Footwear

Abstract

An article of footwear having a substantially inflexible heel supporting plate located inside the article and resiliently held above the heel portion of the sole thereof by a base plate which is located beneath the heel supporting plate and is secured to the forward edge of the latter the heel supporting plate being inclined upwardly from the forward edge thereof and the base plate being ribbed along its length.

Description

This invention relates to shoes, boots and the like which, in this specification, are commonly termed shoes.

It has been proposed that in order to make a shoe more comfortable a resiliently mounted heel supporting plate be located over the heel portion of a shoe thereby providing means for absorbing mechanical shocks which would normally be transmitted to the heel of a person wearing such a shoe.

However, applicants believe that the reason why shoes fitted with such plates are not commercially available at present is either that the plates are uneconomical to manufacture or that they have not had the desired lasting and resilient qualities.

It is accordingly the object of this invention to provide a heel supporting plate for a shoe which will be inexpensive to manufacture and which will exhibit good lasting qualities.

In accordance with this invention there is provided an article of footwear comprising a sole having a toe portion and a heel portion, a heel supporting plate located over the heel portion of the sole and having a frontal edge facing towards the toe portion thereof, a base plate located beneath the heel supporting plate and being secured at one end thereof to the frontal edge of the latter, the heel supporting plate being inclined to and being resiliently movable towards the base plate and the base plate being provided with longitudinally extending ribs thereon.

Further features of the invention provide for the heel supporting plate and the base plate to be made from a single piece of material bent along the frontal edge, for the ribs on the base plate to be constituted by longitudinal corrugations formed therein, for the heel supporting plate to have a transverse rib on the underside thereof near the frontal edge, this rib being arranged to engage the base plate upon downward movement of the heel supporting plate, for the heel supporting plate to have longitudinally extending ribs rearwardly of the transverse rib and for the plates to be made of stainless steel.

Still further features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the heel supporting plate and base plate;

FIG. 2 is a sectional isometric view similar to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the heel supporting plate and base plate;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line A--A in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section of a shoe having the heel supporting plate located therein.

In this embodiment of the invention the heel supporting plate 1 is made of a high quality resilient steel, preferably stainless steel and is made to a slightly dished shape to conform roughly to the shape of a person'heel. This plate 1 is made integral with a base plate 2 therefor which is connected to the plate along an edge 3 thereof which will be the front edge of the heel supporting plate in use. The base plate 2 is appreciably narrower than the heel supporting plate and is ribbed longitudinally as indicated by numeral 4 to prevent it bending excessively during use, these ribs being formed by corrugating the base plate along the length thereof.

The heel supporting plate is also ribbed with one transverse rib 5 on the underside of the plate and located near the front edge 3 and a plurality of longitudinal ribs 6 extending rearwardly from the transverse rib 5. These longitudinal ribs 6 are made sufficiently long and are arranged such that bending of the heel supporting plate rearwardly of the transverse rib is minimized.

Conveniently these ribs are formed by pressing grooves into the top face of the heel supporting plate. Thus the corrugations on the base plate rib on the heel supporting plate and shaping of the latter may all be effected in a single pressing operation carried out on a flat piece of steel cut to the desired shape. This pressed piece of steel is then simply bent about the front edge 3 such that the heel supporting plate is inclined at a desired angle to the base plate for example from 10.degree. to 15.degree..

The above arrangement is such that when the heel supporting plate is depressed towards the base plate the transverse rib engages the tops of corrugations on the base plate nd further movement of the heel supporting plate in this direction is subject to considerable resistance owing to the corrugations, longitudinal ribs and small distance between the transverse rib and the front edge 3 of the heel supporting plate. The heel supporting plate may this only be fully depressed when the full weight of a person or a large proportion thereof is exerted thereon. It has been found that with the above-described plate assembly good resilience of the heel supporting plate is achieved as well as long life of the plate assembly.

The above-described plate and base assembly is preferably incorporated into a shoe 7 during the manufacture thereof with the base plate 2 located above the heel 8 of the shoe and between the inner and outer soles 9 and 10 respectively, the edge 3 connecting the base plate and heel supporting plate being located just rearwardly of the front edge of the heel. Also the portion 11 forming the connection between the two plates is of the same width as the base and extends through a slot 12 in the inner sole of the shoe.

Thus, the plate, when it is in position, is located over the heel of the shoe and is inclined upwardly and rearwardly from the front edge thereof.

It may be found, depending on the structure of the shoe, that with the base located as above described, no additional securing thereof to the soles of the shoe is required, but if necessary the base may be secured to the shoe by any convenient means such as nails or adhesive. In particular, it has been found advantageous to provide spikes 13 formed by bending small portions 14 of the base adjacent the rear end 15 thereof downwardly, these spikes being forced into the outer sole during assembly of the shoe. Finally, the shoe may be provided with an inner lining (not shown) covering the heel supporting plate and inner sole of the shoe.

In use the plate provides a comfortable and resilient support for the heel of a person wearing the shoe thereby providing greater comfort to the wearer by absorbing mechanical shocks generally transmitted to the person's heel.

Claims

What I claim as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An article of footwear comprising a sole having a toe portion and a heel portion, a heel supporting plate located over the heel portion of the sole and having a frontal edge facing towards the toe portion thereof, a base plate located beneath the heel supporting plate and being secured at one end thereof to the frontal edge of the latter, the heel supporting plate being inclined to and being resiliently movable towards the base plate, the base plate being provided with longitudinally extending ribs thereon, said sole comprises an outer and an inner sole and the base plate is located between the outer and inner soles and a slot is provided through the inner sole to enable the heel supporting plate to extend thereabove.

2. An article of footwear as claimed in claim 1 in which the base plate is provided with spikes at the free end thereof the spikes being driven into the outer sole to locate the base plate.

3. An article of footwear as claimed in claim 1 in which the heel supporting plate is made of stainless steel.

4. A heel supporting plate comprising a one-piece element defined by generally superposed heel support and base portions joined to each other along a fold, said base portion being narrower than said heel support portion, a plurality of corrugations generally normal to said fold being formed in both said heel support and base portions for reinforcing the same, the corrugations of said heel support portion opening in a direction away from said base portion, at least a single additional corrugation in said heel support portion in transverse relationship to the plurality of corrugations thereof, and said heel support portion being dished to open away from said base portion to conform to the shape of a person's heel.