IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francesco Dominique Nardi, Engineer, of 13,
Rue Gaillon, Paris, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES
97
Sealed the 16th July 1875, and dated the 20th January 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francesco Dominique
Nardi at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 20th January 1875.
I, FRANCESCO DOMINIQUE NARDI, Engineer, of 13, Rue Gaillon,
Paris, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR BLOCKING THE UPPERS OF BOOTS AND SHOES," to be
as follows:-
My Invention has reference to improvements in machines for
blocking the uppers of boots and shoes, whether such uppers be made
in one single piece or in two pieces. For this purpose I make use
of a plate of metal or other appropriate material, the lower edge of
which is cut out to the shape which it is intended to impart to the
upper or front part of the shoe, whilst its upper face is cut out to
correspond with the back part of such shoe in case the same is formed
of two pieces (block front and block back), and in case the upper is
formed of one single piece of leather or other appropriate material

page_text: (block front upper) both edges are cut out to suit the same. I impart
a to-and-fro motion to this plate by any appropriate mechanical agents,
such as racks and gearing, and during its travel I cause it to pass
between two plates or cheeks, one on each side of the same, which
are adjustable by means of screws or other mechanical agents so as to
set nearer to or further from the plate, according to the thickness of
the material to be blocked. The upper to be blocked (the plate being
drawn out in full in one direction) is placed on the said cheeks through
which it is drawn, and when taken out it assumes the exact shape
cut out on the plate, and before the plate is returned in the opposite
direction another entire upper, or a partial upper, or a back piece
is placed on the other edge and drawn through the cheeks with a
similar result.
For the purpose of regularity in the production I mark a graduated
scale on the upper as well as the lower surface of one or both of the
said cheeks with a moveable pointer or indicator.
For the purpose of adjusting the cheeks by means of screws I prefer
making use of three to each cheek, one placed towards the upper part
of same, and two others, one at each extremity, towards the lower
part; and I prefer making use for these two latter of one single screw
provided with a right-hand thread for one cheek, and a left-hand
one for the other. In either case cach screw is provided externally
with a knob or button so that it can be instantaneously manipulated.
With a view of more rapid manipulation by avoiding manual adjust-
ment of the screws I replace them by springs of caoutchouc, metal,
or other appropriate material applied against the said cheeks, and
compressed in the first place to the requisite degree for the thinnest
material to be blocked; these springs yield of themselves to the extra
thickness of material, and being self-acting all manipulation of the
screws can be dispensed with.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Francesco Dominique Nardi in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 16th July 1875.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Francesco Dominique Nardi, Her
special license that I, the said Francesco Dominique Nardi, my
exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Francesco Dominique Nardi, 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, usc, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR BLOCKING THE
UPPERS OF BOOTS AND SHOES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Francesco Dominique Nardi, 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 per-
formed, 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 Francesco Dominique Nardi, 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, that is to say :—
-
Conjointly with the three Figures of the accompanying Drawing
of which Figure 1 is a front elevation of my new machine; Figure 2,
a lateral clevation in section through A, A, Figure 1; and Figure 3,"
a partial plan in section through B, B, Figure 1.
In these Figures a is the foundation plate, and b, b, two uprights
which form the frame of my machine..in the Drawing; they are.
supposed to be made of wood, they may however, be made in metal
or any other appropriate materials; c is the blocking plate in copper
or any other appropriate metal united at its two extremities by pins
d, d, to vertical racks e, e, working in hollow ways cut in the inner.
faces of the uprights b, and to which a to-and-fro motion is imparted
by the pinions f, f, and the spur wheel g keyed on the. shaft ; this.

