Footwear

Abstract

 Footwear mainly comprising an outer sole (11), an inner sole (1) attached thereto, an ornamental layer (34) covering the inner sole and an upper cover (9) with peripheral parts (10) fastened between the inner and outer soles wherein along the entire circumference of the inner sole (1), on the side remote from the outer sole (11), a peripheral strip (2) is provided, the cross-sectional area of which has an outwardly increasing height, whilst the peripheral parts of the upper cover are passed through apertures (8) in the peripheral strip (2) so that the lower edge of the upper cover (9) is better hidden than in conventional shoe structures, which is particularly important for footwear in the form of sandals or lady's shoes with open heels and toe straps.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to footwear mainly comprising an outer sole, an inner sole attached thereto, an ornamental layer covering the inner sole and an upper cover with peripheral parts fastened between the inner and outer soles.

[0002] The invention has for its object to improve the structure of the footwear in a manner such that the appearance of the shoe, particularly the rim thereof is embellished.

[0003] The footwear according to the invention is distinguished in that along the entire circumference of the inner sole, on the side remote from the outer sole, a peripheral strip is provided, the cross-sectional area of which has an outwardly increasing height, whilst the peripheral parts of the upper cover are passed through apertures in the peripheral strip.

[0004] Since the apertures are located at a given distance from the outer edge of the sole construction and the thickened peripheral strip remains visible beyond the upper cover, the lower edge of the upper cover is better hidden than in conventional shoe structures, which is particularly important for footwear in the form of sandals or lady's shoes with open heels and toe straps.

[0005] In a preferred embodiment a foot-bed is disposed below the ornamental layer, said foot-bed extending up to the proximity of the thickened peripheral strip or the apertures provided therein so that inside the thickened peripheral strip a recessed groove remains in the top face of the sole structure, in which recessed groove are located the continuous apertures for the peripheral parts of the upper cover.

[0006] In order to enhance the flexibility of the peripheral strip along the circumference of the shoe, it is provided with notches on the thin side.

[0007] The invention furthermore relates to a method of manufacturing the footwear of the kind described above, said method being distinguished by the successive steps of applying a peripheral strip and, if necessary, a foot-bed to the inner sole, as well as the ornamental layer, of cutting the apertures in the ornamental layer, peripheral strip and inner sole, of passing though the peripheral parts of the preformed upper cover, of bending over the peripheral parts to the underside of the inner sole and finally of fastening the outer sole to the inner sole and the bent-over peripheral parts.

[0008] The invention will be described more fully with reference to the following figures showing an embodiment.

[0009] The drawing shows in:

Fig. 1 a perspective plan view of the component parts to form the sole construction of the footwear embodying the invention,

Fig. 2 a perspective plan view of a sole construction without ornamental layer,

Fig. 3 a perspective view plan of a sole construction with an ornamental layer and an upper cover to be disposed thereon an an outer sole to be applied to the underside,

Fig. 4 a cross-sectional view of the sole construction embodying the invention.

[0010] Fig. 1 shows from bottom to top the inner sole 1, the peripheral strip 2 according to the invention, a foot-bed 3, an ornamental layer 4 of thinner material. The inner sole 1 may be made of any rigid and strong material, whereas the foot-bed 3 may be made of leather or any suitable synthetic substance; its thin, flexible material is such that by pressing any deformation can be made.

[0011] The sole construction is obtained by arranging the parts 1 to 3 one on the other and by gluing them together by means of suitable glue. The peripheral strip 2 is bent exactly in conformity with the outer circumference of the inner sole 1 and fastened by glue along said circumference so that the outer side of the peripheral strip coincides with the outer side of the inner sole 1. The cross-sectional area of the peripheral strip increases in height from the inner to the outer side (see fig. 4) in a manner such that in the embodiment shown a relatively flat inner rim 5 adjoins a semi-circular outer rim 6.

[0012] Since the foot-bed 3 extends to near the outer rim 6 a recessed groove 7 is formed between said outer rim and the outer circumference of the foot-bed (see fig.2). By subsequently applying the ornamanetal layer 4 across the foot-bed 3, by pressing the ornamental layer accurately into the groove 7 and by subsequently bending over the peripheral strip 2 about the thickened outer rim 6 a sole construction as shown in fig. 3 is obtained. In the groove 7 which is also formed in the ornamental layer 4, continuous apertures 8 are cut or made in any other appropriate manner in the ornamental layer 4, the peripheral strip 2 and the inner sole 1, for example, by punching, so that the upper cover 9 provided with peripheral parts 10 through said apertures 8. The peripheral parts 10 are subsequently bent over to the underside of the inner sole and fastened, for example, by gluing, which is shown in fig. 4, after which the outer sole 11 can be glued to the inner sole 1.

[0013] From the figures it will be apparent that on the side of the rim bearing on the ornamental layer the upper cover is fully engaged in the groove 7 of the sole construction so that the lower edge 12 is not visible.

[0014] As a matter of course, the upper cover 9 may have any suitable form. The broad strap 9 may be replaced by cross-wise plaited flaps, the ends of which are passed through the apertures 8 and fastened in the same manner as the peripheral parts 10. The continuous apertures 8 may, as an alternative, be made on the heel side of the sole construction of fig. 3 so that the heel straps can be fastened in a similar manner. The outer sole 11 may furthermore be covered by wear-resistant coating, which may have any suitable shape; this wear-resistant coating may be a rubber sole increasing its thickness towards the heel side. Moreover, the sole may have a heel. The invention also covers a shoe construction in which a loose heel is secured to the heel side.

Claims

1. Footwear mainly comprising an outer sole, an inner sole attached thereto, an ornamental layer covering the inner sole and an upper cover having peripheral parts fastened between the inner and outer soles characterized in that along the whole circumference of the inner sole, on the side remote from the outer sole, a peripheral strip is arranged, the cross-sectional area of which has an outwardly increasing height, whilst the peripheral parts of the upper cover are passed through registering apertures in the ornamental layer, the peripheral strip and the inner sole.

2. Footwear as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a foot-bed extending up to said apertures is sandwiched between the ornamental layer and the inner sole.

3. Footwear as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that in the thinnest part of the cross-section the peripheral strip is provided with notches.

4. A method of manufacturing footwear as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that in order of succession a peripheral strip and, if necessary, a foot-bed as well as an ornamental layer are applied to the inner sole, along the circumference thereof, continuous apertures are subsequently pierced in the ornamental layer, the peripheral strip and the inner sole, peripheral parts of the preformed upper cover are passed through said apertures, the peripheral parts are bent-over to the side of the inner sole remote from the peripheral strip and fainally the outer sole is fastened to the inner sole and the peripheral parts.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that during the application of the ornamental layer to the peripheral strip and the foot-bed a groove is pressed in the ornamental layer around the outer side of the foot-bed.

Drawing