US1360277A - Process of making shoes - Google Patents

Description

K. ENGEL.

PROCESS OF MAKING SHOES. APPLICATION FILED mmzz. 19.16.. RENEWED APR. 14. 1920.

'1 ,36o 277, Patented Nov. 30, 1920.

3. SHEETSr-SHEET K. ENGEL. PROCESS OF MAKING SHOES. FILED MAR. 22; I916. RENEWED AP APPLICATION v R. I4, 1920- 1,360,277. Patented Nov. 30, 1920.

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K. ENGEL.

PROCESS OF MAKING SHOES. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22, 1916'. RENEWED APR. 14, 1920.

1,360,277. Patented Nov. 30,1920

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED. STATES KARLENGEL, OF ARLING'IFJN HEIGH'ls. MASSAGHUSET'IE, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TD

Slltllll MACE-KNEE? CJURPORATION, OF PATERSON,

NEW JERSEY, A CORPURATIUN Oh lll'EW' JERSEY.

'PROGESS OF MAKING- SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 22, 1916. Serial No. 85.807. Renewed April 14, 1920. Serial No. 373,931..

To all whom it only concern: r

Be it known that I, KARL lflrzrnzn, a citizen oi the United @tates residing at Arlington lil e'ghts, in the county of lllliddlesex and State of lllassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful lmprorenients in Processes of Making bllu es; end I do hereby declare the following be a full, clear, and ez-nzct description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a process of making shoes and more particularly to a process of male. 1g welted and turned shoes. in the present commercial process oi; making welted and turned shoes alter the upper and insole or single sole have been" prepared for assembling and have been assembled upon a last the uuper is asted or stretcl'ied li about t e last so as to cause it to co.. 11in substantially to the shape oi the last at all points by gripping the lower marginal portion of l'heupper and drawing itwith considerable force over the nrtrgir ll portion o? the sole and the upper is then secured in o.;..ion at its margin by temporary fasteners. The lasting 0 ration performed by hand or by roach... L especially con iructed for this purpose. In this process o making shoes the upper is cut so s. to provide a considerable surplus oil material at its lower margin which is essential in order to enable the lasting grippers to secure a llrin grip on the upper during the lasting operation; This surplus or excess in the material of the upper which projects beyond the inseam alter the inseam sewn is trinfnned oil in the inseam trimming operation. Upper leather is expensive and the surplus material in the upper which is trimmed oil and wasted adds considerable to the expense of the shoe.

llne object of the present invention is t' provide a process of making welted and turn shoes by which such shoes in every respect as good as those Inadein accordancewith the present commercial process. may be nianul actrwed with considerable saving ol inalring welted and .uiercial process may to a large extent be eliminated.

lVith these and other objects in view the invention consists in the process hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings are illustrated the parts of a welted shoe at dilterent stages in the manufacture or? the shoe in accordance with applicants process, but it is to be understood that the invention broadly considered is applicable to the man ufacture of other types of shoes and that except as defined in the claims the invention is not limited in its application to making any particular type of shoe.

In the drawings Figures 1 and 2 plan views showing the insole and upper before they are assembled and belore the upper is inolded; F 1g. 3 1s a perspective VIEW, partly .111 section, ol the insole and upper assembled ready to be sewn showing the manner in which the upper is molded prior to plaicing the insole in position; Fig. at is a detail plan view of the toe portions of the upper and insole when assembled as in-liig. 3; Fig. 5 is a perspective View, partly in section, illustrating the shoe after the inseam is sewn; Fig. 6 is a View illustrating the manner in which the welt and the feather of the insole are beaten out before the outsole laid; Fig. 7 is. a central longitudinal. sectional view illustrating the shoe after-the outsole-has been laid and sewn to the welt; Fig. 8 is a perspective View illustrating the manner in which the shoe is stretched prior to the insertionol a complete last; and Fig. 9 is a perspective View illustrating the lin ished shoe with the complete last inserted.

