Manufacture of footwear

<td> Aug. 1, 1967 Filed July 10, 1964 /7 Jr FIG . 2. /L //y / 6-/yΓ Sy</td><td> p. A GARCIA 3,333,353 MANUFACTURE OF FOOTWEAR 2 Sheets-Sheet i ^{F/S 1} 8 Z&gt; °v 1 Hr 1 yy ί Ύ\^χ\ ^A ^// \j^a /&gt; y Z^z&lt; yHr³/ z z''__// ' 7- / K'^_/ I // ~^· / A— —7/ 5^^ i'W⁷ 5% FIG. 6. ⁶Ά\ μ J/y ² &lt;₄ *7</td>

<img file="US3333353A_D0001.tif" />

Aug. 1, 1967

Filed July 10, 1964

P. A. GARCIA

MANUFACTURE OF FOOTWEAR

3,333,353

Sheets-Sheet 2

<img file="US3333353A_D0002.tif" />

<img file="US3333353A_D0003.tif" />

United States Patent Office

3,333,353

Patented Aug. 1, 1967 preserving the original shape of the shoe in the course of use.

An insole forepart or insole forepart and toe-puff stiffener may be provided, e.g., moulded as a separate unit to permit of the, requisite power of flexure to the forepart or the shoe with reference to the stiffer rear part.

The, unit may be fitted on the last to form part of an unlined shoe or may be otherwise incorporated, e.g., applied after fitting a suitable lining of the shoe to the last and then cemented to the lining, or applied before lasting to a unit consisting of the lining and the upper xhe outer contour of the base of the stiffener may be made to conform to the normal last shaping and be defined at least in the heel region by a clearly exhibited line or edge.

. The average width of the stop opening in the heel region is preferably not substantially greater and may be less than one-half of the maximum width of the said outer contour of the heel zone.

In order that the invention may be the more readily understood reference will hereinafter be made by way of ^CX AAA¹° ^FIGS· ^{1 t0 6} °f the accompanying drawings.

J iG. 1 is a perspective view of a combined insole waist and heel stiffener, according to the invention and

FIG. 2 is a section thereof on the line A—A of FIG 1 FIG. 3 is an underneath plan.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view and

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line B__B of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view on the line X__X of

FIGS. 3 and 4.

The unit illustrated comprises a resilient heel wall or counter 1, a stiff base comprising the heel seat 2 and insole waist portion 3. Embedded in the base is a metal preferably steel, stiffening shank 4 which may, if desired’ be provided with holes or the like to receive members for attaching the heel. The forward edge of the insole waist is tapered to a thin edge in the manner of a normal skived edge.

The heel wall or counter 1, which is of a resilient character extends around the heel and also- along the sides ot the instep and is such as to form an abnormally small •®^{p open!ng 8}’ ^wbich can be seen particularly well in FIG 4 Taking the heel region of the base as the rear half of the distance, between the line X—X across the narrowest part ot the insole waist and the rear line Z—Z (FIG 3) i.e forwardiy terminating on the line Y—Y, the average width of the top opening 8 in this heel region is less than one-nail the maximum internal width W (FIG 4) of the stiffener in the heel region. The said wall in cross section giaduaLy reduces in thickness to the top opening and rises 10’in fKT A °^{f the base}’ ^Le” ^{from 9 and} the AteA^{Md 6}’ A ^{Wa 1 can flex 0L!iwards} from near 55 AA AA ^{penphery and},^{so that} its inner surface makes a wAAv AA °^Utwardly therefrom and then curves inwaidiy at its top margins 6, 7 around the sides of the heel to subA’nrian ^aA^{iDdicated t0 the top} °^pening and at least to substantially the narrowest part X—X of the base with an AA^P °^penipg gradually widening forwardly from the 0 heel region as is more clearly shown in FIG. 4. In the illustrated example, the internal dimension W of the heel wall or counter on the line A—A FIG. 4, upon which FIG. 2 IS taken, is approximately 2% while the distance across the top opening on this line is approximately while from the line Y-Y to the rear of the heel thelvei age width of the top opening may be approximately only % or even less.

AAAAAA ^moulded fr°^m Polythene or other suitable

While the inner surface of the stiffener may be shaped as described substantially to form to the shape of the

3,333,353 manufacture’of footwear

Pedro Arnau Garcia, Calle de las Flores 5, Barcelona, Spain

Filed July 10, 1964, Ser. No. 381,678 Claims priority, application Great Britain, July 19, 1963, 28,797/63

Claim. (CI. 36—68)

This invention relates to the manufacture of boots, jq shoes and like footwear.

The invention aims to facilitate the manufacture of such footwear by reducing the number of separate elements involved in stiffening or reinforcing the structure of the footwear, to simplify assembly on the last and to enable a better-fitting article of footwear to be produced, and the invention concerns certain improvements in or modifications of the stiffener described and claimed in British Patent No. 939,387 _ According to the present invention, I provide a combined insole waist and heel stiffener for use in the manufacture of boots, shoes and like footwear, which has been moulded from a synthetic plastic material and has set to form a unit with a stiff reinforced or unreinforced arched base constituting the heel seat and insole waist 25 and with a resilient heel wall or counter which also extends along the sides of the instep and is such as to form an abnormally small top opening the average width of which in the heel region is not substantially greater than one-half the maximum internal width of the stiffener in the heel region, the said wall in cross section gradually reducing in thickness to the top opening and rising outwardly from the periphery of the base so that its inner surface makes a smooth curve therefrom and then curving inwardly arouhd the sides of the heel and the instep to the top opening, this cross-sectional shaping extending from the heel at least to substantially the narrowest part of the base and the top opening gradually widening forwardly from the heel region, the said wall requiring elastic expansion before any normal foot can seat properly on the arched base in order to give to the footwear embodying the stiffener the property of elastically gripping around the heel and forwardly thereof into the instep region and to preserve the original shape of the footwear.

What I have termed the “insole waist” is sometimes called “the shank” and is intended to mean that part of the insole extending forwardly from the heel and to the region of the front of the instep.

The stiffener according to the invention is preferably moulded from polyethylene.

The unit is particularly suitable for shoes, especially ladies’ court shoes, and the combined unit may embody a stiffening shank, e.g., of metal and particularly steel, or other material stiffer than the plastic material, and the latter may be moulded to form a thick base which embeds and surrounds the shank. The stiffening shank may extend along the whole or part of the insole waist and into the heel seat or base, i.e., the part which underlies the base of the, wearer’s heel. The shank may serve as the member to which is fixed the heel of the shoe, by which for the purpose of this specification we mean the part of the shoe which raises the heel seat of the shoe from the ground.

The improved stiffener not only obviates the presence of separate components for stiffening the insole waist and heel of the shoe but the unit involves only a single assembly operation where previously different assembling Operations were required, and moreover it gives to the heel of the shoe embodying it a property of gripping the wearer’s foot and of thus improving the shoe-fitting and synthetic plastic material.

human foot, the outer contour of the base of the stiffener may conform to a normal last and be defined by a clearly exhibited line or edge, see the edge E marked in FIG. 3.

Preferably the average width of the top opening in the heel region, i.e., from the line Y—Y to the line Z—Z is not substantially more than one-half of the maximum width in the heel region across the so defined outer contour of the base.