Improvements relating to Machines for Lasting Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Apr., 1888
Specification Accepted, 11th May, 1888
[Communicated from abroad by CHARLES B. LANCASTER, of Boston, Massachusetts,
United States of America.]
Improvements relating to Machines for Lasting Boots and Shoes.
I HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
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 improvements in that class of lasting machine in which
the upper leather is stretched and folded or lasted over and upon the inner sole by
mechanical appliances, and it has for its object to improve the construction and
operation of such machines.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 represents the present improvement in side elevation in connection with
a lasting machine of the character represented in Letters Patent of the United States
No. 361,363 of April 19th 1887.
Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line x, x of Figure 1 some parts of the
mechanism being removed.
Figures 3 and 4 represent in vertical section on the line y, y, of Figure 1 the
construction and operation of a certain other portion of that machine in which the
present invention is also embodied; and
Figures 5 and 6. show also on an, enlarged scale details of the device as will be
afterwards set forth.
In lasting machines as heretofore constructed, wherein the edges of the upper are.
seized and stretched upwardly by overhanging pinchers prior to being folded in upon
the last by heel, toe, and side lasting devices, it has been usual to provide these pinchers
or grippers at suitable intervals entirely around the edge of the upper to be lasted.
I have discovered, however, that when this is done there is a tendency of the stock,
especially in the shank, to be held too tightly by the pinchers and consequently to
prevent the shoe from being well lasted where the upper is thus held. By my present
improvement I may use pinchers or grippers.around those portions of the upper where

page_text: a tight holding is desirable, while at the other portions, and especially on either side
of the shank of the upper, I substitute in the place of such pinchers or grippers a
spring extending down sufficiently, so that the upper may be caught between it and
the side lasting device and thus be gradually relaxed by the slip or yield of the spring
as the side lasting device brings a strain to bear upon it.
Referring to the drawings, I have there represented an overhanging device
embodying my present improvements adapted to co-operate with the lasting devices
in the operation of lasting a boot or shoe. In this device I have represented pinchers
of the lazy-tongs form with operating rods and two plates adapted to be brought
together to close the pinchers and to be separated to open them. I provide slots b in
the lower plate B in which the pinchers are supported, whereby I am enabled to adjust
them inwardly or outwardly and thus give to the machine a capacity for lasting a
wider range of shoes. This construction is best shown in Figure 6.
I have also mounted in the same plate B a spring, or more properly a pair of springs,
extending downwardly to a length sufficient to meet the edge of the upper, and to
hold it with a yielding grip against the inward pressure of the side lasting devices.
This spring is represented at in the drawings, and I prefer to construct it of steel,
and of substantially the form there shown, although it is obvious that the two springs,
one for each side, need not necessarily be formed of one and the same piece of
metal.
I find in practice that by the use of this spring, which furnishes a yielding grip of
the upper, instead of pinchers with an unyielding or rigid grip, I obtain a slipping or
gradual releasing effect which greatly improves the character of the finished work,
especially when applied as I have represented it at the shank.
A third feature of my present improvement is in the improved device for raising
and lowering the upper plate relatively to the lower one, and also for raising and
lowering the entire gripping attachment in the operation of the machine.
It has heretofore been attempted to perform this operation by means of three screw-
rods, two being screw threaded in the lower plate and connected by means of a gearing
with a single operating wheel for opening and closing the pinchers, and the third
screw-threaded in the upper plate and provided with a separate operating wheel
for raising and lowering the pinchers. By my present improvement I greatly
simplify this apparatus by dispensing with all screw-threads and screw-threaded
portions and by substituting a single rod for the three previously described, I
obtain an apparatus which is also much quicker and easier in its operation.
I provide a hollow post D attached to the lower plate B and passing upwardly
through the plate A. Within this post (see Figure 2) is a sliding rod E or presser
foot, and above it a cam-lever F, acting upon the head of the sliding rod. By
pressing this cam-lever down I can raise the gripping attachments rapidly and by
a single motion, the whole sliding upwardly upon the rod which is connected at
its lower end to a down-hold plate K of ordinary construction as shown.
Furthermore, for moving the plates A and B together and apart, to operate the
pinchers, I provide a two-part circular wedge cam, best shown at Figure 5: The
upper portion of this wedge cam G is secured to the hollow post D which it
surrounds. The lower portion H of the wedge cam also surrounds the post, but is
left to turn loosely about it upon the upper face of the plate A, and is provided
with a suitable operating handle for turning it. By turning this portion H of
the wedge cam in either direction, I am enabled quickly and by a single motion,
to separate or bring together the plates A, B, to open or close the pinchers.
1 am aware that spring pinchers have heretofore been employed in lasting
machines, but this feature is not embodied in my present invention, because as
before stated, by the use of the spring as herein described and shown, I am enabled
to do away with pinchers altogether in lasting those portions of the upper where it
is not desirable that pinchers should be employed.
I am also aware that in lasting machines heretofore constructed, such as are shown
for example in United States Letters Patent 142,657 to Trask and Wheeler, a spring
rubber has been attached to the side lasting plate for the purpose of pressing the

page_text: upper up to or against the last. My present invention differs from these in that I
employ a spring projecting downwardly on the inner side of the upper or that next
the last, instead of on the outer side as in the machines mentioned." With a spring
constructed and arranged according to my present invention, the upper when being
lasted is seized between the spring on the one side, and the side lasting devices on
the other side, and is thereby lasted with a yielding grip, a feature not found, so
far as I am aware, in any contrivance heretofore known."
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 :-
:-
First. In a lasting machine, the combination with inwardly sliding lasting plates,
of springs substantially as described, extending on the inner side and downwardly
below the edge of the upper to be lasted, and adapted to hold the same with a
yielding grip against the inward pressure of the slides, all substantially as set forth.
Second. In a lasting machine having an overhanging gripping attachment the
improved device for raising and lowering the same, consisting of the hollow post D,
the rod E, working therein and bearing at its lower portion upon a down-hold, and
the cam-lever F, all substantially as set forth.
Third. In a lasting machine having an overhanging gripping attachment of the
character described, the combination with the upper and lower plates A, B, of the
post D, secured to the lower plate and passing through the upper plate, and
the wedge cam G, H, formed in two parts one fixed to the post and the other
adapted to turn around the same upon the plate A, all substantially as set forth.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.