Improvements in or relating to Devices for Securing the Lacing Flaps of Boot and Shoe Uppers during Lasting.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Aug., 1898-Accepted, 29th Oct., 1898
CUMILEIE DIEUITIVATION.
Improvements in or relating to Devices for Securing the Lacing
Flaps of Boot and Shoe Uppers during Lasting.
A communication from The VICTORIA SELF-LACING COMPANY, of 111, Lincoln
Street, Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, United States of America,
Manufacturers.
I, JOHN HENRY CONNOR, of The Wyvern Hotel, Leicester, in the County of
Leicester, 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:
-
This invention relates to a device for holding the lacing flaps of the uppers
of boots and shoes in the lasting operation, thereby obviating the necessity of
lacing the said flaps together in order to retain the upper in shape.
The said upper holding device is composed of a strip of leather or similar
yielding flexible material provided with two rows of hooks adapted to enter the
eyelets of the lacing flaps of the shoe uppers, and also provided with a re-inforce
engaged with the hooks and extending transversely from each hook of one row
to the corresponding hook of the other row, said re-inforce being substantially
non-extensible or incapable of stretching or elongating under the action of the
stress put upon the holding device in use.
The re-inforcing strip or connection between the hooks is preferably composed
of thin sheet metal, which, in conjunction with the leather, affords sufficient
body for the device, and also affords all the flexibility that is needed, while pre-
cluding any stretching or elongation which, if the pliable leather only were used
would arise from the repeated use of the device and would throw the hooks out
of proper position with relation to one another. Said re-inforce, furthermore, is
engaged directly with the hooks, which are upset or rivetted thereon, thereby
preventing the hooks from pulling out, which would be liable to take place if
the said hooks were secured only to the flexible and yielding material which
makes up the remainder of the body of the device.
Figure 1 shows the outer or front face of the holding device which lies at the
inside of the upper of the shoe to be held by it; Figure 2 the inner or rear face
thereof which lies against the last; and Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3
Figure 1.
The upper holding device is composed of a strip a of proper form and shape
to lie within and span the lacing opening of the upper of the shoe to be applied
to a last. Said strip a must be of flexible material in order to properly accommo-
date itself to the upper and last, and should also be comparatively thin, and in
practice split sole leather has been found most desirable as the material from
which to make this portion of the device.
In order to prevent stretching of the strip a under strains incident to use, with-

page_text: .to use.
out dispensing with the softness, flexibility, and pliability that is required, the
said strip is provided with a re-inforce 6 which is also flexible but substantially
non-extensible or incapable of stretching or elongation under the strains incident
The said strip a and re-inforce 6 constituting the main body of the
upper holding device, are provided with two series or rows of hooks c which lie
upon the outer surface of the strip a and have shank portions c¹ which are passed
through suitable perforations in both strips and then riveted or upset into engage-
ment with the re-inforce b, as best shown in Fig. 3.
The said hooks care properly located to engage with the eyelet holes of the
lacing flaps of a shoe upper, and while being capable of slight movement or
angular change of position with relation to one another, due to the flexibility of
the body portion ab of the device, to enable the said hooks to accommodate
themselves to the upper when applied to the last, they are, so far as relative
spacing is concerned, permanently fixed with relation to one another, owing to the
unyielding or non-stretching character of the re-inforcing strip or layer b. In
other words, while any given pair of hooks which engage an opposite pair of
eyelet holes, can relatively move as much as is necessary to accommodate them-
selves to the curvature of the portion of the last and upper which lies between
them, they are incapable of being separated more widely from one another, and
thus serve to hold the upper properly, there being no danger of the hooks becom-
ing relatively displaced or more widely separated by continued use of the holding
device in connection with different uppers and lasts.
The said re-inforcing portion b also affords a secure hold for the rivetted ends
of the shanks of the hooks, which cannot be pulled out by any strain that is
developed in the use of the device however long continued and frequently
repeated.
As the strain upon the holding device is mainly transverse, or from the hooks
of one row to the corresponding hooks of the opposite row, it is not essential that
the re-inforcing strip should be continuous lengthwise of the device, or from one
pair of hooks at opposite sides of the holding device to the next pair, although
in practice a single strip or layer of re-inforcing material connected with all of
the hooks of both rows has been found efficient, and is simple and inexpensive.
While for most classes of work it is preferable that the holding device should
be applied at the inside of the upper so as to lie between the last and upper, it
is obvious that it might be applied at the outside of the upper, and in some classes
of work, such for example as turn shoes, it is desirable that it should be so
applied.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
invention as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. A holding device for the lacing flaps of shoe uppers comprising a strip of
pliable flexible material two rows of hooks connected therewith and a re-inforce
of substantially non-extensible material connecting the hooks of one row with
the hooks of the opposite row and serving to prevent their relative displacement.
2. The complete holding device for the lacing flaps of shoe uppers substantially
as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 24th day of August 1808