IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Keats and William
Stephens Clark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 11th February 1864.
We, JOHN KEATS, Shoe Maker, and WILLIAM STEPHENS CLARK, Shoe
Manufacturer, both of Street, in the County of Somerset, do hereby declare
the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
BOOTS AND SHOES, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE,"
to be as follows:-
Heretofore it has been proposed to form the soles of boots and shoes by
pressing leather into moulds, and after the leather has been so pressed the
sides of the sole have been "finished" by paring and rasping to bring them
to the requisite bevel, in some cases also the leather has been pressed between
two plates of the requisite form, and whilst so pressed between the plates the
edges of the leather have by a knife been cut to the requisite bevil, the outer
face of the sole being required to be larger than the face of the sole that is
towards the upper.
Now according to our Invention we make the sides of the mould inclined
in the manner required for giving the requisite bevil to the edges of
the leather whilst in the mould. The sides of the mould we make by
forming a slot or hole of the requisite form for a sole through a plate of

page_text: metal, the bottom of this plate enters into and fits a recess in the lower
die, the upper surface of the lower die is formed, as has before been the
case, to the requisite shape for moulding the bottom of the sole, and the lower
surface of the plunger or upper die is formed to the requisite shape for the
upper surface of the sole. The sides of the plunger are formed so that it
may pass down freely through the hole or slot in the plate that forms the side
of the mould. In some cases we form the upper surface of the lower die
and the under surface of the plunger in a suitable manner for moulding a
sole together with the usual shank and bottom filling pieces, suitable thick-
nesses of leather for these purposes are then introduced into the mould
together with the piece of leather that forms the sole. The plate through
which the slot is made that forms the side of the mould is of considerably
greater width than the thickness of the sole to be formed, and the sides of the
slot or hole are made parallel to each other, with the exception that at the
lower portion of the hole the sides are inclined outwards so as to form the
edges of the sole to the requisite bevil. The sides of the slot at the top of the
hole are similarly bevilled outwards in order that the plate may be reversed,
and so at one time form a mould suitable for the sole of a right-handed and
at another of a left-handed boot or shoe. By making the sides of the mould
entirely separate from the top and bottom of the mould, the sole can (after it
has been moulded to the requisite form) be removed from the mould without
injuring its bevilled edges, by first separating the sides from the bottom of
the mould. When the sole is to be connected to the upper by sewing, we
in some cases form the bottom of the mould with a short knife projecting up
from it all around its outer edge in such manner that the knife comes
within a short distance of the sides of the mould; the knife is of such a height
as to form a recess in the bottom of the sole of the requisite depth for the
stitches to lie in ; the knife also being made broad at its base, the narrow strip
of leather that is exterior of the knife will when the sole is pressed into the
mould be forced outwards by the base of the knife against the inclined sides
of the mould. In some cases, when the sole is to be connected to a welt, we
form around the edge of the bottom of the plunger a slight projection, which
forms a corresponding recess around the edge of the sole, in which the welt
can lie after the boot has been sewn. When the sole is required to have
holes formed in it around its outer edge in order that it may be rivetted or
otherwise connected to the upper, then we arrange around the outer edge of
the bottom of the mould a number of spikes or punches, and over the
bottom of the mould we place a thin plate that is perforated with holes to
correspond with the spikes or punches, so that these punches may pass up.

page_text: through the holes. The bottom of the mould is formed with a hole rising up
through its centre, through this hole a rod passes up, and on the top of the
rod is a plate, which lies in a recess in the upper surface of the bottom of the
mould. After the sole has been pressed in the mould, and the sides of the
mould separated from the bottom, this rod is raised by a lever or otherwise,
and the plate on its top lifts the perforated plate that is above it, and so
raises the sole off the spikes or punches. The sole may also be removed in a
similar manner when a knife is used as before described. In forming the
heels for boots and shoes by pressing leather into moulds, we form the sides
of the mould, as has before been the case, by forming a hole or slot through
a piece of metal, the sides of this hole we form to the requisite bevil or curve
for the sides of the heel, so that the sides of the heel will not require to be
finished after they are removed from the mould; the bottom of the hole is
closed by a
filling block that is retained in position by a set screw, this piece
carries on its upper surface a number of pins or punches according to the
number of holes required to be made in the heel. Above the filling block that
carries these punches is a plate with perforations through it, through which the
punches rise, through the centre of the block a hole is formed, through which
a rod rises, by raising which the heel can be lifted off the spikes in a similar
manner to that above described for lifting the soles off the spikes or punches;
the bottom surface of the plunger that descends into the mould is made to the
requisite shape for the upper surface of the heel. In moulding the heel the
requisite number of thicknesses of leather are introduced one above the other
into the mould, the plunger is then forced into the mould, and so forces
the leather on to the punches at bottom of the mould, and at the same
time moulds the leather to the requisite form, and causes the thicknesses of
leather to adhere together. Heels of different dimensions and thicknesses can
be produced by putting into the mould different thicknesses of blocks that
carry the punches and perforated plates to correspond. In some cases we
arrange moulds suitably for forming a heel together with a sole, in place of
making each separately as before described. In order to polish the side edges
of the soles and heels of a boot or shoe after that the boot or shoe has been
put together, we employ heated revolving buffers or burnishers in place of
employing heated hand-irons as is usual. The buffers or burnishers are made
circular, and are mounted on an axis that is caused to revolve in any suitable
manner, below the buffers gas jets are situated, by which the buffers or
burnishers are heated, and in order that the boot or shoe may not be injured
by the heat from the burners coming against them, a shield or guard is placed
above the burners, and the lower parts of the circular buffers pass down

page_text: through slots in this guard. On the end of the axis that carries the buffers we
form a crank, from which a to-and-fro motion is imparted to a flat rasp or
serrated surface that is used for finishing the bottom surfaces of the soles of
boots or shoes.