Improvements in Machinery for Trimming Heels of Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Aug., 1898-Accepted, 21st Jan., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Trimming Heels of Boots and
Shoes.
A communication from abroad by the MCKAY SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, of 76,
Lincoln Street, Boston, in the State of Massachussetts, one of the United
States of America.
I, ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES, of 55 and 56, Chancery Lane, in the County of
London, Chartered Patent Agent, 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 machine herein to be described is designed for trimming heels on boots and
shoes, and especially that class of heels known as spring heels, or heels in which the
heel end of the sole constitutes the tread of the heel.
The machine contains a rotary cutter having blades shaped to conform to the
requirements of the shape of the heel, and said cutter has cooperating with it a
rotary rest against which the edge of the sole to constitute the tread of the heel
rests while the several lifts of the heel interposed between it and the upper are
being trimmed.
This rest is composed of a rotatable ring or collar having a series of projections
which enter spaces between the blades of the rotary cutter, said rest rotating in
unison with and through the action of said cutter, and presenting a series of acting
faces substantially parallel with the axis of rotation of the cutter.
The rotary cutter and the rest are herein so combined as to provide for lateral
motion of one with relation to the other, the movement being in a direction parallel
to the axis of the driving shaft for actuating the cutter to thereby enable the cutter
and rest to adapt themselves to the trimming of heels varying in thickness.
The thickness of the leather interposed between the heel end of the sole and the
upper in a spring heel decreases toward the shank, and to trim this class of heel
in its decreasing thickness toward the shank and obviate cutting injuriously into
the edge of the outer sole at the shank there has been combined with said cutter a
suitable stationery edge guide, two such edge guides being herein shown, one.being
located at one, and the other at the opposite side of the cutter, one or both said
edge guides furnishing an auxiliary support for the edge. of the sole constituting
the tread face of the heel, said guides operating just at that period of time when
the cutter is started to act and trim the portion of the heel of least thickness, or
where the transverse bend occurs in the sole which defines the inner end of the
heel, or the part of the sole or heel where the said heel decreases in thickness and
vanishes into the shank.
These edge guides are not effective while the cutter acts to trim the round part
of the heel, for at such time only the rotary rest acts to position the sole with
relation to the cutter.
The rotary rest has cooperating with it an annular or ring like surface or face
which receives against it the outer face of the sole immediately at its edge, and
holds up the substance of the sole and prevents the formation of a feather as the

page_text: cutter acts and consequently this
edger.
Ting-like surface
τοις παινα απ
The portion of the sole to constitute the tread of the heel it placed against the
heel support shown as a plate supported adjustably alongside the rotary cutter,
and when the heel is being trimmed the operator turns the sole about on this support
keeping the edge thereof however against the rotating rest, or against one or the
other of said edge guides.
This support may be adjusted to occupy a more or less angular position with
relation to the vertical plane in which the cutter revolves, so that the edge of the
heel may be more or less inclined as may be desired by the user of the machine, and
said heel support may also be adjusted bodily back and forth to thus adapt the
machine to trimming convex heels.
Fig. 1 is a top or plan view of a sufficient portion of a heel trimming machine
containing the improvements to be herein described to enable. the same to be
understood;
Fig. 2 is a right hand side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1, but with the
heel support removed;
Fig. 3 is a front elevation of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section in the line a, Fig. 1, looking downwardly ;
Fig. 5 is an enlarged face view of the rotating rest and feather edger;
Fig. 6 is a face view of the cutter detached;
Fig. 7, on a smaller scale, shows an inner end elevation of the head, and the
bearing for the rotary rest;
Fig. 8 is a detail showing the front end of the box A³;
Figs. 9, 10 and 11, show a modified form of this invention:
The drawings do not show all the framework and operative parts for the main-
shaft B as they may be of any usual or suitable construction, but the drawings do
show a portion A of the framework, it supporting a bearing box A¹, pivottally
mounted therein on point screws A², and the forward or left hand end of said box
has clamped upon it a slotted hollow box A³, said box constituting a bearing for a
movable or adjustable head A', to be described, said head enclosing within it other
parts to be referred to..
