IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND IN MACHINERY THEREFOR
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND
SHOES, AND IN MACHINERY THEREFOR."-A communication from abroad
by Francis D. Ballou and George Warren Copeland, both of Boston,
Massachusetts. United States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Potition and
Declaration, on the 11th November 1874, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND IN MACHINERY THEREFOR,” and
have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have

page_text: made solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to me from
abroad by Francis D. Ballou and George Warren Copeland, both of
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement :-
This Invention has for its object the manufacture of boots and shoes
by machinery.
It is well known that parts of shoes have long been cut out by dies,
and that parts of shoes have been united to each other by sewing
mechanism, and that the hook-needle wax thread sewing mechanism has
been used not only in the uppers but in uniting soles with uppers, but
so far as I know successfully only in turned work and in the so called :
Blake shoe, in which all the parts are sewed through and through. The
shoe which is to be made under this process is however a shoe resembling
more nearly the hand-sewed welted shoe with two seams, and the success
of the manufacturer in making such a shoe by machinery depends upon
an exact adjustment of many things, and slight changes in the
machinery of the factory, which I am about to explain.
The upper must be carefully developed to the last in any usual
manner, so that when lasted it shall lap upon the inner sole about half
to three-quarters of an inch.
In the Drawings Fig. 1 is a section of the lasted shoe across the ball
of the foot, showing its construction; Fig. 2 is a similar section showing
only the upper with welt attached. In these u is the upper attached to
the welt w by the sewed seam s. The welt w is attached in lasting to
in-sole i, 8, by the tack scam t; the welt w is attached to the outer
sole o, 8, by the sewed seam s¹. The line of union between the upper
and in-sole may be either at the edge of the upper or at the edge of the
wolt, but in fine work it is most economical to make it at the edge of
the welt, and this makes a firmer and more flexible shoe. The develop-
ment must be well done, as the edge of the upper is a guide for
the attachment of the welt, and the perfection of lasting depends much
on the even and regular attachment of the welt all round, as that forms
an abutment for the lasting plates. A welt is next cut from sole

page_text: leather, such as is usual in making hand sewed shoes, and attached by
wax thread mechanism to the upper, as shown at Fig. 2, the stitches
being preferably set near the median line of the welt and near the edge
of the upper. By use of a welt gauge as next herein-after described this
operation may be performed with great facility, and the crimping of the
toe automatically effected.
In the Drawing Fig. 5 is a section of the parts applied about the
throat of a sewing machine, which form the welt gauge, in which a is
a plate, either the bed plate of the machine or one applied to it specially
for this purpose, and 4 is the needle throat. A lip 2 is made at a
proper gauge from the throat / for the projection of the welt beyond the
seam uniting welt w and upper u. A plate 6 adjustible to and from the
lip h³ by means of the slot g and clamping screw d serves as an adjustible
fixed guide for any width of welt and any interior projection thereof.
A second plate c also adjustible to and from the same point by aid of
slot and clamping screw d serves as the gauge for the edge of the
upper. The plates b and c are set in their proper relations, and clamped
to plate a; the welt feeds along without attendance, guided on .both
edges; the edge of the upper is readily held against the edge of the
plate cand the stitches, thereby set at the proper gauge, and the
crooked places accurately and automatically crimped. An in-sole cut
to proper form is next taken and tacked to a last, preferably an iron-
bottomed one, and the upper with welt attached placed in the lasting
machine. This machine has a double motion of its jaws and lasts by
aid of the welt. Fig. 3 is a perspective of the machine, and Fig. 4
is a section illustrating its method of work. The standard A carries a
toe block a and lasting plate b, which projects inward towards the shoe,
and is to be inserted under the welt. At the opposite end of the
machine is a moveable standard B operated by a hand screw c, and
carrying a spindle or bracket d, on which the last O is hung, the toe
being adjusted in the. toe block a. This standard also carries a lasting
plate 6' to fold the upper over at the heel. Two jaws D, E, formed at
the edges in plan to lap upon the last a moderate distance when closed
along a line parallel to the outer conformation of the last, and in
elevation to correspond with the curved under surface of the last, are
arranged on levers F, I, J, which are pivoted in slots in the frame of the
machine, allowing the jaws D, E, to be raised and lowered parallel to
the sides of the last. Another lever K having arms L which lay hold

