Improvements in or relating to Lasting Machines for Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd July, 1895
Complete Specification Lef. 4th May, 1896-Accepted, 3rd July. 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Lasting Machines for Boots
and Shoes.
I, FREDERICK CUTLAN of Castle Hill, Wellingborough, in the County of
Northampton, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
1
This invention relates to lasting machines for boots and shoes and, has reference
particularly to the means employed for tightly straining the leather over the toe
portion of the last. For this purpose I employ pincers or equivalent consisting
preferably of a lower jaw which may be fixed or not, to the head or other suitable
part of the machine, and an upper movable jaw which may be swivelled or otherwise
jointed to the former jaw, or carried by the head or otherwise arranged so as to
securely grip the leather between it and the lower jaw. Various means may be
employed for pressing the jaws together, a convenient arrangement consisting in a
roke or equivalent secured to the lower jaw and a cam wedge or equivalent
operated by a suitable hand-lever which engaging with the yoke or equivalent
presses the two tightly together so as to firmly hold the leather, between
the jaws.
These pincers may be carried by the head and may slide with the head or
otherwise as required, or be secured to the machine so as not to slide. The jaws
or gripping ends of the pincers I prefer to make wide and curved so as to
correspond more or less exactly with the toe-end of the last and grip the
leather a considerable distance around the toe. The jaw end of the piucers may
rest or take a bearing upon the wiper plates or other portion of the head or
machine.
The wiper plates together with the plate to which the pincers are fixed may be
attached to a sliding plate connected to the head or clamp by a screw stud or other
suitable means. The sliding plate has a slotted hole to give sufficient movement.
On the under side of the sliding plate is a lug or pin to drop into a recess in the
head or clamp in which is a spring which, will operate against the lug and so
upon the plate with the wiper plates and cams an even pressure being brought
upon the toe end of the last so that when the last is being pressed downwards
the spring yields to the form of the toe and causes a smooth lasting of the
upper.
Dated this 3rd day of July 1895.
Improvements in or relating to Lasting Machines for Boots
and Shoes.
I, FREDERICK CUTLAN of Castle Hill, Wellingborough 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 ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to lasting machines for boots and shoes and has reference
Price 71

page_text: particularly to the means employed for tightly straining the leather over the toe
portion of the last.
The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a plan and
Figure 2 a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 of apparatus constructed
according to this invention.
In carrying the invention into practice I adjustably secure a block A preferably
by means of bolts B B1 to the bed plate B³ of the machine, the bolt B being
provided with a spherical or partly spherical head B2 which fits into a correspondingly
shaped recess or socket in the underside of the block A, so as to allow the block to
pivot thereon; the two bolts B B₁ admit of both the longitudinal and transverse
angles of the block A being varied, the bolt B being fixed by a clamping plate and
nut B in any desired position in the bed plate and the bolt B₁ being left free to
move along the bed plate.
In the upper side of the block A, which is generally inclined as shown in the
drawings form a recess A¹ for receiving a spring and lug D' of which, the
latter (D) is secured to or formed in part with a sliding plate D. The forward
end of the block A is recessed as at A2 for receiving the toe of the boot or shoe to
be lasted as shown in Figure 2. The sliding plate D under the influence of the
spring C is normally held in its most forward position, as shown in the drawings,
at which time the lug D' may abut against the forward end of the recess A¹ and
thereby constitute the stop for limiting the forward movement of the sliding
plate D.
The sliding plate D is retained in operative connection with the block A by a
screw E and keeper plate or block E' which are accommodated in a slot D2 in the
plate D; this screw E and block E' either in conjunction with or independently of
the lug D' may serve for limiting the movement of the sliding plate D on the
block A as will be well understood without further description.
To the upper side of the sliding plate D is rigidly secured as by screws F¹
Fig. 1 a plate F whose underside is recessed at its central part as indicated by the
dotted lines in Figure 1 so as to accommodate between it and the sliding
plate D a pair of levers G, these levers being free to operate in the space thus
provided for them. The upper face of the sliding plate D at its forward end is
recessed so as at this part to accommodate between the plate D and the levers Ga
pair of wiper plates H the front or forward edges of which are curved Lo
approximately the shape of the boot-toe to be lasted; the front or forward ends of
the block A and sliding plate D may be somewhat similarly curved, only on wider
lines so as to leave ample room for the various shapes of boots and shoes to be
lasted in the same machine.
The levers G are pivotted to the sliding plate D conveniently by screwed
studs G¹ and at their back ends are connected together by a spring G which tends
always to move their front ends apart. To each of the levers G is pivotted a
link J and these links are pivotted together by a pin J' which is free to move in a
straight line within a slot F 3 in the plate F. The forward ends of the levers G
are provided with downwardly-projecting studs G3 which extend down to nearly
the surface of the sliding plate D. These studs are adapted to bear against the
back edges of the wiper plates H which are loosely pivotted to the levers G and
plate D by the before mentioned pivot-studs G¹.
To the upper side of the plate FI connect pincers K K' preferably by means of
slotted lugs F 4 which are rigid on the plate F and receive in their slots F5 the
pivot pin K 2 which connects the two pincer jaws K K' together.
To the pincer jaw K' is swivelled a turn-button or device L and the other pincer
jaw K is provided with a slot K 3 which is large enough to allow the turn-button
to pass through and also with inclined can surfaces K 4 by which latter, when the
turn-button is turned on to them as shown in the drawings, the two jaws K K

