US3414093A - Shoe rack and carrying case - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 3, 1968 c. R. CHOSTNER 3,414,093

' SHOE RACK AND CARRYING CASE Filed Aug. 30, 1966 I/VVE/VTOR CHESTER A. (HOST/V51? United States Patent 3,414,093 SHOE RACK AND CARRYING CASE Chester R. Chostuer, 222 Vale Ave., Rockford, 11]. 61107 Filed Aug. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 576,119 11 Claims. (Cl. 190-16) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The shoe rack has adhesion pads of Velcro provided thereon in spaced relation and there are mating pads of Velcro provided on the bottoms of the shoes enabling the shoes to be held detachably on the rack by adhesion of the pads. A carrying case having hinged halves with generally rectangular recesses provided in the bottoms thereof, receive generally rectangular shoe racks on which the shoes are mounted, at least one of these racks being removable and there being suspension means on one longitudinal edge portion of the removable rack enabling the same to be hung up for better display of the shoes carried thereon, the suspension means being further movable to a propping position to prop the rack in an inclined position on a generally horizontal support.

This invention relates to a new and improved shoe salesmans shoe rack and carrying case designed to simplify the carrying of samples and expedite setting them up in a display when selling shoes to a shoe department buyer or shoe store proprietor and also enable prompt disposal of such samples after a sales presentation.

I have found that the newly available material, known as Velcro, disclosed in De Mestral Patent 2,717,437, is ideal for the new use that is made of this material in accordance with the present invention, because with two cooperating Velcro pads, one with the pile thereof formed by loops and the other by hooks, one cemented to the rack at a strategic point with respect to the shoes to be displayed and the others to a strategic point on the bottoms of the shoes, I am enabled to mount sample shoes on a rack securely enough to enable carrying them about without any fear of the samples becoming unfastened and damaged by scuffing in transit, while still permitting any given sample to be removed readily enough for closer inspection and be replaced, the presence of the pads on the bottom of the shoes being not in the least objectionable in the handling of samples nor detracting from their appearance, while still serving to hold the shoes securely when placed properly on the rack. Without this sales help, a shoe salesman wastes entirely too much time setting up a display and taking it down, and it is impossible that way to keep the samples in a given order for displaying them to best advantage, and after a display has been set up and the time comes to return the shoes to the carrying case there is always danger of some samples being mislaid or of some of the customers shoes getting mixed in with the samples causing the customer trouble and loss, and causing embarrassment and trouble for the salesman. All of these objections are either eliminated or greatly reduced in the use of the present invention.

Another important object of my invention is to provide a carrying case of improved design and construction, having two hinged rectangular halves, each of which is formed with a rectangular bottom depression in which to house and lock a detachable rack, the main body portion of each half above this depression affording ample space to accommodate the shoes so arranged that the heel portions of the shoes on one rack overlie the toe portions of the shoes on the other rack when the case is closed, thus utilizing to best advantage all the avail- 3,414,093 Patented Dec. 3, 1968 "ice able space without crowding the shoes or scufiing them on one another in transit.

Another object is to provide racks of the kind mentioned with the shoes anchored thereon in the novel manner described, each rack having hook means on one longitudinal edge portion thereof which in one position enables hooking the rack on any convenient shelf in a store or office during the sales presentation, or in another position propping the rack with the same hook means in an inclined position on a desk or counter, where that mode of display is necessary or preferred, the hook means being extensible from or retractable into the rack in such a way as not to be in the way and yet being readily available for hanging purposes or propping purposes.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my improved carrying case, shown closed;

FIG. 2 is an end View of the case, shown opened;

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show the carrying case opened with racks shown therein on which shoes are secured in the novel manner of my invention, using Velcro material, mens shoes being shown on one type of rack in FIG. 3, ladies high-heeled shoes on another type in FIG. 4, and ladies low-heeled shoes on still another type in FIG. 5, each of these three views showing the left-hand half in section to illustrate the rack therein in end elevation, and showing, in dotted lines in the right-hand portion, the inverted or closed position of the left-hand half, indicating how the shoes on the racks nest compactly in relation to one another, using all available space to best advantage, without crowding or any danger of scufiing the shoes in carrying the same;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional detail, serving to illustrate diagrammatically the interaction of two cooperating Velcro pads of the kind used here, one with the pile thereon formed with loops and the other by hooks;

FIG. 7 is an end view of a portion of a rack showing one way of fastening ladies high-heeled shoes onto the racks using a single pad on the sole of each shoe, as illustrated in the disassembled view, FIG. 7a, to cooperate with the pad running the length of one crossstrip on the rack while the heel fits in a notch in a companion parallel cross-strip on the rack;

