US3402484A - Sport shoe - Google Patents

Description

E. BRUTTING Sept. 24, 19 68 SPORT SHOE Filed Oct. 24, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 2 2/9671 Zri/Zziy BY W 1% Sept. 1968 E.BRUTT|NG 3,402,484

SPORT SHOE Filed Oct. 24, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR E. BRUTTING Sept. 24, 1968 SPORT SHOE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 24, 1966 f 2 4 @N Z 2 MB a P 1968 4 E. BRUTTING 3,402,484

SPORT SHOE oct. 24, 4 sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTIOR Kaye?! Z ra /7 171} zw a z irra MEX).

Unitcd States Patent 3,402,484 SPORT SHOE Eugen Briitting, Henfenfelder Strasse 17, Nurnberg-Schwaig, Germany Filed Oct. 24, 1966, Ser. No. 589,067 Claims priority, application Germany, Oct. 22, 1965, B 84,211; Apr. 28, 1966, B 86,855 4 Claims. (Cl. 362.5)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A track shoe having an outer sole formed of relatively stiff material in the front part serving as a support on which cleats are secured, and relatively flexible parts in the toe and/or heel areas secured to the stiff part by gluing or welding. The stiff part is made of nylon and the flexible part consists of crepe rubber.

The present invention relates to a sport shoe, and particularly a running or track shoe, the outer sole of which is composed of a substantially stiff front part and at least one flexible part which extends toward the toe and/ or toward the heel part of the sole and is secured to the adjoining stiff part by gluing or welding. The stiff front part of the outer sole which is often made of nylon serves as a support on which cleats or spikes are secured, while the flexible part which is connected to this stiff part of the sole is intended to improve the grip of the sole on the ground which is especially important on a hard track such as one of asphalt. It is therefore made of a suitable material in accordance with the kind of ground on which it is to be used and often consists of crepe rubber.

The sport shoes of this kind which were known prior to this invention have the disadvantage that under the extreme stresses to which such shoes are often subjected the end of the flexible part of the outer sole which is connected to the stiff part is easily severed therefrom. After this flexible part has once started to come slightly off the other part of the outer sole adjacent to the connecting edges of the two parts, it will very soon be torn off to a large extent or entirely from the shoe.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome this disadvantage of the sport shoes as were previously made by inserting the end of the flexible part adjoining the stiff part of the outer sole into a recess which is provided in the stiff part and extends transversely thereto so that the edge of this adjoining end of the flexible part will be fully covered by the stiff part of the sole and the flexible part will thus be effectively protected from being torn off the shoe. Such insertion of the end of the flexible part adjoining the stiff part into a transverse recess in the latter has the further advantage that the two adjacent parts of the outer sole may be glued together much more securely than this was previously possible. Thus, for example, if the Width of the recess is made slightly smaller than the thickness of the flexible part of the sole so that, when the edge of the latter is inserted into this recess, the walls of the latter will tightly engage with the flexible part, the inserted edge portion may be securely glued on all sides to the stiff part of the sole.

These and further features and advantages of the present invention will become more clearly apparent from the following detailed description thereof which is to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the bottom side of the stiff part of the outer sole;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the bottom side of the entire outer sole before it is connected to the up- P ice FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the front part of a sport shoe according to the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal section of the sport shoe according to FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a. sport shoe according to a modification of the invention;

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the upper side of the front part of the outer sole of the shoe according to FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a longitudinal section of a sport shoe according to a further modification of the invention in which the stiff part of the outer sole is connected not only to a flexible sole portion extending toward the heel but also to one extending toward the toe; while FIGS. 8 to 10 show longitudinal sections of the front part of the sport shoe according to three further modi fications of the invention with different forms of connection between the stiff part of the outer sole and the flexible part extending toward the toe.

In the drawings, in which corresponding parts are des ignated by the same reference numerals, the substantially stiff front part 1 of the outer sole, hereafter simply called a half-sole, consists of plastic. This half-sole 1 carries the spikes 2 which may be secured thereto in any conventional manner. At its rear end, the half-sole 1 is provided with an extension 3 which is thinner than the main part of the half-sole and tapers toward a rear feathered edge, as shown particularly in FIGS. 4 and 7. As shown particularly in FIG. 1, the two parts 1 and 3 are separated by a stop which extends entirely across the sole and into which an angular notch 4 is either molded or milled. This notch 4 serves for receiving the feathered front edge of a flexible outer-sole portion 5 which extends toward the heel and may consist, for example, of a thin layer of crepe rubber. The rear end of the flexible part 5 has rear and lateral extensions 6 and 7, as shown in FIG. 2, by means of which this sole part 5 is subsequently drawn upwardly along the upper 8, as illustrated in FIG. 5.

