US1236350A - Detachable and interchangeable tread for footwear. - Google Patents

Description

A. W. POUGHER.

DETACHABLE AND INTERCHANGEABLE TREAD FOR FOOTWEAR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24, 1916.

1,236,85U. Patented Aug. 7,1917.`

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ARTHUR WILLIAM POUG-HER, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

DETACHABLE AND INTERCHANGEABLE TREAID FOR FOOTWEAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. "Z, i917.,

Application filed. April 24, 1916. Serial No. 93,308.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ARTHUR WILLIAM POUGHER, subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at 14 Long Millgate, Manchester, in the county of Lancashire, England, commercial manager, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Detachable and Interchangeable Treads for Footwear, of which the following is a specification.

My inventionrelates to an improved form of detachable sole and heel adapted to be readily securedin place upon boots, shoes or the like, each sole being made interchangeable and secured to the boot, shoe, or the like in such a manner as to enable the wearer or any other person to readily detach the old sole and to aiiix a new one to the boot without necessitating the use of any tools.

My invention is particularly applicable to boots for military purposes in which the sole and -heel are subject to rough usage and wear rapidly7 and where diiiiculty in obtaining repairs in the ordinary way would be experienced, whereas with my improved invention the wearer could quickly make the repair himself. v

According to my invention, the boot, shoe or other article of footwear is'provided with a suitable light sole in the ordinary manner. This sole is of a sufficiently strong construction to be substantially waterproof, and suitable guides or guideways are secured on the underside of this sole to engage in a slide or groove in the upper surface of a detachable sole-piece which is adapted to be slid thereon to secure the sole-piece in position in such a manner that while it is securely fixed in position during use, it may be readily detached and replaced by another when it has worn out or become otherwise unserviceable. The detachable sole-piece butts against a stop upon the permanent sole of the boot, shoe, or the like so as to register it in position when it has been correctly affixed to the boot. In order to prevent the detachable sole-piece from creeping on the permanent sole of the shoe, suitable fixing means may be employed to maintain them in their relative positions. For this purpose one or more screws, nails or the like may be passed through both soles so as to register them in their relative positions or simple clips may be provided to be driven into the edges of the soles for the same purpose.

l The guides or guideways may be conveniently made of india-rubber, reinforced by embedding in their surface during the process of molding or otherwise forming them suitable lengths or layers of wire gauze, canvas, metal strips or other convenient material which `while allowing the required resilience or flexibility to enable the detachable sole to be readily secured in position, will also provide the necessarydegree of strength to resist the strains to which they may be subjected, while at the same time not imparting too great a rigidity to the sole of the boot.

The detachable soles may be provided with heel pieces secured thereon, but in a modification the heel-piece and fore-part of the sole may be separate parts adapted to be independently secured to the permanent sole of the boot in the same manner as has already been described in connection with the complete sole.

In order that my invention may be more readily understood, reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is an elevation of a boot showing `the T-shaped strips secured upon the permanent sole of the same.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the boot sole with the removable wearing element attached thereto.

Fig. 3 is a plan of same with the permanent sole of the boot removed and Fig. 4 is a cross section to a larger scale, of the toe part of the boot shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings AI employ a pair of guideways l, 2, secured upon the permanent sole 3 of the boot 4, the guideway 1 being attached beneath the forepart and the guideway 2 beneath the heel-part of the permanent sole 3. These guidevvays 1 and 2 comprise squat T-shaped pieces secured to the permanent sole 3 of the boot 4 by rivets or pins 5 so as to leave a groove or space 6 between their outer edges 7 and the permanent sole 3. The outer edges 7 of these T-shaped pieces engage in a longitudinal groove 8 in the detachable sole 9 to be secured to the boot 4 and a longitudinal slot 10 in the upper face of the detachable sole 9 is provided to accommodate the central portion 11 of the T-shaped strips 1. The detachable sole 9 is shown built up of a number of layers of leather to form the lower or wearing surface 12 which may be provided with any suitable protective devices such as iron or steel studs, plates or the like. To the upper face of this wearing portion 12 of the sole 9 are secured a pair of strips 13 at each side, leaving between them the space 8 substantially equal to the maximum width of the side members 7 of the guideways 1 and 2 on the permanent sole 3 of the boot 4 and over these side strips is secured a further layer of leather or other suitable material 14 having the longitudinal slot 10 therein. These together form an undercut or inverted T-slot in the detachable. sole 9, which is adapted to engage over the T-shaped strips 1 and 2 on the permanent sole 3. The detachable sole 9 is applied to the boot 4 by engaging the forward end of the `Tshaped strip 1 on the forepart of the boot 4, in the T-slot in the detachable sole 9 and sliding the sole 9 endwise until the heel end thereof engages against abutment 15 at the heel of the boot 4, in which position it is secured by passing a screw or nail through the heel 19 into this abutment 15, or some other portion of the detachable sole 9 and permanent sole 3. In Figs. 3 and 4 are shown a series of staple shaped clips 16 which engage with both the detachable sole 9 and permanent sole 3.

The longitudinal groove 8 formed by the strips 13 and-the longitudinal slot 10 in the layer 14 on the. detachable sole 9, are preferably stopped near the toe of the sole 9 at 18 at which point they are adapted to engage against the front of the T-shaped strips 1 and 2 which will prevent the two portions of each from separating when subjected to rough usage.

The guideways or strips 1 and 2 upon the underside of the detachable sole 9 of the boot 4 preferably comprise reinforced strips of rubber'of the desired T or other section secured by means of the rivets or pins 5 to the permanent sole 3. The strips 1 and 2 are conveniently reinforced by embedding in their surface during manufacture, lengths or layers of wire gauze 17 which while allowing the required resilience or flexibility to enable the sole 9 to be readily attached in position upon the T-shaped strips 1 and 2, will also provide the necessary degree of strength to resist strains to which they may be subjected, while at the same time not imsole, a detachable sole comprising a numberA of layers, a narrow longitudinal slot having arallel sides in the upper layer, a broader ongitudinal slot having parallel sides in the layer beneath the upper one so as to form together a slot into which the inverted T'- shaped guideways may be slidably engaged and a series of staple shaped clips one end of which is engaged in the edge of the permanent sole and the other end of which is engaged in the edge. of the detachable tread so as to secure the latter in position.

2. In a detachable and interchangeable tread for footwear, a permanent sole, at least one inverted T-shaped guideway of resilient material having parallel edges, secured to the permanent sole, a' detachable-sole co1nprising a number of layers, a narrow longitudinal slot having parallel sides in the upper layer, a broader longitudinal slot having parallel sides in the layer beneath the upper one so as to form together a slot into which the inverted T-sliaped guideways may be slidably engaged and a series of staple clips one end of which is engaged in the edge of the permanent sole and the other end of which is engaged in the edge of the detachable tread so as to secure the latter in position.

3. In a detachable and interchangeable tread for footwear, a permanent sole, flexible inverted T-shaped guideways `having parallel edges secured to the underside of the permanent sole one beneath the forepart and one beneath the heel, strips of reinforcing material embedded in the T-shaped guideways, a space between the two guideways beneath the instep, a detachable `sole comprising` a number of layers, a narrow longitudinal slot in the upper layer, and a broader longitudinal slot in the layer beneath the upper one so as to form an undercut lT-slot in which the T-shaped guideways may be slidably engaged, and a series of staple shaped clips one end of which is engaged in the permanent sole and the other in the detachable tread so as to secure the latter in position.

ARTHUR WILLIAM POUGHER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents,

Washington, D. C.

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