Methods Of Manufacturing Welted Shoes

Abstract

A method of manufacturing welted footwear in which a shaped board is temporarily secured to one side of a flexible insole prior to the securing of a lasted upper to the insole, the flexible insole being formed with extended marginal portions which in the finished article of footwear extend up the sides of the upper so as to cradle the foot.

Parent Case Text

This application is a division of our co-pending application Ser. No. 26,320 filed Apr. 7, 1970, now abandoned.

Description

The present invention relates to the manufacture of welted footwear.

The invention is based on the appreciation that whereas it is desirable for footwear to have a very flexible insole such an insole, which is the foundation of the article, must be robust enough to withstand the heavy lasting strains of the upper when using mechanical lasting machines. Thus during lasting the insole must be substantially rigid, but afterwards, when the shape-retention stresses have been set into the leather, a rigid insole is no longer necessary or even desirable.

In accordance with the present invention, a method of manufacturing a welted article of footwear comprises the steps of attaching a sole-shaped board to one side of a flexible insole formed with an extended marginal portion so that the insole projects laterally beyond the board, securing an elongated projection on the other side of said insole to follow the contour of the edge of the insole but spaced inwardly therefrom, securing the projection to the inwardly pulled margin of a lasted upper and to the inner margin of a welt, and applying an outsole to the lasted upper-insole-welt, the sole-shaped board being detached from the insole subsequently to the securing of the projection to the upper and removed from the interior of the article.

Preferably, a resilient filler of sponge material is provided in a space surrounded by the projection and enclosed by the outsole and the insole.

An upper may be provided in the lining which extends between the laterally projecting portion of the insole and the inwardly pulled margin of the upper. Preferably, the margin of the lining is secured between the projection on the insole and the inner margin of the welt.

The invention will be more readily understood from the following description of a method of manufacturing a shoe given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows a cross-section through a shoe during one stage of the manufacture of the shoe.

Referring to the drawing, the shoe is manufactured by securing a flexible insole 10 of light soft leather to a stiff sole-shaped board 11 by means of staples 12, the insole 10 having an extended marginal portion 10a which projects laterally beyond the periphery of the board 11.

A projection in the form of a T-section rib member 14 is then secured by adhesive to the lower side of the insole 10 to extend around the marginal portion of the insole and spaced inwardly of the edge thereof. The edge of the stiff board 11 may be used as a guide for a machine for applying the rib member 14.

A shoe upper 16 is then fitted over a last (not shown) and its margin 17 is pulled over the boundary of the bottom of the last. The board-insole unit 10, 11 is placed on the bottom of the last and the projecting portion 10a of the insole 10 is bent so that it is located within the interior of the shoe upper 16. For convenience of description the shoe parts are described as in the shoe when worn, with the upper above and the sole below, though it will be appreciated that on the last the shoe is upside-down.

The margin 20 of a welt 19 is then applied to the margin 17 of the upper by bending the margin downwardly to lie against the margin of the upper and by stitching. The operation of applying the welt 19 is preferably done by a stitching machine, which feeds in the welt and stitches together the inner margin 20 of the welt 19, the margin 17 of the upper 16, a lining 22 in the upper 16 and the rib member 14. The stitches are indicated in the drawing by reference numeral 23.

The rib member 14 is made from rubber or a rubber-like material, and is sufficiently flexible to distort somewhat, without becoming detached from the insole 10, when the shoe is worn and to adapt to the pressures exerted on the walls of the upper and insole of the shoe by the wearer's foot.

The sole-shaped board 11 and the staples 12 are next removed, and a resilient filling of sponge rubber 24 is then provided below the insole 10 in the space enclosed by the rib member 14. The filling extends over the forepart of the shoe so as to serve as a comfortable support to the foot and an auxiliary foundation for the shoe when worn.

An outsole (25) is then applied to the welt and is secured thereto by lock-stitching.

A heel (not shown) is secured to the rear of the sole and the shoe is then removed from the last.

One advantage of the above-described method is that by extending the flexible insole 10 beyond the periphery of the last so that it curves upwardly as shown along the wall of the upper 16, the shape of the shoe is substantially maintained in use and a cradling effect on the foot is created, similar to that given by a genuine moccasin.

Claims

We claim:

1. A method of manufacturing a welted article of footwear comprising the steps of attaching a sole-shaped board to one side of a flexible insole formed with an extended marginal portion so that the insole projects laterally beyond the board, securing an elongated projection on the other side of said insole to follow the contour of the edge of the insole but spaced inwardly therefrom, securing the projection to the inwardly pulled margin of a lasted upper and to the inner margin of a welt, and applying an outsole to the lasted upper-insole-welt unit, the sole-shaped board being detached from the insole subsequently to the securing of the projection to the upper and removed from the interior of the article.

2. A method of manufacturing a welted article of footwear comprising the steps of temporarily attaching a stiff sole-shaped support board to one side of a soft flexible insole formed with an extended marginal portion so that the insole projects laterally beyond the board, securing an elongated flexible projection on the other side of the insole by means of an adhesive to follow the contour of the edge of the insole but spaced inwardly therefrom, stitching the projection to the inwardly pulled margin of a lasted upper and to the inner margin of a welt, positioning a resilient filler layer in the space bounded by the projection, applying an outsole to the lasted upper-insole-welt unit, and detaching the sole shaped board from the insole and removing it from the interior of the article.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the edge of the support board is used as to guide the application of the projection to the insole.