page_text: of the jaw frame F, I, J, serves to lift the jaws, and the toggle G, H,
with its handle M serves to close the jaws. These two independent
motions enable the workman to catch and lift the welt and with it the
upper round the last, and then by closing catch under the welt W, as
shown in Fig. 4, and draw the upper to a bearing all over where it is
tacked to the inner sole.
-
In order that the tack seam may not be visible on the inside of the
shoe I scarf the inner sole, as shown in Fig. 6, along its edge. In this
Figure i, s, is the inner sole; a scarf c is cut inward from the edge and
a flap turned up all round. The in-sole is laid on the iron-bottomed last,
the upper u and welt w are lasted on, and the lasting tacks & driven and
clinched. On taking the last from the shoe the flap is smoothed back
and cemented down. The shoe is now ready for the attachment of the
outer sole. This is done by aid of a hook needle wax thread sewing
machine, having a very small table with the needle throat close to the
odge, such as a "post machine, with a table about the size of a half-
crown piece, and having suitable guards and gauges to prevent the
needle injuring the upper; the sewing is done by a straight needle. As
these machines are somewhat common I do not think it necessary to
describe them.
°
As however for the best work a modification is desirable I have
contrived an attachment to use in combination with a broad channel,
which is as follows:-Fig. 12 is a perspective of the attachment in
question, and Fig. 13 is a section. A is a plate to be attached to the
working plate, or to be used as the working plate; B is an oblong nipple
projecting upward with a central vertical cavity. This nipple is broad
and strong at the base, and firmly attached to the plate A; it tapers on
the outside to a thin edge at the top. The oblong cavity forms the
throat, in which the feeding instrument, awl, or needle vibrates. The
upper edge is notched at c to allow of the passage of the thread if
necessary. This throat is specially designed for working on soles
channeled for sewing, as shown at c, Fig. 13. It serves as a guide and
gauge for the work, allows it to be tipped at almost any angle. It
should be about half an inch high from the plate A, though a less
height will be useful. It is best placed for sole sewing at the edge of a
post machine as the throat of the machine, the plate A being the work
plate of the post top..

page_text: As it is plainly impossible to sew with a straight needle so peculiarly
irregularly crooked a thing as a sole when moulded to the last I prepare
the outer sole for attachment as follows:-
In the Drawings Fig. 7 is a section of a channeled sole; Fig..8 is a
section of a sole prepared for sewing.; and Fig. 9 is a perspective of the
same. The sole properly tempered is first channeled with a vertical
channel enlarged into a thread cavity at the bottom, as shown at a,
Fig. 7. Next a flange is turned down, including the channeled part, as
shown at b, Fig. 8, the sole being rounded up either before, after, or at
the time of turning the flange. The line on which the sole is flanged
should coincide very nearly with the line of stitches, uniting the welt to
the upper when the sole is applied, as by this means there will be no
slack in the welt when the sole is turned back in finishing. Next, the
channel is opened out by crowding the leather cover of the channel to
the sides, as shown at c, Figs. 8 & 9, so as to make it practically of
uniform width in all its extent. This sole is stitched to the welt by
stitches laid in the channel, the channel closed and flange turned back,
the sole trimmed, and the boot or shoe turned over to the finishers.
The broad channel here described serves in combination with the raised
throat to guide and gauge the work. By flanging the sole the channel
is closed, and must be opened. This is done by the contrivance shown
in Figs. 10 & 11, where A is a feed wheel; B is a post having near its
top a recess, in which fits block B' fast on the arm C, which is pivoted
at its outer end, and depressed by a spring or weight so as to accommo-
date varying thicknesses of leather. Block B¹ carries plough shaped
much like a share and double mould boards of an agricultural plough,
and also at the same gauge the roller E formed with the neck f; the
feed wheel A should be rough surfaced; the sole is rolled through this
machine and the channel opened.
In flanging the sole I met with much difficulty until I devised the
following means, illustrated in Figs. 14, 15, & 16 :-A, A³, is a halved
female die; upon the rim a is a ledge and wall c, b, forming a bed for
the sole. The parts A, A¹, are pressed together by springs, either
internal, as shown at d, or external; the upper die B, B¹, is also double.
The two parts are adjustible-to-and from each other by screws-e, so that
one die may serve for several blocks. It is narrower than the opening
in die A, A³, by about twice the thickness of sole leather. In using
the die B, B', arranged for the wide "blocks" quoins may be dropped

page_text: between the parts A, A¹, of the lower die to prevent it from fully
closing. A piece of sole leather cut to shape and properly tempered is
laid in the recess c within the rim b, and the male die B, B¹, brought
down. This turns a flange along the edges of the male die and shapes
the sole to the bottom of the last. As the thickness of sole leather
varies the springs of the female die will yield to accommodate any
thickness.
The following matters in the foregoing Specification are not by
themselves novel. The form of shoe with sewed seams uniting welt and
upper, and welt and outer sole, and tack seam uniting upper and inner
sole; lasting by jaws, which have a horizontal motion, or by plates
conforming to the shape of the last and lapping upon it; sewing by
machinery without substantially employing the specific devices for
guarding, guiding, and gauging the work described; the use of dies for
shaping, other than dies substantially as described; the working of
leather at a suitable degree of moisture "tempered"; the development
of the stock to the last according to size and method of work, except
when my method of attaching the welt and adjusting its relations to the
upper so as to save upper stock is employed; channeling the sole to
form a bed for the stitching; cutting the inner sole as an adjunct in
uniting the sole with the upper; and with these exceptions I claim, the
process, manipulations, and machinery herein-before described in com-
bination and separately, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
Witness,
H. J. NOONE,
8, Southampton Bdgs.,
London.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)