FOOTWEAR HEEL

TALON DE CHAUSSURE

English Abstract

A heel for footwears including a body (1) and an elongated support portion
(1a) wherein a rigid reinforcing core (2) is embedded and has a stem-like
structure with a substantially frusto-conical cross section.

French Abstract

La présente invention concerne un talon de chaussure comprenant un corps (1) et une partie support (1a) allongée comprenant un noyau de renforcement (2) rigide intégré et ayant une structure semblable à une tige avec une section transversale essentiellement tronconique.

Claims

5
CLAIMS
1. A. stiletto heel for footwear comprising a body (1)
and an elongated support portion (1a) wherein a rigid
reinforcing core (2) is embedded, characterized in that
said reinforcing core has a stem-like structure with a
substantially frusto-conical cross section and comprises a
stem (3) with a lower end (3a) and a upper end (3b), said
lower end (3a) being formed with a bore (7), in which a
shank (6a) of a heel tip (6) is forcibly engaged, said
upper end (3a) being formed with an enlarged head (4) to
secure said reinforcing core into the heel body, the
conicity of said stem increasing without interruption from
said lower end (3a).
2. The heel for footwears according to claim 1, wherein
the said reinforcing core (2) is made of an aluminium
alloy, such as ERGAL 7075.
3. The heel for footwear according to any one of the
previous claims, wherein the profile of said stem (3) is
in the shape of an arc of circumference radiusing said
lower end (3a) to said upper end (3b).
4. The heel for footwear according to claim 3, wherein
said arc of circumference is substantially tangent to the
perpendicular to said lower end (3a) of the stem (3)
intersecting said stem lower end (3a) at the edge thereof.

Description

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TITLE
FOOTWEAR HEEL
DESCRIPTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field
of footwear, in particular woman's footwear, and more in
particular relates to a heel for footwear, especially a so
called stiletto heel.
Background of the Invention
As known in the field of footwear, a stiletto heel is
a type of high heel, essentially for woman's footwear,
featured by a high height/section ratio. Though all high
heels require suitable means for their reinforcement, this
is absolutely indispensable in the case of stiletto heels,
in view of their slenderness, which makes them
insufficiently resistant to shear stress and bending.
Normally in order to increase the mechanical strength of
high heels in general and of stiletto heel in particular,
it is customary to reinforce them by a core made of rigid,
generally metallic material. Examples of these reinforcing
cores are illustrated for instance in the British patents
n. GB 2012557 and 2063645. In these cases the reinforcing
core is made up of a steel tubular member having a
longitudinal slit, as the core is obtained by bending of a
rectangular stripe. The tubular reinforcement member is
embedded in the heel when it is injection moulded and then
is finished with a heel tip having a shank forcibly
engaged within the tubular member.
In the specific case of high heels the needs for
lightness and resistance, which have to be both satisfied,
are seriously hindered by the fact that the reinforcing
core section has to be particularly small. This definitely

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implies that no one of the high heels which are now
available on the market meet the resistance provision set
forth in ISO standards EN-ISO.19956/04, unless either
increasing the reinforcing core section but losing high
heel's slenderness, or using high resistance materials,
such as steel, but in this way negatively affecting heel
lightness.
Sunu.nary of the Invention
The object of the present invention is to provide a
heel for footwear, in particular a stiletto heel, which
has high lightness and, at the same time, mechanical
resistance to shear and bending stress.
Another object of the present invention is to provide
a heel of above mentioned type which meets the
requirements of EN-ISO 19956/04 in the matter of fatigue
strength.
These objects are achieved with the heel for footwear
according to the invention, which includes a body and an
elongated support portion wherein a rigid reinforcing core
is embedded. According to the invention, the core has a
stem-like structure with a substantially frustoconical
cross section. Furthermore the reinforcing core is
preferably made of ERGAL 7075.
Brief description of the drawings
The invention will now be illustrated more in detail
by the following description of an exemplifying, non-
limiting embodiment thereof, with reference to the
attached drawings, in which:
- figure 1 is a partially exploded sectional view
of a heel for footwear in accordance with the
invention;
- figure 2 shows a perspective view of the

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reinforcing core of the heel shown in figure 1.
Detailed description of the invention
Referring to the aforesaid figures, it has been
indicated at 1 a body of a stiletto heel obtained by
iniectjon molding in a conventional way, and at 2 a
reinforcing core included in its elongated support portion
la during the iniectjon moulding manufacturing process.
The reinforcing core 2 comprises a stem 3, with a
substantially frustoconical section, ending with an head 4
of larger cross-section. The stem 3 has a length and a
section suitable for allowing it to be embedded into a
stiletto heel of conventional size.
The core 2 develops from a lower end 3a of the stem 3
with a first stem portion 5a that has a very low conicity
and is radiused to a second stem portion 5b of greater
conicity. The head 4 extends from the upper end 3b of the
stem 3.
It is very important that the stem portions 5a and 5b
with different conicity would be joined without
discontinuity so as to avoid any presence of critical
sections, on which outward stresses can concentrate, along
the stem 3 of the core 2. To this end the reinforcing core
conicity preferably increases from its lower end 3a, which
is the one with the lowest section.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the profile
of the stem 3 is in the shape of an arc of circumference
radiusing the lower end 3a to the upper end 3b of the stem
3. In particular said arc of circumference is
substantially tangent to the line perpendicular to the
lower end 3a of the stem 3 intersecting the stem lower end
at the edge thereof. In order to maintain the same ratio
between the radius of the lower end 3a and the radius of

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the upper end 3b for varying heigths of the stem 3, the
radius of curvature of the arc-shaped profile of the stem
3 has to be increased as a function of the stem height.
According to an important feature of the invention,
optimum results are obtained with the above described
shape of the reinforcing core 2 and using a metallic
material with adequate resistance and lightness, such as
in particular the aluminium alloy known as ERGAL 7075.
Obviously materials having equivalent mechanical features
and lightness can be used as an alternative.
The tests carried out on high heels according to the
aforementioned ISO standards, have shown that the
resistance requirements are widely fulfilled, in
particular referring to the repeated shear fatigue
resistance test, which provides that the resistance
threshold is to be higher than 14.000 strokes.
Various modification and alterations to the invention
may be appreciated based on a review of the disclosure.
These changes and additions are intended to be within the
scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the
following claims.
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Representative Drawing