US3496655A

US3496655A - Footwear construction

Info

Publication number: US3496655A
Application number: US793298*A
Authority: US
Inventors: Alfred Clifton
Original assignee: Citc Industries Inc
Current assignee: Citc Industries Inc; CITC IND Inc
Priority date: 1969-01-23
Filing date: 1969-01-23
Publication date: 1970-02-24
Anticipated expiration: 1987-02-24

Description

1- 24,1970 CLl FTON FOOTWEAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 23. 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ALFRED CLIFTON v ATTORNEYS 'A. LIFTON 3,496,655 FOOTWEAR conswnucnou 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. '23, 1969 INVENTOR ALFRED CLlFTON ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofilice 3,496,655 Patented Feb. 24, 1970 3,496,655 FOOTWEAR CONSTRUCTION Alfred Clifton, Tokyo, Japan, assignor to CITC Industries, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Jan. 23, 1969, Ser. No. 793,298 Int. Cl. A43b 23/00, 23/ 24 US. Cl. 36-45 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This is a process for making and a construction of uppers for footwear, the forward part of the upper having a U-shaped slot window with an insert secured to the inner surface of the upper and having a chain laced to it with the chain extending through the slot window above the upper surface of the upper.

The present invention is concerned with processes for making and constructions for footwear particularly adapted for simple and inexpensive manufacture for providing desirable ornamental effects.

Heretofore ornamental effects, particularly for the forward part of the uppers of footwear, have been applied by stitching of ornamental threads, or by sewing on pieces of fabric, leather, plastic or the like. It has been expensive and diflicult to apply other ornamental articles such as buckles, chains or metal ornaments. In part, this has been occasioned by the awkwardness of securing such ornaments to the upper. When efforts were made to do so before the upper was joined to the sole, the process of adding the sole was interfered with. If the ornaments were secured after the sole was joined, and the footwear shell essentially completed, there was difliculty in handling the shoe to secure the ornament thereto.

According to the present invention, a greatly improved and enhanced ornamentation for footwear is provided in the form of a chain or the like secured to the top surface of the toe portion or forward upper portion of the shoe. Since chains or the like do not lend themselves readily to machine operations for attachment to flexible surfaces such as shoe uppers, the present invention is particularly concerned with and provides a simple and inexpensive process for construction of footwear with such ornamental effects.

According to the present invention, a chain or similar bulky ornament is secured to an insert piece of flat flexible material such as cloth, plastic, leather or the like, arranged in a shape suitable for the ornamental effect desired. For example, this shape for the front portion of the shoe may be parallel to and somewhat within the outline of the sole of the shoe. A practical and particularly attractive and ornamental arrangement is provided by running a lace around the links of the chain and through the flexible material, whereby the contrasting color of the lace may contribute an ornamental effect, and a simple mode of attachment of the chain to the material is provided. This step is performed readily since it is not encumbered in any way by the remainder of the shoe, such as the upper or the sole, and can even be at least partially mechanized.

The insert piece just formed is then preferably suitably secured to the inner side of the shoe upper, with the chain extending through a slot or window in the upper arranged in a fashion similar to that of the chain. In this way the chain extends above and appears to be on the outer surface of the shoe upper, for maximum ornamental effect, and a very simple mode of attachment may be used as by stitching or adhering the piece to the upper. Thereafter, the sole may be attached in the customary way.

The invention will become more fully apparent from consideration of the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the annexed drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of the fore part of the shoe according to one form of the present invention with portions broken away;

FIGURE 2 shows a fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view of the chain and lace arrangement, viewed along line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a further fragmentary cross-sectional view showing the method of mounting the chain and insert, viewed along line 33 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4 shows an exploded view of the various pieces of the upper construction of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of the fore part of a shoe, showing particularly the upper portion. It is to be understood that the present invention is not concerned with the method of attachment of the upper to the sole portion, which is not here illustrated. Any conventional method of securing the sole to the upper may be used, such as cement-lasting, Goodyear Welt, vinyl molding, or the like.

As is conventional, the upper may be made of any desired flexible flat material such as cloth, leather, vinyl, other plastic, or the like. Preferably the fore or toe part of the upper 13 (and where desired the entire upper) is made of one piece and has a window in the form of slot 11 formed therein, in the arrangement desired for the ornamental device to be included, such as a chain 16. In the arrangement shown in FIGURE 1, the slot 11 extends in a generally U-shape following the general outline of the sole 20 of the shoe. It will be understood that the slot 11 may extend in any other desired manner, such as across the shoe, in a V arrangement, in a rectangular or box arrangement, in a semicircular arrangement, in parallel lines, etc., according to the ornamental effect desired. The slot 11 itself is very conveniently produced by being cut out during the same stamping process by which the entire upper 13 is cut out from its original sheet, by suitably forming the cutting die. Accordingly, it will be obvious that, apart from the minor cost of providing the die with the appropriate cutting edges, the formation of the slot 11 offers no additional expense in the fabrication of the shoe.

For the purpose of securing the ornamental chain 16 to the shoe, an insert flap or piece 12 is provided. This may be of any suitable material, similar to that of the upper 13, but may be of less expensive material. For example, where the upper 13 may be of leather or vinyl, the insert flap may be of cloth. Its color desirably matches or contrasts in a pleasing manner that of the upper 13.

