US2422249A - Footwear with water-resistant slide-fastener closure - Google Patents

Description

.Fe 17;, 19470 A MALLUK 2,422,249

FOOTWEAR wrm WATER-RESISTANT SLIDE-FASTENER CLZOSURE Filed Jan. 6,, 1943 INVENTOR ASSAD M. MALI-UK Patented June 17, 1947 FOOTWEAR WITH WATER-RESISTANT SLIDE-FASTENER CLOSURE Assad M. Malluk, New York, N. Y.

Application January 6, 1943, Serial No. 471,420

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to footwear like shoes, boots, rubber boots, etc., with medium or high upper portions, and has for its main object to provide means whereby the putting on or takin off of such footwear will be greatly facilitated,-

and the inspection, cleaning and repairing of the inside particularly of high boots, made more convenient than at present, and whereby all these operations on such footwear will be made easier and more comfortable than heretofore.

For these objects I provide longitudinal separations in two or more places in the upper portion of the footwear, going down to the lower thereof, and provide means along said separations whereby the same may be opened or closed quickly and easily, so as to facilitate the putting on and taking off of the footwear, and the open ing up of the inside thereof.

My invention mainly aims to provide these improvements for high boots or shoes for rough usage, in the open air, and another object thereof is to provide a footwear, as characterized hereinbefore, in which means are incorporated to close and seal the separations against water,

sand, dirt, mud, and the like.

Still further objects of this invention will be apparent as the specification of the 'same pro ceeds, and, among others, I may mention; to provide a footwear of the type indicated which will be comparatively simple in construction, inexpensive, adapted to eflicient mass manufacturing, efficient in use, and which will be'attractive in appearance.

In the drawing, forming a part of this specification and accompanying the same- Figure l is a perspective front view of a high shoe or boot embodying my invention, the same being shown in a closed position with the exception of the upper-end of the front separation thereof, which is yet partly open;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the upper front portion of the high shoe or boot to which my invention has been applied and showing the parts in closed position.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the upper front portion of the high shoe or boot showing the relationship of the parts when in partially closed position.

Referring now to the drawing more in detail, by characters of reference, and particularly to Figure 1 thereof, the numeral l0 indicates a footwear such as a shoe or boot,-made in accordance with my invention. The footwear has an upper portion [2 which is higher than in the so called low shoes, and is designed to cover the ankle and a desired upper portion of the leg.

The footwearis provided with a longitudinal front separation indicated by the numeral ll. A similar separation at the rear of the footwear may also be provided, thereby dividing the upper l2 into right and lefthand portions or halves t6 and I1.

Slide fasteners iii are applied along the meeting edges of the halves l6 and H, the one shown in the drawing being the well known "zipper type having a manipulating handle l9 and a rear similar device 20, whereby upon an upward pull of said device said separations of the footwear may be closed by said slide fasteners, or, vice versa, upon a downward movement of said manipulating handles l9 and 20, the two halves l6 and il may be separated down to the lower portion of the footwear.

When the upper portion of the footwear is thus separated, at both the front and rear thereof, the two halves l6 and I'll will bend or drop sideways, outwardly and downwardly thereby exposing the inner sides of the upper portions and most of the inner side of the lower part of the footwear, thus giving an easy access to the inside of said lower part. When the slide fasteners are put into closed position the footwear is closed, as when worn.

It will be seen that when the footwear is in its open position it will be easy and convenient to take it off the foot of the wearer, or to put it on. It will also be easy and convenient to clean or air it or to make any necessary repairs to the inside of the footwear. Also, the footwear may be put into a closed position easily and quickly thereby embracing a desired portion of the leg of the wearer in a comfortable and well fittin manner.

It is quite essential in such footwear, which is designed for rough usage in the open or in other places where water, mud, dust, sand, etc., may easily get into it, to have the inside thereof well protected against such harmful effects, and it also is important to have the slide fastener l8, protected against such factors which may very quickly destroy its smooth operation. For this reason I provide means for protecting the separations and the slide fasteners.

As shown particularly in Figures 1 and 3, the footwear is provided with a water proof rubber protecting and sealing flap 2| which is secured on a section or half of the footwear adjacent to the separation, as indicated at 22. The said flap may be secured to the section by any appropriate means such as by cement, stitching etc. I also provide an outer covering and securing flap 23, and an inside protecting leather flap 26. When the footwear is in position, as worn, the flap 2| will extend snugly over the respective parts adjacent the separation I 4 and the slide fastener l3.

