US3537594A

US3537594A - Shoe holder

Info

Publication number: US3537594A
Application number: US794649*A
Authority: US
Inventors: Peter Joseph Daley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1969-01-28
Filing date: 1969-01-28
Publication date: 1970-11-03
Anticipated expiration: 1987-11-03

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor Peter Joseph Daley Hudson, Massachusetts (Harvard Road Stow, MA 01775) [2!] Appl. No. 794,649 [22] Filed .Ian. 28, 1969 [45] Patented Nov. 3,1970

[54] SHOE HOLDER 17 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl. 211/37 [51 Int. Cl. A47f 7/08 [50] Field olSearch 211/37, 38,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 384,334 6/l888 Reichenbach 21 N34 Primary Examiner-Nile C. Byers, Jr. Attorney-Joseph S. landiorio ABSTRACT: Apparatus is disclosed for holding a pair of shoes together including a first pair of elements for engaging the toes of the shoes, a second pair of elements for engaging the heels of the shoes and interconnection means for connect ing the first and second pairs of elements to each other to secure the shoes together, at least a part of one of the pairs of elements or the interconnection means being resilient Patentd Nov. 3,1970

VVVVVVVVVV VVVVVVVV PETE/P J DALE) INVENTOR.

AFTOR/VE).

Patented Nov, 3, 1970 Sheet of 2 IN VENTOR.

PETE}? J. DALE) ATTOR/VE).

.snonuonnsn BACKGROUND 'OFINVENTION boots, othersrequire that-they be moistenediuponuse in order to tightly holdthe bootswhen someholdersareengaged with the shoes, .they are ,not -capableof being set down in a freestanding position with the heelsortoespointing upward:

they would simply ,tumble to aposition in which they are on their side or backs which is, irotldesirable if they must be left'in snow or other undesirable atmosphere.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION It is therefore anobject of this invention to provide an'improved shoe ,holder. which issmall, lightweight compact, collapsible, and may be easily carried folded in a pocket or the like when not in use.

It is therefore an object of thisrinvention to provide an im-' proved shoe holder which may be installed on a pair ofshoes quickly, easily and without a need for adjustment and which may be collapsed and folded 'to pocket size.

It is therefore an object of this inventionto' provide an improved shoe holder which when installed on the shoes permits -the shoes and holder as a unit to befree standing in an upright position.

The invention may be accomplished by shoe holder apparatus including a pair of, toe elements swingably connected with each other and adapted to grip the toes of a pair of shoes. A pair of heel elements are swingably connected with each other and are adapted to grip the heels of a pair of shoes. Interconnection means are provided for connecting the pairs of heel and toe elements together. At least a part of one of the pairs of elements and interconnection means are resilient.

In preferred embodiments a handle is provided and either the toe elements or heel elements or both pairs of elements include stand members for enabling the shoes. and shoe holder apparatus to form a freestanding unit.

DISCLOSURE OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Other objects, features and advantages will occur from the following description of a preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an axonometric view of a shoe holder apparatus according to this invention.

FIG. 1A is an axonometric viewof a portion of a shoe .holder similar to that shown in FIG. sl'having alternative means for interconnecting theheel and toe pieces withthe springs.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the apparatus ofFlG, 1 shown installed on apair of ski boot's.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a portion of a toe or heel holding element including a collapsible standmember.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a portion of a, pair of toe or heel holding elements including collapsible standmembers, one of g which is extended and one of which is collapsed.

FIG. 5 isan axonometric view .of another embodiment of the invention in which. the shoe'engaging pieces are arranged for scissor action.

' of

shoe engaging pieces

14, 16 by

springs

18 and 20, FIG. 1.

Each piece, 10, 1 2, 14, and 1.6 is bent or curved, Le. inflected to facilitate'its function of engaging the end of a shoe or boot,

i.e. eitherthe toe above the welt or the back of the shoe just abovethe heel. At eachend of each of the pieces is a means for engaging a spring. or connection member. In this embodiment piece has eyes or loops22, 24; piece 12 has loops 26,

28; piece-14 has

loops

30, 32; piece16 has

loops

34, 36.

Pieces 10 and .12 may be swingably connected to each other and to springs 18 and 20, and

pieces

14 and 16 may be swingably connected to each other and to springs 18 and 20' directly or by

connection mcanssuchas rings

38, 40, 42, and 44. Ring 38

interconnects loops

22 and 26 and hook 46 of spring 18. Ring 40

interconnects loops

24 and 28 and hook 48 of spring 20. Ring 42 interconnects loops 30 and 34 and hook -of spring 18. Ring 44

interconnects loops

32 and 36 and hook '52 of spring 20. A handle 54

havingloops

56, 58 may be connected with

rings

38 and 40, as shown, or with

rings

42 and 44. The interconnecting function of

rings

38, 40, 42, and 44 may be performed by various other means. For example, the hooks60 and 64, FIG. 1A, may be used in place of

rings

38 and 42.

A

stand piece

68,70 may be connected to each

piece

14 and 16 and/or each

piece

10 and 12 to enable the apparatus to stand upright when installed on a pair of shoes. The stand pieces may be integrally, movably, collapsibly or removably connected with the shoe engaging pieces.

The shoe holding apparatus of FIG. 1 is shown installed on a pair of

boots

72, 74, FIG. 2, arranged in sole 76 to sole 78 and heel 80 wheel 82 relationship.

