US1140423A - Machine for fastening metal stiffeners to shoe-shanks. - Google Patents

Description

B. B. WATERMAN. MACHINE FOR FASTENING METAL STIFFENERS T0 SHOE SHANKS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-3.19M.

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B B. WATERMAN.

MACHINE FOR FASTENING METAL STIFFENERS T0 SHOE SHANKS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3, I914.

Patented May 25, 1915.

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THE NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTO LITHOY, WASHINGTON, L c.

B. B. WATERMAN.

MACHINE FOR FASTENING METAL STIFFENERS T0 SHOE SHANKS.

APPLICATION FlLED FEB. 3, 1914.

Patented May 25, 1915.

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B. B. WATERMAN.

MACHINE FOR FASTENING METAL STIFFENERS T0 SHOE SHANKS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3, 1914.

1 lU figfiu Patented May 25, 1915.

5 SHEETSSHEET 4.

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THE NORRIS PETERS 50.. PHOTC4LITHOH WASHINGTON. n. c.

v B. B. WATERMAN. MACHINE FOR FASTENING METAL STIFFENERS T0 SHOE SHANKS- APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3, I9I4. 1 1%@,% Patented May 25, 1915.

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witnesses THE NORRIS PETERS C0" PHOTC-LITHQ. WASHINGTUN, D. C.

UNTTED STATES PATENT @FFTQFZ.

BRADFORD B. WATERMAN, OF EAST BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN SHOE FINDING COMPANY, A CORPGRATION OF MAINE.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Iiatented May 25, 1915.

Application filed February 3, 1914. Serial No. 816,327.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BRADFORD B WVATER- MAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Bridgewater, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Fastening Metal Stiffeners to Shoe-Shanks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for fastening metal stifieners to shoe shanks.

The object of the invention is to provide a machine which is adapted to remove stiffeners, one at a time, from a stack or column of stiffeners, to progressively move said stiffener-s along suitable guides, to insert tacks or the like in perforations in said stiffeners during the intervals between the successive movements of said stiffeners and to secure said stiffeners to shoe shanks. The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts whereby the above object and certain other objects hereinafter appearing may be attained, as set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a right hand side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional elevation taken on line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. A is a transverse sectional elevation taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view illustrating the means for transferring stifl'eners from a mass or column of stilfeners to the parallelly disposed guides, portions of the machine being broken away to save space. Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 66 of Fig. 5 as viewed in the direction of the arrows on said figure.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In the drawings, 18 is the frame of the machine on which are mounted the several mechanisms comprising said machine. A vertical raceway 19 is mounted upon said frame, said raceway consisting of two vertical supports 20 adapted to be adjusted toward and away from each other and guided in said movement in grooves 21, said supports being clamped in the positions desired by screws 22. Secured to the inner faces of the supports 20 are guides 23 and 24;, said guides being separated from each other to provide passages 25 adapted to receive and guide a vertical column or stack of stiifeners 26. Means are provided to engage the extremities of the lowermost stiffener in said column of stiffener-s to support the same in said vertical raceway with one end of said lowermost stiffener slightly elevated above the other end thereof, said means consisting of a pair of parallelly arranged guides 27 and 28 constituting a horizontal raceway. Said parallelly arranged guides are adapted to be adjusted toward and away from each other together with the supports 20 to accommodate varying lengths of stiifeners. The passage 25 formed by the guides 23 and 2% extends substantially to the bottom of the column of stiffeners 2G, sufficient space being left at said bottom to permit the lowermost stiffener to be removed from the mass of stiffeners onto the parallelly arranged guides 27 and 28.

As a general rule the stiffeners composing the stack 26 are slightly curved midway of their length and often vary in thickness thereby rendering it diflicult to remove the lowermost one in said column without displacing the second, particularly when the means for feeding said lowermost stiffener engage the same at or near the middle thereof.

To insure the proper feeding of said stiffeners one at a time, said stiffeners are, as hereinbefore stated, supported in said vertical raceway with one end elevated above the other and this by means of a shelf 30 preferably formed upon the guide 28. Means are also provided to advance the elevated end of said lowermost stiffener, said means consisting of a thin fiat finger 31 secured to a cam lever 32 mounted upon a pivotal stud 33 fast to the frame of the machine. The finger 31 is constructed of sheet material which is slightly thinner than the thinnest material employed in the construction of said stiffeners and is adapted to slide along the upper surface of the shelf which supports the elevated end of said stiffeners.

