GB871225A - Improvements in and relating to the production of lasts for footwear - Google Patents

Abstract

871,225. Making lasts. CHARLESWORTH, F. Nov 11, 1959 [Nov. 22, 1958; April 9, 1959], Nos. 37656/58 and 11932/59. Classes 17(1) and 17(3) A shoe last or tree is formed by applying a coating of material to a foot to form a mould, stripping the mould from the foot and filling it with casting material e.g. a plastic substance, and subsequently covering the cast with a number of fabric layers with a suitable bonding material to form a laminated shell which can be used with or without the cast as a last. In forming the mould the foot is supported, and in this position covered with stockinette, and plaster of paris. The foot is subsequently placed on a metal strip 15 Fig. 2 so that it will take up a natural disposition with the correct heel pitch during the setting of the mould. A metal strip 13 in the sock 14 prevents damage to the foot when the mould is slit for removal. The required shape 19, Fig. 5 of the toe of the shoe is moulded to the forepart of the cast. The cast is subsequently cut off at the ankle, smoothed, coated with cellulose cement, and sheathed with tubular stockinette. Further coatings of cement and stockinette are provided to form a tough outer shell which may be painted. The last is divided transversely, as shown in Fig. 8 and the two parts hinged together, a section being cut out and replaced by a wooden block 24. A hollow last may be made from the laminated shell by cutting it longitudinally, stripping it from the cone and subsequently joining the two parts together. A shoe tree may be formed by dividing the last into a fore-part and a heel-part which are interconnected by means of a flexible strip.