IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Clark at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd December
1866. A communication from abroad by George Washington Tolhurst,
of New York City, in the United States of America.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 58, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved manner of strengthening the most
exposed portions of boots and shoes, and of simplifying the construction of
the same.
The Invention consists in the arrangement of a combined heel, shank, and
counter which are moulded in one piece of malleable iron or other suitable
metal, and in the manner of securing the upper of the boot or shoe, and also
the insole to the said metallic portion of the said boot or shoe; this fastening
is so arranged that both the insole as well as the upper of the boot or shoe
are secured to the metallic rear part without the use of sewing or of rivets or
screws, thereby making the said boot or shoe almost completely waterproof,
besides adding to its strength and preventing its getting out of shape.
Furthermore, the Invention consists in arranging the wearing or lower
portion of the heel so that it can be removed and renewed; the said wearing
portion being made of leather for the purpose of retaining the elasticity of the
common boot or shoe with the improved metallic strengthening portions.

page_text: The Invention further consists in prolonging the metallic counter along the
sides of the boot or shoe to any required distance for the purpose not only of
making the said boot or shoe stronger and more waterproof, but also to
facilitate the construction of the same, as it is well known that the shaping
of that portion of the leather which in front of the heel is attached to the
shank is the most difficult to make.
I am well aware that boot and shoe heels have been made of cast iron, also
that the counter has been strengthened by a metallic outside protection, and
that removable lower portions of heels have been arranged on such cast iron
as well as other heels, but never yet has a metallic counter been so made that
the leather counter thereby becomes superfluous, and may be substituted
by a simple cotton or fur inside lining; neither has ever such a metallic
counter been secured to the upper without the use of screws, rivets, or
sewing; nor has such a counter ever been made in one piece with a metallic
heel, shank, and side pieces. In the annexed Drawing the Invention is
completely illustrated.
Figure represents a longitudinal vertical section of this improved boot
taken on the line a, a, Figure 2; Figure 2 is a vertical cross section of the
heel and sides of the counter; Figure 3 is vertical cross section through the
shank and side strip; Figure 4 is a detail sectional view on an exaggerated
scale showing the manner of securing the counter and side strips to the upper
of the boot; Figure 5 is a detail view to be herein-after referred to. Similar
letters of reference indicate like parts.
A represents the upper of a common boot or shoe; B is the insole of the
same; C is the main sole, the metallic rear portion is made in one piece of
malleable iron or of any other suitable metal; it consists of the counter D,
hcel E, shank F, and side strips G, G; the latter can be extended as far as
required, and may, if desired, surround the complete lower portion of the
boot. The counter D and side strips G are at their top edge provided with
two serrated flanges a, a, between which a groove is formed, as seen more
completely in Figure 4. The leather is inserted into this groove, the teeth of
the flanges a, a, are then by any suitable instrument bent towards the groove,
so that they are pressed into the leather, as seen in Figure 4. The teeth on
these edges may be so arranged that opposite to each tooth on the other
flange a depression or joining of two teeth is provided, so that when bent over
two teeth may not meet, but this is not even necessary as the teeth can, as
shown in Figure 4, be made so short that they cannot meet. Plain instead
of serrated flanges will answer the same purpose as they can be pressed
enough together so that they clamp the leather sufficiently tight between

page_text: them; or one flange may be made plain and the other serrated as desired.
The upper edge of the counter and side strips may be simply serrated, not
forming any flanges or groove; the teeth are then bent alternately one in
and the next out; the leather is then placed so as to come between the two
rows of teeth a', which are then clamped as before, as shown in Figure 5,
which is a top view of such a serrated edge. The lower or wearing portion H
of the heel is made of leather, and is secured to the metal heel E by means
of two metal straps b, b, which are secured to the lower heel H, and which
are dovetailed into the upper heel, as shown in Figure 2. A concealed
spring c which may be secured either to the upper or lower heel, and which
presses against a plate d secured to that portion of which the spring is not
part, prevents the lower heel from sliding off the metal heel D by depressing
or raising, as the case may be, this spring, so that it will be free from the
plate d; the lower heel can be removed from the metal heel.
I do not wish to confine myself to or claim this particular mode of securing
the lower heel to the metal heel, as other methods may be adapted to the
same purpose with equal effect. The shank F is slightly thicker than the
metal side strips G and projects therefrom, as seen in Figure 3, so as to
imitate the shape of these parts which is usual and known in common boots
and shoes. Four (more or less) pins e are cast to the inside of the heel or
shank which pass through holes in the insole, and are then hammered down
so as to rivet that sole to the metal portion. The main sole is rivetted to the
front end of the shank, as seen in Figure 1.