Patent GB-190712613-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to Automatic Heel Seat Rough Rounding or like Machines used in the Manufacture of Boots or Shoes, and for other purposes
Inventor: PHELAN MERTON DAVID
Filed: 1907-05-31
Granted: 1908-05-28
Abstract: 12,613. Phelan, M. D. June 1, 1906, [date applied for under Patents Act, 1901]. Cutting-machines for leather.-A cutting-machine, which is especially applicable for rough rounding or cutting out the heel seats of the soles of shoes &c., comprises a series of flexible knives, each of which is conformed to the contour of a shoe counter before a reciprocating block is automatically moved to force the sole through the knife, the block being set in motion by the introduction of the work, and being automatically stopped when the cutting is finished. As shown, four cutting-devices are arranged on one machine, and each shoe is supported by a pair of segmentalshaped carriers 9 supported by levers 10 provided with lugs 13 drawn together by a spring 14, the other ends of the levers 10 being controlled by cam surfaces 16 on adjustable arms 17 depending from sleeves 18. Curved flexible knives 8 are attached to the carriers 9. In order to set the knife relatively to the sole, adjustable side gauges 58 and rear gauges 57 are adapted to engage the counter when the carriers 9 are drawn in by the springs 10. The work is held in the carriers 9 with the sole to be cut off arranged above the knife 8, and the work is forced down on to each knife 8 by means of a block 20 secured to a sleeve 23, which can be adjusted in a plunger 21 by inserting a pointed tool into holes 26 in the sleeve. The plungers 21 work in fixed guides 4, and are kept normally raised by springs 29, which engage flanges 28 on the plungers and bolts which screw into the guides. To depress the plunger 21, a rod 32 depending from the strap 31 of an eccentric 30 on the driving-shaft 5, is moved from its normal position shown in Fig. 5, in which position the rod 32 reciprocates in a recess in the plunger 21, towards the left so that the rod 32 now acts on a shoulder 34 of the plunger and depresses it, thereby forcing the sole through the knife 8. To prevent the material cut off from clogging the knife 8, it is slit by a spring-controlled knife 90 pivoted to a lug on the carrier 9, and this causes the two slit pieces to fall from the knife 8. After the cutting operation, the rod 32 is returned to its normal position shown in Fig. 5, and the block 20 comes to rest. In the position shown in Fig. 5, the rod 32 is held by a spring 35 to a lever 36, which is acted on by a spring 12 tending to move the lever 36, and with it the rod 32, into the active position of the rod. The lever 36 is, however, held by a catch 39 controlled by catches 43, 44, and springs, the catch 44 being operated in order to release the catch 39 by the movement of the rear gauge 57, consequent upon the insertion of the work. A lug 54 of the gauge 57 is adjustably connected to the catch 44 by means of a spring 59 and a screw 53 in a lug 52 of the catch. After the lever 36 has been released from the catch 39, this catch is automatically returned to such a position that it may again hold the lever 36, and the lever 36 is returned to its position by a spring-controlled trip device 60, which descends with the plunger, and on the return of the plunger acts on a shoulder 62 of the lever and returns it to its original position, when it is held by a catch. In order that the knife and carrier 9 shall close upon the counter of the shoe before the cutting takes place, each sleeve 18 is provided with an arm 65 having a pivoted block mounted in a recess in a lever 36, so that, as the lever 36 moves, a corresponding cam surface 16 is moved, thereby permitting the lovers 10 to be drawn in by a spring 14. To prevent the blocks 20 from becoming worn by continuous cuttings on the same places, the blocks are rotated to a small extent at each ascent of the plungers, by means of pawls 68, formed as bell-cranks with unbalanced arms, pivoted to spring-controlled spindles with guide arms 70 slidably mounted in lugs 71 on the guide 4. On the ascent of a plunger, one arm of a pawl 68 first engages a part of the plunger, and frictionally rotates it until the other arm of the pawl engages the plunger. The side gauges 58, Fig. 8, which determine the marginal distance from the side of the shoe at which the cutting takes place, are formed as bell-cranks 73, which are adjustable by means of screws 76 with collars 77 which engage the bell-cranks 73. The driving-shaft 5 is driven from a loosely-mounted pulley 7, which can be put into connexion with the shaft 5 by means of a split-ring clutch 79. This clutch can be forced into contact with the pulley 7 by means of a collar 82 spliced to the shaft 5 and formed with a wedge-shaped lug 83 which forces the ring 79 into engagement with the pulley 7. The collar 82 is actuated by a lever-operated slide bar 84, which is received by a circumferential groove in the collar. More than four sets of knives may be used on one machine. The knives may be used for acting on the fore parts of boots as well as on the heel parts, and also for cutting out marginal portions of leather or other material presented to the knives, the knife carriers being of suitable shape to give the knives the desired contour.