US1847523A - Heat resistant box toe - Google Patents

Description

J. J. DALY HEAT RESISTANT Box TOE Original Filed Jan. 13. 1927 Bavaria/1 Jalal flaly March l, 1932.

am] n////////////// V// Patented Mar. 1, 1932 UNITED ySTATES PATENT OFFICE' JOHN J. DALY, OFNEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSICNOR To Annan Box TOE COMPANY, or WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or MASSACHUSETTS i HEAT RESISTANT BOX TOE `Application,filled. January 13,1921, Serial No. 160,825. yRenewed August 1, 1931.`

In the development of the box toe shoe, the

box toe blank as the shape-retaining elementv of the toe has been given considerable thought and study. Box toes are usually either hard or soft. The soft box toe may be an all-rubber,allcork or all-leather blank or a combination of any of these with a slight percentage of thermo-plastic impregnant to give the blank some stiffness. The so-called -hard box toe is usually a layer of felt or other fibrous material impregnated with a thermoplastic penetrant, usually of a bituminous origin, so thatthe blankis normally hard and stiff, but is capable of being softened under heat treatment to permit it to be molded to conform to the shapeof the last.

In both types of box toes, certain characteristic diliiculties are experiencedin' assembling the blank in the toe of the. shoe; Usually this is done' by stitching. the blank between the upper tip yleather and the inner lining. In the case of thesoft box toe, a blank so stitched wrinkles very easily below the stitch line. In kthe case of the hard box toe, the blank is softened by steam heat after it is laid in the shoe, so that it can be molded to conform to the .shape of the/last. The softening operation releases the resinous'or bituminous impregnant, vso that if suchA a blank is stitched at its tip line, theneedles in penetrating the blank frequently break or become gummed so that the stitch on the tip looks coarse and out of line.

y To avoid these disadvantages, some manufacturers merely rlay the blank` between the lining and the upper material without stitching it at the tip line. Thisy however, is not really satisfactory in that the tendency of the foot to work within the shoe causes the leather tip to slide or creep on the blank, producing a wrinkle and spoiling the appearance of the shoe.

Aside fromv the problem of its assembly, however, the box toe shoe, when assembled, presents certain difficulties. particularly lin the Case of the hard box toe blank, which under some circumstances, as where the shoe is displayed in a Window. exposed to the direct'rays of the sun, especially in the summer time when the rays are hottest, softens to such an extent that definite wrinkles, appear in the leather tip and blank due to the tendency of the material of the blank to soften and cave in, due to the leather drawing like a rubber band over the arch of the toe blank made soft by the rays of the sun. This irremediably spoils the appearance of the toe, because when the toe blank cools, it hardens in the shape to which it has been pulled down and cannot be restored to its original shape, frequently, the heat of the foot will cause this same con# dition. v

To the end, therefore, of avoiding the foregoing defects, I have devised my presentinvention. According to it, I apply to the outer face of the box toe blank, either adjacent the tip line only or throughy a substantialA portion of such face, a heat-resistant adhesive coating, which, while resistant to the rays of the sun, is capable however of being rendered sufiiciently sticky, as bythe sameheat treatment (or steam treatment in case of a glue coating) which enables the toe blank to be molded to the shape of the llast in assembling the box toe. and itself adhesively connect the blank to the toe tip and'vamp of the shoe without stitching. This resistant coating may be simply a film of latently adhesive material which is capable of being rendered adhesive by moist heat. by wetting, bv immersion lin a solvent. or by exposure to the solventfvapor, and is different in character and results from the thermo-plastic impregnant with which the body of the hard box'toe blank is saturated. Y

Such a coating is, therefore, a coating of double function. It serves as a heat resistant film after the shoe is lasted, and during lasting` itanchors the blank to the toe tip and coated as lby dipping or passing the blank over a roll running in the glue or melted gum.

Although various adhesives may be used and although th-e simple use of an adhesive coating such as I have indicated, is in itself usually suflicient, I may build up the thickness of the-toe blank and thus increase its strength and heat-resistant qualities, particularly along the tip line where the blank is sca-rfedfto make a neat joint,rby mixing with the adhesive, a fibroussubstance such as as-V bestos fibres, which have a definite heat resistant effect. The manner of practicing my invention, together with suitable box toe blanks illustratively treated in accordance with the principles of my invention is described and shown in the accompanying specification and drawings', and the characteristic features of novelty areparticularly pointed out in the appended claims..y rIhroughout the specification and'drawingslike reference numerals are employed to indicate corresponding parts, and in the drawings:

Fig. l/is apartial section through a lasted uppershowing a standard box toe blank assembled therein in accordance with my'invention.

Fig. 2 is a face view of the blank'removed.

Fig. 3 is aI section on the line 3 3, of Fig. 2, andy F ig. 4 is an exaggerated section showing a modification in which the combination heatresistant and blank, vamp and tip connectingl adhesive film is augmented by incorporating therewith certain heat-resistant fibres.