At the proper times in the operation of the machine the lever 32 is rocked upon its pivot 33 in one direction, preferably to retract said finger, by a cam 3i mounted upon a shaft 35 journaled to rotate in the frame 18, said cam being adapted to engage a cam stiffeners from the shelf 30 onto the guide roll 36 carried by said lever 32. In the op posite direction, preferably to advance the A guard 38 is arranged adjacent the rear edges of the stiffeners constituting the column 26 to serve as a continuation of the guide 23 at the elevated ends of said Sillff eners in order to prevent the second stiffener in said column from being misplaced when there are but few stiffeners in said column, during the retraction of the finger 31.

During the advance movement of the finger 31 the end of the lowermost stiflener in the column, which is engaged by said finger, is moved transversely relatively to said previously occupied thereby and upon the guide 28 substantially on a level with the guide 27. By this movement it will be seen that a considerable space will be provided between said lowermost stiffener and the next stiffener in said column. At this stage in the operation said lowermost stiffener is resting with one end beneath the column of stiffeners and the other end slightly advanced, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. From this position said stiffener is adapted to be transferred to an intermediate position from whence it is moved along said parallel guides, step by step, to instrumentalities arranged at the opposite ends of said guides which are adapted to fasten said stiffeners to shoe shanks, said instrumentalities being hereinafter more fully described.

The intermediate position, hereinbefore referred to, is the position occupied by the stifi'ener a (Fig. 5) andthe means for transferring said stiffeners to said intermediate position preferably consist of a slide arranged to slide longitudinally of the frame 18 in guides 40, said slide being provided with a plurality of sets of feed ngers 41 and 42 mounted upon an adj ustable bracket 43, each of said sets preferably comprising two fingers which are adapted to engage said stiffener-s adjacent the ends thereof. The fingers 41 are furthermore pivoted on said bracket 43, which is arranged to be reciprocated beneath said stiffeners, while springs 44 yieldingly retain said fingers in contact with said stiffeners. A

.reciprocatory movement is imparted to the slide 39 by a cam lever 45 connected by a link 46 to said slide and provided with a cam roll 47adapted to project into a cam groove 48 in a cam 49 secured to a shaft 50. At each reciprocation of said slide the first said fingers yielding as they pass beneath said stiffener-s and springing upwardly at the rear side to engage the rear edge of said stiffener upon the reversal of the movement of said slide carrying said stiffener to the position illustrated at Z9. Upon the movement of said slide 39 to the right to engage the next stiffener from the stack, the set of fingers 42 is moved to engage the stifener at the position Z) and to move'said stiffener upon the return of said slide into the intermdiate position a.

It willbe noted that the stiffener illustrated in dotted lines Fig. 5, with one end advanced, has its opposite end slightly resting beneath the column of stiffeners, while said advanced end is perfectly free and should the feed fingers 41 engage said stifiener and be permitted to move it from beneath said stack, it will be perfectly evident that owing to the pressure applied to the end beneath said column that said stifl'ener would be swung sidewise with the retarded end thereof as a pivot and permitting said stiffener to drop between said guides 27 and 28. To prevent this occurrence means are provided to hold the advanced end of said stiffener during the initial feeding movement thereof or until its retarded end has been freed from the weight of the column of stiffeners after which said means are operated to release said advanced end and permit said stiffener to be moved along said guides to the position Z).

