Improvements in Heel-lift Cutting Apparatus.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Feb., 1896-4ccepted, 14th Mar., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Heel-lift Cutting Apparatus.
I, WENDELL PHILLIPS BOSWORTH, of No. 30 Linden Street, Brockton, in
the County of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, United States of America,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to apparatus for cutting heel-lifts and parts of lifts from
pieces of sole leather by the use of cutting-dies upon which the leather is forced
by means of a mallet or other instrument capable of pressing the leather down
upon the cutting edge of the die, the latter being affixed to a bed or table with
its cutting edge projecting upwardly therefrom. The invention has for its object,
first, to provide such a relative arrangement of dies upon a single table as will
enable the operator to cut lifts and parts of lifts of varying sizes from a
miscellaneous assortment of strips or pieces of leather to the best advantage and
with the greatest economy of time. The invention also has for its object to
provide improved means for detachably connecting the dies with the table, so that
different dies may be used interchangeably at the same point on the table or at
different points. The invention consists in the several improvements which I will
now proceed to describe and claim.
Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this Specification,-
Figure 1 represents a top plan view of a lift-cutting apparatus embodying my
invention.
Figure 2 represents a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.
Figures 3 and 4 represent perspective views of two of the die-beds shown in
Figure 1.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
In cutting out heel-lifts from pieces of sole leather, the operator has to select
from a miscellaneous assortment of pieces of various sizes and shapes, such pieces
as will cut to advantage in forming entire lifts, and other pieces which will cut
to advantage in forming parts of lifts, a number of dies being employed, some of
which are shaped to cut whole lifts of various sizes, while others are formed to
cut parts of lifts of various sizes. The dies are commonly placed upon a suitable
support, the cutting edge projecting upwardly, and the operator with his left
hand selects a piece of leather, holds it over one of the dies, and forces the leather
In carrying out my
down on the die with a mallet held in its right hand.
invention, I arrange all the dies upon a single plate or table a, and I distribute or
locate the dies so that the larger dies, which cut the whole lifts, are arranged at
the right-hand end of the table, or farthest from the point where the accumulation.
of pieces is located, this being naturally at the left-hand end, in order that they
may be conveniently selected by the left hand of the operator, the smaller dies,
which cut the parts of lifts, being located at the left-hand end of the table near
the pile of pieces. This arrangement enables the operator to select small pieces
and present them to the smaller dies with the minimum loss of time, it being
obvious that a greater number of motions will be required to cut out a given
weight of incomplete lifts or lift-sections than of full-sized or complete lifts.
Hence the operator who is paid for his work by the pound is enabled to work to
better advantage by this arrangement than would be possible if the lifts were

page_text: differently arranged, so that the small pieces used for the lift-sections had to be
carried a considerable distance over the table to the corresponding dies.
The preferred arrangement of dies is shown in Figure 1, in which bbb represent
the series or group of dies which are formed to cut whole lifts of different sizes,
there being a separate die b for each size. The greater number of these dies are
arranged in a curved row or line extending from a point near the front edge of the
table across the same and to a point near the rear edge, one of the said dies being
here shown as located within the curve of the row formed by the other dies, the
entire group occupying the right-hand portion of the table.
616 represent the lift-section cutting-dies, each being formed to cut a part
of a complete lift, said dies b¹ being arranged in pairs, the sections cut by each pair
constituting a complete lift. The dies are arranged to occupy the left-hand
portion of the table, so that they are nearer the accumulation of pieces, which, as
above stated, are invariably placed at the operator's left, than the dies b.
It will be seen, therefore, that in cutting a pound of lift-sections, the operator
while having to make a greater number of motions than in cutting a pound of
complete lifts, is enabled by the closer proximity of the dies to the stock of
pieces, to minimize the loss of time resulting from the necessarily greater number
of motions, so that he is enabled to cut a given weight of the lift-sections almost as
rapidly as of the full-sized lifts.
A space is provided at the left of each cutting-die sufficient to enable the
operator's hand to occupy the desired position in presenting a piece of leather to
the die without coming in contact with adjacent dies.
The plate or table a is provided with a series of orifices formed to permit the
passage through the table of the lifts cut by the several dies, there being an
orifice a¹ for each die. In each orifice a' I place a die-bed c, which is formed-to
support one of the cutting-dies, the die-bed having an orifice corresponding to the
shape of the interior of the die. The die-plates are loosely inserted in the orifices
in the plate or table. The dies rest loosely upon the die-beds, and are detachably
secured to the plate or table by independent means, such as lugs d d having
slots did and attached to the table by bolts d passing through said slots into
tapped holes in the table, the lugs being formed to enter orifices d³ formed in the
sides of the dies. When she bolts are loosened, the lugs d may be moved
end wise to withdraw them from the orifices in the dies, thus releasing the latter.
I am thus enabled to readily remove and replace the dies, and by the employment
of the removable die-beds I am enabled to use interchangeably dies of different
sizes at the same part of the bed, the die-beds being interchangeable with
the dies.
I do not limit myself to the described arrangement for detachably securing the
dies to the bed, and may use any other suitable means instead.
The die-beds c which support the whole-lift cutting-dies 6 are preferably heel-
shaped, corresponding to the general form of the said dies, as shown in Figure 3,
while the beds which support the dies 6 are preferably rectangular in their
external shape, their orifices corresponding to the shape of the interior of the dies
(see Figure 4).
The bottom of the table is provided with hooks e e arranged in pairs under the
die-openings to support bags for other receptacles to catch the pieces cut out by
the dies, the product of each die being thereby kept separated from the others and
in condition for ready removal from the machine.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. A heel-lift cutting apparatus comprising a plate or table having a series of
orifices, die-beds removably inserted in said orifices, dies resting on said beds, and
means for detachably securing the dies to the beds.
2. A heel-lift cutting apparatus comprising a plate or table having a series of

page_text: orifices, die-beds removably inserted in said orifices, dies resting on said beds and
provided with orifices, and lugs having slotted shanks attached to the plate by
bolts on which said shanks are movable, the lugs being formed to enter the orifices
in the dies.
3. A heel-lift cutting apparatus comprising a table, a group or series of lift-
catting dies formed to cut whole lifts, arranged at the right-hand portion of the
table, and a group or series of half-lift cutting dies arranged at the left-hand
portion of the table, whereby the operator is enabled to handle the pieces of leather
and present them to the dies with the minimum expenditure of time.
4. A heel-lift cutting apparatus comprising a table having a series of orifices, a
series of cutting-dies above said orifices, and means for detachably supporting
lift-receptacles below said openings.
Dated this 18th day of January 1896.
WENDELL PHILLIPS BOSWORTH.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.