Improvements in and relating to Machines for Sewing Boot and Shoe Uppers to their Soles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Oct., 1897-Accepted, 16th Apr.,
1898
[Communicated from abroad by NAPOLEON GODDU and GEORGE GODDU, both of
Winchester, Massachusetts, United States of America.]
Improvements in and relating to Machines for Sewing Boot and Shoe
Uppers to their Soles.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
My invention is a combined sewing and lasting machine adapted to hold the
upper, sole and last in proper relation by pressers or clamps co-operating with the
last and to secure them by sewing while so held.
In the drawings-
Figure 1 is an elevation showing a sewing machine and a portion of a lasting
machine embodying our invention;
Figure 1 shows in elevation the mechanism for suspending and driving the
sewing machine;
Figure 2 is a plan showing a shoe and the clamps or pressers as seen in elevation
in the lower part of Fig. 1, and ready for the operation of the sewing machine;
Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figs. 1 and 2;
Figures 4, 5, 5, 6, 7 and 8 illustrates the preferred construction of the sewing
machine portion of the invention.
In the drawings, I have shown the last A, with the sole D and upper D¹, sup-
ported on a heel pin a, and toe rest a', in the usual way, the upper being clamped
in proper relation with last A and sole D by the heel presser B and toe presser B¹;
and shank and forepart pressers b, but I have not fully shown the details of my
preferred form of lasting machine, proper, that is a machine made up of a support
for the last A, sole D, and upper D', and pressers to clamp and hold the upper and
sole in proper relation after they are fitted on the last; for the reason that any
suitable means of holding the last, sole and upper and applying the
will
pressers
answer; but the pressers must be substantially such as are shown, in order that
they may serve as the work-holder of a sewing machine. The sole D has a lip d
about its shank and forepart, as usual, and the upper D' is sewed to the lip a while
the upper and sole are held in proper relation by the pressers, the sewing being
cone preferably by a sewing machine which is moved along the lip d from the
shank on one side about the forepart to the shank on the other side."
So far as I have any reason to believe I am the first to invent a sewing machine
adapted for this work, and I have, therefore shown not only my combined lasting
and sewing machine, in Fig. 1, but have also fully illustrated the construction
of my sewing machine in Figs. 4, 5, 5, 6, 7 and 8, in which the hook needle Fis
mounted on its segmental carrier f, which is oscillated by segmental lever f', forked
at its upper end to receive the box F3 of the wrist pin f³, which is fast to pulley G
on main shaft f³, as will be clear from Fig. 6, which shows these parts with other
parts obscuring them removed or merely indicated.
Main shaft is driven by pulley G, which is connected by belt g with pulley g',
and pulley g' is carried by lever g² at the end of arm G. The stud 93, of pulley gi

page_text: is also the stud of pulley g, which is driven by pulley and belt 96, pulleys g¹
and g' being one piece, and pulley 95 being fast to shaft g of. pulley 98 which is
driven by belt g, as indicated in Fig. 1. The spring go holds arm G¹ up to
bracket G2, so that the end of lever g² comes in contact with its stop g₁ on bracket G²,
and belt go, is thereby slacked as stud g³ moves nearer shaft g when lever g² is
swung on its fulcrum at the end of arm G¹. But when the sewing machine is
grasped by the operator, and pulled down for operation as indicated in Fig. 1,
belt is drawn tight, and acts through lever g to tighten belt 96.
In case the operator desires to stop the motion of the needle when the sewing
machine is in its operating position, as in Fig. 1, he pulls on the finger lever H,
and thereby swings the lower end of lever 92 inwards, through cord h, and thus
slackens belt 96. The stop h¹ enters the groove in the face of cam 3, when the
finger lever H is depressed, and stops the sewing machine with the needle back,
or out of the work. (See Figs. 4, 5, and 8).
The sewing machine terminates in the guide j, and the looper j¹, which in one
position supplements the guide j; for both j and 1 rest upon the surface of sole D,
while the needle penetrates the upper D¹ and the lip d, the two then acting as a single
guide foot and also as a support for the upper and lip against the thrust of the
needle, the looper j¹ also keeping the thread close to the surface of the sole so that
the needle is sure to pass over the thread; and after the needle has penetrated the
upper and lip, the looper ¹ is lifted by its spring, threading the hook needle,
which is then withdrawn, and the looper is then depressed by its cam 3. The
cam 3 is on shaft f in line with shaft f, and the wrist pin f extends through
cam 3, and compels cam ³ and shaft fo to rotate with pulley G and shaft f. (See
Figs. 4, 5 and 8.)
