IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE FEET, AND IN THE MACHINERY. APPARATUS. AND MEANS CONNECTED WITH SUCH MANUFACTURE
Year: 1861

page_text: Sealed the 28th March 1862, and dated the 3rd October 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Office of the Commissioners of
October 1861.
left by the said Thomas Evans at the
Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
I, THOMAS EVANS, of Westmoreland Street, Westminster. in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanic, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER COVERINGS
FOR THE FEET, AND IN THE MACHINERY. APPARATUS. AND MEANS CONNECTED WITH
SUCH MANUFACTURE." to be as follows:-
My said Invention is intended to facilitate the operation of lasting and

page_text: last is then put in the machine, and rests upon a slide by means of which the
drafting or stretching is performed: the toe part of the last bears upon a cross
bar, capable of being raised or lowered for adjusting it to the clip used in
crimping. The drafting or stretching is performed by temporarily fixing the
ioc of the upper to the said cross bar, and by drawing back the said slide
carrying the last until the upper is sufficiently drawn. when the piping of the
toe and the heel may be performed by inserting a cord or wire round the
edge of the upper at the toe and heel: ihese are then linked together and
tightened to retain the piping: the waist is then drawn in by double action
pincers, and the upper is secured to the inner sole by iacks or by being braced
in the usual manner, or the piping may be performed by clips centred on
slides placed at each end of the last. Each slide is worked by a screw and
is fitted with a cam, which causes the clips to act on the edge of the upper.
and perform the operation of piping. When the piping is fixed the said clips
and slides, which are hung on centres, may be drawn back from the last.
The outer sole is placed on the last ready pierced, and is blocked by means
of straps which are passed over the sole and connected to hand or foot levers.
which by being depressed tighten the said straps, and retain the sole and heel
secure in their places on the last ready for sprigging, pegging..screwing, sewing.
and finishing, which operation may be performed in the ordinary manner in
the machine or not, as desired.
The machine or apparatus may be attached to a counter or table, and any
size of last can be used without altering the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Leuters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Evans in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd
April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I. THOMAS
EVANS, of Westmoreland Street, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex,
Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent;-bearing date the third day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Evans, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Evans, my

page_text: executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said Thomas
Evans, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereater 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE FEET, AND IN THE MACHINERY,
APPARATUS, AND MEANS CONNECTED WITH SUCH MANUFACTURE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Evans, my executors or adminis
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, 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 Thomas Evans, 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 state-
ment:-
My said Invention is intended to facilitate the operation of lasting and
fastening on the sole.
2
The inner sole and the upper leather are placed on the last in the ordinary
way, the last is then put in the machine hereafter described, and rests upon a
slide and upon a cross-bar hereafter referred to, by means of which the
"drafting or stretching is performed. The toe part of the last bears upon a
cross-bar capable of raising or lowering the last, so as to adjust it to the clip
used in crimping or piping. The drafting or stretching is performed by
temporarily fixing the toe part of the upper to the said cross-bar, and by
drawing back the said slide carrying the last until the upper" is sufficiently
drawn, when the piping of the toe and heel may be performed by inserting a
cord or wire round the edge of the upper at the toe and heel; these are
then linked together and tightened to retain the piping; the waist is then
drawn in by the action of the shoemakers' pincers ordinarily employed, and
the upper" is secured as usual to the inner sole by tacks or by being braced
in the usual way, or the piping may be performed by clips centred on slides
placed at each end of the last. (In the arrangements shewn by the accom-
panying Drawings and hereafter described, these clips are shewn as applied to
the toe only.) Each slide is worked by a screw and is fitted with a camb,
which causes the clips to act on the edge of the upper," and perform the

page_text: operation of piping. When the piping is fixed. the said clips and slides
(which are connected together in a case or frame hung on centres) may be
drawn back from the last.
The outer sole is placed on the last ready pierced, and is blocked by means
of straps which are passed over the sole, and may be connected to hand or a
foot levers (the Drawings hereafter described shewing only the hand lever
arrangements), which, by being depressed, tighten the said traps and retain
the sole and heel secure in their places on the last ready for sprigging, pegging,
screwing, sewing, and finishing, which operations may be performed in the
ordinary manner in the machine or not, as desired.
The machine or apparatus may be attached to a counter or table, and any
size of last can be used without altering the machine.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 elevation: Figure 2. plan; Figure 3, view of part of the
mechanism detached.
A, the base or sole plate; B. pillars supporting the cross-head or cross-bar,
which is the rest for the toe part of the last: C. pillar for supporting one end
of the last, said pillar standing upon a sliding frame C: D. the cross-bar;
E, the guides at each side of the slide (C), enabling the slide pillar (C) in be
moved to and fro as may be requisite, the movement being effected by the
action of the screw F, which works through the lower part of the said slide
pillar upon the same being turned by its handle. such screw being also
supported by a screw socket in the upright G; H, horizontal spindle (see
Fig. 1) provided with ratchet wheel flanged reels 1. to which looped straps are
secured through which the last is to be placed (as shewn by the Drawing),
and by which the same can be firmly held in proper position by the use of the
now to be described tightening and slackening arrangement, that is, by the
sliding clutch (K) on the spindle (H), which sliding clutch has notches at
each end corresponding with tongues or projections on the reels 1, 1, said
sliding clutch being moved to the right or to the left so as to embrace the
projections on the one or the other of these reels as the one or the other may
be required to be tightened or slackened, the sliding clutch being moved by
the furcated lever handle L, centred on the short upright M. which is attached
-to-the slide C (moving with it when necessary); N. ratchet catches or pails,
which take into the ratchet wheels forming one of each of the flanges of the
reels I, I. These catches or palls prevent the reels turning round the wrong
way, and thus loose the leather straps passed round the last when the machine

