Improvements in Apparatus for Applying Rubber Soles to Leather Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 29th June, 1899-Accepted, 29th July, 1899
[Communicated from abroad by GEORGE FRANKLIN BUTTERFIELD, of Stoneham, in
the County of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, United States of
America, Shoe Manufacturer.]
Improvements in Apparatus for Applying Rubber Soles to Leather
Boots and Shoes.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
The object of this invention is to provide improved apparatus for applying
vulcanizable rubber soles and heels to the bottoms of leather boots and shoes
so as to secure thereon, by heat and pressure, a yielding and waterproof tread
surface without injury to the leather in the process of applying and vulcanizing
the rubber; my aim being to hold the leather shoe firmly while the rubber sole is .
being secured to its bottom by vulcanization, and yet keep the upper leather
sufficiently cool to be uninjured.
One feature of my present improvement consists of a closed steam-chamber and
a movable mould plate placed thereon, and suitably secured. Other features of
improvement include novel shoe-holding devices, and novel means for pressing
the lasted shoe upon the rubber in the mould, stops for limiting the movement
properly, and means for lowering and raising the shoe and holder by use of an
elastic fluid, preferably compressed air; also suitable swinging adjustable marginal
plates, or clamps for securing the marginal plates in position with cold air
passages at the bearing edges; also an annular inflatable bag or cushion surround-
ing the last or shoe-holder and between the shoe and its last, said cushion being
inflated after insertion to retain or provide for the passage of a current of cold air or
water within the shoe body; also the shoe-holder or last detachable from and
pivoted upon the foot of the vertically-moving shaft and provided with adjusting
screws to raise or depress the toe portion at will.
In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1, is a side elevation, partly in section
of a machine embodying my improvements. Figure 2 is a transverse section on
line 2-2 of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a vertical section of one form of my shoe-
holder.
A represents a suitable frame or hollow standard provided at its upper end with
a recessed head A¹ adapted to receive and support the cylindrical chamber B,
having the enclosed piston C, actuated by hydraulic pressure or by steam or com-
pressed air. The cylinder B is laterally adjustable to locate it properly, and is
then adapted to be firmly fixed for use. Flexible or other pipes I convey the
elastic fluid, and a four-way cock or equivalent device admits it at one side of
the piston and discharges it from the other side as required. A suitable stop is
provided to limit the downward stroke, such stop being shown in Figure 1 as a
yoke E engaging a collar E¹ formed on or secured to the shaft or piston-rod F
protruding through the lower end of the recessed head A¹ and cylinder B. The

page_text: overhanging frame supporting the cylinder and other parts gives the workmen
unobstructed access to the vulcanizer.
Directly beneath the cylinder is the steam chamber G with suitable inlet
and outlet pipes, preferably entering from below and furnished with stop cocks
to control the steam current. Other like pipes admit and discharge a water
current when it is desired to cool the chamber G. The top of the said chamber is
flat, or of other shape to conform to the bottom of the mould plate, and upon such
top is held the mould-plate H having in its upper surface the sole-shaped or sole
and heel-shaped mould h to receive the rubber compound to be vulcanized to the
shoe bottom, or the vulcanized sole to be secured to the shoe-bottom by curing the
interposed vulcanizable sole-layer thereon. The mould-plate H is adjustable to
proper position beneath the piston rod, and when adjusted is held fast by bolts
or clamps so that it will remain in place when the shoe and its rubber sole are to be
raised therefrom.
The lower end of the piston rod F carries a last or shoe holder J upon which
the shoe under treatment is mounted. This holder may be an ordinary last, but.
is preferably a hollow metallic last having flexible pipes communicating with its
interior and connected with a cold water supply to keep the last cool, and the
shoe upper from being overheated.
In Figure 3 the last is shown pivoted by a transverse pin K, to ears at the
end of the piston rod. Adjusting screws k, threaded through a lateral projection
on the foot of the shaft or rod F, bear on the top of the last to elevate or depress
the toe portion thereof, and thus to adjust the shoe holder upon the axis K.
