Year: 1899

page_text: A communication by JOIN BENJAMIN HADAWAY, of Brockton, Plymouth County,
Massachusetts, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer.
I, ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES, of 55 & 56, Chancery Lane, in the County of
London, Chartered Patent Agent, 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:
The present invention relates to boots and shoes and more particularly to an
improved welt for boots and shoes so constructed that said welt may be strongly
secured to the upper and insole and able to withstand the great strain to which
said welt is subjected in the finished shoe.
The object of the present invention is to produce a welted shoe in which the
portion of the welt which receives the stitches of the inseam will be greatly
strngthened so that a firm and strong union may be formed between the welt.
upper and insole, whereby the welt will not pull off under the strain to which it
is subjected by the outsole which is secured to said welt. A further object of
the invention is to so arrange the reinforcement of the welt that it will be hidden
by the outsole when the outsole is in place and also so that the rough edges of
the outsole and welt may be trimmed and finished without exposing the rein-
forcment of the welt.
To the above end the present invention consists of a welt for boots and shoes
having a reinforcing backing along the stitch receiving portion thereof, said
reinforcing backing being narrower than the welt and arranged with one edge
set back from the outer edge of the welt, all as will be hereinafter fully described
and claimed.
The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,
Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a portion of the forward part of a
shoe, showing in section the arrangement of the upper, insole and my improved
welt.
Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view enlarged.
Figure 3 shows in perspective a section of my improved welt.
Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the
several views.
In the drawing A represents the upper of the shoe, B the insole and C the
welt, and as usual in welted shoes the insole is provided with a lip b which
receives the stitches a which pass through and unite the edges of the upper and
welt to the insole as clearly shown.
The welt C is shown enlarged in Fig. 3 and comprises a main body portion c
which may be formed of leather or other suitable material and which on its under
side and near its inner edge, is provided with a stitch receiving groove c¹, said
groove also acting to permit the edge of the welt to be bent up as clearly shown
in the drawing

page_text: Welts as now commonly constructed are made of soft thin leather which is
wet or "tempered" while sewed to the shoe and unless the tension of the sewing
machine is accurately adjusted the stitches are liable when drawn down tightly
to set the stitch to cut through the edge of the welt thus destroying the shoe,
and it is a common occurrence to have the welt of a boot or shoe pull off during
the wear of the shoe under the heavy strain which is put upon it by the outsole.
In the improved welt of the present invention the stitch receiving portion thereof
is provided upon its under face with a reinforcing backing which may be
cemented thereto preparatory to incorporating the welt in the shoe as shown in
Fig. 3 or which may be a separate strip laid against the welt and fed with said
welt through the welt guide of the sewing machine in position to receive the
stitches of the inseam as the welt is secured to the upper and insole.
The reinforcing backing 2 is preferably formed of some suitable strong textile
fabric such as canvas or the like and is preferably narrower than the main
portion of the welt and when cemented thereto it is arranged upon the under
side of the main portion c as shown in Fig. 3, with one edge thereof even with
the inner edge of the main portion of the welt and its outer edge set back from
the outer edge of the main portion of the welt, and said reinforcing backing
is also preferably indented into the groove c' as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the
drawing.
It will be noted that by the present invention the stitch receiving portion of
the welt is greatly strengthened and that the strain of setting the stitches and
drawing down the edge of the welt into the angle between the lip and feather
of the insole will be borne by the reinforcing backing thus preventing said
stitches from cutting the welt and by making the reinforcing backing
narrower than the welt and arranging it along the stitch receiving portion of the
welt, it is entirely concealed in the finished shoe and is not liable of being
cut into when the outer sole and outer edge of the welt is being trimmed to
shape.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is-
1. The improved welt for boots and shoes, comprising a main body portion
and a reinforcing backing narrower than said body portion secured to the under
face of said body portion along the stitch receiving edge thereof, the outer edge
of the reinforcing backing being set back from the edge of the main body portion,
substantially as described.
2. A shoe comprising an upper, insole and welt, said welt comprising a main
body portion and a reinforcing backing portion upon the under side of the main
body portion along the stitch receiving edge thereof and a seam uniting the
upper, insole and welt passing through the reinforcing backing, substantially
as described.
Dated the ofth day of October 1000
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London,
Agents for the Applicant.