IMPROVE- MENTS IN PROCESS AND MACHINERY FOR SHAPING BOOT AND SHOE COUNTERS
Year: 1884

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I, HENRI ADRIEN BONNEVILLE, of the British and Foreign Patent Offices,
8 Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, Paris, France, and 90 Cannon Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PROCESS AND MACHINERY FOR SHAPING BOOT AND SHOE COUNTERS,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:—
The Invention relates to certain improvements in the process of and machinery for
shaping counters or heel stiffeners for boots and shoes, and it consists in a novel
method of imparting to the counter blank the desired shape, and to certain novel
constructions and arrangements of mechanical devices whereby the machine is
adapted for re-shaping a counter, or in other words, for completing the shaping of
a counter which has already been subjected to the action of rolls or revolving dies
whose transverse section is circular, and has been brought to a similar circular
form, whether or not the flange has already been formed on said counter.
It further consists in a novel arrangement for holding the stationary dies or
moulds, adjusting the same and controlling the pressure given to the work, all of
which will be best understood by reference to the following description of the
Drawings and to the claims to be hereinafter given.
In the Drawings, Figure 1, is a perspective view of a machine embodying my
Invention.
Fig. 2, is a perspective view of a portion of the same looking from a slightly
different direction.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken through the centre of both sets of dies.
Fig. 4 is a partial vertical section on line on Fig. 3, and
Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively an elevation and edge view of a disc or wheel
adapted to receive and carry a flanged counter.
Similar letters refer to similar parts in the different Figures.
A is the frame of the machine upon the rear side of which is a driving shaft B
mounted in suitable bearings and carrying at its rear end the fast and loose
[Price Gd.1

page_text: pulleys B and B adapted to receive a suitable driving belt; C is a shaft mounted
in bearings A' A' of the frame A and having secured upon its rear end the spur
gear wheel C which engages with and receives motion from the pinion B³ secured
upon the driving shaft B between the frame A and the pulley B¹.
Upon the front end of the shaft C is secured the mandril or former D of spherical,
spheroidal, or sphero-cylindrical form which acts in conjunction with the stationary
or mold E to partially shape the counters from suitable blanks. The mould E is
held and adjusted in an improved manner as will hereafter be described. Upon the
shaft C is secured the pinion C³ which engages with and imparts motion to the gear
wheel F mounted loosely upon the driving shaft B and revolving independent of
the motion of said shaft. The gear wheel F has secured thereto the pinion F
which revolves with it and engages with the gear wheel G¹ secured firmly upon the
shaft G mounted in bearings A2 A2 in the frame A.
Upon the front end of the shaft G is secured the disc or wheel H having a
rounded edge roughened or serrated to secure a firmer hold upon the counter while
being shaped, J is an adjustable mould partially surrounding and enclosing the
upper portion of the wheel H and provided with a flaring mouth at a to facilitate
the introduction of the counters between it and the wheel H. The concave surface
of the mould J against which the counter is pressed by the rotation of the wheel H
is made very smooth, its upper surface being brought into close proximity to the
edge of said wheel and curved so as to be concentric or nearly so there with except
at-the-mouth-a, as-shown-in-Fig. 3.-The_side_portions of the said concave or
working of the mould J are made somewhat flaring as shown in Fig. 4, admitting
of a greater or less space between them and the sides of the wheel H according to
the exact shape which it is desired to give to the counter. The mould J is fitted
to the hollow cylindrical socket I provided with a hollow threaded shank I' upon
which is screwed the nut K. The shank 1' passes through a slot b (Fig. 2) in the
ear or shelf c of the frame A, the shoulder d of the socket I bearing against the
under side of said shelf and the nut K being screwed down tight upon the upper
side thereof serves to hold the socket securely in position.
Within the socket I is a disk e provided with a tubular shank f, which passes
through the hole in the shank I'¹ of the socket I and has screwed upon its upper end
the nut g.
