IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS
AND SHOES."A communication from abroad by Louis Auguste Favre,
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Sealed the 25th February 1868, and dated the 23rd September 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd September 1867.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in boots and shoes, and consists in
fixing to the inner sole, which is sewn or nailed to the vamp, a metallic plate
provided with small holes or mortises around its outer edges,said metal plate
being fixed to the sole by means of nails or rivets, screws, or otherwise. An
outer sole is applied on this metallic frame provided with small screws or pro-
jections, each of which enters a corresponding mortise in the said frame.
These slots or mortises are either of a dovetailed or bayonet slot form in order
that the sole may be adjusted in position on the boot or shoe by sliding it
slightly in a lateral direction thereon, the screws or pins entering the mortises
and readilyfixing the sole to the metal plate,while it is impossible for the sole
to become detached, except by sliding it back in the opposite direction as
when fixing it, that is, by disengaging all the pins or screws from their
respective mortises. I have mentioned that I use dovetailed or bayonet slots,
Price 1

page_text: but I prefer that the slots should turn in a slanting direction in order to
prevent the sole from slipping on the sole plate when walking. Thus the sole is
adjusted in position by a double sliding movement, the first being at an angle
with the other. I mayalso in order to further insure the fixing of the sole to the
inner sole plate apply a flat spring taking into a catch made in the sole when
the latter is in position and fixed thereto, or any other mode of fixing, such
as screws or nails, may be adopted. I have mentioned that the outer sole
carries the projecting pins or screws and the sole plate, the slots or mortises,
but the contrary arrangement may be adopted. This mode of fixing soles to
boots or shoes is very simple, strong, and economical, and can be readily done
by any one, while they may be renewed from time to time as the sewing,
pegging, or screwing of the inner sole and vamp is not interfered with.
These improvements are illustrated in the accompanying Drawingas applied
to a shoe, Figurelshowing a side elevation of a shoe having the outer solefixed
according to this Invention; Figure 2, a plan of the shoe with the outer sole
removed; Figure 3, a separate plan of the outer sole, while Figure 4 shows a
view of a portion of the sole plate provided with bayonet slots for securing
the sole thereto. The same letters apply to all these Figures.
a, shoe; b, inner sole to which is adapted the second or outer sole c,
Figure 3; d, metal frame or plate fixed to the inner sole by screws e or
otherwise. This plated is provided with a suitable number of slots or mortisesf
made either straight or in the form shown in Figure 4. g, pins or projections
fixed to sole c in equal number to the slots in plate d, for which purpose they
project so as to enter said slots for securing the cuter sole to the shoe. I
may further insert between the inner and outer soles a thickness or sole of
cork, india-rubber, oiled cloth,or other impervious and elastic material either
of a greasy or non-greasy nature. This intermediate sole may be made to
cover the whole surface of the inner sole, in which case it is perforated at the
points where the projecting pins on the inner sole are to pass through, or it
may be made simply of sufficient size to fill up the space interior of the sole
plate. Heels may also be fixed to boots and shoes in a similar manner, as
shown in Figure 2.
"
In the Drawing I have shown the improvements as applied to shoes, but it
will be understood that I also apply them to boots and shoes generally. The
metal sole plate may also be placed laterally in the thickness of the sole
where the latter is made to project. I may also adapt a lever to the sole
plate for the purpose of applying the sole. This lever would be hinged or
jointed to the sole plate, and by depressing it the sole would be drawn in
its place, the lever lying along under the sole and catching into the heel.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed.
by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th. March 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her Most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and graut unto
me, the said Alexander Melville Clark, Her special licence that I, the said
Alexander Melville Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, 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 BOOTS AND SHOES," a communication to me
from abroad by Louis Auguste Favre, Watch Maker, of 29, Boulevart St.
Martin, Paris, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander
Melville Clark, 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 manuer
the same was to be performed, and cause the same 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 Alexander Melville Clark, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This invention relates to improvements in boots and shoes, and consists in
fixing to the inner sole, which is sewn or nailed to the vamp, a metallic rim or
plate around its outer edges provided with small holes or mortises, said metal

page_text: elastic material, either of a greasy or non-greasy nature.
l'his intermediate
sole may be made to cover the whole eurface of the inner sole, in which case
it is perforated at the points where the projecting pins on the outer scle are to
pass through, or it may be made simply of sufficient size to fill up the space
iuside of the sole plate.
Heels may also be fixed to boots and shoes in a
similar manner as shown in Figure 2.
In the Drawing I have shown the improvements as applied to shoes, but it
will be understood that I may also apply them to boots and shoes generally.
Many means may be adopted to prevent the sole from slipping on the
metallic fixing plate; for example, I may form two projections on the plate,
as at h, h, Figure 2, spaces being provided in the sole 6 for their reception when
applying the sole thereon. In this case the sole c is furnished with two pins
placed so as to abut against the ends of the projections h, h, forming a spring
connection, tending to keep the sole in position. I may also adopt the con-
trary arrangement shown in Figure 5, that is to say, I may make recesses i, i,
in the sole c, and bend or adapt the parts h, h, above mentioned, so that they
may enter said recesses, which would prevent the sole's slipping in walking.
In removing the adjustable sole it is only necessary to press on the spring
at point; in order to force it out of recess i. I may also fix the sole by
means of a pin and wedge k, Figure 7, inserted under the plate and between
it and the pin, as shown in red lines in Figure 6.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
Fixing a metallic frame to the insoles of boots and shoes provided with
mortises of the forms indicated for receiving pins or projections fixed on a
separate sole, by which means the latter may be readily adjusted and fixed in
position on the inner sole by a sliding movement without other aid, sub-
stantially in the manner described and shown.
I also claim the application of these improvements to boot and shoe heels,
as herein-before described and represented.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto
set my land and seal, this Seventeenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
A. M. CLARK (L.S.)