IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Pape, of Paris, No. 19, Rue des Bons
Enfants, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
BOOTS AND SHOES."
Sealed the 13th April 1855, and lated the 14th October 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Pape at the
Office of the Cominissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th October 1854.
I, JOHN HENRY PAPE, of Paris, No. 19, Rue des Bons Enfants, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF BOOTS AND SHOES " to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of means of substituting metal for the leather soles
of boots and shoes, and also in employing india-rubber (caoutchouc) in the
heels and soles of boots and shoes. For these purposes, a portion of sheet
metal is cut out of the form of a sole, but somewhat larger than is requisite
for the particular boot or shoe to which it is to be applied, and numerous holes
are punched or formed near the edges, in order to receive brads, nails, or
screws for fixing the plate to a boot or shoe. The edges of the plate are
turned up, and a sheet or surface of india-rubber is placed on the plate
through which the brads, nails, or screws which fix the plate pass, so that
the india-rubber is fixed thereby; the edges of the plate are then closed
down all round, and they are thus caused to clip and bind the edges of
the india-rubber.
The heel of a boot or shoe is formed of sheet metal, which is notched at
one edge, so as to fold down in the form of a heel, leaving an opening in the

page_text: middle, and there are numerous holes formed through the plate to admit of it
being fixed to the heel of a boot or shoc. In the hollow metal heel thus
formed is placed india-rubber, which at the edges is shut, and thus held in the
hollow heel, whilst the middle portion of the heel, being open, allows the india-
rubber to protrude and thus form an elastic surface for the tread.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Pape in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY PAPE, of Paris, No. 19,,Rue des Bons Enfants, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Jolin Henry Pape, Her special licence that I, the said John Henry
Pape, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henry Pape, 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 BOOTS AND SHOES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Pape, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Henry Pape, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say):
These improvements consist, first, in the substitution of metal for sole
leather for the under part of any kind of shoes and boots (chaussures);
secondly, in a certain elasticity produced by means of india-rubber introduced
between the shoe and the sole, as well as in the inside of the heel.

page_text: Figure 1, sheet of iron or brass, cut according to a model, to be shaped first
as Figure 2 and afterwards as Figure 3, which is done on a mould. The part
A is folded over the part B; the dented piece C is then folded, as shown (in
Figure 3). The bottom part D is also folded over the part E, and this
altogether forms the heel (as Figure 3). The side F is introduced into the
part G, and fixed by the rivets H (as Figure 4). The dented piece C contains
a row of holes I (as Figure 3), by means of which the heel is fixed to the shoe;
it is then filled with india-rubber, which is fixed by the part J (as Figure 2),
through which several pins K pass (as Figure 4). The elasticity is produced
partly by the dented piece C, and partly by the india-rubber introduced into
the metal heel. This elasticity necessarily prevents the fatigue of that part of
the foot, especially for persons who walk a great deal, as soldiers, etc. etc.
Figure 5 is an iron plate, disposed to replace the leather sole; it is half bent
all round, as may be seen in Figure 6 at the letter M, and sewed or nailed on
the part L, as in Figure 7, and afterwards quite bent over the seam, as in
Figure 6 at the letter N.
Figure 9, section of the sole. This metal sole can be adapted to any sort
of shoes. As usually made for thin shoes or boots, a piece of leather or india-
rubber is put on the iron sole (as Figures 5 and 7, marked in red), to prevent
noise; this piece of leather or india-rubber is sewed or nailed with the iron
sole, and they are both covered with the edge. Another sheet of india-rubber
is also applied between the sole, the heel, and the shoe, and serves not only to
prevent dampness, but also forms a kind of hinge between the sole and the
heel. When the sole is fixed to the shoe by seams, these seams are generally
made with soft iron or copper wire; but for strong shoes, nails rivetted inside,
by means of a form covered with iron or steel, are employed (as explained in
Figures 5 and 7).
JOHN HENRY PAPE. (L.s.)
Witness,
THOMAS PICKFORD,
Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Paris.