Improvements in Machinery and Mechanical Appliances for Making the Heels of Boots and Shoes
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 29th June, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 29th Mar., 1892--Accepted, 30th Apr., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery and Mechanical Appliances for Making
the Heels of Boots and Shoes.
1. Joux SMITH YABSLEY, of Portland Square, Bristol, Boot Manufacturer do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in machinery and appliances for making
heels for boots and shoes, and has for its object to simplify and cheapen the means
by which heels may be quickly and effectively constructed ready for attaching to
boots and shoes.
With the appliances now in general use for constructing heels, the pressure has
to be applied by special machinery, which is frequently of a complicated and
expensive nature, but by my invention, the appliances for making heels may be
constructed in a very simple and inexpensive manner, be used with any of the
presses employed for cutting sole leather, and be thoroughly effective in their
operation.
To carry my invention into effect, I construct my machines or appliances in three
principal parts, viz., a hollow box, in which are fixed the springs, drivers, and knife,
hereafter to be described; a bed plate which fits into the box resting on the springs;
and a cup or mould in which the lifts are placed, a metal follower being put on the
top of the lifts to keep them in position. Near the centre of the box, (which forms
the stand), I fix a number of stout pins or drivers, corresponding to the number
and position of the rivets or pins to be used in fixing the lifts to each other, these
drivers are of sufficient length to engage in holes made for that purpose in the bed
plate; in the corners of the box I put strong spiral or other springs which are
compressed when the bed plate is inserted in the box; the bed plate is perforated
with holes corresponding in number and position to the drivers in the box; it is
placed in the box and pressed down on the springs until it is within a short distance
of the bottom of the box, where it is kept by screw catches on the sides, the drivers
being some distance within the holes in the plate; on the top of the bed plate a
couple of studs project; the cup or mould is made of a size to receive the various
lifts, and has a couple of holes on the lower side, so that it may be placed on the
studs & thus the lifts be placed exactly in position when pressed on the nails; to
complete the heel by attaching the toppiece or metal plate or tip, a similar
arrangement of box and bed plate is provided, but in the top of the plate, the
metal is cut out the exact size, depth, and shape of the toppiece or plate, and round
the sides of this recess a number of holes are made in which the rivets for attaching
the toppiece or plate are inserted, a corresponding number of drivers are fixed in the
bottom of the box, entering the required distance into the holes of the bed plate,
so as to form a firm bearing for the heads of the rivets; on the bottom of the box,
just in front of the drivers, I place a knife with a straight or curved blade as may
be preferred, and in the front of the bed plate, just inside of the top-picce recess is
a slot through which this knife may project for the purpose of cutting off the front
of the heel, a process known in the trade as breasting in all boot factories presses
of one kind or another are used for cutting soles, any of these may be used, in
connection with my appliances, the box being pushed under the press and with-
drawn, like a knife is used in cutting soles. The various appliances being provided
as described, they are operated in the following manner; the attendant fills the
cup with lifts, either whole or sectional, of the required number and thickness, and
then places the follower on the top lift; having filled the holes, in the bed plate
with the required number of rivets or nails, (points upwards), the cup is placed on
the bed plate and fitted over the studs, so that the leather occupies the exact

page_text: position above the points of the rivets; the box holding the plate and cup is passed
under the press, and the plate is forced down over the nails which are driven into
the lifts, the springs yielding to the pressure and forcing the plate up again when
the pressure is removed; the box is then withdrawn froin the press, and the heel is
made, with the exception of the toppiece or plate the cup is then taken off the
bed-plate, and put on the bed plate of the other box, in which the rivets have been
placed in the holes ready for the toppiece, and the toppiece or plate put in the
recess, the cup being put over the studs, the box is put under the press, and the
heel with the toppiece is pressed downward and the rivets are driven through
the toppiece into the heel, and at the same time the knife is driven through the
toppiece and lifts until it reaches the metal follower at the top of the lifts, and this
breasts the heel; when metal plates or tips are used instead of leather toppieces,
the holes in the bed-plate and the drivers in the box are arranged accordingly, and
tip fillers may be fastened on at the same time, the necessary adjustment of holes
and drivers being made for the purpose.
Dated 26th day of Time 1891
J. G. WESTLAKE,
2, John Street, Bristol, Applicant's Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery and Mechanical Appliances for Making
the Heels of Boots and Shoes.
I, JOHN SMITH YABSLEY, of Portland Square, Bristol, Boot Manufacturer, 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 improved appliances for the manufacture of heels for
boots and shoes and to means whereby heels can be quickly and effectively
constructed from the ordinary leather lifts, and the toppieces or metal tips attached
to the heels, ready for fastening to the boots or shoes.
