IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND IN PREPARING INDIA-RUBBER FOR SUCH AND OTHER USES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough Park,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND IN PREPARING INDIA-RUBBER
FOR SUCH AND OTHER USES."-A communication from abroad by Daniel
Hayward, residing at Boston, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 15th August 1863, and dated the 18th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bous-
field at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th February 1868.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in
the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND IN PREPARING
INDIA-RUBBER FOR SUCH AND OTHER USES," to be as follows:-
The great advantages resulting from the employment of a material that is
impervious to water in place of leather for the soles of boots and shoes, have
given rise to many experiments and trials in the endeavour to accomplish this
end. Soles of india-rubber have been cemented to a leather sole previously

page_text: applied to the boot, but this was objectionable on two accounts, firstly, on the
score of expense, and, secondly, because the cement was liable to be softened
and the india-rubber firmly secured thereto by screwing through and through
the inner sole, the upper leather, and the rubber sole. This may be performed
upon the machine for which "Letters Patent" were granted to Lyman Reed
Blake, on the 3rd May 1859, No. 1111, or other suitable machine. The sole
is made of any suitable rubber compound, and is vulcanized in a mould, within
which is arranged a wire, which forms a groove in the tread of the sole. This
groove has a double object, firstly, it serves as a guide to the sewing machine and
insures the placing of the stitches at the proper distance from the edge of the
sole; secondly, it throws the stitches so far beneath the bottom of the sole that
the latter may be worn nearly through before the former are exposed to wear.
The shoe is lasted in the usual way, and the india-rubber sole is temporarily
secured thereto; it is then sewed on by the before-mentioned machine, or upon
any machine capable of performing the work, the stitches passing through and
through the inner and outer soles and the upper leather.
For certain classes of work the soles are vulcanized in a mould, either with
or without the groove, and secured to the upper leather by means of metallic
tacks or nails as follows:-All around the edges of the last is inserted a metallic
strip, the inner sole is then laid upon the last, and the upper leather is drawn
over it and secured in the customary manner; the india-rubber sole is then
secured to the shoe by nails, which are driven through and clenched upon the
iron plate, thus firmly securing together the rubber sole, the inner sole, and
the upper leather. With other classes of work the 'rubber sole is secured to
the upper leather and inner sole by small wooden pegs; after the shoe is lasted
in the ordinary way holes are made with an awl about th inch apart all
round the edge of the sole, and the wooden pegs are driven into the holes thus
made. Where the soles are thick, this is an efficient and useful method of
attaching them to the shoe; the wood of the pegs clinging to the rubber and
also to the leather until the sole and the shoe are worn out.
E
Another part of the Invention consists in an improved heel stiftener. These
articles commonly called "counters" have heretofore been made of leather,
but this material is costly, and the labor required to cut them out and skive
them is considerable. The chief objection, however,, to which they are liable
arises from the time and labor required to apply them to the boot. After they 3
are cut out and skived they are temporarily secured to the last and lining, and
are then bent round and crimped over upon the inner sôle, and secured there;
this must be done while the stiftener is wet and pliable. The leather stiftener

page_text: is also liable to the objection that it will lose its resiliency if bent or trodden
out of shape when wet, and will not return to its original form, and thus the
boot wears over to one side. In the manufacture of the improved stiftener any
suitable compound of india-rubber is employed, which, when vulcanized, will
have the required stiffness combined with the necessary resiliency. This com-
pound, after being ground upon the ordinary heated rolls, is spread in a sheet
of from th to th inch in thickness upon coton, the thickness of the rubber
and of the cloth varying with the size of the required stiftener. Pieces are
then cut from the sheet of cloth and rubber of the required size, which are are
placed in a mould and vulcanized, the cloth being thrown upon the inside of
the stiftener, and the mould being of a form that shall give it the exact form
which it is to have when applied to the boot or shoe.. When used, it is simply
necessary to put it in place, no wetting, crimping, bending, or temporary nailing
being required. When the upper leather and sole are applied, the stitches,
nails, or pegs that hold them together also pass through part of the stiftener in
the ordinary manner. This stiftener is also permanently resilient even when
wet, and does not lose its form or shape however long or severe the wear to
which it is exposed. Any ordinary compound of rubber, sulphur, and metallic
oxides and salts that will vulcanize and preserve a proper degree of elasticity
and strength will answer for both the sole and the heel stiftener, but that
which is preferred, not only on account of its great cheapness, but also on
account of its toughness and strength, is produced by a peculiar treatment of
the waste scraps and rags of cloth covered with unvulcanized rubber, which are
made at nearly all india zubber manufactories. Various attempts have been made
to employ these rags by grinding them up with fresh rubber, but the tenacity
of the fibres made it difficult to grind the material to a uniform consistence,
and their presence invariably caused the gum to blister during the process of
vulcanization, so that it has not been found practicable to employ them in any
of the cheapest and coarsest articles, as, for example, the packing for steam
engines. This part of the Invention consists in destroying the tenacity of the
fibres previous to grinding the rags, so that they may be easily and speadily
ground upon the hot rolls, and will not blister when run upon cloth and sub-
sequently vulcanized. This destruction of the fibres of the rags is accomplished
as follows:-1,000 lbs. of the rags or other fibrous india-rubber articles are
boiled for the space of 10 to 12 hours in a mixture of 8 hhds. of water and
75 lbs. of sulphuric acid, the boiling being effected by means of
copper steam
pipes arranged in the bottom of a wooden tank. The acid is now removed by
thorough washing, and this part of the process is perferred to be effected by

