|Publication number||US4455766 A|
|Application number||US 06/326,030|
|Publication date||Jun 26, 1984|
|Filing date||Nov 30, 1981|
|Priority date||Nov 30, 1981|
|Publication number||06326030, 326030, US 4455766 A, US 4455766A, US-A-4455766, US4455766 A, US4455766A|
|Inventors||Harry E. Rubens|
|Original Assignee||Rubens Harry E|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (7), Referenced by (32), Classifications (5), Legal Events (3)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
My invention relates to a rotatable wear-element in a heel for providing even wear around the circumference of a circular wear-element, for insuring a continuous trim appearance at the rear of the heel throughout the life of the shoe.
Such a rotatable wear-element is shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,085,359 which required that both the wear-element and the heel base to which the element is secured, be made of resilient material such as rubber which became very expensive and not economical for general use.
Another wear-element which may be rotated after wear to provide a new trim surface is shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,852,898 which is probably the least expensive of all rotatable wear-elements. This had the advantage of being attached to an existing heel, for protecting the same. Changing positions on the wear element involved using a tool to remove the wear-element which is required to be secured to the heel by a fastener or adhesive, for relocating the same, and reapplying the fastening means.
The present invention has for its object a quick and simple method for changing the wear-element without the use of tools or adhesives. Another object is to provide a wear-element which is positively locked into a secured position to prevent rotation while in the wear position, but which may be manually and easily moved into a new position, and manually released into the new and locked position.
I accomplish these and other objects of the invention by a wear-element which is spring-loaded to the heel base, as is described in the following description and claims, and as is illustrated in the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of my heel, a portion thereof being partly broken away to show the interlocking structure;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view;
FIG. 3 is a side elevation; and
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a modification.
In the form shown in FIG. 2, a heel base element 10 is provided with a downwardly extending peripherally positioned rim 12, and a centrally formed cup-shaped 13, forming a hollow 14, with the inwardly extending bottom wall 15 containing a central aperture 16. At the bottom edge of the rim 12, teeth 17 may be formed for interlocking purposes as will be hereinafter explained.
Walls 18 and 19 form the side and rear faces of the heel base element to provide the convention shape found in present heels. The side and rear faces 18 and 19, are upwardly extending from the bottom face 11a, which together with the rim wall 12 forms a hollow body at the rear of heel base element to reduce the weight of the heel. Nail holes 10a, are provided in the upper face of the heel base element, while apertures 18b extend through extensions 18a from the bottom face 11a in the hollow at the rear of the heel base element, as shown in FIG. 1.
The other elements of the heel structure comprises the nut 20, the coiled spring 30 and the wear-element 40.
The nut 20 is formed with a non-circular flange 21, which may be square to fit into the similarly shaped hollow 14 of the heel base element to prevent rotation with respect thereto. Below the flange 21, the nut is provided with a circular stem 22, and internal threads 23 for engaging the threaded bolt portion 41 extending from the wear-element 40.
The spring 30 is positioned beween the flange 21 of the nut 20, and the bottom wall 15 in the hollow portion 14 of the heel base element 10, and in compressed condition causes the wear element 40 to be forced upwardly against the teeth 17 of the base element 10. Teeth 42 are shaped around the peripheral edge of the wear element 40, extending upwardly to interlock with the rim teeth of the base element in the rim 12.
The stem 22 of the nut 20, extends freely through aperture 16 in the base element and has a length sufficient to accommodate the entire length of the bolt portion 41. Thus when the wear-element 40 is grasped manually, (and the edge 43 of the wear-element may be outwardly flared to provide a gripping surface,) and pulled away from the heel base element, against the action of the spring 30, to enable the wear-element to be free of the interlocking teeth 17 and 42. The wear-element may be rotated to a new position of the wear-element for even wear, or by continuing the rotation, the bolt may be unscrewed from the nut, and a new wear-element inserted when the used wear-element is replaced.
The entire wear-element may be made of structurally stiff but resilient material suitable for wear such as polyurethane. However the wear-element may be made of less expensive plastic material that is structurally suitable, and the lower face provided with a layer of polyurethane, or other suitable wear-resistant material 44 such as rubber, as is shown in FIG. 4, the wear-element being cemented or otherwise bonded during the molding process.
The modification in FIG. 4, is substantially identical with that shown in FIG. 2, except that the threaded bolt portion extends from the base element instead of from the wear-element. The nut is contained within the hollow portion extending from the wear-element instead of from the heel base element. The parts are similarly numbered, except that in the modification a prime (') has been added to indicate its position in the modification. As was pointed out above, the wear element 40, here 40', has a layer of polyurethane or other wear resisting material added. In the modification this also serves to close the opening to the opening to the hollow 14'.
The heel base element may be made of any material that has sufficient structural strength to be used as a heel material and which can be shaped into the desired form.
Instead of a spring metal coil, a ball of rubber may be used with a hollow portion to permit the bolt to extend therethrough, and sufficiently compressible to provide the desired spring-loading. Instead of a compression type spring, the desired tension may be obtained by an extended spring in tension, or an elastic band, each end of which is simply secured to one of the two elements while under tension. The locking and unlocking of the elements could take place as aforesaid.
