A NEW AND IMPROVED METHOD OF MAKING REVOLVING BOOT AND SHOE HEELS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Douglas Norton, of No. 8, Roman Road,
Barnsbury, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "A NEW
AND IMPROVED METHOD OF MAKING REVOLVING BOOT AND SHOE HEELS."
Sealed the 15th March 1867, and dated the 9th November 1866:
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Charles Douglas Norton a
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 9th November 1866, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DOUGLAS NORTON, of No. 8, Roman Road, Barnsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "A NEW AND IMPROVED
METHOD OF MAKING REVOLVING BOOT AND SHOE HEELS," and have petitioned
Her Majesty to grant unto me, and my executors, administrators, and assigns,
Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration
that I am the true and first Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I; the said Charles Douglas Norton, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement, reference being
made to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings making a part of this my
Brace Ad 1

page_text: Specification, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon,
similar letters of reference denoteing similar parts where such parts appear,
or may be seen at each of the Figures respectively.
The object of my Invention is to enable the lower portion of the heel of a
boot or shoe to be turned by the wearer in such a manner that one part of it
when worn may be turned round and so replaced that part when no longer
fit to wear, from continued use having become uneven and not coinciding
longer with the base of the heel. I am aware that heels somewhat similar
and on the revolving principle have been before adopted in practice both in
boots and shoes, but the different methods, however, have been too expensive
and complicated, and the present is designed to obviate those disadvantages.
My proposed method in the present case in my improved movable heel is
as follows-I make a plain disc of metal, on the centre of which I make a
screw hole, and near the edge of the disc I make certain other holes through
which I screw the above disc to that part of the heel of the boot which is in
'a line with the waist. The other part of the heel I make circular, let the
thickness be what it may; through the centre of the heel I make a hole
prepareing previously a piece of metal or washer for the shoulder of the screw.
On the upper surface of the circular heel near the sides I drive or screw in
points sharpened; I then place the circular heel on the plate before men-
tioned, the points towards the heel. Through the before-mentioned holes,
see C, Figure 2, in the centre of the heel, I pass a pin, with head and
shoulder prepared beforehand to correspond with the hole in the centre of
the disc, and so screw upwards until the points mentioned above become
countersunk in the disc or upper part of the heel by means of the screw; by
this mode of action the revolving part of the heel is held as firm as if it was
nailed on. To unfasten or enable the wearing surface to be changed the
screw is to be turned backwards until the points become free; next, the lower
part of the heel is to be turned into the required position; then the screw is
to be turned up again so as to place it in its former position. This mode of
proceeding renders the re-heeling of a boot and shoe unnessary during the
entire wearing of the other parts by the reversion of the heel when it becomes
needful. The apparatus may be reversed, the pin passing from the inner sole
into the plate on the circular heel, in which case the above-mentioned points
may be on either part of the heel. In case of the above-mentioned change
I place a sock to prevent irritation from the metal in the inside of the boot.
Figures 1, 2, & 3 of the annexed Sheet illustrate the construction of a
boot heel made according to my Invention; Figure 1 being a vertical section
through the centre of boot heel; Figure 2 & 3 detached parts of same.

page_text: A, A, circular heel (shewn at Figure 1); B, B, metal plate (shewn at
Figure 2) which may form a circle inside the before-mentioned holes for
screws and points; C, C, holes, before described, for screws and points;
D, D, screw with head and shoulders (shewn at Figure 3); E, points
shewn at Figure 1 on the top of circular heel; F, F, metal washer (shewn at
Figure 1).
And having now described the nature of my Invention, and the means by
which I carry it into practical effect, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the exact details herein given, nor to any precise dimen-
sions of the several parts, as such may be varied and modified without
departure from my Invention; the whole substantially as herein-described and
illustrated on the annexed Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Douglas Norton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this 9 day of November 1866.
CHARLES DOUGLAS NORTON. (L.S.)