Im- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE FEET, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED WITH SUCH MANUFACTURE
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Davies, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn,
in the County of Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of
Glasgow, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR
THE FEET, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED WITH SUCH MANUFACTURE,"
A communication from abroad by Alexandre Joseph Duchatel, of Paris,
France
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Davies at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
May 1860.
I, GEORGE DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of
Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER COVERINGS
FOR THE FEET, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED WITH SUCH MANUFACTURE," (a
communication from abroad by Alexandre Joseph Duchatel, of Paris, France,)
to be as follows:-
Of all the systems which have been proposed in this manufacture for fixing

page_text: the soles together, and joining them to the upper leather, it is well known that
the system most generally approved of, on account of its solidity under all tests
whic' it is called upon to endure, is based on the following principles:-1stly,
the employment of small metallic pegs or pins grooved or channeled in a
circumferential direction; and, 2ndly, the driving or forcing in of such pins
into the places which they are respectively to occupy in the solc, by percussion,
against the corresponding metallic part of the last, which is previously placed
in the inside where the said pins become rivetted in order to afford a further
security. This operation has hitherto been carried on by a long and trouble-
some process, consisting, firstly, of piercing by hand as many holes as there are
to be pegs or pins; and, secondly, of driving in the latter forcibly by means of
a hammer.
The object of the present Invention is to abridge and improve this process
by the substitution for laborious manual work of a simple mechanical opera-
tion by the aid of a beam press, or other similar means of percussion pressure
or compression. Through a metallic plate, the lower surface of which corres-
ponds exactly with the sinuous form of the sole of the last, a number of small
holes are made, following the perimetric line of the junction of the soles withe
the upper leather, and in these holes are placed a number of long rods or pins
intended to act as piercers or awls. These awls are held in a second metallic
plate, which is only pierced through a portion of its thickness, and are fixed
therein by holding screws in such a manner as that when placed above the sole
the two plates shall be a certain distance apart.
The inner and outer soles and upper leather being properly arranged on
the last, and the latter being placed on a suitable anvil, these two plates con-
taining the awls are superposed in the precise position which they should
occupy, and by one or more strokes of a beam or press on the upper plate, the
whole of the awls are simultaneously driven downwards, making small conical
holes in the soles and upper leather. The upper plate and awls are then re-
moved, and the grooved pegs or pins inserted by hand into the holes of the lower
plate. A second plate containing punches is then superposed and mechanical
pressure or percussion again applied thereto, so as to drive the pegs or pins in
to the required depth when the plates are both to be removed. The pegs are
then filed to the level of the sole and a strip of leather or other compressible
substance being laid over the pegs another stronger pressure is applied. The
pegs are then filed again and the operation is complete.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Davies, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd November 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex, and
No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Davies, Her special licence that I, the said George
Davies, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said George Davies, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands. and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE FEET,
AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED WITH SUCH MANUFACTURE," being a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Alexandro Joseph Duchatel, of Paris, France, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Davies, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Davies, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing and on reference to the accompanying Drawings, that is
to say:-
Of all the systems which have been proposed in this manufacture for fixing
the soles together, and joining them to the upper leather, it is well known that
the system most generally approved of, on account of its solidity under all
tests which it is called upon to endure, is based on the following principles :-
1stly, the employment of smail metallic pegs, pins, or rivets, grooved or

page_text: channelled in a circumferential direction; and 2ndly, the driving or forcing in
of such pegs into the places which they are respectively to occupy in the sole
by percussion against the corresponding metallic part of the last, which is pre-
viously placed in the inside where the said pegs become rivetted in order to
afford a further security. This operation has hitherto been carried on by a
long and troublesome process, consisting, firstly, of piercing by hand as many
holes as there are to be pegs or pins; and, secondly, of driving in the latter
forcibly by means of a hammer.
The object of the present Invention is to abridge and improve this process
by the substitution for laborious manual work of a simple mechanical opera-
tion, by the aid of a beam press, or other similar means of percussion, pressure,
or compression. Through a metallic plate, the lower surface of which
corresponds exactly with the sinuous form of the sole of the last, a number of
small holes are made, following the perimetric line of the junction of the soles
with the upper leather, and in these holes are placed a number of long rods
or pins intended to act as piercers or awls. These awls are held in a second
inetallic plate, which is only pierced through a portion of its thickness, and
are fixed therein by holding screws in such a manner as that when placed
above the sole the two plates shall be a certain distance apart.
The inner and outer soles and upper leather being properly arranged on the
last, and the latter being placed on a suitable anvil, these two plates con-
taining the awls are superposed in the precise position which they should
occupy, and by one or more strokes of a beam or press on the upper plate,
the whole of the awls are simultaneously driven downwards, making small
conical holes in the soles and upper leather. The upper plate and awls are
then removed, and the grooved pegs or pins inserted by hand into the holes of
the lower plate. A second plate, containing punches, is then superposed, and
mechanical pressure or percussion again applied thereto, so as to drive the
pegs or pins in to the required depth, when the plates are both to be removed.
The pegs are then filed to the level of the sole, and a strip of leather or other
compressible substance being laid over the pegs, another stronger pressure is
applied; the pegs are then filed again, and the operation is complete.
Such being the nature and object of the said Invention, I will proceed to
describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be
performed. And in order that the same may be perfectly understood, I have
annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked
the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in
the following explanation thereof :-
The soles are first cut out from leather (prepared as usual) by means of a

