IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Seager, of Ipswich, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES."
Sealed the 11th October 1860, and dated the 25th April 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Seager at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th April 1860.
I, ROBERT SEAGER, of Ipswich, do hereby declare the nature of the
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES," to
be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of boots
and shoes, and the Invention consists in a mode of forming and applying soles
and heels to boots and shoes when using plastic matters, such as gutta percha or
compounds containing gutta percha or india-rubber, whereby such plastic matters
are simultaneously applied to and moulded on the "uppers" of boots and shoes,
so as to form soles and heels. For this purpose the "upper" of a boot or shoe,
together with an insole is placed on a suitable last; clamping plates are then
placed over the "upper" in such manner as to cover that part of the "upper"
above that where the sole and heel are to be moulded; the edges of the
clamping plate covering the parts near where the sole and heel are to be
formed and cemented on to the "upper." Around and near the edges of each

page_text: of the clamping plates, where the sole and heel are to be formed, there is
a raised ridge of a depth depending on the thickness of the intended sole and
heel. India-rubber or gutta percha cement or other suitable cement is applied
over the insole and over so much of the "upper" as the sole and heel are to
adhere to, and then the plastic matter is to be pressed into the mould formed 5
around the bottom of the last by the ridges on the clamping plates.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Seager in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th
October 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
SEAGER, of Ipswich, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord Onc
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
Robert Seager, Her special licence that I, the said Robert Seager, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Seager, my 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 MANUFACTURE OF
BOOTS AND SHOES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert
Seager, 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 Seal Patent
Offico within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Seager, 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 :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of boots
and shoes, and consists in a mode of forming and applying soles and heels to
boots and shoes when using plastic matters such as gutta percha or india-rubber,

page_text: whereby such plastic matters are simultaneously moulded and applied to the
boot or shoe. For this purpose the upper of a boot or shoe, together with an
insole, are placed on a last, and clamping plates are placed over the upper so
as to cover that part of the upper above where the sole and heel are to be
moulded, and leave exposed those portions to which the sole and heel are to
be made to adhere; these parts are cemented, and the composition in a plastic
state moulded and pressed on to them. In some cases I form a projecting
ridge all around the edge of each clamping plate, and form the sole and heel
by pressing the plastic composition into the mould formed by such projecting
ridges, the form of the bottom of the same being given by a suitably formed
plate or cover pressed down on to the top of the composition. In practice,
however, I have found it somewhat more convenient to attach such projecting
ridges to the plate or cover employed to form the bottom of the solo
and heel, and to place suitable guides for this plate or cover on the clamping
plates.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
b
Figure 1 is a side view partly in section, Figure 2 is a plan, and Figure 3 is
a transverse section of the apparatus I employ. a is a metal last, on which, as
is shown, is the upper 6 of a boot, also an insole c, and a covering piece of
leather d; these parts are first placed on the last and fixed the one to the other,
by preference with metal rivets, as is well understood and commonly practised,
in the manufacture of boots and shoes; the pieco d is then coated with
cement, by preference gutta percha cement, and the clamping plates c, e,
are put on as is shown; they are held together by suitable clips, the edges of
the clamping plates, as is shewn, entering under the edges of the covering
piece of leather d, and supporting them. A sufficient quantity of the compo-
sition in a hot or plastic state is then placed on the plate or cover f, and the
said plate or cover is put into its place between the guides e', e', on the plates e,
and the whole is placed in a press which presses the plate or cover f down
until its projecting ridge or edge comes down on to the edges of the piece of
leather d, the mould is then cooled, and the clamping plates e, e, and the plate
or cover fremoved; the sole and heel will then, to finish them, require only to
be trimmed round the edges. The compositions which I prefer to employ
are such as aro described in the Specification of a former Patent granted
to me, and dated 24th October 1859, No. 2430. In Figure 4, a transverse

page_text: section is shewn of the apparatus employed where the projecting ridges are
formed on the clamping plates.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Seager, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
ROBERT SEAGER. (L.S.)