Nova Patents
US2970331A

Shoe heater

Abstract

This record has no abstract on file.

US2970331A, drawing sheet 1
Sheet 1 of 1

Term

Term ended

Expired 7 February 1978, 48.6 years ago.

  1. Priority and filed
  2. Granted
  3. Expired
  4. Today

2 claims: 2 independent, 0 dependent

  1. 1
    Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:·
  2. 2
    2,970,331 SHOE HEATER John Harold Gaquin, Haverhill, Mass., assignor to Beckwith-Arden Inc., Watertown, Mass., a corporation of New Hampshire Filed Nov. 5,1958, Ser. No. 771,981 2 Claims. (Cl. 12—59.7) This invention comprises a new and improved shoe heater for conditioning partly finished shoes for box toe 15 and counter molding and stiffening by the application of steam. Shoe heaters of this type include a steam chamber from which moist steam is directed into contact with the toe or heel ends of shoe uppers preliminarily assembled on 20 a last in order to soften and condition the upper material which it is desired to mold and stiffen in the contour of the last. Factory conditions generally require the steam to be generated and applied at approximately atmospheric pressure and this gives rise to several problems caused 25 by partial condensation of the steam in its passage to contact the shoe upper. The present invention supplies a solution for these problems as will be pointed out hereinafter. Steam conditioning of the unfinished shoe usually takes place when the upper is presented as preliminarily assembled on a last to the bottom of which the inso.e has been tacked and to which the lasted margin of the upper has been or is to be secured by cement. If the steam reaching the insole carries with it condensation in the shape of drops of water, adhesion between the lasting margin of the upper and the insole is seriously impaired. In dealing with patent leather the presence of condensed drops in the steam is very objectionable because the leather absorbs the moisture and is rendered so flexible that it stretches in the lasting operation causing the enamel to crack. Further, in dealing with leather of pastel shades, a very objectionable discoloration of the leather is caused by contact with wet steam, and in dealing with suede upper leather, treatment with wet steam often causes the 45 suede to mat down in the bed_lastjng_machine under pressure occurrmg in the lasting operation. Still another culty that has been encountered in the use of automatic machinery wherever the insole is permitted to absorb moisture in steam treatment is that the positioning post or abutment is likely to sink into a moisture-saturated insole making it impossible accurately to wipe in the upper. All of these difficulties are avoided in accordance with the process of the present invention which is characterized by directing moist steam toward the shoe bottom and 55 superheating the steam in its passage toward the shoe so that it reaches the insole and upper in dry condition and incidental condensation is eliminated. Apparatus for carrying out this process includes a frame superposed upon a steam chamber, a support for 60 holding an unfinished shoe in position above the chamber which is provided with ports directed toward the shoe, and means located above the ports for superheating steam issuing from them in its passage toward the shoe. An important feature of the invention resides in the 65 employment of a tubular infrared lamp as the superheating medium. Under most favorable conditions the steam chamber is provided with a perforated top wall which is concave in cross section and the tubular lamp is located within the concavity of this top wall where 70 jt is most efficiently located for superheating and drying a,S7$sr3i 1. A shoe heater comprising a frame containing a steam chamber, supporting means for positioning an unfinished shoe above the steam chamber, said chamber having a top wall with ports formed therein, said top wall being upwardly concave in cross section whereby steam passing through said ports is generally directed towards the axis of curvature of said wall, and a heating element mounted above said wall in the general vicinity of said axis. 2. A shoe heater comprising a frame containing a 10 steam chamber, supporting means for positionng an unfinshed shoe above the steam chamber, said chamber haying an oblong top wall with ports formed therein, said top wall being upwardly concave in cross section and defining an arcuate trough on the upper portion of said wall 15 whereby steam passing through said ports on the way to said shoe is generally directed towards the axis of curvature of said trough, and an elongated heating element mounted above said wall longitudinally within said trough and in the vicinity of said axis for superheating said steam in its passage towards said shoe. References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,032,267 Bastian ----------------July 9,1912 1,373,481 Brock----------------Apr. 5,1921 2,283,306 Andrews______________May 19,1942 2,662,964 Simms ______——-— Dec. 15, 1953 2,831,950 Lefebore ------------Apr. 22,1958 2,844,699 Miskella---------------July 22,1958
Independent claims2