Improvements in Machines for Building and Attaching Heels to Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 7th N.v., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 7th Aug., 1891-Accepted, 26th Sept., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Building and Attaching Heels
to Boots and Shoes.
I, OWEN ROBINSON, of Champion Iron Works, Kettering, in the County of
Northampton, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows: -
This invention relates to improvements in boot and shoe heeling machines, the
improvements having mainly for object to so construct the machine that the heels
can be built and attached to boots or shoes from the outside while the boot or
shoe is upon the last.
In carrying out my invention I employ a frame or standard carrying at the lower
part a driving shaft provided with a cam or eccentric which operates a plunger by
means of a roller connected to a lever by a suitable link arrangement.
The roller is put in its working position by means of another lever, and in order
that it shall be kept to its work this lever is provided with a stud which can be
caused to enter a groove formed on the face of another cam, also mounted on the
driving shaft, whereby the roller is maintained in its working position during one
revolution of the cam. An upper plunger is provided which is moved down to its
work by means of a lever and link so arranged that when it is forced down it will
be locked in position.
By this invention when it is desired, for example, to build a heel, the cup or
mould carrying the top piece and lifts is first brought between the plungers and
the upper plunger is brought down upon the lifts and the lifts having been
compressed the nails are then driven home by means of the lower plunger.
Dated the 7th day of November 1890.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Building and Attaching Heels
to Boots and Shoes.
I, OWEN ROBINSON, of Champion Iron Works, Kettering, in the County of
Northampton, Engineer, 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 :-
This invention relates to improvements in boot and shoe heeling machines, the
improvements having mainly for object to so construct a machine that the heels
can be built and attached to boots or shoes from the outside while the boot or shoe
is upon the last or its equivalent.
In carrying out my invention I employ a frame carrying at the lower part a
driving shaft provided with a cam or eccentric which operates a plunger by means
of a roller connected to a lever by a suitable link arrangement.
The roller is put in its working position by means of another lever provided with
an extension adapted to be operated by another cam, whereby the said roller is
placed and maintained in its working position during the operation of the first
described cam. An upper plunger is provided which is moved down to its work by
means of an eccentric and link so arranged that, when it is forced down, it will be
locked in position.

page_text: To enable my invention to be fully understood will describe the same with
reference to the accompanying drawing, in which :-.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine constructed according to my invention
for building and attaching heels to boots and shoes, the supporting standard at the
front of the machine, however, being removed to enable the driving mechanism to 5
be clearly seen :
Figure 2 is a sectional side elevation of the machine; and,
Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the linear of Figure 1.
The frame of the machine comprises two standards a, a¹ and a table b.
c is the
driving shaft and d the cam thereon (or an eccentric can be used) which serves to
operate the lower or nailing plunger e through the medium of the roller / connected
by a link to a lever on a shaft f³. The plunger e works in a recess e¹ in the
table and serves to operate the usual drivers in the nailing die for driving the
nails through the heel lifts.
is the lever for placing the roller in its working position, that is to say,
between the cam d and the plunger e the said lever being connected to the shaft ³
is the extension on the lever g and is the cam for operating the same, the said
cam being mounted on a shaft i driven from the shaft c by gear-wheels ¹, 12.
C
The gear-wheel 2 is arranged loose on the shaft i and is provided with a lug
with which the vertical end of a bell-crank lever or clutch is designed to be
engaged by being operated by a foot-lever . The lever is pivotted to a collar i
attached to the shaft i, so that, when the said lever is engaged with the lug, the
rotation of the wheel will drive the said shaft. is a boss on the standard a'
arranged eccentrically with the shaft and beneath the horizontal arm of the bell-
crank lever, so that, when the shaft i is rotated by the wheel 12, the said lever
is kept in engagement with the said wheel by bearing against the full portion of the
eccentric as it moves round the latter.
The lever gcan be operated by hand independently of the cam h, and in order to
determine the right time for so operating it, I provide it with a hook ; which
embraces an eccentric sheave on the shaft c, whereby the said lever is kept
constantly rocking. The said eccentric is placed on the shaft in such a position
that when the said lever is being moved by the said eccentric towards the shaft c
the operative may know that the further movement of the lever towards the shaft
by hand will place the roller f in its working position between the cam d and the
plunger e.
g
kis the upper plunger which is of a known form and adapted to receive the boot
or shoe to be operated upon, and is supported in a frame which comprises two
cross-heads connected by guide-rods working through guides attached to
the table b., are respectively the eccentric and link for operating the
plunger through the medium of the said frame, the said eccentric being fixed on
the shaft. The plunger is adapted to slide through an adjustable screwed
sleeve m, by means of a counterweighted lever m'. The sleeve m is provided with
a hand-wheel m² and serves, when the frame k¹ is lowered, to bear with its lower
end against a facing m³ on the plunger k, it being adjustable to suit various heights
of heels.
n is a double swing frame for carrying the usual nailing dies in which are
inserted the nails for driving into the heel, one of which dies is shewn by dotted
lines at o in Figure 1, the said frame being pivotted at n' to the table so that it
can be swung round to place either of the dies it carries between the plungers e
and k.
P
is the usual mould for containing the lifts of leather for forming the heel, and
is placed over the nailing die o.
7,9' are respectively fast and loose pulleys, and is a fly-wheel, all being
arranged on the driving shaft c.
The operation of the machine is as follows, that is to say, assume the parts of
the machine to be in the position shewn, the lifts of leather to form a heel to be
placed in the mould p and a boot or shoe arranged on the plunger & with the heel

