Improvements in Machines for Grading and Cutting Out the Soles of Boots and Shoes or other Articles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd July, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 20th Apr.. 1397-Accepted, 22nd May, 1997
Date of Application, 22nd July, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 20th Apr.. 1897-Accepted, 22nd May, 1997
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Grading and Cutting Out the Soles of
Boots and Shoes or other Articles.
I, WILLIAM HENRY DORMAN, of the Green Hall, Stafford, Engineer do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
I provide a pattern, say of a sole preferably of metal and of a medium size which
I make fast upon a sliding or roller borne bed hereinafter called the pattern bed which
is free to move to and fro horizontally in the machine frame or table.
Parallel to and alongside of this first bed is a second bed hereinafter called the
work bed similarly arranged and each is furnished with a longitudinal rack gearing
into wheels carried in the fixed frame, the wheels being geared together in such a
manner that any movement given to the pattern bed is imparted to the work bed and
as one or more of the wheels is a change wheel the amount of the movement of the
work bed may be made either equal to or greater or less than the movement of the
pattern bed according to the number of teeth in the change wheel in use for the time
being.
Upon the work bed is placed the sole or the material from which the article is to be
cut, hereinafter called the work which may be held in place either by a hold down
plate and fingers or by atmospheric pressure produced by exhausting the air, through
perforations in the bed, from below the work, in which case the machine is furnished
with a suitably operated air pump and connections including a three way cock or
other suitable valves for the admission and exhaustion of the air.
Above the work is a knife which may be tubular and for the purpose of cutting is
caused to move up and down in a vertical direction by a suitably operated crank, cam
or the like and is carried in a sliding head which is free to move to and fro
horizontally at right angles to the previously described movements of the beds, the
sliding head being connected by means of cross racks and change wheels with a slide
bar which carries a roller bearing upon the edge of the pattern already described and
kept thereto by a hand lever manipulated by the operator.
By changing the gears and substituting others having different numbers of teeth
the traversing movement of the knife may be made either equal to or greater or less
than the movement of the roller.
if now a longitudinal to and fro movement be given to the pattern bed exactly
equal to the length of the pattern a similar movement of the same or of increased or
diminished amount according to the change wheel used-will be imparted to the work
bed and if while the work passes under the operating knife the operator, by means of
the hand lever keeps the roller in contact with the edge of the moving pattern, a
transverse movement will be imparted to the roller by the contour of the pattern edge
and a similar movement, varying in amount according to the change wheel used, will
be imparted to the knife so that the work will be cut out either exactly to the pattern
or proportionally larger or smaller as desired.
The longitudinal to and fro movement of the pattern may be conveniently derived
from a crank and connecting rod, a cam or the like and the shaft operating the knite
may through the intervention of a sliding coupling be geared to the crank by worm
and wheel or other suitable means. The knife may be arranged to cut upon wood or
other suitable substance and be adjustable for wear &c. and a rubber cushion may be
arranged to make the air tight joint beneath the work.

page_text: If fingers are employed to hold down the work cams are arranged to raise them one
at a time while they pass the knife, and return them when past. They may be held
down by springs, and a treadle be arranged to raise them all simultaneously when
putting in or taking out the work.
If desired the knife instead of being round and cutting like a gouge may be flat so
as to cut like a chisel and in that case it must be steered so that the edge may lie in
the direction of the cut, or the paring may be done by a suitably driven rotating
cutter in which case the edge of the work will overhang the bed.
Instead of using change wheels levers may be employed to connect the sliding beds
and also to connect the cutting tool with the pattern edge roller and by adjusting the
position of the fulcrums or the lengths of the operating arms of the levers gradation
of the sizes of the soles or other articles may be effected.
To accomodate variations in the lengths of the patterns the throw of the crank or
equivalent may be made adjustable by means of a screw or otherwise.
Dated this 21st day of July 1896.
Improvements in Machines for Grading and Cutting Out the Soles of
Boots and Shoes or other Articles.
I WILLIAM HENRY DORMAN, of the Green Hall, Stafford, Engineer, 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 :-
The object of this invention is to provide a machine which shall enable an operator
to grade or to cut out or to round the soles of boots and shoes or to cut out other
articles from any suitable material using only one pattern for a great variety of
lengths or widths of the soles or other articles cut out.
The invention consists in the employment of change wheels, one set of which is
employed for producing variations in the length of the work cut out relatively to the
pattern from which the work is ent and the other set of change wheels is employed for
producing variations in the width of the work cut out relatively to the same pattern.
By employing suitable change wheels the length of the work cut out may be made
either equal to or greater or less than the length of the pattern and similarly with the
width of the work relatively to that of the pattern and either may be varied
independently of the other.
The invention consists also in the employment of a longitudinally moving work bed
and a longitudinally moving pattern bed the latter operated by the machine and
capable of being varied in the amount of its movement to suit variations in the length
of the pattern for the time being employed. The two beds are mechanically connected
together, preferably by change wheels, so that any movement imparted to the pattern
bed is transmitted to the work bed in an equal or a greater or a less proportion as the
case may be that is according to the proportion of the change wheels, or other
equivalent, for the time employed.
A cutting instrument is provided and arranged so that it can be moved transversely
and is mechanically connected, preferably through the intervention of other change
wheels, with a roll or other suitable piece which is held in contact with the moving
pattern edge so as to receive from its contour a transverse movement and impart the
same to the cutting instrument in an equal a greater or a less proportion according to
the change wheels for the time being in use.
Levers with adjustable lengths of operating arm may be employed in lieu of the
change wheels.

