Method of lasting shoe uppers to a last and lasted shoe uppers and articles of footwear produced thereby
OwnerMichael Salvatoreinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A lasting piece of shrinkable, preferably oriented thermoplastic polymeric material is attached, preferably by stitching, to a shoe upper lasting margin and is shrunk by being heated, if it is thermoplastic, to between its glass transition temperature and melting point. Shrinkage of the lasting piece lasts the shoe upper to the last. The lasting piece can be a lasting string, endless band or strip, or a sheet, web, net or welt. Lasted shoe uppers and articles of footwear are produced by the above method.
Claims35
A method of lasting a shoe upper having a lasting margin, to a last, which comprises:
- attaching a lasting piece made of shrinkable polymeric material to the shoe upper lasting margin,
- shrinking the polymeric material, and
- utilizing the shrinkage of the polymeric material to last the shoe upper to the last.
A method of lasting a shoe upper having a lasting margin, to a last, which comprises:
- attaching a lasting piece made of oriented polymeric material to the shoe upper lasting margin,
- effecting a reduction in the extent of molecular orientation of the polymeric material, and
- utilizing the change in physical dimensions of the lasting piece which occurs during the reduction of molecular orientation, to last the shoe upper to the last.
A method of lasting a shoe upper having a lasting margin, to a last, which comprises:
- attaching a lasting piece made of oriented polymeric material to the shoe upper lasting margin,
- heating the lasting piece to reduce the extent of molecular orientation of the polymeric material and thereby shrink the lasting piece, and
- utilizing the shrinkage of the lasting piece which occurs during the reduction in the extent of molecular orientation to last the shoe upper to the last.
A method of forming an article of footwear from a shoe upper, which comprises:
- providing a shoe upper having a lasting margin,
- attaching a lasting piece made of oriented polymeric material to the shoe upper lasting margin,
- heating the lasting piece to reduce the extent of molecular orientation of the polymeric material and thereby shrink the lasting piece,
- utilizing the shrinkage of the polymeric material which occurs during the reduction of its extent of molecular orientation to draw at least a portion of the lasting margin over a portion of the last sole to provide a shoe upper lasted-over margin and thereby last the shoe upper to the last, and
- securing a shoe sole to the lasted-over margin to form an article of footwear.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.