CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BOOTS AND SHOES AND OTHER COVERING FOR THE HUMAN FooT
Year: 1837

page_text: DOWIE'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
DOWIE, of Frederick Street, Edinburgh, Boot and Shoe Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Second day of December, in the first year of Her reign, and
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
Dowie, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said James Dowie, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said James Dowie, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BOOTS
AND SHOES AND OTHER COVERING FOR THE HUMAN FooT;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said James Dowie, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Dowic, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the several letters and
figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The object of my improvements in the construction of boots and shoes, and
such other coverings for the human foot, is to render the same elastic or
yielding in the middle part thereof, or between the fore and hind quarters of
such boots and shoes as are made of materials that are but slightly elastic, or
are composed of what may be termed rigid or non-elastic substances, as leather,
woven fabrics, &c., which improvement is designed for the purpose of allowing
freedom to the natural action of the joints of the foot in stepping; such
improved boots and shoes permitting that requisite elongation of the foot which
should take place in walking by the altered position of the arch of the foot,
thereby giving freedom and ease to the gait.
The improvements consist in making or constructing boots and shoes, or
such other coverings for the feet with portions of elastic material or materials
introduced in the middle part of the shoe or boot, such elastic material being
placed between the fore and hind parts of the said boots or shoes, both in the
line of the sole and in the upper leathers or quarters. This object is effected
by the insertion of an elastic substance between the heel and the fore part of
the sole of the shoe or boot in that part which is immediately under the elastic
arch of the foot, and also by the insertion of certain other elastic pieces, as
gores or gussets in the sides of the upper leather or quarters of the said boots
and shoes, such pieces, gores, or gussets extending lengthwise with the elastic
part of the sole, and in height near to the ankle in boots and to the top of the
hind quarters in shoes. These clastic picces, gores, or gussets may be of various
forms, and the elastic substance employed may be either caoutchouc (indian-
rubber), or a combination of indian-rubber and leather, or cloth or woven
fabric, as herein-after mentioned.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed several views are given of my improved
boots and shoes in finished states, and also the elastic pieces and the gores or
gussets and other component parts of a shoe are shewn detached and in
different stages of the manufacture, for the purpose of illustrating the manner
or method by which I carry my Invention into practical operation, although I do
not mean or intend to confine myself to the precise forms therein shewn, as the
same may be varied to suit different kinds of boots and shoes at the fancy or

page_text: will of the maker or wearer, having only exhibited the same as methods
or systems of manufacturing which I have found to answer the purpose.
Fig. 1 in the Drawing is a representation of one of my improved shoes
complete, as seen on the outer side; Fig. 2 is a corresponding view, as seen on
the inner side; Fig. 3 represents the bottom part or sole of the shoe; Fig. 4
exhibits the outside of a boot constructed after my improved manner; Fig. 5
is the inner side of the same; and Fig. 6 is a view of the under part
or sole.
a, a, in the six Figures above referred to represent the fore parts or vamps
of the upper leathers; b, b, the bind quarters, which last mentioned may be of
one piece of leather, or two pieces sewn together at the back, as usual.
Between the fore and hind quarters are placed the elastic pieces or gores or
gussets c and d, to which the vamp and the hind quarters are securely fastened
by sewing; c is the elastic gores for the outside of the shoe, and d is the elastic
gore for the inner side. At the under part of the shoe or boot e is the electrio
portions of the sole placed between the rigid portion of the sole toward the
fore part 9 and the heel h. The several component parts or pieces of the upper
leathers and gores a, b, c, and d, are shewn extended and detached at Fig. 7,
and the same are represented as stitched together at Fig. 8, and also in
different views, exhibiting their inner and outer sides at Figures 9 and 10.
The rigid leather parts of the sole and heel are shewn detached as they would
appear on the under side at Fig. 11; and at Fig. 12 is a representation of the
piece of elastic material intended to be introduced between them for the
purpose of connecting the sole and heel together.
The following is one of the modes which I pursue in manufacturing
my improved boots and shoes, and will serve to shew one practical method
of carrying my improvements into effect:-The "insole" is formed of two
pieces of the required shape (similar to the sole), which are first put upon
the last in the usual way, with this difference only, that the part where
the elasticity is required is left vacant, as shown in Fig. 13, i, k, being
the portions of the "insole," and the vacant space or naked last. . The
upper parts of the shoe, that is, the "fore quarters" or "vamp" and the
"hind quarters," whether formed of leather or other similar rigid ma-
terial, after being prepared as shewn at Fig. 7, are united to the elastic
gores by sewing, as shewn at Figures 8, 9, 10, and they are then blocked
upon the last, Fig. 18, which has the "insole" placed upon it. The "upper
leathers" or parts of the shoe are then to be sewed to the "insole," and if
required a "well" is also to be attached thereto in the usual manner. The

page_text: edges of the ends m, n, of the elastic gores are then united together on the
under side of the last, as shown at Fig. 14, thereby forming the inner part
of the sole of the shoe under the hollow of the foot, where the elasticity is
required, thus making up the deficiency or vacant space of the "leather
insole." Upon this part of the elastic gores or "insolo" a layer or coating of
indian-rubber in solution may be put, if thought desirable, which will also
serve as a cement to attach the subsequent elastic part of the sole e more
firmly thereto. Before the sole, that is, the parts which are to constitute the
sole, are fixed upon the last, the picces g, h, of the leather or rigid sole and
heel are to be connected to the elastic parte by sewing in any convenient
manner, and I prefer the rigid solo and heel to be joined to the elastic part by
having the extreme ends of the sole and heel g and h shamfered down or
bevellel a little, and then sewed to the elastic part of the sole e at about one
quarter of an inch from its edges, after the manner of what is termed
grafting" or "splicing;" the extreme ends of the elastic portion e are then
sewed to the rigid sole and heel g and h at about a quarter of an inch from their
extremities, as shown in Fig. 15. A section taken lengthways through the sole
is shewn at Fig. 16. After this, all the rigid parts of the sole are then fastened
to the "welts" and "upper leathers" and "quarters," by sewing in the usual
ninnner. The elastic part of the sole being attached in the manner described
to the gores by the solution of indian-rubber or other strong elastic cement, if
requisite, the edges of the elastic part of the sole may be further secured to the
upper parts, and to the toe and heel parts of the shoe by rivets, as represented
at Fig. 17, and when this is done the shoe may be lined, bound, and finished
off in the usual manner.
I would here remark that the elastic material used both for the sole part
and the gores of the "quarters" or "upper leathers" may be of tough sheet
caoutchouc, that is, indian-rubber itself, or indian-rubber covered with thin
sheet leather or any other suitable material, such as woven cloth, vellum, or
parchment, united in the usual manner; but I prefer the elastic materials to
be formed of indian-rubber and leather.
Having now described one manner of carrying my improvements into effect
as regards the making of shoes, it will be seen by all practical boot and shoe
makers that the same process or nearly so may be pursued as regards boots,
slippers, clogs, goloshes, overalls, &c., and therefore it will not be necessary
for me to describe them, as the foregoing description and the Drawings will
sufficiently explain the same. And I will therefore proceed to shew one
other mode or method of obtaining the object of my improvements, which is

page_text: only a modification of the foregoing; this is shewn at Fig. 18, and consists in
forming or constructing the whole of the middle part of the shoe (or that part
where the elasticity is required), together with the hind quarters of the shoe, of
elastic materials. This will, in some instances, be preferred to the rigid part
or hind quarters, as described in the foregoing Figures, as it will give the
elasticity at the parts desired (viz³), at the elastic arch of the foot, and also at
the back or hind quarters of the shoe. I will now proceed to describe a
peculiar mode or method of preparing an elastic material composed of indian-
rubber and leather which I sometimes use in the making of my said improved
boots and shoes. This process of preparation consists in shortening the leather.
in its length by compressing or crimping, or what is technically called
"wanking," after the tanning operation has been performed, and after it has
been shaved or scraped by the currier, but before it has had any oil or other
greasy matters applied thereto, as is usual in the process of dressing. When
the leather has been thus compressed the elastic indian-rubber is to be applied
in the form of a thin sheet cemented by a thin solution, and when the union of
the two substances is thus effected the surface of the leather is to be dressed
and finished by the currier after the usual manner, by the application of oil,
grease, or other materials and colouring matters, the currier rubbing down
any little roughness which may appear on the surface of the leather, in the
operation of dressing, polishing, and finishing it. This mode is in contra-
distinction to the usual mode or method of uniting such materials after the
leather has been dressed and finished by the currier, the oil or other greasy
matters used in such dressing or currying preventing the perfect union or
combination of the indian-rubber with the leather.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I would remark that I am aware that clogs,
goloshes, and such other covering for the human feet, have been made wholly
of indian-rubber, with parts of leather soles attached thereto, such goloshes or
clogs being elastic or yielding in all the upper part thereof, and therefore I do
not intend to claim such as my Invention, such Invention, as before stated,
consisting in rendering shoes and boots which are otherwise composed of rigid
or non-elastic materials (or nearly so) elastic and yielding by the introduction
of elastic materials in the manner herein-before described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Dowie, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
JAMES (Ls.) DOWIE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of May, in the
first year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said James
Dowie came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained, in form above written. And also the instrument aforesaid was 5
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of
King George the Third.