page_text: is at work, although the reel may be turned the reverse way and loose the
straps when it may be required so to do (to adjust the last) by pressing on the
handles attached to palls (N), the said palls when not thus pressed being kept
in gear with the teeth by the springs N, which press up the same to the
ratchet. O, spring handle for moving (in its bearings in the pillars (B), the
cross-head; O, quadrant rack, into which takes a pin at back of the same, so
as to hold the cross-head firmly in position when at work. The toe clip
arrangement turns on a centre or screw provided in one of the arms P, pro-
jecting from the pillars (B), the other arm having a groove with spring latch
for fastening the whole in position. This clip arrangement is composed of two
clips or nippers Q, Q, of peculiar form, which are actuated by the camb R.
This clip arrangement is connected together in a frame or case, which consists
of a bottom plate or casting S, with a slit in the middle (see dotted lines,
Fig. 3) in which is the sliding pin that is underneath the camb R, and secures
the same in position. This bottom plate has guide flanges S* as thus,
between the thick portions of which the clips or nippers Q, Q, and the camb R
are placed, and between the thinnest part, that is on *, is a plate or slide T,
which covers the camb and clips aforesaid, the clips being centred at 1
and 2 to this slide. U, upright, having one bearing for the screw by having
a screw socket through it; W, the screw passing through this socket and into
another socket X raised on the top of the slide T, and hence upon turning
said screw (W), the slide T is caused to advance or retire, and the clips made
to open wide or close up together from being centred to said slide T as afore-
said. Y is the point where the plate is hung by pin or screw upon the
projecting arm Ps, so that by unlatching it may be swung out at right angles
or still further to enable the cross-head to be got at and take the boot or
shoe out. The crosshead or bar D, D, aforesaid has a spring bar which I
term the drafting bar, and this bar is kept in position by a catch at the free
end when clipping the said toe pari.
From the foregoing it will be seen that I can apply my improvements in
the manufacture of boots and shoes to any size and description thereof, as I
can use the described machinery for any size and form of last, seeing that,
as before mentioned, the various operations can be performed by placing the
last with the heel part on the pillar C. for which purpose there are two pins
to fit into two orifices in that part of the last, and the toc part on the cross-
bar D, which can be moved by the handle O, so as to allow for toe parts of
greater or less dimensions, there being a hollowed portion fitted for the
reception of the said toe part, and the toe clip arrangement being previously

page_text: swung back, and when the last has been so placed with the upper
leather and the inner sole on (as in ordinary lasting), then the toe part of the
upper is to be drawn in between the aforesaid bar, and held by fixing the
same with the catch as before mentioned. The last is then drawn back
by moving the slide (C) and slide pillar (C) away from the pillars (B) till
the leather is sufliciently drafted, when the looped straps are to be passed
over the last and tightened in manner herein-before described, when by the
aid of the usual shoemakers' pincers the leather is drawn tight and secured,
then the toe leather which was drafted as aforesaid is let loose for the purpose
of crimping or piping the toe, which is readily done by reason that a cord
or wire was inserted so as to enable it to be drawn up into small flutes
or pipes when the toe clips are to be applied in manner aforesaid, or the
cord or wire may be dispensed with and the toe clips applied. without using the
cord or wire; the upper is then tacked down to the inner sole, and when.
the upper of the heel has been drawn in upon the last and secured in the
usual way, the whole is lasted and finished, and without removing the last
the sewing can be effected, and the sprigging or lastening on of the soles and
heel performed. But to last the heel I should prefer two pillars like B, B,
aforesaid without the cross-bar D, D, with the toe clip arrangements before
described attached thereto, such pillars being placed at each side the slide
pillar (C), and the toe clips being changed in curve so as to suit the form of
the heel, but worked precisely as for the toe.
It must be here remarked that the arrangements shewn by the Drawings
and herein described may be varied in many particulars, as, for instance, the
cross-bar may be raised and lowered or adjusted by other mechanical
arrangements than those described, and instead of having the tightening and
slackening arrangements shewn by the Drawings, and described in reference
thereto, the tightening straps might be worked by the foot by an ordinary
treddle and ratchet arrangements beneath the machine.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I claim,-
1st, the part of the lasting process known as drafting, according to the
manner herein described.
2nd, the lasting and fastening by the use of the means and mechanism for
-tightening-and-slackening, so as to provide against the last being of greater or
less size.
3rd, the crimping or piping, and the clip arrangements used therein, whether
applied to the toe or heel.

page_text: But I do not claim the use of any of the separate paris except when adopted
and used in accordance with my Invention.
In witness whereof, 1. the said Thomas Evans. have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of April. in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
THOMAS EVANS. (L.s.)
Witness to the signature of said
Thomas Evans.
B. WALKER.
Clk. to Gen. Pat. Co. Lim..
71, Fleet St., E.C.