The hollow box is confined on the bearing box by means of a clamp screw A5,
passed through ears extending from a split portion of the box.
The shaft B having suitable bearings in the usual framework is extended through
the bearing box A¹, and said shaft at the right hand end of the box is provided with
a fast collar B¹, which positions the shaft longitudinally with relation to the other
parts of the machine.
The shaft B inside the hollow box is provided with a solid collar B², see Fig. 4,
provided, as herein represented, with rollers b¹ mounted on stud screws b, said rollers
entering slots in a sleeve B3, shaped to embrace said collar and the prolonged left
hand end of the shaft B, said sleeve at its extremity having a tapped hole to receive
a stud screw c, it being extended centrally through a rand gauge c¹ and the central
opening c² of the cutter c³, said screw confining the cutter upon the sleeve and
holding the rand gauge against the outer end of the cutter.
The sleeve, referred to, has a shoulder against which, see Fig. 4, bears the rear
edge of the hub of the cutter.
This sleeve is rotated by the shaft B through the rollers b¹ and the sleeve consti-
tutes a driver for the cutter.
Cooperating with this cutter, the teeth of which may be of any usual or suitable
shape according to the particular shape desired for the heel, is a rotary rest, shown
detached in Fig. 5, it consisting essentially of a hollow hub d, see Fig. 4, which
enters a cylindrical box or bearing e to be described.
The hollow hub has an outwardly projecting flanged, having extended therefrom
horizontally a series of projections d², one for each space between the teeth of the
cutter, said projections entering the spaces between the teeth of the cutter and

page_text: being free to slide back and forth therein owing to variations in the thickness of
the heel being trimmed.
The projections d² are surrounded externally at a short distance back from their
edges, see Figs. 4 and 5, by a plain metallic ring d³, it being driven snugly onto
said projections so that it becomes practically a part of the rest and rotates with it
and the cutter.
The hollow hub d of the rest is entered by a pin f, extended from the shaft B
through a hole 2 in the sleeve B³, said pin acting as a driver for the said rest, and
the hole enables the sleeve B" to slide back and forth as the odgo of the rand guide
in the rand crease moves to adapt itself to a heel of varying thickness.
The outer edge or vertical face of this metallic ring constitutes a feather
edger, and standing substantially at right angles to the length of the projections d²
at a little distance back from the ends of said projections, the projections are
thereby adapted to present one after another a shoulder or face substantially
parallel with the axis of rotation of the cutter against which is borne the edge of
the tread end of the heel to be trimmed, while the face of the metallic ring bears
against the face of the sole or tread end of the heel immediately at the point where
the edges of the cutter act to trim the heel and its tread end, and the said ring, it
constituting a feather edger, holds up the work so that a feather or rough edge is
not formed by the action of the cutter.
The shank d of the rest described rotates in the bearing e before referred
to, it having a flanged end o¹, which, in practice, is shaped to present a quadrilateral
flange, see Fig. 7, said flange being united by suitable screws o² to the head A' to
be described, the said screws passing outside the circular flanged part d¹ of the
rest d.
To ensure the holding of the cutter in its normal position, that is in a position
to trim the thinnest heel which it is capable of trimming, a yoke D has been
added to the machine, see Fig. 1, upon which is pivotted at D' a holder D³, said
holder having in turn pivotted upon it a presser plate or finger D³, the pivot being
represented at D4, a suitable spring D, shown in Fig. 1, normally acting to keep
the holder or finger pressed against the stud screw c before described, see Fig. 4,
but when the heel being trimmed increases in thickness the cutter by or through
the action of the rand guide in the rand crease will be pulled or drawn out to the
left, viewing Figs. 1 and 4, and at such time the tension of the spring has to be
overcome. The finger d³ may be kept in elevated position, as shown in Fig. 3, as
when for instance the cutter is to be removed, the finger being at such time turned
up, a shoulder on the finger meeting the stud g on the holder D. To adjust the
finger to cutters of different thickness the holder 12 is provided with a projection g³
which is acted upon by a screw g' in the yoke D.