page_text: submitting the rags for the space of 3 to 6 hours to the action of steam under
a pressure of from 75 to 125 lbs.; after being dried, the rags are ground upon
the heated rolls, the tenacity of the fibrous portion being so effectually
destroyed as to crumble to powder in a short space of time, and become
thoroughly incorporated with the rubber.
For the purpose of mixing with the rubber rags thus prepared and ground,
a compound of fresh or crude rubber with the necessary mineral ingredients
submitting the rags for the space of 3 to 6 hours to the action of steam under
a pressure of from 75 to 125 lbs.; after being dried, the rags are ground upon
the heated rolls, the tenacity of the fibrous portion being so effectually
destroyed as to crumble to powder in a short space of time, and become
thoroughly incorporated with the rubber.
For the purpose of mixing with the rubber rags thus prepared and ground,
a compound of fresh or crude rubber with the necessary mineral ingredients
Is prepared as follows:-
8 lbs. fresh or crude rubber.
4, plaister of Paris.
4
"
litharge.
4
"
whiting.
sulpher.
fo
These ingredients are incorporated by grinding in the usual manner, and the
compound produced is mixed in equal parts by weight with the ground rubber
rags. 12 lbs. of the crude rubber compound and 12 lbs. of the ground rubber
rags being thoroughly mixed and incorporated by grinding; the compound
thus produced is employed in the manufacture of soles and heel stiffeners.
The proportions given above for the rubber and the various mineral ingre-
dients are not rigid but may be varied to a certain extent without materially
altering the result. It is obvious, however, that the same compound may be
employed for various other articles, as it may be vulcanized without blistering
or swelling. The prepared and ground rags have also been mixed with crude
rubber in other proportions than those indicated above.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the County of
Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,

page_text: the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I, the said
George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND IN
PREPARING INDIA-RUBBER FOR SUCH AND OTHER USES," a communication to me from
abroad by Daniel Hayward, a person resident at Boston, in the United States
of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Tom-
linson Bousfield, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, 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 Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The great advantages resulting from the employment of a material that is
impervious to water, in place of leather for the soles of boots and shoes, have
given rise to many experiments and trials in the endeavour to acconlish this
end. Soles of india-rubber have been cemented to a leather sole, previously
applied to the boot, but this was objectionable on two accounts; firstly, on the
score of expense; and, secondly, because the cement was liable to be softened,
and the india-rubber was easily loosened or torn off if the shoe were brought
near to the fire.
The first part of the Invention consists in a boot or shoe having a sole of
india-rubber firmly secured thereto by sewing through and through the inner
sole, the upper leather, and the rubber sole. This may be performed upon the
machine for which Letters Patent were granted to Lyman Reed Blake on the
3rd May 1859 (No. 1111), or other suitable machine.
A shoe having an india-rubber sole thus sewn on is represented in Figures 1, 2,
and 3 of the accompanying Drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view of the shoe;
Figure 2, a plan of the sole as seen from beneath; Figure 3, a section upon
the line x, x, of Figure 1.

page_text: The sole is made of any suitable rubber compound, and is vulcanized in a
mould, within which is arranged a wire which forms a groove f in the tread of
the sole. This groove has a double object; 1stly, it serves as a guide to the
sewing machine, and insures the placing of the stitches at the proper distance
from the edge of the sole; 2ndly, it throws the stitches so far beneath the
bottom of the sole that the latter may be worn nearly through before the
former are exposed to wear. The shoe is lasted in the usual way, and the
india-rubber sole is temporarily secured thereto; it is then sewed on by the
before-mentioned machine, or upon any machine capable of performing the
work, the stitches n passing through and through the inner and outer soles
and the upper leather.
с
For certain classes of work the soles are vulcanized in a mould either with
or without the groove f, and secured to the upper leather by means of metallic
tacks or nails, as follows:-Figure 4 is a section through the toe of a shoe
with the last upon which it is made. All around the edges of the last P is
inserted a metallic strip a; the inner sole 6 is then laid upon the last, and the
upper leather is drawn over it and secured in the customary manner. The
india-rubber sole c is then secured to the shoe by nails e, which are driven
through and clenched upon the iron plate a, thus firmly securing together the
rubber sole, the inner sole, and the upper leather.
With other classes of work the rubber sole is secured to the
upper leather
and inner sole by small wooden pegs, one of which is represented in Figure 6.
Figure 5 is a section through the toe of a shoe having the sole thus secured
on. m is the rubber sole; g, the upper leather; and h, the inner sole. After
the shoe is lasted in the ordinary way holes are made with an awl about
inch apart all round the edge of the sole, and the wooden pegs i are driven
into the holes thus made; where the soles are thick this is an efficient and
useful method of attaching them to the shoe. The wood of the pegs clinging
to the rubber and also to the leather until the sole and the shoe are worn
out.
Another part of the Invention consists in an improved heel stiffener. These
articles commonly called "counters" have heretofore been made of leather, but
this material is costly, and the labor required to cut them out and skive them
is considerable. The chief objection, however, to which they are liable arises
from the time and labor required to apply them to the boot. After they are
cut out and skived they are temporarily secured to the last and lining, and are
then bent round and crimped over upon the inner sole and secured there; this
must be done while the stiffener is wet and pliable. The leather stiffener is

