Improvements in Lasting Machines used in the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Apr., 1899-Accepted, 29th July, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Lasting Machines used in the Manufacture of
Boots and Shoes.
I, ROBERT JOSEPH GARDINER, of 70, Jones Street, Rochester, in the County
of Monroe, and State of New York, United States of America, Inventor, 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 follow-
ing statement:―
This invention has for its object to improve the construction of the lasting
machine shown and described in the Specification of latent No. 2559, dated
February 21, 1888, granted to J. W. Hatch.
In the machine described in said patent as it was first put into use the heel
and toe lasting plates were actuated by the left hand of the operator engaging a
suitable handle and said machine was modified as to the shape of the movable
head or table carrying the lasting plates, and instead of using a straight head
or table, the head or table was changed and made angular in shape so that either
the toe or heel lasting plates might be put in position with but a slight move-
ment of said head or table, and in the machine so modified the slides carrying
the said lasting plates were adapted to be moved longitudinally by or through
the action of levers having toothed segments attached to or forming part thereof,
said levers being located one at the right and the other at the left hand side of
the slides carrying the said lasting plates.
When the machine modified as described is used, the toe is first lasted and
then the heel, and the operator uses first his right hand to actuate the lever
for actuating the slide for turning the toe of the upper over upon the inner sole
on the last; and the toe having been lasted, the angular head or table carrying
the two slides and lasting plates is swung around, putting the plates for lasting
the heel in position, and the operator then by his left hand engages the lever for
and moves the slide and plates for lasting the heel.
In the use of both these forms of machines the lasting of the heel by the
action of the left hand of the operator was found to be especially awkward and
tiresome, and the lasting could not be done as well, nor as rapidly as when the
right hand was used for both operations hence the invention to be herein described.
"I have consequently devised means whereby these two sets of lasting plates may
be actuated each by the right hand, the operator engaging a lever or device
located at the right hand side of the lasting plates, and to enable this to be donc
practically I have to provide means for locking the oscillating head carrying the
two sets of lasting plates, especially when the heel is being lasted.
I have also provided means whereby the links carrying the toe-wiper and
clamp co-operating with the toe of the upper may be better controlled than
heretofore.
Fig. 1, in side elevation, partly broken out, represents a lasting machine
embodying my improvement:

page_text: Fig. 2 is a top or plan view thereof;
Fig. is a detail showing detached the slide carrying the pin for opening and
closing the lasting plates;
Fig. 4 is a view at the left of the dotted line, Fig. 2.
Fig. 5 is a view of the parts shown in Fig. 4, but swung one-quarter around
to the right into working position;
Fig. 6 is a detail of one of the stops for the head when swung to the right or
left; and Fig. 7 is a detail to be referred to.
The standard A has an extension A on which is pivotted at A² a movable
head A3, said head being herein represented as angular rather than straight so
as to present two arms.
Each arm of the movable head has a suitable track or way a of dovetailed
shape in cross section, on which is fitted to slide the foot of one of two like
carriages a¹ and a², the carriage a carrying the lasting plates employed to last
the heel, and the carriage a² carrying the lasting plates employed to last the
toc of a shoe.
The drawing, Figs. 1 and 2, shows the carriage a² and the plates for lasting
the toe of a shoe in operating position.
Each of these carriages is provided with a suitable bar or upright a2x, but
one of said uprights of bars being shown, viz. in Fig. 1.
Each bar has a threaded hole at its lower end which is entered by a screw a³,
mounted to rotate but not to move longitudinally in a stand a fixed to the end
of the head A³, rotation of said screw moving the carriage longitudinally in one
or the other direction with relation to the heel pin to be described, in order
to adapt the machine for lasts of different length.
Each carriage receives at its upper end a suitable pivot which enters the
front end of and serves as a pivot for a block a grooved longitudinally to con-
stitute a guideway, said groove receiving a slide a having erected upon it a
stud as or as, the stud 8 receiving the lasting plates a adapted to last the toe of a
shoe, while the stud as receives the lasting plates a adapted to last the heel
of a shoe.
