Improvements in Machines for Cutting the Soles of Boots and Shoes and similar Articles.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Apr., 1850-Accepted, 3rd May, 1890.
CONT TEIE SIECIFICATION.
Communicated from abroad by DAVID F. HARTFORD, of Boston, Massachusetts,
United States of America.]
Improvements in Machines for Cutting the Soles of Boots and Shoes
and similar Articles.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
In United States Patent No. 309,850, dated December 30, 1884, a machine is des
cribed in which a knife is carried about a pattern plate, thereby shaping a blank of sheet
material held between two clamps in accordance with the shape of the pattern-plate.
The present machine comprises improvements upon machines of the class referred
to; that is, machines by which a strip of leather, or other sheet material, is brought
to the shape desired by means of a knife which traverses about the clamps between
which the blank or strip to be shaped is held, the main portion of the knife carrier
travelling about the clamps, while the path of the knife edge is determined by the
pattern plates. Machines of this class are mainly employed in cutting shoe soles from
blanks or from strips of leather or other material used for shoe soles, and I will
describe the improved machine simply as a sole cutting machine, it being understood,
of course, that the pattern is what determines the final shape of the shoot material
which remains between the clamps after the knife has passed about the clamps.
In the accompanying drawings.

page_text: link to a crank pin on the hub
which hub is fast to rock shaft h, and hub h³,
which is also fast to shaft h*, carries two crank-pins, one of which is linked to slide d
and the other to slide d', as clearly shown in Figs. 7 and 8, Fig. 7 being a plan, and
Fig. 8 an elevation of these parts detached. Hence the motion of rock-shaft H not
only adjusts the upper slides g¹ but also the lower slides d d'; as well as the
studs d d and the pulleys D D carried by the lower slides. This is also a feature of
my invention and is of great practical importance, for it enables the machine to be
adjusted for different lengths with great facility and accuracy.
'
It will be clear that the strap A must vary in length to suit the adjustments of
pulleys D D'; and to admit of that variation the stud 6, to which one end of the strap
is attached, is connected to arm B by means of a stout clock-spring, which admits of
the stud b turning on its axis and thereby always holding strap A taut whatever be
the distance apart of the pulleys D D' and whatever be the position of arm B with
relation to those pulleys. By thus mounting one end of the belt A on a spring, I am
enabled to use a belt or strap of leather or other non-extensible material; for, as will
be clear, if both ends of the strap A were secured to stud b, a portion of the strap A
must be made of material which is extensible and resilient.
The lower clamp J and the pattern are mounted upon the. upper ends of the
studs d' d' (see Fig. 4) and the upper clamp J' is carried by lever j¹ and is depressed
by treadle rod, or in any other suitable way, as will be clear without further descrip-
tion. The clamps J J' approximate only in size and shape to the pattern plate j, and
in practice several consecutive sizes of pattern plates may be used with one size of
clamp. The slides g g' and d d' are adjusted to suit different lengths of clamp J, and
clamp J and pattern plate are then put in place on studs d³ ³ and block W. The
corresponding clamp J' is then attached to lever j and the stock is clamped between
the clamps JJ'
17
The machine is started by turning rock-shaft L, the crank-pin / upon a disc fast
to rock-shaft L being connected by link and adjusting screw to lever which
lever forces pulley against the friction disc which is fast to shaft which carries
gear, and the gear meshing with gear . Rock-shaft L is turned in a direction
to start the machine by a downward thrust upon arm and a hook on arin engages
with the hook on rod 1. This rod is pinned to arm M, and one end of arm M is
connected by link m to an arm from hub m', another arm from this hub is linked to
the bell crank m' which is fulcrummed to arm so that when the workman takes hold
of arm he also grasps one arm of bell crank m' and thereby turns hub m¹ in a
direction to lift the outer end of arm M and free the stop m³ from stop m* which is
fast to gear wheel b³.
When the bell-crank m is released, the hook portion of arm M, one jaw of which
forms stop m³, rises into the path of stop m' so that after a full revolution of gear b³,
the stop m* carried by gear 6 strikes stop m³ and forces arm M backwards and with
it rod against the force of its spring, and this backward motion of rod frees its
hook from the hook of arm whereupon arm and rock-shaft L are moved back to
their first position by another spring which is fast to arm 110, arm 110 being itself fast
to rock shaft L, and this backward motion of rock-shaft L throws pulley away from
friction disc thus stopping the machine. After the machine is thus stopped, the
spring on the rod throws that rod back slightly, and stop m³ acting through stop m
move gear 6 slightly backwards, thus bringing the knife to its first position, although
the knife travelled slightly past its first position before the machine was stopped.
The knife-carrier consists of the bed to which the shank F is rigidly attached
(preferably by the studs which pass through and serve as journals for the wheels 4, 5, 6)
the arm mjournalled to bed f (see Figs. 10 and 11) the arm ƒ journalled to arm f
and shown enlarged and partly in section in Fig. 9, the knife block and the knife-
holder f. The anti-friction rolls 4, 5 and 6 illustrated in Figs. 6 and 10, project
outwards from the bed f of the knife carrier, just above the top of the shank F, and
travel against the inner surfaces of the sides of the orifice through the bed G, and .
the curved ends of the slides g.g' in the usual way with machines of this class. The
-knife-carrier bed slides upon the flat upper surface of the bed G and of the slides g g'

page_text: in the usual way. The arm is pressed towards the pattern plate by means of the
rack on one end of arm f' and the pinion which is fast to a shaft controlled by the
clock-spring, this is in order that the travel of arm f' may not unduly increase or
decrease the tension of the spring by which the arm is pressed towards the pattern
plate. The arm is pinned to arm f', as shown in Fig. 11; and this arm carries
at one end the knife block f' and at the other end it is guided by curved ways f?
which are fast to the bed f. On reference to Figs. 9 and 11, it will be seen that the
arm has an intermediate axis 2, by which it is held to arm f', and that the knife.
block is pivoted to it by the pin 1. It is important that the cutting edge of the
knife should travel always in a single line which is a radius from the axis of:
studs as the knife passes about the axes and this is effected by means of the
curved ways when the arm f is carried by the arm f¹ which moves about an
axis 4. The knife block f (shown in section in Fig. 9) is best made in two parts
ard is pinned to the arm by pin 1 the two parts being clamped and dowelled
together as indicated in Fig. 9. The guide wheel f is mounted upon the upper
end of bolt which holds together the two parts f of the knife block, and the knife
holder is secured in jaws formed by slitting one end of the upper part of the knife
block. The knife-holder falso has a slot near its middle, through which passes
screw f10, as shown in Fig. 9. This is in order to enable knife holder f to be so adjusted
as to bring the edge of the knife at a varying distance from the periphery of the guide
wheel. Although the knife edge should in theory be in a line coincident with the
axis of the pin 1; yet practically it may be moved slightly nearer to the axis of the
bolt and it is often desirable to do this in order to make the article shaped slightly
larger than the pattern plate, and it is for this reason that the knife holder f', is
adjustable as described. The main feature of this part of my invention consists in
mounting the knife block in the end of arm, with guide wheel f" between the
block and holder f. This arrangement gives all the advantages of my former
patent, and also allows the pattern plate to be brought much closer to the stock to
be shaped.
I have shown a plate a between the shank F and the strap A. (See Figs. 4 and 6,
Fig. 6 being a detailed sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig. 10). This plate serves to
prevent an unsteady motion of the knife holder when the shank F is carried by the
strap. A past the palleys D D', for the plate a stands at a tangent to the surface of .
the strap A when bent around the pulleys and then comes in flat contact with
the surface of the strap A in such a way as to steady the notion of the knife
carrier.
The operation is as follows:
The machine is adjusted for the desired length of the clamps J J and pattern
plate, by releasing the catch N from notched plate n and turning shaft H until the
catch N is brought into the proper notch of plate n, and thereby adjusting slides 9 9
and d d so that the clamps and pattern plate will fit upon the studs d' of the
pulleys D D', as before described. This also adjusts the opening through bed G,
the inner walls of which are formed by the inwardly curved ends of the slides g g'
and by the side walls of the orifice through the bed G. The strap A is at the
same time adjusted by its spring stud b, and the strip or blank is then clamped
between the clamps J J and the handle P of the knife carrier is released from the
holding notch p (see Fig. 11) thereby allowing spring to turn pinion and throw
forward the arin f until the guide wheelf is brought against the edge of the pattern
plate j. The operator then grasps the bell crank m³ and thereby lifts the outer end
of rod M, lowering the other end of that rod and carrying stop m³ out of the
path of stop m, (this stop and its split ring and tightening screw by which it is
held to the hub or gear 6, is shown detached in Fig. 5).
He then depresses arm 18 thereby turning rock shaft L, and starts the machine, as
before described, causing gear to make one revolution and thereby carry the
strap A about the pulleys D D' and with it the knife carrier and its knife about the
pattern plate, the knife cutting away the surplus portions of the stock and leaving
the shaped article clamped between the clamps J J. When the gear 6* is about

page_text: completing its revolution, the stop m carried by it, strikes stop m³ and thereby
releases arm and allows the spring connected to arm (10 to throw rock-shaft L back
and stop the machine.
The clamps J J¹ are then released and the shaped sole taken out, and the operation
is repeated upon another blank or strip. As the knife traverses about the article tɔ
be shaped, the knife block swings slightly upon the pin 1, and were it not restrained
the knife would sometimes fail to cut exactly according to pattern. It is desirable,
therefore, to give the knife block a slight tension in one direction, and this is
accomplished by the springs (see Fig. 11) which is connected to arm f2 and also to
the knife block. This spring aids in keeping the knife blade practically in line
with the cut; and also ensures the knife cutting in exact accord with the pattern
plate.
In Fig. 11 the knife holder and knife block are shown in their midway position ;
but when not in use the rear end of the knife holder will be pulled to the left of its
position in Fig. 11 by spring s, and when in use the knife holder f* and the knife
block fare in almost constant motion on the pin 1:
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is :-
First. In con bination, in a machine for cutting soles and other forms, the shank F
of the knife-carrier, flexible strap A, pulleys D D and a knife holder f* which rotates
about an axis, the ends of the strap being secured to the studs b, ball substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
Second. In combination, in a machine for cutting soles and other forms, bed G,
slides g g', studs d² ds and slides d d' with mechanism substantially such as described
for simultaneously adjusting both pairs of slides, all substantially as set forth.
Third. The combination, in a machine for cutting soles, and other forms, of knife
holder block and arm f, with arm f' and ways f7, all substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
Fourth. In combination, in a machine for cutting soles and other forms, the knife
holder guide wheel f8, block and arm f, the block f being pinned by pin 1 to
arm, and the guide wheel 8 being between the knife holder and block f³, all
substantially as described.
Fifth. In combination, in a machine for cutting soles and other forms, rock-shaft L,
crank-pin 1, connections, lever 1, pulley and friction disc 1, all substantially as
described..
:
Sixth. In combination, in a machine for cutting soles and other forms, stops m³ m²,
arm M and rod and rock-shaft L with arms 18 120, the rock-shaft controlling the
friction clutch, all substantially as described.
Dated this 19th day of March 1890.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.