IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HEELS FOR BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Hart, of Norwich, in the County of
Norfolk, Boot Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF HEELS FOR BOOTS AND SHOES."
Scaled the 25th October 1870, and dated the 27th April 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Hart at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th April 1870.
I, WALTER HART, of Norwich, in the County of Norfolk, Boot Maker,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HEELS FOR BOOTS AND SHOES," to be as follows:-
Hitherto it has been the practice to make or build up the heels of
boots and shoes by securing a number of pieces of leather to one
another, and this has always been attended with a large amount of labour
and expense.

page_text: Now according to my Invention I make the heel separately under
pressure so that it can be attached to the boot or shoe, after or before it
has been made. I prepare a piece of leather by soaking it in water or
other liquid and place it in a mould or die of the desired form and shape;
a head or matrix is then inserted into the mould, which presses upon the
leather and causes it to conform to the shape thereof; after a short
time the leather will be found to be "set" when it can be removed so
that it can be dried; the hollow part of the heel is then to be filled up
with any material, preferably gutta percha, to make it solid. Heels thus
made can be sewn or otherwise secured to the soles of boots or shoes.
The wall or outside of the heel can be operated upon in the usual way
to give it a smoothness and polish.
Among the advantages to be derived from my Invention is the reduced
cost of the heel, the saving of labour and expense in putting it on and
the facility of dispensing with the whole or a part of the heel portion of
the sole proper.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Walter Hart in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
HART, of Norwich, in the County of Norfolk, Boot Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Walter Hart, Her special licence that I, the
said Walter Hart, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Walter Hart, 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

page_text: HEELS FOR BOOTS AND SHOES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Walter Hart, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, 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 Walter Hart, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
Hitherto it has been the practice to make or build up the heels of boots
and shoes by securing a number of pieces of leather to one another, and
this has always been attended with a large amount of labour and expense.
Now according to my Invention I make the heel separately under
pressure, so that it can be attached to the boot or shoc after or before
the latter has been finished. I prepare a piece of leather, preferably sole
leather, by soaking it in water or other liquid, and place it in a mould
or die of the desired shape to make a shell forming the walls and front;
a plunger or matrix is then inserted into the mould which presses upon
or against the leather and causes it to conform to the shape thereof;
after a short time the leather becomes "set" when it can be removed
to be dried; the hollow part of the heel vacated by the matrix can
then be filled up with any material to make it solid, and I prefer to use
gutta percha or some other cheap material which will answer the
purpose. Heels thus made can be sewn, nailed, or otherwise secured to
the soles of boots or shoes. The wall or outside of the heel can be
operated upon in the usual way to give it a smoothness and polish.
Among the advantages to be derived from my Invention is the reduced
cost of the heel, the saving of labour and expense in putting it on and
the facility of dispensing with the whole or a part of the heel portion of
the sole proper.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, the
manufacture of heels for boots and shoes by preparing or shaping the
exterior portion thereof of leather in a mould or die, and then filling up

page_text: such shells with other materials, in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Hart, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of October One thousand
cight hundred and seventy.