On the opposite sides of the separations to that to which flap 2| is secured, there is provided the outer covering and securing flap 23, which may be made of leather, and which is somewhat wider than the rubber flap 2|. The flap 23 is provided with means 24 to releasably secure the same on the opposite half of the upper portion of the footwear as at 25 (see Figure 2).

There is also provided a protecting flap 26 on the inside or back of the separations l4 and I5, said flap being secured on one section or half of the upper portion of the footwear adjacent the respective separation as indicated at 28, and extending over the adjacent portion of the other half of the footwear, and, as indicated at 21 in Figures 1 and 2, over a similar flap similarly secured to the other half of the footwear, thereby not only protecting the zipper I8 from the inside of the footwear, but also protecting the leg of the wearer against a pressure by the elements of the zipper and making the inner surface of the upper of the footwear when worn, smooth and even. For this purpose, the inner protector strap 26 may be made of special leather, the inner surface of which, turned against the body of the wearer, may be made soft, while the outer surface of the same may be made harder so as to provide a smooth foundation for and a desired resistance against the slide fastener l8.

Close to the slide fastener element is on the section or half I! of the upper of the footwear, a generally channel shaped member 3| is secured with its opening or mouth 32 towards the separation l4. On the other section l6, another corresponding member or strip 34 is secured adjacent the respective slide fastener elements i8.

When the slide fasteners l8 are closed upon one another by the manipulating device l9, the member 34 will be causedto enter into the channel or U-shaped member 3|, its end 35 coming to rest in the bottom 33, and they will provide a very effective watertight and dirt safe protection in front of the slide fastener iii. The members 3| and 34 of this sealing and protecting device may be made of any appropriate rigid but somewhat resilient flexible and yielding material, like metal, a plastic, etc., as Monel metal, Lucite, Vinylite, etc.

In Figure 2, there is shown a fragmentary cross-section of my construction, the thickness of the various'layers, as well as the curvatures of the'parts when closed upon one another, being exaggerated for clearness of showing.

It will be seen that my invention attains all the objects enumerated hereinbefore; it will provide a footwear of any desired height which will be easily put on or removed practically with a few quick operations, opening and closing the front and rear separations in .the upper portion of the footwear. If the footwear has waterproof material, my invention will complete this effect thereof and will not permit any water entering the inside of it.

My invention also provides convenient and quick slide fasteners for opening orclosing the separations and provides reliable and quiclgly and conveniently applied protecting means for the slide fasteners.

A footwear, manufactured according to my invention, may be easily cleaned, both outside and inside, repaired, dried, and sunned, when desired.

My novel footwear, particularly in the-case of high boots, will be easier and cheaper to manufacture than is the, case with present high boots, the upper portion of which is made of one piece of material, and it will provide a well fitting and still comfortable footwear with great ease of putting on or removing the same.

I claim:

In an article of footwear having a lower portion to cover the foot and an upper portion to cover the leg of the wearer, a longitudinal separation in said upper leg portion separating said portion into two sections from the top edge thereof to the lower part of the foot portion, slide fastener closure means for said separation, a U- shaped member made of waterproof material secured on a section along one side of the separation and extending exteriorly of the slide fastener means, a second U-shaped member made of waterproof material secured along the other side of the separation and also extending exteriorly of the slide fastener closure means and adapted to have one edge thereof enter said first mentioned U-shaped member when said slide fastener means is closed so that said edge will form a substantially water resistant seal with said first mentioned U-shaped member, a flap made of waterproof material secured along one section adjacent to the separation and extending over said members when they are positioned in engaging relation with each other, and a second flap made of water resisting material secured along the opposit section adjacent to the separation and adapted to extend over said first mentioned flap and be releasably secured to the 45 section on the other side of the separation.

ASSAD M. MALLUK.

= REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 50 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,884,159 Orent Oct. 25, 1932 1,897,623 Rosenbaum Feb. 14, 1933 2,062,001 Grenier Nov. 24, 1936 776,440 Underdown Nov. 29, 1904 984,180 Barker Feb. 14, 1911 1,648,101 Ascheim Nov. 8, 1927 1,670,468 Martin et a1 May 22, 1928 1,603,144 Nichols Oct. 12, 1926 2,330,224 L'Hollier' Sept. 28, 1943 1,991,943 Keviczky Feb. 19, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 68,037 Switzerland Jan. 28, 1914 166,196 Switzerland Mar. 1, 1934 I 498,984 Great Britain Jan. 17, 1939 120,529 Austria Dec. 27, 1930

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