IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- PACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas James Claxton, of the City of Montreal,
Canada, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
PACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES."-A communication from Mellen Bray, of
M
LAL
Sealed the 18th March 1859, and dated the 10th January 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas James Claxton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th January 1859.
I, THOMAS JAMES CLAXTON, of the City of Montreal, Canada, Merchant,
do hereby declare the nature of the said 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 consists in applying to the toes of boots and shoes a guard or
cap of metal, or a guard or cap of gutta percha or india-rubber, or of com-
pounds of gutta percha or india-rubber. In order to apply a guard or cap of
metal to the toe of a boot or shoe, I prefer, first, to form a guard or cap to
the requisite shape, so that part of the guard or cap may overlap a portion of
the top of the toe, and a part pass between the upper leather and the sole of
a boot or shoe, and then to bore a row of holes through the sole and through
the part of the guard or cap which passes between the upper leather and the
sole, and to pass pins of wood, or or nails, or rivets of iron, zinc, or other

page_text: suitable material through the holes in the guard or cap and through the sole,
so as to fix the guard or cap to the sole. When caps or guards of gutta
percha or india-rubber, or of compounds of either of them, are employed,
I prefer first to form them to the requisite shape, and then to secure them to
the toe of the boot or shoe by means of heat or proper cement.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas James Claxton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
JAMES CLAXTON, of the City of Montreal, Canada, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas James Claxton, Her special licence that I, the
said Thomas James Claxton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas James Claxton, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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," a communication from Mellen Bray, of Montreal aforesaid, Boot and
Shoe Maker, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
James Claxton, 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 samo to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas James Claxton, 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.

page_text: and shoes, and consists in applying to the toes of boots and shoes a guard or
cap of metal, or a guard or cap of gutta percha or india-rubber, or of com-
pounds of gutta percha or india-rubber. In order to apply a guard or cap of
or cap to the
metal to the toe of a boot or shoe, I prefer, first, to form a guard
requisite shape, so that part of the guard or cap may overlap a portion of the
top of the toe, and a part pass between the upper leather and the sole of a
boot or shoe, and then to bore a row of holes through the sole and through
the part of the guard or cap which passes between the upper leather and the
sole, and to pass pins of wood, or nails, or rivets of iron, zinc, or other suitable
material through the holes in the guard or cap, and through the sole, so as to
fix the guard or cap to the sole. When caps or guards of gutta percha or
india-rubber, or of compounds of either of them, are employed, I prefer, first;
to form them to the requisite shape, and then to secure them to the toe of the
boot or shoe by means of heat or proper cement.
And in order that the said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is an exterior view of a shoe constructed according to my Inven-
tion; Figure 2 is a plan; Figure 3 a transverse section, and Figure 4 is an
under side view of the guard or toe cap, which it is preferred to construct of
sheet copper, which by stamping or otherwise is brought to the desired form;
of this guard or toe cap, A is the part which enters between the upper and the
sole, and B is the cover or cap which projects over the toe of the shoe or boot.
The guard or toe cap is fixed in its place by introducing the part A between
the upper and the sole whilst the boot or shoe is on a last or form, and before
the upper and the sole, at the toe end of the boot or shoe, have been sewn or
otherwise fixed together. The last at the toe end is shod with metal, and
when the toe cap has been fitted, as before explained, holes are made with an
awl through the sole, the toe cap and the upper, and metal rivets, such as are
commonly employed in making boots and shoes, are placed in the boles and
clenched with a hammer. In place of metal rivets, pins of wood or other
fastenings may be employed, but it is preferred to use rivets. If the boot or
shoe is to have a double sole, the outer sole is attached after the toe cap has
been applied in the manner already described.
In order to blacken the toe cap a composition is applied to it, consisting of
two parts of copal varnish and one part of japan mixed together, and with as
much lampblack as can be employed without rendering the composition too

page_text: thick to flow from the brush with which it is applied. Toe caps of gutta
percha, or of a compound of gutta percha and india-rubber, may be applied to
boots and shoes in the same manner, or they may be fastened by heat and
cement, such as is commonly used for attaching gutta percha to other sub-
stances. Toe caps may also be formed of the hard material produced from
india-rubber, and other substances mixed with sulphur, and heated and
attached by rivets or otherwise.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas James Claxton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of February, in the year of
our Lord Oue thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
THOMAS JAMES CLAXTON. (L.S.)