Improvements in and connected with Insoles for Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 30th June, 1896-Accepted, 31st Oct., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Insoles for Boots and Shoes.
I, GEORGE WILLIAM SLEEPER, of Detroit, in the County of Wayne, and
State of Michigan, United States of America, Inventor, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of my invention is to produce by an improved method, improved
means for fastening the sole of a shoe to its insole, and it consists specifically in
improvements in insoles whereby the seam channel in general ordinary use may be
dispensed with.
In the ordinary channeled shoe the stock from which the insole is inade is cut to
form the channel thereby materially weakening the insole and tending to prevent
the requisite strength of union between the insole and the welt.
By my invention I produce in the stock of the insole a channel or groove passing
through the walls of which the stitches. that unite the insole to the sole, or as is
customary to the intermediate welt and to the upper, pierce through and through
two thicknesses of material and thereby, without impairing the strength and
durability of the insole, secure a strong and durable union of the parts.
In heavy shoes, such for example as those intended for men's wear, the insole
being made of heavy stock is strong enough in itself to hold without further
provision the stitches. In shoes of lighter weight, or more delicate manufacture it
is customary to make the insole of lighter material in which case I provide an
insole made of double thickness of material the upper one affording a smooth tread
on the inside of the shoe for the foot and the lower one carrying the rib formed by
the groove or channel in it.
The lower insole is made in the same way as that previously referred to, but the
two thicknesses of material are firmly united together by a seam or row of stitches,
one on each side of the rib, passing through and through both thicknesses of
material and securely uniting the parts together. By this means a durable insole
may be made answering all requirements by the employment of very light material,
such for example as of thin leather, of canvas or other fabric.
Heretofore attempts have been made to produce a ribbed insole but such
attempts have been practically unsuccessful owing to the fact that they have been
confined to the use of a rib defined not by moulding but by stitching in which case
the rib was either made by a narrow strip secured to the insole proper, or if
stitches of any kind were employed they were located so that the welt machine for
sewing the welt to the insole would cut a number of stitches and so impair the
quality of the shoe.
In the accompanying drawings:-

page_text: Fig. 7 is a top plan view of my insole as applicable to the ordinary turned shoe
for women, showing the groove extending only half way around the sole.
Referring to the drawings:-
1 indicates my insole. It may be made of any suitable material as for example
leather or of fabric like canvas. Leather, as previously suggested, is employed in
shoes for heavy wear, and as is well understood in the art of leather working is
usually of sufficient body to retain a shape that may be given to it by moulding.
Therefore, in such classes of shoes I may without further provision complete the
insole by forming in it at a suitable distance from its edge a clearly-defined groove
or channel 2. This groove is preferably produced by the use of dies or in any
other suitable way. The groove or depression on the one side of the insole
produces on the other side thereof a rib 3 while the remaining material of the
insole lies perfectly flat and smooth. Consequently while the grooved side of the
insole might be used directly for the tread, I prefer to employ a reinforcing layer 5
as of smooth leather which, being secured to the grooved side of the insole by
suitable adhesive material or cement not only forms a smooth tread for the insole
itself but also affords a reinforcement to the insole, so that in insoles manufactured
according to my method entirely from leather the rib 3 resembles a solid rib
projecting from one insole, the cement serving to unite the parts together and to
make a strong, complete and durable means for securing the other or wearing sole
to the upper.
For accomplishing this purpose an ordinary welt 6 may be employed secured to
the insole and to the intermediate upper 7 as by stitches 8. In sewing the parts
together the stitches 8 pass entirely through the welt, upper and both walls of the
rib 3, thereby serving not only to unite the base of the walls of the rib firmly
together, but securing a firm hold upon the stock of the insole without weakening
it in any manner such for example as would be occasioned in the employment of an
ordinary seam channel cut into the stock of the insole. As above stated when the
stock of which the insole is made is sufficiently heavy the rib when once formed in
the material will hold its shape when stitched to the welt and the upper without
further provisiou. It may however be additionally secured by the employment
upon each side of the rib, of a row of stitches, which extend entirely through the
different thicknesses of the material of which the insole is composed.
These stitches are indicated at 9 and 10 in Figs. 5, 6, and 7 of the drawings, and
they serve to permanently define and secure in place the rib 3 when it is made of
yielding material which will not hold a moulded shape, as leather, or similar
material, would do. If thin material is employed that portion of the insole of
which the rib is formed may be made of double thickness and the rib or channel
may be formed in it in the same manner in which it is formed in leather namely by
the use of dies for example. The rib may or may not be extended entirely around
the insole. It may for example extend around from one side of the heel to the
other, or it may only extend around that portion of the insole which supports the
ball of the foot, as shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings.
The rib 3 may he made of any required elevation so that between. its walls that
are sharply defined there may be inserted a filling of suitable material as cork and
the complete sole of the shoe may be built up to any thickness. This construction
affords a specially suitable means for providing under the tread any required
thickness of cork, as is clearly indicated at 12 (see particularly Fig. 4 of the
drawings).
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The method of manufacturing shoes which consists in forming in one side of
the insole a channel that defines upon the opposite side thereof a rib, uniting the
upper and welt thereto by stitches which pass entirely through both walls of the
rib and completing the shoe in the ordinary manner, substantially as set forth.

page_text: 2. The method of manufacturing shoes which consists in forming in one side of
the insole a groove or channel that defines on the other side thereof a rib, securing
the grooved side of the insole to a reinforcing piece, and stitching the welt and
upper to the rib by stitches passing entirely through both walls thereof,
substantially as set forth.
3. The combination with an insole provided with a rib-defining groove, a
reinforcing piece, and means for securing the reinforcing piece to the groove side
of the insole, substantially as set forth.
4. An insole consisting of the combination of two parts, one provided with a
rib-defining groove and the other a flat piece united to the grooved side thereof,
and two rows of stitching, one on each side of the rib, said stitches passing entirely
through both parts of the insole, substantially as set forth.
5. In a shoe, the combination with an insole provided with a rib-defining groove,
of a filling of cork or other material located between the walls of the rib and
having its surface flush or nearly flush with the top of the rib, substantially as set
forth.
Dated this 30th day of June 1896
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.