The means for accomplishing the above result preferably consists of a slide 51 arranged adjacent the passage 25, which guides the elevated ends of the mass of stiffeners, said slide'having a foot 52 secured to the lower end thereof which is permitted to descend, under the action of the spring 61, at certain times inthe operationof the machine by a cam 53 secured to the shaft 35. Said cam engages a cam roll 54 secured to a lever 55 to which is secured a rod 56 extending upwardly from said lever through a guide 57. An arm 58 on said rod 56 is adapted to engage a pin 59 fast to said slide 51. Aspring 60, encircling the'rod 56, engages at one end'the guide 57 and at the other end a collar 62 secured to said rod and is adapted to elevate said slide against the action of the spring 61, when permitted so to do, by the cam 53. The foot 52 engages the upper face of the advanced end of the lowermost stiffener, while a projection 63 on said foot is adapted to engage the forward edge of said stiffener, thus preventing said stiffener from being swung forward before the opposite end thereof has been released from the pressure of the column of stiffeners. As

the stiffeners are fed along the guides 27 and 28 they are fed beneath a bar 64c arranged longitudinally of said guides and substantially midway therebetween and by engaging said stiff'eners at the center a yielding pressure is applied thereby to said stiffeners to retain the ends in contact with said parallel guides. From the intermediate position a the stifieners are adapted to be moved along said guides beneath a plurality of raceways 65 which are adapted to conduct tacks, nails or the like to the stiffeners and to insert said tacks in perforations 66 arranged adjacent opposite ends thereof.

A large number (two of which are illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5) of these raceways have been provided along said parallel guides to insure each of the holes in said stiffeners receiving a tack. Heretofore it has been common practice to feed a plurality of stiffeners along a horizontal raceway, step by step, each of said stiifeners being moved along by the successive stiffener. This method however has proved unsatisfactory for the reason that the widths of the stiffeners often vary rendering it impossible to set the several raceways in a position to aline with the holes in the stiffeners. To overcome this difficulty an auxiliary slide 67 is arranged above and adapted to slide longitudinally of said horizontal raceway upon a support 68 which also serves as a support for the bar 64:, said slide being secured to said support by screws 69 which pass through slots 70 into said support 68. The

. slide 67 is preferably of inverted U-shaped construction and is provided with a plurality of sets of feed fingers 71 which are pivoted at 72 to the outer faces of the legs of said U-shaped slide. [he feed fingers 71 are provided with extensions 7 3 which constitute weights adapted to retain said fingers normally in contact with pins 7 i, permitting said feed fingers, as said slide is moved to the left Fig. 2, to slide over the next successive stiffener on the guides 27 and 28 and engage said stiffeners to push them forward during the next forward movements of the slide 67. A spring 75 is adapted to normally retain said auxiliary slide against a stop 76 upon the support 68, but as the slide 89 is reciprocated the fingers 42 are adapted to engage the end of said auxiliary slide during a portion of its forward movement to reciprocate said auxiliary slide rela tively to its support.

During the movement of said auxiliary slide the first set of feed fingers 71 is adapted to engage the stiffener in the intermediate position a and move said stiffener along said guides the distance between the two successive sets of feed fingers on said auxiliary slide and so on independently advancing said stiffeners progressively along said guides, from said intermediate position to the forward position of the last set of feed fingers on said auxiliary slide and indicated by the position 0 Figs. 2 and 3.

Each step in the movements of said stiffeners places said stiffeners beneath a pair of raceways 65 and at which time tacks are permitted to slide down said raceways and enter perforations which aline with the lower ends of said raceways. Should a stiffener fail to receive a tack in the first, second or third position it is practically certain to receive the same before it arrives at the position a. All superfluous tacks which fail to enter perforations in the stifieners are shaken by the feeding of said stifl'eners through the spaces between the successive stiifeners and deposited upon a pan 77 arranged therebeneath and from which they are deposited in a chute 78 which conducts them to any desired point.

The position c hereinbefore referred to is adj accent to the ends of the guides 27 and 28 at which the instrumentalities for securing the stiffeners to the shoe shanks are located. These instrumentalities preferably consist of a pair of anvils 79 which are adapted to aline with the perforations in said stifl'eners.

A pair of drivers 80 are preferably arranged above said anvils in a slide 81 adapted to be reciprocated in guides 82 in the frame 18 by links 83 connected with levers 8 f pivoted at 85 to the frame of the machine, said levers having cam rolls 86 adapted to fit cam grooves 87 in oppositely disposed cams 88 secured to a shaft 89. The drivers 80 are vertically adjustable in the slide 81 and aline with the anvils 7 9 which are also adjustably mounted in the frame 18, said drivers and said anvils also being adjustable laterally to provide for variations between the perforations in said stiffeners.

