Improvements in Machines for Connecting Together the Edges of Pieces of Leather or other Material.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Sept., 1894
Lomplete Specification Left, 3rd July, 1895-Accepted, 24th Aug., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Connecting Together the Edges of
Pieces of Leather or other Material.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK REDFERN, of the Firm of G. F. Redfern & Co.,
The General Patent Office, No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of
London, Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a com-
munication to me by Herrmann Carl Gros, of Oberursel, near Frankfort-on-the-
Main, in the Empire of Germany, Engineer) to be as follows:-
--
This invention relates to machines for connecting together the edges of pieces of
leather or other material by means of wire staples and more especially for
connecting soles to uppers, and welts to insoles and uppers of boots and shoes.
According to this invention I employ an awl stock pivotted to the frame of the
machine and carrying curved awls operated by a suitable arrangement of treadle,
levers and springs. A segmental spring horn or presser foot is also provided
adapted to be locked after having adjusted itself to the thickness of the
material such locking being effected by means of a serrated key engaging with
serrations on the horn and actuated by a slotted segment and levers. The horn is
placed within a spring segment arranged opposite a plunger which drives the
staples through the holes formed by the awls in the material and into a cavity
in the segment, such cavity being adapted to clinch the staples. The plunger
is arranged to enter the path of the awls after the latter have pierced the
material and moved out of the way, the plunger being driven from the treadle by
suitable lever mechanism. As the plunger is finishing its forward movement the
clinching segment is pressed against the staple by an adjustable arm on the awl-
stock, the horn meanwhile being caused to move a trifle higher than before to allow
the clinching to be effected.
A second treadle is advantageously employed for giving a short final pressure to
the plunger and clinching segment.
The staples are made with one leg longer than the other so that only the longer
leg has to be bent over to clinch the staple in the work.
The staples are arranged on a guide bar the upper part of which is hinged to
enable the staples to be easily placed therein, the staples being allowed by the
plunger to fall one at a time into the plunger guide which is adapted also to
guide the staples.
Dated the 24th day of September 1894.

page_text: Improvements in Machines for Connecting Together the Edges of
Pieces of Leather or other Material.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK REDFERN, of the Firm of G. F. Redfern & Co.,
The General Patent Office, No. 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of
London, Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a com-
munication to me by Herrmann Carl Gros, of Oberursel, near Frankfort-on-the-
Main, in the Empire of Germany, Engineer) 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 machines for connecting together the edges of pieces of
leather or other material by means of wire staples and more especially for
connecting soles to uppers, and welts to insoles and uppers of boots and shoes.
According to this invention I employ an awl-stock pivoted to the frame of the
machine and carrying curved awls operated by a suitable arrangement of treadle,
or cam, levers and springs. A segmental spring-horn or presser-foot is also
provided adapted to be locked after having adjusted itself to the thickness of the
material, such locking being effected by means of a serrated key engaging with
serrations on the horn and actuated by a slotted segment and toggle levers. The
horn is placed within a spring clinching segment arranged opposite a plunger which
drives the staples through the holes formed by the awls in the material and into a
cavity in the segment, such cavity being adapted to clinch the staples. The
plunger is arranged to enter the path of the awls after the latter have pierced the
material and moved out of the way, the plunger being driven from the treadle or
cam by suitable lever mechanism. As the plunger is finishing its forward
movement the clinching segment is pressed against the staple by an adjustable arm
on the awl-stock, the horn meanwhile being caused to move a trifle higher than
before to allow the clinching to be effected.
A second treadle is advantageously employed for giving a short final pressure to
the plunger and clinching segment.
The staples may have the usual form but by preference they are made with one
leg longer than the other so that only the longer leg has to be bent over to clinch
the staple in the work.
The staples are arranged on a guide-bar the upper part of which is hinged to
enable the staples to be easily placed therein, the staples being allowed by the
plunger to fall one at a time into the plunger guide which is adapted also to guide
the staples.