Pieces

10 and 12 engage the toes and

pieces

14 and 16 the heels of

boots

72, 74. However,

f both boots may be'inverted

sothat pieces

10 and 12 grip the heels and

pieces

14 and 16 grip the toes or one of the boots may be inverted so that

pieces

10 and 16 grip the toes and

pieces

12 and 14 grip the heels.

A collapsible stand piece-68' is shown associated with a shoe engaging piece 14 in FIG. 3.

Bars

84 and 86 have curled

portions

88, 90, wound about element 91, which terminate in

ends

92, 94 respectively, that bear against piece 14' on the opposite side from the junction of the

bars

84, 86 and curled portions'88, 90. Pressure on base 96 of stand piece 68 in the direction of arrow 98, into the paper in FIG. 3,-does not move piece 68' because of the blocking action of

ends

92, 94, whereas pressure on base 96 in the direction of arrow 100, out of the paper in FIG. 3, rotates piece 68' about element 91 and collapses, the stand piece 68' against the shoe engaging to piece 14'. This action may be better understood with relation to FIG. 4 where shoe engaging pieces 14' and 16 are shown in side view with stand piece 68' in the full extended position and stand piece 70' in the fully collapsed position.

In another embodiment the shoe engaging pieces are pivoted together to provide scissor action as shown in FIG. 5. Shoe engaging

piece having holes

112, 114 is pivotally connected at pins116, 118, between the inflected part 119 and

holes

112, 114, to shoe engaging piece 120 having

holes

122 and 124. at points between the inflected part 125 and

holes

122, 124. Shoe engaging piece 126 having

holes

128, 130 ispivotally connected at

pins

132, 134 between inflected part 135 and

holes

128, 130 to shoe engaging piece 136 hav- 4 ing holes 137, 138 at points between the inflected part 139 and

holes

137, 138. Pieces .110 and 120 are resiliently connected with

pieces

126 and 136 by means of

springs

133', 140, 142, and 144 connected between

holes

112 and 128,

114and

130, 124 and 138, and 122 and 137. A handle 146 may be connected with one pair of shoe engaging pieces such as at connecting

webs

160, 162 are resilient material, such as rubber. Alternatively, the

webs

160, 162 may be nonresilient and

pieces

152, 154, 156, 158 may be resilient, or the apparatus may be formed in three parts, such that the first part,

pieces

152, 154 are connected to the second part, webs 160,-

162 by clamps or

fasteners

164, 166 shown in phantom, respectively, and

webs

160, 162 are connected to the third part,

pieces

156, 158

byfasteners

168, 170, shown in phantom, respectively. A stand element or elements may be attached to

fasteners

164, 166 or 168, 170 or to

pieces

152, 154 or 156, 158 or

webs

160, 162. The holder of FIG. 1 is shown folded into a small, compact arrangement in FIG. 7.

Various arrangements and types of parts may be combined to implement this invention. For example, the resilient means may be one or more springs in tension or compression, rubber or rubberlike elements or any component or components that permit the device to be stretched out to fit the shoes and bias the pairs of shoe engaging pieces towards each other. The different parts of the apparatus may be made of any suitable type of material such as metal, wood, plastic, etc., and may be.

terconnection means may be nonresilient, or parts of one or both of the shoe engaging pieces in one or both pairs of shoe engaging pieces and/or parts of the interconnection means may be made of resilient material.

lClaim:

1. Shoe holder apparatus comprising:

a first portion including a first pair of first and second elements swingably connected with each other, each of said elements being adapted to grip the end ofa shoe;

a second portion including a second pair of third and fourth elements swingably connected with each other, each of said elements being adapted to grip the end ofa shoe; and

a third portion including means for interconnecting said first and second portions, at least part of one of said portions being resilient.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which each of said portions is formed of resilient material.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said first portion is formed of resilient material.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said third portion is formed of resilient material.

5.The apparatus of claim 1 in which each of said elements includes an inflected section for gripping the end ofthe shoe.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 in which each of said elements has first and second connection means.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 further including a first set of connection members including a first connection member for swingably interconnecting said first connection means of said first and second elements, and a secondconnection member for swingably interconnecting said second connection means of said first and second elements. and a second set of connection members including a third connection member for swingably interconnecting said first connection means of said third and fourth elements, and a fourth connection member for swingably interconnecting said'second connection means of said third and fourth elements.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 further including handle means interconnected with one of said first and second pairs of elements.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 further including handle means interconnected with one of said first and second sets of connection members.

10. The apparatus of claim ,1 in which each of said elements in at least one of said firstand second pairs of elements includes a stand member for maintaining the shoes and holder apparatus in an upright position.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 in which each said stand member is fixed to its associated said element.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 in which each said stand member is integral with its associated said element.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 in which each said stand member is collapsibly associated with its associated said element.

14. The apparatus of claim 7 in which said means for interconnecting includes a first resilient member interconnecting said first and third connection members.

15. The apparatusofclaim 14 in which said means for interconnecting includes a second resilient member interconnecting said second and fourth connection members.

16. The apparatus ofclaim 15 in which said first and second resilient members include spring means.

17. The apparatus of claim 6 in which said first and second elements are swingably connected at pivot points between their respective said-connection means and their respective said inflected section, and said third and fourth elements are swingably connected at pivot points between their respective said connection means and their respective said inflected sections. l