Pinchers for Lasting Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 7th June, 1895-Accepted, 14th Sept., 1895
Pinchers for Lasting Boots and Shoes.
I, ALBERT FRANCIS PRESTON, of Collins Street, East Boston, in the County
of Suffolk, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States of America, Machinist,
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 lasting pinchers, and comprises two jaws formed to
co-operate in grasping the toe portion of a partially lasted upper, and means for
manipulating said jaws and lifting the same from the outer face of the inner sole,
the construction and arrangement being such that the operator can cause the jaws
to grasp the toe portion of the upper, pull the same upwardly above the face of
the last and the inner sole thereon, and hold it for the action of the toe wipers of
a lasting machine, said wipers being moved inwardly over the upper surface of
the inner sole and between the latter and the jaws, so that they gather in the
marginal portions of the upper held by the jaws, the latter being allowed to open
and release the upper just as the wipers take hold of it. My present invention
has for its object to provide certain improvements relating to the construction and
relative movements of the jaws in opening and closing, and to the means for
manipulating the jaws, and for raising the same from the inner sole to stretch
the toe portion of the upper. To these ends, the invention consists in the several
improvements which I will now proceed to describe and claim.
Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this Specification,-
Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a pair of lasting pinchers, embodying
my invention.
Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the inner jaw detached.
Figure 2 represents a longitudinal section of the pinchers, showing the jaws in
their normal or open position.
Figure 3 represents a similar view, showing the jaws closed and grasping the toe
portion of an upper.
Figure 4 represents a view similar to Figure 3, showing the jaws raised from the
inner sole to stretch the toe portion of the upper.
Figure 5 represents a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
In the drawings-
a represents the inner jaw of my improved lasting pinchers, and represents the
outer jaw of the same, said jaws being formed to co-operate in grasping the toe
portion of a partially lasted upper; that is to say, the edge of the upper that
projects outside of the face of the inner sole before the upper has been turned
inwardly and secured to the inner sole. The inner jaw a is convex, and bears
upon the inner side of the toe portion of the upper, while the outer jaw is concave
and bears upon the outer side of said toe portion. The two jaws are connected in
such manner that in opening and closing their grasping portions remain in parallel
so that when the jaws close, they grasp with equal force along the entire portion
of the upper with which they come in contact. This parallel motion of the two
jaws is an important feature of my invention, since it makes the hold of the jaws
uniform at all points, and prevents greater liability of the leather slipping at any
one point than at any other point. The preferred construction for connecting the
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page_text: two jaws so as to insure the parallelism of their acting: portions is shown in the
drawings, and comprises two guiding members. or studs c'e rigidly attached at
their lower ends to the jaw a and projecting upwardly therefrom, and elongated
tubular guiding members or sockets dd formed on the outer jaw and fitted to
slide upon the studs, the latter being parallel. The upper jaw is of the recessed
form shown in the drawings and comprises the central portion on plate 2 on which
the sockets d d are formed, and the downwardly projecting concave flange 3, the
lower margin of which constitutes the acting: portion of the outer jaw. The
recess within the flange 3 is of sufficient depth to permit the inner jaw to move up
and down, the jawa moving upwardly in said recess to separate from the jaw b
and downwardly to co-operate with said jaw. The jaws are normally held in the
open position shown in Figures 1, 2, and 5 by the action of springs e e, which are
interposed between heads or enlargements on the studs c, and the upper ends of
the sockets d, said springs normally holding the plate 2 of the jaw against the
upper side of the jaw a, as shown clearly in Figures 2 and 5.
represents an operating handle or lever formed on or rigidly attached to the
inner jaw a and projecting rearwardly therefrom; and g represents a similar
operating handle or lever pivoted at g₁ to the outer jaw, and having a loose or
swinging connection with the inner jaw a or with the handle thereof, said
connection being preferably a link i pivoted at ¹¹to cars formed on the levers fy.
The connection afforded by the link i enables the handle or lever g to conform
to the rectangular movements of the jaw with which it is connected when
the levers are manipulated to operate the jaws in the manner hereinafter
described.
j represents a jaw-lifting lever which is bifurcated at its lower end, its arms
or bifurcations bestriding the lever g and bearing on opposite sides of the
lever, said arms being pivotally connected with the last mentioned lever at .
The lever is formed so that when in the position shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, its
lower end will not project below the plane of the under surface of the inner jaw;
but when moved to the position shown in Figure 4, its lower end will project below
said surface and will, by exerting pressure upon the last k, and the interposed inner
sole m, raise the jaws from the said inner sole, thus causing them to elevate and
stretch the toe portion of the upper and prepare it for the action of the wiping
jaws of the lasting machine. I prefer to interpose between the lower end of the
lifting lever and the inner sole an elastic metal plate n, which is attached at one
end to the lever or handle f, its other end, which is free, projecting under the inner
jaw a and being received in a groove or recess n¹ (Figures 4 and 5) formed for its
reception in the under side of said jaw. The plate n normally bears against the
under side of the jaw, as shown in Figures 2, 3, and 5; but when the lifting
lever is operated to raise the jaws, its lower end bearing on the platen presses the
latter downwardly upon the inuer sole and prevents the latter from being raised
from the face of the last as it would be likely to be by the contact of its edges
with the toe portions of the upper when the latter are stretched and pulled away
from the face of the last by the action of the jaws.
The operation of the described device is as follows: The upper being placed
upon the last and the last, upper, and inner sole being supported in a lasting
machine having toe wipers arranged to be moved over the face of the inner sole at
the toe portion, the operator applies the jaws to the edge of the toe portion of the
upper and by manipulating the handles f g closes the jaws upon the upper, as
shown in Figure 3. The operator then, while holding the levers f g to maintain
a tight grasp of the jaws upon the upper, moves the lifting lever to the position
shown in Figure 4, thus causing the latter to exert downward pressure on the
rigidly supported last and therefore raise the jaws above the outer face of the
inner sole, the upper grasped by the jaws being also raised and stretched along
the entire curved portion, the toe of the upper being thus caused to closely fit the
toe of the last. While the upper is thus held, the wiping plates of the lasting
machine move forward over the upper surface of the inner sole and in close

page_text: proximity thereto, and wipe the edge of the upper inwardly, causing it to lie upon
the inner sole, the jaws being released by the operator during the action of the
wiping plate. When the operator releases the handles of levers fg, the springs e e
force said handles apart and open the jaws, as shown in Figure 2.
I do not limit myself to the exact details of construction here shown and
described, and may variously modify the same without departing from the spirit
of the invention. The lifting lever may be used in connection with pinchers, in
which the jaws are connected by other means.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that.
what I claim is :
1st. The improved lasting pinchers comprising a convex jaw and a concave jaw
formed to bear respectively on the inner and outer surfaces of the toe portion of a
partially lasted upper, co-operating guiding members affixed to said jaws whereby
their grasping portions are kept parallel, and loosely connected operating levers
extending backwardly from the jaws.
2nd. The improved lasting pinchers comprising a convex jaw and a concave jaw
formed to bear respectively on the inner and outer surfaces of the toe portion of a
partially lasted upper, co-operating guiding members affixed to said jaws whereby
their grasping portions are kept parallel, springs whereby said jaws are normally
opened, and loosely connected handles or levers extending backwardly from the
jaws, whereby the jaws may be closed.
3rd. The improved lasting pinchers comprising two jaws formed to bear
respectively on the inner and outer surfaces of the toe portion of a partially lasted
upper, operating handles or levers suitably connected with each other and with
said jaws and extending backwardly from the jaws, and a jaw lifting lever pivotally
connected with one of the parts of the pinchers and provided with an upwardly
projecting longer arm and with a downwardly projecting shorter arm, said shorter
arm being arranged to be depressed below the pinchers by a backward movement
of the longer arm.
Dated thi T
2005
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON,
15 Water Street, Liverpool, Applicant's Patent Agents.