Improvements in Making Shoe Soles of Horn and in the Apparatus Employed thereto.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Apr., 1887
Complete Left, 27th Dec., 1887
Complete Accepted, 27th Jan., 1888
Improvements in Making Shoe Soles of Horn and in the Apparatus
Employed thereto.
I, ROBERT KIESERLING of Solingen, Rhenish Prussia, Germany, Engineer do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Horn as a very hard and comparatively light material which by proper treatment
may be brought in any shape is very suitable for making shoe and boot soles. It
has also been used for that purpose, but these trials were not successful hitherto,
because the soles made were too stiff and they could not be armed conveniently
with nails against wear and tear.
My invention now comprises the following items, by means of which it is possible
to give the soles the necessary flexibility, to arm them with nails-(which are of
special construction)-and to bring them in such a shape and form which is most
suitable to the shape of the foot.
As auxiliaries for this manufacture-(the flexible shoe and boot soles of horn armed
with nails)-I have invented a special sort of nail, a cutting machine or saw for
treating the soles in such a manner that they become flexible and a press of peculiar
construction in which the soles are provided with the nails and are brought in such
shape and form as named above.
a
The raw horn is first softened and then cut open and freed from grease and
impurities attaching to it, then in a soft state-the softening as is well known, is
done by steaming the horn or warming it in hot water-it is pressed in flat sheets
of suitable thickness, say of an inch to inch in thickness.
When these sheets are dry and hard again, the soles are cut out of them in their
geometrical form, either by a band saw or by a punching machine. The pieces now

page_text: received are made soft again and under a press they are provided with holes
corresponding in width and depth to the size of the nails with which they are to be
armed afterwards.
The soles so far prepared are cut obliquely in one direction only or crossways as
is shown by fig. 8 of the accompanying drawing, by being passed through a circular
saw, specially constructed for the purpose and which shall be described hereafter. By
this process the soles become flexible.
Now they are softened again, the nails shown by fig. 7 are put in the holes and
the soles with the nails are placed in moulds and put under a press in order to be
provided with the diamond shaped little holes as shown by fig. 9.
This operation has for its object to fix the nails in the soles and to close the spaces
at the outside made by the cutting operation, because the little projections in the
stamping or punching tool, by penetrating into the plastical material of the soft soles
press a part of that material into the cuts made and press it also round the nails and
into the grooves in the same.
The nails as will be seen from fig. 7 are little cylinders with a pointed end on one
side and of inch in diameter by about " of an inch in length with circular
grooves. They might be provided with heads as ordinary nails.
When the soles have been brought to this state of perfection they only require yet
to receive the warped shape of ordinary soles. This is done by softening them again
and putting them into a mould of the desired shape, placing both under a press
where they are left until they are cold, when they will keep the warped form
as desired.
The cutting machine is shown by figs. 4, 5 & 6 of the accompanying drawing;
from an ordinary circular saw it is distinguished by the following points :
1) The spindle is armed with as many sawblades as corresponds to the whole
length of a shoe sole; the saw blades are separated from each other by filling pieces
put between them and which are adjustable so as to vary the distance from blade to
blade from of an inch to g of an inch, according to the size of the sole.
2) The table is adjustable vertically and it is made of grate or gridiron shape that
the saw blades may project through it always so much as will be required for the
depth of the cut to be made in the sole.
The press
is entirely new and of peculiar construction and action. As shown by
figs. 1, 2 & 3 of the drawing it is a continous acting rotary press. The press plates
or pistons are formed by two circular rings A & B of box shape made of wrought
iron or steel by rivetting two irons together; these rings are placed between five
double standards CC between which they are free to revolve round the geometrical
axis. For that purpose they are provided each with a circular rack, the upper one
at its top side and the lower one at its bottom side, D & E. these racks are in gear
with pinions F F & G G keyed on short shafts H H & 1' 1' at the inner ends
of which are also fixed the bevil wheels N¹ N° and P¹ P5 and these again are in
connection with a large central bevil wheel R with double row of teeth (at its top
and bottom side) and which is mounted on a vertical shaft S. This shaft may be
set in motion by some convenient means.-On the short spindles H¹ H³ and I¹ 15
are also mounted the press and guide rollers K guiding and supporting the press
rings A & B. The journals of the spindles H' and I rest on strong springs which
tend to press the spindles together and consequently also the rollers and the press-
rings. Besides this the upper press ring can be pressed downwards by screws M
screwed in each of the double standards O. Between the 2 standards and is
placed a table T in front of the press and also a distance piece U consisting of two
rollers which are together of such thickness as corresponds to the thickness of a
mould containing a shoe sole with the cover.
