IMPROVEMENTS IN FINISHING THE SOLES AND HEELS OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Marshall and Henry Cooper Pretty, of
Cardigan Street, Leicester, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FINISHING THE SOLES AND HEELS OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND IN APPARATUS
EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Marshall and
Henry Cooper Pretty at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 25th January 1866.
We, THOMAS MARSHALL and HENRY COOPER PRETTY, of Cardigan Street,
Leicester, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FINISHING THE SOLES AND HEELS OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND IN APPARATUS
EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
1
In order to buff the under surface of the sole or heel of a boot or shoe
before burnishing the same a revolving cylindrical cutter is employed of small
diameter, having formed thereon parallel cutting edges from end to end. The
length of the cylinder is greater than the width of the soles or heels to be
buffed. The necks or axes at the two ends of this revolving cutter are
supported in suitable bearings, and at one end rotary motion is communicated
thereto, and the cutter is caused to revolve at a high velocity. When the
soles or parts thereof are rounding or convex then the buffing tool in place
of being cylindrical is made hollow from end to end. In buffing any part

page_text: of a sole or heel the workman holds such part against the surface of th
revolving cutter. In order to pare the upper and under edges of the sole
or heels of a boot or shoe to bring the edges correctly to gauge a hand too
is used, the handle of which has the tool fixed thereto, and such tool has a
right angles to its surface two parallel cutting edges, one for paring the uppe
edge and the other for paring the under edge of a sole or heel. One o
these cutters is arranged to move in a groove so as to admit of its being se
towards or from the other cutter and being fixed securely at any desired
distance from the other cutter, depending on the thickness of the sole or
heel.
In order to burnish the under surface and also the edges of the soles and
heels of boots and shoes revolving tools of the following descriptions are
used: A revolving cylinder of somewhat greater length than the width of
the sole or heel is mounted on an axis which is supported in bearings at
cach end; the periphery of this cylinder is grooved with diagonal zig-zag
grooves, the edges of which are rounded, and the cylinder is caused to rotate
at a very high speed. When the parts of a sole or heel are rounding or
convex it is preferred that this tool in place of being cylindrical should be
hollow from end to end, and the burnishing tool is kept clean when necessary
by a brush worked in contact therewith and pressed up to the revolving
cylinder in any ordinary manner. The revolving tool for burnishing the
edges of the soles and heels of boots and shoes is mounted on a shaft which
is caused to revolve at a very high velocity, and the length of the cylinder
is somewhat greater than the thickness of the sole or heel to be burnished
thereby. The periphery of the cylinder is grooved with zig-zag grooves,
the edges of which are rounded off, and it has a flange at one end which
enters between the "upper and the sole and burnishes the upper edge, and
there is also a shield or separate disc which serves as a guard to the "upper,"
and it is preferred that there should be a flange also at the other end. The
axes of these burnishing tools are hollow, and provision is made that they
may be heated with steam or other fluid introduced in this hollow axis as is
usual when heating other revolving cylinders, and in order to keep such
burnishers clean a brush is applied thereto as before mentioned.
The cutting tools above described are of steel, and it is preferred that the
burnishing tools should also be of steel and highly polished.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Marshall and Henry Cooper Pretty in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 25th July 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
MARSHALL and HENRY COOPER PRETTY, of Cardigan Street, Leicester, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Thomas Marshall and Henry Cooper Pretty, Her special licence that
we, the said Thomas Marshall and Henry Cooper Pretty, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Marshall
and Henry Cooper Pretty, our 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FINISHING THE SOLES AND HEELS OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND IN APPARATUS
EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Thomas Marshall and Henry Cooper Pretty, our executors or ad-
ministrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals,
or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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, the said Thomas Marshall, on behalf of myself
and the said Henry Cooper Pretty, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
that is to say-
In order to buff the under surface of the sole or heel of a boot or shoe
before burnishing the same a revolving cylindrical cutter is employed of small
diameter, having formed thereon parallel cutting edges from end to end. The
length of the cylinder is greater than the width of the soles or heels to be
buffed. The necks or axes at the two ends of this revolving cutter are sup-

