A Ventilator for Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 29th June, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 29th Apr., 1889-Accepted, 29th June, 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Ventilator for Boots and Shoes.
WILLIAM CHURCH Duke Street Northampton Northamptonshire Boot and
Shoe Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The said Ventilator to act in the waist of the Boot or Shoe in front of the heel with
no connections under the heel or up the back of the boot or shoe. The Ventilator
being inserted into a small hole cut in the waist of the outersole of the boot or shoe
then fastened on the back of the sole or innersole, and made secure the shape of the
said Ventilator may vary a little in form according to requirements the Ventilator to
be made in any metal or composition and formed by two perforated plates or
substances one being stationery the other movable this movable plate being the acting
agent in opening & closing the Ventilator. A skeleton middle sole is also employed
in conjunction with the same to allow of the air being conveyed to and from the inner-
sole of the boot or shoe no tubing spring or packing being used to keep open the
aperture leading to the Innersole which is also perforated to allow the air to pass into
the Boot or Shoe.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Ventilator for Boots and Shoes.
I, WILLIAM CHURCH of Duke Street, Northampton in the County of Northampton
Boot and shoe manufacturer, 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 ventilators for boots, shoes, and similar foot coverings, and
has for its object a simple arrangement for producing the efficient ventilation of such
articles, and an adjustable device by means of which the amount of ventilation may be
varied at will from the outside of the article.
Referring to the accompanying drawings:-
Figure 1, is a plan of the underside of a boot or shoe, showing the adjustable
ventilator in position.
Figures 2, 3 and 4, are respectively an elevation, section, and plan, (all on an
enlarged scale) of the adjustable ventilator, it being supposed in these figures,
that the boot or shoe is in the reversed position, that is, the position it would
assume during the insertion of the ventilator from the outside.
Figure 5, is a similar view to Figure 4, showing a slight modification.
Figure 6, shows a portion of the under side of a boot or shoe provided with a
modified form of ventilator.
Figure 7 is a plan of the upper side of the out-sole, skeleton middle sole, and
perforated in-sole, hereinafter more fully described.
Figure 8 is a detached view of the skeleton middle sole aforesaid.
The ventilator, which may be made of metal or any suitable composition,
consists essentially of a perforated plate A which is located in the waist B of the
boot or shoe and just in front of the heel B¹ as shown in Figures 1, 6 and 7.
The perforated plate A is preferably attached to the waist B as follows:-The plate A
forms a diaphragm within or at one end of a short tube A', to which it is rigidly
secured, or with which it is formed, the tube A' being also provided at the same
end as the plate with an outer flange a. The tube is inserted from the outside
into a hole cut through the waist of the boot or shoe, and it is rather longer than

page_text: the thickness of the material forming tho waist, so that it projects through the
same as in Figure 2.
The tube being inserted into the hole aforesaid, it is driven home, until the
flange a rosis against the outer surface of the waist, as in Figure 2. The pro-
jeering end of the tubo is now turned outwards so as to form a hango al Figuro 3,
bearing against the inside of the waist, a washer a³ being, by preference, slipped over
the end of the tube prior to its being turned outwards. The tube way be of any
desirable contour in cross section though it is preferably circular.
To adjust the amount of ventilation, a perforated plato O similar to the perforated
plate A is provided. The plate C bears against the plato A, preferably on the inner
side thereof, being pivoted thereto and fitted with a small button e by which it may be
iurned from the ontside whenever it is desired to adjust the ventilating area of the
holes in plute A. This may be understood by reference to Figure 5 where the holes
are shown partially closed. Instead of the central button e the movable plate may
be provided with a tongue c', Figure 5, which is inserted through a slot a³ in the fixed
plate A, and is then turned down over the same, so as to form a handle by which the
plate may be adjusted, with a ventilator located and constructed as abova set forth
whereby the necessity of any communication through the heel or up the back of the
boot or shoe is obviated.
In Figure 6 the movable ventilator plate C is shown hinged at one edge to the
ventilator, so as to open outwards, and rest against the front edge of the heel when the
ventilator is in use, the said plate being held in its open or closed position by any
known spring hinge.
In conjunction with the ventilator, a skeleton middle sole D, as in Figures 7 and 8,
may also be employed, by means of which a communication is established between
the ventilator and the front portion of the in-sole.
The in-solo E is also perforated as at e e, Figuro 7, above the open portions of the
skeleton sole D. The out-sole B³, skeleton solo D, and in-sole E, niny be secured
in any suitable manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. As a ventilator for a boot, shoe or the like, a perforated plate in combination
with a hole in the waist of the said boot or shoe immediately in front of the heel
thereof, substantially as set forth.
2. A boot or shoe ventilator, having the combination of a flanged tube A' adapted
to be inserted from the outside into a hole in the waist of the boot or shoe, and to be
clinched on the inside thereof; a perforated plate A forming a diaphragin within or at
the end of said tubo, and a similarly perforated plate (adapted to rotate against the
plate A and provided on the outside with a turn button or bandlo whereby the relative
position of the holes in the plates may be varied, and the amount of ventilation
adjusted from the outside of the boot or shoe, substantially as described.
3. A boot or shoe ventilator, having the combination of a ventilating devico located in
the waist and immediately in front of the heel, a skeleton middle solo extending from
said ventilating device to a point near the toe, and a perforated in-solo E having
perforations corresponding in position to the openings in the skeleton sole, whereby a
more efficient ventilation of the front part of the boot or shoo is obtained, substantially
as set forth.
20th day di baren 1909.
1 of March
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.