US1295332A - Last. - Google Patents

Description

i DEER.

LAST.

APPLICATION FILED APR. H3. 1918.

Patented INVENTOR "ATYORNEY FRANK H. KOBEB, 0F MEBRICK, YORK.

LAST.

Specification otLetters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

Application filed April 16, 1918. Serial No. 228,864.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, FRANK H. Konnn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Merrick, in the county of Nassau and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lasts, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to the shaper or former upon which the foot portion of a boot or shoe is fashioned, and it has particular reference to lasts'that are made of wood, which are liable to split, chip or break through usage.

In the manufacture and repair of shoes, wooden lasts are usually employed because of certain advantages, as lower cost and .the comparative ease with which they can be produced in all of the forms, dimensions and quantities required to put out a complete stock of footgear for adults and children.

It is difficult, however, to provide a last made of wood that can be used continuously throughout the various stages of shoe manufacture and overhauling, including the hoeling operation, and yet be capable of re sisting the repeated blows and pressure to which it is ordinarily subjected, at least for any considerable period of time.

Moreover, in certain stages in the process of manufacture, as ordinarily'practised, the shoemaker places the last upon a shoe-jack, which has an upwardly extending retaining member or spindle at one endand a cushion at the other end. The last is inverted, so that the leather temporarily incasing the toe thereof will rest upon the cushion of the j ack, while the retaining member or spindle on the latter engages a socket bored into the last to point intermediate the surface and the heel. The shoe-jack, with thelast thereon, holds the work in convenient position for stitching or pegging, and receiving the lifts that compose the heel as they are assembled, affixed and trimmed. The leather is frequently beaten or compressed, incidentally to the performance of these several operations, and the last covered thereby receives all the. impact or pressure, while it rests or is swung upon the spindle of the shoe-jack.

The more or less violent stresses thus imposed upon the last produce fissures therein, which are soon followed by partial disintegration if not complete fracture, with the result that the last is either rendered useless or becomes so impaired that it can no longer turn out satisfactory work, and consequently it is cast aside. Myriads of wooden lasts ruined in this manner are discarded annually, entailing heavy loss.

Objects of the invention, therefore, are to provide a last which will be very durable, thus obviating the said loss, and at the same time economical and highly eflicient in construction and operation.

To protect the last as much as was considered feasible, the prior art provided a metallic lining or thimble large enough to insure a tight fit within the socket thereof, and intended to absorb the thrust of the re taining member upon which the last was carried, as the work on the lastwas being beaten and compressed. This retaining member was in the form of a jack-pin, while the last carried the shoe through various parts of the machinery for certain of the operations in the making: of the shoes, and consisted of a spindle, while the last was carried upon the shoe-jack. This gave some measure of protection, but at best it was a mere palliative' for the defect to be cured. Another do feet .of the art was that the varying sizes of lasts required spindles of different lengths, and as the spindles were not always changed they often would be either too short or too long, with consequent bad results to .the last, due particularly to the hard usage of the'last by the various machines in the passage of the last therethrough in the various operations and to the pounding thereon at the hands of the shoemaker.

In the improved last of this invention, the customary socket is resorted to, though it is bored somewhat deeper than usual, in order to accommodate the longest spindles. The metal lining for the socket is also practically all retained, but it is made in two parts, consisting respectively of an internal thimble lodged in the bottom of the said socket. and of a tube spaced away from this thimble and terminating at the orifice of the:

socket in what is known as the comb portion of the last. An impact absorber is located partly inside the thimbleand partly in the space left between it and the tube, the outer portion of the said absorber projecting out wardly a sufficient distance to be reached by the shortest jack-pin or spindle ordinarily provided. The functions severally discharged by these novel elements will hereinafter be explained.

A convenient embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawing hereto an nexcd, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, representing a last provided with the improved protector, in inverted position, ready to engage a jack-pin or the spindle of av shoe-jack;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the protector, detached from the last,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view, showing the heel portion of the last, with the protector therein engaged by the said spindle and Fig. 4: is a side view of the last alone, the protector therein appearing partly in section and partly in elevation.

In carrying out the invention, and in the preferred embodiment thereof, a wooden last, as 11, is bored transversely to the surface of its heel portion to form a socket 12, which preferably is made to extend inwardly from the said surface to a point approachin the sole or under part of the heel. The socket is of suilicient depth or length to pro vide for the reception of the longest jaclepin or spindle, as the spindle 15 used on the shoe-jack 16. The latter, as shown in Fig. 1, has a cushion 17, uponwhich thetoe of the last, with the leather thereon, is brougnt to bear, while the socket embraces the spindle.

