An Improvement in Boots and Shoes of Every Description.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Aug., 1894
Complete Specification Left. 24th May, 1895-Accepted, 29th June, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in Boots and Shoes of Every Description.
I WILLIAM GIBBIN Junr. Builder and Contractor 21 to 24 Pickering Place
Westbourne Grove Bayswater. I do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows
:-
To all boots and shoes the inner soles are perforated and small eyelets inserted.
Under and opposite the perforations or holes, corrugated rubber (or other material)
tubes, or half tubes are fixed to the sole of the boot or shoe, by means of grooves
formed in the leather (or other material) and either sewn or fixed with mastic.
The tubes or corrugations may be constructed in the rubber or whatever material
is used which forms the outer sole of the boot or shoe. When the foot is down
the tubes or corrugations are pressed in which covers the perforations or holes in
the inner sole and so preventing water passing into the boot or shoe. But
when the foot is lifted the tubes or corrugations open and a current of air passes
through the tubes and perforations in the inner sole which ventilates the interior
of the boot or shoe.
Dated this 24th day of August 1894.
WILLIAM GIBBIN, JUNR.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in Boots and Shoes of Every Description.
I, WILLIAM GIBBIN, Junior, of 21 Pickering Place, Westbourne Grove,
Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, Builder and Contractor, 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:
My invention relates to an improvement in boots and shoes by means of which
thorough ventilation is obtained.
My improvement consists essentially in the application to the soles of boots and
shoes of what I may for the purposes of this Specification term "elastic pinching
valves" that is to say devices which when pinched, as for example by pressure
between the foot and the ground, close up, as it were, so as to prevent ventilation
or communication between the interior and the exterior of the boot or shoe, but
which, when such pressure is removed, open by means of their elasticity so as to
again establish such communication as aforesaid, of the said devices.
Having thus described my invention in general terms, and so as to define its
scope, I shall now proceed to describe in detail certain ways in which it is to be
or may be carried into effect; and for that purpose I shall refer to the accom-
panying drawings which illustrate, by way of types or examples, one form of my
invention.
In the drawings,
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a part of a shoe or boot fitted with one form of
elastic pinch valve.

page_text: Figure 3 is a transverse section in the line 3 d.3 of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a plan view of a part of an inner sole showing a line of
perforations.
Figure is a plan view of an outer sole adapted to constitute a part of another
type of my invention.
Figure 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Figure 5 showing the saids outer-sole
attached to an inner sole.
Figure 7 is a longitudinal section of a part of a shoe showing a modified form of
my invention.
In the figures, A is the upper of the shoe and B an inner sole of leather or other
convenient material. This sole is perforated with orifices barranged in lines
extending from side to sidé as will be better seen in Figures 3 and 4. To the
inner sole B is attached a corrugated outer sole C, the corrugations following one
another in the direction of the length of the sole and running at right angles to the
said direction or in other words from side to side of the sole. This sole is made of
soft rubber and is attached to the inner sole B by stitches or cement or by any
other convenient known means of attachment. Instead however of being attached
to or in contact with the inner sole throughout the whole of its upper surface, it
is only in contact therewith along the ridges or elevations c¹ of its corrugations
whilst the troughs or depressions of its corrugations are some distance from the
said inner sole as will be seen in Figures 1, 2 and 3. The ridges c¹ are affixed to
the inner sole at positions intermediate between the lines of orifices 6 or in other
words along lines parallel to the said lines of orifices. The troughs are therefore
vertically under the said orifices.
The action of this form of my invention is as follows. When the foot is raised
and no pressure is exerted between it and the ground the air freely enters the
channels or troughs of the outer sole C and passes by the orifices b to the interior
of the boot or in other words the elastic pinching valve which I shall hereinafter
again refer to is open. When however the foot is placed upon the ground the
rubber sole C is pressed closely against the inner sole the troughs of the
corrugations are closed up as well as the orifices 6 and the valve is now closed so
as to prevent water mud or the like from gaining access to the interior of the
boot.
A second form of my invention is shown in Figures 5 and 6 In this case the
sole C shown in plan in Figure 5 and in cross section in Figure 6 is a flat sole of
soft rubber in which a channel or groove c³ running round the sole at the distance
of about half an inch from the edge thereof is shown. care grooves or channels
connecting various parts of the main groove c³ and care grooves or channels
extending from the main groove ca to the edge of the sole so as to admit air as in
the former case. The inner sole to which C is attached is furnished with orifices
similar to those in the form of my invention previously described but differing
therefrom in this respect that instead of extending in lines across the sole they are
arranged at any convenient points vertically above the grooves c³ and c*.
The action of this form of my invention is similar to the other. When the foot
is pressed upon the ground sole C is pressed against the inner sole B so as to close
up the channels c whilst when the foot is raised from the ground the orifices cº
remain open and free ventilation takes place.
It is obvious that considerable modifications of my invention may be made
without departing from the spirit thereof. For example instead of employing a
corrugated sole as shown in Figures 1 and 2 an outer sole might be constituted of
stout, tubes of soft rubber split longitudinally and placed in such manner that the
concavities or channels of the said split tubes might extend along vertically under
the lines of orifices b. Such a sole is shown in Figure 7 where d d are the split
tubes.
It is also obvious that the channels grooves or tubes may be in or constitute the
inner sole instead of the outer sole.

page_text: It is also obvious that instead of the inner sole being of leather and the outer
sole of soft rubber as in the cases illustrated, the inner sole may be of rubber and
the outer sole of leather. Or both of the soles may be of soft rubber.
It will thus be seen that what I have for the purposes of this Specification
termed an elastic pinching valve consists essentially of a passage of any suitable
form extending between the interior and the exterior of the boot or shoe through
the sole or a part thereof and a part or parts of whose wall consists of elastic
material such for example as what is known as soft rubber.
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 a boot or shoe the employment of an elastic pinching valve substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
2. In a boot or shoe the combination of a perforated inner sole and a channelled
outer sole substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
3. The arrangement and combination of parts substantially as set forth with
reference to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4.
4. The arrangement and combination of parts substantially as set forth with
reference to Figures 5 and 6.
5. The arrangement and combination of parts substantially as set forth with
reference to Figure 7.
Dated this 24th dow of M. 1905