page_text: ported in suitable bearings, and at one end rotary motion is communicated
thereto, and the cutter is caused to revolve at a high velocity. When the soles
or parts thereof are rounding or convex then the buffing tool in place of being
cylindrical is made hollow from end to end. In buffing any part of a sole or
heel the workman holds such part against the surface of the revolving
cutter.
In Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed is shown a revolving cutter
for buffing off the grain from the under surface of the sole or heel of a boot
or shoe; the cutter may be either formed with slanting teeth like the cutter a,
shewn in this Figure, or with straight parallel teeth, as is shown at Figure 2.
Each end of the cutting tool a is made square and tapering, one of these
square tapering ends is received into a socket formed in a bush fitted into
the end of the axis b; this axis is carried by the headstock c, and has fast and
loose pulleys d, d', upon it, as shown. The other square tapering end of the
cutter is received into a bush e carried by a back head as shown; one cutter
can by this arrangement be readily taken out and another substituted for it.
In order to burnish the under surface and also the edges of the soles and
heels of boots and shoes revolving tools of the following descriptions are used:
A revolving cylinder of somewhat greater length than the width of the sole or
heel is mounted on an axis which is supported in bearings at each end; the
periphery of this cylinder is grooved with diagonal zig-zag grooves, the edges
of which are rounded, and the cylinder is caused to rotate at a very high
speed. When the parts of a sole or heel are rounding or convex it is preferred
that this tool in place of being cylindrical should be hollow from end to
end, and the burnishing tool is kept clean when necessary by a brush worked
in contact therewith and pressed up to the revolving cylinder in any ordinary
manner.
At Figure 3 is shown a revolving tool suitable for burnishing the under
sides of the soles and heels of boots and shoes. a is the cylinder, of somewhat
greater length than the width of the sole or heel; and bare the zig-zag
grooves formed in the periphery of the cylinder, and at an angle to its axis,
the edges of these grooves are rounded, as shown; an end view of the tool is
shown at Figure 4. The cylinder is 'inounted on a hollow axis through
which a steam pipe passes in order to beat the cylindrical tool. When using
this description of burnishing tool it is mounted in a lathe similar to that
described in respect to Figure 1, provision however being inade for passing
steam through the tool. The work uian holds the parts of the sole and heel up
to the burnishing instrument whilst it is caused to revolve quickly. The
revolving tool for burnishing the edges of the soles and heels of boots and shoes

page_text: is mounted on a shaft which is caused to revolve at a very high velocity, and
the length of the cylinder is somewhat greater than the thickness of the sole
or heel to be. burnished thereby.. The periphery of the cylinder is grooved
with zig-zag grooves, the edges of which are rounded off, and it has a flange
at one end which enters between the "upper" and the sole and burnishes
the upper edge, and there is also a shield or separate disc which serves as a
guard to the "upper." In order to keep such burnishers clean a brush may
be applied thereto as before mentioned. It should be stated that the buffing
tools above described are of steel, and it is also preferred that the burnishing
tools just described should likewise be of steel and highly polished.
At Figure 5 is shown a revolving tool such as above described for burnishing
or ironing the edges of the soles of boots and shoes. a is the cylindrical tool
mounted on a hollow axis through which a steam pipe passes; the periphery
of the cylinder may be straight or more or less rounded according to the
shape of the edges to be burnished. Across the periphery of the cylinder
zig-zag grooves inclined to the axis are formed, and the edges of these
At one end of
grooves are rounded as in the tool shown at Figures 3 and 4.
the cylinder are projecting flanges c, c, which are for the purpose of "creasing"
the sole, these flanges are clearly seen in the side view shewn; an end view
of the tool is shown at Figure 6. d is a guard, which is loose on the hollow
shaft; the flange of this guard enters between the upper and the sole, and
keeps the upper from coming in contact with the flanges c, and at the same
time burnishes the upper edge of the sole; the guard d is held in its place by
a collare that can be fixed to the shaft by a set screw. The cylindrical part
of the tool has another flange f formed on it for the purpose of acting as a
guide while the work is progressing. Figures 7 and 8 show two views of a
tool suitable for burnishing the heels of boots and shoes; as in the tool described
in Figures 5 and 6, it is furnished with a loose guard d, which is held in its
place by a collar e. a, a, is the cylindrical portion of the tool, which is of
somewhat greater depth than the width of the heel to be burnished; and b, b,
are the zig-zag grooves, the corners of which are rounded off as described
with respect to the other Figures. These burnishing tools, like those for
burnishing the under surfaces of the soles and heels, are when used mounted
and actuated in a lathe, such as shown at Figure 1, provision being made for
heating the tools as above mentioned by steam..
Having thus described the nature of the Invention and the manner of
performing the same, we would wish it to be understood that we make no
claim separate and apart from its use in carrying out this Invention to the
lathe herein described; but what we claim is,

page_text: First, the combined arrangement of apparatus herein described for buffing
the soles and heels of boots and shoes by a rotatory cutter as explained.
Second, we claim the combined arrangements of apparatus herein described
for burnishing the under sides and edges of the soles and heels of boots and
shoes by rotatory heated surfaces formed with zig-zag grooves as herein
explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Marshall, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
THOMAS MARSHALL. (L.S.)