Improvements in Devices for Lasting and Tacking Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Sept., 1895--Accepted, 16th Nov., 1895
Improvements in Devices for Lasting and Tacking Boots and Shoes.
1, ALBERT FRANCIS PRESTON, of Collins Street, Boston, in the County of
Suffolk, and 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 by the
following statement :—
This invention relates to tacking devices employed for lasting boot and shoe
uppers, and has for its object to provide a tack-driving mechanism or device
adapted to be held and moved about by one hand of the operator, and to be
operated to drive the tacks by the other hand; and further to he used to draw
the edge of the upper to place and hold it while the tacks are being driven.
The invention consists in the several improvements relating to hand-operated
tacking machines which I will now proceed to describe and claim.
Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this Specification,
Figure represents a side elevation of a tacker embodying my improvements,
a portion of the tack reservoir and chute being broken away and shown in
section.
Figure 2 represents a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.
Figure 3 represents a section on line 3-3 of Figure 1, and a plan view of the
parts below said line.
Figure 4 represents a side elevation of the lower part of the tacker, showing
the operation of the pinchers or jaws.
Figure 5 represents a section on line 5-5 of Figure 1.
Figure 6 represents a section on line 6-6 of Figure 1.
Figure 7 represents a longitudinal section on line 7-7 of Figure 3.
Figure 8 represents a section on line 8-8 of Figure 1.
Figures 9, 10 and 11 represent sctional views taken on the plane of line 3--3 of
Figure 1, showing the manner in which the tacks are let off, one at a time, to the
tack-delivering throat of the machine.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
In the drawings-
a represents a head or casing provided at its lower end with a tack-delivering
throat a', through which tacks are ejected, one at a time, by a driver b which is
adapted to reciprocate in the head, and is provided at its upper end with a knob
or head by which it may be depressed by one hand of the operator, a spring c
within the head a being employed to normally raise the driver and hold it in the
position shown in Figure 2. The head a is provided with a handle a adapted to
be grasped by one hand of the operator, so that the head can be moved freely
about, over the last d which supports the upper e and inner sole of a boot
or shoe.
9 represents a chute which is affixed to the head a and is inclined relatively to
the head, so that when the head is held in a vertical position the chute will be
inclined at such an angle that tacks will slide downwardly by gravitation. The
chute has a groove 12 extending along its entire length and formed to receive the
sbanks of the tacks, said groove communicating at its lower end with an inclined
passage i which communicates with the tack-delivering passage in the throat a'.
The chute is provided with a suitable let-off mechanism which is actuated by the
driver to release one tack at a time from the chute and allow the released tack to

page_text: pass through the passage i into the throat, where it is yieldingly arrested by
jaws jj controlled by springs j¹ j¹, said jaws holding such tack, as shown in
Figure 2, in position to be driven by the driver.
The let-off mechanism comprises, first, a tack clamp 16, which is fitted to slide
in an orifice in one side of the chute and is arranged to bear against the shank of
one of the tacks in the chute at a point below the head thereof, so that the tack
with which the clamp 16 is in contact is pressed thereby against the opposite
wall of the groove 12; secondly, a spring 17 attached by a screw 18 to the chute
and having its free end engaged with the clamp 16, said spring normally pressing
the clamp inwardly and bolding it against one of the tacks; thirdly, a gate or
detent 22 which is shown in Figure 2 as an offset projection on the under side of
an arm or carrier 19 which is pivoted at 20 to the chute and is adapted to swing
across the groove 12 of the chute, so that it may stand either wholly at one side
of said groove, as shown in Figures 2, 3, and 11, or may project across the
groove and thus obstruct the column of tacks, as shown in Figures 9 and 10.
