AN IMPROVED TREE-BLOCK OF SHAPING APPARATUS TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of No. 11,. Wellington
Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED TREE-BLOCK OF SHAPING APPARATUS TO BE
USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS."-A communication from abroad
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition;
on the 1st July 1872.
Ì, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the
nature of the said. Invention for "AN IMPROVED TREE-BLOCK OR SHAPING
APPARATUS TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF- Boors," a communication to
me from abroad by Lucien Brunel, of No: 64, Faubourg St. Martin,
Paris, France; to be as follows -
The shaping or bending apparatus, the subject of this Invention, is
illustrated on the accompanying Sheet of Drawing; it is very simple and.

page_text: expeditious in its action and the shaping or bending of the leg is
perfect.
To shape the leg of a boot ("tige de bottine") the foot jaws E are
opened by unscrewing the nuts a, the leather is introduced between the
jaws and the piece D, the heel jaws B are then also opened, and when
the leather is securely nipped the screw is turned until the leather is
perfectly stretched on the shaping piece C.
The leather having been wetted over the instep soon takes the required
shape.
The jaws E are movable, that is to say, that they may be raised to any 1
part of the piece D.
The shaping tree-block is composed of the following pieces, namely,-
A, lever; B, heel jaws; C, bending or shaping piece; D, tenon piece;
E, foot jaws; J, press screw.
J
The action of this machine will be readily understood.
Tightening the screw causes the piece C and lever A to recede from
each other, the lever A being compelled to ascend the inclined plane
which it meets in retiring.
The effect of this movement is to lift the piece C and to pull the back.
of the leg of the boot.
Any suitable metal or material may be used in the construction of
this apparatus.
]
2
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 31st December 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of July, in the year of our 3
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and

page_text: grant unto me, the said William Edward Gedge, Her special licence
that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward Gedge, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
5 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 "AN IMPROVED
TREE-BLOCK OR SHAPING APPARATUS TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF Boots,”
a communication to me from abroad by Lucien Brunel, of No. 64,
Faubourg St. Martin, Paris, France, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Edward Gedge, 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 Edward Gedge, 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:-
The shaping, bending, or blocking apparatus, the subject of this In-
vention, is illustrated on the accompanying Sheet of Drawing; it offers
advantages hitherto unattainable, is very simple and expeditious in its
action, and the shaping or bending of the leg or upper is perfect.
To shape the leg or upper of a boot ("tige de bottine") the foot
jaws E are opened by unscrewing the nuts a, a, the leather is intro-
duced between these jaws, the nuts are tightened, the heel jaws B are
then also opened, and the hind part of the leg or upper is fixed therein.
The leather being held in the above-mentioned pieces it is only
necessary to turn the press screw J until the leather is perfectly
stretched on the shaping or blocking piece O.
This screw motion produces a uniform pressure on the upper, drawing
or pulling it from the foot and the heel.
The leather having been wetted over the instep soon takes the required
from

page_text: The lever A, which is jointed to the shaping piece or block C, has its
fulcrum upon an inclined plane, upon which it slides when the screw
forces the lever and the shaping piece C apart.
Pieces of leather or uppers of various sizes may be properly shaped or
blocked by this apparatus, because the jaws E are shifting and may nip
the leather at different heights by means of the grooves c, c.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of the Invention
communicated to me as aforesaid, I claim as secured to me by the
herein before in part recited Letters Patent, the use of a tree-block
or shaping apparatus to be used in the manufacture of boots when con-
structed on the principle above set forth and illustrated on the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawing, whatever may be the shape and dimensions
of its several parts or of whatever material they may be made.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge; have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-