Improvements in the Method of Manufacturing Insoles for Shoes, and in Apparatus for Carrying Out the Method.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 30th June, 1896-Accepted, 1st Aug., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Method of Manufacturing Insoles for Shoes, and
in Apparatus for Carrying Out the Method.
I, GEORGE WILLIAM SLEEPER, of Detroit, in the County of Wayne, and State
of Michigan, United States of America, Inventor, 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:--
The object of my invention is to provide means for producing an insole, such as
is described in my application of even date herewith, that embodies a rib formed in
proximity to its outer edge on one side thereof, by a molded groove or channel on
the other side thereof.
.
My invention consists in the hereinafter described method of forming insoles of
that class and in apparatus for practicing the method.
In the accompanying drawings:-
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my apparatus complete, showing the relation of
the parts and of the material thereto before moulding and trimming operations.
Fig. 2 is a similar view after the completion of the moulding and trimming
operations.
Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the subject matter of Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a similar section of the subject matter of Fig. 2.
Fig. 5 is a plan view of both parts of the mould in juxta-position with the
moulded insole in place in the female mould.
Fig. 6 is a view of the insole detached.
Referring to the figures on the drawings:-
1 indicates the female member of my mould. It may be made of wood, metal or
any material of sufficient strength to endure the strain that is put upon it. It is of
a thickness to accommodate the channel 2, the depth of the channel being
determinable by the depth of the rib which it is desired to form in the insole, the
elevation of the rib formed by the channel in the insole being variable in different
classes of shoes. The channel 2 may extend entirely around the mould I in
proximity to its edge or it may extend only partially around the same, the main
portion being left flat and smooth.
The exterior contour 3 of the mould member 1 is made to conform accurately to
the size of the foot which the insole to be made upon the mould is intended to fit,
and in practice moulds of graduated sizes are employed. 4 indicates the male
member of my apparatus its exterior contour 5 being made to correspond exactly
with the contour 3 of the member 1, so that when both parts are united the contour
edges 5 and 3 lie flush with each other throughout their entire extents.
The member 4 is provided with a thin ribbon-like aperture or kerf 6 of an
extent to correspond with the groove 2 in the member 1. The kerf 6 is also located
directly in alignment with the medial line of the channel 2 and the member 1 when
both members are united.
Within the kerf 6 is located a die 7. It is preferably made of thin plate or sheet
metal, and, being of a width greater than the thickness of the member 4 is movable
transversely through its kerf 6 by pressure applied to its projecting side.
8 indicates the insole. In practice, the material for example leather, canvas, or
other fabric from which the insole is to be made having been selected of a size
approximating the size of the insole to be made, but a little larger than the insole,
is placed between the members 1 and 4 of my apparatus.
When so placed it may
D17

page_text: be drawn perfectly taut and smooth throughout its entire extent. Afterwards the
two members 1 and 4 are firmly united, as by clamps or other suitable means, so
that the material between them is held smoothly and firmly but not entirely
unyieldingly between the opposing flat surfaces of the mould members. Next, by
pressure applied, as through any ordinary press or by blows from a mallet, the die 7
is forced against the surface of the material between the mould members until a
portion of the material is forced into the channel 2 of a depth to correspond to the
relative depth of the channel 2 and the degree of insertion therein of the die 7.
When the die 7 has been driven the required depth the mould members being still
in close contact with the opposite sides of the material, the projecting edge 9 of the
material is trimmed away close to the contour edges 3 and 5 of the mould members.
In this manner the contour edges of the mould members being shaped to the
required sizes, when the members are separated the insole is completely formed as
to its outline, and is provided with the rib adjacent to its edge and with a perfectly
smooth surface throughout the remainder of its extent.
As above stated, the channel 2 may be made of different depths but prefer to
construct the member 1 of two plates 9, and 10 the plane of division being indicated
at 11 in the drawings, and to unite them as by screws 12 or other suitable means
whereby they may be readily detached when required.
In such construction, the channel 2 extends entirely through one of the plates 9.
By reversing the position of the plates 9 and 10 one set of moulds will answer for
making both insoles of a pair of shoes, the die 7 of the member 4 being adapted to
be operated from either side.
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 !
claim is :-
1. The method of nianufacturing insoles for shoes, which consists in providing
a pair of mould members having contour lines of required size and shape, one of the
members being provided with a channel, and tho other with a corresponding die,
placing the material to be formed between the flat opposing surfaces of the
members, drawing it taut and smooth between the same, confining it in place,
driving the die into the channel, thereby forming a rib-defining groove in the
material confined between the members, and finally trimming the edges of the
confined material flush with the surface of the contour edges of the mould members,
substantially as set forth.
2. In insole-forming apparatus, the combination with a mould member and
channel therein, of a second mould member and kerf therein, conforming in shape
and position to the channel in the first named member, and a die movable
transversely through the kerf into the channel, substantially as set forth.
3. In apparatus for forming an insole, the combination with a pair of mould
members having their exterior edges shaped to correspond with the shape of the
insole to be manufactured thereon, of a channel in one member, a correspondingly-
located kerf in the other member, and a die movable transversely through the kerf
in one member into the channel 2 in the other member by which the parts are
united, substantially as set forth.
4. In insole-forming apparatus, the combination with one mould member and a
transversely movable die therein, of another mould member, the second member
being composed of two plates one of the plates being provided with a transversc
channel adapted to receive the die, and mechanism for detachably uniting the two
plates of the second member, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 30th day of June.1896.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.