These lasting plates are substantially alike with the exception of the slight
difference in the shape of the slots a2 and a* in the ends of the plates, the
slots in the toe lasting plates being somewhat straighter than those in the heel
lasting plates.
These slots are each entered by a like pin a³, each pin being extended through
the two slots of the pair of plates with which it co-operates.
Each pin arises from a like plate b, shown detached in Fig. 3, it being
located in the guideway of the block, under the slide a7, said plate having a
slot b¹, see Fig. 3, through which rises a stud be extended from the block a.
The plate is normally retained in operating position by means of a spring b
connected to the stud be rising from the part and with the stud a¹³.
Each slide a has connected to it a rack 5, and the slides are kept in the groove
of the block 6 by means of suitable gibs 66.
Each rack 65 is connected to the right hand edge of a slide a', and each rack
is engaged by a pinion 67 loose on a stud h, said pinion having fast to it a
gear 6 which is engaged by a pinion 6 formed on one end of a hand piece or
handle 60, said hand piece beyond said pinion taking a bearing in the box 13, fast
on the block, the edge of the hand piece being provided with a collar 613 to
keep it in said bearing.
By turning this hand piece in one or the other direction, the slides a and the
lasting plates mounted thereon may be slid back and forth toward and from the
last and shoe to be described, and in the forward movement of these plates the
studs 13 in the slots a¹ and a12* serve to close the plates on and so as to wipe
the edges of the upper with which they contact over the inner sole on both the
toe and heel end of the last. These plates are opened as the slide a is slid
back from the last and shoe.

page_text: The head A is provided near its opposite ends with two adjustable transverse
stop screws m, m¹, said stop screws being screwed into the holes in like ears d
and d¹, one of said cars, viz.:-the one d, being shown detached in Fig. 6.
These set screws point toward each other, and each contacts with one or the
other end of a stop attached to or forming part of the arm A¹ extended from
the column A, the free end of the ear entering preferably beneath a projection
of the said stop, as represented in Fig. 5, where the ear d and the screw m¹ are
shown in operative position, such position being the one occupied by the parts
when the heel is being lasted and the lasting plates a¹ are operated.
These stop screws are old and common in the lasting machine upon which this
present invention is an improvement, but the employment of these two stop
screws and the stop to determine the working position of the lasting plates
necessitated the working of the right hand pair of lasting plates a used to last
the toe of a shoe by the action of the right hand on the lever or hand piece 610,
located at the right hand side of the said plates, but when the left hand
plates a¹ or the ones to last the heel were to be worked the actuating lever had
to be located at the left hand side of the said plates, or else the strain exerted on
the lever to move the slide a carrying said plates would tend to turn the head
to the left, thus putting out of working position or line the left hand plates;
and sometimes the operator, attempted to hold the head in position by his right
hand, while with his left hand he operated the plates (10.
This present invention, as stated, provides a construction whereby each slide
and its plates may be moved by a lever or hand piece, as 10, located at the right
hand side of the plates to be moved, thus enabling the right hand to be used
for all the work being done.
To do this I have provided the foot of the carriage a carrying the left hand
or toe lasting plates with a locking device e, shown as a lever acted upon by
a spring c¹, said spring holding said lever in a yielding manner against a stop³,
shown as a pin or projection extended from said carriage and I have bevelled the
right hand side of the stop ", so that when the left hand end of the head carry-
ing the toe lasting plates is swung into position to be operated, the bevelled
lower end of said locking device will strike the bevelled end of and will ride up
onto the stop c³, and just as the said carrier arrives into correct working position
the lower end of said locking device, under the stress of the spring e, will enter
a notch cut in the top of said stop or plate c, and thereafter the said head
with its heel lasting devices in operative position will be effectually locked in
place so that the operator may, by his right hand, engage the hand lever 10,
located at the right hand side of the slide a carrying the heel lasting plates a,
and pull said lever with his right hand without any liability whatever of dis-
placing the said head.