The arm or carrier 19 is normally held by a spring 21 in the position shown in
Figures 2, 3, and 11, so that it is normally out of the path of the tacks as they
move down the chute. The driver is provided with a bevelled shoulder or
enlargement 25 (Figure 2) which is formed so that when the driver is depressed
the enlargement will strike the arm or carrier 19 and force the same outwardly
across the tack groove 12, thus causing the detent 22 to obstruct the column of
tacks. The arm or carrier 19 has an offset 191 (Figure 3) which is arranged
to strike the spring 17 during the described movement of the carrier 19 and
thus cause an outward movement of the clamp 16, the latter being thus caused
to release the column of tacks. There is lost motion between the carrier 19
and spring 17, so that the clamp 16 is not displaced until the detent 22 is moved
outwardly far enough to obstruct the tack groove of the chute, the clamp being
then displaced, as shown in Figure 9, and allowing the column of tacks to move
downwardly until the lowest tack bears against the detent 22, as shown in
Figure 9. When the driver rises, the projection 25 passing away from the
carrier 19 permits the latter to be moved inwardly by the spring 21, this move-
ment permitting the clamp to move inwardly toward the column of tacks. Said
clamp is arranged to bear upon the second tack in the column, that is, the one
above the tack resting against the detent 22, so that the lowest tack is held
only by the detent 22; hence when the said detent is removed from the path of
the tacks, the lowest tack is released and passes to the throat a', the next tack,
which is now the lowest, being at the same time grasped by the clamp 16, which
again arrests the column of tacks. In this way one tack is let off or released at
each upward movement of the driver, so that when the driver next descends, a tack
is ready to be ejected.
The clamp 16, adapted to yieldingly press a tack against one side of the chute,
constitutes a new and useful improvement in let-off mechanism for tacking
machines. Said clamp has a flat or blunt inner end so that it is not liable to
fail to properly engage and hold the adjacent tack. Heretofore in mechanism of
this class a pointed separator has been employed formed to be interposed between
two tacks, without clamping either, but owing to variations in the sizes of ordinary
tacks, a separator operates less accurately than my clamp, and is liable to either
fail to cut off a tack from the column or to cut off too many tacks. The clamp 16,
having a comparatively broad bearing surface, is free from this liability.
m represents a tack reservoir affixed to the upper or outer end of the chute g,
said reservoir beiug preferably a cylindrical box made of thin sheet metal, it being
desirable to make said box as light as possible. The reservoir m has an outlet m¹
arranged to permit the passage of tacks from the reservoir to a space between
vertical walls or wings 14 14 arranged at opposite sides of the chute, a guard m³
being provided to prevent the too free passage of the tacks from said outlet, said
guard being simply a partition extending across the outlet and open at its ends to
receive the tacks. The jar attendant upon the forcible depression of the driver is

page_text: sufficient to agitate the tacks in the reservoir and cause them to pass with sufficient
rapidity to the chute. That portion of the chute between the walls or wings 14-14
is provided with inwardly inclined faces 13-13 (Figure 6) upon which the tacks
fall between the wings 14, said faces being formed to facilitate the dropping of
the tacks point downward into the groove 12, as shown in Figure 6. Below the
wings 14, which extend some distance downwardly from the reservoir, the chute is
provided with outwardly bevelled faces 15 15 (Figure 5) which form acute angles
with the sides of the groove 12, the form of the chute at this point being such that
the tacks which have been improperly positioned or delivered will readily fall off
from the chute. To facilitate the displacement or removal of improperly
positioned tacks, I provide the chute with pins 46 46 arranged upon the outwardly
bevelled faces 15 and arranged to arrest any tacks that may be sliding down the
chute when lying across the same or with their shanks at right angles with the
groove. o represents a receptacle which encloses the portions of the chute including
the bevelled faces 13 and 15 and wings 14, said receptacle being adapted to receive
the tacks that are not properly engaged with the chute and fall from the same.
The receptacle o is open at its upper side, so that the tacks that accumulate
therein may be discharged from time to time by inverting the machine and thus
causing the tacks to pass out through the open top of the receptacle o.
