Flexible Needles or Carriers for use in Sewing on Patches and Repairing Boots and Shoes, and similar purposes.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Nov., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 8th Aug., 1893-Accepted, 23rd Sept., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Flexible Needles or Carriers for use in Sewing on Patches and
Repairing Boots and Shoes, and similar purposes.
I, JAMES PUGSLEY, of 9, Charles Street, Bath, in the County of Somerset,
Boot Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to a new appliance for use in repairing boots and shoes,
whereby pieces may be sewn on worn parts or rips be restitched at any part of the
boot; and consists of a flexible needle having a tapering socket or sockets at its
end, in which the bristle attached to an ordinary waxed thread is inserted to be
withdrawn from the inside of a boot when it is required to be stitched in any out
of the way place, such as round the toe, where it is impossible by the ordinary
means to pass a bristle and thread from the inside to the outside.
To carry my invention into effect, I prepare a piece of flexible steel wire of any
convenient length, say about 12 or 15 inches, and at the extreme end thereof,
make a tapered socket of the size to receive and retain an ordinary bristle as used
by shoemakers; a simple and ready way of forming this socket is to hammer the
end of the wire for about two inches very thin and flat, and then to turn it round
on a small taper tool like the point of a sewing needle, making the edges meet and
welding them together smoothly, or the socket may be made in the end of the wire
by drilling, forming a cylinder with its external circumference the same size as the
other part of the wire; the other end of the wire may be bent into a bow like that
of a key, or may have a knob attached to it for the more ready handling it when in
use: In some instances it may be desirable to use this flexible needle for conveying
the bristle and thread from the outside to the inside of the boot, in this case, the
cylinder will be continued for about an inch from the end, and the continuation
tapered in a reverse direction, the wire being channelled to form an entrance for
the bristle at the back end of the cylinder, and to enable it to lie in place until it
has been pushed in far enough for the operator to lay hold of it.
The difficulty of sewing on a patch or repairing a rip in many parts of a boot is
well known to shoe makers and repairers, as no appliance has hitherto been
produced by which the inside bristle can be returned through the hole made on the
outside by the awl; the provision of a needle or carrier made according to my
invention will remove this difficulty, and a patch may be sewn on the most out of
the way part of the boot in an easy and simple manner, its operation being as
follows: A hole is made with the awl in the boot and one bristle passed through
to the inside conveying half the waxed thread after it in the usual way, to form the
stitch, another hole is made with the awl, and the end of the flexible needle inserted
in the hole and pushed or drawn through to the upper part of the boot far enough to
receive the bristle which is then pushed into the socket at the end of the needle; the
socket being slightly tapered as already described, a gentle pressure will cause
the point of the bristle to be gripped by the needle, and on drawing it back through
the hole, the bristle will follow until it is far enough through for the operator to
take it and draw out the thread attached to it, the point of the other bristle having
been first put into the hole like as in ordinary shoe sewing, and the threads drawn
tightly, forming a stitch; another hole is made by the awl and the process repeated
for each stitch until the required work is performed. If the stitches have to be set
in a very confined space, where the bristle cannot be inserted far enough for the

page_text: fingers to reach it, the back socket of the needle is used, the bristle being inserted
therein, the needle carries it on until the operator can reach and grasp it.
Dated this 5th day of November 1892.
J. G. WESTLAKE,
2, John Street, Bristol, Applicant's Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Flexible Needles or Carriers for use in Sewing on Patches and
Repairing Boots and Shoes, and similar purposes.
I, JAMES PUGSLEY, of 9, Charles Street, Bath, Somersetshire, Boot Manu-
facturer, 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 :-
My invention relates to a new appliance for use in repairing boots and shoes,
whereby patches may be sewn on, worn parts repaired, or rips be restitched at any
part of the boot; and consists of a flexible needle or carrier having a tapering
tubular socket at its end, in which a bristle, as ordinarily used by shoemakers in
sewing and repairing boots with a waxed thread attached, is inserted, the carrier
having been passed from the outside through a hole made in the boot by an awl, to
be drawn back through the hole in the boot, until it can be taken on the outside by
the operator.
My invention and the means employed to carry it into effect, will be fully
understood by reference to the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which Fig. 1
is a general view of a carrier, drawn to a considerably enlarged scale, and
bent back, instead of shown straight, for the sake of having the details of a
proportionate size: Figs. 2 and 3 being sectional elevation and plan respectively,
on a still further enlarged scale of the end of the carrier, in which the bristle is to
be inserted.
A ring is formed in one end of the carrier A as shewn, by which it can be
suspended on a nail when not in use, or passed over the little finger of the operator
when in use, the carrier is conveniently made of flexible steel wire, and about 12
to 15 inches in length, one way of forming the tubular socket at the end is to
flatten the wire from the point towards the end, and then to turn the flattened
part over a slightly tapering mandril, making the edges meet at D, the end B is
chamfered to a blunt point, that it may be more easily inserted in the boot, and
also that the socket b may present an elongated entrance for the bristle. The
carrier may also be made, if required, to convey a bristle from the outside of a boot
to the inside, by making the socket on two mandrils, each being slightly tapered,
in this case, the tubular opening will be taper from D to d like as from 1 to d; in
practice however, this will be seldom wanted, as the bristles are of sufficient length
to be pushed through within reach of the operator's fingers.
With the carrier constructed as described and shewn, its operation in difficult
parts of a boot will be readily appreciated by boot repairers: when the sewing
cannot be carried further by the ordinary means, one end of the thread with a
bristle attached, will be on the inside and the other outside the boot, and the
difficulty is to get the inner bristle through the hole made by the awl; this has
hitherto been done by what is known as drag-stitching, which is a long and tedious
process, with the carrier, the operator having made the hole with the awl, puts the
end of the carrier in the hole and passes it through until it comes out at the top of
the boot, when the bristle is placed in the elongated socket, where the tension is
sufficient to hold it while the carrier is drawn back and the end of the bristle
appears through the hole, the outer bristle is then put in by the side of the other,
and the stitch is made like as in the ordinary method of sewing; the process is
repeated for each stitch until the work is accomplished, and no part of a boot is so
far out of reach, but that with the carrier stitches may be set as required.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
The construction of a flexible needle or carrier with a tubular socket at the end
to receive and convey bristles attached to threads for purposes of placing stitches
in positions where it is not possible for fingers to put the return bristle, substan-
tially as herein set forth and described, and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
L A
1000
J. G. WESTLAKE,
2, John Street, Bristol, Applicant's Agent.