IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES."
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Jeyes, of 17, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Jeyes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th.
November 1860.
I, JOHN JEYES, of 17, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, do hereby declare the
nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND.
SHOES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of boots.
and shoes. In the manufacture of boots and shoes sewing machines are now
commonly employed for sewing together the parts of the upper leather, but
not for attaching the sole to the upper, on account of the great difficulty of
adjusting the work to the machine when a welt of the ordinary description is
employed. To obviate this difficulty, it has been proposed to employ a
marginal welt (that is to say, a narrow and straight strip of leather) sewn to
the edge of the upper all round, as such a strip can readily, by means of a
sewing machine, be sewn first to the upper and then to the sole, the upper
being able to lay flat while the welt is being attached to it, which it could
not do were an ordinary welt employed. This arrangement, however, does
not succeed very well in practice, as when boots so manufactured are worn,
the welt is found to draw up from the sole in place of laying flat upon it as it
should do.

page_text: Now, according to this Invention, in place of employing a narrow straight
strip of leather as a welt, I employ a welt shaped in the usual manner, but
divided into two parts down the middle, but by preference not completely up
to both ends. Each of these parts is sewn on to the upper leather, as when
a marginal welt is employed, the upper. leather laying flat, while the outer
edge of the two parts of the welt are being sewn to it. The two inner edges
of the welt, that is where it has been divided, are then turned over towards
each other, and may, if desired, be attached the one to the other. The edges
of the sole can then readily be sewn to the outer edges of the welt by a
sewing machine. Shoes and boots thus constructed will not have the defect
of shoes and boots made with a marginal welt, as the parts of the welt
coming well under the foot, and, if desired, being attached the one edge to
the other, or to the sole, are no more liable to be drawn up from the sole
than is an ordinary undivided welt. It is not essential (although it is pre-
ferred) that the parts of the welt when turned in should meet under the
centre of the foot, as the parts of the welt may be brought under the tread of
the foot without actually meeting; in all cases, however, the edge of the welt
which is attached to the upper is cut to the requisite shape as when a welt of
the full width is employed. It cannot be made of a straight strip bent to and
fro to follow the curve of the edge of the upper, as is done when a marginal
welt has been employed, as herein-before described. In some cases, in place
of sewing the lower edge of the upper to the welt in such manner that the
edges of the upper when fixing the welt to the sole shall turn inwards, as has
heretofore been the practice, the split welt above described, or it may be a
marginal or other suitable form of welt may be sewed to the lower edge
of the upper so as to admit of the lower edge of the upper being turned out-
wards, and be itself sewed to the sole, in which case the split welt or
marginal welt is first sewed to the lower edge of the upper, and by preference
at such a distance from the edges of the upper and of the welt respectively as
to admit of the row of stitches by which the upper and the welt are fixed to
the sole coming outside of the row of stitches by which the upper and the
welt have been previously fixed together.
In sewing machines at present commonly employed in making boots and
shoes, the work lays on a plate, which after each stitch rises, in order, by
acting with other instruments, to feed the work forward so that each stitch
may be placed a short distance in advance of that which preceded it. Now,
according to this Invention, there is attached to the rising plate a small cutter,
which penetrates the sole leather each time it rises, and thus progressively
makes a groove in which the stitches may bury themselves, or the cutter may

page_text: be otherwise connected with the machine so as to produce the desired cut or
groove, it being necessary that the stitches should be so buried to protect them
from wear.
In place of using waxed thread or yarn as heretofore when making boots
and shoes, thread or yarn is used without being previously waxed. with
cobbler's wax, and then a solution of cobbler's wax is applied to saturate the
stitches.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Jeyes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
May 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
JEYES, of 17, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Jeyes, Her special licence that I, the said John
Jeyes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others, as I,
the said John Jeyes, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Jeyes, my executors or admistrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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
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 John Jeyes, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly. described and ascertained in and by the following.
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,. that.
is to say
In place of fixing the "upper" of a boot or shoe to an insole and a welt

