IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TRIMMING THE SOLES OF BOOTS OR SHOES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TRIMMING THE SOLES OF BOOTS OR
SHOES." A communication from abroad by Daniel Cilley Knowlton, of Boston,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 7th April 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TRIMMING
THE SOLES OF BOOTS OR SHOES." [A communication from abroad by Daniel
Cilley Knowlton, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.]
This Invention relates to improvements in machinery for trimming the soles of
boots or shoes.
In a machine constructed according to my said Invention, the knife is moved
over the edge to be trimmed by a steady motion imparted by power, while the
shoe is held on a jack until the knife approaches the curves of the toe, and while
trimming around the curves of the toe the shoe is swung or turned half round, and
at the same time moved bodily in the direction in which the knife is moving.
The main features of my Invention relate to the jack or shoe-holder and the tool
carrying mechanism, and it comprises a jack or shoe holder in combination with a
jack supporting arm carrying a gear wheel, and a rack mounted as hereinafter
explained, so that the shoe when swung half round will also be moved bodily;
also a knife or plane flexibly connected with a carriage impelled by power and
controlled by a clutch, so that the knife or plane is moved by power in one
direction, but can be readily drawn back.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide a suitable standard, upon
the top of which is mounted my improved jack carrier. This jack carrier consists
of a shaft, from one end of which extends an arm or crank, upon which is secured
jacking mechanism of any suitable construction, whether for holding the last with
the shoe upon it, or for holding the shoe without a last. A gear wheel upon the
said shaft meshes with a rack, so that when the shaft is turned, it not only revolves
upon its axis but also moves bodily sidewise. The said shaft is best supported in
sliding blocks, but may be otherwise supported.

page_text: As it is desirable to bring all portions of the edge of the sole near the same
horizontal plane, the jack (by which is meant the shoe holding mechanism) should
be so placed upon the said crank that the centre of the toe part (so to speak) of
the sole shall be in line with the axis of the shaft. By this means the edge of the
toe part of the sole is brought into nearly the same horizontal plane as the other
parts of the sole edge. In other words the knife moves above and below a
horizontal plane, very much less than if the axis of the shaft were in line with the
middle of the sole.
Either of the two common forms of hand tool may be used. If an edge plane be
used (as I prefer, that being the tool now very largely used for the best work), it
is attached to a carriage mounted in suitable ways (which may be upon a separate
pedestal) by a rod which is so jointed to the tool and to the carriage as to allow
the necessary motions of that tool up and down sidewise, and the various tipping
motions which are necessary, The tool hangs in convenient position by means of
a cord and eye. The carriage is moved by power in one direction, and yet can be
readily drawn back at will when the clutch through which power is communicated
to it is unclutched. I prefer to provide an arm extending from the main standard
to support the tool carrier or carriage.
A variety of mechanical means may be readily devised for supporting and
actuating the carriage; the following may be employed:-An upright shaft receives
a constant rotary motion from one or the other of the two bevel gear wheels.
These two gear wheels are used to give greater or less speed to the carriage, the
number of revolutions of the shaft being more when one is used than when the
other is used. The upright shaft carries upon its upper end a clutch and a gear
wheel which meshes with a rack fast to the carriage. The last named gear wheel
is loose upon the said shaft, and bears the other member of the clutch, so that when
the moving member of the clutch is lifted by a treadle, this gear wheel moves with
the shaft and moves the carriage; but when the clutch is depressed, the said gear
wheel is stationary, and the carriage may be readily moved by a rod.
The carriage may be operated by employing a belt passing around pulleys, one
being on a shaft or spindle in bearings on the floor, and the other at the upper
part of the machine.
By my machine a single unbroken cut can be made from the heel on one side
around the fore part and toe to the heel on the other side; but in case too little
has been trimmed from any part of the edge, the operator can readily pull back the
carriage and re-trim such part or parts.
