AN IMPROVED MODE OF LACING BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHEE ARTICLES UNITED BY LACES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Пeniy Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
MODE OF LACING BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHEE ARTICLES UNITED BY LACES."-
A communication from abroad by Van Wagener, of Boston, Massa-
chusetts, United States of America.
Sealed the 19th January 1866, and dated the 25th July 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th July 1865.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF LACING BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER ARTICLES UNITED
BY LACES," a communication to me from abroad by Van Wagener, of Boston,
Massachusetts, United States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of lacing boots and shoes, and
is also applicable to the lacing of driving belts and other articles united by
laces, the principal object to be obtained being to facilitate and expedite the
operation of lacing, whilst at the same time greater security in the lacing is
effected.
According to this Invention as applied to a boot it is proposed to secure in
any convenient manner to one or more of the eyelet holes on each side metal
loops, which may be either double or single, or both, but I prefer to use a
double loop in combination with a single loop, the single loop entering

page_text: between the two loops of the double one when drawn together. The lace
may or may not be passed through the eyelet holes, but in all cases it is
passed through the metal loops, so that on being drawn tight the opposite
loops will be drawn and held together.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th January 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her mest Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, tho
said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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
Treland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MODE OF LACING BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER ARTICLES UNITED BY LACES," a commu-
nication to me from abroad by Van Wagener. of Boston, Massachusetts, in the
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Henry Johnson, 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 Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say
-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of lacing boots and shoes, and

page_text: is also applicable to the lacing of driving belts and other articles united by
laces, the principal object to be obtained being to facilitate and expedite the
operation of lacing, and to obtain a neater appearance in the laced article.
may
According to this Invention as applied to a boot it is proposed to secure in
any convenient manner to the eyelet holes on each side metal loops, which
be either double or single, or both. In some cases a double loop may
be used in combination with a single loop, the single loop entering between
the two loops of the double one when drawn together. The lace is passed
through the metal loops, so that on the loose ends being drawn tight the
opposite loops will be drawn and held together.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Fig 1 represents an elevation of a boot laced according to this Invention,
and Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are enlarged details of different forms of loops
detached.
a, a, are a series of metal loops or staples which are so fixed to the two
parts to be laced together as to overlap their edge; and 6 is the cord, lace,
wire, or other locking device, which is used in combination with the said
metal loops or staples. The said loops or staples are composed of wire bent
into the form of a loop, the ends of which terminate in flat annular washers c, c,
the loop being at right angles to the washers. These loops are arranged in
a line parallel to the edges of the two parts to be laced, and are fastened or
secured in their places in any of the following modes:-The line along which
the loops or staples a are to be fastened is determined by the size of such
loops, which are designed to stand out from or project over the edge of the
parts to be laced, and the annular washers are placed on that line, holes
having been punched in the material at proper intervals. The loops are then
made secure, either by inserting an ordinary metal eyelet d (Fig. 2) through
the two annular washers and through the material, and rivetting or squeezing
it down over the said washers, or by having an eyelet d formed upon or in
one piece with one of the annular washers, and passing through the opposite
washer as shown in Fig. 8; or in lieu of the separate eyelet shown in .
Fig 2 a solid pine may be passed through the two annular washers and
hrough the material, and rivetted over the washers as shown in Fig. 4;
or in lieu of a separate rivet one end of the loop may be bent at right angles,
as shown at ein Fig. 5, at a distance about equal to the thickness of the
eather or other material to be laced, which end so bent at right angles will of

page_text: itself form a rivet or fastening, which is passed through the annular washer c,
formed on the opposite prong of the loop and then headed or rivetted down.
The lace or cord b is then run through the loops, the ends crossing between
each pair alternately at the top of the boot; one of the loops may be a double
loop, as shewn at a¹ (Figure 1); and the end of the lace after passing through
the lower eye of the double loop may be passed in company with the other
end of the lace through the opposite single loop, and then brought back and
passed up through the upper eye of the double loop a¹; or the whole of the
loops on one side of the boot may be double, the single loops on the opposite
side entering between such double loops, when the lace is drawn tight.
Before putting on the bool the parts to be laced are drawn apart simply, the
lace yielding easily by slipping through the loops without becoming disengaged
therefrom. When the boot is to be laced all that is necessary is to pull on
the two ends of the lace or cord, when it will assume an undulating line from
the bottom to the top of the part to be laced, and will draw together and close
the part to be laced, the top single loop entering between the two eyes of the
double loop a¹, and being kept in that position by the end of the lace which
passes through the three eyes, the loose ends are then secured by tying in the
usual manner.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the application and use to and
in the lacing of boots, shoes, and other articles, of metal loops secured
to the edges of the parts to be laced, whether passing above and below, or
above or below, and whether projecting over the edge or setting back from
the edge, through which loops the cord or lace is passed from side to side,
substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-before described and
illustrated by the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.s.)