Upon one side of the head A fitted to the end of the hollow box A³, viz. :-the
right hand side of said head, as shown in the drawings, see Fig. 7, I have
attached, see Fig. 1, by a suitable screw, h, a sole or heel support h¹, its outer face
occupying a position more or less inclined with relation to the vertical plane in
which the cutter rotates, as that by changing the position of said, heel support the
edge of the spring heel may be presented more or less inclined with relation to the
cutter.
This heel support is shown as having an arm provided with a curved slot through
which the said screw is extended.
In some cases the heel end of the sole, covering the spring heel, is convexed, so
as to give the heel a greater thickness in the median line of the last, and to adapt
this heel support for such a heel the face of the support must be carried backwardly,
or to the right, viewing Fig. 1, and to effect this movement the screw h² may be
slackened so that the small plate 3 carrying the arm of the heel support may be
moved longitudinally.
Upon the face of the head A, see Fig. 3, I have placed two guides m, m³, one
being at one and the other at the opposite side of said rotary cutter, one or more of
the projections of the rest being exposed in the space between said guides, they

page_text: forming a continuation of said rest, and in no way obstructing or covering the edges
of the cutters which act upon the sole.
The movable or adjustable head A+ has at its inner side, see Fig. 7, a slot o
recess o cut partially through it from front to back, said slot being open at the
front of said head or that portion of the head where the operator stands to receive
and slide on the reduced squared end A3* of the hollow box A³, the slot being of
such shape and size that the head may be adjusted horizontally with relation to the
main shaft B.
The hollow hub of the bearing e in which turns the shank of the rest enters a
hollow space in the squared end A3* of the hollow box A³, and the flanged end o¹ of
said bearing is shaped to present a quadrilateral flange o¹ see Fig. 7, the said flange
being united to the head A4 by the screws o².
The hollow box A³ at the inner end of the squared part A3* is provided with two
cross grooves ps in which enter two gibs pt and p³, said gibs being connected to the
inner end of the head A by suitable screws p³, p².
The part A* of the hollow box has fixed to and extended from it a screw 22, see
Fig. 8, and said screw receives upon it an adjusting nut g, having an annular
groove g¹, in which rests a portion of the yoke D, said yoke having at
one edge on open slot to enable it to be slipped into said groove, see
Fig. 1.
By rotating the nut g on the screw 22, the adjustment of the head A may be
effected laterally, together with the bearing e, the rest d³, and the feather edger d³,
so that said parts may be moved with relation to the shaft B when it is required to
change their positions to compensate for wear of the cutter due to grinding.
In the manufacture of shoes having spring heels, the heel end of the outer sole
is preferably died out to pattern, and therefore, said, heel end need not be trimmed,
but the leather constituting the several lifts of the heel and interposed between the
heel end of the outer sole and the upper surrounding the inner sole and constituting
the body of the spring heel must be trimmed to shape by the cutter of the machine,
see Fig. 3.
A shoe having a heel to be trimmed is taken in the hand of the operator, and the
face of the sole at or near its heel end, see dotted lines n, is pressed against the heel
support Fig. 3, with the toe of the shoe uppermost, and in this condition the
trimming is started at the transverse bend of the sole, where the heel presents its
thinnest part nearest the shank, and the trimming carried from that point around
the heel end of the sole to the opposite shank.
The cutter having been started the shoe will be moved vertically by the operator,
from position shown by dotted lines n, Fig. 3, and during this movement, the outer
face of the sole near its edge will bear against the face or acting end of the feather
edger, the edge of the sole coming against the projections d² of the rest one after
another, as the cutter and rest rotate, and this operation of trimming the heel will
be continued until the shoe is brought in position so that its toe points substantially
downward in the dotted line position n', when the movement of the shoe is again
made vertical, the heel, however, at such time being upward, and when the shoe is
sufficiently elevated to bring the opposite side of the heel at its thinnest portion,
together with the sole edge, against the edge gauge m¹, said edge gauge serving to
sustain the edge of the sole at a point outside the circular plane in which the cutter
rotates, and especially while the thinnest portion of the heel and the shank is being
trimmed.
