IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPERTAINING TO THE SEAMS OF BOOTS, SHOES, LEATHER SATCHELS AND TRUNKS, HOSE PIPES, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF A FLEXIBLE NATURE IN WHICH WATERPROOF SEAMS ARE ADVANTAGEOUS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Phillips Thompson, of the Firm of W. P.
Thompson and Co., Patent Agents, of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, and of 323, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPERTAINING
TO THE SEAMS OF BOOTS, SHOES, LEATHER SATCHELS AND TRUNKS, HOSE
PIPES, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF A FLEXIBLE NATURE IN WHICH WATERPROOF
SEAMS ARE ADVANTAGEOUS." A communication from abroad from James
Popham, of the City of Montreal, in the Dominion of Canada.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Phillips Thompson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th August 1880.
WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, of the Firm of W. P. Thompson and Co., Patent
Agents, of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, and of 323, High
Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND
APPERTAINING TO THE SEAMS OF BOOTS, SHOES, LEATHER SATCHELS AND TRUNKS,
HOSE PIPES, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF A FLEXIBLE NATURE IN WHICH WATERPROOF
SEAMS ARE ADVANTAGEOUS." A communication from James Pophamn, of the
City of Montreal, in the Dominion of Canada.
The purpose of my present Invention is to provide for boots and shoes of all
classes a seam which shall be more durable and less liable to rip than those formed
by any of the usual methods, besides giving a joint impervious to the action of
damp; in other words, I form a seam at once indestructible and waterproof.
My Invention will also be of great value when applied to leather hose, buckets,
satchels, trunks, etcetera, etcetera, as the strength and waterproof qualities of the
seams in these and analogous articles will be greatly enhanced thereby.
The following is a brief description of the Invention, and my manner of applying
the same:
Between the meeting surfaces to be joined I place a layer of rubber cement, and
then run a row or rows of stitching through same, after which I drive through
both thicknesses in a continuous line rivits of any metal and construction suitable
for the purposc.
From this it will be seen that the rubber cement prevents water from oozing
through, the stitching keeps the edges of the leather from turning up, and the
continuous line of rivets obviates all chance of the seam ripping; the whole forming
a compact waterproof and durable joint.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Phillips Thompson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th February 1881.
WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, of the Firm of W. P. Thompson and Co., Patent
Agents, of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, and of 323, High
Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND
APPERTAINING TO THE SEAMS OF BOOTS, SHOES, LEATHER SATCHELS AND TRUNKS,
HOSE PIPES, AND OTHER ARTICLES OF A FLEXIBLE NATURE IN WHICH WATERPROOF
SEAMS ARE ADVANTAGEOUS. A communication from James Popham, of the
City of Montreal, in the Dominion of Canada.
"
The following is the Specification as communicated to me by my Canadian
correspondent with orders to file :-
My Invention is applicable to all boots and shoes made of leather of every
description and all sizes, and will also be found very useful in the construction of
leather hose, buckets, satchels, trunks, portmanteaus, et cetera, of all kinds, and in
every case in which leather seams have to endure strain, and at the same time
exclude damp, the object being to make such seams waterproof, and at the samo
time practically indestructible.
It may be briefly described as consisting in securing together the several pieces
which are to be joined, whatever the article may be to which the Invention is
applied (that is, making its scams), by means of rubber cement placed between
their overlapping surfaces, and a continuous line of rivets passing through both
pieces, with rows of stitching on either side same.
In the Drawings hereto annexed and forming part of this Specification, Fig. 1 is
a view of a seam made according to my Invention, Fig. 2 a section through same,
and Fig. 3 a view of a boot embodying my Invention.
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.
My improved waterproof seam is constructed by first placing between the picces
of leather to be joined, marked A and B in the Drawing, a close layer of rubber
cement sufficient to keep out water. I then run a line or lines of stitching, as
shown at d, d, through the pieces which overlap each other, after which I drive
through both thicknesses rivets C at short distances apart in a continuous line
throughout the seam.
From this it will be understood that the rubber cement obviates all chance of
wet oozing through the seam, the stitching prevents the edges of the leather from
turning up, besides making the seam more compact, and the continuous line of
rivets strengthens the joint, and has the effect of making the seam absolutely
indestructible.
The rivets used may be of any metal of which they are usually formed, but in
boots of a superior class of copper or other substance not affected by wet. In all
cases they will be inserted so as not to strike out the pieces embraced in them,
which might weaken the leather and make the boots liable to leak, my Invention
being specially intended to overcome this difficulty.
I am aware that rivets placed in a continuous line have been used in Canada to
join together the uppers of moccasins, and also that cement has been used for a
like purpose, and therefore claim neither of these by themselves broadly,
what I
claim being as follows:-
The improved means of forming seams in articles made of leather by a continuous
line of rivets and stitching, and by placing between the overlapping meeting

page_text: surfaces a coating of rubber cement, whereby waterproof seams are obtained, and a
perfect union of parts.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Phillips Thompson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
W³. P. THOMPSON. (L.S.)