To enable the said invention to be fully understood I will describe how it can
be carried into practice by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a machine constructed according to my
invention for connecting together the edges of pieces of leather or other
material:
Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2, Figure 1:
Figure 3 is a side elevation of part of the mechanism drawn to an enlarged
scale, the parts being in their normal position; and,
Figure 4 is a sectional view of the same:
Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5, Figure 4:
Figures 6, 7 and 8 are respectively sections on the lines 6-6, 7-7 and 8-8 of
Figure 3:
Figure 9 is a similar view to Figure 4 but shewing the parts in another
position:
Figure 10 is a view of one of the staples used by the machine :

page_text: Figure 11 is a sectional view shewing a portion of the insole of a boot or shoe
with the welt and upper attached thereto by the improved staples.
c is the awl-
a is the frame of the machine supported upon a suitable table b.
stock pivoted on a bolt e screwed to a block d attached to the frame a by
screws d', d. e, e are the curved awls carried by the awl-stock, two of which awls
are employed so as to pierce a hole in the leather or other material for each leg of
the staple. The awl-stock is caused to turn in one direction upon the bolt c' by a
treadle through the medium of a rod f¹, lever f2 and chain f³ and in the opposite
direction by a tension spring g.
is the segmental spring-horn or presser-foot designel to enter the channel in
the boot or shoe insole (or sole) as shewn in Figure 9. The said presser-foot is
arranged to slide in a circular groove or recess in the block d and provided with
a compression spring located between a shoulder upon the presser-foot and an
abutment on the block d, the said spring being arranged upon a curved extensio
of the presser-foot, which extension passes through a hole in the abutment. ³ is a
rod connected to the presser-foot and extending through slots in each side of the
block d whereby the presser-foot can be released from the work by hand. *, are
the serrations in the said presser-foot and j is the serrated key alapted to engage
with the serrations, the said key being confined to the groove by plates, P.
The plates, have openings through which a lug on the keyj passes, the lower
surface of the opening in the plate serving to direct and hold the said key
(when lowered) in engagement with the serrations on the presser-foot so as to
lock the latter. kis the slotted segment which is attached to the awl-stock c, and
1, the toggle levers for operating the key, the joint-pin of the said levers
carrying a friction roller which engages with the slot in the segment & while the
extreme ends of the levers are jointed, one to a bracket on the frame a and the
other to the lug on the key j. The slot in the segment k has the portion k
eccentric with the centre of the bolt c¹ so that when the awl-stock is moved in the
direction of the arrow, Figure 3, the said portion will operate on the roller 12 and
levers, to withdraw the key from engagement with the presser-foot h, whilst
the other portion 2 of the slot is concentric with the centre of the awl-stock and
serves to maintain the key j in engagement with the presser-foot h.
m is the spring clinching segment formed with a slot or opening within which is
located the presser-foot and which allows the key to engage with the latter, the
said spring segment being located in the groove in the block d between
shoulders, and the plate . m' is a tension spring connecting the upper end of
the segment m with the bracket 13, and serving to move the segment in one direction,
a pin m² on the segment (to which pin the spring m is connected) passing through
an opening m in the side of the block d, the ends of which opening serve as stops
to limit the movement of the segment m in either direction. m³ is the cavity in
the lower end of the segment m for clinching the staples as hereinafter described,
the said cavity being curved for this purpose as indicated clearly in Figure 8.
n is the plunger for driving the staples o (arranged in a column above the
plunger) into the holes formed by the awls e, e in the leather or other material an 1
into the cavity m³ in the segment m whereby the staples are clinched. The staples
are preferably each formed with one leg longer than the other, as indicated in
Figure 10, so that only the longer leg is bent over to clinch the staple in the work.
as indicated in Figure 11. The plunger n is formed of a thickness corresponding
with that of a staple so that when the said plunger moves behind the column of
staples one of the latter drops in front of the plunger in position for being pushei
forwards into the material. The plunger n is provided with a cavity (Figure 8)
to ensure that when driving a staple the latter shall not escape therefrom, an.l.
works in a groove o¹ in a removable block o², the said groove being covered by a
bracket o³. The said groove also serves as a path for the staples o to be fed one
by one to the work, and forms a tangent to the curved path of the awls e, e which
work through an opening of in the bracket o³ so that when the awls have pierced
the material and moved out of the way, a staple can be driven into the holes forme i

page_text: by the said awls. The plunger n is attached to a rod p working in a guide p¹ on
the frame a, the said plunger and rod being connected to the opposite end of the
lever to that to which the awl-stock c is connected, through the medium of a
bell-crank p² and rod p³ so that when the awls e, e are moved to pierce the material
by depressing the treadle the plungern is caused to move rearwardly in the
staple path o. p is a spring for assisting to move the plunger forward with each
staple, and is the treadle connected to the lever f' by a rod q' for giving a short
final movement to the plunger n so as to clinch each staple between the latter and
the end of the segment m. is the adjustable arm on the awl-stock e for pressing
the segment m forward during the clinching operation.
s is the guide-bar upon which the staples o are arranged, the said bar being
formed in two parts, the lower part being fixed and entering a hole in the bracket o³
while the upper part is hinged to the said lower part at s' so as to allow it to be
moved into a horizontal position to receive a supply of staples as indicated by the
dotted lines in Figure 1. t is a spring-catch on the frame a to hold the bar s in its
normal position as shewn in Figures 1 and 2.