When a paring knife is used the operation is precisely the same as with the tool
above mentioned, except that the operator starts with the toe of the shoe towards
him. This knife and the carriage move toward, and the crank is pulled toward
him when turning around the toe, instead of all these motions being from him.
In trimming from the heel to the round of the toe the operator can guide the
tool properly, although it moves very rapidly; but in trimming around the toe it is
desirable that the tool should be moved more slowly. Consequently I provide an
automatic contrivance for changing the rate of motion of the tool, consisting of the
two aforesaid gear wheels and a clutch which is suitably connected with a lever,
and this lever is actuated so as to throw the clutch from the larger gear wheel to
the smaller one as soon as the toe of the sole is brought under the knife, a sliding
block having its under surface formed with a cam to depress one end of the said
lever at the proper time, and release it after the toe has been trimmed.
This part
of my Invention consists in the combination of the jack carrier with the carriage
and an automatic mechanism, by means of which mechanism the motion of the jack
carrier shall change the speed of the carriage.
The hand plane and the paring-knife are such as are commonly used, with the
addition of an eye near the cutting edge by which to connect them with the rod,
and a second eye for a cord.

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
7th October 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TRIMMING
THE SOLES OF BOOTS OR SHOES." A communication from abroad by Daniel
Cilley Knowlton, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
This Invention relates to improvements in machinery for trimming the soles of
boots or shoes. The said Invention comprises improved mechanism whereby the
jack which holds the boot or shoe while the sole-edge is being trimmed, and the tool
which holds the trimming knife, are so controlled and actuated as to enable the
edge of the sole to be retrimmed in the most perfect manner and with ease and
rapidity.
In my improved machine the knife is moved over the edge of the sole to be
trimmed with a steady motion imparted to the knife by the mechanism described,
while the shoe is held on a jack which is free to be moved by the hand of the
workman. The said jack is so arranged as to have a progressive turning motion,
being a combination of a forward with a rotary motion, the two motions being
contemporaneous. When the knife approaches the curves of the toe, and whilst
these curves are being trimmed the shoe is swung or turned half round, and at the
same time moved bodily in the direction in which the knife is moving.
The main features of the said Invention relate to the jack or shoe-holder and its
mechanism, and the tool and tool-carrying mechanism, and it consists essentially in
a jack or shoe-holder in combination with a jack-supporting arm carrying a toothed-
wheel, and a rack mounted as hereinafter described, so that the boot or shoe when
swung half-round, will also be moved bodily; and also in a knife or plane flexibly
connected with a carriage impelled by mechanical power and controlled by a clutch,
so that the said knife or plane is moved by power in one direction, but can be
readily drawn back.
The said Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete machine, and
Figure 2 is a plan of the same.
Figure 3 is a vertical section showing the mechanism for moving the tool.
Figure 4 is a transverse section on the line x, x, Figure 2, shewing the weight
on the jack shaft in a vertical position.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing.
A represents a standard, upon the top of which is mounted a suitable frame
having two arms extending in opposite directions; one of these arms supports the
jack and jack-carrier, and the other arm supports the tool carriage and its
actuating mechanism. The jack-carrier consists of a shaft a, to one end of which
is secured a jack which may be of any suitable construction. The toothed wheel c
upon this shaft a gears with the rack d, so that when the shaft a is turned, it not
only revolves upon its axis but also moves bodily sidewise, as will be readily
understood without further explanation. The shaft a is preferably supported in a
sliding frame fas shown, but if desired it may be otherwise supported.
As it is desirable to bring all portions of the edge of the sole near to the same
horizontal plane, the jack or shoe-holding mechanism should be so placed upon the
shaft a that the centre of the toe part (so to speak) of the sole shall be in line
with the axis of the shaft. By this arrangement, as will be understood by
reference to Figure 1, the edge of the toe part of the sole is brought into nearly
the same horizontal plane as the other parts of the sole-edge. In other words, the
knife moves above and below a horizontal plane, very much less than if the axis
of the shaft a were in line with the middle of the sole.

