other and to said handle adjacent one end of said portions, said working end portions having side edges adapted to receive and grip a shoe heel stay portion therebetween.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a shoe horn embodying the present invention is shown generally at 11 in FIG. 1 and is seen to include an elongated handle 13 having a bifurcated working end 15 integral therewith or otherwise suitably fixed thereto. As shown, the handle 13 comprises a shaft 17 having a handle grip .19 fixed thereto, the shaft and handle together having a length sufficient to permit one holding the handle to reach his feet with the working end 15 without having to bend over excessively. The grip 19 is contoured to comfortably fit in ones hand and may have an opening 21 therethrough so that the shoe horn 11 may conveniently be hung on a nail, hook or the like.

The bifurcated working end 15 comprises continuous or uninterrupted portions or

tool members

23, 25 joined together at 26 adjacent their upper ends and which ends are integral with or otherwise suitably fixed to the handle shaft 17. The

tool members

23, 25 are trough-like or concave in cross-section and function both to grip a heel stay portion of a shoe to assist in putting on ones 3,410,463 Patented Nov. 12, 1968 shoe or taking it off as well as to ease ones heel into the shoe in the usual manner of a conventional shoe horn.

Thus, the tool member 23 is shaped generally like a conventional shoe horn, being smooth, continuous and uninterrupted, and is adapted in the use of the shoe horn 11, to be received inside a heel stay portion 27 of a shoe 29 shown by dot-dash lines in FIGS. 3 and 4. If desired, the tool member 23 may have its lower end contoured or cut back as at 31 to avoid rubbing or catching on the heel of the user during use. The tool member 25 is received outside the heel stay portion 27 and cooperates with the tool member 23 to grip the heel stay without damaging it so that the user can put his shoes on, take them off and, in general, manipulate them simply by manipulating the handle 13.

More particularly, the tool members 23, 25- converge from their lower ends toward their upper ends at area 26 where they connect with the handle shaft 17 and together, the tool members define a wedge-like opening 28 (FIG. 4). Also, the

tool members

23, 25 converge from their middle toward their outer or side edges 30, 32, respectively, (FIG. 3) by being formed on substantially the same radius but being offset from each other as shown. This radius is selected preferably substantially equal to the radius of a heel stay on an average sized shoe.

The side edges 30, 32 of the

tool members

23, 25 are spaced apart at their lower ends a distance somewhat greater than the thickness of the heel stay 27 and converge toward their upper ends so that near the area 26, they are spaced somewhat less than the heel stay thickness. Thus, as the shoe horn working end 15 is moved down on the heel stay 27, the converging relation of the

tool members

23, 25 causes the stay 27 to be gently wedged between and gripped by the tool members at their side edges 30, 32. In doing so, the outer or side edges 30, 32 of the

tool members

23, 25, respectively, gradually move into gripping contact with the sides of the heel stay 27 as best seen in FIG. 3, while the remainder of the

tool members

23, 25 remains spaced from stay 27 as seen in FIG. 4.

As the shoe horn working end 15 is moved into the position on a shoe heel stay 27 shown in FIGS 3 and 4. the tool member 23, and particularly the portions thereof adjacent the side edges 30, solidly backs the side of the heel stay 27 and effectively prevents the tool member 25 and particularly its side edges 32 from damaging or weakening the heel stay 27. Also, should the tool member 25 for any reason contact the re-arwardmost portion of the heel stay 27, it will be appreciated that the tool member area of the heel stay 27 in this area is smooth and uninterrupted and this portion of the heel stay is the strongest part thereof and no damage or weakening will occur here.

In larger sized shoes, the heel stay 27 has a larger radius than that of the

tool members

23, 25 so that the heel stay 27 is deflected slightly inwardly by the tool member 25. Conversely, in smaller sized shoes, the tool member 23 deflects the heel stay 27 outwardly. However, the radius of heel stays for different sized shoes varies little and by forming the

tool members

23, 25 on a radius substantially equal to the radius of an average shoe stay, excellent results have been achieved on a very wide range of shoe sizes and shapes. The small amount of heel stay deflection occurring in the very small or very large sizes doe not damage or weaken the shoe, especially with the solid backing afforded by the tool member 23 adjacent its outer edges 30 as described above. Furthermore, and of great importance is the fact that there are no levers, links or other moving parts in this shoe horn 11 which would require greater skill and/or strength on the part of the user and which might cause damage to a shoe. Since there are no moving handles or levers to operate, the user needs only one hand to fully manipulate the shoe horn 11 and put on his shoes or take them off, as desired. Of course, the long handle 13 makes it possible for one using the shoe horn 11 of the present invention to put on his shoes or take them 01f without having to bend over excessively.

By the foregoing, there has been disclosed an improved shoe horn calculated to fulfill the inventive objects set forth and while a preferred form of the present invention has been illustrated and described in detail, various additions, substitutions, modifications and omissions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention as encompassed by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A shoe horn comprising an elongated handle, a bifurcated working end connected to said handle, said Working end including spaced uninterrupted, concave in cross-section inner and outer portions fixed to each other and to said handle adjacent one end of said portions with the concavity of each of said portions facing in the same direction, the surfaces of said working end portions converge from a mid-portion toward the sides edges thereof, said outer portion being wider than said inner portion with the same side edges of each of said portions converging toward the handle o that the side edges thereof will receive and grip the sides of a shoe heel stay therebetween when the inner portion is disposed within the stay.

2. A shoe horn as defined in claim 1 wherein the surfaces of said working end portions converge toward said handle.

3. A shoe horn as defined in claim 2 wherein the surfaces of said working end portions converge from a mid-portion toward the side edges thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 655,417 8/1900 Randall 223119 1,163,399 12/1915 Fox 223-118 2,939,618 6/1960 Mangels 223-118 FOREIGN PATENTS 226,028 7/ 1909 Germany.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner.