Improvements in Machines for Rounding the Soles of Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1898

page_text: Communicated from abroad by MELLEN BRAY, of Newton, in the County of
Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, United States of America.]
Improvements in Machines for Rounding the Soles of Boots and
Shoes.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
5, 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:-
My invention relates to sole rounding machines, and it consists in certain
novel features of construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, which
will be readily understood by reference to the description of the accompanying
drawings, in which
Figure 1 of the drawings is a side elevation of the head of my improved sole
rounding machine, with the weight carrying pulley on the cam shaft removed.
Figure 2. is a rear elevation of the main parts of the machine head.
Figure 3 is a partial plan of the front portion of the machine.
Figure 4 is a sectional elevation of the pivoted tool carrying arm, the cutter
stock, the gage roll carrying slide, and the levers for operating the same.
Figure 5 is a plan of the tool carrying head.
Figure 6 is a side elevation of a portion of the front end of the frame of the
head, the ratchet wheel, pulley and weight.
Figure 7 represents side elevations of two cams.
Figures 8, 9, and 10 are diagrams illustrating some of the different forms of
work which may be done on my improved sole rounding machine, and
Figure 11 is a sectional detail illustrating a modification of the anvil blade,
and its co-operation with the cutting blade.
In the drawings A is the frame of the head of the machine, secured upon a
suitable column B, and provided with the bearings A1 and A2 in which are
mounted the driving shaft C, and the fixed journal C¹, said shaft C being driven
by the pulley C, and a suitable belt.
A³ is a bracket secured to the frame A, and having mounted in bearings
thereon, the feed shaft D in an inclined position, said shaft having secured to
its front end the feed disk D¹, and to its rear end, the worm wheel D³, the teeth
of which are engaged by the worm C³ mounted upon the inner end of the
shaft C, as shown in Figure 2.
The feed disc D has its inner surface, at its periphery, roughened to assist in
feeding the shoe, which is held by the operator in the position indicated by
dotted lines in Figure 1, with the periphery of the disc bearing against the in-
5 seam.
E is an arm mounted at its rear end upon the fixed journal C₁, and movable
about said journal to a limited extent, and has secured to its front end the plate E

page_text: which depends therefrom to a point just within the lower edge of the feed disk D¹,
said plate having its lower end bevelled, and having an opening therethrough
for the passage of the shaft D as shown in Figure 1.
The arm E has formed therein suitable guide ways in which are mounted, so
as to be movable endwise therein, the slides F and F¹, which carry at their front
ends the cutting blade a, and the pressure rolls bb respectively.
The rear end of the slide F has pivoted thereto one end of the connecting
rod F2, the opposite end of which is fitted to the crank pin c, upon the end of
the driving shaft C, by which said slide is reciprocated to and from the anvil
plate E, the cutting edge of the blade a after piercing the sole abutting against
a soft metal plate d, inserted in the rear face of the anvil plate E', as shown in
Figure 1, or it may pass through an opening din said anvil plate E', as shown
in Figure 11.
The slide F has set in its front end the non-revoluble stud e, upon which is
fitted so as to be revoluble thereon the pressure rolls bb, in positions to act
upon the tread surface of the sole of the boot or shoe, when placed in the position
indicated by dotted lines in Figure 1.
The rear end of the slide F¹ has set therein a pin e¹ which is engaged by the
slotted end of the short arm of the elbow lever G, the long arm of which has
pivoted thereto the upper end of the rod G¹, the lower end of which is pivoted
to a treadle, not shown, in such a manner that a depression of the front end of
the treadle will cause a rearward movement of the slide F¹, and the rolls b b,
preparatory to placing the shoe in position to be operated upon.
The rod G¹ is moved upward, and the slide F and rolls bb are moved towards
the front to press the sole of the shoe against the feed disk D¹, by the tension
of the spring H, which surrounds said rod between the arm 131 projecting from
the column B; and the collar f firmly secured upon said rod, as shown in Figures 1
and 2.
The arm E has formed on its lower edge two downwardly projecting ears E2
which, bear one against each side of the L shaped lug g, formed integral with,
and projecting upward from the base plate of the frame A, and serve as guides
to said head in its upward and downward movements, and the limit of its down-
ward movement is determined by the adjustable screw stop h set in and project-
ing upward from an extension A4, of the frame A, against which stop said head
is normally held by the force of gravity and the tension of the spring h¹.
The ears E have horizontally elongated holes i cut through them with which
the pin ¹, set in the short arm of the lever I, engages to move said head E up-
ward about the journal C¹, when the end of the long arm of the lever I is
depressed, through the medium of the rod I', pivoted thereto, and a treadle, not
shown, connected to the lower end of said rod I¹.
The levers G and I are mounted upon a common fulcrum pin J, set in the
frame A as shown in Figures 1 and 2.
The cutter a is secured to the slide F by means of the clamping screw a¹ as
shown in Figure 1.
The mechanism herein before described with the addition of an adjustable
stop to be described is sufficient to round or trim a sole of the style shown in
Figure 8, the outline of which represents a blank of leather from which the
outer sole of a boot or shoe is to be shaped after it is tacked to the last and upper,
the full line 2 indicating the outline of the shoe at the in-seam, and the dotted
line 3 indicating the line of cut to be made by the cutter a, as the shoe is fed
towards the left of the operator as he faces the front of the machine, for a shoe
in which the edge of the sole maintains a constant distance from the in-seam.
In Figures 9 and 10 I have illustrated forms of soles of a right and left shoe
respectively, in which the edge of the sole varies in distance from the in-seam
upon the outside near the ball of the foot.
It will be observed, that, in my improved sole rounding machine the feed
disk D always maintains the same relation to the in-seam when feeding the

page_text: shoe, and consequently in order to vary the width of projection of the sole the
position of the cutter a relative to said feed disc must be varied.
To accomplish this I raise the front end of the arm E the required distance,
by means of the lever I, the rod I, and the treadle connected thereto.
As the width of the projection of the sole edge beyond the in-seam, between
certain points on the outside of the shoe is a constantly varying one, it follows
that the amount of lift to be imparted to the arm E while that portion of the
sole is being fed past the cutter, must be a constantly increasing or diminishing
one.
To accomplish this I mount upon the arm E, near its front end, an anti-fric-
tion truck j, arranged to be revoluble upon and movable endwise of a stud j¹
carried by said arm E, as shown.
The truck has formed therein a circumferential groove to receive the pin
set in the short arm of the lever K, by means of which it may be moved endwise
of the stud j¹ to locate it beneath either one of two cams and mounted upon
and firmly secured to a shaft mounted in a bearing A6 on the frame A and
in the bracket A secured to said frame as shown in Figure 3.
The roll and the cams serve as the upper stop to limit the upward move-
ment of the arm E when the operator places his foot upon the treadle connected
with the arm E.
The shaft is intermittently moved about its axis by means of a ratchet
wheel keyed thereto, and the pawl 11 pivoted to a lever 12 mounted loosely upon
said shaft, and having pivoted thereto one end of the rod m, the other end
of which is pivoted to the upper end of the lever L fulcrumed upon the journal C¹
and having set therein near the middle of its length a stud 13, upon which is
mounted the roll, which is acted upon by the cam L' secured to the worm
wheel D² and revoluble therewith, said cam having a series of throws adapted
to impart to said lever a series of vibrations, acting in co-operation with the
spring L², to each revolution of the feed disk D¹.
A shield m secured to one end of the lever m², mounted loosely upon the
shaft, projects over the ratchet wheel in close proximity to its periphery and
covers a portion of the teeth thereof as shown in Figure 1.
The shield carrying arm of the lever m² is normally held in contact with the
adjustable stop m³ by the spring n and when in that position the pawl will not
engage the teeth of the ratchet when its arm is vibrated.
In order to enable the operator to throw the pawl into engagement with the
teeth of the ratchet 7, I connect the end of the lower arm of the lever m² to a
lever, not shown, but suitably mounted upon the column of the machine in suit-
able position to be operated by the knee of the operator, by means of the cord n¹
which passes over a grooved pulley 2, as shown in Figure 2.
A stop screw o set in an arm n³ secured to or formed in one piece with the
frame A, and provided with means, as the handle o¹, for operating it by hand,
limits the rearward movement of the shield m', and determines the amount of
movement to be imparted to the ratchet and the cams k and k at each forward
movement of the pawl, thereby controlling the speed of rotation of the cam
shaft 3.
To the left hand end of the shaft is secured a grooved pulley p to which is
attached a cord pl which is wound around said pulley and has attached to its
free end a weight M which tends to rotate the shaft and the cams k and k¹
in the reverse direction to the motion imparted thereto by the action of the
pawl upon the ratchet 7.
A pin q, set in the ratchet wheel 7, limits the descent of the weight M and the
consequent rotation of said cams thereby, by coming in contact with a lug q¹
on the frame A, as shown in Figure 6.
A stop pawl r is pivoted at r to a bracket 2 on the frame A, and is pressed
into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet by the spring s, and is with-
drawn from such engagement by the action thereon of the arm N, secured upon

page_text: one end of the rocker shaft O, upon the other end of which is secured the arm N¹
which is engaged by the pin t set in the slide F', when said slide is in its extreme
forward position as in Figure 1, or whenever the shoe is removed from the machine.
The operation of my invention is as follows:
If it is desired to round out the sole of a shoe in which the sole edge is to be at
a uniform distance from the in-seam, and the parts of the machine are in the
positions indicated by full lines in Figure 1, the operator moves the lever L into
the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1, and secures it in said position
so that the cam L¹ will not act upon the truck 4, by passing the pin u through
the hole u¹, in said lever till the inner end of said pin u engages the set screw S,
as indicated in dotted line in Figure 2.
He then places his foot upon the treadle connected with the rod G¹, to move
the slide F1 and the rolls to the rear, the shoe is then placed in position as
indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1, with the heel end of the shoe towards his
left, and the tread surface of the sole towards the rolls bb, with the periphery
of the feed disk resting against the in-seam, at the point 4.
The treadle is then released, when the rolls bb press the sole against the feed
disk and the anvil surface, when, power being applied. to the driving shaft the
shoe begins to move toward the left, the arm E being held firmly between the
upper and lower stops, the cutter is rapidly reciprocated cutting a short section
of the sole at each forward movement as the shoe is fed by the disk D¹ till the
point 5 on the other side of the shoe is reached, the operator meantime guiding
the shoe and pressing it upward against the periphery of the feed disk, the sole
being cut to the shape indicated by the dotted line 3, when the pressure' rolls bb
are moved back by the operator depressing the treadle connected to the rod G¹
and the shoe is removed from the machine.
If it is desired to round out soles of shoes that have the sole edges upon the
outside of the shoe at variable distances from the in-seam, as indicated by the
dotted lines 3 in Figures 9 and 10, the pin u is withdrawn from the lever L,
when said lever will assume the position shown in full lines in Figure 1, with
the truck in position to be acted upon by the cam L¹.
Assuming that the shoe to be operated upon is one for the right foot, or as
illustrated in Figure 9, the operator, after retracting the rolls 6 b, as before
described, and moving the lever K to the right to bring the roll j beneath the
cam k, places the shoe in position, as before described, so that the point 6 is be-
tween the feed disk D and the cutter a, the treadle controlling the rolls bb is
released to permit the sole to be gripped between said rolls and the feed disc,
the treadle connected with the rod I¹ is depressed to raise the front end of the
arm E, till the roll or truck contacts with the cam k, at the point v, when,
the driving shaft being revolved, the shoe is fed to the left, the cutter a cutting
along the dotted line 3, Figure 9 until the toe is turned and the point 7 is reached,
when the operator throws the pawl into action upon the ratchet, by means of
the knee lever, and the shaft 2 and cams, k and are revolved in the direction
indicated by the arrows on Figures 1 and 7, and the arm E, with the cutter a
and anvil plate E, is moved up and down) by the combined action of the opera-
tor's foot and said cams as the radius of the cam surface acting upon said truck j
varies, the cutter severing the leather along the dotted lines 3 between the
points 7 and 8.
When the point 8 is reached the knee lever is released, the action of the
pawl upon the ratchet is suspended, and the rotation of the cams k and k
ceases, with the point on the cam k resting on the truck j, and the cutting
continues until the point 9, Figure 9, is reached when the operator removes his
foot from the treadle connected with the rod I', and places it upon the treadle
connected with the rod G¹, thereby retracting the slide F¹ and the rolls bb, and
removes the shoe.
He then releases the treadle, and the rolls bb are moved forward beyond their
position, when pressing upon the sole, during which extra forward movement

page_text: the pin t set in the slide F1 comes in contact with and moves the arm N1 towards
the front against the tension of the spring t¹ secured to the lower end of the
arm N, thereby disengaging the stop pawl r from the teeth of the ratchet 1,
when the force of gravity acting upon the weight M will cause it to descend and
move the cams back to their normal positions, or until the pin q comes in contact
with the frame A, as shown in Figures 1 and 6.
If the sole to be operated upon is on a left shoe as shown in Figure 10 the
operator moves the lever K to the left, to move the truck j beneath the cam k¹
at the point w, places his foot upon the treadle connected with the rod I to raise
the arm E, the feed disk bearing upon the in-seam of the point 10, and as soon
as the shoe has been fed to the point 11, the knee lever is operated to move the
shield m', and permit the pawl to engage the teeth of the ratchet 1, which con-
tinues to act thereon until the cam k¹ has made a half revolution, and the point w¹
thereon is in contact with the truck j, and the shoe has been fed till the
point 12 is in front of the cutter a, when the knee lever is released, the rotation
of the cams ceases, and the cutting continues on the dotted line 3 from 12 to 13,
when the shoe is removed, the rolls b advance, the stop pawl is tripped, and the
cams are turned back as before.
It will be understood that by varying the contour of the
alteration, in the projection of the sole edge beyond the
obtained.
cams any desired
in-seam, may be
The same cams may be used in rounding out soles on shoes of different sizes
having the same proportionate variation in the projection of the sole edges, by
simply adjusting the stop o so that when the knee lever is operated the shields m¹
will uncover less or more teeth of the ratchet so that the pawl will move the
cams faster, when a small sole is being rounded, than when a larger shoe is
being operated upon, or vice versa.