page_text: The invention also consists in the employment of atmospheric pressure for holding
down the work upon the work hed the same being produced by exhausting the air
through perforations in the bed by means of an air pump.
I may make use of holding down fingers periodically released by cams as is already
done in some machines used for similar purposes.
If a flat knife is used it may be steered in the line of cut in a manner already in
use or a rotating cutter may be employed and the edge of the work allowed to over-
hang the bed.
My invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which :-
Fig. 1 is a front view, Fig. 2 is a side view and Fig. 3 is a plan of my
improved machine.
Fig. 4 is a view shewing the arrangement of the air pump etc.
Fig. 5 is a detail.
The pattern a, which in the drawing is of a boot sole, is made fast upon a
sliding or roller borne bed a' which is free to move to and fro horizontally in
the machine table b and is called the pattern bed.
Parallel to and alongside of the bed a' is a second bed c called the work bel
similarly arranged. The beds are furnished with longitudinal racks a' and cl
gearing into wheels a and c which are carried by the fixed table upon upright
shafts a and c, on the upper ends of which shafts are two other wheels a³ and c
which are geared together by an intermediate wheel in such a manner that any
longitudinal movement given to the pattern bed a' is imparted to the work bed c
and as the wheels a and c are change wheels, or one of them is, the amount of
the movement of the work bed c may be made either equal to or greater or less
than the movement of the pattern bed a¹ according to the number of teeth in the
change wheel in use for the time being.
Upon the work bed c is placed the sole or the material from which the article is to
be cut, hereinafter called the work, which is held in place by atmospheric pressure
produced by exhausting the air, through perforations in the bed c, from below the
work w by means of an air pump d (see Fig. 4).
The air pump d which is suitably driven by means of a pulley exhausts the
air from a chamber d² which is connected with a smaller chamber c', formed in the
bed e, by means of a flexible pipe d³. A three way cock d' serves, accordingly as it is
set, to place the chamber c' either in communication with the chamber or with the
open air.
When the cock d' is set to open the way between the two chambers d' and c'
and to shut out the outer air the air pressure above the work w-which has been
previously laid upon the perforations presses the work firmly down upon the bed c
and holds it fast thereon and when the cock is set so as to close the way through
the pipe d and open the way between the outer air and the chamber the air
rushes in and destroying the vacuum in the chamber e' releases the work c.
Above the work is a knife e which is tubular and for the purpose of cutting
out the work is caused to move up and down vertically by a crank e¹ being
carried in a sliding or ball borne head e2 which is free to move to and fro
horizontally at right angles to the previously described movements of the beds a' and c.
The head is carried in the frame and is provided with a rack e* gearing into
a wheel mounted on a vertical shaft e carried in the frame and having at
its upper end a wheel e'.
A roll, preferably of the same diameter as the knife e, is held by the person
operating the machine in contact with the edge of the pattern a by means of a
hand lever which is jointed to a link f mounted on a pivot in the table b.
The roll is mounted on a rack f which slides in the frame e and gears with a
wheel which is mounted on a vertical shaft carried in the frame e³ and furnished
at its upper end with a wheel the latter gearing through an intermediate wheel f³
with the before mentioned wheel e'. The wheels e and ' are change wheels, or one
of them is, so that by properly proportioning the numbers of their teeth the traversing
movement of the knife e across the work w may be made either equal to or greater or
less than the movement of the roll f.

page_text: If now a longitudinal to and fro movement be given to the pattern bed a¹ exactly
equal to the length of the pattern a (allowing also for the diameter of the roll f) a
similar movement of the same or of increased or diminished amount accordin; to the
change wheels, a and c, used-will be imparted to the work bed c and if while the
work w passes under the operating knife e the attendant, by means of the hand ever,
keeps the roll f in contact with the edge of the moving pattern a, a transverse
movement will be imparted to the roll f. by the contour of the pattern edge, and a
similar movement-varying in amount according to the change wheels, e' and
used will be imparted to the knife e so that the work will be cut out either exactly to
the pattern a or proportionally larger or smaller as desired.
The longitudinal to and fro movement of the pattern a is conveniently derived from
a crank pin and connecting rod and the shalt e, operating the knife e, is (through
the intervention of a sliding feather way g) geared to the crank pin g by a pawl
lever g, operated by an eccentric ', a ratchet wheel, shaft, gears gg, vertical
shaft pinion go and gear g" in which last the crank pin g is adjustably mounted.
The knife e is arranged to cut upon the surface (see Fig. 4) and is adjustable for
wear by means of a nut eo and the rubber e makes an air tight joint beneath
the work 10.
The pulleys serve to drive the knife crank shaft e and from it the remainder of
the machine, the air pump being driven by the pulley d'.
To provent breakage of the machine should the roll jam at either end of the
pattern a a friction clutch i (Fig. 5) is arranged in the shaft g.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion. and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
In a machine used for grading or cutting out boot soles or other articles from
a pattern -
1. The employment of change wheels for the purpose of enabling a variety of lengths
or widths to be cut from the same pattern, as described.
2. Constructing the machine with a longitudinally moving work bed and longitudinally
moving pattern bed mechanically connected together so that any movement imparted
to the pattern bed is transmitted to the work bed in an equal or a greater or a less
proportion as the case may be and with a cutting instrument arranged so that it can be
moved transversely and the movement of which is received from the pattern through
a mechanical connection in an equal or a greater or less proportion, as described.
3. Constructing the machine with a longitudinally moving work bed and
longitudinally moving pattern bed connected together, by change wheels so that any
movement imparted to the pattern bed is transmitted to the work bed in an equal or a
greater or a less proportion as the case may be and with a cutting instrument arranged
so that it can be moved transversely and the movement of which is received from the
pattern through other change wheels in an equal or a greater or less proportion, as
described.
4. The employment of atmospheric pressure for holding material in position while
the same is operated upon by a cutting instrument, as described.
5. The machine as herein described and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
D
W. H. DORMAN.