US1907856A - Rubber footwear - Google Patents

Description

May 9, 1933- E. A. MURPHY l 1,907,856

RUBBER lFOOTWEAR Filed sept.` 5. 1930 Patented May* 9, 1,933

UNITED STATES PATENTV oFFlcE EDWARD ARTHUR IUBPHY, 0F W-'YLDE GREEN, BIRMINGHAM,v ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO DUNLOP .RUBBER LIMITED, OF vFQR'II'. DUNLOP,

a Barman oonroaanoir BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND,

BUBBEB FOOTWEAR Lpplioationmed september 5, 1930, Serial No.

articlesof rubber or waterproof compositionsl in those parts which are likely to be subjected 1 to extra stress or wear, the bonding between the layers being perfect throughout, and

wherein the sole and/or upper Yparts of the shoe are provided with a roughened or wrinkled or cellular or -embossed surface,

l .thereby providing a shoe of increased durabilityrand improved appearance, having at the same time provision against any tendency to slipping. p v l Heretofore bathing shoes and similar footwear have generally been made by forming the different parts, such as the uppers, sole and insole, of different pieces of compounded crepe rubber, then securing these pleces together b adhesion with a cement, or otheru wise, an vulcanizing them. .In making shoes in this manner the bonding between the differentparts is not always perfect, there being planes of division or adhesion between the different parts which always do not have the 3 desired strength and which, in anyevent, are

weaker than the parts themselves, each particle of which is joined to the other 1n a sin le mass by cohesion.

n object of my present invention is to 5 provide a bathing shoe, or other article of footwear, in which the entire shoe or the essential parts thereof, are formed in' a single mass without any planes of adhesion between the separately formed parts, and in which 4 particular parts may yet be made of rubbers of different appearance or y suited for thatparticular vpart or area of the shoe; and to provide a met od by which these shoes may be made.

In accordance with my invention, the h i a +happropriate rer,

characteristics n 479,829, and m creat Britain loctober 5; 192s.

ing shoe lor Vother footwear is made ,from aqueous ldispersions of 'rubber materials in any suitable manner, such as by formingdeposits of the dispersed material on a suitable form, by dipping, spreading, electrodeposition or otherwise. 'Different elements'of the shoe structure, suchas the sole, the insole, toe and heel reinforcements, and even ornamentation, may be added in this, manner on arts of the shoe structure. In

the case of lnsoles, `the insole may be -fir'st formed `on the sole of the former) then the bottom and sides of the shoe may e formed over the insole deposit and sides-of the formand finally an outer wearing sole may be formed on the bottom of the shoe structure and, if desired, a toe reinforcement may be formed. These various deposits or layers are thus formed in' integral masses without any planes of adhesion inasmuchas they are all formed in the same process and curedfas a unit. The color, type and characteristics and, if desired, the Vcompounding of the various "deposits may, however, diier. For example, the :insole may be formed of highly porous rubber to give a soft cushion and theouter sole may be compounded and treated to give a hard wearin surface while, at the' same/ time, maintainlng the unity'l of the structure mentioned above. The sole and upper part may, moreover, be givenappropriate colors and their surfaces may be given a wrinkled eect or other configuration suited for their particular purposes. These effects may be obtained either by chemical or osmotic effects on `the rubber before curing, or by a suitable embossin before final curing.

The ru bery compositions are used in the ,form of solutions of rubberor like vegetable resins .in organicv solvents or as emulsions or dispersions comprising natural or artiicial aqueous dispersions of rubber or similar veg-l etable resins such as tta-persha or balata with or'without the `addition of aqueous dis-` persions or emulsions `of rubber-like sub- 90 stances such as the so-called synthetic rubber or mineral rubbers or rubber substitutes such as factice or rubber reclaim or rubber waste or oils, e. g. rape oil or vulcanized oils or 5 cellulose esters, viscose or proteins, for example, casein.