page_text: screw press, punch, or other suitable apparatus, and after having been damped,
they are "cambered" or curved to the required form between metallic moulds,
by submitting a certain number thereof to the action of a press. The heels
are treated in a same manner, that is to say, by curving inside, and flattening
them outside by means of moulds or matrices of cast iron.
Before uniting the soles with the "vamp" or upper leather, the exterior edge
of the outer sole should be cut even and polished, which operation can then
easily be effected without fear of cutting or burning the upper leather, which
so frequently happens under the ordinary process of manufacture.
.
The leather destined to form the body of the shoe is arranged on the last
in the ordinary manner, and after having turned over the last, the first or
inner sole is placed thereon. It is then necessary to stretch the leather
equally on all sides, and to fix it to the sole by small sprigs, which may be
done in any suitable and convenient manner. At this point of the manufac-
ture it becomes necessary to unite the "vamp" to the sole, the apparatus for
effecting which operation is exhibited in the annexed Drawings, at Figures 1
and 2.
The novelty of this system consists in employing a matrix in which the last
is placed, together with the body of the shoe, and the sole (previously pre-
pared) is placed over the same. The whole is then covered by a plate, which
serves as a guide for a series of punches or awls, which pierce the inner and
outer sole and the "vamp." Another plate is then substituted, carrying a
series of punches which act as hammers, and drive in and clinch the small
screws or pegs previonsly placed in each of the holes.
Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section of the apparatus arranged for driving
in the screws or pegs, and Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same,
arranged for piercing the holes; Figure 3 is a detached view (twice the actual
size) of one of the screws or grooved pegs used in this manufacture. The
last A is placed in a lower matrix B, and above it are placed the soles which
are intended to be rivetted (see Figures 1 and 2.) The whole is then covered
with a second matrix C of copper or other metal, which serves as a guide for
the punches or awls D (see Figure 2.) These punches are mounted in a
third metallic plate E, on which is adjusted the part F, which receives motion
from a fly press, screw, beam, or other similar mechanism.
The punches or awls D are not fixed in the plate E in a rigid manner, but
are only retained therein by their heads, so that if any of them should break,
they can be instantly replaced. The number of these punches will vary with
the size of the shoe, but they should always be the same distances apart.
The whole being thus mounted, the beam or press is worked, and the punches

page_text: descending simultaneously, pierce all the holes in the soles (see Figure 2.)
When the holes are pierced the mould E is replaced by the mould E',
(Figure 1,) which carries cylindrical punches D¹ with flat heads. A small
screw or peg is placed in each of the holes, and is forced in by the punches
D' when the pressure or percussion is applied.
The peculiar form of the screws (or rather grooved pegs) effects an in-
separable joint, as the grooves with which they are furnished become filled with
the leather of the sole during the pressure. The grooved pegs G are rivetted
in the interior of the shoes by the metallic strips which are let into the last A.
The beating up or consolidation of the soles is effected by the same means.
and at the same time as the rivetting of the pegs, and the latter are levelled
by means of a file or by a grindstone, and the operation is complete. The
heels previously cut out, hollowed inside and flattened outside, are adjusted
and rivetted in the same manner as the soles, and thus the manufacture is
completed.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention for
"Improvements in the Manufacture of Boots, Shoes, and other Coverings for
the Feet, and in Apparatus connected with such Manufacture," together with
the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed, I would here
remark, that I claim, as the Invention communicated to me by the aforesaid
Alexandre Joseph Duchatel,-
Firstly, the system of manufacturing boots, shoes, and other coverings for
the feet by mechanical means, in the manner and by the use of the apparatus
above described and illustrated in the Drawings, or by any other substantially
similar means and apparatus.
And, secondly, I claim especially the particular arrangement of mechanism
shown and described above for effecting the operations of perforating and
rivetting the "vamps," soles, and heels together, without limiting or confining
the use of the same to any particular form of screws, pegs, or rivets to be
employed, or to any particular mechanical means for giving the required
pressure, compression, or percussion to the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Davies, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty..
GEORGE DAVIES
rol