US980173A - Rubber footwear. - Google Patents

Description

M. C. CLARK.

RUBBER FOOTWEAR. APPLIQATLON FILED MAY28,1908.

Patented Dea-27, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET lK M. C. CLARK. RUBBER FOOTWEAR,

l 'APPLIOATIGN FILED MAY 28,1'908, A l

980, 1 73. 4 Patented Dec. 27, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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AURICN C. CLARK, or PROVIDENCRRHODE ISLAND, AssIGNoR To MAURICE C. CLARK COMPANY, 'or PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION or RHODE ISLAND.

RUBBER FOOTWEAR.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, MAURICE C. CLARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Rubber Footwear, of which the followingr is a specification, reference 'being hadrto the drawings accompanying and forming' part ofthe saine.

` Thisinvention relates to the construction of vulcanized rubber soles.l whereby they can be readilyand easily attached to the leather shoe without the yaidof cement,`nails,

or sewing, and can be as readily and easily' removed by the wearer when desired, as in the ease of the Ordinary rubber overshoe.

The improvementscomprising. the present forms which at the. present time 'I believe exemplify the bestinode of applying the invention. Even in the forms just referred to, however, the details of construction can be varied-widely without departure .from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claim.

Referring` now to the annexed drawings, Figure 1 shows in longitudinal section one forni of the invention, attached to a leather shoe, as 4worn. Fig. 2 is an enlarged crosssection, taken substantially on line l'I-II of F ig. 1, showing the rubber clenched to the sole of the leather shoe. Fig. 3 is bottom plan view of the rubber, removed from the Fig; 4 is a sido view of the same, and Fig. 5 is a cross section substantiallyon line V-V of 1Tig. 4, and showing also a different mode of attaching the flange or clenching member to the. sole portion of the overshoe. Fig'. (i is a similar cross section, with the lclenching flange attached to the sole portion in the. same manner as in Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 'Dea 27 1910, v Application steamy 2s. 190s.' serial No. 435.408.

Figa'. 5. and showing the rubber provided. with a cord in the elenchingflange. Fig. 7' is a detail perspective view of the member of the fastening;r means which is attachedl positively to the rubber sole, and Fig. 8 lis a similar view of the member which is at'- taehed positively to the leather shoe.

Referring now to thedrawings in detail. l indicates the rubber sole proper, of the article.- i

is the upper or Iflange-portion, which, joined -with the'elot-h strip 3, forms the ttangre for clenchi'ng. thesole 1 to the sole of the leather shoe, as clearly shown in Figs. l and 2. As is customary in the construction ot' rubber footwear, the article is -provided with a cloth insole, indicated by-llf, extending preferably to the point indicated at 5,

3, Fig. 5. indicates a suitable filling sole. As so far described, the article is Constructed of materials usually ,employed in the manufacture of rubber footwear. Un like the ordinary 'overshoe, however, the cloth'insolc and the fillingsole do not;ex tend entirely over the shank, but are sub. stantially coextensive with the sole-portion onlyY and vterminate ,neferably .at the lpoint; indicated by the dotted line 5, Fig. 3. The

remaining portion of the shank is formed of sheets or layers of elastic rubber, and embedded therein is a stout cloth stay 7, foldedl to form a loop as vclearly shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4. Linked in this loop is a fastening member S, provided with a tongue 9 extend- .ing forwardly into the open center Aof the member, vand also -provided with a rearwardly7 extending,r and downwardly bent finger piece 10 for convenient grasp by the finger and thumb in fastening and unfastening the sole, as explained hereinafter.

The leather shoe with which the-'article is to be worn is provided on the shank of its'v sole with a staple il, (shown removed from the shoe in Fig. S), the staple being located near enough to the heel to require stretching of the elastic shank of the overshoe to bring the. fastening member S into engagement..