Means are provided for supporting leatherboard pieces across the tops of the anvils 79, said means preferably consisting of brackets 90 secured to said anvils and adapted to engage the opposite ends of the shanks 91. Means are also provided for supporting a stiffener above and between said shank and said drivers, said means preferably consisting of supports 92 adapted. to engage the extremities of said stiffeners. The supports 92 are in turn adjustably mounted upon carriers 93 adjustably arranged in slides 94 respectively permitting said carriers to be moved transversely toward and away from said drivers to accommodate stiffeners of varying lengths. Each of the slides 94: is connected to the driver slide 81 by means of two links 95 and 96 pivotally connected to each other and respectively to said slides 94: and the lower portion of said slide 81 and 81, said links constituting a toggle 97. On each of the toggles 97 is journaled a cam roll 98 adapted to cooperate with a cam 99 and secured to the frame 18 by means of screws 100. Each of the cams 99 is provided with an inclined surface 101 which may be tangent to arcs of circles struck from the centers of pivots 102 of the links 95, or if desired, said surfaces may be formed on an arc of a circle struck from said centers. Said links and cams constitute means adapted to'impart a cooperativemovement to said stiffener support relatively to said drivers to cause said drivers to engage the tacks in said stiffeners and drive the same through said shank and against said anvils. when the drivers 80 are in their highest positions, which positions they occupy during the initial positions of the machines, the supports 92 will be in alinement with the guides 27 and 28 respectively in readiness to receive a stiffener from said. guides. Means are also provided to move stiffeners along said guides'27 and 28 from the position 0 onto said support, said means preferably consisting of a pair. of feed fingers 103 pivoted upon studs 104 which in turn are mounted upon the end of the slide 39 and consequently move said stifleners onto said supports simultaneously with the transferal of the stiffener from the mass of stifieners onto said guides. Subsequent to the placing ofa stiffener upon said supports said supports and said drivers are operated by the mechanism hereinbefore described to place said stiffener upon the shank 91 resting across the anvils' 79 and to drive the tacks carried by said stiffeners through said shanks, against said anvils thereby fastening said stiffener and said shank together.

At the conclusion of this operation means are brought into play to eject said stiffenerand shank from said machine, said ejecting means preferably consisting of ejecting lingers 105 secured to a cam lever 106 which is arranged to be rocked upon studs 107,. as pivots, by a cam 108 secured to the driving shaft 89, said cam engaging a cam roll 109 mounted upon said lever 106. A spring 110 secured at one end to said lever 106 and at its opposite end to the frame 18 serves to retain said roll in contact withthe cam 108.

. The general operation of the machine hereinbefore specifically described is as follows: A rotary motion is imparted to a driving pulley 136 secured to the driving shaft 89, from any suitable source not shown, and from said driving shaft the shaft 50 is rotated by gears 137 and 138, while the shaft 35 is rotated by the gears 138 and 139,thus setting in motion the various cams whereby the several mechanisms of the machine will at the proper times be operated to perform their various functions.

During the operations of said different mechanisms the stiffeners contained in the said stifieners to the tack from whence theyare independently prog-ressed along the guides 27 and 28 beneath the ends. of the raceways 65, which are supplied with tacks from any suitable hopper, not shown, into the position .0 where suit able means are brought into play to transfer mentaliti'es. 7

After the stiffeners have been secured to the shank 91, which has been previously placed beneath the anvil 79by the operator, the ejectors 105 are brought into action to eject the finished product .fromthemachine d riving instruguides, means adapted to feed stiffeners from a mass of stiffeners one at a time to said guides, a slide arranged above said guides, a plurality of pairs of feed fingers p votally arranged on said slide to engage said stiffeners from above, meansa'dapted to reciprocate said slide to cause said several pairs of feed fingers to progressively feedsaid stiffener-s from one end'of said guides to the other, and instrumentalities adjacent said other end adapted to fasten said stiffen-' ers to shoe shanks.

3. A machine for fasteningperforated stifieners to shoe shanks having, in combination, a support for said shanks, means adapted to guide a column of stiffeners, means adapted to support the stiffeners constituting said column with one of the ends thereof elevated, means to advance the elevated end of the lowermost stiffener in said column from beneath said column, means adapted to supportthe advanced end of said lowermost stiffener substantially on a level with the opposite end thereof, means adapted to feed said lowermost stiffener intermittently from the aforesaid position into a position above said shank support, means for supplying tacks to said stiffeners during the intermittent feeding movement thereof, means adapted to move said stiffeners from the position above said shank into engagement therewith, and means to drive the tacks therein into said shanks.