で
u is a bar arranged behind the staples to keep them in position on the bar s,
and is a weight resting upon the column of staples so as to ensure their being fed
into the staple path o', the lowermost staple of the column normally resting upon
the plunger n.
w is a set-screw passing through one side of the bracket o³ and serving to clamp
the lower staples against the side of the bars when removing the block o² so as to
prevent the whole column of staples falling out of the machine, or for stopping them
when the machine is not required to work.
a is a spring-bolt arranged to project through the opening of above the staple
path o' and to bear upon and guide the staples into the work, the said bolt being
rounded at the lower end to enable the awls e, e and plunger n as well as the staples
to pass beneath it when forced into contact therewith.
y is a welt-guide attached to the side of the machine by screws y', y¹.
The operation of the machine is as follows. Assume a supply of staples to be
upon the bars and the parts of the machine in the position indicated in Figures 1,3
and 4, that is to say, with the awls e in their raised position and the plunger n in
its forward position. The treadle must then be depressed whereby the awl-
stock c will be rotated upon the bolt c¹ and cause the awls to move down, the
plunger to be withdrawn within the groove o¹, the adjustable arm to be moved
away from the end of the clinching segment m whereby the spring m¹ moves the
said segment back until the pin m² strikes against one end of the opening mo, and
the slotted segment ¹ to operate upon the toggle levers and withdraw the key j
from engagement with the presser-foot so as to free the latter. At this point of
the movement of the treadle, the work is placed in the machine. In Figure 7
I have indicated a boot or shoe insole to which the upper and welt are to be
attached. The welt is placed in the welt guide and the channel in the insole
engaged with the point of the presser-foot which can be pressed back against the
pressure of its spring h¹ and thus accommodate itself to the combined thicknesses
of the parts to receive the staples, such parts being held between the presser-foot
and the mouth of the groove o¹ as indicated clearly in Figure 9. The further
depression of the treadle will cause the awls e, e to pass through the opening o'
and pierce two holes in the material, the plunger n to be moved behind the column
of staples (whereby the lowest staple will fall in front of the said plunger) and the
slotted segment to operate the toggle levers to move the key into engagement
with the presser-foot h and lock the same, the parts then being in the position
shewn in Figure 9. The pressure on the treadle ƒ must now be relieved whereby
the springs g and p will react and move the parts in the reverse direction to that
herein before described, that is to say, the awls e, e will be withdrawn from the
work and the plungern moved forward and drive the staple in front of it into the
holes in the work, the long arm of the staple coming into contact with the cavity m³
in the clinching segment. By now depressing the treadle the plunger n and

page_text: clinching segment operated by the arm will be moved to clinch the staple thus
completing the cycle of operations. The treadle f must now be again depressed
and when the presser-foot is unlocked from the key; as herein before described the
feed of the work can be effected, that is to say, moved along into position for
another staple to be inserted.
In connecting the uppers and soles in turn-shoe work the welt-guide is removed
from the machine so as not to cause an obstruction.
Although I have described the machine as being used for connecting the welts,
insoles and uppers or the soles and uppers of boots and shoes it will be obvious
that it can also be used for connecting together the edges of other pieces of leather
or material.
Instead of using treadles to operate the levers of the awl-stock and plunger it
is obvious that I may employ cams arranged on a revolving shaft and by giving
the awl-stock a reciprocating lateral motion at proper intervals the work may be
fed automatically along from one stitch to the other and then the machine can be
made to run by power.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a machine for connecting together the edges of pieces of leather or other
material by means of staples, the combination of pivoted awls adapted to make
holes in the work for the reception of the staples, a magazine or holder for the
staples, a plunger working in the path of the awls for driving the staples, and a
segment for clinching the staples substantially as described.
2. In a machine for connecting together the edges of pieces of leather or other
material, the use of staples having legs of unequal length substantially as
described.
at
3. In a machine for connecting together the edges of pieces of leather or other
material by means of staples having legs of unequal length, the combination of
pivoted awls adapted to make holes in the work for the reception of the staples,
plunger for driving the staples and working in the path of the awls, a clinching
segment for clinching the long leg of each staple and a presser-foot designed to
engage in a channel in the work, the said presser-foot being arranged to be locked
and unlocked substantially as described.
4. The combination of parts forming the improved machine for connecting
together the edges of pieces of leather or other material substantially as described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings and operating as set forth.
Dated this 3rd day of July 1895.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.