An Appliance for Wear with Boots and Shoes for Facilitating Walking and for other objects.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Mar., 1899-Accepted, 13th May, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Appliance for Wear with Boots and Shoes for Facilitating
Walking and for other objects.
I, GEORGE MINTO, of Dunedin, Upton Place, Chepstow Road, Newport,
Monmouthshire, Draughtsman, 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:-
This invention consists in an appliance adapted for ready attachment to and
detachment from boots and shoes, and having among its objects to facilitate and
render walking less arduous, to reduce tear and wear of boots and shoes, and to keep
them out of direct contact with the ground.
The appliance which constitutes this invention consists of a piece of india-
rubber, preferably round in section, partially embedded in a channel of iron or
steel secured below a plate which is, by means of a strap or straps, a toe cap and
heel case, adapted for attachment to a boot or shoe. For convenience in description
this plate may be called the foot plate. The india-rubber is exposed at the under
part and constitutes a resilient cushion which, with the carrying channel, extends
as a pair of curved rockers" from the under face of the heel to the toe; pillars or
struts being situated at intervals along the appliance. In the part which comes
under the heel, the foot plate has a hinge, behind which is a pair of vertical rods
which project up through the plate and have play vertically. Around each of
these rods is coiled a spring which tends to maintain that part of the plate which
is in rear of the hinge at the upper limit of its range of movement on the
hinge.
In walking, the cushion rockers have a rolling-forward effect on the feet of the
wearer of the appliance so that the tread from the heel to the toe is without break,
and therefore free from the shock or jar caused, in ordinary walking action, by the
drop from the heel to the toe.
Referring to the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings, Fig. 1 is a heel-
end view, and Fig. 2 a side view of the appliance in which this invention consists,
shown in position on a boot. Fig. 3 is a plan of the appliance as seen from below.
Partially embedded in the channelled carrier a, of iron or steel, is a piece 6 of
india-rubber or the like, which is cemented or otherwise fixed in the carrier and is
preferably round in section. As shown, the carrier a is extended up from below the
heel to the toe in the form of an arc, meeting the foot-plate c at the toe, so that
the resilient cushion b is carried along both sides of the appliance and round the
under part of the toe. Pillars or struts d are situated at suitable distances apart
along the appliance and are fixed at the upper ends in the foot-plate c and at the
lower ends in the carrier a. To the front part of the plate e is fixed a toe cap to
receive the toe of the boot, and to the rear part is fixed the heel-case f to which is
sewn the buckle strap y arranged to be buckled over the instep.
Instead of the buckle strap g for securing the appliance in position, other means
may be employed, such as laces or strings adapted for lacing or tying. Or a clip
or clasp arranged to grasp the heel and sole of the boot or shoe may be used.
Below the heel, the plate e has a hinge c¹, in rear of which is a pair of vertical

page_text: rods carried up through the plate e and free to play in the holes made therein for
their reception. About the rods are coiled springs i which tend to keep that part
of the plate which is in rear of the hinge at the upper limit of its range of
movement on the hinge, that is, in the position shown in the drawings. Under
the pressure exerted in walking, the springs i yield, and thus elasticity is imparted
to that part of the plate. By the cushioned rockers, the wearer of the appliance is,
at each step, gradually rocked forward from heel to toe and thus the shock due
to the drop from heel to toe in ordinary walking is obviated, an effect which is
enhanced in comfort by the yielding of the cushions 6 and the springs of the
heel. Bending of the foot is reduced, and there is therefore less strain on the boot
or shoe soles and uppers.
Instead of having a hinge in it, the plate c may be undivided throughout, and in
that case the springs i would also be dispensed with.
The appliance keeps the boot or shoe of the wearer out of direct contact with the
ground and, consequently, the boot or shoe is less liable to become soiled, wet or
heated.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
An appliance for wear with boots and shoes and adapted by means of a strap
or straps, or the equivalent thereof, to be readily attached and detached; said
appliance consisting of a strip or piece such as b of india-rubber or the like resilient
substance, carried in a suitable carrier such as a, the said carrier and resilient
substance constituting the treading surface and arranged as a pair of approximately
arc-shaped rails or rockers secured under a foot-plate such as c, which is preferably
divided in the heel part and acted upon by springs such as i, but which may be
undivided throughout and not acted upon by such springs, the parts being dis-
posed and arranged substantially as heroinabove described.
Dated this 4th day of March 1899.
NICHOLAS WATTS,
Chartered Patent Agent, Bristol.