ELASTICIZED OVERLAY

Abstract: The elasticized overlay (46) is particularly adapted for use in an athletic type shoe (10) which includes a tongue (42) and a modified blucher construction (18). The modified blucher (18) is fabricated without eyelets and receives thereover the elasticized overlay (46). An elasticized fabric (20) together with suitable attaching strips (30) is affixed to the shoe (10) along one edge to form the elasticized blucher overlay (46). The elasticized fabric (20) extends substantially the entire length of the blucher construction (18) and has the free edge provided with a plurality of spaced eyelets (28) to accommodate an eyelets lacing system. The blucher (18) and tongue (42) can be padded with a foam lining (40) to shield the wearer's foot from pressures developed in the elasticized fabric (20) and imposed at the laces.

Description: ELASTICIZED OVERLAY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to the field of shoe constructions, and more particularly, is directed to an athletic type shoe including an elasticized blucher over¬ lay. It is usual practice to design and fabricate many types of shoes including athletic shoes such as ' sneakers, jogging shoes, tennis shoes, etc. with leather or rubber soles and leather or leather simulated plastic uppers of conventional configuration. Many prior art athletic and other shoe de- signs utilize a blucher construction having an associated tongue and an eyelet lacing system. The presently available athletic shoes usually include a resilient sole of various configurations for impact relief purposes and many such shoes have additionally been padded in efforts to provide increased protection for the feet of the wearer. However, so far as is known to the applicant, all prior art athletic type shoes incorporate materials of con¬ struction having relatively little resiliency or "give" about the wearer's foot. Accordingly, all squeezing pressures re- suiting from lacing the shoe are constantly applied without regard to the activity, the bending or the position of the foot. When it is desired to increase or decrease the tight¬ ness of the shoe about the foot, it is now necessary to manually adjust the tension laces. There is presently no known method for providing automatic tensioning adjustment or automatic support variation of the shoe relative to the wearer's foot. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to an elasti- cized shoe construction, and more particularly, is directed SUBSTITUTE SHEET OMPI to an elasticized blucher overlay which is adapted to contin- - uously apply resilient support forces about the foot of the wearer. The present invention includes a shoe, preferably of the athletic shoe type, having a tongue and usual blucher con¬ struction modified as necessary to eliminate all lace open¬ ings or eyelets in the blucher. An elasticized fabric over- fits the blucher and is securely affixed along one longi¬ tudinal edge thereto. The other longitudinal edge is pro- vided with a plurality of lacing eyelets and is not connected to the shoe upper to thus provide easier lacing. Preferably decorative leather or leather simulated plas¬ tic attaching strip covers the edges of the elastic fabric and acts as an anchoring device to affix the connected por- tion of the elasticized fabric of the blucher. The elasti¬ cized fabric terminates inwardly in a free edge in registry over the free edge of the blucher and is provided with a de¬ corative reinforcing strip and a plurality of eyelets to re¬ ceive conventional laces therein for shoe lacing purposes. It is noteworthy that the lacing edge of the fabric is maintained free and is pivotal over the blucher to provide an easier lacing construction. Accordingly, by lacing the shoe between the adjacent pluralities of eyelets provided in the inwardly free edges of the left and right overlays, the elasticized fabric can be stretched to thereby apply a girdling effect to act as a support about the medial portion of the wearer's foot. The elasticized foot girdle formed by the pair of elasticized overlays together with the laces which are utilized cooperate to continuously provide support for the wearer's feet at all times, and for example, when running. SUBSTITUTE SHEET when walking or when engaged in any active sports. Preferably, the blucher and the tongue are padded in known manner, such as by employing foam linings, to shield the wearer's foot from the pressures of the lace lines. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved elasticized overlay type of shoe con¬ struction of the type set forth. It is another object of the present invention to pro¬ vide a novel, elasticized shoe construction comprising an elasticized blucher overlay an an eyelet lacing system formed in a free edge of the overlay. It is another object of the present invention to pro¬ vide an elasticized athletic shoe comprising a tongue, a modified blucher construction and elasticized overlay in- eluding an eyelet lacing system in the overlay and not the blucher. It is another object of the present invention to pro¬ vide a novel elasticized shoe construction including a blu¬ cher overlay and means to provide an elasticized girdling effect upon the foot of the wearer. It is another object of the present invention to pro¬ vide a novel elasticized overlay that is simple in design, inexpensive in fabrication and trouble free when in use. Other objects and a fuller understanding of the in- vention will be had by referring to the following descrip¬ tion and claims of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which: SUBSTITUTE SHEET -fO Ϊ Eq OMPI BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an athletic shoe il¬ lustrating the present invention. Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the shoe of Gig. 1. Fig 3 is a top plan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 on Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows. SUBSTITUTE SHEET OMPI D ES C RIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Although specific terms are used in the following description for the sake of clarity, these terms are in¬ tended to refer only to the particular structure of the invention selected for illustration in the drawings, and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the in¬ vention. Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in Figs. 1 and 3 a shoe 10 which is preferably of the ath¬ letic shoe type, such as a jogging shoe, a tennis shoe, a sneaker or the like. The shoe 10 includes a rubber or other nonskid type material sole 12 which is affixed in known manner the usual shoe upper construction 14. An inner sole 44 may interiorly be affixed in position to cover the sole 12 in known manner, to increase the com- fort of the wearer and to present a finished appearance. A decorative rubber or other material band 16 covers the periphery of the sole and the bottom periphery of the shoe upper 14 in known manner to provide a decorative strengthening band thereabout. The shoe upper 14 terminates upwardly in a modified blucher construction 18 which includes a tongue 42 in usual manner. As best seen in Fig. 2, the blucher construction 18 is modified in a manner to completely eliminate all lace openings, grommets, eyelets, or the like. The blucher is maintained entirely plain and unpierced and is accordingly not utilized for lacing as in previously employed blucher type shoe constructions. As illustrated, the modified blu¬ cher 18 is provided and equipped with an elasticized blu¬ cher overlay assembly means 46, which assembly can be stitched or otherwise permanently attached to the blucher SUBSTITUTE SHEET construction by utilizing known shoe fabrication tech¬ niques. As best seen in Figs. 1 and 2, each elasticized blu¬ cher overlay assembly 46, 46' comprises a sheet of elasti- cized fabric 20 of generally rectangular configuration. The elasticized fabric perferably is resilient or yield- able in the transverse direction as indicated by the dou¬ ble headed arrow 48 and preferably provides no elongation in the longitudinal direction, that is at right angles to the direction indicated by the arrow 48. The longitudinal inward or tongue edge of the elasticized fabric 20 is pro¬ vided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced openings 24 for lacing purposes in the usual manner. An eyelet or reinforcing strip 22, which may be fabricated of leather, fabric, plastic or other known material, is also provided with a plurality of openings 26. The strip openings 26 register over the fabric openings 24 when the eyelet strip 22 is affixed over the longitudinal inward edge of the elasticized fabric 20. As best seen in Fig. 3, the eyelet strip 22 can be conventionally applied over and affixed to the edge of the elasticized fabric 20 by employing stitching 36, 38 in well known manner. The outer or lower longitudinal edge of the elasti¬ cized fabric 20 of each blucher overlay 46, 46' is pre- ferably affixed to the shoe 10 over the blucher 18 by uti¬ lizing a generally U-shaped decorative attaching strip 30, which strip may conventionally be fabricated of leather, fabric, plastic or other plyable material. An outer, gen¬ erally U-shaped stitched seam 32 is sewn through the outer periphery of the attaching strip 30, through the lower SUBSTITUTE SHEET OMPI peripheral edge of the elasticized fabric 20 and directly through the lower portion of each blucher 18 to position each elasticized blucker overlay assembly 46, 46' directly over the blucher 18. Preferably the interior periphery 50 of the attaching strip 30 is also affixed to the fabric 20 and is sewn through the elasticized fabric 20 and through the blucher for additional strengthening purposes. The fabric stitched seam 34 is employed for this purpose in known manner, as best seen in Figs. 1 and 3. A plurality of metallic or other suitable material grom ets or eyelets 28 insert through the registered open¬ ings 24, 26 in the elasticized fabric 20 and in the eyelet strip 22 and the eyelets 28 are secured therein in known manner, for example by crimping, for receipt therethrough of a lace (not shown) for securing the shoe 10 in the usual manner. The eyelet strip 22 conventionally can be secured to the inward or upward longitudinal edge of the elasti¬ cized fabric 20 by utilizing a pair of transversely spaced, generally longitudinally aligned, stitched seams 36, 38. Alternately, it would also be possible to secure the eyelet strip 22 to the elasticized fabric 20 by employing suitable, known adhesives in manner well known to those skilled in the art. As best seen in Figs. 1 and 4, each elasticized blu¬ cher overlay assembly 46, 46' is