1,137,254. Boots &c. BRITISH UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CO. Ltd. 7 March, 1966 [9 March, 1965; 18 Jan., 1966], Nos. 9840/65 and 2219/66. Heading A3B. Apparatus for roughing marginal portions of shoe bottoms comprises a shoe support 36 for supporting a shoe S, tool supporting means for supporting a rotary roughing tool, means for producing relative movement between the work support 36 and the tool support so that the tool operates progressively along a marginal portion of the shoe bottom and fluid pressure means for controlling the pressure applied between the tool and the shoe bottom. As described the machine has two rotary wire bushes 38 arranged in tandem and each of the brushes operates along one side of the shoe bottom. The brushes 38 are carried on arms 58 which can pivot about a transverse axis on a block 50 carried by pillars 48 so that the brushes 38 can be moved heightwise of the shoe. The pillars 48 in turn are pivoted about a vertical axis so that the brushes 38 can move transversely of the shoe. An arm 106 having a cam follower at one end is secured to each pillar 48 and engages a template T having a shape corresponding to the contour of a shoe bottom which is secured to the shoe support 36 so that as the shoe support 36 moves lengthwise of the machine the template T controls the transverse movements of the brushes 38 so that the brushes follow the margins of the shoe bottom. Each arm 58 rests on a plate 80 carried by the piston rod 78 of a pneumatic piston and cylinder 76 so that the effective weight of the brushes 38 can be varied. The brushes 38 rotate so that they produce an inwiping action on the shoe bottoms and are enclosed by hoods 274 which are connected by ducts 276, 278 to a dust extraction unit (not shown). The shoe support 36 is carried by a table 32 slidable longitudinally of the shoe in the machine frame 30 by hydraulic means (not shown). The toe end of the shoe is supported by arms 206 (Fig. 2) which are pivoted on a block 200 and which have inclined shoe engaging surfaces which form a V-shape in which the toe rests. The arms 206 are adjustable towards and away from each other so that the heightwise position of the toe can be adjusted, the bottom surface of the shoe being aligned with a surface 224b of a toe locating member 224, which corresponds to the lowest position of the brushes 38. The block 200 is adjustably mounted on the shoe support by a screw 202 and is correctly positioned by a C-shaped member 230 which engages the block 200 and the toe end of the template T. The heel end of the shoe is clamped against a hold-down 168 by a plate 142 which is raised by piston and cylinder 150 via bell crank 136. The sides of the shoe are clamped by side clamps 194 mounted on arms 192 which are pivoted to the frame of the shoe support at 190 and which are urged into contact with the shoe by members 188 which are moved outwards by a wedge (not shown) carried on the piston rod of piston and cylinder 184. The shoe has a pneumatic control circuit which operates as follows:- the operator places a shoe on the shoe support 36 and trips a valve which operates the heel and side clamps. He then operates a switch which causes the table 32 carrying the shoe support 36 to move lengthwise of the machine. When each brush reaches the highest point of the shoe a cam 248 on the shoe support operates a valve which causes the pressure in cylinder 72 to decrease and hence the pressure exerted by the brushes 38 to increase. The cam 248 is adjustable lengthwise of the shoe and is correctly positioned by aligning a pointer 256, connected to the cam 243, with the highest point of the shoe. When each brush 38 reaches the breast line of the shoe a cam 238 engages a valve which causes the brush 38 to be raised away from the shoe bottom, the table returns to its original position and the shoe is released. In a modified shoe support (Fig. 5) the template T is mounted on a support 226<SP>1</SP> carried at one end by a shaft 302 and at the other end by a sleeve 308 both rotatably mounted in uprights 132<SP>1</SP> so that the template T can be rotated through 180 degrees to accommodate left or right shoes. The toeward end of the template T is held by nosepiece 312 on a shaft 310 which is rotated through 180 degrees by a pinion 314 on the shaft 310 and a rack 316 (Fig. 8) connected to pneumatic piston and cylinder 317, the flow of compressed air to the cylinder 317 being reversed at the end of each cycle so that the machine operates alternately on left and right shoes. The template T is held by the nosepiece 312 and a latch 306 and can be ejected by an ejector 388 operated by piston and cylinder 385. The shaft 310 is connected by a bar 344 and a link 340 to the block 200 which carries the toe support and a piston rod 346 of cylinder 347 moves this assembly until the nosepiece 312 on the shaft 310 contacts the template T, thus positioning the toe supporting block 200. The bar 344 is also connected by a linkage (not shown) to the cam which increases the pressure of the brushes 38 when the highest point of the shoe is reached, thus automatically adjusting the position of this cam.