Improvements in Channelling Machines for use in the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 25th May, 1897
Complete Specification Left, 18th Feb., 1898- Accepted, 25th July, 1898
[Communicated from abroad by CAMPBELL MACHINE COMPANY, of Pawtucket,
Rhode Island, United States of America, Manufacturers.]
Improvements in Channelling Machines for use in the Manufacture
of 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 to be as follows:-
The invention is a channelling machine adapted especially to turn and press
back the lip or flap of the channel.
In the manufacture of welted shoes a slit or channel is cut at the edge or one
face of the outer sole and it is necessary that the lip or flap be turned and pressed
back to open the channel.
Inner soles for welted shoes have usually two channels, one at the edge, and the
other on the face of the sole, and the lip or flap of the edge channel must be turned
back and pressed back, to open the channel.
This machine is the first for doing this work, and this invention is a machine
which not only cuts the channel but also completes it by turning and pressing back
the lip or flap and in doing this an oscillating flap turner is employed which is
also wholly new.
It is highly desirable that outer soles be channelled after they are laid; that
is after they are temporarily secured in place upon the lasted shoe, in readiness
for the stitcher or sewing machine by which the welt and outer sole are sewed
together; and in this invention this is accomplished.
The shoe, upon a last, with the outer sole laid in the familiar way, is presented
by the operator, to the machine. The welt and outer sole are clamped between
two work holders, one of which is fast to the frame of the machine. To put the
work in place between the work holders, the work holders are separated, the
work holder not fast to the frame of the machine being mounted upon a slide so
that it can be moved away from the complementary work holder against the
force of a spring which tends to press one work holder against the other.
After the work has been put in place it is fed as required, by the action of two
feeding levers, the operator sustaining the shoe, the feeding levers being actuated
by suitable mechanism. One of the levers has the necessary motions imparted to
it by a pair of cams, through an arm and a spring, one of the cams causing the
lever to press upon and lift off of the work alternately, and the other cam moving
the lever endwise. The other lever is moved to feed, in connection with the lever
just mentioned, by a cam groove.
As the work is thus fed a channelling knife cuts the channel and a lip or flap
turner which is placed just behind the channelling knife, enters the channel and
is oscillated by appropriate mechanism to turn the flap back and press it down
sufficiently to prevent it from returning to place. The channelling knife is secured

page_text: upon one of the feed levers above mentioned and aids in feeding on the feed stroke
of the lever while it cuts on the return stroke, the work having in the mean time
been clamped between the other feed lever and the lip turner, in the position to
which it has been fed.
The operation of the machine, as so far described, is to cut the channel and press
the flap back by the action of the knife and flap turner, and the front of one of the
work-holders acts as a guide for the work; the operator pressing the upper near the
welt, against the front of the work-holder. The channel is thus made parallel to
the edge of the inner sole, or the edge of the sole of the last; but when it is desired
that the channel be not parallel with the edge of the last, an auxiliary guide is
brought into play, and moved in and out as required.
This auxiliary guide is pinned to a slide, which is controlled by a treadle, so that
when the treadle is depressed the auxiliary guide will be brought into contact
with a cam surface. This cam surface is moved in one direction while the
channelling of the right shoe of a pair is being accomplished, and in the opposite
direction while the channelling of the left shoe of a pair is being accomplished.
The shape of this cam will obviously control the position of the auxiliary guide,
which rests also against the last, the upper being between the last and the guide,
and as the cam surface moves the guide the shoe is moved in a direction away
from the machine or allowed to move in a direction toward the machine, with a
corresponding change in the position of the channel with relation to the last.
As stated above, inner soles for welted shoes commonly have two channels, one
on the edge and the other on the inner face of the sole, parallel with the edge;
and as it is more convenient, in many cases, to make these two channels on the
usual channelling machine, I have adapted my lip turner for use in turning the lip of
the edge channel of inner soles; for it is usual to call the flap of this edge channel
a lip rather than a flap. In this adaptation of my invention the work is clamped
between two work holders, the upper one of which is a guide for the inner sole,
and the lower one is best made in the form of a disk, adapted to rotate upon its
axis, in order to reduce friction. The sole is fed as above described by the feed
lever and as the sole is fed the lip of the edge channel is turned and pressed back
by the lip turner, mounted and operated as above described.
Dated this 25th day of May 1897.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.;
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Channelling Machines for use in the Manufacture
of 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 invention is a channelling machine adapted especially to cut the channel
and turn and press back the lip or flap of the channel."
Figure 1 is a front elevation, and Figure 3 a side elevation of one of my machines
which completes the channel in the outer sole of a boot or shoe, that is not only
cuts the channel but also opens it and turns back its flap;
Figure 2 is a detail of a cam and rack described below;
Figure 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