During this trimming the projections of the rotary rest come into operative
position one after another, so that working in succession they form a perfect
support against which the edge of the sole may travel.
This invention is not limited to the exact construction shown of the several
devices, for it is obvious that such construction might be varied by only the skill
of the mechanic and without invention and yet perform the results herein before
referred to.

page_text: A modification of this invention is illustrated in Figs. 9, 10, and 11. Fig. 9 shows'
a partial top or plan view of a modification, Fig. 10 a side elevation, and Fig. 11
a left hand view of Fig. 9.
In this modification let A represent part of the frame work of suitable construction,
and B the rotary shaft provided at its front end with a rand guide a10 and a rotary
cutter eo, and the feather edger composed of a ring co, having a series of bevel
ended fingers ci2, which enter the spaces between the blades of and rotate in unison
with the cutter, said fingers acting against the side or end of the sole to constitute™
the tread face of the heel being trimmed.
This feather edger by acting against the sole in the line of the cut being made
by the blades of the cutter tends to keep the latter firmly up in position at the line
where it is being cut, thus preventing the leather being cut from being turned.
over to leave what is called a feather or ragged edge. The rand guide is provided
at its outer face with a bevelled surface shown at the left in Figs. 1 and 2, which,
during the action of the trimming cutter rests against the upper lying on the last
so that said rand guide follows the contour of the last during the trimming
operation.
The framework receives a sleeve e20, which is fixed thereon and constitutes one
of the bearings for the shaft B.
A spring 30 surrounds the sleeve e20, and beyond said spring the said sleeve is
also surrounded by a sliding collar e13, said collar having projecting from one side
of it an arm e, to constitute a table support entirely independent of the rand
guide.
This table support has pivotted upon it at e31 near the circumference of the rand
guide, a table e said table having a wing or projection e51, which is slotted
at 10 to be entered by a clamp screw f11, screwed into the arm e, said clamp
screw enabling the face of the table to be adjusted to any desired inclination with
relation to the axis of rotation of the cutter e10 and its shaft.
The sliding collar e13 arm and table are free to slide longitudinally on or with
relation to the shaft B entirely independent of the rand guide, and to prevent the
rotation of said collar on said sleeve, the said collar bas been provided with a slot eº¹,
which is entered by a pin 2, extended from the sleeve e¹³.
The front end of the sleeve e20 receives against it a spiral spring 40, the opposite.
end of said spring acting against the hub of the feather edger ct, thus leaving said
feather edger free to slide toward and from the sleeve e20 and on the shaft B,
so that it may uncover more or less of the length of the teeth of the cutter, as
may be required, to thereby adapt the cutter to trim a heel or sole of varying
thickness.
In this modification of this-invention the rand guide has no lateral movement,
as in the machine described in Figs. 1 and 8 inclusive, and said rand guide runs
in a fixed path while the feather edger acts against the bottom of the tread face
of the heel, if a heel is being trimmed, or the sole if the heel is of the
variety known as spring heels, or of the face of the sole if the sole alone is being
trimmed.
In applying the heel or sole in position to be trimmed the face of the heel or sole
will be laid against the table e¹, and the heel or sole will be pressed toward and
against the cutter until the rand guide enters the usual rand crease, the edge of
the heel or sole acting against the inclined fingers of the feather edger and
crowding it to the right, viewing Fig. 9 & 10, more or less according to the thickness
of the inner sole, and during this operation the shoe will be turned more or less on
or about said table, and by adjusting this table the angle of trimming of the edge
of the heel or sole may be controlled as desired.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The use in a machine for trimming heale of a notony outhon
1
1

page_text: having cooperating with them an independent rotary rest disconnected from said
rand-guide and presenting a series of projections occupying the spaces between
the blades of the cutter, said projections forming a rest for the edge of the sole,
the rand guide and rest being relatively movable one toward and from the other to
adapt the cutter to trim heels of different height or thickness, substantially as
described.
