US1161871A - Method of lacing or fastening boot and shoe uppers. - Google Patents

Description

G. LEWIS.

METHOD OF LACING OR FASTENING BOOT AND SHOE UPPERS.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 22. 1913..

1,1 61,87 1. y Patented Nov. 3o, 1915.

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COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH Co..w^smwr.'rnu n c G. LEWIS. METHOD 0F LACING 0R FASTENING BOOT AND SHOE UPPERS.

' APBLlcATloN FILED Nov. 22. 1913.

1,1 61,871. Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

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CDLUMBIA PLANOQRAPH c0..wAsHxNaTaN, D. c.

GEORGE LEWIS, OF NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND.

llVIlEVJTI-IOLD 0F LACING 0R FASTENING BOOT AND SHOE UPPERS.

Specification of Letters Patent. i Patented NOV, 30, 1915,

Application filed November 22, 1913. .Serialpltay SZASS.

To all whom it may concern: vBe it known that GEORGE LEwrs, a subject'of theKing of Great Britain, residing at Northampton, in the county ofrNorthampton, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Lacing or Fastening Boot and Shoe Uppers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing. i l

This invention relates to a newV or irnproved device for and method of lacing or fastening boot and shoe uppers during the.

process of manufacture. Y

'It is customary, during the process of manufacture of boots and shoes, tofasten the fronts of the uppers together atrone or more places for the purpose of keeping them closed, and more particularly when the boot or shoe is being lasted, to enable the upper to be drawn tightly down to the last and at the same time retain the original lines of the upper pattern; This fastening is usually effected by the insertion of a lace, rigidy metal hook, or string or cord through the eyelets in the edges of the upper. e

The present invention comprehends a new or improved method of and means for securing boot and shoe uppers in the inanner above mentioned, such method and means being of simple character and operation, and which will not injure the eyelets, and will enable the upper to be readily fastened, and instantaneously unfastened when required, and will also allow the upper to fit down to the last no matter whether instep of last be Wide or narrow.

. The device of this invention is adapted to deal with uppers of various shapes and with eyelets of any size, and may be `rea`dilyad justed to suit variations in the length of spacing of eyelets.

According to this invention there is employed a length of cord or other lacing material, a device ,for threading said cord through the eyelets of the upper .to be fastened, and a hook or other suitable member to' secure the cord in position'when-threaded through the eyelets.

"The method ac lopted consists in using a length of woven thread, cord vor the like (preferably formed `by tying or otherwise into' endless loop, tisana-for a'purpose hereinafter-f described). the sad thread :or

e ofthe boot or shoe to the other.

cord being applied to the boot or shoe upper by drawingit through a suitable number of corresponding eyelets on each side of the upper, the cord being drawn through said eyelets in the form of loops from one side After being drawn through the eyelets in the two edges of the upper as described, 'a hook, rod or other suitable locking device is passed through the ends of the loops Which are thereby prevented from being pulled out.

It will be understood that a separate loop ofthe lace or fasteningv cord'` is drawn through each 'pair of corresponding or coinciding eyelets in the edges of the upper and thatv the device for securing said loops passes through all of them. Upon withdrawal of the locking hook or the like from the'loop's the fastening lace or cord maybe pulled out to unfasten the upper.

For the purpose ofl drawing the loops of the fastening lace or cord through two or more of the lacing eyelets of the boot or shoe upper, a device or apparatusis pro# vided comprising `a, plurality of members adapted and arranged for a number of the eyeletsk to be passed thereon, and to engage each a portion of the lacingcord so that when the upper is drawn off said members, the latter `will each draw a loop of the fastening lace or cord through the eyelet which is drawn oli it. y i l vThese threading members conveniently consist of needles provided at their end with a hook to'engage the fastening cord.4 The panying drawings which illustrate a practi- Y cal example of the manner in which the invention may be carried into effect.

In the drawings referred to :,-Figure 1 represents a loop of cord to be used for fastening a boot upper. Fig. 2 shows a convenient form of locking Pin- Fg- 3 .represents a boot upper laced or fastened accordinsto .the meth-,0d included in this invention Fig? 41S a planet a thr ing device-z Fig. is ,a side View .oise-n1, Figs and .7i are plan views showing the method of threading the eyelets ofthe upper by the device of Figs. Ll and 5.

Like parts are designated by the same reference characters in those tliev are repeated.'

The method of lacing involved consists in using a loop a', of cord or the like such as shown in Fig. 1, and drawing it through coinciding eyelets in the sides of the upper'in the form of loops t, in the vmanner repre-V f sented in Fig. 3, a locking pin c, being then passed through the loops Z), between their ends andthe outside of thehupper, which pin serves to'prevent the'withdrawal of the loops L. `The fastening pin c, conveniently consists of a wire loop having one side approximately straight and adapted, as shown in Fig. 3, to constitute a bolt when passed through the ends of the loops Z), as aforesaid. The other side d, ofthe wire loop forms a spring bow the end e, of which makes contact with the aforesaid straight side o, and serves to preventthe accidental withdrawal of the hook from the loops b. The contacting end e, of the spring bow d, is bent outward as shown in F ig. 2 to enable the pin c to be forcibly passed through and withdrawn from the loops when required. By using the lace or fastening cord in the j form of an endless loop such as a, the same is prevented from being pulled right through vthe eyelets when the individual loops b, are

drawn through from one side of the boot to the other, with the result that when in use, the lace or cord holds one side of the upper closed by reason of its being endless f in form as shown at vthe left hand side of Fig.