4-. In a machine for fastening perforated stifi'eners to shoe shanks,

means to support the stifieners are fed along the guides 27 and 28 they are fed beneath a bar 64 arranged longitudinally of said guides and substantially midway therebetween and by engaging said stiffeners at the center a yielding pressure is applied thereby to said stiffeners to retain the ends in contact with said parallel guides. From the intermediate position a the stiffeners are adapted to be moved along said guides beneath a plurality of raceways 65 which are adapted to conduct tacks, nails or the like to the stifieners and to insert said tacks in perforations 66 arranged adjacent opposite ends thereof.

A large number (two of which are illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5) of these raceways have been provided along said parallel guides to insure each of the holes in said 'stiffeners receiving a tack. Heretofore it has been common practice to feed a plurality of stifieners along a horizontal raceway, step by step, each of said stifieners being moved along by the successive stiffener. This method however has proved unsatisfactory for the reason that the widths of the stiffeners often vary rendering it impossible to set the several raceways in a position to aline with the holes in the stifi'eners. To overcome this difficulty an auxiliary slide 67 is arranged above and adapted to slide longitudinally of said horizontal raceway upon a support 68 which also serves as a support for the bar 6 1, said slide being secured to said support by screws 69 which pass through slots 70 into said support 68. The slide 67 is preferably of inverted U-shaped construction and is provided with a plurality of sets of feed fingers 71 which are pivoted at 72 to the outer faces of the legs of said U-shaped slide. The feed fingers 71 are provided with extensions 73 which constitute weights adapted to retain said fingers normally in contact with pins 741-, permitting said feed fingers, as said slide is moved to the left Fig. 2, to slide over the next successive stiffener on the guides 27 and 28 and engage said stiffeners to push them forward during the next forward movements of the slide 67. A spring 75 is adapted to normally retain said auxiliary slide against a stop 76 upon the support 68, but as the slide 39 is reciprocated the fingers 42 are adapted to engage the end of said auxiliary slide during a portion of its forward movement to reciprocate said auxiliary slide relatively to its support.

During the movement of said auxiliary slide the first set of feed fingers 71 is adapted to engage the stiffener in the intermediate position a and move said stifiener along said guides the distance between the two successive sets of feed fingers on said auxiliary slide and so on independently advancing said stiffeners progressively along said'guides, from said intermediate position to the forward position of the last set of feed fingers on said auxiliary slide and indicated by the position 0 Figs. 2 and 8.

Each step in the movements of said stifieners places said stiffeners beneath a pair of raceways 65 and at which time tacks are permitted to slide down said raceways and enter perforations which aline with the lower ends of said raceways. Should a stiffener fail to receive a tack in the first, second or third position it is practically cer tain to receive the same before it arrives at the position 0. All superfluous tacks which fail to enter perforations in the stiffeners are shaken by the feeding of said stiffeners through the spaces between the successive stiifeners and deposited upon a pan 77 arranged therebeneath and from which they are deposited in a chute 78 which conducts them to any desired point.

The position c hereinbefore referred to is adj accent to the ends of the guides 27 and 28 at which the instrumentalities for securing the stilfeners to the shoe shanks are located. These instrumentalities preferably consist of a pair of anvils 79 which are adapted to aline with the perforations in said stifieners.

A pair of drivers 80 are preferably arranged above said anvils in a slide 81 adapted to be reciprocated in guides 82 in the frame 18 by links 83 connected with levers 84: pivoted at 85 to the frame of the machine, said levers having cam rolls 86 adapted to fit cam grooves 87 in oppositely disposed cams 88 secured to a shaft 89. The drivers 80 are vertically adjustable in the slide 81 and aline with the anvils 7 9 which are also adjustably mounted in the frame 18, said drivers and said anvils also being adjustable laterally to provide for variations between the perforations in said stiffeners.

