IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND SLIPPERS."
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Crick and John Throno Crick, of Leicester,
Boot Manufacturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND SLIPPERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left. by the said Thomas Crick and John
Throne Crick at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 4th June 1858.
We, THOMAS CRICK and JOHN THRONE CRICK, of Leicester, Boot Manu-
facturers, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND SLIPPERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in lasts or shapes for the
manufacture of boots, shoes, and slippers. In the manufacture of boots, shoes,
and slippers it has been usual to employ "lasts" so formed that "uppers"
have been strained tightly on the "lasts" by the aid of shoemakers' pincers,
from which process the "uppers" have been very liable to be injured. Now,
our improvements consist in making and using lasts or shapes, each consisting
of parts so constructed and combined that when an "upper" has been fixed
thereon the requisite straining may be performed by expanding the last or
shape, and then, that the shoe, boot, or slipper may be finished on such
expanded last in the same manner as when using a last such as formerly
employed. The lasts or shapes for carrying out our Invention may be varied
in the mode of expanding or separating the parts of which a last is composed.
It is, however, preferred that cach last should be divided vertically into two,
three, four, or more parts, and that such parts should be arranged in a suitable
manner to allow of their being expanded and retained expanded when an

page_text: upper has been fixed thereon, till the shoe, boot, or slipper has been completed
thereon. When making a "last" of three parts, it is convenient to have the
main or front parts of the last fixed, by a plate or other means, to a bench or
other stand; also that the second or hind part should move on a hinge or
otherwise from the front or main part of the "last," and also that a third or
intermediate part should be slid up between the front and hinder parts by a
rack and pinion, or screw, or other convenient means, in order to expand the
"last," and when the division is formed longitudinally, as well as transversely,
of a "last," that the parts should be made in a like manner to separate one
from the other after an upper has been placed on and fixed to a last, one
of the parts being a fixture to a bench or other stand.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Crick and John Throne Crick in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 4th December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, THOMAS
CRICK and JOHN THRONE CRICK, of Leicester, Boot Manufacturers, send
greeting.
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Thomas Crick and John Throne Crick, Her special licence that we, the said
Thomas Crick and John Throne Crick, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Crick and John Throne Crick,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND SLIPPERS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Thomas Crick and John Throne Crick, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their bands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, should par-
ticularly 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 Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Throno Crick, on behalf of
myself and the said Thomas Crick, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that,
is to say.:-
Now,
This Invention has for its object improvements in lasts or shapes for the
manufacture of boots, shoes, and slippers. In the manufacture of boots, shoes;
and slippers, it has been usual to employ "lasts" so formed that "uppers"
have been strained tightly on the "lasts" by the aid of shoemakers' pincers,
from which process the "uppers" have been very liable to be injured.
our improvements consist in making and using lasts or shapes, each consisting
of parts so constructed and combined that when an "upper" has been fixed
thereon, the requisite straining may be performed by expanding the last or
shape, and then that the shoe, boot, or slipper may be finished on such
expanded last in the same manner as when using a last such as formerly
employed. The lasts or shapes for carrying out our Invention may be varied
in the mode of expanding or separating the parts of which a last is composed!
It is, however, preferred that each last should be divided vertically into two;
three, four, or more parts, and that such parts should be arranged in a suitable
manner to allow of their being expanded and retained expanded when an
upper has been fixed thereon till the shoe, boot, or slipper has been completed
thereon. When making a "last" of three parts, it is convenient to have the
main or front parts of the last fixed, by a plate or other means, to a bench or
other stand; also that the second or hind part should move
e on a hinge or
otherwise from the front or main part of the "last," and also that the third or
intermediate part should be slid up between the front and hinder parts by a
rack and pinion, or screw, or other convenient means, in order to expand the
last," and when tho division is formed longitudinally, as well as transversely,
of a "last," that the parts should be made in a like manner to separate one
from the other after an "upper" has been placed on and fixed to a last, one
of the parts being a fixture to a bench or other stand.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, we will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a last constructed according to our
Invention; Figure 2 shows a section thereof; and Figure 3, a plan. a is the
fore part of the last, which is fixed to a table, but, by preference, in such
manner as to rotate; b is the hinder part of the last, which is hinged or move-

page_text: able, in such manner as to admit of its being moved to and from the fore part
a of the last; c is the filling piece, which completes the last. This filling piece
is to be moveable in any convenient manner, so as to admit of the foro and
hinder parts a and b coming together in the arrangement shown. The part c
is made to rise and fall by means of an axis and cam d, which is moved by a
weighted handle c, which keeps the piece c up in its position when it has been
raised. The filling piece c may, however, be moved by a rack and pinion, or
otherwise, and it is not essential that it should be the means of separating the
hinder part 6 from the fore part a, as those parts may be separated by a screw
or other convenient means, and the filling picce c introduced to complete the
jast. The
upper,"
," whether for a boot, shoe, or slipper, is placed on the
last when the parts a and b are near together, the in-sole having been first
fixed on the fore part a of the last. The upper, before being placed on the
last, is run round with a string or cord near the edge, so as to draw it in or
contract such edge, which, however, is not new, but is similar to what we have
before practised under previous Letters Patent. The "upper" having been put
on to the last the hinder part of the last is moved back, by which the "upper"
is stretched and held fast to the last, and when the upper has thus been placed
on the last, it is held on either side by a bent spring, as shewn at Figures 4
and 5, where an upper is shewn on a last ready for having the in-sole fastened
to the "upper," and this may be done by sewing, or by sprigs or brads. It is
preferred that the lasts should be made of cast iron, though other materials
may be used. When using iron or other metal, wood is let into the surface
for receiving the nails for fixing the in-sole to the last, as heretofore, when
using metal lasts.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of per-
performing the same, we would have it understood that we do not confino
ourselves to the details, nor do we claim the parts separately; but what we
claim is, the mode herein described of combining and using parts of lasts in
the manufacture of boots, shoes, and slippers.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Throne Crick, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Third day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
JNO. THE. CRICK. (L.S.)