Improvements in or connected with Heel Building and Attaching Machines, and other Machines for Pressing and Cutting Leather or the like.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Jan., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 15th Oct., 1896-Accepted, 12th Dec., 1896
Improvements in or connected with Heel Building and Attaching
Machines, and other Machines for Pressing and Cutting Leather
or the like.
I, OWEN ROBINSON, of Champion Iron Works, Kettering, in the County of
Northampton, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to machines of the kind wherein a reciprocating presser
or plunger is arranged in conjunction with a fixed bed such as in heel building
and attaching machines, leather cutting machines and the like.
In such machines as heretofore constructed it sometimes happens that a greater
thickness of material is placed between the reciprocating and fixed pressing
surfaces than the machine is capable of compressing to the desired extent, the
result being that damage or breakage frequently results.
Now the chief object of my invention is to provide that the same pressure shall
always be applied to the material whatever its thickness whereby the liability of
damage for the reason indicated is obviated.
In carrying out my invention I make a break between the driving mechanism
and the head carrying the presser, plunger or the like, and I provide a wedge or
its equivalent so arranged that motion is communicated from the driving head to
the plunger head through the wedge, which wedge enters into the recess provided
for it a distance varying according to the thickness of material beneath the presser
or plunger.
In machines of the kind hereinbefore referred to it is usual to provide means
whereby the motion of a constantly rotating shaft is only communicated to the
machine proper as and when required.
According to this part of my invention I employ a friction or other coupling
one part of which is rotated continuously whilst the other part, whose movement
is only intermittent, is provided with a spring or gravity lever or catch which
serves to move together or lock the two parts of the coupling. This lever or
catch when at rest lies upon a pivoted cam surface capable of being moved to
allow the lever or catch to engage the two parts of the coupling and then after
they have moved together through one revolution to again act upon the lever or
catch to disengage the two parts of the coupling.
In connection with this coupling I employ a brake for instantly bringing the
intermittently moving part of the coupling to rest after it is disengaged from the
movable part. This brake may be in the form of a friction pulley upon which a
lever controlled by an eccentric groove in the face of the pulley acts.
1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in or connected with Heel Building and Attaching
Machines, and other Machines for Pressing and Cutting Leather
or the like.
1, OWEN ROBINSON, of Champion Iron Works, Kettering, in the County of
Northampton, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same. is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to machines of the kind wherein a reciprocating presser
or plunger is arranged in conjunction with a fixed bed such as in heel building and
attaching machines, leather cutting machines and the like.
In heeling machines as heretofore constructed the sliding frame carrying the
presser is dependent for its reciprocating movements, relatively with the work
support, entirely upon a cam, the movement produced by which is greater than
that which is necessary for compressing the heel, in order to afford space for
introducing and removing the boots and heels to be operated upon. In using such
machines the parts have to be adjusted to suit the height of the particular heels
being applied so that only the required pressure shall be applied to such heels.
If, however, as sometimes happens, greater thickness of material is placed between
the reciprocating presser and the fixed work support than the machine is adjusted
for compressing to the desired extent, damage or breakage is very likely to result
owing to the increased strain placed upon the parts.
Now the chief object of my invention is to provide that the same pressure
shall always be applied to the material whatever its thickness, whereby the
liability of damage for the reason indicated is obviated and to this end I arrange
the cam for operating the sliding frame so that it is only capable of moving the
said frame to the extent to which the beel is capable of being compressed, and I
provide for giving a movement to the sliding frame independent of that which it
receives from the said cam for the purpose of bringing the reciprocating presser
into contact with the work before the compressing cam commences to operate
upon the sliding frame, whereby it will be understood that should a heel of
greater height than is intended, be arranged beneath the presser no damage would
accrue as such higher heel would only receive an amount of compression which
the lower heel is capable of receiving.
In carrying out my invention I make a break between the driving mechanism
and the head carrying the presser, plunger or the like, and I provide a wedge or
its equivalent so arranged that motion is communicated from the driving cross-head
to the presser or plunger cross-head through the wedge, which wedge enters into
the recess provided for it, a distance varying according to the thickness of material
beneath the presser or plunger.
In machines of the kind hereinbefore referred to it is usual to provide means
whereby the motion of a constantly rotating shaft is only communicated to the
machine proper as and when required.
