IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE FEET, AND IN APPLIANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Hermann Charles Gros at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st October 1878.
HERMANN CHARLES GROS, of Hackney, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS,
SHOES, AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE FEET, AND IN APPLIANCES CONNECTED
THEREWITH."
My Invention relates chiefly to improvements in the mechanisın of machinery for
sewing the soles to boots and shoes and other coverings for the feet, in respect of
which Letters Patent were granted to me, dated the 6th day of October 1877,
No. 3720, and also to certain appliances connected therewith.
.
'
In carrying out my present Invention I employ in addition to the feed guage
described in the Specification to my said former Letters Patent an auxiliary channel
rest, placed on the opposite side of the needle to that at which the ordinary feed
guage is situate, and where it performs its functions.
I
A positive guide is thus provided for the operator, by which he will be enabled
always to level the work with perfect certainty without the risk of holding the
work at an undue height or depth in relation to the needle, whilst leaving him
more at liberty in working the machines."
1
My auxiliary channel rest may be made stationary and adjustable, or it may be
caused to oscillate around the axis on which the awl and needle stock are mounted,
and be worked from a cam or cams provided on the shaft of the machine; it inay
also be so arranged as to release the pressure upon the work during the time of
feeding and grasp or press upon the work tightly during the time that the needle
retires in its backward motion through the work.
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The auxiliary channel rest may be provided with a lever and connected with the
cain on the main driving shaft by a horizontal' sliding bar, similar to the arrange-
ment described in my said former Specification in connection with the feed guage
lever.
I also provide a pair of jaws on the front bearing of the machine immediately
below the axis of the oscillating awl and needle stocks, into which I fit the stationary
or rigid back edge guide referred to in my said former Specification in case of

page_text: "
sewing "turned seams or sewing the welts to the uppers and insoles of boots and
shoes, and these jaws are also made to receive the table used-for-stitching-the-soles-
to the welts. Both the rigid back edge guide and the table are provided with a
slot on the tail end which fits into the said jaws so as to provide room for the
screws which press the jaws together, and by these means the rigid back edge guido
and the table for stitching can be inserted and removed from the machine by simply
-loosening-the-screws of the said jaws.
By making also the said jaws concentrical with the axis of the oscillating awl
-and-needle stocks the rigid back edge guide and the table for stitching may be set
forwards or backwards in relation-to-the-feed-guage-to-suit-the-average..thickness...
of the material to be sewn.
!
こ
I also provide a nose or projection on one end of the needle shield, extending in
the same direction towards the work to be sewn as the point of the barb shield on
the other side of the needle, whereby the needle is more perfectly steadied in a
lateral direction, and the barb of the needle is caused always to pass the point of
the barb shield without the liability of yielding away from it which frequently
entails a disturbance or breaking of the thread. On the top of the lever which is
attached to and operates the combined needle and barb shield, as described in my
said former Specification, I provide a toothed segment, with the teeth of which
engages the point of a spring during the forward motion of the lever towards the
work to be sewn, the said spring being so arranged as to hold the lever firmly while
the needle retires with the thread until the roller which operates upon the said needle
and barb shield lever acts upon the cam cut or formed in the tail end of the said
lever and causes the spring to be thrown out of gear.
The spring is made adjustable so as to be capable of engaging with the teeth of
the segment with more or less pressure.
I also make that end of the horizontal sliding bar which connects the feed guage
lever with its operating cam, as described in my said former Specification, of a
curved form so as to correspond with the path described by that end of the feed
guage lever which extends up to and is connected with the said horizontal sliding
bar. One side of the segment of the horizontal sliding bar thus obtained is dentated
or provided with serrations and fits into the bifurcated end of the said feed guage
lever. On one side of the latter I provide a spring with a stud or pin at one
extremity extending towards the teeth or serrations of the segment of the horizontal
sliding bar on the open part of the bifurcated end of the said feed guage.
I provide a cap or clutch which serves to hold the spring with its pin or stud in
contact or gear with the teeth or serrations in the segment of the horizontal sliding
bar, thus coupling the latter to the feed guage lever, whereas when the cap or clutch
is removed the spring with its pin or stud is thrown out of gear with the said teeth
or serrations and the feed guage lever is at liberty to swing freely around its
fulcrum.
I also cause the diagonal piece which is placed between the two parallel feeding
bars, as described in my said former Specification, to swing around the lower centre
of its slot by making the corresponding end of the said diagonal piece of a circular
form, having as its centre the lower part of the slot, and placing it in a receptacle
provided on the right hand connecting bar and made of a corresponding circular
form.
I further provide a flange on the sleeve (referred to in my said former Specifica-
tion) which imparts the rotary motion to the looper shaft, and by slotting the said
flange and fastening the sleeve by a screw passing through the said slot to its
bearings the looper shaft can be placed and adjusted in any required position in
relation to its axis of motion around the point of the needle.
Another part of my Invention relates to the automatic tack drawer, described in
my said former Specification.
In using this instrument a difficulty has been experienced in causing the tacks
always to pass into the mouth of the tack drawer. In order to obviate this difficulty
I provide the mouth piece of the tack drawer with a series of diverging slots or

page_text: recesses, that is to say, slots or recesses extending in a radial direction from the
centre of the mouth piece, whereby the latter is enabled to receive the tacks in
whatever position they may be placed, one or other of the slots or recesses coming
into play according to the position of the particular tack which brought within
the range of the mouth piece.
In sewing machines of this description, as also in other sewing machines in which
a curved needle or awl is employed, it is desirable that the needles used should be
well tempered, as curved needles are more liable to break or bend than needles of a
straight form.
I therefore employ a peculiar testing apparatus, consisting of a horizontal plate
on which the needle is placed, and of two jaws, one of which may be stationary
whilst the other is movable, or both may be movable, as required.
The jaw or jaws is or are caused to slide on the surface plate and to exercise
pressure upon the needle, thereby straightening the same to an extent sufficient to
determine whether the needle is of an undue hard temper, in which case it will
break, or of an unduly soft temper, in which case it will remain bent.