IMPROVED MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO THE CUTTING-OUT OF BOOT AND SHOE SOLES, AND KINDRED OPERATIONS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO THE
CUTTING-OUT OF BOOT AND SHOE SOLES, AND KINDRED OPERATIONS."-A
communication from abroad by Caleb Griffin, of Boston, United States
of America.
Sealed the 11th November 1862, and dated the 16th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th May 1862.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO
THE CUTTING-OUT OF BOOT AND SHOE SOLES, AND KINDRED OPERATIONS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of machinery whereby boot
and shoe soles, and kindred articles may be cut or stamped out with great
expedition. To this end a pair of dies for cutting out soles for right and left
feet is mounted on a shaft, to which an intermittent axial motion is given for
bringing the dies (which are mounted on opposite sides of the shaft) alternately
up to their work. Above the die is mounted a press block, which slides in

page_text: vertic guides, and when brought down on the leather placed over the upper-
most die stamps out the sole. The die shaft then turns and brings up the
other die into a position to act, the sole just cut being at the same time
discharged on to an incline, whence it passes into any suitable receptacle.
The rise and fall of the presser block is effected by means of pendent rods,
which connect with excentric studs on a pair of spur wheels at the lower part
of the machine. These are driven by pinions on the main driving shaft,
which may be worked by a treadle, or otherwise. On the die shaft is
mounted a spur pinion, which takes into and receives motion from a spur
wheel which is driven (in a peculiar manner) through a connecting rod from
the excentric stud of one of the spur wheels before mentioned. This rod is
jointed to a disc, which is mounted on the same stud axle as the spur wheel
which drives the die shaft. This spur wheel is fitted with a ring, having on
its edge four notches to receive a spring catch that works in and is guided by
a slot cut in the disc. When this catch enters a notch of the ring, the disc and
spur wheel will be coupled, and then an axial motion will be given to the wheel,
and by it to the die shaft. This spring catch is, however, governed by a finger
projecting from a sliding rod, to which segment links are attached, and secured
to a fixed point of the framing of the machine. A swell or incline is formed on
one of these links to receive the pressure of a cam carried by one of the lower
spur wheels, which cam when it comes into action will draw down the finger
of the sliding rod, and cause it to throw out of action the catch which couples
the disc and its wheel together. To ensure the dies remaining in position
while set for operating, a disc with two notches is keyed to one end of the die
shaft, and a vertical sliding bolt rod is made to enter therein and lock the
shaft by means of a segment cam acting on the lower end of the bolt rod.
When this cam has passed the end of the rod the latter will fall and leave the
die shaft free to turn. A gauge or stop hung on the upper part of the
framing of tho machine is employed to gauge the distance the leather or
material to be cut is to be fed into the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Iler special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED
MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO THE CUTTING-OUT OF Boor AND SHOE SOLES, AND
KINDRED OPERATIONS," being a communication from abroad, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instru-
ment in writing, under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
relates to novel arrangement of machinery whereby boot and shoe soles and
kindred articles may be cut or stamped out with great expedition.
In the 'accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of a
machine having the improvements applied thereto; Fig. 2 is an elevation of
one side, and Fig. 3 a similar view of the other side with a portion of the
connecting rod broken off; Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the same with the
apron removed, and Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken through the line a, a,
of Fig. 4.
In these Figures the working mechanism is represented as being mounted
on a framework consisting of two sides A connected together at the top and
bottom by means of cross beams or rails B and feed table C. The frame-
work A carries the bearings a of a driving shaft D, to which is keyed a fly
wheel E. When driven by a treadle d the driving shaft D is provided with a
crank b, to which is attached in any suitable manner one end of a connecting

page_text: studs
rod c, the other end being attached to the treadle d mounted on the lower
rear cross beam B. But when the machine is intended to be driven by some
prime motor, one end of the driving shaft D is prolonged to receive a driving
pulley, by means of which motion can be communicated to the machinery.
On either end of the driving shaft and outside the framework A are mounted
the spur pinions e, which gear respectively into spur wheels f mounted on
On
secured to the frame of the machine by means of a screw bolt h.
the outside of each of these wheels faro secured crank pins j, to receive the
lower ends of a pair of connecting rods P, P', the other ends of which are
attached to studs & secured to the pressure beam F. The stud of the spur
wheel to which the rod P¹ is connected has also attached to it a connecting
rod G, the other end of which is attached to a stud 5 projecting from a disc 1.
This disc has an intermittent rotary reciprocating motion upon a stud m
made fast on the frame A of the machine. On the same stud m is mounted a
spur wheel H, carrying on its side a ring I, in the edge of which four notches
nare cut, to receive successively a spring catch o when brought by the action
of the reciprocating disc l in a line with the notch. The spring catch works
in and is guided by a slot 4 cut into the disc so that when engaged with
either of the notches cut in the ring I and the wheel II, and motion com-
municated to the disc through the connecting rod G, it will cause the
wheel H to rotate one-quarter of a revolution, which in turn imparts motion
to a pinion R with which it is in gear. This pinion is mounted on a
transverse shaft p, which forms the axle of a rotating cutter or die block J
fitted on its opposite sides with cutting dies. The pinion R being only half
the size of the wheel H, it will for every quarter of revolution of the latter bo
made to perform a half revolution, thereby presenting the die cutters on the
opposite faces of the block alternately to the sole leather once for each
quarter revolution of the wheel II, and for each revolution of the spur wheel f.
Thus every time one of the die cutters is presented in a horizontal plane by
the above-described action of the crank disc and spring catch on the
wheel II, and the latter on the pinion R, the pressure bar F through the
connecting rods P and P' will descend with such force as to cause the dies to
cut such leather as may have been interposed between them into soles. For
this purpose the die block is retained during the descent of the pressure
bar Fin its proper relative position with respect to the pressure bar by means
of a stop bolt K arranged on the opposite side of the machine, in such
manner as to be made to engage with one of two notches r cut in a disc Q
secured to the opposite end of the die block shaft p, where it is held by means
of a cams formed on the inner side of the adjacent wheel f. As soon,