The heel having been lasted by or through the operation of the heel lasting
plates, the locking levere will be grasped by the operator, who will turn it
to release its end, from the notch e, thus leaving the head free to be again turned
back to the left into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and during this operation
the lower end of the locking lever rests on the stop c, said head being turned
to the left until the stop screw m meets the right hand side of the stop c
To adjust the block a to the incline of the toe or heel of the last, the underside
of said block has connected to it, a slotted or two part link, having at its end a
pivotted nut which is entered by the threaded part of a screw which may be
rotated in the carriage but may not slide therein, the rotation of said screw
moving the nut in one or the other direction to raise or lower the rear end of
the block, but this may be and is all as usual.
The column A has a bearing for a jack spindle e normally kept elevated by a
spring e, said spindle being capable of being depressed by a suitable treadle e³,
and the upper end of the jack spindle has a head or cross piece 3 having upwardly
extended ears provided with a pivot pin et on which is pivotted the usual heel
pin e³, it entering a hole in the heel end of a last e6.

page_text: This last is shown as provided with an upper and with an inner sole o¹ laid
on the bottom of the last all in usual manner.
The cross piece e³ receives a suitable screw c, the rotation of which in usual
manner adjusts the heel pin back and forth about its pivot e'. Said crosspiece
also has suitable ways to receive a foot e, provided with a rising stand ex, said
foot being made longitudinally adjustable on the cross piece by a suitable screw e
The stand has suitable bearings for a rock shaft e", to one end of which is
attached a hand lever clo, provided with a spring pressed pawl e, which cooperates
with the teeth of a stationary ratchet plate e, the pawl and ratchet locking the
rock shaft in any position in which it may be left by the operator.
The opposite end of the rock shaft e" has an arm e¹ to which is jointed a
suitable link 24, which in practice, may be a double link, said link or links
being attached to the toe wiper 2, the toe wiper being pivotted at its outer
corners to like parallel bars or rests f¹, pivotted on suitable arms f13; said links,
toe wiper and bars or rests being common to said patent where they are designated
by like letters.
"Herein I have provided the rock shafts e with an extra arm f, having a pin
or projection f which enters a loop or eye f2, suitably attached to one of the
bars and projecting therefrom at its rear side toward the heel pin e, said
pin or projection f¹ receiving against it one of the bars ft when the toe wiper
is not acting against the toe of the upper, but when the toe wiper is operating
the said pin is acted against by an india rubber block or buffer f3 held in said
loop or eye.
•
Suitable springs fact on the bars f, and between the said rests there is a
rod 17 surrounded by a spring f26 see Fig. 2, for the purposes described in said
patent.
The operator having applied an upper and inner sole to the last, and placed the
latter on the heel pin e, pushes the toe wiper 2 over to the left against the action
of the springs f*, so as to adapt the toe-wiper to the particular length of the
last, and then he turns the handle e¹0, to impart a movement through the links 24
to the toe wiper and cause it to rub upwardly along the upper on the toe of the
last and wipe the said upper up above the inner sole lying on the last, thus
taking out of the upper any wrinkles therein and fitting the upper closely to the
toe of the last.
During this operation the arms or rests f¹t will be turned somewhat to the
left, Fig. 1, thus pressing the india rubber buffer harder and harder against the
pin or projection f³.
This pin acts as a stop for the arms or rests f" carrying the toe wiper 2 to
prevent movement thereof to the left during the lasting operation, but owing to
the india rubber buffer the toe wiper is not fixedly restrained but may yield
somewhat when the strain exerted upon it is or would be sufficient to tear or
mar the upper, and when this is about to happen the rubber buffer permits just
enough yielding movement of the toe wiper to prevent tearing or marring the
upper. Or in other words the interposition of the india rubber buffer at the right
hand side of the pin or stop f' prevents the tearing of the upper, and further by
locating the loop and the buffer, the devices which permit the movement of the
arms and the toe wiper toward the toe lasting devices, at the inner or right
hand side of the arms, rather than at the outer or left hand side thereof, affords
ample space for the adjustment not only of the shoe and its upper, but of the
toe and lasting devices, to adapt them to shoes of different sizes and not in any
way obstruct the movements of the devices.