page_text: by sewing, as has most generally been the practice in making boots and shoes,
and also in place of fixing the "upper" of a boot or shoe to a welt and outsole;
as was described in the Specification of my former Patent, dated 27th July
1860, No. 1829, I cause the "upper" of a boot or shoe to be fixed at its
lower edge to the edge of a welt or interposed piece, so as to admit of such
lower edge of the upper being turned outwards, and be itself sewed to the
sole. The welt, or part to which the "upper" is first sewed, may be similar
to those described in my said former Specification, or of other forms, but I
prefer that the welt or part to which the "upper" is first attached should be
in one piece, and correspond in form with an ordinary sole. I prefer that
the "uppers" used in making boots and shoes should be first blocked, so as
to shape the front parts thereof to nearly the desired forms.
An "upper" for a boot or shoe is first sewed to the welt or part interposed
between the insole and the outsole, as will readily be understood by reference
to the Drawing, where Figure 1 shows a plan of the welt or part to which the
" upper "and also the insole and outsole are affixed; Figure 2 shows a plan,
partly in section, of the "upper" and welt partly sewed together, and Figure 3
shews a transverse section of the parts after the last and insole have been
introduced. The sewing of the welt or interposed part a to the upper b may
be most advantageously done by a sewing machine, though these parts may be
sewed by hand. When attaching the welt a to the "upper" by a sewing
machine it is desirable first slightly to connect or run them together by long
stitches. The "upper" 6 having been sewed to the welt or interposed part-a
is then to have the insole introduced, which is done by first blocking it on the
under side of the last and by fixing it slightly thereto by wood pegs. The
under side of the insole is then to be coated with cement or paste, the last
with the insole are then introduced into the "upper." The insole c may be
of any desired thickness, and it is preferred that the edges should be cut
square or at right angles to the under surface. The introduction of the last
and the insole into the "upper" will cause the sides of the "upper" to bulge
or protrude over the stitches or sewing by which its lower edges have been
previously fastened to the welt, as is shown in the cross section Figure 3.
It is preferred that the thread or yarn used when a sewing machine is
employed should not be waxed, but that in place thereof, when the welt or
interposed piece a has been sewn to the "upper," a solution of cobbler's wax,
or the materials. used in making such wax, should be applied to the surfaces
where the stitches come, and by which they become saturated with those
preservative materials, and at the same time it is desirable to extend the use
of such solution, particularly on the under side of the welt, so as to present

page_text: a cement between it and the outsole, by which the yarn or thread used in
fixing the outsole will pass through a layer of such composition, and be partly
waxed thereby. In order to prevent the drag of the stitches (by which the
outsole is fixed) acting prejudicially on the edge of the "upper," I introduce a
narrow strip of leather, as is shown at d on the upper surface of the edge of
the "upper," and sew through such narrow strip as well as through the
upper," the welt, and the outsole. In some cases I put this narrow strip
on with the first row of stitches that secures the upper to the welt or part
interposed between the insole and outsole, and by turning the strip back the
outsole can then be sewn on, and the strip then returned to its place, and thus
form a shield or protection to the stitching of the outsole. In making light
shoes and boots, the outsole may, when desired, be dispensed with, and then
the part a will become the sole of the shoe or boot, in which case the part a
will have a groove cut on its under side in order to be closed over the stitches
when they have been made, but the insole c will be introduced with the last
in like manner to what has been above described. In this case the waist
filling must be put on the sock or insole before being introduced into the
upper.
It is not essential that the outsole should be fixed by sewing, as it may be
fixed by pegs of wood or metal. If metal pegs be used they may, if desired,
pass through the outsole, the welt or interposed piece, and also the insole,
and be clinched on the interior by a suitable last.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to the
formation of the parts separately of which a boot or shoe is composed; but
what I claim is the combination of the parts as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Jeyes, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
JOHN JEYES. (L.8.)