IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOT AND SHOE SOLES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Eugène Ibos, of No. 82, Boulevard Sébastopol,
Paris, in the Empire of France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOT AND SHOE SOLES."
Sealed the 8th March 1870, and dated the 23rd December 1869.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Eugène Ibos at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 23rd December 1869, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EUGÈNE
IBOS, of No. 82, Boulevard Sébastopol, Paris, in the Empire of France,
send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOT AND SHOE SOLES," and have petitioned Her
Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn De-
claration that I am the first and true Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Eugène Ibos, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,

page_text: 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, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to a new mode of manufacturing wooden soles
for boots and shoes of all kinds, and consists in the employment of waste
veneer or thin sheets of wood, which are cut by any suitable apparatus
by aid of iron lasts of various dimensions giving the form of the soles;
the heels are similarly made and of the same material.
The following is the modus operandi :-I take two or more of the thin
sheets of wood previously cut in the form of a sole and place them on
the last, consequently they form the inside of the sole or part nearest
the foot, these are covered in the usual way with a piece of cloth, wool,
or leather; these layers of wood are then coated with tar, gutta percha,
or other similar substance in a liquid state, to prevent the humidity of
the external or outer sole which is of leather from reaching the foot; this
latter sole is attached to the upper leather in the ordinary manner by
means of screws, nails, or sewing, and gives solidity to the whole. The
advantages of this system over the wooden soles is that it has all the
qualities of a wooden sole without its inconveniences, as it is as supple
and light as a leather sole, and is equally elastic. The sheets of wood
being next the foot absorb the perspiration, damp cannot penetrate to the
foot, and it is consequently kept as dry is if the sole was entirely of
wood. Its advantages over the leather sole is that whilst having the
same qualities of elasticity and lightness, it possesses the faculty of
resisting humidity, and is cheaper than a sole wholly made of leather.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim and desire to
secure by Letters Patent is, the herein-before cited mode of manu-
facturing boot and shoe soles as a substitute for the solid wood or leather
sole, precisely in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Eugène Ibos, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
EUGENE IBOS. (L.S.)