Improvements in or connected with Top-piece and Heel Attaching Machines.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 9th May, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 9th Feb., 1894-Accepted, 31st Mar.,
1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Top-piece and Heel Attaching
Machines.
1, OWEN ROBINSON, of Champion Works, Kettering, in the County of
Northampton, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in top-piece and heel attaching machines
and has for its object to render the operations of making heels and attaching the
same to boots and shoes more expeditious than heretofore, the two operations being
performed by one movement of a treadle.
In carrying out my invention I arrange a suitable frame in which I make two
vertical rods to slide freely in parallel lines the said rods being connected at their
upper ends by a suitable crosshead on which I mount an arm or plunger to carry
the boot and having at their lower ends a cross bar to connect them. On this
cross bar I joint two links and connect them with a treadle lever which in its turn
is connected to other links one on each side of the frame and one (central)
connected to a plunger in the centre of the frame in a line with the two sliding
rods, so that the treadle when in place is suspended by the link attached to the
plunger on the underside of the machine. On the end of the treadle lever is a
weight to counterbalance the weight of the two parallel rods and the crossheads
keeping them at their highest point and making the plunger and link the fulcrum
of the treadle lever, the latter being kept in place by the two links one on each side
of the frame. On the upper part of the machine and connected with the two
vertical slides I arrange a frame, either single or double adapted to revolve freely
and carrying nailing drivers, dies and moulds to make and hold the heels whilst
being fixed to the boot.
nd the ach daw of May 1902
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Top-piece and Heel Attaching
Machines.
1, OWEN ROBINSON, of Champion Works, Kettering, in the County of
Northampton, 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 :-
My invention relates to improvements in top-piece and heel attaching machines
and has for its object to render the operations of making heels and attaching the
same to boots and shoes more expeditious than heretofore, the two operations being
performed by one movement of a treadle.
In carrying out my invention I arrange a suitable frame in which I make two
vertical rods to slide freely in parallel lines, the said rods being connected at their
upper ends by a suitable crosshead, on which I mount an arm or horn to carry the
boot or shoe, and having at the lower ends a crossbar to connect them. On this
crossbar I joint two links and connect them with a treadle-lever which in its turn
rn

page_text: is connected to other links, one on each side of the frame and one (central)
connected to a plunger in the centre of the frame in a line with the two sliding rods
so that the treadle when in place is suspended. On the end of the treadle-lever is a
weight to counterbalance the weight of the two parallel rods and the crosshead,
keeping them at their highest point and making the plunger and link the fulcrum
of the treadle-lever, the latter being kept in place by the two links one on each
side of the frame. On the upper part of the machine and connected with the two
vertical slides I arrange a frame, adapted to revolve freely and carrying nailing
drivers, dies and moulds to make and hold the heels and fix the same to the
boot.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved machine; and,
Figure 2 is a central transverse section of the same :
Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3, Figure 1:
Figures 4, 5, and 6 are views of details hereinafter described:
Figures 7, 8, 9 and 10 are views hereinafter described illustrating modifications
for building and attaching fancy heels.
a is the framing of the machine, which consists mainly of two standards, and
b is the table mounted upon the said standards, the said table having fixed to or
formed upon it two hollow pillars c, c. d, d are the, vertical parallel rods which
slide in the said pillars and also at their lower ends through guides e, e formed upon
the standards of the frame a, the said rods at their upper ends carrying a cross-
head and at their lower ends a crossbar 9. The crosshead fis adjustable upon
the rods d, d by means of nuts f¹, f¹, the said nuts being connected to the said
crosshead by projections f² on the latter engaging with grooves in the said nuts as
shewn clearly in Figure 1.
is the nail-driving plunger which slides in a boss i on the underside of the
table. is the treadle-lever which is connected by a link k to a block k¹ on the
lower end of the plunger h, and 1, 1 are rods or links which are connected to the said
treadle and also to the crossbar g, the pins ³, and by which the said links k and
are connected to the treadle serving as fulcra for the latter as hereinafter described.
This treadle bas no other support than that afforded by the links and 1 but in
order to prevent the said treadle from swinging it is connected to the standards of
the frame a by links m, m. n, n are springs each of which is attached at one end
to one of the frame-standards and at the other end to the crossbar 9, the said springs
in conjunction with a weight o upon the treadle j serving to retain the crosshead f
in its uppermost position. A flange formed upon the upper end of the plunger h
serves to prevent the plunger from being drawn down owing to the weight of the
connected parts.
is the horn upon which the boots to be heeled are placed and which is hinged
in a well known manner, and q is the frame carrying the nail-drivers, dies and heel-
moulds, the said frame being adapted to rotate on one of the pillars c in such a
manner that whilst the lifts in one mould are being attached to a boot or shoe the
nails and lifts for another heel may be placed in the other mould. Lugs q', '
formed upon the frame 9 are adapted to impinge against a stop ṛ upon the table for
limiting the movement of the frame so that the moulds can be brought directly
beneath the plunger. The arrangement of the heel-mould and drivers will be
readily understood by reference to Figures 4, 5 and 6, Figure 4 being mainly a
central section through one end of the frame 7 and the contained mould and nail-
driving mechanism; Figure 5 a plan of the same with the heel-mould removed, and
Figure 6 a plan of the said mould detached. In these figures s indicates a bush
which is fitted into the frame q, t the plate or die for receiving the nails, t¹ the
mould, u the block carrying the drivers u', u', and u³ a spring for moving the
driver-block down after it has been pushed upwards to drive the nails, all of which
parts are of ordinary construction and require no further description.
The operation of the machine hereinbefore described is as follows.-The plate &

