EP0774216A1 - Improved footwear and method of making the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The footwear consists of a rope sole (9) made from jute or a similar material, and an upper (12) of fabric, soft leather or other material which fits over the front of the foot and round the heel. The outer surface of the sole is covered by a thin layer (1) of a supple and impermeable material, comprising a base which is the same shape as the sole and a raised edge (3) with holes (4) of indentations close to the top through which it is stitched simultaneously to the sole and the upper, using a chain stitch. The thin outer layer (1) is made by injection moulding from a suitable material, especially PVC, synthetic vulcanised rubber, or any plastic material which can be polymerised in a mould. It is between 1.5 and 3 mm, and preferably between 2 and 2.5 mm thick, and kits under-surface can be ribbed, with a step in front of the heel.

Description

The present invention relates to an article of footwear, of the kind in particular of those well known in the art under the term of espadrilles.

Such an article conventionally comprises two main parts, respectively a sole generally produced by means of a jute braid or a similar material, and a canvas upper, or even in soft leather or other material of the same type.

In traditional manufacturing, the braid of the sole is suitably wound on itself to the profile of the foot, sewn in its thickness and finally shaped in its middle zone to delimit on either side of the latter respectively a front part on which rests the sole of the foot and the end thereof, and a rear part on which the heel rests.

The upper in canvas or the like preferably comprises two elements preassembled with each other by sewing, one forming the front of the footwear and receiving the end of the foot, while the other is extends backwards, surrounding the heel to connect on each side to the front part.

The sole and the vamp are mounted one under the other and sewn laterally along the periphery of the sole, with a stitch, especially of the chain stitch type, single or double, the vamp being generally decorated in its end which is at the tip of the sole by a complementary pattern made with the same seam and intended to strengthen the solidity of the canvas in this place.

Depending on the case, sewing can be carried out mechanically for the most ordinary articles, or even by hand for better quality espadrilles and whose aesthetics are thus improved.

This kind of footwear, relatively inexpensive compared with other equally traditional shoes, even when made by hand, provides the user with comfort that is highly appreciated thanks to the material of the sole and the 'Quickly optimal adaptation of the vamp to the shape of the kick due to the corresponding deformation of the fabric which wraps it best.

On the other hand, conventional sneakers have a major drawback, which essentially results from a relative lack of resistance to wear, mainly from the jute sole, the latter wearing out and deforming quickly, the windings of the braid that forms this sole is undone, especially as soon as the espadrille is brought into contact with water, which inevitably occurs in the event of rain and the presence of puddles on the ground.

In addition, as soon as the sole is wet and thus accumulates residual moisture, it reduces or even annihilates the comfort provided by the article in new condition or little used when the jute sole in contact with the sole of the foot is perfectly dried.

To overcome this drawback, it has already been envisaged to have under the sole, in its face intended to come into contact with the ground, one or more reinforcements of an appropriate material, for example in the form of a thin layer of vulcanized rubber or of a similar product, in injected polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or other.

This protective coating can be continuous covering the entire sole or be provided only at the ends thereof, at the tip of the foot and under the heel. It can also have various forms, from one manufacturer to another.

But if these reinforcements provide some progress, they do not allow the essential disadvantage mentioned above to be totally eliminated, due to the lack of solidity of the sole as soon as it is wet, the sides of the latter not being protected.

The connection of the reinforcements under the sole, generally carried out by bonding, is moreover frequently insufficient, so that these reinforcements quickly tend to separate from the jute surface. In addition, they are generally very thin so as not to completely eliminate the feeling of comfort provided by the sole of the rope in its support on the ground, which makes them ineffective beyond a relatively short period of use after which they are too worn to properly fulfill the function assigned to them.

The subject of the present invention is an article of footwear of the espadrille type, as defined above but improved so as to avoid the drawbacks of traditional manufacturing, while retaining to this article the comfort and comfort which have ensured its reputation while avoiding premature wear and deterioration of the sole which inevitably occurs in conventional articles as soon as this sole is wet, in particular in rainy weather and on wet ground, the sole being fully and effectively protected.

The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing an improved footwear of this type.