The cams kand k are intended to have only a semi-rotation in either direction
about their axes, and to prevent an excess of movement being imparted thereto
by the action of the pawl thereon, on account of any oversight or carelessness
on the part of the operator, a portion of the periphery of the ratchet wheel as
at x is left smooth or without teeth so that when the pawl has turned the ratchet
to the point it will play back and forth upon the blank space without turning
the ratchet.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention 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:-
1st. In a sole rounding machine the combination of a feed disk revoluble in
an inclined plane; a horizontally reciprocating cutter movable in a direction
at right angles to the line of feed of the sole; a vertically arranged anvil surface
between said cutter and feed disk, and in close proximity to the latter; a pres-
sure roll to bear against the tread surface of the sole and force it into contact
with said anvil surface and the feed disk; means for revolving said feed disc;
and means for imparting a rapid reciprocation to said cutter.
2nd. In a sole rounding machine the combination of a feed shaft mounted in
fixed inclined bearings; a feed disc carried by said shaft; means for imparting
to said shaft and disc a constant rotation; an arm pivoted to the main frame
at its rear end; means for vibrating said arm at the will of the operator; means
to limit the movements of said arm in both directions; a vertically arranged
anvil surface, carried by said arm with its operative end in close proximity to
the rear face of said feed disc; a pressure roll carried by said arm and arranged
to bear against the tread surface of the shoe sole to be acted upon; means for
retracting said roll to permit the placing of the shoe in position; a horizontally
arranged slide fitted to a bearing in said arm; a cutter carried by the front
end of said slide; and means for imparting to said slide a rapid reciprocation
in a direction at a right angle to the plane of feed of the shoe sole.

page_text: 3rd. In a sole rounding machine the combination of the fixed frame A; the
bracket A3; the driving shaft C, provided with the crank pin c and pulley C;
the feed shaft D; the feed dise D¹; the worm wheel D2; the worm C carried
by the shaft C; the arm E mounted upon a fulcrum pin in axial line with the
shaft C; the slides F and F fitted to slide in bearings in said arm E; the cutter a
carried by the slide F; the rod F2 connecting said slide to the crank pin c; the
pressure roll carried by the slide F¹; the elbow lever G connected to said slide F¹;
the rod G and the spring H for reciprocating said slide; the anvil plate E'; and
stops to limit the upward and downward movements of the arm E.
4th. In a sole rounding machine the combination of the driving shaft C pro-
vided with the crank c; the worm C3; the shaft D mounted in fixed bearings;
the worm wheel 12 and feed disc D' carried by said shaft 1); the pivoted arm E;
the screw stop h to limit the downward movement of the front end of said arm,
the anvil plate E¹, the truck j and the lever K carried by said arm; the slides F
and fitted to and movable endwise in bearings in said arm; the cutter a
carried by said slide F; the rod F2 connecting said slide F to the crank.c; the
pressure rolls bb carried by the slide F¹; a spring for moving said slide and
rolls towards the front; means for retracting said rolls; means for raising the
front end of the arm E; the shaft ; the cams kand k¹ and the ratchet wheel
all firmly secured upon the shaft ; the levers 12 and m² loosely mounted upon
said shaft; the pawl carried by the lever 12; the shield m carried by the
lever m²; the stops m³ and o; a spring for holding the lever m² securely in
contact with the stop m3; and means for moving said lever into contact with
the stop o.
5th. In a sole rounding machine the combination of a feed disc revoluble
about a fixed axis; a pivoted arm; an anvil plate, a reciprocating cutter and a
spring pressed roll all carried by said arm; means for vibrating said arm; an
adjustable stop to limit the downward movement of said arm; an automatically
varying stop to limit and vary the 'upward movement of said arm; and means
for imparting a rapid reciprocation to said cutter in a plane at right angles to
the plane of feed of the shoe for the purpose specified.
Gth. In a sole rounding machine the combination with a feed disc revoluble
about a fixed axis, of a pivoted and vibrating arm; an anvil plate, a reciprocating
cutter and a spring pressed roll all carried by said vibrating arm; means for
vibrating said arm; an adjustable stop for limiting the downward movement
of said arm; a pair of cams mounted upon a common shaft; means for inter-
mittently moving said shaft and cams about their axis in one direction to a
limited extent; means for automatically returning said cams to their normal
position; and a revoluble truck carried by said pivoted arm and arranged to
engage the periphery of one or the other of said cams to limit the upward
movement of said arm; and means for moving said truck lengthwise of its axis
to transfer it from beneath one cam to a position beneath the other cam as set
forth,
Dated 10
1
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.