The upper D¹, and lip d are clamped between the side of foot ; and the work
clamp at the lower end of lever K, which is thrown forward to clamp the work by
the spring k, and moved away from the work by the pawl kl, carried by the swing-
ing arm . This arm is thrown forward by the wiper 3 in order to make pawl
engage with the ratchet on the upper end of lever K, and thus swing lever K in
a direction to move the work clamp away from the work. As arm is moved
back by its spring, the pawl 1, strikes the knock-off 5, and is thereby freed
from its ratchet, in order to leave lever K under the influence of its spring k, and
cause it to clamp the work. The looper foot, work clamp, and their adjuncts are
shown in Figs. 7 and 8 with other parts removed, or indicated.
This sewing machine forms the subject matter of another Patent granted to me,
Number 28,029, dated December 8, 1896, as my present invention does not relate
to the construction of either the sewing machine proper or the lasting machine
proper, but is a combined sewing and lasting machine adapted to hold the upper
sole and last in proper relation by pressers or clamps co-operating with the last
and to secure them by sewing while so held.
The operation is as follows:
The operator ordinarily receives the upper sole and last from the helper with the
upper held at the toe and heel by a few tacks, and places the last on the heel pin a
and toe-rest a¹, and then fits the upper over the last and sole pulling out the pre-
liminary tacks, all in the usual manner, and temporarily securing the upper in
proper relation to the lip d, and to the last by the pressers B B¹ b, also tacking it
about the heel as usual, for it is not important to dispense with the tacks except
at the shank and forepart; although as will be obvious my method of lasting may be
used about the heel as well as about the shank and forepart, if the lip d be con-
tinued about the heel. When the edge of the upper has been brought into proper
relation with the sole and clamped by the pressers and last, the sewing machine
is brought into place with the guide ; and looper 1 against the outer surface of the
sole and close to lip d, and the operator causes the needle to pierce the upper
and lip, moving the sewing machine along and guiding it by the lip d and the
sole to get the desired length and position of the stitch, and stopping and starting
it as required by the finger lever H, as explained above, until he has sewed the

page_text: upper to the lip about the shank and forepart; or about shank, forepart and heel
if that be desired.
I am aware that I am not the first to sew the upper to a lip on the sole, but I
am the first so far as I have any reason to believe to adopt a last and a plurality
of independent pressers, each acting with the last, so that the last is the inner
member and each of the pressers are outer members of a compound clamp, for use
as a work holder of a sewing machine; and this is the principle of my invention,
namely that the upper and sole are held with the edge of the upper close to the
lip of the sole ready for the operation of the sewing machine proper by a clamp
or work holder consisting of the last as the inner member and a plurality of inde-
pendent pressers as the outer members of that clamp.
While the lip d on sole D, and the upper D¹, have been sewed together while
on the last A, no machine has been heretofore known adapted to accomplish the
wholly new result accomplished by my method of lasting which consists in but two
steps, first, fitting and clamping the upper in proper relation to the last and to the
sole, and secondly, sewing the upper 1 and lip d together, the operation being
carried out while the shoe is held in the lasting machine.
For the best results the sewing machine should itself be provided with an auto-
matic work clamp, as the lever K and the side of the foot j j¹, for although the
upper D and fip d, are held in proper relation one to the other by the
pressers B B b, which act as work clamps, the last being the other member, yet
the result is more satisfactory if the supplementary work clamp be used on the
sewing machine, as that part of the upper D' and that part of lip d which are
contiguous to the needle hole are pressed more closely together when a stitch is
made, than they can be by the pressers B B¹ b.
The pressers B B 6 shown, differ materially from any before known in the
important respect that they do not overlap the edge of the last sufficiently to pre-
vent the needle piercing the upper and lip, near the junction of lip with the sole.
Otherwise they are much the same, as like parts well known in lasting machines,
but by my invention they are given the wholly new function as work clamps for
the sewing machine as above fully explained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what
manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is:-
First: A machine for lasting by sewing, made up of a sewing machine, and its
work holder composed of a last as the inner clamping member and a plurality of
independent pressers on all sides of the last, as the outer clamping members,
organized to hold the edge of the upper and a lip on the inner sole in position to
te sewed together by the sewing machine, substantially as described.
Second: In combination a lasting machine comprising a support for the last,
and independent pressers to hold the upper in place on the last with the edge of
the upper in position to be sewed to a lip on the inner sole; a sewing machine; and
means for supporting and actuating the sewing machine which permit it to be
moved into all the positions necessary to sew the upper to the lip on the inner sole
while held in the lasting machine by the last as the inner clamping member and
the pressers as the outer clamping members; all organized to operate substantially
as described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.