2. Also the use with a rotary cutter and rand-guide, of a rotating rest
substantially as described for the edge of the sole, and a feather edger located
at one side of said rest to contact with the outer face of the sole near its edge as
the heel is being trimmed, substantially as described.
3. Also the use with a rotary cutter and a slotted sleeve to which it is attached,
of a rotary rest having a series of projections entering the spaces between the
blades of the cutter, and a bearing for the hub of said rest, and means to connect
the said hub and shaft through the said sleeve and thus drive the said rest in unison
with the cutter, substantially as described.
4. Also the use with a slotted sleeve provided with a rotary cutter and an
attached rand-guide, of a rotating rest having projections entering the spaces between
the blades of the said cutter, and an auxiliary guide presenting a guiding edge to
co-operate with the said rest in controlling the presentation of the heel to the
cutter, substantially as described.
5. Also the use with a rotary cutter and an attached rand-guide, of a rotating
rest having projections entering the spaces between the blades of the said cutter,
and two auxiliary guides one at each side of the rotary cutter, thus presenting
guiding edges in line with the acting face of said rotating rest, to operate,
substantially as described.
6. Also the use in a heel trimming machine having a rotating sleeve provided
with an attached rotary cutter and rand guide, and a rotating rest occupying a
position between the blades of the cutter, of a stationary sole support occupying a
position at one side of said cutter in a plane at an angle to the vertical plane in
which the cutter rotates, and means to adjust and then fix the said support in its
adjusting position, whereby said sole support may be inclined more
according to the inclination desired for the edge of the heel, substantially as
described.
or less
7. Also the use with a rotary cutter and rand-guide, and a sleeve carrying them,
of a rotating rest having projections entering the spaces between the blades of said
cutter, and a spring heel plate or finger acting on the said rand guide to normally
keep it and the cutter in position to trim a heel of minimum height at its thickest
portion, leaving the said rand guide and cutter free to be moved in unison to
adapt themselves to any increasing thickness of the heel, substantially as
described.
8. Also the use in a heel trimming machine having a rotary cutter and rand-
guide, of a rotating rest presenting a series of projections occupying the rear parts
of the spaces between the blades of the cutter, the rand-guide and rest being
movable laterally one with relation to the other to adapt the machine to trin heels
of different height, substantially as described.
9. Also the use in a heel trimming machine having a rotating shaft and a
rotating cutter and rand-guide movable longitudinally together with relation to said
shaft to thereby adapt them to trim heels of different thickness, of a stationary yet
adjustable sole support adapted to occupy a stationary position at one side of said
cutter and in a plane at an angle to the vertical plane in which the cutter rotates
during the operation of trimming a heel, substantially as described.
rotatable sleeve provided
10. Also the use in a heel trimming machine having
with a rotary cutter and rand-guide, of a sole support made as a flat table, and
auxiliary guides located near one edge of said table to partially embrace the said
cutter the face of said support occupying a position at one side of said cutter
in a plane at an angle to the vertical plane in which the cutter rests, and means to

page_text: hold said support stationary through the operation of trimming a heel, substantially
as described.
11. The use in a heel trimming machine having a rotary cutter and rand-guide
and a feather edger, of a sole support adapted to be adjusted in an arc of a circle
located at or near the inner edge of said cutter, to thereby place the heel or sole to
be trimmed at the proper angle with relation to the path of movement of the cutter,
substantially as described.
12. The use of a heel trimming machine, having a rotary cutter, a rand guide,
and a sole support occupying a position at one side of said cutter in a plane at an
angle to the vertical plane in which the cutter rests, of a stationary edge gauge
against which the edge of the heel end of the sole may act when the spring heel is
being trimmed in its portion of least thickness or height, substantially as
described.
Dated this 20th day of August 1990.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55/56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.