AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE SOLES OF BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE SOLES OF BOOTS AND SHOES."-A communication from
abroad by Theodore Gustav Eiswald, of the City and County of
Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition. on the
29th September 1863.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE SOLES OF BOOTS AND SHOES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to the use of metal plates as a protection for the
soles of boots and shoes, and it consists in the attachment of such plates to the
boot or shoe by means of nails of such length and so applied as to pass through
the leather sole and through the edges of the uppers or the welt attached
thereto, and thereby when clinched on the inside of the boot or shoe to serve
the purpose of securing or assisting to secure the leather sole and the upper
together. The metal plate is made to correspond with the form of the sole
and is provided with nails which are fitted in it all round its edge at a suitable
distance apart. These nails should be of wrought metal so that they may
clinch readily and should be of such length that they may pass through the.
leather sole of the boot or shoe and also through the edges of the upper or

page_text: welt of the same. The plate may be of wrought or cast metal, and its outer
or face side may be provided with knobs or projections or corrugated in any
proper way so as to prevent sliping and may be perforated to reduce the noise
made by the metal plate in walking. The plate is applied to the shoe as
follows After the upper is made and the whole of the body or main part of
the shoe is finished, an iron last is fitted therein and the leather sole is fitted
to the bottom of the shoe and the plate applied to the sole the welt being
between the sole and upper. The plate has pressure applied to it by any
suitable press and the nails of the plate are consequently forced through the
sole and welt and are clinched in consequence of coming in contact with the
metal last. The attachment of metal plates to the soles of boots and shoes is
not new, but the plans hitherto devised, so far as I am aware, have all consisted
in simply attaching the plates to the soles after the latter had been secured to
the uppers and consequently the attaching of the plates augmented the cost of
manufacture; but by this Invention the cost of the metal plate is more than
saved by the economy in labour, as in attaching the plate to the sole the latter
is secured to the upper or welt, and the usual labour of sewing or pegging
dispensed with. I would remark that metal heel plates may be applied in
precisely the same way as the sole plates, the difference consisting only in the
length of the nails which of course require to be of a length corresponding with
the thickness or depth of the heel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd March 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William
Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Clark, 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, exer-

page_text: cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
THE SOLES OF BOOTS AND SHOES," a com" to me from abroad by Théodore
Gustav Eiswald, of the City and County of Providence, in the State of Rhode
Island, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Clark, my executors or administrators, 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 William Clark, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings bereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to the use of metal plates as a protection for the
soles of boots and shoes, and it consists in the attachment of such plates to the
boot or shoe by means of nails of such length, and so applied as to pass
through the leather sole and through the edges of the "uppers," or the welt
attached thereto, and thereby when clinched on the inside of the boot, or shoe
to serve the purpose of securing or assisting to secure the leather sole and
the upper together.
Fig. 1 in the accompanying Drawing is a face or bottom view of a plate
constructed according to this Invention for the front part of the sole of a boot
or shoe. Fig. 2 is an inside view of the same; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal
section of the same; Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the same showing also a
section of the boot or shoe, and illustrating the mode of attaching the
plate.
The metal plate A is made to correspond with the form of the sole as
sbown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2 and is provided with nails & which are fitted
in it all around its edge at a suitable distance apart. These nails should be of
wrought metal so that they may clinch readily and should be of such a length.
that they may pass through the leather sole of the boot or shoe and also
through the edges of the upper or welt of the same. The plate may be of
wrought or cast metal, and its outer or face side may be provided with knobs
or projections ò, or corrugated in any proper way, so as to prevent slipping and
may be perforated as shown at i, i. The holes i, i, also reduce the noise made
by the metal plate in walking. The plate is applied to the shoe as follows:-

page_text: After the upper is made and the whole of the body or main part of the shoe
is finished an iron last is fitted therein, and the leather sole is fitted to the
bottom of the shoe and the plate applied to the sole, the welt being between
the sole and the upper. The plate has pressure applied to it by any suitable
press, and the nails a of the plate are consequently forced through the sole and
welt, and are clinched in consequence of coming in contact with the metal last,
see Fig. 4, in which the upper is designated by c, the welt by d, and the sole
by c. The attaching of metal plates to the soles of boots and shoes is not new
but the plans hitherto devised, so far as I am aware, have all consisted in simply
attaching the plates to the soles after the latter had been secured to the uppers
and consequently the attaching of the plates augmented the cost of manufac-
ture, but by my Invention the cost of the metal plate is more than saved by
the economy in labor, as in attaching the plate to the sole the latter is secured
to the upper or welt and the usual labor of sewing or pegging dispensed with.
I would remark that metal heel plates may be applied in precisely in the
same way as the sole plates A, the difference consisting only in the length
of the nails a which of course require to be longer corresponding with the
thickness or depth of the heel.
Having described the nature of this Invention and the manner of performing
the same I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the arrangement herein shown
and described of the clinching nails a in the plate A, and in combination with
the sole e, upper c, and welt d, so that the several parts will be firmly united
by the said clinching nails without any other fastening, all as herein set forth.
And I also claim providing holes i, i, in the metal plate A, substantially as and
for the purpose herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
JAMES DAISH,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)