992,489. Toe lasting machines. SCHUHMASCHINEN-GESELLSHAFT HANKE & CO. G.m.b.H. March 5, 1962 [March 4, 1961], No. 8439/62. Heading A3B. A toe lasting machine, in which all the movable parts which act on the work, i.e. wipers, wiper strip, spreading device for the upper material, and insole pressing means-are operatively associated with power drives controllable by valves, has a control member such that in one position all said movable parts are automatically actuated in predetermined sequence whilst in a second position all said movable parts are operated by means of hand or pedal levers. When a valve 107, Fig. 12, is depressed by an arm 106, Fig. 1 (not shown) of a control lever 101, Figs. 9 and 10, the main control valve 73 is connected to the cam shaft control cylinder 110 which has a piston 139 connected to the cam shaft 134 by means of a rack 140 and pinion 141. The cylinder 110 is also connected, via an adjustable throttle valve 143 to ensure uniform movement of the piston 139, to a pressure oil cylinder 138. In the manually controlled method the depression of the valve 73 causes to be lowered on to the last 149 on which has been placed an insole and an upper, both the clamping arm 21, Fig. 12, and the spreading device 55 which has resilient pressure members 66 mounted on arms pivoted on pressure member 61. The piston 79 is connected by levers 59, 60 to the arms which are normally in a closed position due to a spring 11, Figs. 5-7 (not shown) while a headpiece 62 connected to the pivot 61 has a rod 63 which can slide in cylinder 65. When the spreading member 55 reaches the last bottom an arm 74 reverses the valve 75 so that piston 79 moves member 55 to the left, Figs. 4 and 12, with the arms of the member 55 remaining closed till the headpiece 62 abuts the adjustable stop 76, thus causing the arm to open so that the members 61 and 66 raise the upper and turn it outwards. Depression of the pedal lever 117 causes the wiper support head 24 with the wiper 40, 41 and wiper strip 47, Fig. 2 (not shown) made of polytetrafluorethylene, to move upwards, with the strip 47 making an upward wiping movement on the upper. The handle 87, Fig. 9, of the wiper draw in lever 39 is now moved in the direction 93 so that the toe wiper 40, 41 starts its advancing and closing movement. When the wiper has moved over the last bottom edge by a few millimeters the pedal lever 117 is released so that the wiper halves are lowered and exert a pressure on the last which corresponds to that set on valve 126. An arm 84, Figs. 9 and 10, is pivoted at one end 85 to the lever 39 and connected at the other and to the frame 88 of the machine while the wiper mechanism is connected to the middle of the arm. Normally the arm 83 of the lever 39 and the arm 84 are held superimposed due to the spring 90 and the stop 92 but as the lever is further moved in the direction 93 the increased pressure on the wipers by the last bottom causes the lever to hinge relative to the arm 84 and the end 91 to move a control rod 94 which actuates a valve 95. This valve causes the piston 96 to move to the right, Fig. 12, so that the final wiping movement is power driven. Finally increased downward pressure is put on the closed wipers by pressing a hand lever 118, Fig. 3 (not shown) which actuates valve 116 thus allowing higher fluid pressure, controlled by valve 127, to reach cylinder 28. The last support can be adjusted, for different sizes by adjusting the heel support 9 and 10, and for left and right shoes by rotating the support 4 on which the toe pad 12 rests, while the slope of arm 5, and the stop 150 which limits the upward movement of the wiper can also be adjusted. During the hand operated sequence the spreading member can be taken out of use by pivoting it about the bolt 53 till the pin 52 drops into the hole 80. In this case the valve 81 is then closed. In the automatic method the valve 107 is depressed and the actuation of valve 73 not only lowers the clamping arm 21 and the spreading device 55 as above but also starts the upward movement of the cam shaft control cylinder 110. By appropriate shaping of the cams 119, 135 and 136 and 137, which have the same function as the hand or foot levers 118, 117, and 39 respectively, the same sequence of events can be carried out automatically.