`3) while the other side of the upper is held by the ends of the loops Z), being secured on the outside thereof by the fastening pin c, the individual loops b, extending from one side of the upper to the other and through 'the corresponding eyelets in each. Obviously, instead of using kthe fastening cord in the form of an endless loop such aspreviouslyrdescribed, it may be provided at each end with a button or some similar means or length, such loopsmay be formed 'by tyingV the fastening lace or cord around a block of the size required, or two or more fingers, pins or the like set to the lrequired distance apart. By forming all the endless loops on this block or other means, they may all-,be made the saine definite length. The block figures where or other means may be adjustable for making loops of the diiferent lengths which may be required.

The ends of thefastening lace or cord may be secured together to `form the endless loop otherwise than by tying if desirable, as for instance by means of a tag or clip or by some such auxiliary device.-

The device for performing the threading operation comprises a plurality of needles 1, 2, 3, (Fig. 1) each provided at its operative end with a hook el (Fig. 5) to receive the fastening cord. These needles are adapted for the upper to be passed thereon as will be described later.

According to a concrete form of the threading device, illustrated in Figs. t and 5 of the drawings, the needles 1, 2, 3, are mounted upon a block 5 adapted for attachment to a bench or other support such for instance as by the lugs G throughwhich suitable holding means may be passed. The

central needle 2 is clamped in a fixed block 7 by a screw 7a. Movable to and fro along guideways S in the block 5 are blocks 9 and 10-one on each side ofthe lixed block 7- these blocks carrying the needles 1 and 3 vrespectively which are clamped in position by screws 9a, and 10%V The movable blocks 9 and l0 are pressed toward the fixed block 7 by springs 11 and are simultaneously' adj ustable relatively to said fixed block to vary the-spacing between the three needles by means of aY transversely slidable wedge 12 which engages said movable needle blocks vand is moved between saine by a rotary screw 13. It will be understood that the springs 11 and wedge 12 coperate to efect o the beforenientioned adjustment of the needle blocks 9 and 10, that is to say the needle spacing is increased by an outward movement of the wedge 12 which moves the blocks 9 and 10 against the action of the springs 11, while the needle spacing is decreased by an inward movement of the wedge 12 the spring 11 pressing the blocks 9 and 10 against the sides of the wedge.

The wedge 12 is guided in its movements by the sides 14: of a guideway in the block 5, and also by a projection 15 on the block the wedge 12 being bifurcated centrally at 16 to embrace said projection. The blocks 9 and 10 and the wedge 12 `are prevented from upward displacement from their guideways in the block 5 by a corner plate 17 which is slotted at 18 and 19 forthe reduced pai'ts of the blocks 9 and 10 to project through and move along.

By means of the adjusting means just describedV the needles 1 and 3 kare adjusted equally in relation to the intermediate needle 2 but by means of screw threaded rods 20, 21, an unequal adjustment of the movable blocks 9, 10, may be elfected if desired, or

'by means oftheserods the inward relative movement of the blocks 9 and 10 may be restricted to give a desired minimum needle spacing. The rods Q0, 21, are screw threaded into the blocks 9 and 10, and are slidable through bearings 22 on the block 5.

In a variation of the constructional form shown, the movable needle carrying blocks 9, 10 may be formed to engage or be engaged by the coperating wedge 12 so that the latter will actuate the blocks in both directions thus eliminating the use of the before mentioned springs 11. One manner of effecting this may consist in providing undercut grooves in the slide or block which grooves are engaged by projections on the blocks or slide.

By increasing the number of movable needle carrying blocks and the number of inclined faces on the actuating slide a device such as that hereinbefore described may have more than three needles (for example it might have four or five) -these being adjustable in the manner set forth so that vthey may be spaced to suit the pitch of the eyelets in the upper. Vhen, as just mentioned, more than three needles are provided, the adjusting means are constructed to move the needles so that they always bear the same ratio.

In using the device the needles are adj usted so that their spacing corresponds with the spacing of the eyelets in the boot upper to be threaded. The eyelets in the sides of the upper which are to be threaded are placed upon the needles l, 2, 3 the coinciding or corresponding eyelets in the two sides of the upper being placed upon the same needles in the manner shown in Fig. 6. After the upper has been placed on the needles-the latter penetrating the eyeletsthe fastening loop a, is placed in the hooks t and then the upper is drawn o, whereupon each needle l, 2, 3 holds a loop b of the cord which loops consequently extend through the eyelets as shown in Fig. 7. The fastening pin 0 may be passed through the ends of the loops b either before or after the latter are removed from the hooks 4.

To facilitate the withdrawal of the eyelets from the threading needles, the hooks of the latter may have pivoted latches or guards (not shown) combined therewith which will close or guard the open hook and prevent the latter catching the eyelets. Such latches may or may not be spring controlled. e

Instead of the hooks at the ends of thread- Ving members other suitable means such as form a curved row instead of straight. This may be provided for in a convenient manner, for example -the needles may be inserted in different holes in the carrying blocks, or the latter may be capable of adjustment by screwing, or bent or cranked needles may be used.

Instead of the locking pin heretofore described, a pin or bolt having a head at one end might be used, the said bolt or pin having combined therewith a cord or an expansible opposite end or some device for attachment to its opposite end to prevent its withdrawal from the loops through which it passes.

What I claim then is 1. The herein described method of fastening the two sides of a boot or shoe upper, which consists in forming an endless loop of flexible cord, doubling the same at intervals into shorter loops, passing the latter through the coinciding eyelets on opposite sides of the upper, and inserting a wire fastening pin through the protruding ends of said short loops, substantially as described.

2. The herein described method of fastening the two sides of a boot or shoe upper, which consists in the forming of a length of flexible cord into an endless loop, forming in the loop a plurality of shorter loops, drawing the shorter loops through the coinciding Y GE ORGE LEWIS.

Witnesses:

E. N. LEWIS, GEORGE LESTER.

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

Washington, D. C. f

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