At the left side of the distance piece U the press is further provided with the
emptying har V. This is a piece of bar iron placed obliquely between the press
rings A & B it has for its object to shift the moulds out of the press when it is
in action.
The action of the press is now as follows: the moulds W filled with the soles

page_text: which had been made soft and provided with the nails as described above are pushed
from the table T between the two press rings behind, that is at the right side of U,
while the rings are turning round, one after the other as shown by the drawing
fig. 1. Between the standards C and C+ the rings are gradually pressed closer
together at the standard they are allowed to open a little again so that they
may be held open to the full width at V from which arrangement it will be seen that
the moulds with the soles can be conveniently placed into the press and that they are
pressed gradually together and allowed to open and to be pushed out of the press
automatically.
KARL I. MAYER,
Agent.

page_text: Employed thereto.
I, ROBERT KIESERLING of Solingen Rhenish Prussia Germany, 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: :-
It
Horn as a very hard and comparatively light material which by proper treatment
may be brought in any shape is very suitable for making shoe and boot soles.
has also been tried for the use of such, but these trials had not been successful
hitherto because the soles made were too stiff and they could not be conveniently
armed with nails against wear and tear.
My invention now embodies the following items by means of which it is possible
to give the soles the necessary flexibility, to arm them with nails which are of special
construction and to bring them in such a shape and form which is most suitable to
the shape of the foot.
As auxiliaries for this manufacture-the flexible shoe and boot soles of horn
armed with nails-I have invented a special sort of nail, a peculiar cutting machine
or saw for treating the soles in such a manner that they become flexible and a press
of special construction in which the soles are provided with the nails and are brought
in such a shape and form as named above.
The raw horn is first softened and then cut open and freed from grease and
impurities attaching to it, then in a soft state-the softening as is well known is done
by steaming the horn or warming it in hot water-it is pressed in flat sheets of
suitable thickness, say of an inch in thickness. When these sheets are dry
and hard again the soles are cut out of them as to their geometrical form either
by a band saw or by a punching machine.
The pieces now received are made soft again and under a press they are provided
with holes corresponding in width and depth to the size of the nails with which they
are to be armed afterwards.
The soles so far prepared are cut obliquely in one direction only or crossways as
is shown by fig. 8 of the accompanying drawing, by being passed through a circular
saw especially constructed for the purpose and which will be described hereafter. By
this cross cutting process the soles become flexible.
Now they are softened again, the nails shown by fig. 7 are put in the holes and the
soles with the nails are placed in moulds and put under a press in order to be provided
with the diamond shaped little holes as shown by fig. 9.

page_text: This operation has for its object to fix the nails in the soles and to close the spaces
at the outside made by the cutting operation, because the little projections in the
stamping or punching tool. by penetrating into the plastical material of the soft soles
press part of that material into the cuts made and press it round the nails and into
the grooves in the same.
The nails as will be seen from fig. 7 are little cylinders with a pointed end on one
side of of an inch in diameter and about to of an inch long with circular
grooves. They may be provided with heads as ordinary shoe nails if thought desirable.
After the soles have been brought to this state of perfection, they only require yet
to receive the warped shape of ordinary soles and this is done by softening them
again and putting them into a mould of the desired shape and placing both under
a press where they are left until they are cold, when they will keep the warped form
desired.
The cutting machine is shown by figs. 4, 5 & 6 of the accompanying drawing.
From an ordinary circular saw it is distinguished by the following items:
1) The spindle is armed with so many sawblades as correspond to the whole length
of a shoe sole; the saw blades are separated from each other by filling pieces put
between them; which can be changed in order that the distance from blade to blade
may be varied from to of an inch according to the size of the shoe.
