IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES OR APPARATUS FOR BLOCKING BOOTS AND HALF BOOTS OR "BOTTINES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of No. 11, Wellington
Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES OR APPARATUS FOR BLOCKING
BOOTS AND HALF BOOTS OR "BOTTINES." A communication from
3 "
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abroad by Lucien Brunel-Bodin and J. Felix Bruncl-Marchand,
both of No. 64, Faubourg St. Martin, Paris, France.
Scaled the 25th July 1873, and dated the 31st January 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Gedge at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 31st January 1873.
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I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES OR APPARATUS
FOR BLOCKING BOOTS AND HALF BOOTS OR 'BOTTINES,' a communication to me
from abroad by Lucien Bruncl-Bodin and J. Felix Bruncl-Marchand,
both of No. 64, Faubourg St. Martin, Paris, France, to be as follows:-
All the mechanical means hitherto used for blocking the uppers or
legs of boots, or half boots, "bottines," have given but very imperfect

page_text: block for a few minutes, during which the drying begins, and these few
minutes are sufficient to preserve and fix the shape which the upper
thus worked should possess.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 28th July 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Gedge,
Her special licence that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my.
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Edward Gedge, 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 MACHINES OR APPARATUS
FOR BLOCKING BOOTS AND HALF BOOTS OR 'BOTTINES,' a communication to mo
from abroad by Lucien Bruncl-Bodin and J. Felix Brunel-Marchand,
both of No. 64, Faubourg St. Martin, Paris, France, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors
or administrators, by au instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and scals, 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 Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
"
HART TZNAM un
T
11
TTY 110

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
-
All the mechanical moans hitherto used for blocking the uppers or
legs of boots or half boots, "bottines," have given but very imperfect
results, equally in regard to the work produced as to the value of the
merchandise treated by these machines; for if the substitution in licu
of hand work of another work entirely mechanical has presented
difficulties, it has been in this manufacture in which the leather is
affected by treatment in the blocking.
The system of blocking machine for which I obtained Letters Patent, 1
No. 1985, A.D. 1872, possesses many advantages over its predecessors,
but is not complete, inasmuch, that it can only be used to block the
uppers of half boots, "bottines." It has therefore been sought to
improve the said machine, and this Invention relates to a machine or
apparatus by which boots or half boots may be blocked at will.
manner in which this machine acts upon the leather is exactly as by
hand work.
The
The following description will give an idea of its construction and its
working, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawing,
and to the letters of reference placed thereon. This blocking machino
acting upon the leather by traction, its principle is therefore based upon
a system of lever nippers, which retire from the main piece termed the
block, drawing with them the leather which they clasp. Each of these
nippers B, C, D, is jointed to the block A by a hinge, which under the
action of the screws B¹, C', D', must permit it to pivot around this
point. The nipper C, which is intended for the heel, is alone arranged
to slide upon two pins a, b. The screw D', which serves to act upon
the foot part, serves at the same time as fulcrum to the machine, and is
therefore supported by the foot G by means of a socket in which it
moves.
I will now describe the method of proceeding in blocking the upper
or log of a boot. After having prepared the leather for the operation of
blocking, that is to say, having previously slightly moistened it with
lukewarm water, the upper is placed upon the block A, and the edge
of the leather forming the foot is introduced between the nippers of the
lever D previously unscrewed for this purpose; it is then firmly fixed
by again tightening the screws, and the same operation takes place on

page_text: cach of the nippers B, C; the whole being securely fixed the screws
B¹, C¹, D', are successively acted upon according to requirement, and
when the work is completed, the upper is left thus stretched upon the
block for a few minutes, during which the drying begins, and these few
minutes are sufficient to preserve and fix the shape which the
worked should possess.
upper
thus
Having now described and ascertained the nature of the said Inven-
tion communicated to me as aforesaid, I would observe that the object
of this Invention is improvements upon the blocking apparatus patented
by me A.D. 1872, No. 1985, which improvements now permit its use for
boots or half boots, "bottines," of all kinds, and that I claim as secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, the use of the
arrangements above described for the purposes set forth whatever may be
nature, the shape, and the dimensions of their several parts.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-