page_text: are forced together. The gripping ends of the jaws K K' I prefer to make wide
and curved as shown in the drawings so as to correspond more or less exactly
with the toe-end of the last and grip the leather a considerable distance around
the toe.
M is a toe-rest which, as usually is adjustable in the machine frame.
N is a portion of a boot-last and O O¹ are portions of a boot upper and insole
respectively.
The levers for pressing the boot-last downwards on to the toe rest M and
forwards up to the wiper plates H are not shown in the drawings as they are not
essential to a clear understanding of my present invention.
:-
The operation of the before-described apparatus is as follows:-
The last N with the upper and insole thereon is placed in the machine in the
usual manner and the toe of the upper is gripped by the pincers K K' then with
the usual lever the last is depressed on to the toe rest M and by the second or
"back
lever the last and upper are forced forward. During this forward
movement of the last and upper the latter is tightly strained over the edge of the
wiper-plates H, and as the pressure is transferred from the wiper plates through
the two inner studs G 3 to the levers G the forward ends of these levers and the
wiper plates are caused to moved inwards so that the side portions of the toe of the
upper O are "wiped over the insole 01 and may at that stage be stitched, or
tacked to the last or otherwise secured in position. The toe portion of the
upper O part of which has at that time been forced below the wiper-plates H
may
by turning the turn-button L be released from the pincers K K'and secured to the
last in any desired manner. At the time that strain is put upon the upper the
sliding plate D with the levers-G wiper plates H and pincers K K¹ mounted
thereon, yields so as to prevent damage of the upper by excessive strain and to
ensure a smooth lasting.
"
The wiper plates H, by first unscrewing the pivot studs G 1, can be very readily
removed for the substitution therefor of other wiper plates of different shape or for
any other desired purpose.
As shown by the drawings I prefer to employ the levers G and to pivot the
wiper plates H upon them, but as the wiper plates or wipers might be carried by
the sliding plate D and the levers G dispensed with, or the wipers or plates other-
wise disposed, and a result obtained substantially the same as that procured with
the arrangement described in this specification, and without altering the
arrangements of the lower part of the head or of the pincers, I have used in
the annexed claims the term wipers to cover any such arrangement in
addition to that actually described and illustrated in this specification and
drawings.
"
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 lasting boots or shoes the combination with the head which
carries the wipers of a spring-controlled sliding plate such as D substantially as and
for the purpose described.
2. In a machine for lasting boots or shoes the combination with a block such
as A both the longitudinal and transverse angles of which can be varied of a
spring-controlled sliding plate such as D by which the wipers are carried substan-
tially as described.
3. In a machine for lasting boots or shoes the employment of pincers such as K K¹
substantially as and for the purpose described.
4. In a machine for lasting boots or shoes the combination with a plate such as D
and levers and wiper plates respectively such as G and H carried thereon of pincers
such as K K¹ substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
<.

page_text: 5. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the complete device
for use on a machine for lasting boots or shoes substantially as described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 2nd day of May 1896.
FREDERICK CUTLAN.
Boult & Wade,
Agents for the Applicant.