Means are provided for supporting leatherboard pieces across the tops of the anvils 7 9, said means preferably consisting of brackets 90 secured to said anvils and adapted to engage the opposite ends of the shanks 91. Means are also provided for supporting a stifiener above and between said shank and said drivers, said means preferably consisting of supports 92 adapted to engage the extremities of said stiffeners. The supports 92 are in turn adjustably mounted upon carriers 93 adjustably arranged in slides 94; respectively permitting said carriers to be moved transversely toward and away from said drivers to accommodate stiffeners of varying lengths. Each of the slides 9% is connected to the driver slide 81 by means of two links 95 and 96 pivotally connected to each other and respectively to said slides 94k and the lower portion of said slide 81 and 81, said links constituting a toggle 97. On each of the toggles 97 is journaled a cam roll 98 adapted to cooperate with a cam 99 and secured to the frame 18 by means of screws 100. Each of the cams 99 is provided with an inclined surface 101 which may be tan gent to arcs of circles struck from the centers of pivots 102 of the links 95, or if desired, said surfaces may be formed on an arc of a circle struck from said centers. Said, links and cams constitute means adapted to impart a cooperative movement to said stiffener support relatively to said drivers to cause said drivers to engage the tacks in said stiffeners and drive the same through said shank and against said anvils. when the drivers 80 are in their highest positions, which positions they occupy during the initial positions of the machines, the supports'92 will be in alinement with the guides 27 and 28 respectively in readiness to receive a stiffener from said guides. Means are also provided to move stiifeners along said guides 27 and 28 from the position 0 onto said support, said means preferably consisting of a pair of feed fingers 103 pivoted'upon studs 104 which in turn are mounted upon the end of the slide 39 and consequently move said stiffener-s onto said. supports simultaneously with the trans feral of the stiffener from the mass of stiff eners onto said guides. Subsequent to the placing of a stiffener upon said supports said supports and said drivers are operated by the mechanism hereinbefore described to place said stiffener upon the shank 91 resting across the anvils 7 9 and to drive the tacks carried by said stiffeners through said shanks, against said anvils thereby fastening said stiffener and said shank together.

At the conclusion of this operation means are brought into play to eject said stiffener and shank from said machine, said ejecting means preferably consisting of ejecting fingers 105 secured to a cam lever 106 which is arranged to be rocked upon studs 107, as pivots, by a cam 108 secured to the driving shaft 89, said cam engaging a cam roll 109 mounted upon said lever 106. A spring 110 secured at one end to said lever 106 and at its opposite end to the frame 18 serves to retain said roll in contact with the cam 108.

The general operation of the machine hereinbefore specifically described is as follows: A rotary motion is imparted to a driving pulley 136 secured to the driving shaft 89, from any suitable source not shown, and from said driving shaft the shaft 50 is rotated by gears 137' and 138, while the shaft 35 is rotated by the gears 138 and 139, thus setting in motion the various cams whereby the several mechanisms of the machine will at the proper times be operated to perform their various functions.

During the operations of said different mechanisms the stifieners contained in the vertical raceway 19 are transferred one at a time onto the guides 27 and 28, constituting the horizontal raceway, first to the position 6 and thence to the position a from whence they are independently progressed along the guides 27 and 28 beneath the ends of the raceways 65, which are supplied with tacks from any suitable hopper, not shown, into the position 0 where suitable means are brought into play to transfer said stiffcners to thetack driving instrumentalities.

After. the stiifeners have been secured to the shank 91, which has been previously placed beneath the anvil 79 by the operator, the ejectors 105 are brought into action to eject the finished product from themachine in readiness for the machine to again pen form its operations.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire by Letters Patent to seguides, a plurality of pairs of feed fingers pivotally arranged on said slide to, engage said stifi eners from above, means adapted to reciprocate said slide to cause said several pairs of feed fingers to said stiffeners from one end of saidv guides to the other, and instrumentalities adjacent said other end adapted to fasten said stiffeners to shoe shanks. I o I 3. A machine for fastening perforated stiffeners to shoe shanks having, in combination, a support for said shanks, means adapte ed to guide a column of stiffeners, means adapted to support the stiffeners constitutprogressively feeding said column with one of the ends thereof elevated, means to advance the elevated end of the lowermost stiffener in said column from beneathrsaid column, means adapted to support the advanced end of said lowermost stiffener substantially on a level with the opposite end thereof, means adapted to feed said lowermost stiffener intermittently from the aforesaid position into a position above said shank support, means for supplying tacks to said stiifeners during the intermittent feeding movement thereof, means adapted to move said stifieners from the position above said shank into engagement therewith, and means to drive the tacks therein into said shanks.