A two-part lining is introduced in the socket 12, to which it is applied with a force fit, that it may closely adhere to the inner walls thereof and fully protect the Wood of the last against abrasion by contact with. the

' retaining member, as the spindle 15. Preferably and as shown, this lining is composed of a relatively short thimble 21. and a longer tube 22, spaced endwise therefrom so as to leave vacant or uncovered a certain section of the socket, which affords a clearance for a purpose presently to be mentioned. Both the thimble and the tube may be made of steel, or other hard-tempered metal.

Vithin the thimble 21 is placed a helical spring 25, removably confined therein at the innermost extremity of the socket 12, as clearly indicated in Figs. 1, 3 and 4. This spring is in constant engagement with, and adapted to be compressed by, a piston or plunger 26, formed with a head 27, arranged to have a sliding reciprocatory movement in the vacant space above referred to as intervening and presenting a clearance between the thimble and the tube in the length of the socket. The piston 26 has substantially the same transverse diameter as the spring 25, upon the coils of which it rests squarely so as v to be normally repelled thereby, to the extcnt that its head 27 will be pressed outwardly against the inner end of the tube 22.

Cu the side remote from the head 27, the

piston has a reduced portion 28 projecting any desired distance axially in the center of the spring and serving to maintain the spring in proper alinement.

ton. The clearance provided in the socket for the piston-head, of course, is made of su'l'licient extent to allow of a proper move ment. The compressed spring automatically operates to repel the piston, as the pounding on the work ceases or the pressure thereto applied is relieved. There is no jar, shock or rough motion directly affecting the last, inasmuch it is shielded exteriorly by the shoe leather manipulated thereon, and protected interiorly by the spring and piston offering a yielding-resistance to the internal advance of the retaining member, as the jack-pin or shoe-jack spindle. The life of the last is, therefore, very much prolonged. The combined spring and piston, it will be noted, constitute the impact-absorber hereinefore alluded to as positioned intermediately of the thimble and tube that form the two-part lining for in! pin or spindle socket.

In its broader aspects the invention is not limited to the precise mode of construction shown and described, nor to any particular construction by which the same may be car ried into effect, as many changes may be made in the details thereof Without departing from the main principles of the invention or sacrificing its chief advantages.

I claim:

1. The combination with a shoe-last having a socket arranged to receive a retaining member, of a resilient impact-absorber located in said socket directly in the path of said retaining member.

2. The combination with a Wooden last having a socket therein and a metal lining in said socket adapted for the reception of a retaining member, of a resilientimpact-absorber interposed between theend-of said retaining member and said lining.

3. The combination with a last having a socket approaching the sole or under portion of the heel so as to permit insertion therein of a retaining member of commensurate length, of an impact-absorber positioned in the path of said retaining member, and a container for said impact-absorber located llzetpieen it and said under portion of the 4. The combination with a last having a socket therein adapted to receive a retaining member, of a helical spring extending ont- 'wardly from the bottom of said socket in line with said retaining member so as to be compressed thereby.

The combination with a Wooden last having a metal-lined socket therein adapted for reception of a retaining member, of a resilient member arranged to take up the impact of the latter within the lining of said socket.

The combination with a last having a socket for insertion of a retaining member therein, of a thimble in said socket,- and a resilient element in said thimble positioned to offer a yielding resistance to the advance of said. retaining member.

7. The combination with a last having a socket permitting insertion of a retaining member, of a resilient element lodged in the bottom part'of said socket, and a tubular lining in the latter leading said retaining member toward said element.

8, The combination with a last having a socket therein for the insertion of a retaining member, of a thimble in the bottom of said socket, a resilient element in saio thimble, and a tube extending from the latter to the oriiicc of the so ket in position to receive said retaining member.

5). The combination with a last having. a.

socket therein for the insertion of a retain in; member, oi; a resilient element located placed in the bottom partof said socket, A

container Ior said element, and a press member arranged to receive the ini said retaining inen'iber and transmit it so the element Within said container,

11. The combination with a last inn socket providing for insertion theiuin 1 retaining member, of a resilient element in. the bottom part of said socket, a thinibio holding said element means for compres ing the latter, and a tube in the outer part of the socketleading said retaining member to said compressing means.

12. The combination. with a last having; socket to receive a retaining member, of resilient element located at the inner end of said socket, a container for said element, a tube leading from the orifice of the socket toward said container, and a compressor for the element arranged for reciprocation in clearance between the container and the end of said retaining member.

In testimony whereof I have aii'ixed my signature hereto.

FRANK H. KQBER

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