Abstract:
A method of constructing a footwear includes the following features. An outsole having a backpart and a forepart is provided. The forepart has a standing lip around the periphery of the forepart. An upper is provided, which together with the outsole defines a volume for receiving a wearer&#39;s foot. The upper is turned inside out and then the upper is stitched to the lip of the forepart. The upper stitched to the forepart is then turned inside in. A back portion of the upper is lasted. The backpart is then secured to the lasted back portion of the upper.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The invention relates to footwear.  
           [0002]    There are a wide variety of ways of constructing a shoe. The construction of a shoe generally refers to the manner in which the upper and the sole are attached. One of the most popular shoe ways of making a shoe is the cemented shoe construction. With a cemented shoe construction, the upper is lasted over an insole with the outsole then cemented thereto. A heel may also be attached to the outsole. This construction is relatively durable while providing a sleek appearance.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The invention relates to a footwear having an upper and an outsole which are attached inside out and then turned inside in. In a general aspect of the invention, a method of constructing includes the following steps. An outsole having a backpart and a forepart is provided. The forepart has a standing lip around the periphery of the forepart. An upper is provided, which together with the outsole defines a volume for receiving a wearer&#39;s foot. The upper is turned “inside out” and then the upper is stitched to the lip of the forepart. The upper stitched to the forepart is then turned “inside in.” A back portion of the upper is lasted. The backpart is then secured to the lasted back portion of the upper.  
           [0004]    Embodiments of this aspect of the invention may include one or more of the following features. The forepart of the outsole is attached to the upper. For example, the periphery of the forepart is stitched from a first end of the lip to a second end, and is stitched from a first marker at a side of a front portion of the upper to a second marker at the opposite side of the front portion of the upper, to attach the forepart of the outsole to the upper.  
           [0005]    The outsole including the forepart and the backpart can be formed as one integral unit or as two separate pieces. If the outsole is one integral piece, the backpart can be folded over to the forepart and the backpart can be held at this position by an elastic retaining band to last the back portion of the upper. If the outsole is two pieces, the forepart can have a protrusion and the backpart can have a channel for accommodating the protrusion. After lasting the back portion of the upper, the protrusion of the forepart can be attached to the channel of the backpart.  
           [0006]    In another general aspect of the invention, a footwear includes the following members and features. An outsole has a backpart and a forepart. The forepart has a standing lip with vertical grooves around the periphery of the forepart. An upper cooperates with the outsole to define a volume for receiving a wearer&#39;s foot. The upper and the forepart are joined by turning the upper inside out and stitching the upper to the lip of the forepart. The upper stitched to the forepart is then turned inside in. A last with a tuckboard attached thereon is inserted into the volume defined by the upper and the outsole. A back portion of the upper is lasted and the backpart secured to the lasted back portion of the upper. A front portion of the upper has an allowance of about 7 mm for turning and stitching.  
           [0007]    The upper and the outsole are stitched at the periphery of the forepart, from one end of the lip to the other end, and stitched from a first marker at a side of a front portion of the upper to a second marker at the opposite side of the front portion of the upper.  
           [0008]    Embodiments of this aspect of the invention may include one or more of the following features. A forepart filler is inserted into a cavity defined by the lip of the forepart. A tuckboard is disposed on top of the forepart filler and a footbed is disposed on top of the tuckboard.  
           [0009]    Among other advantages, because this shoe construction does not require an insole, a shoe having added flexibility and reduced weight is provided. Such a shoe provides greater comfort while maintaining the sleek appearance of a cement lasted shoe. That is, shoes made with this construction are extremely flexible in the stitch and turn front portion and yet have the appearance of conventional shoes in the back part. With this construction, light weight dress shoes can be produced without sacrificing flexibility and softness.  