affixed to the upper 14 of the shoe 10 by the stitching 32, 34 which extends about the inner and outer peripheries of the U-shaped attaching strip 30. The longitudinal eyelet portion 52 of the over- lay assembly 46 is not affixed to the blucher 18 and this ortioπ forms a flap whereby the elasticized fabric 20 can be bent or folded about the eyelet strip 22 rela¬ tive to the blucher 18 to facilitate lacing when the shoe is to be worn. In order to use the athletic shoe 10 of the present invention, the wearer (not shown) first places his foot in the shoe in the usual manner and then threads the lace (not shown) alternately through the left and right eyelets or grommets 28 to lace the shoe in well known manner. The • laces are pulled sufficiently tight through the plurality of eyelets 28 to tension each elasticized blucher overlay assembly 46, 46'. The stretching or the elasticized fa¬ brics in the direction of the arrow 48 creates a girdling effect about the foot to provide transverse, overall sup- port about the medial portion of the foot of the wearer. It will be appreciated as the wearer runs, jumps or other¬ wise exercises, the elasticized fabric 20 will expand or contract in the directions indicated by the arrow 48 as necessary to tightly conform to the various configurations of the foot to thereby apply continuous support about the foot of the user under all conditions of use. In view of the fact that the laces (not shown) are always under ten¬ sion due to the stretching of the elasticized fabric 20, it may be more comfortable for the wearer to provide a foam plastic or other padding 40 below the blucher 18 and tongue 42 to shield the foot from pressures applied by por¬ tions of the laces across the top of the shoe. See Fig. 4. Although the invention has been described with a cer¬ tain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example SU BSTITUTE SHEET and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be re¬ sorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS; 1. In a shoe having an upper of the blucher construction type adapted to be secured to the foot of the wearer by a shoe lace, the combination of a modified blucher construction, said modified blucher construction having no lacing openings therethrough; a blucher overlay assembly means affixed to the blucher construction, said blucher overlay assembly means comprising a plurality of eyelets for receiving portions of the lace therein. 2. The shoe construction of claim 1 wherein the blucher overlay assembly means comprises an elasticized fabric. 3. The shoe construction of claim 2 wherein the elasti¬ cized fabric has elasticity in a direction toward and away from the said eyelets. . The shoe construction of claim 2 wherein the elasti¬ cized fabric has no elasticity in a direction substantially at right angles to a direction toward or away from the eye¬ lets. 5. The shoe construction of claim 2 wherein the elasti¬ cized fabric is generally rectangular in configuration and comprises a top longitudinal edge, a bottom longitudinal edge, a left transverse edge and a right transverse edge. 6. The shoe construction of claim 5 wherein the said eye¬ lets are positioned adjacent to the said top longitudinal edge. 7. The shoe construction of claim 5 wherein the blucher r 5 overlay assembly means is affixed to the modified blucher along the said bottom longitudinal edge. 8. The shoe construction of claim 5 or 7 wherein the blu¬ cher overlay assembly means is not affixed to the modified blucher along the said top longitudinal edge. 10 9. The shoe construction of claim 7 wherein the blucher overlay assembly means is additionally affixed to the modi¬ fied blucher along portions of the said left transverse elasticized fabric edge. 10. The shoe construction of claim 7 or 9 wherein the blu- 15 cher overlay assembly means is affixed to the modified blu¬ cher along portions of the right transverse elasticized fabric edge. 11. The shoe construction of claim 9 wherein the affixed portion of the left transverse edge adjoins the affixed fa- 20 brie bottom longitudinal edge. 12. The shoe construction of claim 9 wherein the affixed portion of the right transverse edge adjoins the affixed fabric longitudinal edge. 13. The shoe construction of claim 7 wherein the top longi- 25 tudinal edge of the said blucher overlay assembly means is adapted to be pivotal relative to the modified blucher con¬ struction to facilitate lacing. 14. The shoe construction of claim 8 whereby the top longi¬ tudinal edge is adapted for transverse movement relative 30 to the longitudinal axis of the shoe in response to pulling S UBSTITUTE SHEET ^ forces generated by the tightness of the shoe lacing. 15. The shoe construction of claim 1 and padding interposed between the shoe lace and the foot of the wearer. 16. The shoe construction of claim 15 wherein the padding is affixed to the modified blucher construction. 17. The shoe construction of claim 16 wherein the padding is affixed to the underside of the modified blucher con¬ struction. 18. The shoe construction of claim 17 and a tongue inter- posed between the padding and the foot of the wearer. . ÷ -ijrxmj x . i -j . c sin e. !

Inventors: GOLDSTEIN SAMUEL A, GOLDSTEIN, SAMUEL, A.
Applicants: POLSAM INC, POLSAM, INC.
Application year: 1983
Main classification: A43B11
IPC codes: A43C1