page_text: portion just over the nailing die o. The said plunger must then be brought down
by operating the lever m', onto the said lifts, thereby holding the lifts and the
boot in their proper relative positions. If now, the machine is started and the
foot-lever be operated to engage the lever with the lug on the wheel 2,
the shaft i will be caused to revolve and thereby operate the eccentric / to lower
the frame k, and by the lower end of the sleeve m bearing against the facing m³ to
compress the leather lifts in the mould p. Just before this occurs, however, the
cam h will impinge against the extension g¹ on the lever g and thereby cause the
roller to be placed between the cam d and plunger e, so that, by the time
the leather lifts are fully compressed by the plunger k, the cam d will have
revolved into such a position as to force up the plunger e and drive the nails in the
nailing die o into the said leather lifts so as to form the heel and attach it to the
boot or shoe. The continued movement of the shafts e and i will respectively
lower the plunger e and raise the plunger k, the lever when it arrives at the
point in its rotation from which it started (which point is coincident with the small
part of the eccentric boss 7) automatically disengaging itself from the lug
thereby stopping the rotation of the shaft i, thus completing the cycle of operations
necessary for the formation of one heel.
and
The machine also serves to attach the top pieces to the heels, and in order to
regulate the movement of the plunger e to suit the length of the nails required to
either build the heels or to attach the said top pieces to them, I provide a lever
fulcrummed at 7, one end of which enters a recess 2 in the said plunger and
supports it in position, while the other end bears beneath an adjustable block_s
having two surfaces s', s² in different planes connected by an inclined surface. If
the said block be adjusted by a bolt in a slots in the table so that the lever
bears against the surface s¹, as shewn in the drawing, it maintains the plunger e in
such a position that the full movement of the cam d can be imparted to it as is
required for building the heel, while if the said blocks he moved so that the said
lever bears against the other surfaces, the plunger will be lifted up into such a
position that only a portion of the movement of the said cam will be imparted
thereto, as is required for nailing on the "top piece."
Although I have described the boot or shoe as being placed upon the plunger k,
I sometimes place it in the machine while upon the ordinary last, the said plunger
being adapted to receive the said last.
Also, if desired, I may use my machine for building heels only, the operation
being in every respect similar to that herein before described except that there is
no boot upon the plunger or last.
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 machine for building heels and attaching the same to boots and shoes, the
said machine being arranged substantially as described so that the heels are
attached from the outsides of the boots by the nails which connect the several lifts,
substantially in the manner set forth.
2. In a machine of the kind referred to in the preceding claiming clause, the
arrangement of a plunger for holding the boot and the lifts in their proper relative
positions prior to the compression of the lifts and the nailing of the same to the
boot, substantially as described.
3. In a machine of the kind referred to in the first claiming clause, the arrange-
ment of clutch mechanism whereby, after the boot and lifts are fixed in their
proper relative positions by the upper plunger, the frame carrying the upper
plunger is operated to compress the lifts and a roller is interposed between a cam
and the lower or nailing plunger to enable the operation of the latter to be effected
substantially as described.
4. In a machine for building and attaching heels, the combination with the
nailing plunger and a cam for operating the same, of a roller adapted to be

page_text: interposed or removed from between the said plunger and cam, substantially as
described.
5. In a machine for building and attaching heels, the combination with the
nailing plunger operated as hereinbefore described, of a lever and an adjustable
block for enabling the travel of the said plunger to be varied substantially as, and
for the purpose, specified.
6. The improved machine for building heels and attaching the same to boots and
shoes from the outside, consisting of the parts constructed and combined sub-
stantially in the manner hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying
drawing, and operating as and for the purposes set forth.
Dated the 7th day of August 1891
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.