OR IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR PRESSING OR FLATTENING THE SEWN SEAMS OF BOOTS AND SHOES, LEGGINGS, AND OTHER ARTICLES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE PRESSING OR FLATTENING OF SEWN SEAMS GENERALLY."
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Marsh, of Whitechapel, Boot Manufacturer, and
Joseph Morris, of Stepney, Engineer and Machinist, both in the County of
Middlesex, for an Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS
FOR PRESSING OR FLATTENING THE SEWN SEAMS OF BOOTS AND SHOES,
LEGGINGS, AND OTHER ARTICLES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE PRESSING OR
FLATTENING OF SEWN SEAMS GENERALLY."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Marsh and Joseph
Morris at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th September
1880.
"
WILLIAM MARSH, of Whitechapel, Boot Manufacturer, and JOSEPH MORRIS, of
NEW OR
Stepney, Engineer and Machinist, both in the County of Middlesex.
IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR PRESSING OR FLATTENING THE SEWN
SEAMS OF BOOTS AND SHOES, LEGGINGS, AND OTHER ARTICLES, APPLICABLE ALSO
TO THE PRESSING OR FLATTENING OF SEWN SEAMS GENERALLY."
The principal object of the Invention is to effect the pressing or flattening of the
sewn scams of boots and shoes, leggings, gaiters, and other articles in leather more
perfectly and expeditiously than heretofore, but the Invention is also applicable to
the pressing or flattening of sewn seams generally, such as for example those in
cloth or other materials for tailors' work or other purposes.
Heretofore, so far as we are aware, the pressing or flattening of seams in leather
has been effected by rubbing the same down by hand on a suitable surface by
means of a smooth steel tool, and in the case of cloth and other material by means
of a heated iron. According to our Invention, the pressing or flattening is effected
by pressure between two suitably shaped rollers, to one or both of which motion is
imparted by any suitable means. One or both of these rollers is or are so arranged
that they can be readily adjusted by screws or otherwise to a certain distance
apart, dependant upon the thickness of the seam to be pressed or flattened. One or
both of these rollers may be acted upon by a pressure spring, weight, or other
suitable appliance, whereby the one is caused to press with a certain adjustable
pressure towards the other. The peripheries of these rollers or one of them may be
CD11

page_text: roughened or milled in any suitable way, to enable them the better to draw the
seam between them. When seams in a closed article, such as a boot-upper or a
trouser leg, have to be flattened, one of the rollers, and preferably the lower one, is
carried in an arm which projects to a sufficient distance from the bed or frame of
the machine or apparatus to receive the article after its seam has been passed
between the rollers. When the aforesaid arın is employed, and it is desired to take
the article off it without subjecting the seam a second time to the pressure of the
rollers, the said rollers may be arranged so that they can be separated by means of
a handle, a treadle, an eccentric or other suitable mechanical arrangement, to a
distance apart sufficient to enable the article to be slipped between them and
removed. One of the rollers may be constructed of a substance or composition
(such as for example certain of the known compounds of india rubber or the
substance known as vulcanized fibre), which while being more or less elastic or
yielding so as not to injure the face side of delicate materials, shall yet be sufficiently
solid to impart the required pressure to the seam. The rollers or one of them may
be set in motion by tooth or worm gearing or otherwise, and driven by hand or by
steam power, and such driving gear may be adapted to reverse the direction of
rotation of the rollers if and when required, so as to subject the seam to the
pressure any required number of times.
One or both-of-the-rollers may be heated by gas, hot water, or other suitable
mans if marined
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Marsh and Joseph Morris in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th March 1881.
WILLIAM MARSH, of Whitechapel, Boot Manufacturer, and JOSEPH MORRIS, of 2
"NEW OR
Stepney, Engineer and Machinist, both in the County of Middlesex.
IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR PRESSING OR FLATTENING THE SEWN
SEAMS OF BOOTS AND SHOES, LEGGINGS, AND OTHER ARTICLES, APPLICABLE ALSO
TO THE PRESSING OR FLATTENING OF SEWN SEAMS GENERALLY."
The principal object of the Invention is to effect the pressing or flattening of the
sewn seams of boots and shoes, leggings, gaiters, and other articles in leather more
perfectly and expeditiously than heretofore, but the Invention is also applicable
to the pressing or flattening of sewn scams generally, such as for example those in
cloth or other materials for tailors' work or other purposes.
Heretofore, so far as we are aware, the pressing or flattening of sewn seams in
leather has been effected by rubbing the same down by hand on a suitable surface
by means of a smooth steel tool, and in the case of cloth and other material by
means of a heated iron. According to our Invention, the pressing or flattening is
effected by pressure between two suitably shaped rollers, to one or both of which

