IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COVERINGS FOR THE FEET, TOGETHER WITH APPARATUS AND INSTRUMENTS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Nicolas Moyon, Shoemaker, and Jacques
Eugène Lemercier, Mechanician, both of 2, Rue Ste. Appoline,
Paris, in the Empire of France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COVERINGS FOR THE FEET, TOGETHER
WITH APPARATUS AND INSTRUMENTS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 15th February 1870, and dated the 19th August 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henri Nicolas Moyon
and Jacques Eugène Lemercier at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 19th August 1869.
We, HENRI NICOLAS MOYON, Shoemaker, and JACQUES EUGÈNE
LEMERCIER, Mechanician, both of 2, Rue Ste. Appoline, Paris, in the
Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS. IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COVERINGS FOR THE
FEET, TOGETHER WITH APPARATUS AND INSTRUMENTS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to
be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to provide machinery for the manu-
facture of all kinds of boots, shoes, and other coverings for the feet.

page_text: The chief features are an arrangement to carry the last, consisting of
arms, 'by preference two, mounted on different centres, and each carrying
pincer levers to act on each of the sides of the upper leather, and a frame
supporting in addition to the parts named a table to carry tools, nails,
and other appliances that are required in the several operations, besides
a seat for the operator; also of an instrument for picking up and driving
brads or nails into boots and shoes, all as hereafter described. The main
parts of the machine are supported by a standard provided with a ball
joint carrying an axis on which a strong frame is mounted, the lower
end being curved to form an arm to carry rods for supporting the last
or lasts; one of these rods carries a box in which another rod is stepped,
and preferably made with a ball, so that it may with facility be removed
therefrom, while the upper end enters a slot formed in the last and
supports it at or at about the centre, while the two other rods carry it at
the heel and toe, one being fitted at top with a round cap and the other
with an arched bed. A pin is passed through the arm of the curved
frame and enters the bed plate of the machine to keep the frame in a
vertical position, and when the machine is reversed the same pin is used
for keeping it in that position. The upper part of the frame and above
its axis has arms, through which screws pass carrying chains at their
lower end to which pincers are secured, and which are used for seizing
the leather and stretching same, the stretching action being produced
by turning the screws. Threaded rods, say two, pass in an oblique
direction through the upper part of the standard and are provided with
chains, to which pincers are attached for seizing and stretching, as before
mentioned, the leather or material of which the boot or shoe is composed
over the toe. On the sole of the last a thin metal plate is placed with
projections on its surface to prevent its slipping on the sole; when the
end is sufficiently stretched it is fixed on the last by brads. To fit the
heel we use a leather guard piece and fitted with a metal eyelet in which
a hook on the short end of a lever is inserted, the long arm being a
handle, and the fulcrum provided with a stand to rest on the last; by
this means the heel piece is raised and afterwards kept in position as
before. Sometimes we use leather straps for the chains connected to the
pincers, and the screws are in some cases dispensed with, and an appa-
ratus constructed as follows used instead:-A shaft or spindle made of
iron, or two of such, each being fixed to one of the swan necks of the
arms; instead of the screws a toothed wheel is used in gear with a
chain; this wheel runs on a roller, one side of which has a check, the

page_text: other a ratchet united to the roller; a lever revolves on the roller
carrying a pivoted ratchet taking into the teeth of a toothed wheel. By
communicating motion to the lever any degree of tension is obtained,
and which is transmitted to the chain or strap attached thereto.
Another arrangement for stretching the leather or other material
consists of two shafts united by a cross bar; one shaft is provided with a
roller carrying on one side a ratchet, the paul being mounted on the
side of another wheel. The shaft has a stop or groove throughout its
length, and one shaft or spindle has motion communicated to it by a
crank or other appliance, whereby one, two, or three of the wheels are
driven as required, and in this manner motion is communicated to chains
or straps, and the same are wound up, and the leather or other material
connected thereto by pincers or otherwise is stretched to any required
extent.
The apparatus for taking up and driving nails or brads is constructed
in the following manner:-A piece of loadstone iron is placed in a tube;
a spring retains the iron in the tube in a sort of handle, which is provided
with a cover or case to cover the spring. The end of the instrument
being placed in a vessel containing brads or nails the loadstone attracts
the nails, the head of each of which becomes thus placed under the
magnetized iron, whereby a brad or brads is or are taken up; by giving
the head of the instrument a blow with the hand the nail or brad is so
driven into any required place. Sometimes we make the tool large
enough to present two nails at one time, whereby two may be driven at
one and the same time.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henri Nicolas Moyon and Jacques Eugène
Lemercier in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th February
1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRI
NICOLAS MOYON, Shoemaker, and JACQUES EUGENE LEMERCIER, Me-
chanician, both of 2, Rue Ste. Appoline, Paris, in the Empire of France,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of August, in the year