The tack-delivering throat a¹ has a portion of its lower surface formed as a
fixed jaw p adapted to co-operate with a movable jaw p' formed on a lever p²
which is pivoted at p³ to the handle a² and is provided with an operating handle p¹,
which projects upwardly from the lever and is located beside the handle a², so that
cne hand can grasp both the handles a² and p, the arrangement of the handle_pt
being such that the pull exerted by the operator in stretching the upper also
closes and holds the movable jaw, so that the harder the operator pulls to draw the
upper to place the more tightly the upper is grasped by the jaws. The fixed jaw p
extends across the throat a' and includes a part of the tack delivering orifice in
aid throat, the jaw p¹ being formed to bear closely upon all parts of the jaw p
so that the upper is grasped and held by the two jaws on a line extending across
the tack delivering orifice of the throat, the upper being therefore controlled at a
point close to where the tack is driven. The movable jaw and the lever p² on
which it is formed are provided with a slot, the outer end of said slot coinciding
with the tack delivering orifice of the throat a. Said slot receives a guard q
which is a flange formed on the handle a² and extending up to the rear end of the
fixed jaw p, the object of said guard being to prevent the jaws from being moved
too far on to the upper. In other words, the said guard limits the entrance of
the upper between the jaws, so that the tacks are driven at points uniformly
distant from the edge of the upper. r represents a spring which is arranged to
normally hold the lever p² and the jaw p¹ in the position shown in Figure 1, the
jaw being separated from the fixed jaw p.
In operating the device above described, the operator holding the head a over
the last and the parts of the boot or shoe thereon, engages the jaws p and p¹ with
the edge of the upper, and pulls the upper over the edge of the last until the upper
is drawn sufficiently tight. He then forces down the driver, causing a tack to
enter the portion of the upper held by the jaws, and to secure the same to the
inner sole.
The pull exerted on the upper as above described is exerted by one hand of the
operator. To supplement said pull, I provide the lever p³ with a dog or short
lever which is affixed to a short rod or shaft pe journalled in the lever p², said
rod or shaft being provided with an operating handle or lever p adapted to be
moved by the other hand of the operator. In practice the dog is turned to the
position shown in Figure 4 when the upper is held by the jaws, and while the
operator is pulling with one hand on the jaws to stretch the upper, the dog is
turned by the handle p' to the position shown in Figure 1 by the disengaged hand
of the operator, who is thus enabled to supplement the pull by the action of the lever p²
and dog p, said lever and dog acting as toggle joint members when the dog is being

page_text: moved to the position shown in Figure 1, the dog being engaged with the inner
sole and forcing the jaw backwardly or in the direction of the pull exerted by the
operator.
It will be borne in mind that the last and the upper and sole are rigidly
supported by a jack during the operation, and that the dog in acting as a toggle
member prevents the sole from slipping backward or yielding to the presence of
the upper against its edge.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said inven-
tion, and in what manuer the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1st. In a hand tacker, the combination of the inclined chute having the tack-
body receiving groove 12, the inwardly bevelled faces 13-13, and the walls or
wings 14-14 at the outer portion of the chute, the outwardly bevelled faces 15-15
below the said walls or wings, the tack-reservoir having an outlet communicating
with the space between the wings 14-14, and the tack-receptacle enclosing the
portions of the chute on which said wings and faces are formed, as set forth.
2nd. The combination of the head having a tack-delivering throat, the spring-
raised driver movable in said head, and provided with a detent-operating device
such as the shoulder 25, the inclined chute affixed to the head and communicating
with said throat, the spring-pressed tack-clamp 16 adapted to normally press
one of the tacks against one side of the chute and thereby arrest the column of
tacks in the chute, the detent 22, and a spring-controlled carrier which normally
holds the detent out of the chute and is adapted to be moved by the said operating
device 25 to simultaneously remove the clamp from the chute and advance the
detent over the chute, said carrier subsequently acting to remove the detent from
the chute and permit the return of the clamp thereto.
3rd. In a hand tacker, the combination of the head having a tack-delivering
throat and a fixed jaw, a driver movable in said head, means carried by the head for
delivering tacks to said throat, a handle affixed to the head, and a lever pivoted to
the handle, said lever having at one end a moveable jaw arranged to co-operate with
said fixed jaw in grasping a shoe-upper, and at the opposite end a handle projecting
upwardly from the lever and arranged so that the pull exerted by the operator in
stretching the upper also closes and holds the movable jaws.
4th. In a hand tacker, the combination of the head having a tack-delivering
throat, and a fixed jaw; the driver movable in said head; a handle affixed to the
head a lever pivoted to said handle and provided at one end with a movable jaw
and at the other end with an operating handle projecting upwardly from the lever
arranged beside the handle of the head; and a sole-engaging dog pivoted to said
lever and provided with a handle whereby the dog may be moved to supplement
the pull on the jaws, said dog and lever acting as toggle links or members, as set
forth.
Dated this Tenth day of September 1895
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.