I have thus described and illustrated the invention. I claim all equivalent constructions, as it is apparent that variations may be made in the resilient connection that integrates the wear element to the heel base element.
|Cited Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US2104924 *||Sep 14, 1936||Jan 11, 1938||Gayton Dellea||Shoe heel|
|US2313368 *||Aug 14, 1942||Mar 9, 1943||Smith Sr Alfred F||Circular shoe heel|
|US2535102 *||Nov 24, 1945||Dec 26, 1950||Walton Taylor James||Shoe heel|
|CH599766A5 *||Title not available|
|FR4452E *||Title not available|
|GB188501041A *||Title not available|
|GB188917948A *||Title not available|
|Citing Patent||Filing date||Publication date||Applicant||Title|
|US4680876 *||Nov 21, 1984||Jul 21, 1987||Peng Koh K||Article of footwear|
|US5560126 *||Aug 17, 1994||Oct 1, 1996||Akeva, L.L.C.||Athletic shoe with improved sole|
|US5615497 *||Aug 17, 1993||Apr 1, 1997||Meschan; David F.||Athletic shoe with improved sole|
|US5806210 *||Oct 12, 1995||Sep 15, 1998||Akeva L.L.C.||Athletic shoe with improved heel structure|
|US5826352 *||Sep 30, 1996||Oct 27, 1998||Akeva L.L.C.||Athletic shoe with improved sole|
|US5918384 *||Sep 30, 1996||Jul 6, 1999||Akeva L.L.C.||Athletic shoe with improved sole|
|US5970628 *||Sep 8, 1998||Oct 26, 1999||Akeva L.L.C.||Athletic shoe with improved heel structure|
|US6050002 *||May 18, 1999||Apr 18, 2000||Akeva L.L.C.||Athletic shoe with improved sole|
|US6195916||Feb 25, 2000||Mar 6, 2001||Akeva, L.L.C.||Athletic shoe with improved sole|
|US6324772||Aug 17, 2000||Dec 4, 2001||Akeva, L.L.C.||Athletic shoe with improved sole|
|US6604300||Dec 4, 2001||Aug 12, 2003||Akeva L.L.C.||Athletic shoe with improved sole|
|US6662471||Oct 18, 1999||Dec 16, 2003||Akeva, L.L.C.||Athletic shoe with improved heel structure|
|US6807753||May 13, 2002||Oct 26, 2004||Adidas International B.V.||Shoe with tunable cushioning system|
|US6983553||Nov 5, 2003||Jan 10, 2006||Adidas International Marketing B.V.||Shoe with tunable cushioning system|
|US20040123496 *||Dec 11, 2003||Jul 1, 2004||Akeva, L.L.C.||Athletic shoe with improved heel structure|
|US20040148799 *||Nov 5, 2003||Aug 5, 2004||Adidas International Marketing B. V.||Shoe with tunable cushioning system|
|US20040231192 *||Jun 30, 2004||Nov 25, 2004||Meschan David F.||Plate for athletic shoe|
|US20040231193 *||Jun 30, 2004||Nov 25, 2004||Meschan David F.||Shock absorbing athletic shoe|
|US20040231194 *||Jun 30, 2004||Nov 25, 2004||Meschan David F.||Athletic shoe with plate|
|US20040231195 *||Jun 30, 2004||Nov 25, 2004||Meschan David F.||Midsole for athletic shoe|
|US20040231198 *||Jun 30, 2004||Nov 25, 2004||Meschan David F.||Cushioning for athletic shoe|
|US20040231199 *||Jun 30, 2004||Nov 25, 2004||Meschan David F.||Arch bridge for athletic shoe|
|US20040237344 *||Jun 30, 2004||Dec 2, 2004||Meschan David F.||Athletic shoe having cushioning|
|US20040237345 *||Jun 30, 2004||Dec 2, 2004||Meschan David F.||Rear sole structure for athletic shoe|
|US20040237347 *||Jun 30, 2004||Dec 2, 2004||Meschan David F.||Bottom surface configuration for athletic shoe|
|US20040244222 *||Jun 30, 2004||Dec 9, 2004||Meschan David F.||Shock absorbent athletic shoe|
|US20050262730 *||Aug 3, 2005||Dec 1, 2005||Akeva, L.L.C.||Athletic shoe with inclined wall configuration|
|US20050262731 *||Aug 3, 2005||Dec 1, 2005||Akeva, L.L.C.||Athletic shoe with visible arch bridge|
|US20060117602 *||Jun 30, 2004||Jun 8, 2006||Meschan David F||Athletic shoe with bottom opening|
|USD668854||Oct 16, 2012||Wolverine World Wide, Inc.||Footwear sole|
|WO1990000866A1 *||Jul 27, 1989||Feb 8, 1990||Bernard Colombel||Sole assembly with adjustable lateral hardness in the heel area|
|WO1995005099A1 *||Aug 17, 1994||Feb 23, 1995||Meschan David F||Athletic shoe with improved sole|
|U.S. Classification||36/39, 36/38|
|Jan 26, 1988||REMI||Maintenance fee reminder mailed|
|Jun 26, 1988||LAPS||Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees|
|Sep 13, 1988||FP||Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee|
Effective date: 19870626