FIG. 8 is an end view similar to FIG. 7 showing another and at present preferred method of fastening the shoes, using one pad on the sole as shown in the related disassembled view FIG. 8a, cooperating with a pad running the length of one cross-piece on the rack while another pad applied to the instep cooperates with another pad running the length of another cross-piece on the rack; and

FIG. 9 is an end view of a portion of another rack like that of FIG. 8 showing an extensible hook means designed for use in hanging the rack on a suitable support 3r 'lpropping it in an inclined position on a counter or The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring first to FIG. 6, this is a fairly diagrammatic illustration of the Velcro material disclosed in De Mestral Patent 2,717,437, flexible pads 10 and 11 being cooperating pads of this fabric material arranged to be brought into abutment with one another so as to interengage the multiplicity of hook-shaped projections 12 on the exposed face of one pad with similarly hook-shaped or looped projections 13 provided on the cooperating exposed face of the other pad 11. The interengaging pads may be of any desired shape and of any desired size, the size varying depending upon how firmly it is desired to hold a shoe on a rack. Thus, fairly small sized pads will suffice on lighter childrens shoes and lighter ladies shoes, whereas the pads used on heavier mens shoes should be larger so as to provide better holding power needed because of the greater weight. Usually it is best to provide the pads on the shoe soles 14 of a desired size and provide the cooperating pad 11 the full length of the associated crosspiece 15 of the rack 16, so that the salesman is always certain of having the full area of pad 10 interengaged with pad 11. The high heel 17 of the ladies Shoe 18 is shown as engaged in a rounded notch 19 provided in the companion parallel cross-piece 20 of the rack 16. Each rack 16 will have opposed end members 21 in parallel relation, each long enough to allow the provision of two pairs of spaced parallel cross-pieces 15 and 20 thereon so as to carry two rows of shoes on each rack in parallel spaced relationship to one another, similarly as seen in the two racks 16a and 16b in FIG. 4.

In the rack 16:: of FIGS. 8 and 8a the same cross-piece 15 with its pads 11 applied thereto by cementing or gluing is employed, these pads 11 cooperating with pads 10 applied to the soles 14 of the shoes 18. The other crosspiece 20 is a half-round strip of wood or other suitable material fastened to opposed end members 21, the crosspiece 20' having arched pads 11 applied thereto to cooperate with pads 10 that are cemented or glued in arched form in the insteps 22 of the shoes 18' and onto the curved upper front portions of the heels 17.

Mens shoes like those shown at 18a in FIG. 3 have pads 10 applied to the soles and heels, cooperating with pads 11 fastened to and extending the full length of crosspieces 15a and 20a on racks 16d.

The ladies low heeled shoes or flats, like those shown at 1812 in FIG. 5, have pads 10 applied to the soles and heels, these cooperating with pads 11 that are fastened to and extending the full length of cross-pieces 15b and 20b provided on racks 16c, racks 16d shown in FIG. 3 taking only a single row of mens shoes while racks 160 will accommodate two rows of ladies shoes.

With childrens shoes it is possible to accommodate three rows of shoes on a single rack, assuming the racks are to be approximately the same overall dimensions to fit in the recessed rectangular bottom portions 24 of the two halves 25 and 26 of a carrying case 27, shown in closed condition in FIG, 1 and opened in FIGS. 2-5. Any suitable or preferred means of detachably securing the racks in the depressed bottom portions 24 of the halves of the carrying case 27 may be provided, for example, turn-type fasteners 28 pivoted at one end, as at 29, on the ends of posts 30 suitably secured in the depressions 24 in the case 27 and located at opposite ends of each rack. On the other hand, the racks may be secured permanently in the depressions 24 as indicated in FIGS. 3 and 5 by rivets 31 fastening the rack permanently in place in the recess 24. That method of fastening would also be satisfactory for all the other racks. However, it is preferred to have the racks removable like those shown in FIGS. 4, 7 and 8, and with all of these I prefer, as shown in FIG. 9, to provide a hook 32 extending lengthwise of the rack having parallel rods 33 on the opposite ends slidable in bearings 34 swivelled on the inner side of the end members of the rack 16a, so as to be out of the way under the shoes on the rack and also be out of sight until pulled out when needed when hanging the rack on a shelf in a store or on any convenient hooks or nails, wherever the sales presentation is to made, with the rack suspended on the hook in a substantially vertical plane for easy viewing of all of the shoes by the prospective buyer and salesman. When it is preferred or is just as convenient to show the samples by propping the rack up on a deck or counter, the same hook 32, when swung to right angle relationship to the adjacent end of the rack, with the headed ends 35 of the rods 33 abutting the under side of the adjacent cross-piece 15, serves as a convenient prop. In either case,

the hook 32 is movable to and from operative position without disturbing any of the shoes.

