AN IMPROVED FASTENING FOR BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED FASTENING FOR BOOTS AND SHOES."-Ä
communication from abroad by Ira J. Saunders, of Davisville,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 9th October 1871.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED FASTENING FOR BOOTS AND
SHOES," a communication, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to catches or clamps for fastening together the
portions of a boot or shoe through which the foot is inserted. It is
designed to be used instead of the lacing strings in common use.

page_text: The boots or shoes with which these clamps are used are made with
two parallel rows of holes placed respectively in the sides or flaps of tho
shoes, and it is better that the holes should be protected by the ordinary
eyelets used for that purpose. The said clamp or catch should be made
of steel or other elastic metal, having on each end bows with their ends 5
extended horizontally in the plane of the central part to rest against the
lower edge of the eyelet and hold the catch or clamp in place. Tho
piece thus formed is to have the bow at one end inserted into one of the
eyelets, and it will be held in place by the elastic pressure or spring of
the bow. The eyelet fits into the neck formed by the curvature of the 1
bow, and the clamp will be retained in place until the opposite flap of
the shoe can be drawn over the other bow of the clamp; then by
pressing this flap down upon the said bow the latter will be forced
through tho eyelet, and thus the shoe will be secured upon the foot.
These clamps can be readily disconnected by drawing upward either of 1
the flaps of the shoe, at the same time holding down the other so that if
desired the clamps may be retained in position on one side.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 8th April 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, my
exccutors, 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,

page_text: i
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
FASTENING FOR BOOTS AND SHOES," a communication to me from abroad
by Ira J. Saunders, of Davisville, California, United States of America,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert
Lake, 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 Robert Lake, 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
Drawing forming a part of this Specification.
This Invention relates to catches or clamps for fastening together the
portions of a shoe through which the foot is' inserted. It is designed to
be used instead of the lacing strings in common use.
The shoes with which these clamps are used are made with two
parallel rows of holes placed respectively in the sides or flaps of the
shoes, and it is better that the holes should be protected by the ordinary

page_text: by the curvature of the bow a, as shewn in Figure 3, the clamps will bo
retained in place until the opposite flap of the shoe can be drawn over
the other bow of the clamp; then by pressing the flap down upon the
said bow the latter will be forced through the eyelet, and thus the
shoe will be secured upon the foot.
These clamps can be readily disconnected by drawing upward either of
the flaps of the shoe, at the same time holding down the other, so that if
desired the clamps may be retained in position on one side.
Having thus fully described the nature of the said Invention as
communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it understood that I claim, a clamp or
catch for fastening shoes formed with bowed springs upon its ends,
substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have herc-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of April, in :
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
Ενο
Witness,
EDWARD C. Jackson.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)