. 4. In a machine for fastening perforated stifleners to shoe shanks, means to support a shank, a raceway for said stiifeners, means to feed tacks to said stifieners, means to feed said stiffeners one at a time from said raceway to an intermediate position in advance of said tack feeding means, a plurality of sets of feed fingers, means to move said feed fingers to successively engage said stiifeners and move the same step by step from said intermediate position to a point above said shank, and means to fasten said stiifeners to said shank.

5. In a machine for fastening stiffeners to shoe shanks, means adapted to guide a stack of stiifeners, means adapted to support said stiffeners in said guides with one end elevated above the other, a pair of parallelly disposed guides arranged on a level with the lower end of the lowermost stiffener in said stack and in alinement with the sides of said stack guiding means, means to advance the elevated end of the lowermost stiffener in said stack onto one of said guides to separate said lowermost stiffener from the next stiffener in said stack, means adapted to move said advanced stiffener step by step along said parallel guides, and means arranged at the ends of said guides adapted to secure said stiffener to said shoe shank.

6. In a machine for fastening stiifeners to shoe shanks, a raceway adapted to guide a stack of stiffeners, means adapted to support said stack of stiffeners in said raceway, means adapted to advance one end of the lowermost stiffener in said raceway transversely relatively to said stiifeners, means to engage said advanced end and support the same at a substantial distance be low the position previously occupied thereby, with said lowermost stiffener lying at an angle to a vertical plane containing the major dimensions of the stiifeners in said stack and means adapted to engage said lowermost stiffener and feed the same from beneath said stack.

7. In a machine for fastening stiffeners to shoe shanks, a raceway adapted to guide a stack of stiifeners, means adapted to support said stack of stii t'eners in said raceway, means adapted to advance one end of the lowermost stiffener in said raceway, means to engage said advanced end and support the same at a substantial distance below the position previously occupied thereby, means adapted to engage the rear edge and feed said lowermost stiffener from beneath said stack, and means adapted to hold the advanced end of said lowermost stiffener until the opposite end thereof has been removed from beneath said stack of stiffeners.

8. In a machine for fastening stiffeners to shoe shanks, a raceway adapted to guide a stack of stiffeners, means adapted to support said stack of stiffeners in said raceway, means adapted to advance one end of the lowermost stifiener in said raceway, means to support the advanced end of said stiffener at a. substantial distance below the position previously occupied thereby, a slide, a pair of free fingers carried by said slide, means adapted to operate said slide to move said fingers into engagement with the rear edge of said lowermost stiffener and feed said stiffener from said advanced position into an intermediate position, and means to hold the advanced end of said stiffener during the initial feeding movement of said stiffeners, said means being adapted to release said stiffener upon the removal of the opposite end thereof from beneath said stack of stiffeners.

9. In a machine for fastening perforated stiffeners to shoe shanks, means adapted to guide a vertical column of stiffeners, a pair of parallelly arranged guides, means to advance one end of the lowermost stiffener in said column onto one of said guides, a slide, a plurality of sets of feed fingers mounted on said slide adapted to move said advanced stiffener into an intermediate position on said guides, an auxiliary slide adapted to be moved by said slide, a plurality of sets of feed fingers carried by said auxiliary slide adapted to progressivelv feed stiffeners from said intermediate position to the opposite ends of said guides, means to insert tacks in the perforations in said stiffeners during the progressive movements thereof, and means adjacent said opposite ends adapted to fasten said stiffeners to shoe shanks.

10. In a machine for fastening perforated stiffeners to shoe shanks, a shank support, a vertical raceway adapted to guide a column of stiffeners, a horizontal raceway adapted to conduct stiifeners from said vertical raceway toward said shank support, said raceway consisting of a pair of parallelly arranged guides adapted to support said stiffeners by their ends, means adapted to transfer the lowermost stiffener in said column of stiffeners onto said guides, means to move a plurality of stiffeners individually and simultaneously, step by step along said guides, means adapted to guide tacks to said stiffeners during the interruptions in the step by step movements of said stiffeners, and means to secure said stifi'eners to shoe shanks.