page_text: •
-
.
wheel 9 receives its motion from the pinion i and the fly wheel j turning
loosely on the pin k; l is a tye rod connecting the two racks; m, m,
are the two side plates or cheeks, which may be of wood or any other
appropriate material, placed opposite one another, the ends of which
enter half way in the thickness of the uprights b, b; they are cut out
at w, w, throughout their entire height in order to avoid straining
and injuriously deviating the leather at the part forming the back or
heel of uppers cut out in one piece. The distance apart of these two
checks is regulated on the one hand above by the screws n, n, passing
through the diagonal bars o, o, attached to the uprights, and on the
other hand below by an arrangement comprising a double-acting screw,
as shewn in Figure 2, where p is a rod traversing the cheeks as well
as the upright, and at the same time passing through the nuts q, I,
fixed to the cheeks; one extremity of this rod has a right-handed
thread, and the other a left-handed thread, and each extremity is also
provided with a handler for the purpose of manipulation. By this
arrangement on turning the rod p in one direction the cheeks are
brought closer together, whilst on turning the same in the opposite
direction they are separated from one another.
At Figure 3 I have shown a modification of this arrangement, in
which the screw p is maintained in the upright by means of its
shoulder p sunk in the thickness of the same, and covered with a
square plate of metal p² attached to the upright by screws inserted at its

page_text: wheel to its upper position, where it is again ready to recommence the
same operation on a second upper, and so on; 8 is a small moveable
indicator which can be set to any part of the scale on the cheek in order
to facilitate the proper and rapid placing of the leather.
In order to avoid the loss of time incurred by raising the plate c
to its original position when blocking materials for shoes or half boots
made of two different pieces of leather (block front and block back),
I cut out the upper edge of the plate to the shape to be given to the
back piece, and I place the block back on this edge, the plate being
depressed to its lowest position; I then raise the plate which forces the
leather through the cheeks, and when it arrives at the position indicated
at Figure 1 take off such block back and place a fresh upper on the .
cheeks to be blocked by the down stroke, and so on.
When the leather is composed in one piece of a block front and a
block back both edges of the plate are cut out to the same shape,
so that the raising as well as the loweing of the plate is utilized at
each stroke.
With the above-named system of construction it is necessary to
readjust the distance apart of the cheeks each time that different
thicknesses of leather have to be blocked, and this adjustment is effected
as it has been above described by means of the screws p, p.
In order to avoid the necessity of this constant adjustment I have
resource to a self-acting arrangement shewn at Figure 3, where t is a
central bolt fixed by means of a shoulder t¹ and a square plate t in the
upright 6; the two extremities of this bolt are screwed and provided
each with a rubber washer u and a nut v. The nuts serve to regulate
the compression of the rubber washers. It will easily be understood
that if this compression has been regulated for operating on the thinnest
class of leather the thicker leathers will pass through the cheeks with
but a slight augmentation of friction proportionate in reality to the
additional effort required on account of their additional thickness.
Having thus described my improvements, as well as the best means
that I am acquainted with for putting the same into practice, I wish
it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the exact details above
enumerated, such for instance as the exclusive use of tooth gearing to
produce the to-and-fro motion of the blocking plate, or the vertical
direction of motion of this latter; but I claim as my Invention,―

page_text: Firstly. Cutting out one edge or both edges of the blocking plate,
as the case may be, to the exact outline to be given to the leather, thus
avoiding the subsequent forming by hand.
Secondly. The double-acting blocking plate, that is to say, cut out
to the required outline as well on its upper as its lower edge in order to
make use of its motion in both directions, that is to say, on its being
raised as well as on its being lowered.
Thirdly. The use of scales marked on the blocking plate as well
as on one or both cheeks, and also the use and application of -the
moveable indicator.
Fourthly. The two methods indicated for regulating the distance apart
of the cheeks by means of screws provided with right-handed as well as
left-handed threads.
Fifthly. The self-acting adjustment of the cheeks by means of elastic.
washers of rubber or metallic springs.
Sixthly. The cutting out of part of the inside faces of the cheeks
in order to avoid the injurious deviation of such part of the leather
which forms the heel in shoes and half boots cut out in one piece.
And, Seventhly. The general arrangement and construction of the
machine for the purpose of producing the results above enumerated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francesco Dominique Nardi, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
FRANCESCO DOMINIQUE NARDI. (L.S.)
Witnesses,
D. H. BRANDON,
13, Rue Gaillon,
Paris.
R. H. BRANDON.