Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Feb., 1897-Accepted, 1st May, 1897
A communication from VALENTINE SAMUEL ASTON, Plumber, EDWARD HENRY
FEATON, Draughtsman, and THOMAS GEORGE LAWLESS, Land Agent, all of
Gisborne, in the County of Cook and Colony of New Zealand.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111 Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention has been specially devised for the purpose of protecting the wearing
parts of the soles of boots or shoes that are commonly worn in civilised communities.
The invention consists in cutting a piece of sheet steel or other suitable material to
the outline form of a half sole of a boot or shoe; and in order to render the metallic
sole properly flexible to the movement of the foot of the wearer, the metal plate may
be indented on its edges with triangular indents and the points of the indents united
by punctured lines, so as to render it more pliable to the movement of the foot. The
metallic plate should be indented so as to form projections or corrugations upon the
wearing side of the plate; it should also be perforated at intervals so as to allow of
the insertion, through the perforations, of pegs, studs, nails, or screws by the agency
of which the inetallic plate may be fastened on to the leather sole. Instead of using
pegs, studs, or screws &c., as above described, the metallic plate may be caused to
adhere to the leather sole by any suitable adhesive composition, but it is considered
preferable to use screws for such purpose.
In the accompanying drawing the underside of the sole of an ordinary boot or shoe
is illustrated, with the metallic plate superposed upon the leather sole.
A is the plate which is constructed preferably of thin sheet steel stamped out to the
form of a half sole of a boot or shoe. This plate would be rigid and consequently
distressing to the foot of the wearer, as is the ordinary Lancashire clog or the French
sabot, were it not for the fact that the plate is rendered pliable to the movement of the
foot of the wearer, by scolloping out triangular pieces 6 from the edges of the plate
and uniting the scolloped out points by punctures B, thus, in the drawing the plate is
shown punctured at B B in such a way that the toes of the wearer are allowed to turn
up in a natural manner while in the act of walking. The punctures are shown as a
series of narrow slits.
This sole plate may be caused to adhere to the ordinary leather sole in any suitable
manner, for instance, by means of a suitable adhesive composition, but as such a mode
would be open to certain disadvantages, it is preferred to firmly secure the plate on
the leather sole, by means of pegs, studs nails, or screws, as shown at D D in the
drawing, where screws are shewn. For work in the bush or on hill sides a smooth
plate will be found to afford but a precarious hold upon smooth, slippery or grassy
surfaces and in order to meet this difficulty, the inner side of the sole plate is indented
so that projections or corrugations shall be formed upon the outer or wearing surface
of the plate. These projections are shewn at E on the drawing and will present a
roughened hob-nail-like or corrugated surface which will prevent the wearer from
slipping upon smooth, grassy or other slopes.
In order to keep the inner surface of the plate in contact throughout with the outer
surface of the sole punctures Care made in the sole plate through which pegs may be

page_text: -driven, and thus it will be ensured that the plate and the sole shall be held together
without buckling, and their two adjacent surfaces shall be kept closely in contact.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A boot or shoe protector consisting of a thin metal plate that is cut to the form
of the half sole of a boot or shoe and slit or punctured transversely as herein
:set forth.
2. A flexible boot or shoe protector consisting of a thin metal plate that is cut to
the shape of a half sole of a boot or shoe and is slit or punctured transversely, and is
provided with means, such as holes, for studs, pegs, nails, or screws, for fastening it
on to the leather sole of the boot or shoe as specified.
3. A flexible boot or shoe protector consisting of a thin metal plate that is cut to
the shape of a half sole of a boot or shoe and is slit or punctured transversely and
provided with perforations for the insertion of pegs, studs, nails, screws or other
means for securing the metal plate to the leather sole, and is indented so as to form
projections or corrugations on the wearing surface of the metallic plate as herein
specified.
1
1007
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.