With the appliances now in general use for making heels, special machinery of a
more or less complicated nature has to be provided for supplying the pressure
necessary for forcing the lifts into their position in the heel dic, and for driving the
nails into the lifts to keep them together, or for fastening the toppiece or tip to the
heel, but by my invention, the ordinary sole presses used by manufacturers will be
sufficient to supply the pressure, and the simple appliances hereinafter described,
may be passed under the press when the lifts have been put in position, and the
power obtained from the sole press will form the heel and drive the nails into the
lifts or toppieces, and thus unite the several layers of leather into a solid heel.
In carrying my invention into effect, the apparatus is constructed in four principal
and separate parts, viz., the shoe, the bed-plate, the dic-plate, and the follower; all
arranged and combined in a simple form, so that they fit each other and engage
with smoothness and regularity in the operation of making heels. The shoe or
box which contains and supports the other parts, is made conveniently of
a rectangular form with rounded corners, having strong helical springs placed
therein, and a plate fitted with a number of stout metal pins or drivers fixed
in the base of the shoe, these drivers, which are flat at the top end, are made to
correspond in position and number to the nails or rivets that are required to be
used in making the heel; the drivers and plate may at any time be detached from
the shoe, and another plate with a different arrangement of drivers attached in its
place provision is also made for inserting a knife in the base of the shoe, either of
a straight or curved shape, to be used for trimming the front part of the heel, an
operation known in the trade as "breasting;" near the top of the sides of the
shoe, bolts or dowels are placed, which engage in chases or grooves cut in the bed-

page_text: plate and keep it from rising beyond the control of the springs; a 'socket is
drilled in each corner of the shoe to receive the springs and hold them in
position; the bed plate is made a trifle sinaller than the interior of the shoe, so that
it may easily move up and down therein, it rests on the helical springs already
mentioned, and has holes or sockets made in the under surface to contain the springs,
thus ensuring regularity in the descent or ascent of the plate in the shoe; a chase
or groove is cut on each edge of the plate, extending about three fourths of its
depth, leaving stops at the lower end, which prevent the plate from coming out of
the shoe when the bolts or dowels are inserted in the sides of the shoe and in the
chases near the centre of the plate is a recess shaped like a heel-tip or toppiece,
and in this recess a number of holes are made, through which the nails or rivets
are placed with their points upwards, the heads of the rivets resting on the drivers
already described; instead of the recess being cut in the plate, a thin piece of
metal, about the substance of a toppiece, may be cut with an opening the size of
the heel and attached to the plate by dowels, by this means provision may be
made for the formation of heels of various sizes on the same bed plate, by changing
the overlying plate an opening is made in front of the recess for the
:
passage of
the breasting knife, and as the bed plate will generally be made of cast iron, other
hollow spaces are left in the castings, for the purpose of making the plate as light
as possible, consistent with strength; the corners of these openings also serve as
guides for dowels left in the dic plate, which ensures the accurate fitting of the die
on the bed plate the die plate is made of the same size and shape as the bed plate,
having chases cut in the sides to match, and to allow the die plate to pass as far as
required over the bolts in the shoe in the centre of the plate is a die with con-
verging sides, the shape and size of the heel to be formed, and in this die the lifts
or layers of leather are placed for making the heel; the die plate is so fitted that
the lower or small side of the aperture or die corresponds exactly with the heel
recess in the bed plate, and dowels which are placed in the under surface of the die
plate enable the operator to put it in its proper place without any difficulty or
delay, and the lifts will be directly over the nails which may have been put through
the holes in the bed plate on the drivers in the shoe the aperture in the die plate
may be either the exact size of the heels, as will be the case when used only for
making heels, or may be extended in front of the heel as will be necessary when
the breasting knife is used, to make room for the passage of the knife through the
ends of the lifts: the follower consists of a metal block which fits easily into the
die, and is placed upon the lifts to force them into position when a sufficient number
has been placed in the die. When the breasting knife is used, the follower will be
of an elongated shape, to match the increased length of the die, and the under face
of the follower will have a piece of soft metal inserted, to receive the cutting edge of
the knife; when the heels are made without any breasting, a block will be placed
in the additional space left in the die plate, making the opening only the size and
shape of the heel, and the follower will be of a corresponding size and shape.
:
The various parts of my invention may be used as described for making the heel,
putting on a heel tip or toppiece, and breasting the heel at one operation, this may
very well be done with heels for childrens boots which are not required to be very
high, but for womens and mens heels, it will be found more convenient to make
the heels first, and then to use another set of plates and shoe with a breasting knife
inserted, to put on the tip and tiller or toppiece and to breast the heels.