page_text: however, as the sole has been cut out the stop bolt K is withdrawn from the
notch by means of the cam t on the wheel f, which cam acting on the
lower end of the bolt K withdraws it from the notch r releasing the die or
cutter block J. The block is then ready to be acted upon to bring the other
die uppermost to cut out the next sole. The dies or cutters are so arranged
that the one when used will cut out the toe on one side whilst the other cuts
it out on the other side, (that is to say,) cutting out the soles with the heel and
toe on the same side of the strip of leather alternately. It may be here
remarked that inasmuch as there are two sets of dies or cutters, and each
presented alternately, that the disc Q is provided with two notches r, one for
each, into which the stop bolt K is projected, in order to retain them in their
proper position until the sole has been cut out. In like manner there would
be four notches were there four dies or cutters used, and so on with any
number of pairs of cutters. It may also be observed that instead of a stop
bolt K operated by means of cams, a spring stop bolt properly arranged, con-
structed, and operated may be substituted in its place.
I will now describe the operation of the disc 1, spring catch o, and wheel H.
The ring I, formed on the outside of the wheel H, is provided with four
notches cut at regular intervals apart, into which the spring catch o when
brought into a line with them takes when once engaged, and which takes
place when the connecting rod G is at the full length of its downward stroke,
and about the time that it commences its upward stroke (its upper end being
so mounted on the disc that the latter cannot make a full revolution). The
connecting rod G then causes the disc to perform a quarter revolution, and
as the spring catch o is engaged at once with it and with the notch n of the
ring I of the wheel H, it carries with it the gear wheel H, causing it also
to perform a quarter revolution, which thereby gives the pinion R a half
revolution. Now, as the disc in turning carries upwards the spring catch o,
the latter is brought in contact with the lower side of a hook or finger u,
formed on a slide L, raising the hook as it passes under it until it has attained
the full length of its stroke, when it is depressed by the action of the slide
hook L. This slide I. is acted upon by a cam v, formed on the inner side of
the adjacent wheel f, see Fig. 2, for which purpose the slide L is pivoted to
or connected by hinged joints to two curved links W, one end of the last of
which is pivoted to the side frame of the machine, there being formed on the
lower link a curved elevation æ, on which the cam v acts, for the purpose of
depressing the slide L with the hook u. As the hook is depressed it dis-
engages the spring catch o from the notch n in the ring I of the wheel II,
thus leaving the disc L free to be again drawn to its original position by the

page_text: descent of the connecting rod G, the spring catch o being retained in its
retracted position during the descent of the disc 1 by the action of the inner
periphery of the ring I, until it has been brought opposite another one of the
notches cut in the ring I, and so on, operating in the manner just above
described, for every revolution of the wheel f. A great advantage is derived
by this mode of operating the cutters, as in their operation they are made the
means of discharging the sole after it is cut upon the guide apron M, thereby
preventing mutilation of the solo after it has been cut out, a thing of fre-
quent occurrence in other machines for the want of effective means to ensure
their discharge.
Another great advantage in this machine arises from the fact that, during
the operation of cutting, the knives themselves remain stationary, the neces-
sary pressure for this purpose being exerted by an independent agent, which
insures regularity of cut, and prevents the dulling of the knives from twisting,
strains, &c., &c.
In operating the machine, the leather cut in strips of the proper width is
fed up to the knives on the table C, and, if arrested by means of gauges y,
adjusted to the proper width of the soles required to be cut.
These guides
or gauges y are secured to a swinging frame, pivoted to the sides of the
machine. On one of the pendent arms of this frame is formed a small
arm 3, which bears against the pressure bar F whilst it ascends and descends
to perform its part of the operation in cutting out the sole, the weight of the
frame causing it, the arm 3, to bear against the pressure bar. This arm
is made of the proper curve to allow the gauges y and their frame to descend
whilst the pressure bar ascends to regulate the width of the next sole to be
cut, the leather for this purpose being fed up until it is made to abut against
the ends of the gauges y, the gauges and frame, as the pressure bar descends,
being forced outwards by the action of the pressure bar on the curved arm of
their frame, and kept there until the cutter block has be n made to revolve
and discharge the cut sole upon the conducting apron.
The construction of the die, and the spring that forces the sole out of the
die after it has been cut, it is here unnecessary to describe, as they may be
made in any known suitable manner; nor is it necessary particularly to
describe the pressure block, and the manner in which it is attached to the
pressure bar, further than to say that it is made of a size and shape suitable
for the purpose for which it was intended, and capable of being removed to
be renewed, and, if necessary, adjustable, to compensate for the wear of its
surface on the knives. The die cutters are also made removeable, for the
purpose of adapting different sizes to cut out different size soles.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improved Machinery
for the Cutting-out of Boot and Shoe Soles, and kindred Operations," as com-
municated to me from abroad, and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that, under the above in part recited
Letters Patent, I claim the means above described for operating rotating
dies or cutters, and gauging the feed thereto of the material to be cut.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)