From the foregoing the method of use will be. readily understood. lVhen it is desired. to put the rubber sole. on the shoe the former is fitted on the .leather sole with the fiange fittinpr over the edges of the latter. The fastener S is now grasped and pulled backward, thereby stretching the elastic shank of the the tension of the elastic shank holds the locking members securely in engagement. The rubber sole 1s thus ellectually held against forward movement and consequent lisengagement from the leather shoe. lli-hen it is desired to remove the-rubber, the fastener S is drawn back outY of engagement with the member Ll, whereupon the rubber can easily be detached Jtrom the-shoe.

In the article illustrated in Figs. l to C,

the lipiof the flange 3 is inclined downward, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The object of this construction is to cnablebne size of.

over-shoe to it leather shoes of'various thicknesses of sole; the downwardly inclined edge of the flange 3 adjusting itself readily to the leather sole whether the same is thick or thin. In the form illustrated in Fig. 6, the

edge or lip of the flange 2a has embedded in' it an inextensible cord orvire 12, to prevent stretchingzand to insure a lirm hold on the leather sole when the article is being worn.

In'Fig. 2 the flange portion 2 is shown integral with a sheet extending across the solegortion l, While in Figs. 5 vand 6 the saidange 2 is attached by means of a relatively narrow portion extending inwardly under such sheet.

Itlwill be seen that niyinvention diilers radically fromv any type of rubber footwear previously known.' At the same time the invention, possesses 'marked advantages over the prior'larticles.` Fpr example, the-leather shoes now commonly worn have muchA h1gher heels than formerly, especially in the case of womens shoes, in almost all 'ol which the heels are fully as high as the top ot' the foot or vani-p near the toe. Hence with a low-cut rubber it is'not necessary to have it extend around the heel for protection, -as a depth of water' or mud which would wet above the heel would also wet the front part of the shoe by going over the vamp.- Nevertheless, heel parts of some sort were necessary, in order to hold thc forward portion of the rubber on the shoe. Moreover, with the so-called footholds, invisible over "i shoes, etc., n which a back strap is provided to hold the forward part in place, it

has become acommon complaint that the overshoes wouldv not stay on, as the back strap wQu-ldbecomc stretched after a little use. `With my invention, however, which provides means fof positivcly securing the forwardpart of the rubber to the shoe, all

heel parts, back straps, etc., can be dispensed w 1th, 'thereby materially lessening thev .cost

of the article and making'it in every way sol-e, making a good lit largely if not en tirely a matter ot mere chance.` Thus, leather shoes ha ving the same form or shape ot sole'may have French, Cuban, military,

or regular heels; so that while one rubber might tit any of these *shoes on the sole and vamp the same rubber would probably lit only one shoe properly on thelieel portion. But with my invention, in which no attempt .is made to tit the back of the shoe, the pro` duction of well-fitting overshoes is b no means diliicult; and that, too, with ewer shapes in lasts.

I am aware that it has been proposed heretofore to embed a'cord in the vamp or upper of a rubber overshoe, but in every instance such cord has been placed highabove the sole of the leather shoe. In my invention, however, the cord is A'so located as to aid directly in clcnching the rubberfon the top edge of the leather sole.

As previously stated, my invention can be embodied in other formsbesides those herein specifically described, and the latter can be modified without departure from the proper scope of the invention." For instance, I do not consider myself limited to any particular type of fastening devices, sincethere are numerous devices that can beconveniently and successfully used for thepurpose.

.lV hat I claim is:

An article of rubber footwear, comprising a sole-portion devoid of a heel, provided at its edge with an inwardly and downwardly extending flange adapted to readily adjust itself to the edges of shoe-soles of different thicknesses, the shank-portion being elastic and thereby capable of being elongated by stretching, and having secured to it a fastening device to coperatc with a fastening device fixed to the shank of the wearers shoe when the said elastic shanlvportion is stretched to 'bring the fastening device carried Athereby into engagement with'the de vice on the shoe; whereby the said fastening device and the inwardly and downwardly extending flange serve to secure the article on the shoe-sole against displacement in any direction.

J. A. MILLER, A Criss. I'I. lSimoon. f

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