Improvements in Heel Building Machines.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Oct., 1896-Accepted, 24th Dec., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Heel Building Machines.
I, GEORGE CROYDON MARKS, of 18 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
London W.C. Consulting Engineer, (a communication from Elmer. S. Gross, of
Elsworth in the County of Hancock and State of Maine, United States of
America), do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
My invention relates to an improvement in machines especially adapted for the
buildings of heels, and the object of the invention is to simplify the construction
of such machines and to provide for an expeditious gripping and firm clamping of
the heel sections while the heel is being constructed, and also to provide for as
convenient and expeditious a discharge of the completed heel from the machine.
The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several
parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in all the figures.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section through the machine, the said section
being taken substantially on the line 1-1 of Figure 2.
Figure 2 is a plan view of the machine; and
Figure 3 is a partial side elevation of the same.
In carrying out the invention a bed plate A is employed, which is adapted
for attachment to a bench or table 10, the latter being provided with an opening 11
beneath the said plate, and the plate is provided with an opening 12 at each side of
its center, together with a central countersunk opening 13. The openings 12 are
longitudinal, and the countersunk opening 13 is preferably of a circular contour.
The latter opening is adapted to receive a follower 14, the said follower being
provided with a downwardly extending shank 15.
Over the openings 12 slides 16 and 17 are mounted, having guided movement
between suitable rails 12" formed upon the bed, as shown in Figure 2, and each
slide 16 and 17 is adapted for connection with a jaw, the said jaw being designated
respectively as 16 and 17, and their inner or opposing faces are shaped to conform
to the contour of the shoe heel. Each jaw 16 and 17 is provided with lugs 18
at its outer side, and bolts 19 are passed between these lugs and through the sides 16
and 17, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, in order that the aforesaid jaws may be
adjustably connected with the said slides, the bolts 19 being provided with suitable
heads, nuts and washers. Under this construction the jaws may be adjusted to or
from one another to accomplish the formation of heels of different sizes.
A lever 20 is adjustably secured to a lug on the under face of the slide 16, and
the said lever 20 is curved from its connection with the said slide outwardly and
then downwardly and inwardly to a point substantially below the central portion of
the base A, being fulcrumed in braces or hangers 21 secured to the said base and
extending substantially from one end to the other beneath the same.
At the inner end of the lever 20 a downwardly extending arm 22 is produced, a
foot pedal 23 of any suitable construction being fulcrumed upon a proper support
and connected preferably by means of an adjustable rod or link 24 with the
downwardly extending arm 22. Ordinarily the connection between the pedal 23

page_text: and the lever 20 is accomplished through the medium of two rods, one pivoted to
each of the said parts, each being connected with an intermediate sleeve having a
right hand and a left hand thread for the reception of the said rods.
A spring 25 is connected by links 26 with the pedal 23 and with one of the
hangers 21, and the said spring serves to normally hold the lever 23 in an upper
position, and therefore the said spring forces the lever 20 to such a position that
the slide 16 will be carried outward or in direction of one end of the machine, so
as to take the jaw 16 away from the jaw 17 and permit of the loosening of the
completed heel.
A second curved lever 27 is fulcrumed in the hangers 21 at or near their opposite
ends, being adjustably connected with the slide 17, and the said slide is held in an
inner position, or in position to cause the jaw 17 carried thereby to engage with
the opposing jaw 16 through the medium of a spring 28, the said spring being
secured to the base plate A at one of the ends and to the lever 27 at its opposite
end, the latter attachment being somewhat adjacent to the connection of the lever
with the aforesaid slide 17, as shown in Figure 1.
The lever 27 is curved downward and outward so as to form a section of an oval
as is the lever 20, and the free end of the lever 27 is connected with a pedal 29,
through the medium of a connection 30, corresponding ordinarily in all particulars
to the connection between the pedal 23 and the opposing lever 20.
'The lever 27, however, is provided with a tongue 31, which extends through an
opening made in the shank 15 of the follower 14.
In operation, by pressing downward on the pedal 23 the jaw 16ª will be carried
practically to a clamping engagement with the jaw 17ª and the material of the heel
will be firmly held between the two jaws. After the heel has been built up, however,
the pedal 23 is released, and the jaw 16" will be moved from the jaw 17, thereby
releasing the said constructed heel; and by pushing downward on the second
pedal 29 the jaw 17ª will be drawn from the completed heel, and the follower 14
will be forced upward by the movement of the aforesaid lever 27, causing the heel
to be thrown from its seat on the table A.
Under this construction the operator may keep his hands constantly employed
for the purpose of building up the heel, while a single foot may be used for
operating the machine to discharge the completed heel, the machine acting to clamp
the members of the heel when the pedal 23 is depressed and the pedal 29 raised,
and acting to release and discharge the heel when the positions of these pedals
are reversed.
In order that the heel may be regulated as to height, plates 31ª are placed at
each side of the base A, being consequently at each end of the jaws 17 and 16;
and these plates are contained between the sides of the base and brackets 32 which
are secured to the latter, the brackets 32 being provided with fastening screws 33,
which serve to secure the brackets to the base plate; and each bracket is
preferably provided also with adjusting screws 34, adapted to enter a slot or
aperture vertically made in the aforesaid guide plates 31ª.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is-
1. In a heel building machine, the combination with a base plate having
openings therein, slides having guided movement over the openings in the said
plate, jaws connected with the said slides, a follower located in the base plate
between the said jaws, levers connected with the slides, one of which is attached
to the said follower, springs controlling the movement of the levers in one
direction, and means for operating the levers in an opposite direction, as and for
the purpose set forth.
2. In a heel building machine, the combination with a base plate, slides mounted
thereon, jaws connected with the said slides, a follower located between the said
jaws and guides located at the ends of the jaws, and spring controlled levers

page_text: operating the said slides, one of the said levers operating to raise and lower the
said follower, as and for the purpose specified.
3. In a heel building machine, the combination, with a base plate having slides
therein at each side of its center and a central countersunk opening, a follower
located in the said countersunk opening, a slide located over each of the openings
in the base plate at the sides of the follower receiving opening, and jaws connected
with the said slides, of levers attached to the said slides, one of which levers is
connected with the said follower, pedals, a connection between each pedal and
a lever, and springs controlling the said levers in a direction opposite to that to
which they are actuated by the movement of said pedals, as set forth.
4. In a heel building machine, the combination of a base, jaws thereon adapted
to clamp the heel between them springs connected to the respective jaws and
arranged to hold one jaw normally in and the other jaw normally out of operative
position, a lever mechanism connected to and arranged to move one jaw into
operative position, and other lever mechanism connected to the other jaw and
arranged to move it out of operative position, substantially as set forth.
5. In a heel building machine, the combination of a base, jaws thereon adapted
to clamp the heel between them, a spring connected to and arranged to hold one
jaw away from the other jaw, and lever mechanism connected to the respective
jaws and arranged to move said jaws into and out of operative position respectively,
substantially as set forth.
6. In a heel building machine, the combination of a base, jaws thereon adapted
to clamp the heel between them, means to hold one jaw normally in operative
position and the other jaw normally out of operative position, and mechanism to
move the jaws into and out of operation respectively, substantially as set forth.
Dated the 20th day of October 1896.
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.