T
Above the disk e is a ring h of rubber or other suitable elastic material. Through
the centre of the tube f extends the rod i having a screw thread at its lower end
which engages with a corresponding female screw thread in the lower end of the
tube f. The lower end of the rod i bears upon the top of the mould J, and it is
provided with a hand wheel i' at its upper end by which it may be turned. Two
bolts kk are secured at their upper ends in the upper end of the cylindrical socket I
and passing through holes in the rubber ring h, disk e, and mould J are provided
with nuts l l.
The mould E, before referred to, is held in a cylindrical socket L provided with
a shank m and nut n for securing it within the slot o of the frame A. The
socket L is provided with mechanism for adjusting the mould E and regulating the
pressure thereon constructed precisely similar to that above described in connection
with the socket I except that the bolts are dispensed with as the axis of the
socket L is horizontal and the mould E has no tendency to slip from its place.
Two pins p p (shown in Fig. 1, project from the edge of the mould E, upon opposite
sides of the shaft C, and serve to prevent the mould E from turning round in the
socket L.
In the, operation of the Invention a blank is first fed endwise between the
former D and mould E, or by modifying the shape of the mould and former the
blank may be fed between them transversely of its length, by which means it has
a curved shape imparted thereto and assumes the form known as a." clam-shell "
counter. It is now desired to reshape the counter to make it conform more nearly
to the shape of the last upon which the boot or shoe is made, by giving the counter
sharper bend at the back of the heel and bringing the sides nearer together.

page_text: This is done by passing the the counter between the edge of the wheel H and
the mould J in a direction at right angles to the length of said counter or
transversely thereof so that the counter will be compressed between the edge of the
wheel Hand the mould J at the back of the heel for a width about equal to the
thickness of the wheel H while the sides of the counter will be pressed inward by
the action of the mould J to form what is termed a reshaped "clam-shell" counter.
In re-shaping a counter having a flange around its lower edge, the wheel H is made
as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, with two luges s projecting from opposite sides of said
wheel and a radial slot in its edge cutting through said lugs. A former and
mould of suitable shape for making a flanged counter being substituted for the
former D and mould E, the blank is passed endwise between the said former and
mould which compress and crimp it to form a circular flanged counter ready for
re-shaping. It is then placed upon the wheel H, in the position shown in dotted
lines in Fig. 5 with the portion of its flange at the back of the heel inserted
in the slot r, when the rotation of the wheel H will carry the counter through the
mould J compressing and shaping it in the same manner as in the case of the clam-
shell counter as above described, the portions of the flange at the sides of the
counter being supported by the walls of the slot as the said sides are pressed
inwards, said walls thus preventing the counter flange from being disturbed or
thrown out of shape. By the use of the present Invention it is possible to re-shape
counters in a very simple and effective manner, as by firmly compressing them at
the back of the heel in the manner described they will retain the desired shape
without liability of springing open at their ends as is often the case when such
counters are shaped by being pressed around a form corresponding in shape and
size to the last upon which the shoe is to be made. By the arrangement of the
cylindrical sockets I and L and mechanism contained therein, a very simple and
convenient means of adjusting the moulds E and J is obtained, while the method
of attaching the sockets I and L to the frame A permits of their removal for the
purpose of changing their respective moulds. The width and shape of the finished
counter may be varied by changing the width of the wheel H and the width and
shape of the concave working surface of the mould J.
Fige. 7 to 16 inclusive represent several additions and changes in the above
described machine, for obtaining much larger counters and for allowing the counters
to adapt themselves better to any configuration of the last.
Fig. 7 is a front elevation of part of the machine embodying the changes and
additions in the Invention showing the wheel H, and parts adjacent thereto in
section, also the mould J, in section.
Fig. 8 is an end elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 9 is a part, reverse elevation of the wheel H to that shown in Fig. 8.
Fig. 10 is a section of cylindrical former.
Fig. 11 represents the counter as first cut and corrugated.
Fig. 12 represents the counter as secondly acted upon by the cylindrical former.
Fig. 13 represents the counter as thirdly acted upon by the former D.
Fig. 14 represents the counter as fourthly acted upon by the wheel H.
Fig. 15 represents the counter as applied to a last.
Fig. 16 is given to illustrate more clearly a difficulty overcome by the modified
machine.
Letter A is the front part of the frame; B the driving shaft; C the shaft upon
which the former D is secured; E and J are moulds; these parts are all substantially
similar to those described above, with the exception of the frame A, which is
modified to suit the changes made, it is longer, and provided with bearings a³ to
carry a shaft b³, and it is provided with two slots O, O instead of one; furthermore
it is provided with a bracket C³.
The shaft B is carried in bearings d³. It will be here remarked that in Fig. 7,
only one set of bearings, being the front bearings, for the shaft are delineated or
shown, but if the frame had been carried out or delineated in full, the Drawings

page_text: '
shown in the above described machine, also a driving pulley on the shaft B.
In the present Drawing, the socket and means by which the mould J is held in
place and adjusted, are altogether omitted because they are exactly the same as in
the above described machine; also those for holding the mould E, are only partly
shown for the same above mentioned reason: the socket L; rod i; and wheel i¹,
and nut K; are however shown.
In the slot O', a socket 13 is secured, in the same manner as the socket L, carrying
a mould fs, similar to the mould E but having a recess h³, of somewhat less than a
semi-cylinder, as shown by the dotted line g³ (see Fig. 8), this recess ³ is extended
by an enlargement being a concavity the form of a quarter of a sphere, the
extent of this is shown by the dotted line K³. On the end of the shaft b³ is secured
a cylindrical former 13, arranged so that when the two are in place, as shown a
small space is formed between them. This space is made a little larger on the
underside by chamferring off the mould at m³, to enable the counters to be entered
more readily. The corner or end of the former will be more or less rounded off
as shown at n³ in Fig. 10.
On the driving shaft B, a pinion o³ is secured, gearing with a wheel p³, secured
on the shaft C. The wheel p³, with an equal wheel q³ is secured on the shaft b³.
The shaft G, instead of having the wheel H secured on its end, has a pinion a*,
secured to or made in-one-with-it-and-this-gears_with_teeth formed in a circular
recess, formed in the wheel H. The wheel H is also provided with an axle C
for it to revolve upon this axle is carried in brackets d, e, secured on the
bracket C. The bracket e is provided with an opening for the shaft G to pass
through and revolve in by the wheel f, which is secured on the shaft G ;
wheel gears with the pinion O³, which revolves in the direction of the arrow
shown. The advantage of this improvement over the improved machine above
described is that it enables much larger counters to be acted upon by the wheel H,
as the axle C, is not in the way of the counters which pass outside of the
brackets d', et.
this
The manner of operating with the modified machine will now be described, and.
in doing so the improved process will be set forth.
The material to be formed into counters is first cut to shape and corrugated or
not as desired shown isometrically in Fig. 11, it is then fed to the former being
entered at the under side, this bends it to the configuration shown isometrically in
Fig. 12 and by section in Fig. 10, that is to say it turns the corrugated part into a
flange g' by forming a bend in it at h. The counter is then passed to and acted
upon by the former D, which forms it into a portion of the periphery or surface of
a spheroid. The counter formed as just described may be used with the " upper
of boot or shoe, on the last at once if desired or it may be acted upon by the
wheel H, giving it the elliptical form shown isometrically in Fig. 14, to finish it
ready to be placed in the "upper" and lasted.
13
Now when the counter is brought to the configuration shown in Figs. 13 or 14,
without having been acted upon by the former 13, very great difficulty is experienced
in getting the part forming g₁ to "sit down" upon the last, as shown in Fig. 15,
but when the bend has been once put in the material forming the counter, it
readily returns to that shape when required to do so upon the last.
When the counter is finished with a flange g' turned over as shown in Figs. 12
and 16, which is the way they are at present in general made, a difficulty is
experienced, which is that the operator has in many cases to straighten out the
flange before putting the counter into the boot or shoe, to enable the lining to be
got at, adjusted, and gathered equally around the heel. The said straightening of
the counter by the operator does considerable damage to it.
When the bend at is not taken out, or partly taken out, a difficulty is
experienced also that the lining it of the upper cannot be well gathered on the last
around the heel, but when the bend his first made, and afterwards in a measure
taken out as above described, the gathering of the lining it can be properly done

page_text: without any difficulty, as also the after turning down of the flange g' upon the
last.
:
By thus forming the counter, it is enabled to suit more generally any
configuration of last.
Having thus described the above Invention and the manner in which the same
is to be performed, I claim and desire to secure by Royal Letters Patent :
.
1. The process of shaping counter stiffeuers, which consists in first passing the
blank between pressure surfaces in the direction of their lengths, to partially shape
them, and then passing the partially shaped stiffeners a second time between
pressure surfaces, but in the direction of their width, substantially as described.
2. The process of shaping counters of boots and shoes which consists in first
cutting the material to shape; second, flanging it; third bring it to the form of a
portion of the periphery or surface of a sphere or spheroid; substantially as
described.
3. The process of shaping counters of boots and shoes, which consists in first
cutting the material to shape; second, flanging it; third bring it to the form of a
portion of the periphery or surface of a sphere or spheroid; and lastly giving it an
elliptical configuration or shape of the last substantially as described.
By referring to Fig. 1 to 6 inclusive.
4. The combination of the journalled disk wheel H having a convex periphery
and the mould J provided with a concave recess or groove, the inner portion of
which is substantially of the form or counterpart of the periphery of the wheel or
disk but with outwardly diverging side walls and adapted to press and condense
the central portion of a counter stiffener substantially as described.
5. The combination of the journalled disk wheel H having a convex periphery
and provided with the slot r and the lugs or ribs 8 8, and the mould J provided
with a concave recess or groove, the inner portion of which is substantially of the
form, or a counterpart of it, the periphery of the wheel or disk, but with outwardly
diverging side walls, and adapted to press and condense the central portion of the
counter stiffener, substantially as described.
6. The combination of a rotating mandril or former, a stationary die or mould
provided with a concave surface substantially conforming in shape circumferentially
to the periphery of the former, a socket to receive said mould, provided with a
threaded shank and nut, and a slotted ear or projection to which said socket may
be adjustably secured, substantially as and for the purposes described.
7. The combination of a rotating former, a stationary die or mould provided
with a concave surface substantially conforming in shape circumferentially to the
periphery of the former, a socket to receive said mould, provided with a tubular
threaded shank and nut, a slotted ear or projection, to which socket may be
adjustably secured, an elastic cushion contained within said socket, a disk or
follower also located within said socket and provided with a tubular threaded
shank or hollow screw, passing through the shank of said socket, and having a nut
at its outer end and an adjusting screw passing through said follower and its
shank and having its bearing or nut therein and adapted to receive upon its inner
end the pressure of the mould, substantially as and for the purposes described.
8. The combination of a rotating former, a stationary mould provided with a
concave surface substantially conforming in shape circumferentially to the periphery
of the former, the socket I provided with the shank I¹, and nut K, the slotted ear c,
the elastic cushion h, the disk or follower e, provided with the tubular shank f,
and the nut g, the adjusting screw i, and the bolts k k provided with the nuts ll,
all arranged and adapted to operate substantially as and for the purposes described.
By referring to Figs. 7 to 16 inclusive:
9. The combination of the former la, mould e³ former D; mould E, wheel H, and
mould J, operated as described substantially as setforth.
10. The combination of the mould J, wheel H, having axle c, and recess b*,
provided with teeth; pinion a', brackets d', and e' substantially as described.

page_text: 11. The combination of the mould J, wheel H, having its centre of revolution,
axis or axle situated at, a distance from the centre of propulsion substantially as
described.
12. The combination of the mould f³ having recess h³, and extension of recess i³,
as described, the cylindrical former 13, constructed and operated substantially as
described:
13. The combination of the mould f³, and former 1³, constructed as described,
with the mould E and former D constructed as described, substantially as set forth.
Dated this Twenty-sixth day of March 1884.