IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Thomas, of Nos. 128 and 129, Cheapside,
in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES."
Sealed the 7th May 1869, and dated the 13th November 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Thomas at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th November 1868.
I, WILLIAM THOMAS, of Nos. 128 and 129, Cheapside, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object to facilitate the manufacture of boots
and shoes by means of sewing machines. For this purpose the outer
sole of the boot or shoe having been prepared and cut to the con-
figuration required, I sew to the edge of the inside or inner surface thereof

page_text: a strip of leather to form the welt which has previously been moulded to
the requisite shape with the inner edge turned up at right angles or
nearly so to the outer edge; or instead of first moulding the leather
forming the welt as described it may be sewn to the sole in a flat
position, and the inner edge whilst wet be then turned up. In place of
securing the outer edge of the welt to the sole as described the inner
edge may be sewn thereto so that the outer edge is turned up outside
the sewing. After the welt has been sewn to the sole this is then
secured to the last with the welt outside, and the grain or outer surface
of the sole next the last, as is the case in making ".
'pump "boots. The
upper of the boot or shoe turned inside out, and with the stiffener
inserted at the back thereof is then lasted, and the edges thereof sewn
to the turned-up welt. These edges are then rubbed down, and after
the last has been removed the upper is again inverted so as to assume
its correct position relative to the sole, after which the inner sole is
introduced, and the boot or shoe is finished in the ordinary manner.
If the heel of the sole is required to be made higher than the other
part a "lift" is sewn to the sole together with the welt, or heels are
subsequently put on in the ordinary manner.
For making cork sole boots the welt or rand is cut of the requisite
shape and width, and is sewn with its inner edge to the sole, and the
outer edge turned up as before described, after which the sole is fastened
to a last which has been reduced in substance to an extent corre-
sponding with the thickness of the welt, which subsequently has to cover
the sides of the cork sole, and the inverted upper is then sewn to the
welt as before described. After this has been effected, and the upper is
inverted so as to assume its correct position, the cork sole is inserted
into the space formed by the welt or rand by the before-described mode
of sewing the same, and the cork sole is then covered by the inner solc.
By the before-described mode of manufacturing boots and shoes it will
be seen that both the sewing of the welt to the sole and the sewing of
the upper to the turned-up welt can be readily effected by the the
sewing machine.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Thomas in, the Great Seal Patcut Office on
the 13th May 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
THOMAS, of Nos. 128 and 129, Cheapside, in the City of London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Thomas, Her special licence that I,
the said William Thomas, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Thomas, 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
BOTS AND SHOES," upon the condition: (amongst others) that I, the said
William Thomas, 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 Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after tho date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Thomas, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accompanying.
Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say :-
My Invention has for its object to facilitate the manufacture of boots
and shoes by means of sewing machines. For this purpose the outer
sole of the boot or shoe of the required shape has a channel cut in the
grain side round the edge to receive the sewing. To the inner or. flesh

page_text: side a strip of leather about ths of an inch wide is sewn along the said
channel with its outer edge corresponding to the edge of the sole. This
welt is wetted and turned up at right angles close to the line of
stitching, or the welt may have been previously damped and turned up
before being sewn to the sole. The sole with the welt attached is
fastened with its grain side to a last with the welt projecting; the upper
turned inside out and having the stiffener in its place is lasted, and
tacked or basted to the welt, and is then sewn to it. The welt and
upper are now pared and made to lie smooth on the sole, the last is
withdrawn, the boot turned with its right side outwards, the inner sole
and last put in, and the boot finished as usual,
According to the second part of the Invention the inner edge of the
welt is sewn to the edge of the sole; the upper is attached to this welt as
previously described. When finished the boot will have the welt folded
on itself.
According to the third part of the Invention, boots or shoes with cork
soles are made by sewing to the outer sole, as just described, a rand
sufficiently wide to cover the cork and for turning in. The sole is
fastened with its grained side to the last, which must have been reduced
to an extent corresponding with the thickness of the cork sole; the upper
turned inside out, and having its stiffener inserted is then lasted, tacked
or basted to the projecting rand, after which the upper is sewn to the
rand on a line corresponding with the inner edge of the cork sole; the
upper is then taken off the last, turned, the cork sole inserted and made
fast by pegging to the outer sole, and the boot finished as usual.
But in order that the several parts of my Invention may be readily
understood I will now proceed more particularly to describe the manner
of performing the same, for which purpose I shall refer to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings.
Figures 1 to 6 serve to show the mode of operating in manufacturing
boots and shoes according to the first part of my Invention. Figure 1
shews the section of an outer sole A, to the inner side of which a
welt B, B, about ths of an inch wide, is sewn at b, b, in the channel y,
the sewing being shewn more clearly on the plan of the sole to a larger
scale at Figure 2. Such sewing extends either entirely round the sole,
or for reasons presently to be stated it extends only round the front part
from a tox, and the remainder of the welt round the heel is merely

page_text: tacked with long stitches, as indicated at Figure 2. The sole with the
welt sewn to it as above described having been pared nearly to the shape
it is to be when finished is then fastened to the last, as shewn at
Figure 3, the inner edge of the welt B having been previously turned up
as indicated, or it may be turned up when on the last. The upper C
turned inside out and having the stiffener inserted, is then lasted and
tacked to the turned-up edge of the welt B, to which it is afterwards
sewn at c, c, close to the line of sewing at b, b, and in order to facilitate
this at the waist I prefer to pare off a small portion of the inner surface
of the sole, as indicated in dotted lines at Figure 3. This having been
completed the welt and upper are hammered flat on the sole A, as shown
at Figure 4, and the boot is taken off the last and the tacking thread
round the heel cut or drawn out, after which the boot is turned inside
out so that the upper assumes its correct position relative to the sole, as
shown at Figure 5. The inner sole and filling is now put in in the
usual manner, and the portion of the welt from x to x round the heel
(Figure 2) is sewn to the outer sole A, as shown at a, Figure 6. The
boot is then ready for its heel and for finishing in the ordinary manner.
In sewing the heel part of the welt to the sole as described I prefer
to employ a chain stitch machine and to have the loops on the outer
surface of the sole, the stitches being made in a slanting direction so that
the piercing instrument shall avoid the upper. The object of not sewing
the welt to the heel part of the sole until after the upper has been
turned is that the stiffener would otherwise be liable to be broken or
damaged in turning the upper; when the stiffener and the sole are of no
great substance however the sewing may be effected all round the sole
in the first instance, as described.
Figures 7 to 9.shew the mode of operating according to the second
part of my Invention. In this case the inner edge of the welt B, B, is
sewn to the sole A, as shown at Figure 7, b, b, being the line of sewing
the outer edge of the welt projecting beyond the sole, as shown, the
sole is put on the last and the projecting edge of the welt turned up,
as shown at Figure 8. The upper C turned inside out and having its
stiffener inserted is then lasted and tacked to the edge of the welt,
and is afterwards sewn to it at c, c, Figure 8. The upper and welt
are then hammered flat, as at Figure 9, and the boot is taken off the
last, turned, and finished. The thicknesses of the welts and uppers are
exaggerated in the Drawing in order to shew the sewing more clearly.

page_text: Figures 10 to 12 shew the manner of operating when a cork sole is to
be inserted according to the third part of my Invention. The welt or
rand B is in this case of sufficient width to cover the cork and for the
turning in, as shown at Figure 10. The sole is placed on a last which
is reduced to an extent corresponding with the thickness of the cork
sole, as shewn in the longitudinal section of the boot and last at
Figure 11, and the welt is turned up as before. The upper C turned
inside out, and with the stiffener inserted is then lasted and sewn to the
welt at c, c, Figures 10 and 11, the dotted line at Figure 11 indicating
the line of sewing, as a guide for which a packing piece of a form corre-
sponding with the space between this line and the surface of the sole A
may be temporarily laid upon the latter. The boot is then taken off the
last, and the cork sole D and inner sole are inserted, as shewn at
Figure 12. When the boot or shoe has a cork sole only in front, or is
to be provided with an ordinary heel, then in operating according to the
second and third parts of my Invention the welt or rand is formed and
sewn, as shewn at Figure 7, for the front part of the boot only, while for
the heel part a welt is employed, as shewn at Figure 1, and finished as
described with reference to the first part of my Invention.
By the before-described modes of manufacturing boots and shoes it
will be seen that both the sewing of the welt or rand to the sole and the
sewing of the upper to the turned-up welt or rand can be readily effected
by the sewing machine.
Having thus described the nature of the several parts of my Invention,
and in what manner they are to be performed, I wish it to be understood
that what I claim is,―
First. Making boots and shoes by first sewing the outer edge of a
welt or rand either entirely or partly to the inner surface of the outer
sole, and then sewing the upper turned inside out to the turned-up inner
edge of the said welt, substantially as and for the purposes hercin-before
set forth.
Second. Making boots and shoes by first sewing the inner edge of a
welt either entirely or partly to the inner surface of the outer solc, so
that the outer edge of the welt or rand projects beyond the edge of the
sole, and then sewing the upper turned inside out to the turned-up outer
edge of the said welt, substantially as and for the purposes hercin-before
set forth.

page_text: Third. Making boots and shoes with cork soles by sewing to the outer
sole the inner edge of a welt having such an increase of width as cor-
responds to the thickness of the cork sole, and sewing the upper turned
inside out to the turned-up outer edge of such welt, substantially in the
manner herein-before described with reference to Figures 10, 11, and 12
of the Drawings.
Third. Making boots and shoes with cork soles by sewing to the outer
sole the inner edge of a welt having such an increase of width as cor-
responds to the thickness of the cork sole, and sewing the upper turned
inside out to the turned-up outer edge of such welt, substantially in the
manner herein-before described with reference to Figures 10, 11, and 12
of the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Thomas, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.