IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES."
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Jeyes, of 17, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Jeyes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th July 1860.
I, JOHN JEYES, of 17, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, do hereby declare the nature
of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND
SHOES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of boots
and shoes. In the manufacture of boots and shoes sewing machines. are now
commonly employed for sewing together the parts of the upper leather, but
not for attaching the sole to the upper, on account of the great difficulty of
adjusting the work to the machine when a welt of the ordinary description is
employed. To obviate this difficulty it has been proposed to employ a
marginal welt (that is to say, a narrow and straight strip of leather) sewn to
the edge of the upper all round, as such a strip can readily, by means of a
sewing machine, be sewn first to the upper and then to the sole, the upper
9.77

page_text: being able to lay flat while the welt is being attached to it, which it could not
do were an ordinary welt employed. This arrangement, however, does not
succeed very well in practice, as when boots so manufactured are worn the
welt is found to draw up from the sole in place of laying flat upon it as it
should do.
Now according to this Invention in place of employing a narrow straight
strip of leather as a welt, I employ a welt shaped in the usual manner, but
divided into two parts down the middle; each of these parts is sewn on to the
upper leather as when a marginal welt is employed, the upper laying flat
while the welt is being sewn to it. The two edges of the welt where it has
been divided are then turned over towards each other, and may, if desired, be
attached the one to the other, or to the sole. The edges of the sole can then
readily be sewn to the welt by a sewing machine. Shoes and boots thus con-
structed will not have the defect of shoes and boots made with a marginal welt,
foot, and if desired, being
as the parts of the welt-coming well under the
attached the one. to the other or to the sole, are no more liable to be drawn up
from the sole than is an ordinary undivided welt. It is not essential (although
it is preferred) that the parts of the welt when turned in should meet under
the centre of the foot, as the parts of the welt may be brought under the
tread of the foot without actually meeting; in all cases, however, the edge of
the welt which is attached to the upper is cut to the requisite shape, as when
a welt of sufficient width is employed it cannot be made of a straight strip
bent to and fro to follow the curve of the edge of the upper, as is done when
a marginal welt has been employed, as herein-before described.
In sewing machines at present commonly employed in making boots and
shoes the work lays on a plate, which after each stitch rises in order by
acting with other instruments to feed the work forward, so that each stitch
may be placed a short distance in advance of that which preceded it.
Now according to this Invention there is attached to the rising plate a small.
cutter, which penetrates the sole leather each time it rises, and thus pro-
gressively it makes a groove in which the stitches may bury themselves,
it being necessary that the stitches should be so buried to protect them
from wear.

page_text: SPECIFICATION
in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Jeyes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th January 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
JEYES, of 17, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Jeyes, Her special licence that I, the said John Jeyes, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said John
Jeyes, 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 BOOTS AND SHOES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Jeyes, 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 John Jeyes, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in applying "welts" to the
6f uppers "of boots and shoes to facilitate the affixing or sewing of the outsoles
to the welts by means of sewing machines, and the improvements consist in
employing welts which are divided down the middle, so that in each case a
welt consists of two parts, which at their outer edges are formed or cut to the
contour of the outsole,' and at the same time it is preferred that the inner
edges of the two parts of a "welt" should come together and be joined to each
other after they have been sewn to the upper, so that, in fact, a welt thus
applied will also act as an insole. The welts which are preferred to be used
are shown at Figure 1 and Figure 2. The welt, Figure 1, being divided into

page_text: two parts from end to end, whilst that shown at Figure 2. is not completely
divided. Figure 3 shows another form of welt which may be employed, which,
like those shown at Figures 1 and 2, is divided into two parts, but it does not
take the correct outline or contour, except at and towards the two ends of the
outsole, till it is drawn together by the sewing, as shown at Figure 4, which
Figure represents a plan of the welts, Figures 1, 2, and 3, when the inner
edges of the two parts have been drawn together after they have been sewed
to the upper.
In applying welts to uppers according to my Invention, the
upper is, by preference, first made up in the usual manner, and in order to fix a
welt consisting of two parts according to my Invention, such as are shown in the
Drawing, to an upper, it is found desirable to lay the lower edge of-the upper
and the outer edges of the welt correctly together, so that the lower edge of
the upper when placed on a last will turn inwards, and the outer edges of the
two parts of the welt will be outwards; and it is desirable to fix them
together by.cement, or by running them together by means of long stitches, so
as for a time to hold the edges of the upper and the welt correctly whilst they are
.being stitched together by means of a sewing machine. When the two parts of
the welt have been stitched or sewn to the lower edge of the upper a last is to be
.introduced, and the inner edges of the two parts of the welt are to be drawn
together, as is shewn at Figure 4, and by cross section at Figure 5. The out-
sole is then to be applied (any "filling" used being first placed. between the
inner surface of the outsole and the outer surface of the .welt) and such
outsole is held in its place by nails driven into the last in the ordinary
manner.
.I would here remark, that although the method of constructing boots and
shoes above described is more particularly applicable when sewing, machines are
employed, still it has advantages. even when they-are-made-entirely by hand.
In sewing machines it is well known that the materials which are sewed
thereby are retained between two pressing surfaces or plates, one being
roughed or formed with teeth, so as to move the work a distance between the
two pressing surfaces whilst they for a time cease from: pressing on the work.
Part, of my Invention consists in applying a short knife or cutter to the
lower one of the two pressing surfaces of a sewing machine, in order that such
knife or cutter may be caused to,puncture the leather of the outsole each time
it descends to press the work between it and the lower plate. The knife or
cutter is not of a length to pass through the outsole, but is only of a length
proper for penetrating the surface of the leather to an extent.suitable for
forming a groove or shallow cut all round the edge of the outsole for receiving

page_text: the stitches. It is preferred that the lower pressing surface should be the
roughed or notched one, and consequently the one by which the work is
advanced a distance suitable for each stitch, as is well understood; and the
cutter in such case will only slightly exceed in length the notches of the
serrated surface. The knife is of such a width that its succeeding cut or
puncture will extend into the previous one, so that although the cuts are
made in succession, they will in regard to the surface of the leather produce a
continuous groove or cut penetrating sufficiently into the surface of the outsole
to receive the stitches and prevent their coming to the surface of the outsole.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Jeyes, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
TATAr