US2303450A - Method of making shoes - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 1, 1942. J. P. FREDERICKSEN METHOD OF MAKING SHOE Filed March 14, 1941 v //Vl/E/V 70/1 Patented Dec. 1, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF MAKING SHOES James P. Fredericksen, Quincy, Mass., assignor to United. Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application May 14, 1941, Serial No. 393,305

Claims.

This invention relates to methods of making shoes and more particularly to methods of making welt shoes having fabric uppers.

In welt shoes having uppers composed in whole or in part of fabric such as gabardine or similar material or comprising elastic fabricated material, the fabric of the upper frequently pulls away from the inseam stitches during the wearing of the shoe because of the fact that after the inseam materials have been trimmed only a narrow width or margin of the upper fabric is left extending inwardly beyond the inseam stitches and this narrow margin of fabric material tends to fray and give way when the shoe is worn, thereby causing the upper to pull away from the inseam.

An important object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of making welt shoes having fabric uppers in the practice of which the above difiiculty is eliminated.

To this end the invention provides, in accord ance with one aspect thereof, an improved method of making welt shoes having fabric uppers which consists in securing the marginal portion of a fabric upper in overlasted relation to an insole and thereafter, but before a welt has been attached to the upper by inseam stitches, impregnating the overlasted margin of the fabric upper with cement at that portion thereof where the inseam stitches are subthe fabric material at the marginal portion of the fabric upper and to set or harden to bond together the individual threads of the fabric so that the material will have no tendency to fray or ravel after the inseam has been sewn and the materials at the inseam have been. trimmed. The fabric of the upper will therefore aflord a much firmer anchorage for the inseam stitches than ordinary fabric material and, accordingly, the upper will not pull away from the inseam stitches during the wearing of the shoe.

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

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a welt shoe in an inverted position illustrating a step of the present method;

Fig. 2 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary view,

partly in perspective and partly in cross section,

illustrating the shoe in the same condition shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective sectional view, similar to Fig. 2, but showing the shoe as it appears after the welt has been attached by inseam stitches and the surplus material at the inseam trimmed off.

In carrying out the method of making welt shoes having fabric uppers in accordance with the present invention, an upper l0, comprising a fabric inner layer or lining l2 and a fabric outer layer 14, is assembled on a last it with an insole l8 and is pulled over in the usual manner. Preferably the usual economy or welt type of insole is provided, the insole having, as shown, a marginal sewing rib 20 which terminates at the heel breast line of the insole. The illustrated insole is reinforced on its outer surface with a layer of canvas 22. The fabric outer layer H! of the upper may be gabardine or other woven or otherwise fabricated material or it may be a special textile fabric such as Lastex, in which the warp consists of elastic threads enabling the upper to stretch as required to facilitate the flexing of the foot in walking. The inner layer l2 may consists of any suitable lining fabric such as canvas or duck.

The fabric upper i0 is worked over the last in the usual manner and its marginal portion is secured in overlasted relation to the insole by fastening it to the sewing rib 20 by fastening means such, for example, as staples 24. The upper may be secured in overlasted position at the toe end of the shoe in any usual or conventional manner, as by cement, and, as shown in Fig. 1, the heel portion of the upper may be lasted in the usual way by tacks 26 which are clinched against the metal heel plate on the last.

The next operation in making a welt shoe'by the usual method would be to attach the welt to the upper by inseamstitches which pass through the portion of the overlasted margin of the upper which lies adjacent to the base of the sewing rib and thus secure the welt and upper to the rib. In accordance with the present method, however, after the fabric upper It! has been secured in overlasted position to the insole around the entire shoe, as shown in Fig. l, but before a welt has been attached to the upper by inseam stitches, the overlasted margin of the fabric upper is impregnated with cement, such as pyroxylin or a similar cellulose cement, by applying a -relatively narrow stripe of the cemenu; 28, illustrated in the drawing by stippling,

to that portio no'f the overlasted margin of the upper where the inseam stitches are subsequently to be located. As shown in Fig. 1, the stripe of pyroxylin cement 28 extends from the heel breast line at one side of the shoe around the toe portion to the heel breast line at the other side of the shoe. Widthwise of the shoe, the stripe of pyroxylin cement does not extend to the outer edge of the overlasted margin of the upper but is located a short distance inwardly thereof and the cement preferably extends inwardly of the said margin a considerable distance beyond the staples 24. Consequently, the cement will extend over and cover that portion of the upper margin where the inseam stitches are to be located. The pyroxylin cement may conveniently be applied to the fabric upper by a brush or other suitable implement, or it may, if desired, be applied by a suitable machine.

The pyroxylin cement 28 penetrates or strikes into the fabric material of the outer layer IA of the upper and impregnates said outer layer, as indicated by the stippling in Figs. 2 and 3, and it is allowed to set or harden by evaporation of the solvent to bond together the individual threads of the fabric material to form a relatively firm or integral layer of material at that portion of the outer layer where the inseam stitches are subsequently to be located. The fabric material at this portion is thus prevented from fraying or raveling to cause or permit the upper to pull away from the inseam stitches during the wearing of the shoe.

It will be seen from Figs. 2 and 3 that, in the present case, a suflicient amount of pyroxylin cement has been applied to the outer surface of the fabric outer layer 14 of the upper to penetrate through that layer and also to penetrate through the inner layer or lining l2 of the upper, thereby bonding together the threads of each of these layers to prevent them from fraying, as explained above, and thus to provide a sufficiently firm anchorage for the inseam stitches to prevent the upper from pulling away from said stitches during the wearing of the shoe.