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-ninc, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Henri Nicolas Moyon and Jacques Eugene
Lemercier, Her special licence that we, the said Henri Nicolas Moyon and
Jacques Eugene Lemercier, our exccutors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Henri Nicolas Moyon and Jacques Eugene
Lemercier, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COVERINGS FOR THE FEET,
TOGETHER WITH APPARATUS AND INSTRUMENTS CONNECTED THERE WITH," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Henri Nicolas Moyon and
Jacques Eugene Lemercier, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Henri Nicolas Moyon and Jacques
Eugene Lemercier, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawing, and to the letters of reference
marked thereon, that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is to provide machinery for the manu-
facture of all kinds of boots, shoes, and other coverings for the feet, and
capable of accomplishing the work with much greater facility, speed,
and perfection than has heretofore been attained.
The chief features are an arrangement to carry the last, two arms
mounted on different centres, and each carrying a series of pincer levers
intended to act on each of the sides of the upper leather, and a frame
supporting in addition to the parts named two tablets to carry tools,
nails, and other appliances that may be required in the several opera-
tions; also of an instrument for picking up and driving brads or nails
into boots and shoes.

page_text: The accompanying Drawings show at Figure 1 in side view, and at
Figure 2 in front view, a machine constructed according to this Inven-
tion; it is composed of a column or support a, the base of which is
secured by bolts to the bed plate a fixed to the ground. This column a
is provided with a ball a and carries a horizontal cylinder which forms
an axis to a strong piece of cast iron b, the upper part of which carries
two axes about which two arms c are free to turn, each being furnished
with a horizontal cross bar through. which screws d pass which run
through threads formed in cylinders inserted in the pieces c.
The lower
part of the piece b carries two vertical rods f and g, which are firmly
secured thereto; the rod f near the lower end thereof carries a kind of
box e with a slot in front to receive the rod h, terminating at its base in
a ball ', whereby it can be easily engaged in and disengaged from the
box e; this rod h terminates at its upper end in a screw or T-piece
which takes into the last i to carry same. The rods fand g terminate
at top in a screw, on which the nuts f¹ and glare screwed; the nut f¹
carries a spherical cap to abut against the last i, and the nut g¹ is
provided at top with a flanged or arched piece to receive and hold the
end of the last i. The piece b is kept in vertical position by the pin j,
which passes through the base and enters the bed a¹; this pin j is also
used for being inserted into the two holes c¹ of the arms c when they are
brought right and left, whereby all the moving part of the machine may
be reversed in order to ascertain if the upper leather perfectly fits the
last. Each arm c carries screws d at the lower end of which chains
are secured. To these chains the handles of the pincers are hooked,
so that the pressure produced by the pincers may be increased by giving
them a drawing action. The upper part of the column a a little below
the ball carries two arms, each supporting a platform a³ to receive tools,
brads, and other things that may be required, and a prolongation of this
column is traversed obliquely by a traction screw d₁ provided with a
chain and pincer for stretching the end of the boot or shoe. The
cylinder acting as the centre of motion to the piece 6 is bored and
threaded to receive the support k placed behind the heel of the last, the
position of which is regulated by the handle k'. The upper being placed
on the last i so that its contour extends beyond the corresponding part
below the boot or shoe so as to be able to take hold of it with the
pincers n, care having been taken to place them in the position shown
at Figure 2, in order that they may perfectly stretch the upper, the
screws d are turned until the leather has received all the stretching it

page_text: can bear, but the end is somewhat difficult to do, and it is for this reason
we use the screw d¹ with its pincers, which allows this part to be com-
pletely stretched, so important a point in the manufacture of boots and
shoes. It will be understood that on the bottom of the last, but really
on the top since it is reversed, a first sole is placed, on the end of which
the pincer is drawn by the screw d'. To facilitate the work we place a
surface of thin metal plate i' furnished with a series of projections to
prevent it from sliding on the first sole, and as the pincer rests on this
metal it slides thereon with facility. When the end has been suitably
stretched it is fixed on the last with small nails called brads; the pincers
are then unscrewed at the end and the metal sheet removed. As a
general rule the work is commenced lengthwise, as before described.
During this operation the arms c are open or reversed right and left, and
when the drawing of the end is finished the pincer n¹ is raised, the arms c
are then raised by reuniting them through the cross bar to hook m, and
the pincers n are fixed to the upper; the chains, cords, or straps are
attached to the slides (coutants) of the pincer handles », and the screws d
are brought into action to produce the upward tension; the arms c are
then pulled down, which allows the edge of. the upper to be brought on
to the edge of the first sole, where it is fixed by means of small brads.
The part corresponding with the heel often presents difficulties to its
being well fitted. To obtain a good result there is placed between this
part of the last and the upper a piece of leather taking the place of a
shoeing horn or forming a guard piece. This leather is externally pro-
vided with a metal eyelet or with a particular metal fitting, in which an
aperture is formed for a hook o¹ of the lever o, see Figure 3, the base o²
of which rests on the last i as a point of support and allows the heel
piece to be raised, and consequently to draw that part of the upper
corresponding with the heel into position and to fix it onto the last in
manner before described. Leather straps may be substituted for the
chains, and the screws d arc turned until the leather, the wool fabric,
silk, velvet, or other material has received the required stretching, but
the wings of the screws d may be replaced either by strong jointed rings
which are raised to regulate each screw, and which may be placed down
when not required to work, or the screws may be dispensed with
altogether and each of them replaced by an arrangement shown in front
view at Figure 4, and in section at Figure 5. The shaft p is made of
iron; there are two, cach fixed to one of the swan necks of the two
arms c. In place of each of the screws d there is a toothed wheel or

