US2114700A - Shoe and outsole therefor - Google Patents

Description

April 19, 1938. A, Ry 2,114,700

SHOE AND OUTSOLE THEREFOR Filed Jan. 12, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 MWPQW B M W,

April 19, 1938. A. w .BRADBURY 2,114,700

SHOE AND OUTSOLE THEREFOR Filed Jan. 12, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 19, 1938 PATENT OFFICE SHOE AND OUTSOLE THEREFOR Albert Wilson Bradbury, Cliftondale, Mass, as-

signor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application January 12, 1937, Serial No. 120,260

3 Claims.

This invention relates to shoes and the manufacture thereof and is illustrated herein with reference to shoes having their outsoles attached by cement.

In the manufacture of shoes having outsoles which extend laterally beyond the shoe uppers so that the margins of the inner or flesh surfaces of the outsoles are visible, it is customary to cover these extending marginal portions with a piece of leather or similar material called a welt to improve the appearance of the shoe even though the welt does not perform the usual function of holding the outsole on the shoe as in a Goodyear welt shoe. This is especially true in juvenile shoes of the so-called stitchdown type and in shoes of the heavy sole variety such, for example, as mens and boys shoes and various kinds of work shoes having outsoles attached by nails or by through and through stitches.

In shoes of this type it has been impracticable 0 flesh'surface of the outsole where the fibers of the leather are loose and relatively weak and consequently are notadapted to strengthen the attachment of the sole to the shoe bottom- However, the light weight soles usually attached by cement to womens shoes present no difiiculty in this respect because their extreme flexibility permits the soles to bend readily with the shoes and thus relieves the greater part of the strain tending to pull the outsoles away from the shoe bottoms. In a shoe having a relatively heavy outsole which is often stiff and inflexible the loose fibers on the flesh side of the outsole do not provide 'a sufiiciently firm base for cement to insure that the attachment of the outsole by cement alone would be permanent.

Objects of the present invention are to provide an improved method of making shoes having cement attached outsoles in the practice of which the difficulties referred to above are eliminated, to provide an improved shoe, and to provide an improved outsole adapted for attachment to a shoe by cement.

With these objects in .view the invention in one aspect comprises securing together two leather sole members flesh side to flesh side,

thereby producing a laminated outsole member or unit having inner and outer layers the smooth grain surfaces of which are exposed. The grain surface of the inner layer is then removed over a portion spaced inwardly from the edge face of the outsole member, thereby exposing a portion of the material of said inner layer adjacent to its grain side or face for receiving cement, this material having relatively compact fibers adapted to form a firm base for receiving cement. As illustrated herein, the grain surface is removed by forming a shallow groove around the marginal portion of the inner face of said inner layer and, since this" groove is spaced inwardly from the edge of the outsole member, a predetermined strip of the grain surface is left at the marginal portion of this inner face to provide a smooth surface on the upper or exposed side of the extension of the outsole or, in other words, on that portion which projects laterally beyond the shoe upper. I

In its article aspects the invention provides an improved shoe of the type which has an extension on its outsole, said shoe having its outsole permanently attached by cement and having no welt or other member covering the upper side of the sole extension. The invention also provides an improvedleather outsole member of substantial thickness having a grain surface on its outer or tread face and a marginal portion having a smooth grain surface on its upper or exposed face to provide a sole extension, said outsole also having a relatively shallow groove spaced a predetermined distance inwardly from its marginal portion thereby exposing the compact fibers of the sole adjacent to the grain surface for receiving cement whereby the outsole may be permanently attached to a shoe.

With the above and other objects and aspects in view the invention will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawings and will thereafter be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a three-quarter length leather outsole member skived to a thin edge at its rearward end, the grain surface of the outsole member being uppermost;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 1 of the outsole member with a shallow groove formed in its upper or grain surface, the groove being spaced inwardly from the edge face of the outsole member;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the outsole member after the material in the groove has been roughened;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a full-length leather outsole having cement applied to the marginal portion of its inner or flesh face;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the two outsole members secured together, flesh side to flesh side, to form a complete outsole member or unit, a portion of the forepart of the unit being broken away;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the complete outsole member after it has been molded to the shape of a last bottom; and

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view of the outsole member of Fig. 6 being pressed against a lasted shoe in a sole attaching press.

In practicing the method of the present invention, a leatherl outsole member I is provided having an inner grain surface l2 and an outer flesh surface M, the outsole member preferably being a three-quarter length sole member and being skived at its rear portion, as shown in Fig. 1, to a relatively thin edge H5. The outsole member 10 is preferably composed of fairly high-grade sole leather and may be about six or seven irons thick.

The inner grain surface [2 of the outsole member I 0 is removed at a predetermined portion thereof by forming in said surface a relatively wide shallow groove l8 which is spaced inwardly from the edge face of the outsole a predetermined distance, for example, a quarter of an inch, thereby leaving a marginal area or strip 20 of sole material which retains the grain surface. The groove may be from three-quarters to seveneighths of an inch wide and may extend around the entire marginal portion of the outsole member, as shown in Fig. 2. The groove 18 is preferably only of sufficient depth to remove the smooth grain of the leather and thereby to expose the somewhat coarser material just below the grain surface which is more suitable than the latter for receiving cement but which, nevertheless, has fibers which are much more compact or firm in structure than the relatively loose fibers of the material adjacent to the flesh face of the outsole member. The grooving operation may be performed manually with a suitable cutting tool but it is preferably performed by machine in order to obtain a groove of uniform depth around the entire sole member and also to insure that the outer edge of the groove will be spaced a proper distance inwardly from the edge face of the sole member. A machine which may be conveniently used for performing this operation is that of the general type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,115,046, granted October 27, 1914 in the name of Henry W. Winters, this machine, however, being provided with a properly shaped grooving knife or tool for cutting the groove l8.

After the groove l8 has been cut in the outsole member ID, the material in the groove is roughed, as shown in Fig.3, to render it more suitable for receiving cement. The roughening operation may be performed by hand with a suitable rasping tool or it may be performed with the aid of a machine of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,994,469, granted March 19, 1935, on an application filed in the name of George Goddu, this machine being provided with a roughening tool or brush which is of such a size that the roughening operation will be confined to the sole material located within the groove IS. The roughened material in the groove may next be coated with a suitable cement such, for example, as pyroxylin cement and the opposite or flesh face M of the outsole member 10 may also be coated at least at its marginal portion with pyroxylin cement, the cement being allowed to dry after it has been applied.

A full-length leather outsole member 22 (Fig. 4) is now provided having an inner or flesh face 24 and an outer face having a grain surface 28 thereon, the periphery of the outsole member 22 forwardly of its heel portion conforming in outline to the outsole member I0. The marginal portion of the inner or flesh side 24 of the outsole member 22 is now coated with cement 28 such as pyroxylin which is allowed to dry. The cement on the outer or flesh face M of the outsole member I 0 and on the flesh face 24 of the outsole member 22 is next activated by a suitable solvent such as acetone and the two sole members are placed together, flesh face against flesh face, and held in this position under pressure while the cement is setting, thereby producing a two-ply laminated outsole member or unit 30 composed of leather inner and outer layers having their flesh sides in face-to-face relation with each other and their grain surfaces exposed. Fig. illustrates the outsole member 30 after the layers I0 and 22 have been secured together in the manner described.

The outsole member 30 is next shaped or molded to conform substantially to the shape of a last bottom to facilitate its attachment to a shoe. The molding operation may be performed in any suitable or convenient manner and a machine which may advantageously be used for this purpose is one of the general type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,271,315, granted July 2, 1918, on an application filed in the name of John J, Heys. The completed outsole unit 30 is now ready to be attachedto a shoe bottom.

A shoe upper 32 (Fig. '7) is assembled with an insole 34on a last 36 in the customary way and the upper is secured in lasted relation to the insole in any usual or convenient manner. As disclosed herein, the upper is wiped over the insole 34 and secured in lasted relation thereto by curved staples 38. If desired, however, the upper may be lasted to the insole by cement, or by tacks or stitches. The excess portions of the margin of the upper are then trimmed in the usual manner and a thin layer of filling material 40 is placed in the space between the trimmed edges of the upper.

The cement in the groove I8 on the grain surface of the inner layer In of the outsole member 30 is now activated by a solvent and the outsole member is positioned on the lasted shoe bottom. The shoe and sole may then be placed in a cement sole-attaching press 42 of any usual construction provided with a. pressure-applying pad 44 of rubber or similar material, herein illustrated as a hollow chamber or bag of the type disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 2,063,041 granted December 8, 1936 in the name of L. G. Knowles and containing fluid 46, the forepart of the pad being provided -with resilient members for aiding in distributing the pressure over the full area of the sole especially at the marginal portions. A machine which may be conveniently used for attaching the outsole 30 to the shoe is one of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,047,185, granted July 14, 1936 on an application filed in the name of Milton H. Ballard et al. The sole and shoe are maintained under pressure until the cement between the. upper and the outsole member 30 has thoroughly set, after which the shoe with its attached outsole is removed from the press' and the last 36 is withdrawn from the shoe. The shoe is now complete except for the attachment of the heel and the customary finishing operations which may be performed in the usual manner.

The outer or tread surface 26 of the outsole 30 will have a grain surface thereon which may be finished by the usual buffing, staining and polishing operations. The inner surface 12 of the outsole member will have a roughed portion at its marginal area underlying and engaging the overlasted marginal portion of the upper 32 and permanently secured thereto by a strong cement bond. The portion of this inner surface I2 which extends laterally beyond the shoe upper will have a smooth grain surface thereon which may be stitch-indented or otherwise treated in the same manner as the welt on a welt shoe to improve the appearance of the sole extension. An outsole made in accordance with the present invention, therefore, obviates the use of a welt on the upper or exposed face of the outsole extension to provide a finished surface thereon in those shoes in which a welt is not used for effecting the attachment of the outsole. Since the laminated outsole 30 is thirteen or fourteen irons thick, it is sufficiently durable to last throughoutout the life of the shoe. The attachment of the outsole member 30 t the shoe bottom by cement applied to the relatively compact fibers of the leather just below the grain surface of the inner layer l0 renders the attachment much stronger than in shoes of the singlesole type in which the cement is applied to the inner or flesh face of the outsole because the fibers on this surface are relatively loose and yieldable as compared with those just below the grain surface of the leather. Consequently, the attachment of the outsole to the shoe bottom is of such strength and permanency that the outsole will have no tendency to separate from the shoe upper during the wear of the shoe notwithstanding the fact that the two-ply outsole may be considerably thicker and heavier than outsoles usually attached by cement.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as n w and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a shoe, an insole, an upper and a relatively heavy, inflexible outsole attached to the shoe bottom by cement alone, said outsole comprising inner and outer layers of leather the flesh sur faces of which are face to face so that the grain surfaces of said layers form respectively the inner and outer surfaces of the outsole, said upper being located in a groove of uniform depth formed in the grain surface of said inner layer, said groove being only of sufilcient depth to remove the smooth grain surface from the inner surface of said inner layer and thereby expose the strongest fibers of said layer adjacent to said grain surface, thereby causing the cement between the upper and said inner layer to contact said strongest fibers and insure a permanent cement attachment of the heavy outsole to the shoe bottom.

2. In a shoe, an insole, an upper and a relatively heavy outsole of laminated formation premolded to the shape of the shoe bottom, said outsole being attached to the shoe upper by cement alone and comprising inner and outer layers of leather cemented together flesh side to flesh side so that the grain surface of the outer layer forms the tread surface of the outsole and the grain surface of the inner layer forms the inner surface of the outsole and produces a finished grain surface on the portion of said inner surface that extends laterally beyond the shoe upper, said upper being cemented into a shallow groove on the inner surface of the outsole formed inwardly of the edge face thereof and of a depth that removes only the grain surface from said inner surface and thus exposes the toughest and most compact fibers of the inner layer of the outsole for receiving cement, thereby insuring that the heavy outsole will remain permanently attached to the shoe upper by cement alone.

3. As an article of manufacture, an outsole adapted for attachment to a shoe bottom by cement alone comprising a laminated sole member of substantial thickness and limited flexibility premolded to the shape of a shoe bottom and. having two leather layers with their flesh surfaces face'to face thereby exposing their grain surfaces, the grain surface of the layer which is to engage the upper in a shoe being removed over a predetermined marginal area at its forepart and shank portions, said area being spaced inwardly from the edge face of the outsole a predetermined distance, thereby exposing the strongest fibers of said layer for receiving cement for attaching the outsole permanently to the shoe bottom and leaving a smooth grain surface at the edge portion of the inner surface of said layer to provide a suitable finished surface on that portion of the outsole which extends laterally beyond the upper in the shoe.

ALBERT WILSON BRADBURY.

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