To this end, the article of footwear under consideration, of the espadrille type, comprising a jute sole or of a similar material, conforming to the profile of the foot, and an upper of canvas, flexible leather or the like, enveloping the foot on the front and around the heel, this upper being sewn with the sole on the periphery thereof, is characterized in that it comprises a thin cup, made of a flexible and waterproof material, comprising a bottom of the same contour as that of the sole and a raised edge, able to surround the sole laterally, this edge extending from the bottom substantially over the height of the latter and comprising over its entire length, near its end opposite the bottom, a plurality of holes, preferably non-through, directed towards the inside of the bowl receiving the sole, these holes being intended to allow simultaneous sewing of the sole, of the bowl and of the vamp along the periphery of the article.

Thanks to these provisions, the jute sole or the sole made of any other material naturally "pierced" by the needle, or provided with "holes" allowing sewing, is entirely contained inside the front bowl that it is secured, at the same time as the latter, to the upper, so that the presence of water, in the form of puddles or runoff, does not risk wetting the sole, which is fully protected , not only on its underside bearing on the ground but also on its sides.

The presence of the thin bowl, made of a material having a suitable flexibility, on the other hand makes it possible to preserve in the footwear all the qualities of comfort of a traditional sneaker, the foot of the use remaining notably maintained by the upper and, inside it, in contact with the jute rope of the sole.

Depending on the case, the thin bowl is produced by molding and injection of a suitable material, in particular of the PVC or vulcanized synthetic rubber type, or more generally using any plastic material, capable of being polymerized inside the mold, of the type of those commonly used to constitute the reinforcements of the jute soles of a classic sneaker.

According to the case also, the bottom of the cup can be shaped so as to have a flat or slightly arched surface before the heel area. This bottom may in particular have a constant thickness over its entire extent or variable, while being slightly greater at the level of the heel.

Also and according to another characteristic in itself known, the lower surface of the bottom of the bowl, in contact with the ground, may include ridges or other patterns in relief towards the outside, providing better adhesion while reducing the overall wear of the bowl.

Preferably, the average thickness of the bowl, at its bottom and its lateral edge, is between 1.5 and 3 mm, more advantageously still is of the order of 2 to 2.5 mm.

In a preferred embodiment, the sole, the cup and the upper are sewn together by means of a thread making a chain stitch, this thread crossing first the bowl through a hole in the edge of it, the opposite side of the jute sole, then the vamp from the inside of it, this wire then folded back and introduced into the next hole.

The method of manufacturing the footwear according to the invention consists in producing a bowl by injecting a flexible and waterproof material into the enclosure of a mold comprising a base against which the bottom of the bowl is formed. and a side wall provided with a series of projecting radial nails, directed towards the inside of the mold, to introduce inside this mold a matrix delimiting with the base and the side wall a housing the dimensions of the bowl where the material is injected, then to extract the bowl from the mold after removal of the matrix, following a bending suitable for separating this bowl from the radial nails having formed the non-through holes, then housing the jute sole in the bowl, to mount the vamp on the sole, and finally to sew together the bowl, the sole and the vamp by means of a thread which crosses the edge of the bowl successively each of its bores, enters the sole and returns through the base of the vamp to engage in the next hole and so on over the entire periphery of the sole.

• Les Figures 1, 2, 3 sont des vues en perspective respectivement de la cuvette, de la semelle, puis de ces deux éléments montés l'un dans l'autre, avant que l'empeigne ne soit mise en place et cousue simultanément avec eux, comme représenté sur la vue également en perspective de la Figure 4.
• La Figure 5 est une vue en coupe transversale à plus grande échelle des trois parties de l'article considéré, illustrant divers détails de la structure et du montage de cet article.
• La Figure 6 est une vue partielle de côté, à encore plus grande échelle, illustrant notamment le profil du point de couture utilisé.
• La Figure 7 est une vue en coupe transversale partielle du moule et de la matrice, permettant de réaliser la cuvette illustrée sur la Figure 1 notamment.

Other characteristics of the footwear considered and of its manufacturing process, in accordance with the invention, will become more apparent from the following description of an exemplary embodiment, given by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the drawing. annexed on which:

• Figures 1, 2, 3 are perspective views respectively of the cup, the sole, and then of these two elements mounted one inside the other, before the vamp is not put in place and sewn simultaneously with them, as shown in the perspective view also in Figure 4.
• Figure 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the three parts of the article under consideration, illustrating various details of the structure and mounting of this article.
• Figure 6 is a partial side view, on an even larger scale, illustrating in particular the profile of the sewing stitch used.
• Figure 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the mold and the matrix, making it possible to produce the bowl illustrated in Figure 1 in particular.

In Figure 1, the reference 1 designates a bowl-shaped part, produced by any suitable process and preferably by molding and injection of a material of the synthetic rubber type, plastic material of the PVC type, or of another commonly used material. used in the manufacture of shoe soles, in particular such as that known under the name of TR.

The bowl 1 has a bottom 2 and a lateral edge 3 which extends vertically from this bottom, this edge comprising in its external surface, directed towards the outside of the bowl, a plurality of non-through holes 4 (see also the sectional view of Figure 5), the role and the manufacturing process will be specified below.

The bottom 2 and the edge 3 of the bowl 1 have a relatively limited thickness, of the order of 1 to 3 mm and preferably about 2 to 2.5 mm, in order to keep the bowl a suitable flexibility while giving it an appreciable ability to withstand wear, in particular for the bottom, the underside of which is intended to come into contact with the ground, when the article is finished.

The thickness of the cup 1 can be identical at all points or present, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, a variation in thickness, in particular in the region 5 of the heel of the footwear, while providing in front of this heel a slightly arched part of connection with the front region corresponding to the sole of the foot.

Inside the bowl, the bottom 2 has a flat surface, the opposite surface being furthermore advantageously able to be provided with ridges, ribs or other protruding patterns 8 (FIG. 5) intended to improve the attachment to the ground of the footwear and to limit wear on the bottom 2.

When the thin bowl 1 has a height greater than the standard height of a jute sole, close to 15 mm, the bottom 2 of the bowl 1 is filled with a filling of plastic material, produced in particular in the form of cells .

FIG. 2 illustrates a thick sole 9, produced as is conventional for a sneaker, by means of a cord 10, jute or other similar material having the same appearance and the same consistency, this cord being suitably wound on itself to match the general shape of a footprint, the winding being held transversely by stitching points such as 11, very schematically shown in the drawing, before the sole is conformed to the press, according to a process in itself well known.

In the next assembly phase, the jute sole 10 is placed inside the bowl 1, the side edge 3 thereof having been produced during its manufacture, so that it corresponds substantially to the height of the sole and that the latter is approximately flush with the end of this edge which in these conditions surrounds it completely over the entire periphery of the article in question.

In the last step, finally, illustrated in Figure 4, we associate with the assembly formed by the bowl 1 and the jute sole 2 mounted therein, an upper 12, made of canvas as in a traditional espadrille, the case possibly in soft leather or other suitable material, this upper being formed of two parts, respectively 13 and 14, one of which is provided to surround the kick, while the other is disposed laterally around the heel to secure of the first substantially in the middle of the article.

Preferably and as usually practiced, the two parts 13 and 14 of the upper are sewn together at 15 and preassembled before the latter is mounted on the cup and the sole.

In this last phase of manufacturing the footwear, it ensures the simultaneous sewing of the cup 1 of the sole 9 and the upper 12, by means of a resistant thread 16 and a needle 17, which comes successively engage in each of the non-through holes 4 of the edge 3 of the bowl, penetrates into the neighboring edge of the sole and then perceives the base 18 of the vamp, before being folded out to come again engage in the next drilling, and so on over the entire periphery of the article.

The seam thus produced can be made with any suitable stitch, in particular of the chain stitch type 19, simple as illustrated in FIG. 6, or double, the nature of this point being of course without any impact on the invention itself. Advantageously and also, this seam can come to form, in front of the part 13 of the upper, a reinforcement 19a, customary in this type of article.

When the upper 12 is made of canvas, it is sewn directly with the cup 1 and the sole 9. When it is made of flexible leather or the like, provision may be made in its base 18 where the sewing of the pre-drilled holes 20, although these are generally not necessary.

Figure 7 illustrates the structure of the mold in which can be made the bowl 1 of the article considered.

This mold mainly comprises an enclosure 21 with a base 22 and a side wall 23, the enclosure being designed to cooperate with a matrix 24 which engages therein delimiting a hollow housing 25 whose volume corresponds to that of the bowl 1.

The matrix 24 includes a shoulder 26, capable of limiting the height of the lateral edge 3 and a flat blank 27 against which the surface of the bottom 2 of the bowl receiving the sole 9 will be produced in the manner already described. The base 22 optionally includes grooves (not shown) for the formation of the ridges 8.

