IMPROVE- MENTS IN SHIELDS OR TIPS FOR BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS
IN SHIELDS OR TIPS FOR BOOTS AND SHOES."-A communication from
TL
Sealed the 14th June 1864, and dated the 23rd December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd December 1863.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIELDS OR TIPS FOR BOOTS AND SHOES," a communication
to me from abroad by Horace Bearce, of Boston, in the United States of
America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that description of shield or tip for boots and
shoes wherein the toe of the upper leather is protected or covered, and consists.
in making the tip or shield of such a form that it will not only protect and
cover the toe of the upper leather, but will also cover the edge of the toe part
of the sole, it being provided with a plate or guard which passes under the
sole, and is secured thereto by nails, rivets, or otherwise. These shields or
tips may be made with or without a depression or indent to work and fit
into the junction between the upper leather and the sole, and may be made

page_text: of metal, vulcanized india-rubber, gutta percha, or other suitable material, by
means of swages or moulds, as desired. They are obviously equally applicable
either to new or to existing boots and shoes, being secured to the bottom of
the sole in any well-known manner.
SPECIFICATION int pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Henry Johuson, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SHIELDS OR TIPS FOR BOOTS AND SHOES," a communication to me
from abroad by Horace Bearce, of Boston, in the United States of America,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to.that description of shield or tip for boots and

page_text: shoes wherein the toe of the upper leather is protected or covered, and consists
in making the tip or shield of such a form that it will not only protect and
cover the toe of the upper leather, but will also cover the toe part of the sole,
it being provided with a plate or guard which passes under the sole on the
outside thereof, and is secured thereto by nails, rivets, or otherwise. These
shields or tips may be made either with or without a depression or indent to
mark and fit into the junction between the upper leather and the sole, and
may be made of metal, vulcanised india-rubber, gutta percha, or other suitable
material, by means of swages and dies, or cast in moulds, as desired. They
are obviously equally applicable either to new or to existing boots and shoes,
being secured to the bottom of the sole in any well-known manner.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I
shall refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a boot having one of these improved tips
attached thereto; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the tip detached, having a
depression or indent to mark and fit into the junction between the upper
leather and the sole; Fig. 3 is a plan of the same; and Figure 4 is a perspective
view of a tip similar to Fig. 2, but made without the depression or indent
above referred to.
A is the improved tip or shield, which is made in one piece, either by
means of swages and dies, as described in the Specification of Letters Patent
granted to John Henry Johnson on the 28th day of September 1863,
No. 2382, or by any other suitable arrangement of stamping mechanism; or
if preferred may be cast or shaped in a mould. It may be composed of sheet
or cast metal, fusible alloy, hard india-rubber, gutta percha, or other suitable
material. The improved tip or shield has a raised curved part or shield a
combined with a base plate or guard b, the raised part or shield a being made
to fit over the toe of the boot or shoe in such a manner as to cover or protect
not only the upper leather but the sole at that part, whilst the base plate
fits externally on to the sole, being secured thereto by nails, screws, rivets, or
other suitable and convenient fastenings. In some cases I propose to form a
depression or indent, as at c, round the front of the tip, which fits into and
marks the junction of the sole with the upper leather, or if preferred this
indent or depression may be omitted, as shewn in the tip illustrated by Fig. 4.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel

page_text: and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the peculiar construction of shields or
tips for the toes of boots and shoes, and the mode of applying the same, as
herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of June, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-four.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)