CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
NOEL, of Jermyn Street, Saint James's, in the City of Westminster, Boot
and Shoe Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-first day of April, in the fifth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Noel, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Noel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said William Noel, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso, obliging me, the said William Noel, by an instrument in writing"
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Noel, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in

page_text: what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, and the Drawing therein
referred to:-
My improvements in the manufacture of boots and shoes consist in the use
and application of metallic springs, as herein-after described, whereby a great
degree of elasticity or flexibility may be given to the boot or shoe, so that
during the action of walking the foot will have great freedom and easiness of
motion, the boot or shoe readily adapting itself to every change of form which
takes place in the foot; and further, the insertion of shank pieces, for the
purpose of giving rigidity and stiffness to the waist, is rendered wholly
unnecessary.
Fig. 1, in the accompanying Drawing, represents a section of a boot or
half boot made according to my Invention; Fig. 2 is a side or edge view, and
Fig. 3 a plan view, of one of the metallic springs which I employ. The
description of spring I use is a thin well-tempered steel spring, slightly curved,
as represented, and covered with paint or other suitable material to preserve or
protect it from rust. The spring is introduced in the waist of the boot or shoe
between the insole and the outer sole, as seen in Fig. 1. In manufacturing
a boot or shoe according to my Invention, I take the sole down from the joints
backward to the heel quite thin, leaving the leather all its substance to be
placed under the heel. The spring is then fastened at one end to the
back part of the sole under the heel by means of pins or rivets, as seen in
Figures 1 and 3, and the other end of the spring is allowed just to reach the
joints, or half-way between the toe and the heel.
From the above description it will be understood that the spring is to be
fastened at one end only, the rest of the spring being allowed some play
between the in and out sole, it being one essential feature of my Invention
that the spring should be fixed only at one end, so that the play, above
described, between the soles may freely take place. Instead of fastening the
spring at the heel part of the boot, as seen in the Drawing, and above
described, it may be fastened at the opposite end to the sole, and allowed to
enter and work in the heel; or it may be fastened at the middle to the waist
of the boot, each end of the spring being free. But although the principle of
this part of my Invention of improvements in boots and shoes may be carried
out into practice in any of the ways above mentioned, I prefer the method
shewn in the Drawing at Fig. 1, and firstly above described, as I find that to
answer most satisfactorily.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim the

page_text: improvements in the manufacture of boots and shoes by the use and appli-
cation of metallic springs, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Noel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Nineteenth day of October,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid William Noel came before our
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
O said, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Twenty-first day of October, in the year above written.