Finally, in its side wall 23, the enclosure 21 has radial nails 28, directed transversely and capable of projecting inside the hollow housing 25 where the material constituting the bowl 1 is then injected, these nails allowing in these conditions the formation of non-through holes 4 within the lateral edge 3 of this bowl.

Note that this arrangement allows easily, after removal of the matrix 24, to separate the bowl of the enclosure 1 from the mold thanks to the flexibility of the material used, which would not be possible or at least much more delicate if the nails extended across the entire thickness of the bowl.

Of course, the dimension of the nails 28 is chosen by construction, so that the film of material 29 which remains behind the bore 4, is sufficiently small so as not to interfere with the sewing by the thread 16 and the needle 17 in the way already described.

This produces an article of footwear, of the espadrille type, of very simple design but which proves to be particularly effective in use, ensuring perfect protection of the jute sole, not only in the lower part of the latter normally in contact. from the ground, by improving its resistance to wear, but also by preventing this sole from getting wet when the user walks on a wet surface.

The assembly is easy to manufacture and requires no other technicality than that currently mastered for the manufacture of traditional espadrilles, the cost of the product being practically the same.

Of course, it goes without saying that the invention is not limited to the embodiment more specifically described above with reference to the accompanying drawings; on the contrary, it embraces all its variants. In particular, in the case where the bottom of the bowl is shaped to include a heel in the corresponding region of support on the ground, the latter may have, in a manner known per se, internal cells, obtained during of the molding of the bowl, the flat blank of the matrix penetrating into the enclosure of the mold having protruding parts, allowing these cells to be produced directly, to which the jute sole is then applied in the manner described.

Claims (9)

Footwear, in particular of the espadrille type, comprising a sole (9) of jute or a similar material, conforming to the profile of the foot, and a vamp (12) of canvas, soft leather or other, enveloping the foot on the front and around the heel, this upper being sewn with the sole on the periphery thereof, characterized in that it comprises a thin cup (1), made of a flexible and waterproof material, comprising a bottom (2) of the same outline as that of the sole and a raised edge (3), capable of laterally surrounding the sole, this edge extending from the bottom substantially over the height of the latter and comprising over its entire length, in the vicinity of its end opposite to the bottom, a plurality of holes (4), preferably not through, directed towards the inside of the bowl receiving the sole, these holes being intended to allow the simultaneous sewing of the sole, the bowl and the vamp according to the periphery of the article. Footwear according to claim 1, characterized in that the thin cup (1) is produced by molding and injection of a suitable material, in particular of the PVC or vulcanized synthetic rubber type, or more generally using any plastic material , able to be polymerized inside the mold. Footwear according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the bottom (2) of the cup (1) is shaped so as to have a flat or slightly arched surface before the area (5) of the heel. Footwear according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the bottom (2) has a constant thickness over its entire extent or variable, in this case being slightly more important at the level of the heel. Footwear according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the lower surface of the bottom (2) of the bowl (1), in contact with the ground, has ridges or other patterns in relief outwards (8). Footwear according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the average thickness of the bowl (1), in its bottom (2) and its lateral edge (3), is between 1.5 and 3 mm, more advantageously still is of the order of 2 to 2.5 mm. Footwear according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the sole (9), the cup (1) and the upper (12) are sewn together by means of a thread (16) making a stitch chain (19). Footwear according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that when the thin bowl (1) has a height greater than the standard height of a jute sole, the bottom (2) of the bowl (1) is lined a filling of plastic material, produced in particular in the form of cells. Process for the manufacture of an article of footwear of the espadrille type, according to any one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it consists in producing a bowl (1) by injecting a flexible and waterproof material into the enclosure (21) of a mold comprising a base (22) against which the bottom (2) of the bowl is formed and a side wall (23) provided with a series of projecting radial nails (28), directed towards the inside the mold, to introduce inside this mold a matrix (24) delimiting with the base and the side wall a housing (25) the dimensions of the bowl into which the material is injected, then to extract the bowl from the mold after removal of the matrix, following a bending proper to separate this bowl from the radial nails having formed the non-through holes (4), then housing the jute sole (9) in the bowl, mounting the vamp (12) on the sole, and finally sewing the bowl, sole and vamp together using '' a wire (16) which crosses the edge of the bowl successively each of its holes, enters the sole and returns through the base of the vamp to engage in the next hole and so on over the entire periphery of the sole.

Images