page_text: Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8, are sectional details explanatory of the new mode of
operation of my machine; .
Figure 9 is an elevation of the mechanism for oscillating the flap turner;
Figures 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 illustrate my invention as applied to turning
the lip of a channelled inner sole.
In the manufacture of welted shoes a slit or channel is cut at the edge or on one
face of the outer sole and it is necessary that the lip or flap be turned and pressed
back to open the channel.
This machine is the first, so far as I am aware, for doing this work, and the
invention is a machine which not only cuts the channel but also completes it by
turning and pressing back the lip or flap, and in doing this I employ an oscillat-
ing flap turner which is also wholly new.
It highly desirable that outer soles be channelled after they are laid; that is
after they are temporarily secured in place upon the lasted shoe, in readiness for
the stitcher or sewing machine by which the welt and outer sole are sewed together;
and I have shown, in Figs. 1 to 9, inclusive, the best form of my machine for
channelling outer soles after they are laid.
A Fig. 5 is the shoe on the last, a the welt and at the outer sole. The welt and
outer sole are clamped between the work-holders B and b; one of which b, is fast
to the frame of the machine, while the other B is preferably provided with a sleeve
13 mounted to revolve on a stud 61; and for greater steadiness and also to still
further reduce friction I use an auxiliary sleeve 62, on stud 6. To put the work
in place between the work-holders, work-holder B and stud bare drawn away
from work-holder ; and this is effected by means of the lever 65 which is con-
nected to the slide b4 on which work-holder B and stud bare mounted; that is
B and bare at the upper end of lever 63 which is fulcrummed on slide b*. By
lifting the handle portion of lever 65 against the force of its spring *, slide 6 is
drawn down, carrying with it work-holder B and stud b.
After the work has been put in place it is fed by the levers D) and 63. Lever D
has the necessary motions imparted to it by the cams 1 D2, through arm d and
its spring d, and stud ², cam 1' acting on the cam roll of arm d to cause the feed
foot on lever D to press upon the work, and lift off the work alternately, and
cam acting through stud to move the lever D endwise; for lever D), arm d
and stud are fast to rock shaft d, which not only rocks but also moves endwise.
Lever is moved to feed in connection with lever D, by lever 66, which is actuated
by the cam groove of cam b. As the work is thus fed the channelling knife F cuts
the channel, and the lip or flap turner G oscillates, as best seen in Figs. 5 and 6, to
turn the flap back and press it down sufficiently to prevent it from returning to
place. The action of the channelling knife is best seen in Figs. 7 and 8. The
knife F is carried by lever 13, and aids in feeding on the feed stroke of lever ³,
while it cuts on the return stroke of lever 63, the work being then held
by the feed foot on lever D, and the lip turner G; which clamp
the work between them on the back stroke of lever ³, which is the cutting
stroke of knife F. The flap turner G is fast to the segment g, which meshes with
the rack g', and rack is reciprocated by lever g², and its cam g³, as fully shown
in Fig. 9. The oscillation of the segment g causes the flap turner G to oscillate
about the point of said flap turner as a centre of oscillation.
The operation of the machine, as so far described, is to cut the channel and
press the flap back by the action of the knife and flap turner, and the front of one
of the work-holders b, acts as a guide for the work; the operator pressing the upper
near the welt, against the front of the work-holder b.. The channel is thus made
parallel to the edge of the inner sole, or the edge of the sole of the last; but when
it is desired that the channel be not parallel with the edge of the last, the auxiliary
guide H is brought into play, and moved in and out as required. Guide H as
shown is pinned to slide h, which is linked to arm of rock shaft h², and arm h³ of
rock shaft is controlled by treadle rod h4 and spring ; so that when arm /³ is

page_text: depressed by treadle rod, the cam roll h6 on arm h¹ will be brought into contact
with the cam surface on rack when guide H is in action,
Rack is moved in one direction to channel the right shoe of a pair, and in
the opposite direction to channel the left shoe, by the pawls h8 h, one of which
is thrown out of action when the other is thrown into action. These pawls are
controlled and operated to move the rack has follows:
The pawls are set as desired by turning lever K which is fulcrummed on an
arm which is fast to rock shaft 3, (and preferably lever 1, arm and arm k
are fast to a hub which is made fast to rock shaft 3, as will be clear from Figs. 3
and 4). Lever K moves slide 1, and thereby moves cam rod 2, fast to slide
endwise, lifting one pawl, as hº, and dropping the other pawl, as 48. When the
rock shaft is moved longitudinally, it causes the dropped pawl 8 to move the
rack longitudinally, and the cam surface on the rack is thus moved.
Inner soles for welted shoes commonly have two channels, one at the edge and
the other on the inner face of the sole parallel with the edge; and it is more con-
venient, in many cases, to make these two channels on the usual channelling machine.
For that reason I have adapted my lip turner for use in turning the lip of the
edge channel of inner soles; for it is usual to call the flap of this edge channel a
lip rather than a flap. In the machine shown in Figs. 10 and 11, whose work is
illustrated in Figs. 12 to 15 inclusive, the work-holder is composed of two clamps
j, J, which are separable, and the upper one of which is a guide for the inner
sole S, but the lower clamp J is best made in the form of a disk, adapted to rotate
on its axis, in order to reduce friction. The sole is fed as above described by the
feed lever 1, which is moved by the cams D4 D5; and as the sole is fed the lip
of the edge channel is turned and pressed back by the lip turner G, mounted and
operated as above described. Feed lever D is fulcrummed in jaws D, which are
carried by stud 17, so that the feed foot of lever D" has a clamping and unclamping
motion towards and from work-holder J, imparted by cam D, and a feeding
motion on the axis of stud 1 imparted by cam 15.
The rack which meshes with the teeth of segment g, is reciprocated in
Figs. 10 and 11, by lever G¹, and cam G2, the link G3 connecting rack g with
lever G¹ and the work is guided by the guide G4, which extends under the lip of
the channel, as will be clear from Figs. 12 to 15.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents I declare that what I claim is:-
:-
First: In a channelling machine a channelling knife and an oscillating flap
turner organized and arranged to cause the knife to cut the channel and the flap
turner to turn the flap over and press it down in its turned over position substantially
as set forth.
Second: A channel flap turner, consisting of a tool shaped at one end to enter
the channel and mechanism to oscillate that tool with the point of the tool as the
centre of oscillation substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Third In a channelling machine the combination of a work-holder; a feed
mechanism; a channelling knife; a work guide; and means for automatically
moving the guide during the operation of the machine, substantially as and for the
purpose specified.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.