My invention will be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying
sheet of drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is an elevation of the various parts in position ready for passing under the
press,
Fig. 2 is a plan of the same,
Fig. 3 is a section showing the internal arrangement of the several parts;
Fig. 4 is a plan of the die showing its converging sides, a tip on the heel
recess, and holes in the tip and recess through which the nails will be driven into
the lifts;

page_text: Fig. 5 is a plan of the shoe, and
Fig. 6 is a plan of the bed plate, with its heel recess and openings for the recep-
tion of the breasting knife, and hollow spaces for lightening the plate.
A is the shoe which contains and supports the other parts of the appliance, a are
screw or spring bolts or dowels which engage in chases or grooves in the bed
plate B and keep the plate in an even position; C is the die plate in which is a die
or cup H the size and shape of the heel to be made, D is a follower, made a little
smaller than the die, so that it may press the lifts when they are put in the die :
when the heels are made without breasting a block dis inserted in the die plate,
and the follower will consequently be made of the smaller size as shown in Fig 2:
E are helical springs inserted in sockets e in the shoe and in the lower surface of the
bed plate Fare drivers attached to a plate fastened to the base of the shoe, G is
a breasting knife also fastened to the base of the shoe, this knife is fixed close to
the breast of the heel, and when the lifts are pressed down over the nails, the front
of the heel will also be pressed over the knife, and the heel be shaped accordingly;
H is a cup or die in the die plate in which the layers of leather or lifts are placed,
I is a recess in the bed plate to hold the first lift of the heel or the tip or top-
piece, and the various holes shown in this recess (Fig. 4) and which may be varied
according to the size or quality of the heel to be made, are for the insertion of
nails or rivets i with their points upwards as shown in Fig. 3; the nails or rivets
used are of such a length that they will project slightly through the face of the
recess, and when tips are used, the points will rise within the countersunk holes
made in the tips, and any slight irregularity in punching the tips will be met by
the points of the rivets adjusting themselves to the tapering sides of the holes in
the tip K is an opening extending from the shoe to the die plate, to allow the
cuttings from the heels to fall over the back of the knife and to drop through the
shoe on to the floor when the shoe is drawn over the edge of the table, L is a tip
laid in the recess ready to receive the nails from below, and which already have
their points in the countersunk holes; M are openings in the bed plate (Fig. 6) for
the purpose of lightening the plate, the corners m' are arranged that dowels m fixed
in the under surface of the bed plate will at once engage in these corners, and guide
the die to the exact position over the licel recess and nails.
The various parts of my appliance being provided as described, the operation of
making heels is performed in the following manner: a driver plate with the
required number of drivers F being fastened to the base of the shoe, and the bed
plate having a recess of the required size, and holes which will allow the plate to
pass into the shoe over the drivers, the bolts a in the sides of the shoe are partly
withdrawn, and the bed plate pressed down on the springs which have been inserted
in the sockets of the shoe and bed plate, the bolts are then pushed into the chases
in the plate, and the latter is secured to its position on the springs, and may easily
be pressed down into the interior of the shoe; the die and follower being made to
fit over the heel recess, the process of making heels is commenced by putting the
required number of rivets in the holes of the plate with their points upwards,
their heads resting firmly on the tops of the drivers, a piece of leather or a tip is
put in the heel recess to form the foundation of the heel, the lifts are then put into
the cup H of the die plate, and when full enough, the follower is put on the top of
the lifts, and the plate lifted on to the bed plate, and the shoe with the plates and
lifts and follower pushed under the press, which will force the lifts into the
required shape and drive the nails through the various lifts or layers of leather,
and thus nail them together and form the heel; when the breasting knife is used
at the same time that the heel is formed, the elongated follower will be used, and
the block removed from the die plate.
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. The construction of apparatus or mechanical appliances for making boot and

page_text: shoe heels that may be used with the ordinary presses that are used for cutting sole
leather, substantially as herein set forth and described.
2. The construction of a mechanical appliance that will attach the tips to heels
by making the points of the nails or rivets project through the plate on which the
tips are laid, so that the countersunk holes in the tips will slide over the nail points
and draw them into position for passing through the holes into the heel, substan-
tially as shown and set forth in the accompanying drawings.
3. The arrangement of a breasting knife in a heel making appliance that will
breast a heel at the same time that it is being formed or while the toppiece or lift
is being attached, as herein set forth and described.
4. The combination of the several appliances herein described for the construc-
tion of boot heels, breasting them, and attaching the tips or toppieces, substantially
as and for the purposes set forth and shown in the accompanying drawings.
Deted this 28th day of March 1892.
J. G. WESTLAKE,
2, John Street, Bristol, Applicant's Agent.