           [0010]    The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is an exploded side view of the component parts of a shoe constructed in accordance with the invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 shows an outsole unit of the shoe of FIG. 1.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIGS. 3A and 3B shows an upper of the shoe of FIG. 1  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 shows an upper and an outsole unit attached inside out.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 shows the upper and the outsole unit of FIG. 4 turned inside in.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 shows the forepart of the outsole unit of FIG. 5 bent and to be held in place by an elastic retaining band.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 7 shows the lasted back portion of the shoe attached to the backpart of the outsole unit of FIG. 6.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 8 shows an outsole with a separate forepart and backpart in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 9 shows the forepart of FIG. 8 being attached to the upper inside out.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 10 shows the upper and the forepart of FIG. 9 turned inside in.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 11 shows the backpart being attached to the upper and the heel attached to the backpart. 
     
    
       [0022]    Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.  
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0023]    [0023]FIG. 1 shows a shoe  10  that includes an upper  12 , a footbed  14 , a tuckboard  16 , and an outsole unit  18 .  
         [0024]    The upper  12 , preferably made of leather, cooperates with the outsole unit  18  to form an internal volume of the shoe  10 . The upper  12  includes an inner liner (not shown) that is sewn to the inner surface of the upper  12 . The inner liner is preferably made of soft leather to provide comfort to the wearer. The upper  12  also includes a heat activated toe stiffener fitted and stitched inside a tip region  20  of the upper. The upper  12  is divided into a front portion  22  and a back portion  24 . The front portion  22  includes the tip region  20  and extends back to about half the length of the upper, approximately where the arch of the wearer&#39;s foot would be located. The back portion  24  is the other half of the upper  12  and includes a lasting edge  26 , which is lasted with a last (not shown) to give form to the back portion.  
         [0025]    The outsole unit  18  includes an outsole  28 , divided into a forepart  32  and a backpart  36  and preferably made of molded polyvinyl chloride, and a forepart filler  30 , which is fitted into the forepart  32  of the outsole. A heel  34  is molded together with the outsole  28 . The tuckboard  16  and the footbed  14  are disposed on top of the outsole unit  18 .  
         [0026]    Referring to FIG. 2, the outsole  28  has a standing lip  38  at the periphery of the forepart  32 . The standing lip  38  has vertical grooves and stands approximately 7 mm from an adjacent pre-roughed base  40 , which promotes adhesion of the vertically grooved lip to the base when the upper  12  is stitched to the outsole unit  18 . The stitching process will be described in greater detail later. The standing lip  38  and the base  40  define a cavity into which the forepart filler  30  is to be fitted.  
         [0027]    Referring to FIG. 3A, the upper  12  is shown to have a center mark  42  at the tip region  20  and two side marks  44  at the sides of the front portion  22  for guiding the stitching process. Referring to FIG. 3B, the front portion  22  of the upper  12  has a predetermined allowance  23 , approximately 7 mm, for allowing the upper  12  and the outsole  28  to be stitched together inside out and then turned inside in after they are stitched together. The back portion  24  also has a predetermined allowance  25 , approximately 15 mm, for allowing the lasting edge  26  to be lasted.  
         [0028]    A construction method of the shoe  10  will be described in connection with the figures.  
         [0029]    Referring to FIG. 4, the upper  12  is turned inside out and attached to the outsole  28  with the heel side facing the upper. The periphery of the front portion  22  of the upper is stitched to the standing lip  38  of the outsole. One row of stitching  46  is made from one side marker  44  to the other side marker  44 , going around the periphery of the forepart  32  of the outsole  28 . An additional row of stitching  48  is made from one lip end to the other lip end. The stitched lip  38  is then attached to the base  40 .  
         [0030]    After the upper  12  is stitched to the outsole  28 , the inside out configuration is turned inside in to obtain a turned upper configuration  50  as shown in FIG. 5. The forepart filler  30  is then inserted inside the turned upper configuration  50  and placed at the cavity of the forepart  32 . The forepart filler  30  is preferably made of layers of “dry 2 ,” cork and EVA copolymer, sold under the tradename Elvax by E.I duPont de Nemours, Wilmington, Del.  
         [0031]    Although not shown, a counter stiffener can be inserted into the upper  12  to provide structural support to the heel portion of the turned upper configuration  50 . The counter stiffener is generally made of a thermoplastic material on a counter-forming machine using heating and cooling methods.  
         [0032]    Referring to FIG. 6, the tuckboard  16  as shown in FIG. 1 is stapled to the underside of a last  52 , which is then inserted into the turned upper configuration  50  for tightly shaping the upper  12  over the contour of the last. The last  52 , usually made of a piece of wood or synthetic material, roughly follows the shape of the foot.  
         [0033]    The backpart  36  of the outsole unit  18  is bent to touch the forepart  32  and held in this position by an elastic retaining band  54 . In his position, the back portion  24  of the upper  12  is lasted by hand or machine and the staples on the tuckboard  16  is removed. The upper  12  is passed through a heat setting machine to heat shrink the upper against the last  52 . To promote good bonding with the outsole  28 , the lasted back portion  24  of the upper is roughed appropriately.  
         [0034]    Referring to FIG. 7, the elastic retaining band  54  is removed and the outsole unit  18  is cemented to the lasted back portion  24 . Finally, the last  52  is removed from the shoe  10  and the footbed  14  is inserted into the internal volume of the shoe.  
         [0035]    In the above embodiment, the outsole unit  18  is formed integrally. In another embodiment of the invention, the outsole unit  18  can be formed in two separate parts: a unit forepart  56  and a unit backpart  58 . Referring to FIG. 8, the unit forepart  56  includes a bottom  62 , which has a standing lip  64  disposed in a “U” shape around the periphery of the bottom and a raised base  70  internally hugging the standing lip. The bottom  62  has a protrusion  68  that extends beyond the top of the “U.” 
         [0036]    A brake  72  at the end of the unit backpart  58  is made to abut against a buttress  74  at the end of the raised base  70 . When the brake  72  and the buttress  74  are in contact, the protrusion  68  of the unit forepart  56  fits into a channel  76 , which is a depression formed on the unit backpart  58  and shaped to accommodate the protrusion. The unit backpart  58  is made of polyvinyl chloride or other material that is harder than the unit forepart  56 . The unit backpart  58  can be formed integrally with or separately from a heel  60  (FIG. 11), which can be made of wood or another material such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin.  
         [0037]    A construction of the shoe  10  with the unit forepart  56  and the unit backpart  58  is described below.  
         [0038]    Referring to FIG. 9, the upper  12  is stitched to the standing lip  64  in an inside-out configuration. One row of stitching  78  is made from one side marker  44  to the other side marker  44 , going around the periphery of the unit forepart  56 . An additional row of stitching  80  is made from one lip end to the other lip end. Then the stitched lip  64  is folded and cemented to the raised base  70 . The forepart  56  is then pressed to form a turned-in construction  82 .  
         [0039]    Referring to FIG. 10, the turned-in construction  82  is then turned inside in to form an upper turned-out construction  84  and the forepart filler  30  is inserted into the volume between the unit forepart  56  and the upper  12 . A counter stiffener (not shown) and the tuckboard  16  (FIG. 1) are then inserted into the upper turned-out construction  84 . The last  52  is then fitted into the volume between the upper  12  and the unit forepart  56 . The back portion  24  of the upper  12  is pulled over the last  52 .  
         [0040]    Referring to FIG. 11, the back portion  24  is lasted to conform to the shape of the last  52  and roughed. The brake  74  of the unit backpart  58  is then abutted against the buttress  72  of the unit forepart  56  and the unit backpart  58  is cemented to the upper  12 . The protrusion  68  is then attached to the channel  76  of the unit backpart  58 . The heel  60  is attached to the bottom of the unit backpart  58 . Finally, the last  52  is removed and the footbed  14  (FIG. 1) is inserted in the volume of the shoe  10 .  
         [0041]    Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.