page_text: also liable to the objection that it will lose its resiliency if bent or trodden out
of shape when wet, and will not return to its original form, and thus the boot
wears over to one side.
In the manufacture of the improved stiffener any suitable compound of
india-rubber is employed which, when vulcanized, will have the required.
stiffness, combined with the necessary resiliency; this compound, after being
ground upon the ordinary heated rolls, is spread in a sheet of from to inch
in thickness upon cotton, the thickness of the rubber and of the cloth varying
with the size of the required stiffener. Pieces (Figure 7) are then cut from
the sheet of cloth and rubber of the required size, which are placed in a mould
and vulcanized, the cloth being thrown upon the inside of the stiffener, and
the mould being of a form that shall give it the exact form (Figure 8) which
it is to have when applied to the boot or shoe; when used it is simply neces-
sary to put it in place, no wetting, crimping, bending, or temporary nailing
being required.
When the upper leather and :sole are applied the stitches, nails, or pegs
that hold them together also pass through the part k of the stiffener in the
ordinary manner. The stiffener is also permanently resilient even when wet,
and does not lose its form or shape however long or severe the wear to which
it is exposed.
Any ordinary compound of india-rubber, sulphur, and metallic oxides and
salts that will vulcanize and preserve a proper degree of elasticity and
strength will answer for both the sole and the heel stiffener, but that which is
preferred not only on account of its great cheapness, but also on account of its
toughness and strength, is produced by a peculiar treatment of the waste
scraps and rags of cloth covered with unvulcanized rubber, which are made at
nearly all india-rubber manufactories. Various attempts have been made to
employ these rags by grinding them up with fresh rubber, but the tenacity of the
fibres made it difficult to grind the material to a uniform consistence, and their
presence invariably caused the gum to blister during the process of vulcaniza-
tion, so that it has not been found practicable to employ them in any but the
cheapest and coarsest articles, as, for example; the packing for steam engines.
This part of the Invention consists in destroying the tenacity of the fibres
previous to grinding the rags, so that they may be easily and speedily ground
upon the hot rolls, and will not blister when run upon cloth, and subsequently
vulcanized. This destruction of the fibres of the rags is accomplished as
follows:-1000 lbs. of the rags or other fibrous india-rubber articles are boiled
for the space of 10 to 12 hours in a mixture of 8 hhds. of water and 75 lbs.

page_text: of sulphuric acid, the boiling being effected by means of copper steam pipes
arranged in the bottom of a wooden tank. The acid is now removed by
thorough washing, and this part of the process is preferred to be effected by
submitting the rags for the space of 3 to 6 hours to the action of steam under
a pressure of from 75 to 125 lbs. After being dried the rags are ground upon
the heated rolls, the tenacity of the fibrous portion being so effectually destroyed
as to crumble to powder in a short space of time, and become thoroughly
incorporated with the rubber. For the purpose of mixing with the rubber
rags thus prepared and ground a compound of fresh or crude rubber with the
necessary mineral ingredients is prepared as follows:-
8 lbs. fresh or crude rubber.
4
33
plaster of Paris.
4
"
litharge.
4
99
whiting.
sulphur.
"
These ingredients are incorporated by grinding in the usual manner, and the
compound produced is mixed in equal parts by weight with the ground rubber
rags, 12 lbs. of the crude rubber compound and 12 lbs. of the ground rubber
rags being thoroughly mixed and incorporated by grinding. The compound
thus produced is employed in the manufacture of soles and heel stiffeners.
The proportions given above for the rubber and the various mineral ingre-
dients are not rigid, but may be varied to a certain extent without materially
altering the result. It is obvious, however, that the same compound may be
employed for various other articles, as it may be vulcanized without blistering
or swelling. The prepared and ground rags may also be mixed with crude
rubber in other proportions than those indicated above.

page_text: 6th, the process of preparing india-rubber rags herein described, so that
they may be employed in the manufacture of soles for boots and shoes and
other articles.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (L.s.)