page_text: of one of the moulds t¹ having been provided with nails and the said mould being
filled with the lifts for forming the heel, the boot or shoe to be heeled is placed
upon the horn p which is moved so as to bring the portion of the boot to which the
heel is to be applied immediately over the heel-lifts; the treadle j is then depressed,
the movement taking place upon the fulcrum k owing to the fact that by reason of
the weight o and the resistance of the entrance of the nails into the heels the cross-
head will move down more readily than the plunger will move up. The effect of
the first part of the movement of the treadle therefore is to bring the horn p with
the boot or shoe thereon down into contact with the heel-lifts in the mould, as
shewn in Figure 4. As now the crosshead f can move no farther down it follows
that the further movement of the treadle in a downward direction causes it to turn
upon the pin as a fulcrum whereby the plunger / will be forced upwards against
the driver-block u to drive the nails and thereby secure the lifts to the boot or
shoe. On the treadle being released the parts return to their normal positions, that
is to say the plunger moves downwards owing to its weight and that of the part
suspended from it and the crosshead moves upwards under the action of the
spring n and the weight o: the other mould, which, whilst the operations before
described were taking place, has been filled with heel lifts and provided with nails
is now moved beneath the horn p and the operations before described are
repeated.
In attaching higher heels than that shewn in Figure 4 it will be necessary to
adjust the position of the horn p relatively with the heel lifts. This adjustment is
effected by means of the nuts f¹‚ƒ'.
In order to adapt my machine for building and attaching fancy heels, which
building and attaching cannot be performed in one operation I have somewhat to
modify the arrangement of the parts, that is to say, instead of employing a mould
of the kind shewn in Figures 4 and 6, I make use of a mould made in two parts as
shewn in Figures 7 and 8 which are respectively a central section and a plan of
this modified form of mould with the adjacent parts. This divided mould which is
indicated by the letter v in Figures 7 and 8 is adapted to fit into a frame v¹, the
outer sides of the mould and the inner side of the frame being correspondingly
tapered or inclined so that when the said mould is dropped into the said frame the
two parts will be firmly held in position. The heel in this case is preferably formed
in sections, say three, each section being composed of several lifts previously secured
together. The sections of the heel having been placed in the mould as shewn in
Figure 7, the frame q carrying the mould and its frame is turned to bring the heel
immediately beneath the horn p in order that by the movement of the treadle
hereinbefore described the said sections may be fixed together by nails, three being
generally sufficient for the purpose.
It will of course be understood that the plate t and driver u must be adapted for
the number of nails to be driven.
20
I now apply the top lift to the heel by means of the same mould but with a
different set of drivers as shewn in central section in Figure 9. In this case 1
remove the mould v containing the heel from the frame v and I provide a plate
for carrying such top lift indicated by the letter w¹, the said plate with the lift
therein being placed in the bottom of the frame v into which the mould and heel
is replaced as shewu. The nails are then driven into this heel through the top lift
in the manner herein before described.
In order to attach a heel thus prepared I find it necessary to provide the arrange-
ment of mechanism shewn in sectional elevation in Figure 10. This mechanism
consists of a pillar a adapted to be fitted into the frame q, the said pillar having at
its upper end a block forming a horn upon which the boot or shoe to be heeled is
placed. This block al is similar to the plate t herein before described, that is to
say, it has in it holes for the nails for fixing the heel and for the drivers for driving
the nails, the said drivers being operated from the usual plunger h of the machine
through the medium of a rod y which passes up through the pillar c.
Instead of the horn p, which is removed from its supporting socket p² by

page_text: loosening the screw p², I make use of a supporting block z adapted to take its
place and I adjust the nuts f¹, f¹ as required.
In building fancy heels as herein before described I find it advantageous to
arrange the frame q so that one mould shall be adapted for fixing the sections of
the heel together and the other for fixing the top lift.
It will be understood that by the use of my improved machine I can build and
attach high, low, plain or fancy heels by merely changing a few of the parts which
is I believe a result never before attained in any single machine.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a machine for building boot or shoe heels and attaching the same, the
employment of a single treadle for clamping the heel-lifts, or the boot or shoe on
the heel-lifts, and operating the nail-drivers, substantially as described.
2. In a machine for building boot or shoe heels and attaching the same the
combination with the horn and nail-driving plunger of a treadle having two fulcra
and so arranged that it will move partly on one fulcrum and partly on the other
substantially as, and for the purposes, described.
3. In a machine for building boot or shoe heels and attaching the same the
employment of two sets of heel moulding and driving mechanism carried in a
movable frame and adapted to be operated alternately by a common plunger,
substantially as described.
4. In a machine of the kind hereinbefore described the employment of mechanism
-constructed substantially as described by reference to Figures 7 to 10 of the
accompanying drawings for use in building and attaching fancy heels.
5. The manufacture and use of the improved heel-building and attaching
machine hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Oth day of Feb 1901
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.