AN IMPROVED DEVICE TO BE ATTACHED TO A BOOT OR SHOE TO PREVENT SLIPPING
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"AN IMPROVED DEVICE TO BE ATTACHED TO A BOOT OR SHOE TO PREVENT
SLIPPING." A communication from abroad by Ernest Willms, Adolphe Lequin,
and Eugène Le Gallois, all of Paris, France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st May 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED DEVICE TO BE ATTACHED TO
A BOOT OR SHOE TO PREVENT SLIPPING." [A communication from abroad by
Ernest Willms, Adolphe Lequin, and Eugène Le Gallois, all of Paris, France.]
This Invention relates to a apparatus or device designed to be applied to boots,
shoes, goloshes, or the like, to prevent the person wearing the same from slipping
or falling by reason of the slippery state of streets, roads, or the like, caused by
frost or snow.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide a plate of metal, which
may be iron, steel, copper, or other metal. This plate has at its front end two curved
hooks, which lay hold of the boot, shoe, or the like, between the sole and the upper.
The said plate has at the rear thereof two holes, which are in the metal, and to
which the two ends of an india-rubber band are sewn fast. This india-rubber band
passes above the heel of the boot or shoe, to which the said device or apparatus is
held by reason of the tension of the india-rubber.
The plate is provided underneath the same with tempered steel points of conical
or other shape, which are rivetted to the plate.
This anti-slipping device may, if desired, be gilded, silvered, nickle-plated,
varnished, or otherwise ornamented or improved in appearance.
The said device may be readily secured or detached from a boot or shoe, as may
be required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th November 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED DEVICE TO BE ATTACHED TO
A BOOT OR SHOE TO PREVENT SLIPPING." A communication from abroad by
Ernest Willms, Adolphe Lequin, and Eugène Le Gallois, all of Paris, France.
This Invention relates to an improved device to be applied to boots or shoes to
prevent the slipping and falling of any person wearing the same in snowy or frosty
weather. The said apparatus may also be applied to the hoofs of horses and other
animals to prevent their slipping. My improved anti-slipping apparatus is fixed
by means of straps or bands of leather or india-rubber, and is provided with
projecting points which penetrate the snow or ice.
In the accompanying Drawing
Figures 1 to 6 illustrate the apparatus as adapted for use with boots, shoes, and
the like, and Figures 7 to 10 illustrate the application of the same to the hoof of a
horse or other animal.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the said apparatus to be applied to a boot, shoe,
or the like.
Figure 2 a plan, and
Figure 3 an underside view of the same.
Figure 4 is a front view, and
Figure 5 a back view of the said apparatus or device, and
Figure 6 represents the same as applied to a boot.
The remaining Figures are hereinafter described.
My improved apparatus or device consists of a plate A of steel, iron, copper, or
other suitable metal terminated at its front end by two hooks B, B, which engage
with the boot, shoe, or the like, between the sole and the upper of the same, as
shewn in Figure 6, the said plate A terminates at its rear end in two eyes or cut
away portions C, C, through which passes a folded band or strap a of leather,
between the extremities of which is sewn un india-rubber band b. This band
passes over the back part of the boot or shoe above the heel (see Figure 6), so that
my improved apparatus is held fast in position by the tension of the elastic band
and the aforesaid hooks. The object of employing the leather straps or pieces a is
to preserve the india rubber from snow and mud, which would rapidly destroy
the same.
Beneath the plate A, and rivetted, or otherwise secured to the same, are the steel
points c, which may be conical in shape, or square, as represented in Figure 3 of
the Drawing.
I will now proceed to describe the application of my improved device to the hoof
of animals.
Figure 7 is a side elevation of the said device as applied to a borse's hoof.
Figure 8 is a front view.
Figure 9, a rear view, and
Figure 10 an underside view of the same.
The said device or apparatus is formed of a metal plate A, upon which are
rivetted, or preferably screwed, the projecting points c. These points may be of
various forms; at the front of the device I have shewn two caulks d, d, which are
bevelled so as to give the horse a stronger or firmer hold when in motion. The
said plate is provided with four eyes or bent pieces g, g, g¹, g¹, two which are
attached a strap H, which secures the apparatus or device to the hoof; the strap

page_text: passing through the eyes or pieces g is provided with a buckle or piece h, through
which the strap passing through the eyes or pieces g¹ extends; the latter strap is
buckled on the side of the hoof. In order to secure the apparatus or device at the
back part of the hoof, the plate A. is provided with two ears i, i, to which are
attached one end of two chains j, j, secured at their other end to a plate I which is
placed at the rear extremities of the shoe, as shewn, so as to draw the apparatus or
device rearward, and thereby cause it to adhere to the hoof.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing, the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,
The improved device or apparatus to be applied to a boot or shoe and characterized
by the combination of a metal plate having projecting points rivetted or screwed
thereto, and hooks adapted to engage with the said boot or shoe between the sole
and the upper of the same, and a band of india-rubber attached by two strips or
bands of leather to eyes formed on the said plate, and designed to pass around the
rear part of the boot or shoe above the heel of the same to produce elastic pressure
thereon, all substantially as above set forth and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
W*. RUB, LAKE. (L.S.)