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 George
Franklin Chase, of Boston, in the State of 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
George Franklin Chase, of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, United
States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a mode of imparting increased support and
strength to back or heel portions of the uppers of boots and shoes, and consists
in the employment of a steel or other metal plate which is so bent as to enable
one part to be inserted between the heel and the inner sole, whilst the other
part extends upwards between the lining and the upper leather at the back or
heel of the boot or shoe; this metallic support is secured firmly in its place
between the heel and the inner sole by nails, pegs, or other suitable fastenings
passed through holes made for that purpose in the metallic support. The part

page_text: which extends inside the upper is also maintained securely and firmly in its
place by inserting a row or rows of stitches on each side thereof, such stitches
uniting the upper with the inner leather or lining, and thus effectually pre-
venting any displacement of the metallic support. These supports may in
some cases be used in substitution for the usual counters, or they may be
_combined therewith, as preferred.
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
thousand 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 thereafter 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 George Franklin
Chase, of Boston, in the State of 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 relates to a mode of imparting increased support and

page_text: strength to the back or heel portions of the uppers of boots and shoes, and
consists in the employment of a steel. or other metal tongue piece or place
which is so bent as to enable one part to be inserted between the heel and the
inner sole, whilst the other part extends upwards between the lining and the
upper leather at the back or heel of the boot or shoe; this metallic support is
secured firmly in its place between the heel and the inner sole by nails, pegs,
or other metallic fastenings passed through holes made for that purpose in the
metallic support. The part which extends inside the upper is also maintained
securely and firmly in its place by inserting a row or rows of stitches on each
side thereof, such stitches uniting the upper with the inner leather or lining,
and thus effectually preventing any displacement of the metallic support. These
supports may in some cases be used in substitution for the usual counters, or
they may be combined therewith, as preferred.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now.
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall
refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a vertical section of the hind portion
of a boot strengthened and supported according to this Invention; Figure 2 is
an elevation of the back or heel of the boot with a portion of the outer leather
and heel removed to show the position of the strengthening or supporting
plate; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the strengthening plate detached;
and Figures 4 and 5 represent respectively a front and side elevation of the
same.
a is the outer or upper leather of the boot, and b is the inner leather or
lining of the same; c is the outer sole, and d the inner sole. Between the
upper a and lining b, and between the outer sole c and inner sole d there is
introduced the bent steel or other strong metal plate A (Figures 3, 4, and 5);
the horizontal part e of such plate is bent at or near a right angle to the
upright part (see Figure 5), and both these parts are suitably curved trans-
versely so as to present a hollow or concave curved, surface to the interior of
the back of the boot and to the inner surface of the heel. This strengthening
plate is inserted in its place during the operation of making the boot, the
part e being accurately embedded upon the inner surface of the outer sole and
that portion of the heel of the upper leather which is turned in during the
process of lasting, as shown clearly in Figure 1, and is secured by nails, pegs,
or other fastenings passed through holes made for that purpose in the part e
(see Figures 3 and 5), and driven into the body of the heel g. The upright
part fis inserted between the outer leather a and the lining b, and is retained

page_text: in its proper position by introducing one or more rows of stitches / uniting
the outer and inner leather) in close proximity to the edge of the upright
portion of the strengthening plate, as shown by the thick dotted line in
Figure 2. These metallic supports may be made from flat plates punched out
to the proper contour and then shaped or bent into the desired form by the aid
of dies and matrices or other suitable devices.
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,
First, the strengthening or supporting the backs or heel portions of boots and-
shoes in the manner herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings
annexed.
Second, the peculiar construction of metallic tongue pieces or plates
intended to be inserted into the backs or heel portions of boots and shoes, and
the securing of the same in position by the aid of stitches in conjunction with
nails, pegs, or other like fastenings, as herein-before described and illustrated
by the Drawings annexed.
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.B.)