The upper may be either all of one piece or made of separate pieces suitably secured together. Desirably, the fore part 13 of the upper is of one piece, and for economy it may be formed integrally with the rear portion 14, shown only in fragmentary manner since it is not material to the description of the present invention.

The insert piece 12 preferably has an outline 15 slightly larger than the area in which the chain lies or in which the slot 11 lies, as is shown in FIGURE 1.

In fabricating the shoe, one step, of course, is to stamp out the proper shape of the upper 13 including its slot 11. An independent step is the fabrication of the insert piece 12 and its attached chain 16. As is obvious, the insert piece 12 is suitably cut to shape, in any well-known manner, and thereafter the chain 16 is secured thereto. For both ornamental effect and for physically securing the chain 16 to the insert piece 12, a line of apertures 17 is suitably preformed in the insert piece 12. For example, these apertures may be punched in at the same time that the piece 12 is cut out from its original sheet. These apertures 17 extend along the line that the chain 16 is to be secured, and preferably at intervals coordinated to the link length. The chain 16 is then secured to the insert piece 12 by means of a lace 18 which may be a woven textile lace, or a narrow strip of plastic, leather, or similar material, but or extruded to the desired narrow fiat shape. The lace 18 is preferably arranged so that it successively passes through an aperture 17a, around two contiguous chain links, such as 16a and 16b in FIGURE 2, then back through the same aperture 17a, then underneath the insert piece 12 to the next aperture 171), and then around the same link 16a and its contiguous link 16c, and so forth. Alternatively, the lace 18 may be secured in place by passing a loop of it through insert piece 12, and holding it by a thread or other means on the under side of the piece 12, in a manner similar to machine sewing. Where desired, the lace may be round instead of flat, as in the form of a cord or heavy thread. It may also be sewn in place by machine. The ends of the lace 18 are preferably suitably secured beneath the insert piece 12 as by suitable adhesive, or may be left free.

A particularly pleasing effect is obtained if the ornamental device 16 is a chain formed of twisted links, as in FIG. 5, so that each link assumes the same position on the insert piece 12 as its adjoining links. An additional pleasing ornamental elfect can be obtained by running such a twisted chain through a pair of pressure rollers or grinding rollers to produce flattened portions on those parts of the links 17 extending highest above the piece 12.

As has already been suggested, the slot window 11 is made with a width to accommodate the chain 16. The insert piece 12 is then placed against the underside of the upper 13 with the chain 16 extending through the slot window 11. The insert piece 12 is then secured to the fore part of the upper 13 by suitable means. Illustratively this is shown in the present instance as being done by a line of stitching 19 on the outer side or" the chain 16, and a further line of stitching 21 on the inner side of the chain 16, with the two lines of stitching '19 and 21 extending parallel to the edge of the slot 11. This stitching may be made very small and unobtrusive, as by a matching thread and fine stitches, or may be made bold and of a contrasting color for further ornamental efiect. The lace 18 may also be matched to the upper 13 in color, or contrasted therewith as may be desired.

The beginning and ending portions 23 of the chain 16 may be suitably concealed, as by a strip 25 of material matching or contrasting with the upper 13 and sewn at its ends 27. A tongne 29 may be secured to the plug region of the upper 13 as by stitching at 31 in a conventional manner, and this latter stitching is also then concealed by the strip 25. Other arrangements for providing a. tongue such as 29 or for concealment of the ends of the chain 23 may be also provided, such as, for example, place of strip 25, the tongue 29 may be folded back and extended in a flap covering the chain ends. Other arrangements will also readily occur to those in this art.

It will be understood that, while the ornamental arrangement supplied in the embodiment just described is on the upper portion of the shoe, it could equally well be supplied at the counter or rear portion of the shoe, or on the tongue 29, as may be desired.

Also, where desired, a thin liner piece or lining may be secured to the inner surface of the insert piece 12 and upper 13, which "will then conceal and cover the lace 18, the

stitching

19, 21, and the edges of insert piece 12, to provide a smoother surface inside the shoe. Such a liner or lining may be of any desired material.

Accordingly, the present invention has provided a shoe construction and process which is simple and economical for the purpose of applying ornamental chains or the like to shoe uppers. It is understood that the invention is not limited by the illustrative example given, but is defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A footwear construction comprising an upper having a window therein, an insert piece, an ornamental member secured to said insert piece in the same configuration as said window, means securing said insert piece to the inner side of said upper, with said ornamental member extending through said window above the outer surface of said upper, and a sole secured to said upper.

2. A shoe construction as in claim 1, wherein said window is a longitudinally extending slot and said ornamental device is a chain.

3. A shoe construction as in claim 2, wherein said insert is provided with a series of apertures extending along said chain, and said chain is secured to said insert by a lace extending through said apertures and around links of said chain.

4. A shoe construction as in claim 3, further including a pair or" lines of stitching, one on either side of said slot, securing said insert to said upper.

5. A shoe construction as in claim 3, wherein said lace is formed in loops, each loop extending around two adjoining links of said chain, and each loop having two ends extending through a single one of said apertures.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ALFRED R. GUEST,

US- Cl .R.

Primary Examiner