IMPROVE- MENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Philip Middleton Justice, of 14, Southampton Buildings,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for an Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES." A communication from abroad by Solomon
K. Hindley, of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, United States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Philip Middleton Justice at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th May 1882.
PHILIP MIDDLETON JUSTICE of 14 Southampton Buildings in the County of
Middlesex Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES." A com-
munication from abroad by Solomon K. Hindley of Worcester, State of Massa-
chusetts, United States of America.
This Invention relates to that class of boots and shoes known as "stitch down"
goods in which the upper, at the line of contact with the sole, is turned outward
and is fastened to the sole by seams or fastenings outside the upper. The Invention
is herein described and represented as applied to a boot or shoe in which the upper
is fastened to the soles by waxed thread seams but it will be obvious that rows of
other fastenings may be used. To clearly explain the nature of the Invention and
how the same may be practically employed reference is made to the accompanying
Drawings in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts. Figure 1.
represents a vertical section across the ball of the improved boot or shoe. A is the
upper which may be cut out, stitched together and prepared for lasting in any
convenient manner. B is a sole which I call the upper sole D is another sole which
I call the bottom sole; C is a folded welt. F is the inner seam so called and E the
outer seam. G is an insole. Figure 2 is a vertical section across the ball of
another form of the said improved shoe, having a single welt in place of the folded
welt shown in Figure 1, the outer seam alone going through the welt, the inner
seam going through the upper, and upper sole. Figure 3. is a vertical section
across the ball of another form of the said improved shoe, having a single welt C
in place of the folded welt shown in Figure 1, both the inner seam and the outer
seam going through the welt. Figure 4 is a vertical section across the ball of

page_text: another form of the said improved shoe in which the outward turned edge of the
upper A. is chamfered off and is covered by the welt C, so that the edge of the
upper shall not appear on the sole edge. To carry out my Invention I first tack
an insole G to the bottom of a last, I then take an upper A and last it by tacks, or
by holding it in place upon the last by a properly constructed clamp, leaving
however, projecting below the last a portion of the upper substantially equal in
width to the distance between the bottom edge of the last and the edge of the
proposed upper sole. On the bottom of the insole I then fasten by cement or
otherwise an upper sole B the projecting edge of the upper being thereby turned
outward and caused to rest on the upper surface of the upper sole; I next place a
welt (the width of which I prefer to have twice that of the outward turned portion
of the upper) upon the outward turned portion of the upper the edge of one flap of
this welt C, being flush with the edge of the upper sole, its centre being substantially
over the line of juncture of the upper with the upper sole and the edge C¹ of the
other flap being left for the time resting free against the body of the upper, as
represented at the left hand side of Figure 1.
I next unite the welt, the upper
and the upper sole by a seam F arranged as close as practicable to or under the
edge of the last. A channel may be formed in the lower side of the upper sole to
receive the seam, I next tack the bottom sole D to the underside of the upper sole
fold down the free flap C¹ of the welt and run a seam E concentric with the former
seam through the folded welt the upper, the upper sole and the bottom sole as is
shown on the right hand side of Figure 1. A channel may be formed on the lower
side of the bottom sole to receive this seam. The insole G in all the forms of the
shoe shown berein sustains no part of the strain upon the wearing parts of the
shoe. It is used merely to fill up the upper sole on the inside of the upper to the
level of the surface of the welt and may be composed of several pieces of inferior
leather. In the place of the folded welt shown in Figure 1 a welt of but a single
thickness may be used as is shown in Figure 2, the inner seam going through the
upper and the upper sole, the outer seam going through the welt the upper the
upper sole and bottom sole. A welt of but a single thickness may also be used as
is shown in Figure 3 both the inner seam and the outer seam going through the
welt and both being exposed on the upper surface of the welt.
When the edge of a shoe made in either of the above forms is finished the apparent
sole edge will be made up of the edge or edges of the welt, the outward turned
edge of the upper and the edges of the upper sole and bottom sole.
Inasmuch as certain kinds of upper leather contain an excess of oil it is often
objectionable to allow the edge of the upper to form a part of the finished sole
edge. In such a case I chamfer off the edge of the outward turned portion of the
upper and form a seat for a welt, but leave the edge of the upperback from the
sole edge. I then finish the process of manufacture in either of the ways herein-
before described, the welt in every case resting upon the chamfered portion of the
upper. The sole edge of the finished boot or shoe will be made up of the welt, the
upper sole and the bottom sole. This form is represented in Figure 4. A folded
welt as shown in Figure 1 may be applied to the last described boot or shoe
instead of a single welt. The inner seam will then pass through the lower flap of
the welt the upper and the upper sole, while the outer seam will pass through both
flaps of the welt the upper sole and bottom sole. The bottom sole D may be
omitted in each of the forms described. The outer seam will then unite the welt,
or the welt and upper sole to a single sole. I am aware that boots and shoes
have been made in which the upper is turned outward upon a sole, a welt placed
upon the outwardly turned portion of the upper and the welt, upper and sole, then
stitched together outside the upper by a single seam or row of fastenings, and I do
not broadly claim this as my Invention but what I claim and desire to secure by
Letters Patent is―
1. A boot or shoe having its upper turned outward upon an upper sole, a folded
welt resting upon such outwardly turned portion, the edge of one flap thereof being
flush with the sole edge and its centre being substantially over the line of juncture

page_text: of the upper with the upper sole, the welt, upper and upper sole being united by a
seam or row of fastenings outside the body of the upper and passing through the
centre of the welt and having a bottom sole attached to and beneath the upper
sole by another seam or row of fastenings concentric with the first and going
through both flaps of the welt, the upper, the upper sole and the bottom sole all
substantially as described.
2. A boot or shoe having its upper turned outward upon an upper sole and
united thereto by a seam or row of fastenings outside the body of the upper and
having a welt resting upon such outwardly turned portion of the upper and having
a bottom sole beneath the upper sole, the welt, the upper, the upper sole and bottom
sole, being united by another seam or row of fastenings concentric with the first all
substantially as described.
3. A boot or shoe having its upper turned outward upon an upper sole, a welt
resting upon such outwardly turned portion, the welt, upper and upper sole being
united by a scam or row of fastenings outside the body of the upper and having a
bottom sole attached to and beneath the upper sole by another seam or row of
fastenings concentric with the first and going through the welt, the upper, the
upper sole and the bottom sole, all substantially as described.
4. A boot or shoe having its upper turned outward upon an upper sole, a welt
resting upon such outwardly turned portion and covering the edge thereof, the welt
upper, and upper sole or the upper and upper sole being united by a seam or row
of fastenings outside the body of the upper and having a bottom sole attached to
and beneath the upper sole by another seam or row of fastenings concentric with
the first, and going through the welt, the upper sole and the bottom sole all
substantially as described.
5. A boot or shoe having its upper turned outward upon a sole a welt resting
upon such outwardly turned portion, the welt or the welt, upper and sole being
united by a seam or other row of fastenings outside the body of the upper and the
welt and sole or the welt upper and sole being also united by another seam or row
of fastenings concentric with the first all substantially as described.
In witness whereof I the said Philip Middleton Justice have hereunto set
my hand and seal this Seventeenth day of May in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
Signed, sealed and delivered
in the presence of
HENRY B. HATCHWELL,
14, Southampton Bldgs.,
W.C.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE. (L.S.)