In operation, an enterprising shoe salesman can so arrange his shoes on these racks that he can best present the sales story he wants to tell the prospective buyer and best promote sales of his merchandise. Then, if the prospective buyer desires to handle one or more of the shoes, these can be removed readily enough and be handled without the Velcro pads interfering in any Way or detracting from the attractive appearance of the shoes, and it is also a simple matter thereafter to replace the shoes on the rack. The shoes are held so securely that there is no danger whatever of any shoes becoming unfastened and dropping off the rack and suffering any scuif damage in transit. A salesman can quickly enough disconnect a rack from its carrying case and hang it up, or prop it up, as the occasion requires and, when the sales session is over, it is a simple matter to replace the rack, and whatever shoes have been removed can be put back where they belong so as to keep the shoes .in proper order and the carrying case can be closed. There is far less likelihood of the prospective buyer getting some of his shoes mixed in with samples belonging to the salesman. It is evident in the right-hand portion of FIG. 3 that the mens shoes on the one rack 16d are disposed with the toe portions overlying the toe portions of the shoes on the other rack, as necessitated by these larger shoes. With ladies high heeled shoes shown in FIG. 4, it is usually best to stagger the shoes in the one rack in relationship to the shoes in the other rack therebelow. That isnt necessary with low heeled shoes shown in FIG. 5.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of our invention, The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In combination, a support having an adhesion pad thereon, and a shoe having a mating adhesion pad thereon on the bottom thereof, whereby the shoe will be held detachably on said support by the adhesion of said pads to one another.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said adhesion pads are made of Velcro-like material.

3. In combination, an elongated support on which adhesion pad means is mounted, and a plurality of shoes each having a mating adhesion pad thereon on the bottom thereof, whereby the shoes will be held detachably on said support in spaced substantially parallel relationship to one another by the adhesion of said pads on the shoes to the pad means on the support.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 3 wherein said adhesion pad means and adhesion pads are made of Velcro-like material.

5. In combination, a support having a pair of adhesion pads mounted thereon in spaced relation to one another, and a shoe having a pair of mating adhesion pads mounted thereon on the bottom thereof in longitudinally spaced relation, whereby the shoe will be held detachably on said support by the adhesion of the pair of pads on the shoe with the pads on the support.

6. In combination, a pair of elongated supports in spaced substantially parallel relation, the one support having adhesion pad means provided thereon, the other support having notches provided therein in longitudinally spaced relation, and a plurality of ladies high heeled shoes each having a mating adhesion pad provided on the bottom of the sole portion thereof, whereby the shoes can be supported on said supports by detachable adhesion of the pads on the sole portions to the pad means on the one support while the heels of the shoes are disposed in said notches.

7. In combination, a pair of elongated supports in spaced substantially parallel relation, both having adhesion pad means mounted thereon, and a plurality of shoes each having a pair of mating pads provided thereon in longitudinally spaced relation, whereby the shoes will be held detacha'bly on said supports by the adhesion of the pads on the shoes with the pad means on said support.

8. In combination, a shoe carrying case having hinged halves, generally rectangular shoe racks mounted in the two halves of said case, each having means for detachably securing a plurality of shoes side by side thereon by their bottoms in spaced parallel relationship to one another, the halves of said case being deep enough to accommodate the rows of shoes on the racks in the two halves out of contact with one another when the case is closed, each half of the case having a generally rectangular recess in the bottom thereof in which the racks are interchangeably received.

9. The combination as set forth in claim 8 including means for detachably securing the racks in said recesses.

10. In combination, a shoe carrying case having hinged halves, generally rectangular shoe racks mounted in the two halves of said case, each having means for detachably securing a plurality of shoes side by side thereon by their bottoms in spaced parallel relationship to one another, the halves of said case being deep enough to accommodate the rows of shoes on the racks in the two halves out of contact with one another when the case is closed, each half of the case having a generally rectangular recess in the bottom thereof to receive said racks, at least one of said racks being removable, the case including suspension means on one longitudinal edge portion of said removable rack enabling the same to be hung up for better display of the shoes carried thereon.

11. A carrying case as set forth in claim 10, wherein the suspension means is movable to a propping position to prop the rack in an inclined position on a generally horizontal support.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,968,580 7/1934 Wheary 206--7 XR 2,698,689 1/1955 Novack 19016 XR 2,866,559 12/1958 Byrne 21135 3,001,650 9/1961 Turner 19016XR 3,306,405 2/1967 Rosenblum 19051 DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner.

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