FIGS. 4 and 7 indicate that the rear part 5 of the outer sole 'fits tightly into the recess 4 which permits the two parts 1 and 5 of the sole to be very securely glued together. These drawings also show that an insole 9 only covers the front part of the outer sole and that a heel cushion 10 is secured to the rear part of the shoe.

According to the further embodiment of the invention as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the marginal portions 5' of the flexible part 5 of the outer sole extend laterally over the recess 4 and the extension 3 of the half-sole 1 and are drawn laterally upward on the upper 8 to which they are glued. Each of these marginal portions 5' is provided with a projection 5" which faces toward the toe of the sole and is drawn over the upper edge of the half-sole 1 and secured to the upper side of the latter, for example, by gluing. In order to facilitate the operation of drawing the projections 5" over the upper side of the half-sole 1, a notch 11 is out between each projection 5" and the end of the edge of the sole portion 5 which engages into the step-shaped recess. This also improves considerably the connection between the outer sole portions 1 and 5.

In the course of manufacture of the shoe the two outer sole parts 1 and 5 are preferably connected to each other in such a manner that the flexible sole part 5 is fitted into the recess 4 of the stiff sole part 1 before these two sole parts 1 and 5 are secured to the upper. It is quite evident that these two sole parts may be manipulated much more easily before they are connected to the upper than when one of them has already been secured to the upper.

In the further embodiments of the invention as illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 10, the stiff part 1 of the outer sole carries a separate" toe portion 12 which may consist of rubber or plastic and is much more flexible and compressible than the stiff sole part 1.

'In the embodiments according to FIGS. 7 to 9, the half-sole 1 extendsup to the tip of the toe but its toe portion 11, that is, the part in front of the most forward spikes, is made considerably thinner than its remainder and is therefore flexible. This extension 11 of the main part of the half-sole 1 is covered at the lower side by a layer 12 of rubber or plastic. The tread surface of the toe portion of the sole is therefore formed by this resilient layer 12 which will give the shoe a better grip on the ground than the smooth part 1 of the half-sole. In order to prevent this toe piece 12 which is glued to' the extension 11 from separating from the latter under the extreme stresses to which the toe portion of a sport shoe is subjected, the rear end of this toe piece 12 is inserted into a recess 13 in the stifl sole portion 1 so that its rear edge is completely covered by the stiff part. The toe piece 12 may for this purpose be likewise provided with a feathered edge, as indicated in FIG. 7, or with a projection 14, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, which fits into a corresponding transverse recess in the stiff sole part 1, while according to FIG. 9, the rear end of the toe piece 12 engages upon a shoulder 13 on the sole part 1. In FIG. 10, the stiff sole part 1 does not extend at all into the toe portion of the sole and this portion is therefore formed entirely by the rubber or plastic toe piece 12.

In the embodiment of the invention according to FIG. 7, the rubber or plastic toe piece 12 is folded over the front edge of the flexible extension 11 of the half-sole 1 so as to protect the tip of the toe portion of the sole from being worn off prematurely.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, I wish to have it understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiments but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a sport shoe having an upper and an outer sole secured to said upper and comprising a substantially stiff front part and at least one flexible part extending in at least one longitudinal direction from and having a connecting end secured to said stiff part, at least one end of said stiff part having a recess extending across said stiff part, said connecting end being inserted into said recess with the transverse edge of said connectingend adjacent to said stiff partbeing fully covered by said stiff part, the lateral edge portions of said flexible part of said outer sole extending laterally over said recess and being drawn laterally upward on and secured to said upper.

2. A sport shoe as defined in claim 1, in which each of said lateral edge portions of said flexible sole part extending laterally over said recess is provided with a projection facing said stiff sole part and secured to the upper side thereof.

3. A sport shoe as defined in claim 2, in which said flexible part is notched between said projections and the ends of the edge which is inserted into said recess in said stiff sole part.

4. A sport shoe as defined in claim 1, in which the front end of said flexible part forms the toe portion of said outer sole and the tread surface of this part of said sole projects over and encloses the front end of said stiff sole part and extends substantially to the tip of the toe portion of the shoe.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 468,223 2/1892 Hess 363l 1,162,445 11/1915 Bostock 36-31 1,181,683 5/1916 Pierce 36-2.5 1,564,232 12/1925 Golden 362.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 542,389 1 1932 Germany.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

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