page_text: cylinder q in gear with the chain / or round to carry a strap; this wheel
runs freely on the roller r, by preference made of bronze. On one side
this roller is provided with a cheek, on the other it receives the ratchet
wheel 8, made of iron, or better of steel, which is firmly united to the
roller . A levert revolves freely on the roller; it carries a ratchet
pawl u jointed at u¹ to the lever t, and the other end of the ratchet pawl
takes into the teeth on the wheel 8. The levert is fixed to the wheel q
by pins t. By communicating motion to the lever t any required degree
of tension is given to the chain or to the strap fixed at one end next the
wheel q. This arrangement or one of a similar kind may be also
employed as a key which at will is caused to take into the upper end of
the screws d carrying a square or any other suitable form to receive this
ratchet key, and to which an alternate motion is communicated to
stretch the chains or the straps as well as the uppers.
Figure 6 is a view of a mechanical arrangement.also capable of being
applied to the end of each of the swan necks of the arms c to stretch the
chains or the straps, and consequently the upper. This arrangement
consists of two shafts and united to the end opposite to the swan
necks by a cross bar or girder 03. The shaft has three arrangements
similar to that accompanying the wheel x turning on a roller y, one side
of which has an enlargement y' provided with ratchet teeth, and its
pawl y is mounted on the side of the wheel x, and at the opposite end
this roller y carries a slotted roller y³ to prevent the wheels x and xi
from becoming separated, the two wheels x and x¹ being strongly united.
The shaft v has a feather or a groove throughout its length to prevent
the roller y from turning; in like manner the shaft v¹ has also a feather
or a groove to draw the three wheels similar to z, which can when desired
be caused to gear with a¹. The shaft ¹ is moved by the hand by a fly
wheel w or by a crank, by which arrangement one of the wheels x or
two or three are driven at the same time; for to accomplish this it is
only necessary to slide on to the shaft v¹ the three wheels z, so that one
of them or, the three gearing with one, two, or three wheels ' thus
drive either the chains or the straps which are hooked to the wheels x.
Figures 7 and 8 are views of two brad or nail carriers made according
to our Invention. The taking up and placing in position of these little
nails occupies some considerable care and time. In order to remedy this,
and especially to economize the time, we have for this purpose made use
of magnetism. A piece of loadstone iron a is placed in a tube b; a

page_text: helical spring c pushes away this copper tube from a kind of handle d
provided with a tube to cover the spring. To use the instrument its
end is placed in a vessel containing brads or small nails; the loadstone
portion attracts a nail, the head of which always becomes placed under
the part a of the magnetized iron in such manner that it is only
necessary to place the instrument in the brad holder when a brad is
required to be taken up; by giving the head of the tool a blow with the
hand the nail or brad is driven into any desired place over which the
tool may be placed. As it is often required to drive two nails at a time
in some cases the tools are made capable of receiving two of such nails,
and this being the case both are driven by one blow as before.
In conclusion, these improvements consist,―
1st. In the construction of improved machinery for fitting boots and
shoes of all kinds on lasts of any size, the said boots and shoes being
made of any desired material, the work performed in a most effective and
perfect manner in a short time, and with ease.
2nd. The new application of mechanical stretchers to pinch and
draw the uppers by means of cords, straps, and chains.
3rd. The employment of a movable drawing heel apparatus abutting
on the last, but which may be also fixed to the machine.
4th. The application of magnetism, that is to say, the employment of
a loadstone to take up and to drive in the brads or small nails to fix the
upper to the last, an instrument which has not heretofore being applied
to boot and shoe making, and which gives a considerable speed in fitting
or making up by means of brads.
In witness whereof, we, the said Henri Nicolas Moyon and Jacques
Eugene Lemercier, have hereunto set our hand and seal, this
Fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy.