AN IMPROVED TACKING APPARATUS FOR USE IN THE LASTING OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND FOR UPHOLSTERY AND SIMILAR WORK
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED TACKING APPARATUS FOR USE IN THE LASTING OF BOOTS AND
SHOES, AND FOR UPHOLSTERY AND SIMILAR WORK." A communication from
abroad by Franklin P. Hinds, of Quincy, Massachusetts, United States of
America
Sealed the 20th September 1878, and dated the 27th July 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th July 1878.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED TACKING APPARATUS FOR USE
IN THE LASTING OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND FOR UPHOLSTERY AND SIMILAR WORK."
[A communication from abroad by Franklin P. Hinds, of Quincy, Massachusetts,
United States of America.]
This Invention relates to au improved hand tool for lasting boots and shoes, and
for upholstering and similar purposes, and consists chiefly in a self-feeding tack-
driving machine or apparatus combined with a pair of pincers, so constructed and
arranged that the whole can be held and operated by one hand to grasp and draw
to a required position a piece of leather, cloth, or similar flexible material, and then
drive a tack through the same in the position to which it has been drawn without
losing the grasp.
A part of the said Invention consists in self-feeding tack-driving mechanism
adapted to be held in the hand, and operated by pulling a trigger to insert and
drive a tack in a required position.
The said Invention consists further in certain details of construction herein-after
described.

page_text: In carrying the said Invention into practice I construct a stock or body, the for-
ward end of which forms the upper jaw of the nippers. I also provide a slotted
casing, within which the said stock is placed, and its forward end forms the lower
jaw of the nippers. The stock and the casing are pivoted together, and work like
an ordinary pair of pincers, a spring in the jaws keeping them apart when their
opposite ends are not pressed together.
•
The rear end of the said casing forms the upper handle piece of the tool. The
lower handle piece is found in a piece pivoted to the stock. This lower handle
piece performs other offices, but it is sufficient for the present to state that with the
rear end of the casing it forms the handle of the tool. The lower handle and the
rear end of the casing are shaped to fit the handle, and it may be added that in the
grasp of the operator the piece forming the casing comes between his thumb and
hand proper, while his fingers are underneath the lower handle. The upper surface
of this latter is hollowed out to close upon the stock as closely as possible. When
the handle pieces are pressed together in the grasp of the hand the jaws are
closed.
At the forward end of the casing there is a projection to serve as an independent
hammer.
The stock is formed in two separable parts, one part forming what may be con-
sidered a long box, within which is located much of the mechanism of the tool,
while the other part is a cover to the box, the two parts being held together by
screws. In the forward end of the stock, that is to say, the forward end of the
box just mentioned, is located the tack-driving mechanism, consisting of a pair of
spring fingers for holding the tack and a plunger or driver, which has a perpen-
dicularly reciprocating motion in a slot which it accurately fits.
I provide a hammer with a crooked lever or helve pivoted to the stock by a
shaft, to which it is rigidly attached, and with which it has a rocking motion.
It should be remarked that the said stock is wider or thicker along the under
side of the tool than in the upper part of the same.
A slot is cut between the thicker and the thinner part near a pivot, and the
upper surface of the wider part is hollowed out, leaving ears, through which the
said pivot passes, so that the helve is confined within the ears. There is also other
mechanism contained in the last-mentioned slot and between the said ears, which
will be herein-after described. A tumbler is pivoted between two ears on the said
stock above the lower handle piece. A mainspring lies within the stock, and has
one end attached to the said tumbler.
The trigger is pivoted to the lower handle piece, its upper corner strikes against
a projection on the tumbler, so that when the handles of the tool are pressed
together the tumbler is thrown back to compress the mainspring. The upper part
of the trigger is slotted to permit a spring lying and secured within the lower
handle piece to act upon it to keep the trigger in working contact with the tumbler.
The end of the tumbler opposite the part where it is pivotted carries a pin, to which
is pivoted one end of a curved link, the other end of which is pivoted to the helve.
Both the link and the helve work between the narrow part of the stock above
mentioned and the casing. The hammer helve is bent laterally to bring the hammer
over the aforesaid driver.
When the trigger is pulled it disengages from the tumbler and allows the main-
spring to force the tumbler forward. This through the aforesaid link causes the
hammer to give a smart blow upon the driver. A lever is so pivoted at one end
to the driver as to permit the latter to have a free perpendicular motion, and at the
other end having in it a hole within which the pivot shaft which confines the
helve turns freely. Near the said pivot shaft there is a lever, which has a pro-
jecting pin. The said pivot shaft has a pin projecting at right angles to the other
pin or to the last-named lever, and so located with reference to the helve and last-
named pin that it lifts the said lever to raise the driver just as the helve finishes its
backward movement. A light spring presses against the aforesaid link to force the
driver down. But although this spring is weak it acts promptly upon the pulling

page_text: of the trigger, and getting ahead of the helve has strength enough to carry the
driver down to rest upon the head of the tack before the hammer strikes its blow.
It may be added that the said light spring and another spring consist of one piece
of metal secured at the middle by a screw. The office of the last-named spring is
to keep the lower handle piece open from the stock. Its power has to be overcome
when the tumbler is forced back. The link has a stop to limit the forward move-
ment of the said tack driver.
I provide also a hopper, which is situated within the box of the stock for holding
the tacks to be driven; and a chute, which leads from the said hopper to a slot,
through which works the driver. This hopper has a hinged top, which may be
raised to fill the hopper with tacks.
An agitator is provided, which is rigidly connected with a hooked rod, the bent
end of which embraces a pin on the tumbler. To the forward end of the agitator
is attached a spring, the other end of which is attached to the stock. The forward
end of the agitator is slotted, and with the slot carries a pivoted bell-crank lever.
On one side of the bell-crank lever is a friction cushion of leather, and at the other
end is a hook.
When the tumbler is thrown back by compressing the handles of the tool the
lower end of the agitator is drawn along just over the chute into the outlet of the
hopper, carrying with it the said bell-crank lever. The pressing against the stock
throws up the hook end of the bell-crank lever and causes it to pass clear of the
chute and any tack heads in it. When the tumbler is thrown down or allowed to
go forward the spring attached to the agitator draws back the latter, and the
cushion throws down the hook end of the bell-crank lever, causing it to draw along
the tacks which the agitator may have caused to tumble into the chute. The said
chute is open at one side to allow the operator to see whether there is a sufficient
number of tacks in it.
As the agitator will sometimes miss bringing forward tacks in the regular
operation of the machine it is provided with a means for working independently of
the tumbler. This consists of a pin in the aforesaid hooked rod protruding through
and working in a slot in the shell of the tool. By moving this pin back and for-
ward a few times in the said slot the chute may be filled with tacks.
The spring fingers operate as follows, that is to say-One of the fingers has a
bowed projection upwards, the upper end of which crosses the said chute. When
the driver is raised there is a tack between the fingers ready to be driven, and the
aforesaid projection keeps the remaining tacks back in the chute. When the driver.
descends, driving home the tack between the fingers, the spring fingers open, the'
one having the bowed projection being carried so far back as to permit a second
tack to come to the extreme end of the chute, where it hangs by the head until the
driver is lifted, when the spring finger carries the tack sidewise into the pathway
of the driver.
Of the general operation of the tool it is unnecessary to say more than that the
nippers are worked in the ordinary way, and that the workman by pulling the
trigger with the forefinger of the band which grasps the handles of the tool will
drive a tack through the material held in the nippers just in front of the nippers.
For many purposes the outer casing may be removed, leaving the part of the
stock containing the mainspring to serve for the upper part of the handle. With
this modification the tool will continue to drive tacks in any required position, the
tumbler being thrown back by compressing the modified handles, that is, by
shutting the lower handle piece upon the rear end of the stock, and being thrown
down by pulling the trigger.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th
January 1879.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "ÅN IMPROVED TACKING APPARATUS FOR USE
IN THE LASTING OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND FOR UPHOLSTERY AND SIMILAR WORK."
A communication from abroad by Franklin P. Hinds, of Quincy, Massachusetts,
United States of America.
This Invention relates to an improved apparatus or tool for lasting boots and
shoes, and for upholstering and similar purposes, which apparatus is provided with
self-feeding tack-driving mechanism combined with a pair of pincers, so constructed
and arranged that the whole can be held and operated by one hand to grasp and
draw to a required position a piece of leather, cloth, or similar flexible material, and
then drive a tack through the same in the position to which it has been drawn
without loosening the grasp.
The said Invention comprises self-feeding tack-driving mechanism, adapted to be
held in the hand, and operated by pulling a trigger to insert and drive a tack in a
required position.
The said Invention further comprises certain details of construction herein-after
described.
In the accompanying Drawings,-
Figure 1 is a plan of the said apparatus.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same, with the hammer thrown down upon
the tack driver.
Figure 3 is a similar elevation with the hammer up, the operating lever of the
lower pincer jaw being broken.
Figure 4 is an elevation of the side opposite to that shewn in Figures 2 and 3,
the hammer being down, and the operating lever of the lower pincer jaw being
broken on this side also.
Figure 5 is a sectional elevation on the line x, x, Figure 1, the hammer not being
shewn.
Figure 6 is a sectional elevation on the line ³, x³, Figure 5, looking from the
hammer toward the handle.
Figure 7 is a sectional elevation on the line 2, ², Figure 5, looking in the same
direction.
Figure 8 is a sectional elevation on the line x³ ³, Figure 3, looking from the
handle towards the hammer.
Figure 9 is a sectional elevation on the line x, x, Figure 3 showing the tack
driver up and a tack held in spring fingers ready to be driven.
Figure 10 is a sectional elevation on the line 5, 5, Figure 2, showing the tack
driver down in the position it occupies after driving a tack.
Figure 11 is a plan of the spring fingers for holding the tack to be driven.
The parts are all formed of suitable metal, and the tool is of a convenient size
to handle, its parts being heavy and strong enough to withstand the strain upon
them.
A is the stock or body of the tool, its forward end forms the upper jaw a of the
nippers; B is a slotted casing, within which the stock A is placed, as shewn in
Figures 1 and 2, and its forward end forms the lower jaw b of the nippers. The
two parts A and B are pivotted together at s and work like an ordinary pair of
pincers, a spring c in the jaws keeping them apart when the opposite ends of the
parts A and B are not pressed together.
•
The rear end of the piece B forms the upper handle piece of the tool. The lower
handle piece is a piece C pivotted to the stock at s'. This handle piece C performs
other offices, but it is sufficient for the present to state that with the rear end of
the piece B it forms the handle of the tool. The piece C, and the rear end of the

page_text: piece B, are shaped to fit the handle, as shown; and in the grasp of the operator
the piece B comes between his thumb and hand proper, while his fingers are under-
neath the piece C. The upper surface of this latter piece is hollowed out to close
upon the stock as closely as possible. When the handle pieces B and C are pressed
together in the grasp of the hand the jaws a and b are closed.
At the forward end of the piece B there is a projection 62 to serve as an inde-
pendent hammer.
The stock A is formed in two parts, separable along the line x, x, Figure 1; the
part above said line forming what may be considered a long box, within which is
located much of the mechanism of the tool, while the part below is a cover to the
box, the two parts being held together by screws p, p, P.
In the forward end of the stock A, that is to say, the forward end of the said
box, is located the tack-driving mechanism, consisting of a pair of spring fingers
d, d, for holding the tack and a plunger or driver D, which has a perpendicularly
reciprocating motion in a slot, wherein it accurately fits, as shown more particularly
in Figures 9 and 10.
In Figure 9 the driver is in the position to which it is lifted when a tack is fed
forward to the fingers d, d¹. In Figure 10 the driver is in the position to which it
descends in order to drive a tack home into the shoe last. In this respect Figure 9
corresponds to Figure 3, and Figure 10 to Figures 2 and 4. The driver D) is caused
to take this last position by a smart blow from a hammer H, the construction and
operation of which are next to be described. It is an ordinary hammer, as shewn,
with a crooked lever or helve H¹ pivotted to the stock A by a shaft 82, to which it is
rigidly attached, and with which it has a rocking motion. The stock A is wider or
thicker along the under side of the tool than in the upper part of the tool. A slot
is cut between the thicker and the thinner part near the pivot s2, as shewn in
Figures 3, 5, and 7; and the upper surface of the wider part is hollowed out,
leaving ears, through which the pivot 82 passes, so that the helve H¹ is confined
within the ears (see Figure 3). There is also other mechanism contained in the
said slot and between the said ears, and which will be herein-after described; E is
a tumbler, pivotted at 3 between two ears on the stock A above the handle piece C;
F is the mainspring lying within the stock A and having one end attached to the
tumbler, as shown; T is the trigger, pivotted at 84 to the handle piece C. Its upper
corner strikes against a projection on the tumbler, as shewn, so that when the
handles of the tool are pressed together the tumbler is thrown back to compress
the mainspring. The upper part of the trigger T is slotted to permit a spring c²
lying and secured within the piece C to act upon it to keep the trigger in working
contact with the tumbler, as shewn in Figures 5 and 8. The end of the tumbler
opposite the pivot s³ carries a pin 8³, to which is pivotted one end of a curved link J,
the other end of which is pivotted to the elve H¹ at . Both the link J and the
helve H' work between the narrow part of the stock previously mentioned and the
casing B, as shewn in Figure (see also Figure 3). The hammer helve is bent
laterally, as shown in Figure 1, to bring the hammer over the driver D.
When the trigger is pulled it is disengaged from the tumbler and allows the main
spring to force the said tumbler forward. This through the link J causes the
hammer to give a smart blow upon the driver.
F is a lever, so pivotted at one end to the driver as to permit the latter to have
a free perpendicular motion, and at the other end having in it a hole, within which
the pivot shaft 82 turns freely. Near the shaft s² the lever F¹ has a projecting pin l.
The shaft 8 has a pin m projecting at right angles to the pin 7 on lever F', and so
located with reference to the helve H' and pin that it lifts the lever F to raise the
driver D just as the helve H¹ finishes its backward movement. A light spring cs
(see Figure 4) presses against the link F to force the driver down. But although
this spring is weak it acts promptly upon the pulling of the trigger, and getting in
advance of the helve H has strength enough to carry the driver down to rest upon
the head of the tack before the hammer H strikes its blow. It may be added that

page_text: the spring and the spring c consist of one piece of metal secured at the middle
by a screw 87, as shewn. The office of the spring c is to keep the handle piece C
open from the stock. Its power has to be overcome when the tumbler is forced
back. The link F¹ has a stop to limit the forward movement of the tack
driver D.
A2 is a hopper situated within the box of the stock, as shewn in Figures 5 and 7,
for holding the tacks to be driven.
To avoid confusion in the Drawings the hopper is shewn empty, although tacks
are shewn in the chute t leading from the hopper to the slot, through which works
the driver D. This hopper has a hinged top A³ (see Figure 1), which may be
raised to fill the hopper with tacks.
G is the agitator, rigidly connected with a hooked rod K, the bent end of which
embraces the pin 85 on the tumbler. To the forward end of this agitator is attached
a spring s8, the other end of which is attached to the stock. The forward end of
the said agitator is slotted, and within the slot carries a bell-crank lever n, pivotted.
as shown. On one side of the bell-crank lever n is a friction cushion o of leather,
and at the other end is a hook.
When the tumbler E is thrown back by compressing the handles B and C of the
tool the lower end of the agitator G is drawn along just over the chutet into the
outlet of the hopper A², carrying with it the bell-crank lever n. The pressure
against the stock throws up the hook end of the bell-crank lever n and causes it
to pass clear of the chute and any tack heads in it. When the tumbler E is thrown
down or allowed to go forward the spring 88 draws back the agitator G, and the
cushion o throws down the hook end of the bell-crank lever n, causing it to draw
along the tacks which the agitator may have caused to tumble into the chute.
The chute t is open at one side, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, to allow the
operator to see whether there is a sufficient number of tacks in it.
As the agitator will sometimes fail to bring forward tacks in the regular operation
of the machine it is provided with means for working independently of the tumbler,
that is to say, a pin in the rod K protrudes through and works in a slot w in the
shell of the tool. By moving this pin v backward and forward for a few times in
the slot w the chute may be filled with tacks.
The spring fingers d, d', operate as follows:-The finger d' has a bowed pro-
When the
jection upwards as shown, the upper end of which crosses the chute t.
driver is raised, as in Figure 9, there is a tack between the fingers d, d¹, ready to be
driven, and the aforesaid projection keeps the remaining tacks back in the chute.
When the driver descends, driving home the tack between the fingers, the spring
fingers d, d', open the finger d, being carried so far back as to permit a second tack
to come to the extreme end of the chute t, where it hangs by the head, as shown in
Figures 2 and 10, until the driver D is lifted, when the spring finger carries the
tack sidewise into the pathway of the driver, where it assumes the position shewn
in Figure 9.
Of the general operation of this apparatus or tool it is unnecessary to say more
than that the nippers are worked in the ordinary manner, and that the workman
by pulling the trigger with the forefinger of the hand which grasps the handles of
the tool will drive a tack through the material held in the nippers just in front of
the same.
For many purposes the outer casing B may be removed, leaving the part of the
stock containing the spring F to serve for the upper part of the handle. With this
modification the said apparatus or tool will continue to drive tacks in any required
position, the tumbler being thrown back by compressing the modified handles, that
is, by shutting the part Cupon the rear end of the stock and being thrown down
by pulling the trigger.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I claim,-
First. In a boot and shoc lasting apparatus the combination with a pair of

page_text: nippers and an automatic tack feeding and driving mechanism of a trigger for
operating the driving mechanism, as shown and described.
Second. In a hand-lasting apparatus or tool the combination with the tack
feeding and driving mechanism of a trigger, as described and for the purpose set
forth.
Third. The automatic feeding device, consisting of the hopper, the agitator, with
its bell-crank lever and friction cushion, the chute and spring fingers in combination
with the driver, and with any suitable means for operating the said driver and for
giving the agitator a reciprocating motion, as above specified.
Fourth. The spring fingers operating to close the chute and to present a tack to
the driver, as and for the purpose specified.
In witness whercof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight bundred and seventy-nine.
W. KOB. LAKE. (L.S.)