Method for construction of footwear

A method for construction of footwear includes providing an upper defining a volume for receiving a wearer's foot, the upper having a rearward portion with a peripheral lasting edge; providing an outsole having a forward portion, a rearward portion and a cavity formed in at least the forward portion of a top surface of the outsole; providing and securing resilient material within the cavity of the outsole; sewing, the forward portion only of the outsole to the upper along a peripheral edge portion of the outsole; lasting, along an edge of a last, the peripheral lasting edge portion of the upper over an insole tuck temporarily secured to the last; and securing the rearward portion only of the outsole to the lasted rearward portion of the upper. This dual-approach construction method combines the advantages of increased comfort at the front portion of the wearer's foot with attractiveness and good support at the rearward portion of a shoe.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to footwear. 
There are a wide variety of shoe constructions. One construction method, 
known as the Opanka construction method, includes hand-sewing the outsole 
of the shoe to the upper of the shoe along the entire outer periphery of 
the outsole. However, the Opanka construction method has not been employed 
in constructing dress shoes, particularly those with dress heels in which 
the heel is fastened (e.g., by nails, rivets, screws) from the inside of 
the shoe. For this reason, the Opanka construction is generally limited to 
making sandal-type footwear. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In a general aspect of the invention, a method for construction of footwear 
includes providing an upper defining a volume for receiving a wearer's 
foot, the upper having a rearward portion with a peripheral lasting edge; 
providing an outsole having a forward portion, a rearward portion and a 
cavity formed in at least the forward portion of a top surface of the 
outsole; providing and securing resilient material within the cavity of 
the outsole; sewing, the forward portion only of the outsole to the upper 
along a peripheral edge portion of the outsole; lasting, along an edge of 
a last, the peripheral lasting edge portion of the upper over an insole 
tuck temporarily secured to the last; and securing the rearward portion 
only of the outsole to the lasted rearward portion of the upper. 
With this hybrid construction approach, the forward and rearward portions 
of the upper are attached to the outsole using different methods. The 
forward portion of the shoe which has the resilient material disposed 
within the cavity of the outsole provides a cushiony, buoyant-like feel to 
the wearer during walking. For this type of construction, sewing is a 
better-suited approach for attaching the upper to the outsole relative to 
other approaches (e.g., lasting). The rearward portion of the shoe, on the 
other hand, generally requires more structural rigidity to absorb forces 
received by the shoe and wearer's foot during walking. An insole tuck 
(which is typically rigid and may include a reinforcing member) is 
positioned within the rearward portion of the shoe and serves to support 
the heel which is attached to the outsole, as well as the wearer's foot. 
For this type of construction, lasting is a preferable method of attaching 
the rearward portion of the outsole to the upper. Moreover, lasting also 
provides a tighter, sleeker appearance to the shoe since there are no 
surfaces along the periphery of the outsole required for sewing. 
Thus, this dual-approach construction method combines the advantages of 
increased comfort at the front portion of the wearer's foot with 
attractiveness and good support at the rearward portion of a shoe. 
In embodiments of the invention, the method may include one or any of the 
following additional steps. A cover layer is attached over the resilient 
material, after securing the resilient material within the cavity of the 
outsole. Holes are formed along the lasting edge of the upper and along a 
peripheral edge of the outsole prior to the sewing step. The insole tuck 
includes a reinforcement shank. A heel is attached to the rearward portion 
of the outsole. A sock liner is provided within the volume of the upper. 
Other advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from the 
following description of presently preferred embodiments, and from the 
claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIG. 1, a shoe 10 includes a shoe upper 12, an outsole 
assembly 14, a insole tuck 16 and a sock liner 18. 
Shoe upper 12, preferably made from leather, has a tongue 20 extending into 
a vamp portion of the upper, and eyelets for receiving conventional front 
lacing (not shown). The shoe upper 12 is shown free-floating, with its 
bottom portion 22 open to what will be the internal volume of the shoe. 
Shoe upper also includes an inner liner 24 which is sewed to the inner 
surface of upper 12 and is fabricated of materials (e.g., soft leather) 
selected to provide comfort to the wearer during walking. At this stage of 
construction, the shoe is said to be a sewed upper with bottom portions of 
both upper 12 and inner liner 24 open. 
Shoe upper 12 is similar to conventional uppers except that a front portion 
26 of the upper is shaped to accommodate pre-punched holes 28 around its 
periphery. Front portion 26 extends from the toe region to about half the 
length of the upper near a region where the arch of the wearer's foot 
would be positioned. Holes 28 are used, as will be described below, in the 
construction of the front portion of the completed shoe. 
A rear portion 30 of upper 12 includes a lasting edge 32 which, as will be 
described below, is used in the construction of the rear portion of the 
completed shoe. 
Outsole assembly 14 includes an outsole 34, formed of molded polyurethane, 
with an integrally molded, upstanding sidewall 36 extending around its 
periphery. The depressed top surface 39 of the outsole and the sidewall 36 
together define a cavity 38 having a depth ranging from about 2 mm to 
about 4 mm. Outsole assembly also includes a cushioning layer 40 formed of 
polyurethane foam having an uncompressed thickness of about 2 mm to 6 mm. 
Cushioning layer 40 is slightly smaller than cavity 38 to provide a 
peripheral edge on surface 39 for adhesively securing the cushioning layer 
within the cavity using a relatively thin cover layer 42 formed of fiber 
or leather. The front portion of outsole 34 includes a channel 43 along 
its periphery within which a series of holes 45 are provided. As will be 
described in greater detail below, holes 45 are used to secure upper 12 to 
outsole assembly 14. Channel 43 provides a level of protection to a thread 
51 (FIG. 2) formed of a relatively strong material (e.g., polyester or 
nylon) used to secure the upper to the outsole assembly. 
Insole tuck 16 is formed of a rigid fiber material and includes a metal 
reinforcement shank 44 (shown in dashed lines) which is embedded within 
the insole tuck. Insole tuck 16 extends generally from the heel of the 
shoe to the edge of cushioning layer 40 and provides the structural 
rigidity to the rear portion of the shoe where it is most needed. 
Moreover, insole tuck 16 supports a heel 46 which is attached to outsole 
34. 
Sock liner 18 includes an inside layer 50 (shown in dashed lines) formed of 
a polyester material and covered by a top layer 48, e.g. of pigskin 
leather. In some embodiments, inside layer 50 may be decoratively quilted 
to provide an aesthetically pleasing look to the interior surface of the 
shoe. 
The construction method of shoe 10 will now be described in conjunction 
with the figures. 
In preparation for constructing shoe 10, a counter or back stiffener 52 
(FIG. 1) is inserted into upper 12 to provide structural support to the 
heel portion of shoe. This counter is, for example, formed of a 
thermoplastic material on a counter-forming machine using heating and 
cooling molds. 
Outsole assembly 14 is constructed by inserting cushioning layer 40 within 
cavity 38 and securing it therein by adhesively attaching cover layer 42 
to upper surface 39 of outsole 34. The rear portion (i.e., that part not 
covered by cover layer 42) is primed and provided with a layer of 
adhesive. As will be described in greater detail below, insole tuck 16 is 
then temporarily secured to the rear section of a last. 
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the front portion 26 of upper 12 is hand-sewn 
to outsole assembly 14 using thread 51 which is alternately threaded from 
holes 45 of outsole 34 to pre-punched holes 28 of upper 12. 
After the outsole assembly has been sewed to upper 10, the rear portion of 
shoe 10 is constructed using a lasting process. 
As is known in the art, lasting involves tightly shaping the upper over the 
contour of a last, a piece of wood or synthetic material roughly following 
the shape of the foot and acting as a form on which the shoe is made. 
In the embodiment of this invention, a last having a McNeil-type hinge is 
used. This type of last includes a stationary front section hinged 
together with a movable heel section which swings upward and forward with 
respect to the front section. In particular, the last is inserted into the 
front portion of the shoe (including the sewed-on outsole) with the heel 
section of the last in its open-hinged position. Insole tuck 16 is 
temporarily tacked to the heel section of the last. The rear portion of 
the shoe is then pulled over the heel section of the last. Thereafter, the 
hinge is closed to provide heel-to-toe tension to the shoe. 
Referring to FIG. 4, a lasting operation is performed with the lasting edge 
32 of upper 12 "wiped" in overlying relationship to insole tuck 16. A 
conventional adhesive may be used to permanently bond the wiped-over 
lasting edge 32 to the insole tuck or may be "heel-seat" lasted with tacks 
or nails. 
The rear portion of outsole assembly 14 is then adhesively bonded upon the 
bottom of the rear portion of the lasted upper. The last is then removed 
from the shoe and heel 46 is attached through insole tuck 16 and outsole 
34 using fixation members (e.g., rivets, screws). For added security, the 
area of the outsole underlying shank 44 can be stitched through insole 
tuck 16. Finally, sock liner 18 is inserted over the insole tuck 16 and 
into the volume of upper 12 within which the wearer's foot is to be 
inserted. The completed shoe is shown in FIG. 6. 
Other embodiments are within the following claims. For example, although a 
last having a McNeil-type hinge was used in constructing the rearward 
portion of the shoe in the above embodiment, lasts with other hinge 
arrangements (e.g., telescopic hinges), may alternatively be used.