A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF BLOCKING LEATHER USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Stockil, of Long Lane, in the County
of Surrey, Currier, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
METHOD OF BLOCKING LEATHER USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
BOOTS."
Sealed the 8th March 1854, and dated the 20th September 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Stockil at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th September 1853.
I, WILLIAM STOCKIL, of Long Lane, in the County of Surrey,
Currier, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A
NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF BLOCKING LEATHER USED IN THE 'MANUFAC-
TURE OF BOOTS" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in adapting to the cheeks of the usual
upright or guillotine blocking machine a series of metallic projections
or ribs having a more acute angle than the knife or block on which the
leather is placed, each such projection having an independent action,
and capable of adjustment by means of screws and springs, which
latter I prefer to be made of vulcanized india-rubber; the process

page_text: being that the leather is forcibly drawn between these projections, and
thereby compressed in those parts where compression is required, and
extended in those where extension is required, and the usual shape of
a boot front obtained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Stockil in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I.
WILLIAM STOCKI, of Long Lane, in the County of Surrey, Currier,
send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said William Stockil, Her special
licence that I, the said William Stockil, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Stockił,
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
"A NEW Oк IMPROVED METHOD OF BLOCKING LEATHER USED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Stockil, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 William Stockil, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and

page_text: by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:
My Invention consists in adapting to the cheeks of the usual up-
right or guillotine blocking machine a series of metallic projections,
or ribs, having a more acute angle than the knife or block on which
the leather is placed, each such projection having an independent
action, and being capable of adjustment by means of screws and
springs, which latter I prefer to be of vulcanized india-rubber; the
leather is forcibly drawn between these projections, and thereby com-
pressed in those parts where compression is necessary, and extended in
those where extension is required, and the usual shape of a boot front
thus obtained. The Drawings hereunto annexed represent, a machine
constructed according to my Invention. Fig. 1, being a front eleva-
tion; Figure 2, a cross section; Figure 3, a longitudinal section; and
Figure 4, a back elevation. A, A, are two upright standards, con-
nécted at top by the cross frame A', and at bottom by the framing A.,
C, C, and D, D, are four cast iron angular cheeks formed with
flanges a, a, by which they are bolted in pairs to the standards. E, E,
are two plates, which are connected by bolts to the cheeks C, and D.
F, F, are four shoe pieces, formed of brass or gun metal or other
non-corrosive metal, which cover and so form an inside face to each of
the angular cheeks C, and D; pieces of india-rubber being interposed,
between the checks and the pieces F, F. G, G, are a series of pro-,
jections or ribs, formed also of a non-corrosive metal, and of the shape
represented in the Drawings. These ribs are superposed the one above.
the other, and connected to the plates E, E, by the screws b, b, which
are passed through the plates and tapped into the back of the ribs. By.
these means the ribs are capable of being SO adjusted as to leave.
sufficient vertical space between the two sets of ribs for the passage of
the blocking knife and leather, a similar space being left between the
top and bottom pairs of shoe pieces F, F. c, c, are two sheets of
vulcanized india-rubber which act as springs, and are placed between
the ribs G, G, and the plates F, F, by means of which the ribs are kept
out to the full extent allowed by the screws b, b, but at the same time
are capable of yielding to the varying thickness of the leather passing

page_text: between them. H, is the blocking knife, shewn separately in Figure 5,
which is caused to be drawn down between the checks by the follow-
ing arrangement: -The blocking knife is made with two projecting
ends d, d, which fit into corresponding recesses in the back of two
vertical racks I, I, free to slide up and down in chases in the sides of
the standards when actuated by the pinions K, K, keyed upon the
shaft L, turning in the brackets e, e. M, is a toothed wheel, also keyed
upon the end of the shaft L, and geared into by the pinion N, upon
the spindle O, which is caused to rotate by means of the crank
handle P. R, is a cord wheel upon the shaft L, round which a cord is
wound having a weight attached to the end of it, whereby the racks
are raised again after being drawn down by turning the crank handle P.
The method of using this machine is as follows:-The leather to be
blocked or formed to the shape of the intended boot front is laid
evenly upon the top of the shoe pieces F, and immediately beneath
the blocking knife, and also in such a position that when the knife is
brought down upon the leather it shall fold the leather as near as may
be down the centre. The workman then turns the handle P, and
thereby brings the knife through the medium of the racks and gearing
down upon the leather, and thus causes both the leather and the knife
to be passed between the shoe pieces F, and ribs G, whereby the
leather has imparted to it permanently the shape of the intended boot
front. When the knife has arrived at the bottom of the machine the
leather is taken from off' it, and the knife withdrawn, and again inserted
in its former position at top, the racks being also restored or drawn up
by means of the cord wheel R, or by turning the crank handle in the
reverse direction. A fresh leather is then laid upon the top of the
shoe pieces F, and the operation of blocking again repeated.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
The method of constructing the cheeks of upright or guillotine
machines of metallic projections or ribs, each such projection having
an independent action and capable of adjustment.
I also claim the placing of vulcanized india-rubber or other springs
at the back of the ribs, and also at the back of the shoe pieces F, F, in

page_text: the manner and for the purpose herein-before described, and repre-
sented in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Stockil, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of March, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
W STOCKIL. (L.S.)