I shall first discuss my invention in its adaptation to hard box toe blanks. In commercial practice such blanks are usuallymanufactured in sheet form and the individual blanks. subsequently struck therefrom. Each blank consists of Ya layer of felt or other fibrous material l impregnated with a therino-plastic .penetrant which is usually-of bituminous'origin so as to be normally hard and stiff, but capable of f softening :under heat treatment to permit the blank t0 be molded to form. v

Accordingfto my invention, I coat the outer face of the blank l, preferably beginning adjacent vits tip line edge, with a suitable adhesive coating 2.; This'coating is normally hard and dry, butmay be softened in any suitable manner, and is preferably 'softened byv and duringthe same lieat or steam treatment in case of a glue coating, which softens the blank generally for. shaping. When sufficiently. softened the coating 2.adherently connects the -blankto the toe tip 8, lining and doubler 4 and vamp 5 of the shoe, thus avoiding the necessity for stitching said parts through and'through to ythe blank.

cient extent and thickness to protect the blank against softening under the rays of the sun when the finished shoe is displayed in a. show window. For this purpose, the coating is extended forwardly of the blank, either partly or substantially completely over the outer face thereof.

Although various adhesive substances may be used in the coating 2,1V preferably use a dryjpowrdered starch, powdered glue, dextrine or the like, alone or in combination, or I may use alhigh melting point asphalt or a glue solution or I may use a combination of asphalt, waxtailings lor the like. Then applied, the coating 2 hardens and may be conveniently. handled without adhering tol the lingers, but is softened by heat treatment or steam in case of glue, so as to becomewtenaciously adherent. The coating 2 may bev applied to the individual blanks-.in any suitable manner, as by treating to powder or by passing the sheet from which the blanks are struck, or the individual blank itself through a tank containing a supply of melted asphalt or a glue solution, or other adhesive substance. This coating is substantially different from the thermo-plastic saturant of the box'toe blank in that on heat treatment it becomes much more adhesive than ysaid saturant, but after cooling and stiffening, it is much more heat resista-nt than said saturant. This coating-1nay be applied directly to the blank before layingthe blank in the shoe.

In assembling a hard box toe blank thus coated in the shoe, the blank in flat, stiff form is inserted between the toe tip and the lining ofthe lasted upper and the toe is then placedin a box toe heater. This heat treatment softens the thermo-plastic impregnant of the blank generally'to. a point wherein the blank may be shaped and pulled over vwith 'the toe tip and lining.V The same heat treatment also softens the adhesive coating 2V so that it will adhere to the toe tip and 'vamp when the toe is wiped, thereby anchoring the box toe blank against movement relative thereto and preventing the lining from pulling out with the last Vwhen the last is withdrawn from the formed toe, as frequently happens with a loosely laid blank. In addition, the adhesive connection'afforded by the Vcoating 2 avoids the necessity of carrying the stitches 6,'which unite the overlapping vamp and toe tip' to each other,`into and through the vbox toeblank itself, and hence permits said blank to be stiffened to a degree not heretofore practicable. Preferably, the ends of the blank are scarfed, as shown in Fig. l, to permit a smooth joint at the overlap ofthe toe tip and vamp.

l/hen the finished shoe is placed in a show window, the coating 2 acts as a heat resistantilm for the thermo-plastic impregnant of the blank, preventing the blank from softening and sagging out of shape and producing resistant protective film for the blank in the wrinkles across the toe of the shoe, as now frefinished shoe which acts as a brace or truss to f quently occurs with the ordinary thermoprevent sagging of the toe.

plastic box toe blank. In testimony whereof I aflix 1n signature. 5 The heat insulating effectV of the adhesive JOHN DALY.

may be increased if desired by adding asbestos fiber as shown at 7 in Figurel.

Instead of the adhesive described, I may use as an adhesive, hard glue, dextrine, gutta 10 percha, rubber, or any bituminous or resinous material which is capable of being rendered sticky by contact with a solvent or vapor of the solvent. Such a coating is particularly adapted for use with a soft boX toe or toes which do not require to be softened by heat prior to lasting. With such a coating, it is simply necessary to dip the coating edge of the blank in the solvent, or subject said edge' to the vapor of the solvent or to steam in case of glue, until the coating is rendered sticky.

My invention thus contemplates an unstitched box toe blank to which has been applied an external band of material which upon treatment, either by heat, or steam in case' of glue, by immersion in a solvent, or by exposure to the solvent vapor, becomes sufiiciently sticky to adhere to the toe tip and vamp of the shoe when'the blank is laid in the shoe and of itself adhesively to connect the blank to said parts, and which when the finished shoe is exposed to unusual heat, as where displayed in a show window, serves as a heat-resistant film to'protect the box toe blank from softening and sagging.

These and various other modifications in materials and method of treatment may all be resorted to within the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

l/Vhat I therefore claim and desire to secure 40 by Letters Patent is:

1. As a new article of manufact-ure, a one'- piece thermo-,plastic impregnated box toe blank having directly applied to one face thereof an external and independent adhesive coating of double function,`said coating being` substantially different from the thermo-plastic impregnant of the blank in respect to its heat-resistant properties but softening under the same heat treatment which sofens the blank generally for lasting and when softened constituting an adherent film adapted'of itself adhesively to connect the blank to the toe tip and vamp of the shoe y and to serve as a heat resistant protectivek film for the thermo-plastic impregnant of the blank in the finished shoe which film acts as a brace or truss to prevent sagging of the toe.

2. As a new article .of manufacture, a

thermo-plastic impregnated boX toe blank having directly applied to its outer face, preparatory to assembling the blank within the shoe, an external coating `including an ad-Y hesive substance and heat-resistant fibres incorporated therewith and constituting a heat-

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