The dispersions may be concentrated and/or compounded or vice versa. The compounding ingredients may be chosen from vulcanizing agents such as sulphur, fillers and reinforcing agents such as'whiting, clay, barium sulphate, lithopone, la-mp black, -gas black, zinc oxide, accelerators of vulcanization coloring matters and preservatives or softeners.

Compoundedconcentrates such as` are described in Patent N o. 1,846,164 of February 23, 1932, are particularly suitable for use.

Aqueous dispersions of artificial rubber with or without any one or more of the hereinbefore mentioned compounding ingredients can also be employed. l

The shoesare constructed yor formed on suitable formers, for example, of aluminum,

from the solutions ordis ersions hereinbefore specified, b the use o one or more oper- `ations such as ipping, spreading, spraying,

or electrophoresis. v

The roughening or wrinkling of the surface of the soles andthe uppers,v if desired,

may be effected b the process described and clalmed in Britis Patent No. 324,988. The embossing eii'ect may be obtained, for example, by the application of rollers having the desired indentations and projections on their cylindrical surfaces to the rubber surface before vulcanization.

Furthermore, the seamless soles `and upper parts of shoes may be made from sponge 40 rubber, for instance, from aqueous emulsions or dispersions of the kinds hereinbefore specified which havebeen converted into a frothy condition wherein the froth comprises a gas and the emulsions or dispersions aforesaid still in the reversible condition, subsequently causing the frothy mass to set to a permanent structure of irreversible solid material.

Decorative designs can alsoV be provided upon the uppers of the shoe integrally united therewith. These decorations can be effected by, for example, the operation of piping with the aid of tubes. which are supplied with rub- 00 for instance, according to the method described and claimed in Patent No. 1,832,514. Patent No. 1,832,514 refers to a method of forming a deposit ,on a form surface from an aqueous dispersion, coagulating the deposit and dippmg it into water containing on its surface bodies of color solution in jazzwise arrangement.

The shoe, if desired, may be provided with a part or parts, for example, an edging or insole produced separately by known means, as for instance, from calendered sheet or rubber fabric.

The accompanying drawing shows by way of example, an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a bathing shoe or beach shoe constructed so as to form a seamless article of rubber composition reinforced with extra layers of rubber or waterproof compositions in those parts which are likely to be subjected to extra stress or wear, the bonding between the layers bein perfect throughout and wherein the sole an upper parts of the shoe are rovided with a roughened or wrinkled sur ace.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation view of the heel portion of the shoe showing the layers of rubber or waterproof compositions.

According to the figures the shoeshown includesas the upper part 1 `a seamless shellof rubber, prepared for instance, bya. dip ing operation into the aqueous dispersions a oresaid superimposed upon the insole 2 also formed from the aqueous dispersions aforesaid, by for example, a dipping operation.

Upon the shell 1 is superimposed, if desired, by dipping, a seamless sole 3 made to cover the toe-cap 4 and to rise atthe heel 5 for purposes of reinforcement. The heel and toe p0rtions may be formed by a proper dipping movement, either automatically or by hand,4

or the entire sole and toe and heel parts may be formed by depositing in any other suitable manner the dispersed material from the latex. The outer sole layer, which includes 3, 4 and 5 has again a wrinkled effect as, for instance,

according to British Patent No. 324,988. The' top of the shoe is strengthened by a binding 6. The binding 6 may be applied in the same manner as other parts, or may be applied in the usual way with adhesives, if desired.

planes of division nor of adhesion between the shell 1 and the inner and outer soles`2 and 3. The entire shoe is one mass in which any given portion is united cohesively with ad- 110 When the shoe is completed there are no jacent portions, as contrasted with one in which some parts are joined adhesivel to others. This particular structure is attained while still permitting the characteristics in various parts of the shoe to be varied at will.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. Rubber footwear comprising a shell, an insole and an outer sole all 1n a single unita mass united cohesively without planes of a hesion, said inner sole being of foam structure, and said outer sole being dense.'

2. A method of making rubber footwear my name. v Y

EDWARD ARTHUR MURPHY`

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