IMPROVEMENTS IN Shoes and Boots
Year: 1872

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Clark at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th October
1872.
I, GEORGE CLARK, of No. 10, Craven Buildings, Drury Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN Shoes and Boots," to be as follows :--
Having since I obtained Provisional Protection for my Invention of
improvements in shoes and boots, No. 1138, dated 17th April 1872,
invented further improvements in the form and mode of manufacturing
these articles, I wish to have the whole of my said improvements (the
former and the latter) comprised in one and the same Letters Patent; I
therefore do not intend to file a Final Specification for my above first
named improvements, and I hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention comprising all my before mentioned or referred to improve-
ments for which I now apply for Letters Patent to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to improve the construction and
solidity of shoes and boots, and consists of three pars or improvements.
1st. The object of the first improvement is to render the soles and
heels of shoes and boots more solid and durable by incorporating into
and with the leather or other material used for such soles or heels,
.

page_text: small pieces which for convenience of description I call plugs of metal,
giving the preference to steel or cast iron, in such way that the said
plugs are securely imbedded in the leather or other material of which
the sole or heel is made, so as not to be liable to separate from it. To
protect the plugs from oxidation I propose if found necessary to coat
them with zinc or tin. The most ready and convenient mode in which
I propose to effect the incorporation of the said metal plugs into and
with the material of the sole or heel is to punch or otherwise make
holes in such material somewhat smaller in diameter than the plugs
to be used, and to drive the latter by a blow or pressure into such holes,
thus securely imbedding the metal in the leather or other material; I
provide that the length of the metal plugs shall correspond with the
thickness of the leather or other material into which they are to be
inserted so that when the plugs are driven home into the aforesaid holes
the two ends of the plugs shall be level with the two surfaces of the sole
or heel material; nevertheless it may sometimes be found desirable
to allow the metal plugs to protrude outside beyond the sole or heel.
In order to insure more perfect adhesion of the plugs to the leather
or other material referred to the plugs may be made with a flange,
or conical; in cither case the flanged or larger end of the plugs would
be on the inner side of the sole or heel when fastened to the shoe or
boot; I find as a general rule for conical plugs it is a good plau to
make a difference of th part of an inch in the diameter of the two
ends of the plugs, so that for example one end of the cone being th
and the other end ½ inch diameter, these would be suitable dimensions
for strong boots or shoes; I also find that th to % of an inch is a
good dimension for the length of the sole plugs for lighter shoes or
boots, for the heel they may be longer. By this arrangement the hole
for the larger plugs being made ¼ inch diameter and the plug (%
at its large end) being driven at its small end into the hole, its conical
form causes it to be jammed into the leather or other material so that
it cannot be easily removed, and if one end be flanged the plug will be
more securely fixed to the solc. The metal plugs may in form be
circular, or to increase their adhesion angular, corrugated, or roughed
with flat ends, and to render such adhesion more complete the holes may
be lined with some kind of adhesive cement or varnish when driving the
plugs into them. Shoc or boot soles and heels prepared and made as
above described are to be fastened to shoes or boots in any way or by
any method which is now or may be practised.

page_text: When soles are plugged as above described I propose to cover the
inner or upper side of the sole with some thin water-proofed material
fastened to the sole, or with a coating of waterproof cement such as
solution of india-rubber, marine glue, or copal varnish.
2nd. The second improvement consists in making the outer heel fitted
with metal plugs in the manner described or without such plugs of a
circular form, and fastening the same to the inner heel by means of
screws placed near to the circumference of the circular heel at equal
distances, so that when this circular heel is worn down at the wearing
surface it may be unscrewed, detached from the inner heel, and replaced,
being turned round and refastened by the screws in its altered position
so that the worn part shall be shifted to the right or left and another
part shall be brought round as the wearing surface. By this means and
repeating the same operation all the plugs or surface of the circular
heel will be presented alternately as the wearing surface and be equally
worn, whereby greater durability will be given to the heel; the use of
screws to fasten the heels and the circular form of the outer heel are
not parts of my Invention; both those methods are well known and have
been long practised. I consider three screws placed at the angles of an
equilateral triangle near to the circumference of the circular heel will
be proper and sufficient fastening, but a greater number of screws &
division of the circumference may be used.
3rd. The third improvement consists in a mode of giving elasticity
to that part of the uppers of shoes and boots which covers the foot from
the toes to the instep, and in some cases above the ankle, by dividing
the leather or other material of which such upper is made in two pieces,
each fastened to the sole on either side in the usual way by stitching,
pegging, or screwing, or any other way, and stitching or otherwise
fastening between these two parts a strip or band of india-rubber or
other elastic material, running from the toes to the instep, or above the
ankle if required, and in such way that the upper thus composed shall
fit over the foot the same as if the whole thereof was leather only.
effect of this arrangement will be that the upper covering of the foot
will not be so rigid as when it is made of leather only, especially in
strong shoes or boots as it will yield to the pressure of the foot if
swollen as well as in the case of the leather contracting when dried after
being wet, and if the shoes or boots be made to fit with a slight strain
on the india-rubber or other clastic mediumn, in the event of the leather
The

page_text: stretching by wear the elastic medium between the two side pieces of
leather will draw them up and maintain a good fit to the foot. The
most convenient mode of fastening together the two pieces of leathor of
the upper and the elastic material between them will be to so fasten
them by stitching or otherwise before the upper is fastened to the solc.
In connexion with this improvement or as an additional improvement
I propose to form the toe pieces used to cover the points of shoes &
boots with india-rubber instead of leather, whereby the toe piece being
olastic will yeild to the pressure of the toes in walking, and being water-
proof will protect that part of the shoe or boot from damp.