According to this part of my invention I employ a friction or other coupling one
part of which is rotated continuously whilst the other part, whose movement is
only intermittent, is provided with a spring or: gravity bolt which serves to lock
the two parts of the coupling. This. bolt when at rest is supported by a pivoted
cam surface capable of being moved to allow the bolt to lock the two parts of the
coupling and then, after they have moved together through one revolution, to
"gain act upon the bolt to disengage the two parts of the coupling.
In connection with this coupling 1 employ a brake for instantly bringing the

page_text: moving part or the coupling to rest after it is disengaged from the
movable part. This brake may be in the form of a friction pulley upon which
lever, controlled by an eccentric groove or slot in the face of the pulley, acts.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a heeling machine having my improvements
applied thereto :
Figure 2 is a sectional side elevation of the lower part of the machine shewn in
Figure 1 but drawn to a larger scale:
Figure 3 is a sectional front elevation of the part shewn in Figure 2 the section
being taken on the line 3-3 of the said figure:
Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 Figure 2, certain parts being removed:
Figure 5 is a plan of the wedge which I employ.
Similar letters of reference indicate similar or corresponding parts in the several
figures.
a is the framing of the machine having the table or fixed bed b carrying the
work support c.
dis the cross-head carrying the presser or plunger e, the said
cross-head being secured to the upper end of two rods f,f sliding through guides
in the table b and having fixed to their lower ends the lower or driving cross-
head 9, the said, cross-heads d and y and the rods f,f constituting the sliding
frame hereinbefore referred to.
is the driving shaft mounted in the frame and having loosely mounted on it
the driving pulley or fly wheel i and fixed to it the two cams j, k, the former of
which (shewn in Figure 2 only) serves for operating the usual nailing plunger in
the work support c by acting upon a roller at the lower end of the said plunger,
whilst the latter serves for moving down the sliding frame with the presser for
effecting the compression as herein before referred to by acting against a roller k',
whilst the upward movement of the frame is effected by means of springs in a
well known manner.
The roller is carried by a supplementary cross-head sliding upon the rods fif
of the sliding frame adjacent to the cross-head g.
m is the wedge which is arranged to enter more or less between the cross-head g
and the supplementary cross-head 11, the said wedge resting upon supporting
flanges n, n, Figures 2 and 4, and being at its thin edge provided with a lug o to
which one arm of a bell-cranked lever p is connected, the other arm of the said
lever serving as a treadle p' for operating the wedge. In order to make the
wedge as light as possible it is made open at the centre except for a connecting
web o'.
The operation of the apparatus as thus far described is as follows:
The boot with the heel to be applied is placed upon the support c whereupon the
operative depresses the treadle pl in order to move the wedge m more or less
between the said cross-heads g and to draw down the sliding frame against the
pressure of the springs 1, until the presser e comes to rest upon the heel; the
machine is then set in motion so that the presser together with the sliding frame is
moved down under the action of the cam k to compress the heel as hereinbefore
described. When the operating cam k has made one revolution the machine comes
to rest and the operative moves back the wedge m by means of the strap p³ on the
treadle p¹ so that the springs 1, are free to lift the presser to its normal position.
9 is a regulating device arranged upon the supplemental cross-head and
serving for varying the movement which the cam k shall impart to the sliding
frame and presser to suit the requirements of the particular class of work being
executed; this device is in the form of a pivot plate having two notches or
recesses g', which are shaped to fit against the driving shaft h. By referring
to Figure 4 it will be noticed that the adjusting device q is in the position in
which the notch q' is in contact with the shaft h so that the roller k against
which the cam operates is not drawn into contact with the said cam k by the
springs but is retained at some distance therefrom, the result being, as will be

page_text: obvious, that a certain part of the rotation of the cam will take place before it
comes into contact with the roller kl. The position of the adjusting device as
shewn corresponds with the least amount of movement which the cam kis capable
of imparting to the eliding frame; if a greater amount of movement is required the
adjusting device is moved so that the recess g' fits against the shaft A and if a still
greater movement is required the adjusting device is turned aside or entirely
removed so as to allow the cam k to directly act upon the roller k' immediately it
commences to move.
