AN IMPROVED BOOT AND SHOE
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
THOMAS GRAY, of Wardour Street, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain and Ireland,
bearing date at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of May, in the tenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Thomas Gray, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Thomas
Gray, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Thomas Gray, my exors, adñors, or assigns, might at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times during the continuance
of the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention
of "AN IMPROVED BOOT AND SHOE;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso obliging me, the said John Thomas Gray, to cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Thomas Gray, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained by the following description thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings annexed hereto, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):
It is well known that many persons wear out the heels of their boots and
shoes unevenly, by reason of their treading more on one side of the heel than
on the other, and that this causes the boot or shoe to fall down on the side
worn, whereby a very unsightly appearance is given to such boot and shoe.
Now my improvement in the boot and shoe is intended to prevent the heel of
a boot or shoe from being worn unevenly, although the wearer should walk
with an uneven tread;" and I effect this purpose by giving to the heel of the
boot or shoe a rotary motion, so that the heel may be turned round as often as
required, and if turned every day the heel cannot be worn down unevenly.
By giving every day a change of surface, so that part of the heel most exposed
to the friction, the heel being always level, will last as long as the sole of the
boot, and in many case considerably longer. I ame aware that there have
been several attempts made to effect a similar purpose, and that a Patent was
obtained for a rotary heel, but none of these plans have effectually answered
the intended purpose.
My Invention then consists,-
Firstly, in the construction and application of a rotary heel for boots and
shoes.
Secondly, in the application of rotary surfaces to the soles of boots and
shoes.
Fig. 1 in the Sheet of Drawings annexed represents a Wellington boot with my
improved heel, which it will be seen in external appearance is very similar to the
heels of other Wellington boots, and Fig. 2 is a section on an enlarged scale of
as much of the heel as is necessary to shew my improvements therein, which
consist in the form and combination of the various parts, these being severally
represented in section & in plan of the various Drawings, and will be distinguished
by the letters of reference marked thereon, which denote the same parts when
they recur in the different Figures. The boots or shoes to which my improved
heel are to be attached, being in a sufficiently forward state of manufacture
to receive the same, I take a ring or piece of leather a, a, with a circular
recess b, b, formed therein, and secure it to the boot or shoe by nails, pins, or
other suitable means, as seen at Fig. 3. Into this recess b, b, I place a ring
c, c, of metal or other suitable material. This is furnished with a number of

page_text: pins or prongs d, d, d, by which the succeeding pieces of leather e and f are
secured thereto. The inner surface of the metal ring c, c, which is of a conica!
or bevel form, is fitted with a circular plate of metal g. These bevel surfaces
are truly turned and ground together, in order to insure a uniform friction in
their working one within the other, which will at all times be sufficient to
prevent motion resulting when in use, and yet admit of being readily turned
by the hand when desired, the peculiar combination being such that the
pressure to which it would be subjected in the action of walking would tend
materially to increase the friction, consequently requiring considerable force to
move or turn the heel round, and the friction multiplying at an increasing
ratio with the pressure, the wearer could not possibly be subject to any incon-
venience from the accidental movement thereof. The metal plate g is secured
to the boot by screws h, h. h. This plate, by means of its beveled edge, retains
the metal ring c, c, within the recess b, b, in which it revolves. A ring of
leather e, e, is next placed on the prongs d, d, d, and the internal space
filled up by a piece of leather k, which may be readily moved in order to
get at the screws h, h, h, without disturbing the ring of leather e, e.
I now
secure to the heel by the prongs d, d, d, which project through the ring of
leather e, e, the top or heel piece f, which is to sustain the friction or wear, and
it will be readily understood from the foregoing that any part of its surface
which comes in contact with the ground, and which is found to receive the
greatest amount of wear, can be turned into another situation at pleasure, until
the whole is equally worn. The top or heel piece of being secured to the
ring of leather e, e, as before described, and the surface of this ring coming
in close contact with the piece a, a, any dust or dirt is prevented from getting
to the working surfaces.
the same.
is
The second part of my Invention, which relates to the application of
revolving or moveable surfaces to the soles of boots or shoes, is represented
in Figs. 4 and 5, Fig. 4 being a plan of the under side of the sole of a boot,
having two revolving surfaces l, m, applied thereto, and Fig. 4 a side view of
The construction of these moveable surfaces are similar to the
revolving heel herein-before described, and therefore unnecessary to repeat.
Having thus described my said Invention, and the means by which it is
to be performed, I may remark that I do not claim the principle of the rotary
heel for boots and shoes, but what I do claim as of my Invention, is the
peculiar form and combination of the parts a, c, d, e, and, 9, and particularly
the attaching of the moveable part of the heel to the fixed part thereof, by
means of beveled surfaces, as herein-before described.
And I claim also the application of moveable surfaces constructed in

page_text: manner similar to the heel to the soles of boots and shoes, as represented in
Figs. 4 and 5 in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thomas Gray, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
JOHN THOMAS (L.s.) GRAY.
Enrolled the Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.