Steel shank support for molded unit sole

Abstract

A shoe shank support suitable for being molded into a unit sole for a ladies high heel shoe provides increased stability and resistance to flexing and comprises a shank of metal strapping sufficiently long to extend from the heel area to approximately the beginning of the ball of the foot and a heel post which extends the height of the heel. The shank may be generally flattened and include a strengthening rib or it may be oval in shape. The heel post is attached to the heel area of the shank by being inserted through a hole and tightened in position by a reversed wing nut. The threaded end of the heel post extends the length of the heel and protrudes a small distance therefrom to provide a mounting for top lifts on the bottom of the heel. Additional holes may be provided in the shank for positioning the shank in a mold and preventing slippage of the shank during the molding process. In a second embodiment, the heel post may be molded into a separate heel unit and secured to a separately molded sole by threading into the wing nut fastener molded into the sole.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.