Improvements in Trees for Boots and Shoes.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 13th June, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 13th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 22nd Apr., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by PAUL THIBAULT, of Tours, France,
Manufacturer.]
Improvements in Trees for Boots and Shoes.
I, ERNEST DE PASS, of 78 Fleet Street, in the City of London, Fellow of the
Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a new construction of boot or shoe tree, in which
compressed air is employed for inflating the same.
According to this invention the tree is composed of india-rubber, or other suitable
elastic material, and is made hollow and air tight. It is shaped to any desired
form depending upon the kind of boots or shoes with which it is to be employed,
and is adapted to be inflated with compressed air. This tree is inflated by forcing
in air by means of a tube and bulbs, or by blowing into it, or by other convenient
means. An inlet valve is provided which opens downwardly when the air is forced
in and thus prevents it from returning. An exit cock may also be provided, which
can be opened at pleasure, so as to allow the air to escape from the tree when the
latter is to be removed from the boot or shoe. Or instead of using an inlet valve
and an exit cock, a single valve may, if preferred, be used, which will serve the
double purpose of inlet and outlet for the air. According to one construction this
valve may consist of a short tube carried by and opening into the tree, and furnished
with an internal washer against which the inner end of a screwed tube can be
caused to abut. This screwed tube is closed at its inner end and is provided with
apertures in its side, so that when the closed end of the said screwed tube is with-
drawn from the before mentioned washer, air can be forced into the tree so as to
inflate it; or, if already inflated, to allow the air to escape. But when the closed
end of the screwed tube is brought against the washer, the valve is closed and the
compressed air is prevented from escaping.
Dated thin 12th dan of Luna 1000
ERNEST DE PASS.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Trees for Boots and Shoes..
I, ERNEST DE PASS, of 78 Fleet Street, in the City of London, Fellow of the
Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this inven
tion 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
accompanying drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say :-
This invention relates to improvements in trees for boots and shoes, whereby the
same may be inflated by the use of compressed air.
The improved tree may be of various shapes to suit the kind of boot or shoe with
which it is to be employed.
And in order that the invention may be readily understood I will describe the
same fully with reference to the accompanying drawings which shew, by way of
example, various arrangements of the invention.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of a tree, for boots and half boots.
Fig. 2 is an elevation of a closing device which may be used in place of the
valve and cock shewn in the preceding figure.

page_text: Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a shoe tree, provided with the device shewn in
- Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 shews a tree which may be used, instead of the arrangements or means
now employed, for keeping boots and shoes, exposed in shops or warehouses, well
stretched.
This pneumatic tree consists of a kind of sock or foot 1, of india-rubber, or other
suitable elastic material, closed in all round and made air tight.
The sock or foot (Fig. 1) is closed at its upper part by a thickened or
strengthening piece 2, provided with a short tube 3 fitted with a rubber valve 4
opening downwards, and communicating through a flexible tube 5, with an india-
rubber double bulb 6. 6, for the purpose of compressing the air. The thickened or
-strengthening piece 2 is also provided with a cock 7 for allowing the air to escape,
and this cock is fitted at the extremity of sufficiently long flexible tube 8, so that
it need not be situated within the boot furnished with the tree, and so that it can
be readily opened and closed.
The cock 7 having been closed, the deflated or collapsed tree is introduced into
the boot, and is then inflated by means of the bulb 6. 6 until the boot is sufficiently
distended, after which, the compression of the air is stopped. The valve 4 closes
hermetically and the boot thus remains in shape.
To withdraw the tree, it is only necessary to deflate it by opening the cock 7
and allowing the air to escape.
Instead of using the valve 4 and cock 7, a single device shewn in section in
Figs. 3 and 4, and in elevation Fig. 2 may be used. As will be seen further on,
the tree shewn in Fig. 3 is intended for shoes. The leg portion is therefore
suppressed, and the closing device is fixed to the thickened or strengthening piece 2.
This closing device consists of a hollow nut or union 9, at the bottom of which is a
leather or rubber washer 10. Into this nut is screwed a small tube 11, closed at
bottom by a piece 12, the edges of which project so as to abut against a screw 13
and thus prevent the tube from leaving the nut. The lower part of this tube 11 is
also pierced with two small holes 14. The tube 5 of the double bulb 6 fits on to
the nipple-shaped end of the tube 11. When this tube 11 is fully unscrewed, the
compressed air passes freely the holes 14 into the tree 1. When the inflation has
been effected, it is only necessary to fully screw up the tube 11 so that the
bottom 12 thereof then lies against the washer 10, and by preventing all escape of
air the tree remains inflated. The bulb is then removed, and when it is desired to
deflate the tree the tube 11 is unscrewed.
In shoemakers' shops it is usual, in order to impart a better appearance to boots
and shoes exposed in the windows, to swell them out by stuffing them with paper,
or by means of special trees which are invisible to the customer. This pneumatic
tree may likewise be used for the same purpose, by forming it in the manner shewn
in Fig. 4, in which the extremity alone of the foot is retained. The inflation and
deflation are effected, either as in the case of Fig. 3, by means of a bulb, or more
simply, by blowing in air, with the mouth, through the mouthpiece 15 and tube 5.
Both these means of inflating may likewise be applied to all these pneumatic trees.
In the case of Fig. 1, especially, the valve 4 and cock 7, may be dispensed with,
and a device (Fig. 2) similar to that shewn in section at Figs. 3 and 4 may be
applied to the end of the tube. The inflation is then effected by blowing, with the
mouth, through the end of the tube 11, or by applying to this end the double
bulb.
Any suitable means for inflating and closing may be employed, as these means do
not constitute an essential part of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I claim, as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent:
The new or improved pneumatic tree, consisting of a hollow elastic sock or foot
provided with a valved arrangement for allowing the air to be compressed in said

page_text: sock or foot, and with a cock for permitting the escape of the air therefrom,
substantially as and for the purpose described, and as shewn with reference to the
annexed drawings.
TL 19th £ 1000
ERNEST DE PASS.