AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Waterman, of the City and County of
Bristol, Boot and Shoc Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES."
Sealed the 3rd September 1867, and dated the 29th April 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Waterman..at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th April 1867.
I, EDWARD WATERMAN, of the City and County of Bristol, Boot. and Shoe
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND. SHOES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to improve the manufacture of machine
sewn boots and shoes, and enable the same to be repaired with facility.
Hitherto boots and shoes when sewn. by machinery have either presented
difficulties in repairing, it. being requisite either to attach a new sole by
machine instead of hand sewing (which under present circumstances amounts
practically to the worn boot being irreparable) or the boot in process of
construction did not admit of being lasted, and an indifferent and uncertain
shape was the result. To obviate these difficulties I propose to employ a
novel system of sewing, using for that purpose what I may term inner
machine sewing for one part of the process and outer machine sewing for the
other part of the process. These different kinds of work may be con-
veniently produced by the use of two well-known sewing machines, viz., the

page_text: Blake machine which effects the locking of the stitches within the boot or
shoe, and the Crispin machine which sews outside or around the shoe near
the edge of the sole. In carrying out my Invention I sew on to the " upper
and insole a welt or a middle sole by means of the Blake machine, and
then by means of the Crispin machine I secure the outer sole to the welt or
middle sole, and finish the boot in the ordinary manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Waterman in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th October 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
WATERMAN, of the City and County of Bristol, Boot and Shoe Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edward Waterman, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Waterman,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Edward Waterman, my executors, administrators, and 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 "AN IMPROVED MANU-
FACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
"the said Edward Waterman, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par
ticularly 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 Edward Waterman, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to improve the manufacture of machines

page_text: sewn boots and shoes, and enable the same to be repaired with facility.
Hitherto boots and shoes when sewn by machinery have presented difficulties
in repairing, for in renewing the outer soles of such boots, it has been requisite
either to attach the new sole by machine instead of hand sewing (which
under the present circumstances of the boot trade amounts practically to the
worn boot being irreparable, or the sole had to be attached by screws or rivets
which are objectionable except in strong heavy boots, from the inelastic
character which they impart to the sole. Or the bolt or shoe in process of
construction did not admit of being lasted previously to the sewing of the
upper to the welt or middle sole, and thus an indifferent and unsatisfactory
shape was the result. To obviate these difficulties I propose to employ a
novel system of sewing, using for that purpose what I may term inner
machine sewing for, one part of the process, and outer machine sewing for the
other part of the process.
In the accompanying Drawing I have illustrated my improved manufacture
as applied to a srt boot with elastic sides.
"
Fig. 1 shews tue finished boot in side elevation; Fig. 2 shews in plan view
the boot before the outer sole is applied; Fig. 3 is a plan view shewing the
outer sole applied but one half of it cut away; Fig. 4 is a cross section of
the boot taken at the line 1, 2, of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a partial plan view
looking down upon the top of the boot... In these views A is the " upper
which is lapped under and secured as usual to the insole B; C is the welt or
middle sole, and D the outer sole, and it is in the attachment of these parts
C and D that I employ the novel system of machine sewing. These different
kinds of work may be conveniently produced by the use of two well known
sewing machines, viz., the Blake machine which effects the locking of the
stitches within the boot or shoe, and the Crispin machine which sews outside
or around the shoe near the edge of the sole, but I do not confine myself
to the use of these machines, as others may be found to produce the same
kinds of work..
In carrying out my Invention I connect the "upper" and insole A, B,
temporarily together on the last in the usual way so as to give shape to the
boot, and I then remove the last and apply the welt or middle sole C securing
it to the upper and insole by means of an inside line of stitches c, c, produced
by the Blake machine, or any other machine which will effect the locking of
the stitches within the boot, and I then by means of the Crispin machine or
other machine of like capacity, secure the outer sole to the welt or middle
sole by a line of stitches d, d, circumscribing the boot. The parts being thus
secured I finish the boot in the ordinary manner.

page_text: From the above explanation it will be understood that boots and shoes
made according to my Invention may receive as good a shape as heretofore,
and they will admit of being re-soled. like ordinary hand sewn boots or shoes
without the use of screws or rivets, the sole being attached as heretofore
by hand sewing.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "An Improved
Manufacture of Boots and Shoes," and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim, the making of boots and shoes as described,
that is, with a middle sole or welt sewn to the insole, and the upper and the
outer sole sewn to the welt or middle sole by suitable machinery for the
purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Waterman, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
EDWARD WATERMAN. (L.S.)
ROBERT BURROUGHS,
Clerk to Messrs. Waterman & Co.
Rupert Street,
Bristol.