11. A machine for fastening perforated stiffeners to shoe shanks having, in combination, an anvil, a driver, means to support a shoe shank between said anvil and said driver, means adapted to support a stiffener between said driver and said shank, a horizontally disposed raceway adapted to guide stiffeners to said stiffener support, a plurality of pivoted feed fingers adapted to severally move said stiffeners individually and intermittently along said raceway and onto said stiffener support, means to deposit tacks or the like in the perforations in said stifi'eiiers between the successive movements thereof along said raceway, and means adapted to impart a cooperative relative movement to said stiffener support and said driver to cause said driver to engage the tack in said stiffener and drive the same through said shank and against said anvil.

12. In a machine for fastening perforated stiffeners provided with perforations adjacent the ends thereof to shoe shanks; anvils arranged to aline with said perforations, drivers arranged to aline with said anvils, means to support a stiffener between said anvils and said drivers, means to support said shank between said anvils and said stiffeners, a raceway, means adapted to independently move a plurality of stiffeners intermittently along said raceway onto said stiffener support, means adapted to guide tacks or the like into the perforations in said stiffeners during the passage of said stiffeners along said raceway, and means adapted to move said drivers and said stiffeners to drive the tacks carried by said stifii'eners through said shank.

13. In a machine for fastening stiffeners to shoe shanks, a raceway adapted to guide a stack of stiffeners, means adapted to sup port said stack of stiffeners in said raceway, means adapted to advance one end of the lowermost stiffenerin said raceway, means to engage said advanced end and support the same ata substantial distance below the position previously occupied thereby, a slide, a pair of feed fingers carried by said slide, means adapted to operate said slide to move said fingers into engagement with the rear edge of said lowermost stiffener and feed said stiffener from said advanced position into an intermediate position, means to hold the advanced end of 7 said stiffener during the initial feeding movement of said fingers, said means adapted to release said stiffener upon the removal of the opposite end thereof from beneath" said stack of stiffeners, and instrumentalities adapted to feed said stiffeners from said intermediate position and secure the same to a shoe shank.

14. In a machine for fastening perforated stiffeners to shoe shanks, a pair of parallelly arranged guides, a slide arranged above said parallelly arranged guides, means to reciprocate said slide longitudinally of said guides, a plurality of sets of feedfingers pivotally mounted on said slide, each of said sets of feed fingers adapted to successively engage a stiffener and move the same along said guides, said feed fingers adapted to be moved by their own weight into engagement with said stiffeners, means to insert tacks in the perforations in said stifleners at each successive step in the movements of said stifieners along said guides, and means adjacent the ends of said guides adapted to fasten said stiffeners to shoe shanks.

15. In a machine for fastening perforated stiffeners to shoe shanks, a pair of parallelly arranged guides, a slide arranged above said parallelly arranged guides, means to reciprocate said slide longitudinally of said guides, a plurality of sets of feed fingers pivotally mounted on said slide, each of said sets of feed fingers being adapted to successively engage a stiffener and move the same along said guides, said feed fingers having extensions which constitute weights adapted to yieldingly retain said fingers in contact with said stiffeners, means to insert tacks in the perforations in said stiffeners at each successive step in the movements of said stiffeners along-said guides, and means adjacent the ends of said guides adapted to fasten said stiffencrs to shoe shanks.

16. In a machine for fastening perforated stiffeners to shoe shanks, a pair of parallelly arranged guides, a slide arranged above said parallelly arranged guides, means to reciprocate said slide longitudinally of said guides, a plurality of sets of feed fingers pivotally mounted on said slide, each of said sets of feed fingers being adapted to successively engage a stiffener and move the same along said guides, said feed fingers having extensions which constitute weights adapted to yieldingly retain said fingers in contact with said stiffeners, stops on said slide adapted to be engaged by said extensions to limit the pivotal movements of said BRADFORD B. WATERMAN;

Witnesses CHARLES L. REDDING, WALTER G; SMALL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I); 0.

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