page_text: motion is imparted hy any suitable means. One or both of these rollers is or are
so arranged that they can be readily adjusted by screws or otherwise to a certain
distance apart, dependant upon the thickness of the seam to be pressed or flattened.
One or both of these rollers may be acted upon by a pressure spring, weight, or
other suitable appliance, whereby the one is caused to press with a certain
adjustable pressure towards the other. The peripheries of these rollers or one of
them may be roughened or milled in any suitable way, to enable them the better
to draw the seam between them. When seams in a closed article, such as a boot
upper or a trouser leg, have to be flattened, one of the rollers, and preferably the
lower one, is carried in an arm which projects to a sufficient distance from the bed
or frame of the machine or apparatus to receive the article after its seam has been
passed between the rollers. When the aforesaid arm is employed and it is desired
to take the article off it without subjecting the seam a second time to the pressure
of the rollers, the said rollers may be arranged so that they can be separated by
means of a handle, a treadle, an eccentric, or other suitable mechanical arrangement
to a distance apart, sufficient to enable the article to be slipped between them and
removed. One of the rollers may be constructed of a substance or composition
(such as for example, certain of the known compounds of india rubber, or the
substance known as vulcanized fibre), which, while being more or less elastic or
yielding, so as not to injure the face side of delicate materials, shall yet be
sufficiently solid to impart the required pressure to the scam.
The rollers, or one
of them, may be set in motion by tooth or worm gearing or otherwise, and driven
by hand or by steam power, and such driving gear may be adapted to reverse the
direction of rotation of the rollers if and when required, so as to subject the seam
to the pressure any required number of times.
One or both of the rollers may be heated by gas, hot water, or other suitable
means if required.
In the Drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of an arrangement of machine
or apparatus suitable for carrying our Invention into effect; Figure 2, a front elevation
of the same.
A is the frame or standard of the machine, preferably of cast iron;
B is a shaft rotating in bearings C, C, cast with or secured to the frame A; D, a
driving pulley communicating motion to the shaft B, and E a fly wheel on the said
shaft; F, a bevil pinion fast on the end of the shaft B, and goaring into a bevil
wheel G, secured to and turning with a roller or disc H, preferably of steel or other
hard metal. This latter is adapted to revolve on a pin I carried by the lower ends
of the suspending links J, J, which are carried by the crosshead K; the periphery
of the roller H is shaped according to the kind of seam it is intended to operate
upon, and may be milled or roughened at its edge, the better to draw the seam
along between itself and the roller opposed to it. L is an arm projecting from the
frame A, and carrying in a recess near its outer end a roller M which is free to
revolve on the centre pin N. The periphery of this roller is also shaped to suit the
seam to be pressed, and may be made of metal, or preferably of the composition
known as vulcanized fibre herein before mentioned. A strong spring O is caused to
exert more or less pressure on the crosshead K, according as the fly nut P is screwed
more or less down on to the screw Qwhich is fixed at its lower end in the frame A.
The tendency of the spring O is therefore to press the crosshead K, links J, J, and
roller H downwards towards the roller M, but the distance to which the said cross-
head and roller can descend is regulated and limited by the set screw R tapped into
the upper part of the frame A. The proximity of the two rollers to each other is
therefore adjusted by the set screw R, and the force with which the upper roller H
is pressed towards the lower one M is regulated by the fly nut P.
It will now be understood that if, while the shaft B is being turned by the
pulley D or otherwise, so as to rotate the roller H in the direction of the arrow, a
seam be introduced between the rollers H and M, it will be carried along between
them, and will be effectually pressed or flattened. If the seam is in an open article,
the latter can easily be removed sidewise after the seam has passed the rollers, but
if it be a closed article, such as a boot upper or a trouser leg, it may either be

page_text: passed backwards between the two rollers H and M in the opposite direction (the
direction of motion of the shaft B being for that purpose reversed by means of open
and crossed driving straps, by clutch gearing, by hand, or other well known means),
or the roller H may be raised or separated from the roller M by means of a handle,
a treadle, an eccentric, or other suitable mechanical arrangement, to a distance
sufficient to enable the article to be slipped between them and removed as herein-
before described. In some cases it will be found sufficient to slacken the fly nut P
so as to relax the spring O.
In the machine illustrated in the Drawing, the upper roller only is acted on by
the pressure spring, but it will be readily understood that if preferred, the lower
roller might be so acted upon either instead of or as as well as the upper one, and
that instead of springs, weights may be employed to impart the necessary pressure.
The machine shown in the Drawing is constructed with the arm L for the purpose
of enabling seams in closed articles to be pressed or flattened; when the machine is
not intended to press such seams the arm L may be suppressed, and instead thereof
the frame A may be extended to carry the lower roller M, and to form a flat table
for the work, as shown in dotted linos.
We have not deemed it necessary to show in the Drawings means for separating
the rollers when taking the work out of the machine as above described, nor means
for reversing the direction of motion of the rollers H and M, nor means of heating
such rollers, because mechanical arrangements for effecting such objects are well
-understood by persons conversant with the construction of sewing and other
_machinery connected with the-manufacture of boots and shoes and other sown
articles.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention,-and-the.manner in which'
the same is to or may be carried into effect, we would have it understood that
what we claim is,―
First. The application and use of pressure rollers for the purpose of pressing or
flattening sewn scams, substantially as herein before described and illustrated in the
Drawings.
Second. The arrangement and adaptation of apparatus, whereby one or both of
the pressing or flattening rollers is pressed towards the other with an elastic or
yielding adjustable pressure, substantially as herein before described and illustrated
in the Drawings.
Third. The general arrangement and combination of mechanism for the purpose
of carrying, operating, adjusting, and pressing together the aforesaid rollers, the
whole comprising a machine for pressing or flattening sewn seams, substantially as
hereinbefore described and illustrated in the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Marsh, for myself and on behalf of
the said Joseph Morris, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Ninth
day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
eighty one.
WILLIAM MARSH. (L.S.)
Patentee.