IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOLES AND HEELS FOR BOOTS AND SHOES, AND ALSO IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE SHOES
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Pidding at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th January
1864.
I, WILLIAM PIDDING, of Upper Kennington Lane, in the County of Surrey,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOLES AND HEELS FOR BOOTS AND SHOES, AND ALSO
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HORSE SHOES," to be as follows:-
My Invention, with reference to the soles and heels of boots and shoes,
consists in the manufacture of such articles of india-rubber or other suitable
elastic material, with cells or cavities on one surface and projections of less
superficial area on the opposite surface, such cells or cavities being filled in
with studs or plates, or material or composition of a less yielding character
than the india-rubber or elastic material. The sole or heel is thus made to
consist of a cellular piece of india-rubber, or other suitable elastic material,
with studs or plates, or material or composition of a less yielding character
inserted in it, and the said studs or plates, or material or composition, are
intended to be inserted on that surface of the sole or heel which will be
the outer surface when applied to the boot or shoe and the projections on the
inner surface thereof, holes being formed in the said projections for the
insertion of screws or rivets for the purpose of fixing them to the boots or
shoes, such screws or rivets being covered by the studs or plates, or filling-in
material or composition. The object of this combination is to provide soles or
heels in which the said studs or plates, or filling-in material or composition,
may, on coming in contact with any roughness of ground during wear, be

page_text: caused to press upon the elastic projections on the inner surface of the sole or
heel, and also exert some lateral pressure against the elastic sides or partitions
of the cells or cavities, and in this manner afford an elasticity of tread not
secured by the comparatively rigid soles and heels in ordinary use. The cells
or cavities formed in the soles or heels are or may be dovetailed, so as to be
capable of retaining the studs or plates, or material or composition more
securely when inserted therein. And there is a border of the elastic material
round the outer surface of the sole or heel, which I prefer to be of greater
width than that of the partitions between the cells or cavities, and also a
border connecting the projections on the inner surface thereof.
And with reference to horse-shoes, my Invention consists in manufacturing
them of elastic material, with studs or plates, or filling-in material or com-
position inserted in their cells or cavities, in the same manner as above
described with reference to the soles and heels of boots and shoes. But in
some cases a kind of bridge is formed within the horse-shoe adapted for the
hollow part of a horse's foot to rest upon, such bridge being manufactured in
the same manner as the soles and heels above described, except that it is
curved or arched in order to suit the concavity of the horse's foot. In this
case, also, it is desirable that the filling-in plate inserted in front should overlap
the front part of the horse-shoe.