The friction clutch which I employ for imparting motion to the machine from
the continuously rotating shaft is arranged as follows:-
Within the fly wheel i, loosely mounted on the shaft A, is arranged a divided
wheel r fixed to the said driving shaft. Between the ends of this divided wheel r
is arranged a bolt a in the form of a wedge the shank a of which slides in a socket
in an arm of the wheel and is acted upon by a spring 2. Upon one side of the
shank and projecting through n slot s in the socket is a pin carrying a friction
shoe
is a lever or arm having the cam surface hereinbefore referred to the said lever
being pivoted upon a staddard ', and u is an oscillating block moved from the
starting lever v of the machine through the medium of the rod v', the lever v and
the shaft, to which latter the said block is fixed. The block itself at its outer
end is provided with a cam shaped surface u against which a roller on the
levert hears, the shape of the said surface u being such that when the roller
rests upon one part of it, as shewn in Figure 3, the lever t is supported at such a
height that the shoe which rests upon the said lever holds the wedges from
between the ends of the wheel r so that the latter is in its contracted position and
consequently the pulley i rotates independently of it. When, however, the block u
is oscillated by the movement of the lever the arm t drops so as to allow the
shoes, and consequently also the wedge 4, to drop or more down under the action
of the spring whereby the pulley is expanded and rotates with the wheel i, the
shoes moving away from the arm t and passing around with the wheel r. When
the wheels and r have made one revolution together the shoe s again comes into
contact with the lever t and is thereby lifted to raise the wedge so that the pulley r
comes to rest, it being understood that during this rotation the block w has been
moved back from the position in which it allowed the drop of the wedge s, into the
position shewn in Figure 3, to again move the levert in position to operate the
wedge s. In practice the surface of the arm t is made eccentric to the pulleys i
and the eccentricity being such that by the time the shoe has reached the
position shewn in Figure 3 the wedge a will have been lifted sufficiently to
cause the pulley r to come to rest as hereinbefore stated.
In order to ensure the wheel r coming to rest in the proper position, I sometimes
provide the brake-shoe w which is attached to a lever w¹ and acts upon a pulley w²
fixed to the shaft h. The lever w¹ which is pivoted at one end to the framing is at
the other end acted upon by a spring which tends to press the brake-shoe into
contact with the friction pulley w. In order, however, that this bruke-shoe shall
only act just at the moment when the pulley is to be brought to rest, I mount in
the lever wa roller a which projects slightly beyond the frictional surface of the
shoe, as shewn in Figure 3, and I form in the pulley 2 a recess or eccentric
groove al into which the projecting part of the said roller z can project, the said
recess having inclined ends so that when the friction pulley w³ commences to turn
with the pulley r the roller a will run on the surface of the pulley to hold the
brake-shce out of contact with the said surface, in which position it will remain
until the friction pulley w³, having completed its revolution, the said roller again
rests in the recess a to allow the brake-shoe to come into contact with the surface
of the friction pulley wo².
In some cases I can dispense entirely with the brake-shoe w and the brake
wheel w² and depend altogether upon the friction shoes and the lever t. In thi
case, however, it is necessary to provide for limiting the upward movement of the

page_text: shoes, under the action of the surface of the lever t, and for this purpose I form a
boss y, indicated in dotted lines in Figures 2 and 3, on the pulley r, and I fix to the
said boss a plate which at one end abuts against the shaft h and at the other end
forms an abutment against which the top of the shoes will impinge at the moment
that the said shoe has, under the action of the eccentric surface of the lever t,
reached the position shewn in the drawing.
Although I have described my clutch and brake mechanism as applied to a heel
building machine, it is to be understood that they may also be applied to machines
for pressing and cutting leather and the like.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In boot heeling and attaching machines the arrangement of the sliding frame
carrying the presser in combination with a wedge which permits of bringing the
presser to bear upon the work before the operating cam commences to act upon
the said sliding frame, substantially as, and for the purpose, described.
2. In a boot heeling and attaching machine the combination with the sliding
frame carrying the presser, of a supplemental cross-head and a wedge adapted to
he more or less introduced between the supplemental cross-head and the said sliding
frame, substantially as described.
3. In boot heeling and attaching machines and machines for pressing and cutting
leather or the like, a friction clutch comprising two pulleys working one within the
other, the inner of which pulleys is split and adapted to be expanded by means of
a wedge, in combination with a shoe designed to bear upon the cam surface of a
pivoted lever, substantially as described."
4. The combination with a clutch of the kind referred to in the preceding
claiming clause, of a brake comprising a friction pulley, a friction shoe adapted to
make contact with the said pulley and a roller which projects beyond the friction
surface of the shoe and is designed at one part to enter with its projecting part a
slot formed in the said friction pulley, substantially as described.
5. The manufacture and use of the improved boot heeling and attaching machine
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
6. The combination with boot heeling and attaching machines and other machines
for pressing or cutting leather or the like, of the improved friction clutch and brake
mechanism consisting of the parts constructed and combined substantially as
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and operating as, and for
the purposes, set forth.
1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.