CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS APPLIED TO BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1872

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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS APPLIED TO BOOTS AND SHOES."-A
communication from abroad by Pierre Auguste Vigneau, of No. 64,
Faubourg St. Martin, Paris, France.
Scaled the 8th April 1873, and dated the 14th October 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th October 1872.
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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS APPLIED TO BOOTS AND
SHOES," a communication to me from abroad by Pierre Auguste Vigneau,
of No. 64, Faubourg St. Martin, Paris, France, to be as follows:-
Hitherto the half soles and heels of boots and shoes, whether sewn,
nailed, or screwed on, have been fixed so that when it became necessary
to repair the soles or heels the worn sole or heel could not be removed
and a fresh one substituted without recourse to the bootmaker. The
object of this Invention is to enable any person to half sole and heel a
boot or shoe with the greatest facility.
The Invention consists in the use of a particular form of screw, and
of a washer stop plate placed between the tread or moveable bottom part

page_text: of heel and the fixed upper part, the half soles and heels being of
ordinary make.
The screw is of a conical shape tapering from top to bottom, the
diameter increasing immediately above the screw thread so as to form
a shoulder between head and stem, but the important feature of this 5
screw is that it has a vertical groove on each side of its head instead
of the ordinary groove across the top for the reception of the screw-
driver.
The washer or stop plate placed between tread of heel and its upper
part, consists of a flanged plato to be fixed by ordinary screws to the upper 1
part of heel, and of a flange which covers the front edge of the shifting
tread.
Both screws and plates may be made of steel, copper, brass, or any
suitable metal or material.
The half soles and shifting part of heel may be made of one or several 1
pieces of superposed leather or other material, the length of the screws
being proportioned to their thickness.
The half soles and heels should be numbered, so that the bootmaker
may at any time be able to deliver to the purchaser of a pair of boots or
shoes as many changes of the proper sizo as he may desire.
When a half sole or heel is to be removed a forked tool or screwdriver
is placed over the head of the screw so that each of its branches passes
into one of the vertical grooves, whereby on turning the tool the screw
is at once drawn out.
It will be evident that however great the wear there will always be a 2
hold for the screwdriver, which would not be the case if the ordinary
horizontal grooves were used, and that it is the use of this particular
screw head which renders this Invention practicable.
2
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Scal Patent 30
Office on the 9th April 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.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS APPLIED TO BOOTS AND SHOES," a communication to me from
abroad by Pierre Auguste Vigneau, 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 an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 William Edward Gedge, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawing, upon which Fig. 1 is a side elvation of a boot
embodying this Invention; Fig. 2 a plan of same; and Figures 3 to 9,
detached parts.
Hitherto the half soles and heels of boots and shoes whether sewn,
nailed, or screwed on, have been fixed so that when it became necessary
to repair the soles or heels the worn sole or heel could not be removed
and a fresh one substituted without recourse to the bootmaker. The
object of this Invention is to enable any person to half sole and heel a
boot or shoe with the greatest facility.
The Invention consists in the use of a particular form of screw, and
of a washer stop plate placed between the tread or movable bottom part
of heel and the fixed upper part, the half soles and heels being of
ordinary make.

page_text: The screw is of a conical shape (see Figures 8 and 9) tapering from
top to bottom, the diameter increasing immediately above the screw
thread so as to form a shoulder between head and stem, but the
important feature of this screw is that it has a vertical groove on each
side of its head (see Figures 6 and 7) instead of the ordinary groove ♬
across the top for the reception of screwdriver.
The washer or stop plate (colored yellow on the Drawing) placed
between tread of heel and its upper part consists of a flat plate to be
fixed by ordinary screws to the upper part of heel (see Figures 1, 3,
and 4), and of a flange (see Fig. 4) which covers the front edge of the 1
shifting tread.
Both screws and plates may be made of steel, copper, brass, or any
suitable metal or material.
The half soles and shifting part of heel may be made of one or several
pieces of superposed leather or other material, the length of the screws 1
being proportioned to their thickness.
The half soles and heels should be numbered, so that the bootmaker
may at any time be able to deliver to the purchasers of a pair of boots or
shoes as many changes of the proper size as he may desire.
When a half sole or heel is to be removed a forked tool or screwdriver 2
(500 Fig. 5) is placed over the head of the screw so that each of its
branches passes into one of the vertical grooves, whereby on turning the
tool the screw is at once drawn out.
It will be evident that however great the wear there will always be a
hold for the screwdriver, which would not be the case if the ordinary 2
horizontal groove were used, and that it is the use of this particular
screw head which renders this Invention practicable.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Ninth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
3