Improved Process of Making Presser Pads for Boot and Shoe Lasting Machines.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Sept., 1891-Accepted, 7th Nov., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Process of Making Presser Pads for Boot and Shoe
Lasting Machines.
I, DAVID LAKE of Hornellsville in the State of New York, United States of
America, Mechanical Engineer 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 :—
The object of my invention is to accurately produce at a minimum cost, the
presser pads used in lasting machines for turning in and pressing the edges of an
upper against an insole of a boot or shoe.
These parts are arranged around the shoe to be lasted and are made in sections,
the face contour of each section being different to fit the peculiar line of the last at
the base.
Heretofore these presser pads have been cut from either rubber, wood, or metal,
to the required shape, consequently a single set of pads has been very expensive
and not at all accurate.
By the process which I will now proceed to describe I am enabled to make the
presser pads accurately and at a very moderate cost.
In the accompanying drawings :-
Figures 1 to 6, are perspective views of a number of presser pads used in lasting
a boot or shoe ;
Figure, 7; is a perspective view of a pad plate;
Figure, 8, is a perspective view of the plate with molding wax attached ready to
be pressed into shape;
Figure 9 is a view of a lasted shoe in position in a lasting machine with the wax
pattern receiving the side impression of the lasted shoe;
Figure, 10, is a view of wax pattern receiving the bottom impression of the
lasted shoe;
Figure, 11; is a perspective view of the wax pattern ready to be inserted in the
mold; and
Figures 12, 13, 14 and 15, are views showing the different steps in the molding
process.
The first step in the process is to prepare the plate A, to receive the rubber or
equivalent material forming the presser pad. I prefer to use a presser pad having
a soft rubber face and a back of hard rubber which adheres to the prepared
surface of the plate A. I form on the face of the plate, in the present instance, a
series of undercut projections a, into which the rubber is molded and when the
rubber is hardened it will cling tightly to the plate.
The second step of the process is to mount a wax block B, on the plate A, it
adhering to the roughened surface of the plate.
The plate with the wax mounted thereon is then placed in position in the lasting
machine, and a perfectly lasted shoe C, with the last C, is placed in position on
the last support. The machine is set in motion and the wax blocks are first pressed
against the sides of the shoe, as shown in Figure 9, giving the required side
impression, and are in the present instance, rolled around in the direction of the
arrows Fig. 9 to the position Fig. 10, thereby giving the corner and bottom
impressions.
It will be noticed on referring to Figures 1 and 2 that the bottom impression at
the toe gives the overlapping and wrinkling of the leather at this point, thus
preventing the bulging of the leather above the sole at the toe.
The fourth step in the process is to remove the plate with the wax impression
from the lasting machine and trim the sides of the wax block, and place it and the

page_text: plate in a suitable mold D, Fig. 12, having a body of plaster-paris therein. After
the plaster-paris is set, the mold is parted as in Fig. 13, and the plate and body B
of the wax removed, leaving a cavity d of the contour of the wax.
The same plate A, or another plate of the same shape may be inserted into one
side of the mold, and the cavity in the opposite mold is filled with rubber or other
yielding material, preferably first with a layer of soft rubber, and then with a layer
of hard rubber, as shewn in Figure 14, after which the two parts of the mold are
again clamped together with the plate A, as shewn in Fig. 15, and placed in a
vulcanizing furnace and the rubber vulcanised, after which the plate A and the
rubber block or pad is removed from the mold, finished and firmly secured together
and ready for insertion in the lasting machine to press the edge of the upper under
the last.
In order to show the different shapes of presser pads. I have illustrated a number.
plate in a suitable mold D, Fig. 12, having a body of plaster-paris therein. After
the plaster-paris is set, the mold is parted as in Fig. 13, and the plate and body B
of the wax removed, leaving a cavity d of the contour of the wax.
The same plate A, or another plate of the same shape may be inserted into one
side of the mold, and the cavity in the opposite mold is filled with rubber or other
yielding material, preferably first with a layer of soft rubber, and then with a layer
of hard rubber, as shewn in Figure 14, after which the two parts of the mold are
again clamped together with the plate A, as shewn in Fig. 15, and placed in a
vulcanizing furnace and the rubber vulcanised, after which the plate A and the
rubber block or pad is removed from the mold, finished and firmly secured together
and ready for insertion in the lasting machine to press the edge of the upper under
the last.
In order to show the different shaves of presser nads. I have illustrated a number.
for instance,
Figure 1 is the toe presser pad;
Figure 2 one side toe presser pad ;
Figure 3 the ball presser pad ;
Figure 4 the inside shank presser pad;
Figure 5 the outside presser pad; and
Figure 6 the heel presser pad.
These pads differ with each size and shape of the shoe.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The process of making presser pads for lasting machines said process con-
sisting in mounting wax on a plate, placing the plate with the wax in the lasting
machine, pressing the waxed plate against a lasted shoe whereby an impression is
obtained, making a cast from said pressed wax and plate, removing the wax from
the plate and mold, filling said mold with rubber, adjusting a plate provided with a
holding surface in said mold, and finally vulcanizing the rubber whereby the
rubber is firmly secured to the plate, and having a face of the contour of the shoe,
substantially as described.
2. The process herein described of forming the presser pads of lasting machines,
said process consisting in making a mold of the form of the pad, filling said mold
first with a layer of soft rubber, then with a layer of hard rubber, placing &
backing plate in the mold, said backing plate having cavities, then vulcanizing the
rubber, whereby the soft or yielding face is held to the plate through the medium
of the hard rubber, substantially as described.
3. As a new article of manufacture, a presser pad for lasting machines having a
soft rubber face and a metallic back with a hard rubber section between the face
and the back, said hard rubber section engaging with the metallic back and
combined with the soft rubber face, substantially as described.
Dated this 29th day of September 1891.
DAY, DAVIES & HUNT,
321, High Holborn, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.