2 The table is adjustable vertically and it is made of grate or gridiron shape that
the saw blades can project through it always so much as will be required for the
depth of the cut to be made in the sole.
The press is entirely new and of peculiar construction and working; it is shown by
figs. 1, 2 & 3 of the drawing.
It is a continuous acting rotary press. The press plates or pistons are formed by
two circular rings A & B of box shape, made of wrought iron or steel by rivetting
two U irons together; these rings are placed between five-(more or less according
to the size of the press)-double standards CC between which they are free to
revolve round their vertical geometrical axis. For that purpose they are provided
each with a circular rack, the upper one at its top side & the lower one at its
bottom side D & E. These racks are in gear with pinions F' F' and G' G³ keyed on
short shafts H'H' & 1' 15 at the inner ends of which are also fixed the bevil
wheels N N and P P and these again are in gear with a large central bevil
wheel R with a double row of teeth, one row at the bottom and one row at the top
side and which is mounted on a vertical shaft S. This shaft may be set in motion by
any convenient means.
On the short spindles H H and 11 are also mounted the press and guide
rollers K guiding and carrying the press rings A & B.
The journals of the spindies H¹ & Prest on strong springs which tend to press the
spindles and thus the press rollers and also the press rings towards each other.
Besides this the upper press ring can be pressed downwards by screws I screwed
in each of the double standards C¹³.
Between the standards C & C is placed a table T and also a distance piece U
consisting of two rollers. together of such thickness as corresponds to the thickness
of a mould containing a shoe sole with the cover.
At the left of the distance piece U the press is further provided with the emptying
bar V. This is a piece of iron placed obliquely between the press rings A & B it
has for its object to shift the moulds cut of the press when it is in action.
Now the working of the press is as follows: the moulds W filled with the soles,
which have been made soft and provided with the nails as described above are
pushed from the table T between the two press rings behind U, while they are
turning round, one after the other as shown by the drawing fig. 1. Between the
standards C&C the rings are gradually pressed closer together; at the standard C³
they are allowed to open a little again so that they may be held open to the full
width at V, from which arrangement it will be seen that the moulds with the soles
can be conveniently placed into the press and that they are pressed together gradually
and allowed to open and to be pushed out of the press automatically.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1) The method for making flexible shoe soles of horn armed with peculiar nails,
which method consists in the following: "the material is formed in plates of suitable
thickness, then cut to the shape of a sole by a band saw or by a punching machine,
whereupon it is softened by warming and provided with the holes for the nails to be
set in afterwards and after being cooled and hardened again it is cut diagonally or
crossways by means of a special circular saw and now the nails are put in the holes
and the material is again heated and softened and provided with diamond shaped
holes in a press, by which operation, the hollow spaces of the cross cuts are partly
filled up again and closed at the surface of the soles and the material is pressed
round the nails, thus holding them fast in their circular grooves and finally the soles
are softened again and placed in proper moulds and exposed to pressure until they
are cold and hard again in order to receive and keep the warped forin.
2) The flexible shoe soles of horn armed with nails and provided with diagonal or
cross cuts as described.
3) The multiple circular saw for cutting the soles diagonally and distinguished
by the combination of a gridiron table adjustable vertically for allowing the passage
of the saw blades in proper height and distance, with the saw spindle with any
suitable number of adjustable saw blades fixed thereon in distances varying from
to of an inch.
4) The continuous acting rotary press for making the flexible shoe soles of horn
according to, the method specified and consisting of several double standards C¹³
and the box shaped cylindrical press rings A, B placed between the standards and
which are turned by means of the circular racks D & E fixed to their top and
bottom sides respectively and by means of the pinions F1 G¹. The press rings
being made in box shape of steel plates that they can be held assunder at a certain
place for laying in new moulds with soles and taking out finished ones automatically
without influencing the pressing action going on at the other part of the press."
The whole as set forth and as represented by the drawing and substantially as and
for the purpose described.
Dated this 21st day of December 1887.
KARL I. MAYER,
Agent for Applicant.