Improvements in Heels for Shoes and the like
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Nov., 1899-Accepted, 9th Dec., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Heels for Shoes and the like
I, HENRY BOWEN HAIGH, residing in the City of Brooklyn (265, McDonough
Street), County of Kings and State of New York, United States of America,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
My invention relates to devices intended to give elasticity to the heel of a shoe
in walking, to prevent slipping, to aid in the comfort of the shoe in use, and
to render more durable and less liable to wear the ordinary leather heel
It has long been customary to provide rubber plates of various kinds for shoe
heels but in all such shoes that I am acquainted with the rubber 18 so secured
that in a very short time the plate is worn down to the leather heel, and a new
plate must be provided or all benefits from the elastic heel are parted with.
It is the purpose of my invention to provide an elastic tread for the heel
which shall wear down no faster than the leather heel and which by its method
of construction and fastening shall prevent scufhing or slipping and thus largely
decrease the ordinary wear on the leather beel This I accomplish by a certain
novel construction and arrangement to be hereafter particularly pointed out and
claimed.
In the drawings:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the sole of an ordinary shoe with my improve-
ment in place
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the heel with the top lift slightly removed.
Figure 3 is a cross section of the top lift
A, 18 an ordinary shoe provided with the usual heel, B C, is the top lift in
which is cut a slot, a, preferably around the lift, fiom one inner edge to the
other This slot is beveled or flared inwardly and within this slot is inserted a
rectangular stip of rubber, b, or other like material, slightly thicker than the
lift so as to allow the rubber to extend slightly above the tread surface of the
lift, as shown at f, Fig. 3.
The top lift is then spanked on the other steel pegged lifts in the usual way,
and the shoe is ready for use
To hold the rubber strip in place, I prefer to leave a slight tongue, c, to the
rubber which may lie between the top lift and the heel so that a single uail may
then be duven through the lift and this tongue to secure the stup against dis-
placement
But many methods of holding and securing the strip will readily suggest them-
selves and I do not wish to limit myself to any particular method
The pecu-
liarity of my elastic heel over any others in use lies in the fact that the strip only
extends slightly above the ordinary heel surface and that spaces, are left within
the groove owing to its dove tail construction, within which the rubber can expand
when external pressure is brought to bear thereon in use
When the heel is brought down in walking, the rubber at once gips the
surface, prevents any sliding, slipping or scuffing and then under pressure of the
weight of the user compresses vertically flush with the surface and expands
laterally into the side spaces, preventing any undue wear on the rubbei and
allowing the contact wear to come on the leather. But by reason of the fact that
the rubber fust grips the surface, the ordinary wear on the leather is very much

page_text: reduced and what wear there is always retains the rubber surface in the same
relative position to the leather surface, slightly projecting therefrom.
This is due to the peculiar relation which exists between the wearing qualities
of leather and the weaning qualities of the rubber strip under the conditions
of use above described This relation is such that it produces the result that the
rubber always projects beyond the surface of the heel and is not worn down
level with that surface, because the rubber does not take all the wear and the
leather of the heel wears away as fast as does the rubber of the projecting strip,
hence the rubber strip retains its prominence until it is worn out. It is obvious,
however, that other materials having substantially the same wearing properties as
leather would be the equivalent of leather in this combination
The particular shape of the groove for retaining the rubber strip and the
width and thickness of the stup are of course not material so long as there is
maintained such relation between the projection rubber and the side spaces
of the groove that the amount of contraction of the rubber under compression
may be taken up in the space for expansion.
It is not essential that a single strip of rubber should be used or that the groove
should be dovetailed as shown, provided that space 18 left within the groove for
the expansion of the rubber and that the rubber only extends a slight distance
above the tread surface of the heel A plurality of strips may be used and the
groove recessed to leave space for expansion without dovetailing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim 18:
1 A heel for shoes made of leather, provided with a recess in the lower surface
of the heel, and a rubber piece fitting in said recess, but not completely filling
the same, with the upper surface extending only slightly above the outer surface
of the heel, with means for holding said rubber piece in place, substantially as
described.
2 A heel for shoes, provided with a recess in the lower surface of the heel, and
a rubber piece fitting in said recess, but not completely filling the same, with the
upper surface of the rubber extending only slightly above the outer surface of
the heel, and a tongue on the rubber piece extending between the top lift and
heel for holding the said rubber piece in place, substantially as described.
3 In a heel for shoes, a top lift therefor, made of leather, provided with a slot
wide within than at the surface, and a rubber strip fitting in said slot but not
completely filling the same, and means for retaining said strip within the slot,
substantially as described.
4 In a heel for shoes made of leather, the combination, with a heel, of the top
lift therefor provided with a slot having walls flaring inwardly, and a rubber
stup fitting in said slot but not completely filling the same, with the upper
sui face of the rubber extending only slightly above the outer surface of the top
lift, and a tongue on the stup extending between the top lift and the heel for
retaining the strip in place, substantially as described.
Dated the 3rd day of November 1899
PHILIP M JUSTICE,
Chartered Patent Agent, London,
For the Applicant.