L L represent hinged and swinging marginal clamps which fit in laterally at the
inseam of the shoe, and hold down the shoe by its sole edges upon the rubber
in the mould, preventing the rubber from escaping upwardly when expanded
in vulcanizing. Under my present improvements the edges of the parts L will
be shaped accurately to the contour of the shoe, each conforming to one side of it;
and said hinged parts are each provided with suitable adjusting devices for moving
them into and holding them in position at the side of the shoe, and for drawing
them down and securely holding. the shoe and resisting the expansion of the
rubber. The adjusting devices shown include side plates M which may be set,
as required, by screws m or otherwise, to bear against the tapering sides of
clamps L. and also a powerful screw S, threaded through a cross bar a of the
frame and engaging a connecting piece P, Figure 2, at the lower part of the
clamps to draw them downwardly.
A cold-air passage L' is formed through these clamps at their extremities, to
which compressed air is supplied through a suitable pipe L2; and numerous small
perforations in said extremities serve to deliver this air against the upper leather
in jets, cooled as it expands in escaping, and thus to keep the leather free from
injury by heat, and to prevent the temperature in the work shop becoming
unduly raised.
In Figure 3 the shoe-holder is shown reduced in size to admit between it and the
leather upper of the shoe, an inflatable rubber bag N of irregular annular form
tapering upwardly, and being externally of approximately the same shape as the
interior walls of the shoe. These walls are distended by the air pressure, so that
the leather and lining are kept cool, free from creases and from contact with the
last. The said bag would be in a collapsed state when introduced into the shoe
with the last, and would subsequently be inflated, and the contained air confined
therein by closing the stop-cock n.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, the closed steam cham-
ber G and the independent mould plate H, h, adjustable and adapted to be secured

page_text: thereon, in combination with a suitable frame and means for pressing the leather
shoe upon the rubber contained in the mould formed in said, mould plate, sub-
stantially as set forth.
2. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, the steam chamber, the
adjustable, independent mould plate thereon and suitable means applied within
the shoe for pressing and firmly holding the shoe upon the rubber contained in the
mould during vulcanization, in combination with swinging, marginal clamps
adapted to apply downward pressure upon the upper surface of the sole edge and
welt to resist the escape of rubber from the mould along such edge, substantially
as set forth.
3. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, the steam chamber, the
mould plate thereon, and means applied within the shoe for pressing it upon the
rubber contained in the mould during vulcanization, in combination with swinging,
lateral clamps fitting marginally, along the inseam of the shoe and bearing down-
wardly upon the sole edge and welt and with suitable pressure devices, substan-
tially as set forth.
4. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, the steam chamber, the
mould plate thereon and suitable shoe-holding devices, in combination with swing-
ing marginal clamps pivoted and actuated at a point below the steam chamber
and with lateral adjusting devices, substantially as set forth.
5. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, the frame having a
chambered head, a piston therein with protruding piston rod, and pipes for con-
veying the elastic fluid to and from said chamber, in combination with the steam
chamber and mould plate thereon and with shoe-holding devices connected to the
piston rod adapted to present the shoe over and upon the rubber contained in the
mould, and thereby to firmly affix the rubber sole to the leather shoe bottom,
substantially as set forth.
6. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, the frame having a
recessed head, an adjustable chamber in said head and a piston in said chamber
with downwardly protruding piston rod, in combination with the steam chamber
and mould plate thereon, located beneath said piston, a shoe-holding device con-
nected to the piston rod and an adjustable stop limiting the downward movement
of the piston, substantially as set forth.
7. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, the shoe-holder J, con-
nected to the foot of the plunger by a transverse pivot K and provided with
adjusting screws adapted to elevate or depress the toe portion of the shoe upon said
pivot, as required, substantially as set forth.
8. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, a shoe-holder connected
to the shaft of the pressure device band, consisting of a rigid body having a sole-
shaped bottom serving to press the shoe-sole upon the rubber in the mould, in com-
bination with an inflatable, upwardly-tapering annular bag surrounding said body,
between it and the upper leather of the shoe, and adapted to hold such upper
leather distended, cooled and free from contact with the mould and with said body,
substantially as set forth.
9. In a shoe-sole vulcanizing and applying apparatus, the steam chamber and
mould plate and means for pressing the leather sole bottom upon the rubber in
the mould, in combination with marginal plates held firmly down upon the sole
edge and welt and formed with an air passage and with perforations for air jets
therefrom against the leather along the bearing edges of said plates, such passages
being supplied with air under pressure, substantially as set forth.
Doted this 20th day of June 1800
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, Lendon, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.