A welt 39 is next attached to the shoe in the usual manner by inseam stitches 32, these stitches, as shown in Fig. 3, passing through the stripe of pyroxylin cement 28 which has now penetrated both the outer layer l4 and the lining l2 of the fabric upper. As is usual in the welting operation, the welt is stitched as tightly as possible to the shoe bottom so that the inseam stitches 32 normally pass below the staples 24 to produce a firm and close attachment of the welt to the shoe bottom. The surplus materials which extend above the inseam stitches 32, comprising excess portions of the welt 30, upper I!) and rib 28, are then trimmed off as closely as practicable to the inseam 32 in order to provide a relatively flat or even surface on the shoe bottom for the attachment of the outsole.

It will be seen from Fig. 3, that the trimmin cut passes through those portions of the fabric outer layer l4 and lining l2 to which the str pe of pyroxylin cement 28 was applied and which were therefore impregnated with this cement to bond together the separate or individual threads of the fabric materials, as indicated by the stippling in Fig. 3. Accordingly, neither the outer layer M of the fabric upper nor the lining l2 will have any tendency to fray or ravel along the edge that was trimmed and consequently the upper will not pull away from the inseam stitches 32 during the wearing of the shoe. In other words, since the trimmed marginal portions of the fabric outer layer and fabric lining of the upper have no tendency to fray or ravel, they will afford a sufiiciently firm anchorage for the inseam stitches 32 to maintain the fabric upper in its stitched position permanently or during the life of the shoe.

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

1. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes having fabric uppers, which consists in securing the marginal portion of a fabric upper, including its toe portion, in overlasted relation to an insole on a last by permanent fastening means, thereafter, but before a welt has been attached to the upper by inseam stitches, impregnating the fabric material of the overlasted margin of the upper with pyroxylin cement applied in a narrow stripe to that portion only of the upper margin where the inseam stitches are subsequently to be located, and allowing the cement to harden to bond the individual threads of the fabric material together at said portion so that it will not fray and cause the upper to pull away from the inseam stitches during the wearing of the shoe.

2. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes the uppers of which are composed of fabric material, which consists in securing the marginal portion of a fabric upper in overlasted relation to an insole on a last by attaching the upper to a sewing rib on the insole by permanent fastening means, subsequently, but before a welt has been attached to the upper by inseam stitches, impregnating the fabric material of the overlasted margin of the upper with cement applied to the outer surface only of said upper and confined to a narrow stripe located at that portion of said margin where the inseam stitches are subsequently to be located but not extending to the outer edge of said overlasted margin, and allowing the cement to set to bond together the individual threads of the fabric material so that, after the upper and welt have been attached to the insole by inseam stitches and the surplus materials at the inseam have been trimmed off, the fabric material will not fray along the trimmed edge at the inseam and permit the upper to pull away from the inseam stitches during the wearing of the shoe.

3. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes the uppers of which are composed of fabric material, which consists in working an allfabric upper into overlasted relation to an insole on a last and securing the marginal portion of the upper to a rib on the insole, impregnating the overlasted margin of the forepart and shank portions of the fabric upper with pyroxylin cement applied widthwise of said margin in a relatively narrow stripe located at and adjacent to that portion only of said margin where the inseam stitches are subsequently to be located, allowing the cement to harden to bond the individual threads of the fabric material together at said portion and thereby to prevent said material from fraying or raveling at the cemented portion thereof, attaching the upper and a welt to the insole rib by inseam stitches which pass through the narrow stripe of pyroxylin cement, and trimming off the surplus material at the inseam close to said stitches and through the cemented portion of the upper so that the fabric material thereof will not fray along the trimmed margin and pull away from the inseam stitches during the wearing of the shoe.

4. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes the uppers of which comprise a fabric outer layer and a fabric lining, which consists in securing the marginal portion of such a fabric upper, including its toe portion, in overlasted relation to an insole by permanent fastening means, subsequently, but before a welt has been attached to the upper by inseam stitches, impregnating the overlasted margin of the upper around the forepart and shank portions thereof with pyroxylin cement applied in a relatively narrow stripe located widthwise of the upper margin to cover only that portion thereof through which the inseam stitches will pass but not extending to the outer edge of said upper margin, said cement penetrating the fabric material of both the outer layer and the lining at said portion, and, before applying the welt, allowing the pyroxylin cement to set and harden to bond together the individual threads of each of the layers of the upper to prevent the fabric material thereof from fraying at said portion, thereby providing a suificiently firm anchorage for the inseam stitches at the forepart and shank portions of the upper to prevent the upper from being pulled away from said stitches at said portions by the flexing of the shoe during the wearing thereof.

5. That improvement in methods of making Welt shoes which consists in providing a shoe upper having a fabric outer layer and a fabric lining, working the fabric upper, including its toe portion, into overlasted position relatively to an insole on a last and securing the marginal portion of the upper, including the fabric lining, to a sewing rib on the insole by permanent fastening means, impregnating the overlasted margin of the fabric outer layer and the fabric lining with pyroxylin cement applied to the outer surface of said outer layer in a relatively narrow stripe located widthwise of said margin at that portion thereof where the insteam stitches are to be located, said cement penetrating both the outer layer and lining of the fabric upper, the impregnated portion of the upper not extending to the outer edge of said overlasted margin but extending inwardly beyond said fastening means, allowing the pyroxylin cement to set and harden to bond together the threads of said fabric layers at said portion to prevent them from fraying, thereby providing a firm anchorage for the inseam stitches, attaching a welt to the upper by inseam stitches which pass through the impregnated portions of the fabric outer layer and lining, and trimming off the surplus materials at the inseam as closely as practicable to the inseam stitches so that the trimming cut will pass through the impregnated portions of the fabric outer layer and lining, said impregnated portions providing a sufficiently firm and non-raveling anchorage for the inseam stitches to prevent the upper from pulling away from said stitches during the wearing of the shoe.

JAMES P. FREDERICKSEN.

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