As the lasting plates come onto the toe of the shoe to crimp the upper at
the toe over the inner sole on the last the pressure of said plates is usually
sufficient to somewhat depress the toe wiper, and the buffer described permits
this to a certain extent.
After the operator has actuated the heel lasting plates by the right hand piece,

page_text: he will by the same hand turn the locking levere to release the head A³ and
without removing his hand he will turn the head and put the toe lasting plate
again in working line or position,
The notch entered by the bevelled foot of the locking device is a long
notch, and thereby it is possible to adjust either of the carriages a¹ or a² to
correspond with the size of the last used, and at the same time the locking device
will enter said notch.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
-
In the manufacture of boots and shoes,
1. The use in a lasting machine having a rigid arm or support (A¹), an
Oscillating angular head (A³) pivotally mounted thereon and provided with a
plurality of sliding carriages, and slides supported in said carriages and pro-
vided one with toe lasting and the other with heel lasting plates, said slides each
having an attached rack, of two levers each located at the right hand side of said
slides, means intermediate said levers and said racks to move said slides and
actuate said lasting plates, and a locking device operated only when the slide for
lasting the heel of a boot or shoe is in operative position to lock said angular
head in place during the operation of lasting the heel of a boot or shoe, sub-
stantially as described.
2. The use in a lasting machine having a pivoted or oscillating head pro-
vided with a plurality of carriages, and slides supported in said carriages and
provided one with toe lasting and the other with heel lasting plates, of two
levers each located at the right hand side of one of said slides where it may be
engaged and operated by the right hand of the operator when lasting both the
toe and the heel, and locking means to lock the angular head in position when
the lever at the right hand side of the slide carrying the heel lasting plates is
being operated, said locking device preventing the displacement of the said
angular support due to the force put upon the said lever, substantially as
described.
3. The use in a lasting machine having a rigid arm or support (A¹), and a
head pivotally mounted thereon and provided with a plurality of sliding carriages
movable therein, one substantially at right angles to the other, of slides supported
in said carriages and provided one with toe lasting and the other with heel lasting
plates, said slides each having an attached rack; two levers each located at the
right hand side of one of said slides, means intermediate said levers and said
racks to move said slides and actuate said lasting plates, and a locking device
mounted upon the sliding carriage containing the slide and lasting plates for
lasting the heel of a boot or shoe, a stop connected with said rigid arm and
provided with a notch or projection to be engaged by said locking device, the
locking device engaging said notch or projection to lock said head in place only
when the head is turned to bring the heel lasting plates in operative position
with relation to the shoe to be lasted, substantially as described.
4. The use in a lasting machine, of an arm (A) having an attached bevel
stop e provided with a notch, of a pivoted head mounted on said arm and having
a sliding carriage (a) to support a slide having heel lasting devices, of a locking
lever (c) pivotted on said carriage and bevelled at its lower end to cooperate with
the bevel of the stop, and a spring connected with said locking device to hold
it yieldingly in operative position, substantially as described.
5. The use in a lasting machine having a heel pin to receive and hold a last
provided with an upper the toe of which is to bé lasted, of a toe wiper and bars
and rests having a suitable loop (2) projecting from its inner or right hand side,
said loop containing a yielding buffer and a suitable pin (f) adjustable as to its
position, said pin cooperating with said buffer to enable the toe wiper to yield
before its pressure on the toe of the upper in its movement in wiping the upper

page_text: up and about the toe of the last is sufficient to tear or mar the upper, substantially
as described.
6. The use in a lasting machine having an oscillating head, carriages thereon
having respectively toe and heel lasting devices, a standard having an attached
grooved stop, of means to adjust the position of said carriages and lasting devices
on said head for shoes of different lengths, and a locking device carried by one of
said carriages and cooperating with the groove in said stop in all the adjust-
ments of said carriage, substantially as described.
Dated the 10th dore of Anvil 1900
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 and 56, Chancery Lane, London,
Agents for the Applicant: