Improvements in the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Sept., 1893-Accepted, 18th Nov., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes.
I, EWALD LANGENOHL, of Wermelskirchen, Kohlgasse, in the Empire of
Germany, Shoe Manufacturer, 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 and accompanying drawing, that is
to say :-
This invention has for its object an improved method of manufacturing boots
and shoes by which the pegging or nailing of the upper leather upon the last by
hand or by machine is avoided, and a solid article with a perfectly flat inner sole is
produced. In practice each boot or shoe consists of a lower part and of an upper
part sewn into it.
By the present invention this lower part which may be made of one or more
pieces, may be attached without the ordinary method of fastening, by nailing or
sewing entirely round the inner sole. The improved process consists further of the
manufacture of a solid and complete article entirely without the inner sole, for
which the bottom of the lower part of the leather forms a substitute.
An important characteristic of this invention is that the shoe or the lower part
thereof is so formed that it covers the entire last, especially the lower surface of
the latter, the longitudinal axis of the shoe forming a line along which the two
edges of the sides of the leather meet each other. For this purpose the lower part
of the shoe consists of two longitudinal parts as illustrated in Figures 4, 5, and 6, of
the accompanying drawing, which are so formed that their edges come together
round the last e and form the lower part of the shoe. The toe piece a, Figures 1
and 3, and i, Figures 4 and 6, is formed in the same way, being bent round the
point of the last so that its edges come together at the bottom.
This toe piece and the lower part of the shoe can if they are properly formed fit
one upon the other and form the entire lower part of the shoe, into which (unlike
the ordinary method of manufacture) the upper part can be afterwards sewn.
When the lower part has been made in the way described it is then necessary
that the sole and heel should be sewn on. The wrinkling or gathering-in of the
upper leather, which cannot be avoided where nails or pegs are used all round, is
entirely absent when the shoe is formed in the novel method described..
According to the shape and character of the boot or shoe the novel method of
manufacture may be more or less modified. In high lace-up boots, as shewn in
Figure 1, with an added tue-piece, the lower part 6 formed in one piece, as shewn
in Figure 1, or in more than one as shewn in Figure 6, requires no sewing round it,
and the two parts meet in a longitudinal line along the centre of the lower side and
of the heel, as shewn in dotted lines in Figures 2 and 6.
The previously prepared upper part c can then most conveniently be fixed upon
a last, and with the latter introduced into the lower part of the shoe and cemented
to the latter, and they may be firmly sewn together in the ordinary methods in
order to form a complete boot. The toe-piece a made in the manner described, as
shewn in Figure 3, is sewn upon the shoe and is formed in one piece its upper part
being bent round the properly shaped last whilst the edges meet together in the
middle of the bottom. It may be provided with ornamental stitching or other
ornament, and is fitted upon the lower part of the shoe Figure 2, formed in one
or more pieces as already described, and they are sewn together. The joint of
the part 6 in the middle of the bottom corresponds with the joint of the toe-
piece a.
As shewn in Figure 5 shoes made according to the new process can be

page_text: manufactured in the simplest way, the two halves of the upper part ƒ and g being
so bent upon the last e that the two halves meet together on their lower side or
sole and completely cover the last the shape of which they follow in all parts.
By this method of construction the seam in the upper part is entirely in the axis
of the shoe. The cutting out may be so arranged that the lower part of the shoe
consists of two halves as shewn in Figure 6 at and k, upon which a toe piece i is
fitted, so that together with the two sides h and k a perfectly smooth lower side or
sole is formed.
The novel process described for the manufacture of boots and shoes can also be
applied to the formation of heel pieces or backs in one piece with the inner sole as
shewn in Figure 7. The flat sole m is in this case bent round the back of the last,
the parts n and being bent up so as to form the heel and requiring only a single
seam at their back junction which in heavier work may be formed by bringing
their edges into contact and then combining them in the other part of the shoe.
0
Instead of the methods of manufacture hitherto employed, the upper part of the
shoe can by this invention be first completed and then sewn into the completed lower
part whereby a corresponding simplification of the entire manufacture and a separate
manufacture of the upper part of the shoe is possible.
An important advantage of the improved process is further that the upper part
of the shoe which in the completion of the shoe must pass through many hands can
after having been completed be finally attached to the lower part whereby an
improved appearance is obtained.
Moreover, in the manufacture of boots and shoes, by the improved process the
troublesome and expensive pegging machine, as well as the no less difficult hand
pegging, are entirely dispensed with and the manufacture is greatly simplified.
The special leather (which in the process of manufacture hitherto used has been
always necessary under the ball of the foot), together with the rivets rivetted upon
an iron last for fastening the upper leather to the inner sole, and the unavoidable
ridges of the seams, are entirely absent and considerably reduce the weight of the
shoe or boot whilst on the other hand the solidity and durability of the work and
the healthiness of the articles are increased.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. In the manufacture of boots and shoes, the method of forming the upper part
so that it is fitted closely round the last, its edges fitting together at the bottom,
substantially as described and illustrated.
2. The method of arrangement described in Claim 1, applied to the toe-piece of
the boot or shoe, so that its edges meet together centrally at the bottom, and it can
then be applied to the upper part and fixed by sewing or cement, substantially as
described and illustrated.
3. The application of the method of manufacture described in Claim 1 to the
making of heel pieces and inner soles of one piece by means of projections upon the
latter which are bent round the back of the last so as to form heel pieces, sub-
stantially as described and illustrated.
4. In boots and shoes made according to Claims 1 and 2, the method of making
the upper part so that without nailing or pegging, and without direct attachment to
an inner sole or the ordinary connection with the sole, it is put together in one or
more parts, its edges meeting together at the bottom, and the entire upper part
without any attachment to an inner sole, being so complete that only the outer sole
and heel have to be added, substantially as described and illustrated.
5. In the method of manufacture claimed in Claims 1, 2, and 3, the method of
making boots or shoes without the special leather under the ball of the foot by
which the lower part is attached to the bottom or sole so that only the outer sole
and heel have to be added, substantially as described and illustrated.
6. In the method of manufacture claimed in Claims 1, 2, and 3, the arrangement

page_text: by which the completed upper part is inserted and fixed in the completed lower
part of the boot or shoe, substantially as described and illustrated.
7. The modification of the method of manufacture claimed in Claims 1, 2, 3, in
which the upper part and the heel-piece with or without an inner sole, when fitted
together form with the outer sole and heel a complete shoe or boot, substantially as
described.
EDWARDS & Co.,
35, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.