IMPROVE-* MENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1867

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 BOOTS AND SHOES."-A communication from abroad by Albert
Van Wagenen, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Sealed the 22nd October 1867, and dated the 1st May 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st May 1867.
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 BOOTS AND SHOES," a communication to me from abroad by
Albert Van Wagenen, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America,
to be as follows:-
This Invention has reference to a mode of increasing the durability of the
soles of boots and shoes without materially increasing their weight, and con-
sists in securing on to the under surface of the outer soles a number of thin
and narrow steel plates or strips placed transversely across the sole, and laid
edge to edge so as not to impair the flexibility of the sole; these steel plates
are secured to the sole by steel or other metal nails, rivets, or fastenings.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st October 1867.
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 First day of May, in the year of our Lord One thou
sand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth 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 Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BOOTS AND SHOES," a communication to me from abroad by Albert Van Wagenen,
of Boston, Massachusetts, 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, 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 per-
formed, 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 has reference to a mode of increasing the durability-of-
the soles of boots and shoes without materially increasing their weight, and
consists in securing on to the under surface of the outer soles a number of
thin and narrow steel plates or strips placed transversely across the sole, and
Jaid edge to edge so as not to impair the flexibility of the sole; these steel
plates are secured to the sole by steel or other metal nails, rivets, or fastenings.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall

page_text: refer to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in both the Figures.
Figure 1 represents a plan of the under side of a boot or shoe sole with the
present improvements applied thereto, and Figure 2 is a transverse section of
the same taken along one of the metal strips.
a, the outer sole of an ordinary boot or shoe, and 6, 6, are a number of thin
and light steel strips secured transversely across the surface of the sole, and
laid edge to edge so as not to interfere with the flexibility of the sole. These
strips are secured to the sole by steel headed nails, pegs, or screws c, c, the
heads of which are by preference made to project or stand out beyond the
surface of the metal strips.
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 and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the application of transverse strips of
steel to the tread or under surface of boots and shoes, substantially as and for
the purpose herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this my
Specification, set my hand and seal, the Thirty-first day of October,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)