IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Dick, of the City of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, Boot and Shoe Manufacturer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES."
Sealed the 29th June 1875, and dated the 31st December 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Dick at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st December 1874.
I, ROBERT DICK, of the City of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Boot and Shoe Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES,". to
be as follows:-
This said Invention consists in cementing by gutta percha solution
on to the lower or bearing part of the soles or heels of boots and shoes
(whether new or old, and whether these parts are made of gutta percha
or of leather) small thin pieces of vulcanised sheet india-rubber or of

page_text: leather as wearing, bearing, and holding picces or surfaces. The gutta
percha solution is first spread on the surface of the india-rubber and
leather when in a sheet or web and skin, and afterwards cut into the
small pieces ready for being attached, either by the shoemaker or by
the wearers at any time desired, by simply heating the prepared surface |
of the pieces and the surface of the shoe on which they are to be stuck
or fixed, and then pressing them together while hot. When the soles
or heels are made of leather these would require to be first well dried
and properly cleaned and coated while hot with the gutta percha
solution, and again heated as stated before attaching the heated pieces
thereto.
The sheets of vulcanised india-rubber to be used for these bearing
picces might have the outside made rough, or with projecting spots
or lines to have an elastic and better holding effect on the ground,
especially in wet or frosty weather; or these projecting pieces might
be made both of india-rubber and of leather alternately with each other
so as to give a firmer tread with sufficient holding effect to prevent
slipping. And these raised surfaces might be formed upon the new
soles or heels out of the gutta percha itself, preferably of a purer
quality than these parts of the boots or shoes are usually made of, and
in cither casc a sparable or other equivalent might be afterwards
driven into those raised or deep parts to give a still greater durability
and wear.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patcut,
filed by the said Robert King in the Great Seal Patent Office on 2
the 30th June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
DICK, of the City of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Boot and Shoe Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 3
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-

page_text: cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert Dick, Her special
licence that I, the said Robert Dick, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Dick, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BOOTS AND SHOES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Robert Dick, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their bands and seals, should
particularly 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, tho said Robert Dick, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, that is to say :-
1
My said Invention consists in cementing on to the lower or bearing
part of the soles and heels of boots and shoes small pieces of india-rubber
or leather as supplemental wearing, bearing, and holding surfaces.
And in order that the nature, novelty, and mode of performing my
said Invention may be properly understood, I shall now proceed to
describe the best modes and means I am at present aware of for carrying
the same into effect or practice, that is to say, the cementing is effected
by a solution of gutta percha which is first spread over the surface of
the india-rubber when in the sheet, or of the leather when in the web
or skin, these being afterwards cut into pieces of the size and shape
desired ready for being attached to the boot or shoe sole or heel at any
time either by the wearer or by the shoemaker.
In applying or fixing these new bearing or wearing surfaces to the
soles or heels of gutta percha boots or shoes their prepared surface as
well as the surface of the sole or heel are both heated in any convenient
manner, and when hot are pressed tightly together until they adhere

page_text: firmly. When the soles or heels are of leather however theso aro first
well dried and thoroughly cleaned, and then coated while hot with a
solution of gutta percha in the same manner as described in reference
to the coating of the sheets of india-rubber or skins of leather, so that
when the coated leather sole or heel is again heated the prepared bearing
surfaces or pieces while hot are applied and affixed thereto by pressure
in the same way as described in reference to the india-rubber soles.
Thus it will be obvious that these bearing or wearing surfaces may bo
affixed to cither new or old boots, whether the soles or heels are made of
gutta percha or of leather.
The sheets of vulcanised india-rubber to be used for these bearing
pieces might have the outside made rough, or with project spots
or ridges to give an elastic and better holding effect on the ground,
especially in wet or frosty weather; or these bearing picces or pro-
jections might be made of india-rubber and of leather or wood alternately
with each other so as to give a firmer tread with sufficient holding effect
to prevent slipping. Or by another method which has been found very
efficient in practice the sheets for these bearing pieces may be cut into
suitable lengths or bars which are laid and affixed angularly across the
under surfaces, or at the edges of the soles or heels of boots and shoes,
giving transverse rigidity with longitudinal elasticity. The raised
surfaces might also be formed upon the new soles or hecls out of the
gutta percha itself, preferably of a purer quality than these parts of the
boots and shoes are usually made of, and in either case a sparable or
sparables or other equivalents might be afterwards driven into these
raised or projecting parts to give a still greater durability and wear.
It will be further obvious that as these supplemental wearing pieces
can be affixed to the new solo or heel, and can be renewed at any time,
tho solos or heels of boots or shoes may be preserved intact and unworn
as long as desired.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing or putting it into practico, I would observe in
conclusion that what I consider novel and original and therefore claim
as the Invention secured to me by the hercin-before in part recited
Letters Patent is, the application and modo and means of preparing and
fixing supplemental bearing, wearing, and holding surfaces or piccos to

page_text: the soles or heels of boots and shoes, substantially in the manner and
for the purposes herein described.
In witness whereof, I, tho said Robert Dick, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
Witness,
W. R. M. THOMSON,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
ROBERT DICK. (L.S.)