page_text: Either of the ordinary forms of hand tool may be used. If an edge-plane is
used, as shown at D, it is attached by a rod b¹ to the carriage a¹, which is mounted
in suitable ways upon the arm B; this rod 6¹ is so jointed to the tool D and to the
carriage a' as to permit the necessary motions of the said tool up and down and
laterally, and the various tipping motions which are necessary.
The carriage a¹ is moved by the mechanism described in one direction, but may
be readily drawn back at will when the clutch through which power is communi-
cated to it is unclutched. A variety of mechanical means may be devised for
supporting and actuating the said carriage a¹, but I prefer the means or devices
shown, that is to say, I support within the arm B the horizontal shaft c' which
carries a fixed pulley to which power is directly applied, and by which the shaft is
given a constant rotary motion. The said shaft carries near one end the part or
member g of the clutch, and directly underneath the carriage a¹ is a toothed
wheel h¹ which meshes into a rack secured to the said carriage. The toothed
wheel ¹ is loose upon the shaft c¹ and bears the other member of the clutch, so
that when the moving member g' of the said clutch is moved by the lever connected
with the treadle ¹, the two members of the clutch will engage with each other,
and the toothed wheel h¹ will move with the shaft c¹ and actuate the carriage a¹;
when however the said treadle is allowed to rise, the parts of the clutch will be
disengaged, the wheel h' will remain stationary, and the carriage a¹ may be readily
moved by the rod b¹.
The operation of the said machinery is as follows, that is to say:-The boot or
shoe after having been properly placed upon the jack is brought to a horizontal
position with the heel next to the operator, who grasps a handle upon the tool D
precisely as if he were about to trim the edge of the sole by hand. He then brings
the cutting edge of the tool D to the proper place or position on the edge to be
trimmed, and depresses the treadle, thereby causing the carriage a¹ to move
away from him, carrying with it the tool D which he guides with his right hand,
precisely as in hand-work, the main difference and one of great practical value
being that the cutting-edge of the tool D is moved forward by a steady continuous
motion by mechanical power, instead of intermittently by the muscles of the
operator. When the tool in its motion over the edge approaches the round portion
or curves of the toe, the operator with his left hand depresses the handle of the
jack, thereby bringing the sole with its toe uppermost, and also moving the shoe
bodily in the same direction that the knife moves in; and when the other round
portion or curve of the toe is reached, he again moves the said handle of the jack
further away from him, until the toe of the shoe is towards him instead of the heel,
as at first. He then holds the shoe in this position until the edge of the tool D
reaches the desired part of the edge of the shoe near the heel, when he lifts the tool
from the shoe, at the same time releasing the treadle k¹, and thereby arresting the
motion of the carriage a¹.
It will be readily understood that by my improved machine a single unbroken
cut can be made from the heel on one side around the fore part and toe to the heel
on the other side; but in case too little has been trimmed from any part of the
edge, the operator can readily pull back the carriage a¹ and retrim such part or
parts.
It will be obvious that the edge of the sole may be trimmed by the movement of
the knife in the reverse direction from that above described. In that case the
tool D and carriage a¹ and the jack handle will move toward the operator instead
of away from him as before.
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 understood
that I claim,
First. The jack-carrier consisting of the shaft a, the sliding frame f, the toothed
wheel c, and the rack d, all combined and operating to move the shaft laterally
when the shoe is turned, as above set forth.
Second. The combination of the edge-trimming tool, the connecting rod b¹, the

page_text: carriage a¹, the rack and its pinion controlled by the clutch-mechanism, substantially
as above set forth and for the purpose specified.
Third. The combination of the shaft a, the sliding frame f, the toothed wheel c,
the rack d, the shaft c¹, the clutch, the pinion ¹, the carriage a¹ provided with the
rack, and the rod 61, all substantially as above set forth and for the purposes
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
WM. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)