In preparing the upper of the shoe for attaching it to the insole in accordance with applicants process, the upper, indicated at 1, is cut substantially to the size which it is to have in the finished shoe, neglecting the stretching or lasting to which the upper is subjected alter the insole, indicated at 2, and the upper are attached together at their marginal portions by permanent lasteningggs.

Before the upper and insole are assembled the toe portion of the upper and preferably the heel. portion also areniolded into shape as illustrated in Fig. 3. In the upper 1nolding operation the toe portion of the upper above theline along which the stitches or Patented Nov. Sill. illlfilll,

other fastenings are to be inserted to attach the upper to the insole is molded and stretched so as to give it substantially the shape of the last and the marginal portion of the'upper at the tee is formed in plaits 0r folds substantially as in the lasting operation of the ordinary process of manufacture of welted and turned shoes. is will be noted from an inspection of Fig. 3, the upper is molded inwardly at 3 so that it will lie properly over the, margin of the insole and is turned outwardly at a, thereby forming a convexed shoulder 5 for engagement with the shoulder at the outer margin of the between-substance of the sole and a crease 6 in which the margin of the welt. indicated at 7, Fig. 5, is laid in attaching the welt and upper to the insole. This melding of the upper amounts in effect to a preliminary lasting operation in which the toe of the'unlasted upper is molded substantially into the shape of the toe of the upper of a lasted shoe. The heel of the upper is molded as shown in Fig. 3 with the lower marginal portion of the upper shaped at an angle to the upper portion thereof so that it will lie over the heel of the insole. T he toe of the upper is molded after the toe box 8, if such is used, has been inserted between the lining 9 andthe upper leather and the upper, toe

box and lining are all molded together into portion thereof, size or cement is to shape to a certain degree these parts 0' the shape shown in the drawings. in order to cause the upper to hold its shape afte having been molded and especially to retain the folds or plaits formed in the marginal inserted preferably between the toe box and the up per leather and the forms by which the up per is molded are heated so that the upper after being removed from the forms sets in the position in which it is molded This molding of the upper is an impoi it feature of applicants process since it shapes the marginalportion of the upper so that it will fit'properly about the toe of the insole when the ,upper'anc insole are assembled and so that it will conform accurately to the last when the last is inserted.

At the same time that the toe and heel portions of the upper are molded or as. an intermediate step between the upper molding operation and the sewing of the upper to the insole. the parts of the upper which arrnot shaped by the toe and heel molding op erations may be stretched to take more or less of the stretch out of the upper, to bring; the upper more nearly to its proper size the upper.

The insole employed may be constructed in accordance with any one ofseveral wellknown types. The insole shown in the drawing is provided with a channel lip 10 which is formed by an oblique cut extending about the marginal portion of the insole and has the outer portion of its margin cut away in a plane parallel with the plane of the insole forming a shoulder 11. and a thin lexible portion 12 at the outer edge of the insole which is ordinarily termed the feather.

In assembling the upper and insole the iiisole is placed inside the upper with the heel of the insole beneath the inwardly molded portion of the upper at the heel and the heel of the upper is preferably attached to the heel of the insole by a tack 13 or other fastener. When the insole and upper are thus assembled they are ready to be attached together by stitches passing through the belween substance of the insole and the margin of the upper. The stitching together of the upper and insole is performed with the upper in an unlasted condition, or with out the placing of a last on other supporting form within the upper to support either the. upper or the insole. In the operation of sewing the upper to the insole the lower margin of the upper is placed over the margin of the insole and the edge of the upper is preferably gaged so that it projects a substantia ly uniform distance beyond the base of the shoulder of the between substance or beyond the stitch line such that practically no excess or surplus material of the upper is left projecting beyond the inseam after the seam is sewn. The sewing of the upper to the insole in this manner together with the welt may be performed upon a. machine constructed as illustrated and described in the application of Frederic Bertrand, Serial No. 861,215. filed September 11, 1914-, or upon any other suitably constructed machine, or it may be perormed by hand. The upper is preferably not attached to the insole completely around the insole by the inseam. but is left unaltached along the heel of the insole, or at least along a portion of the heel. lVhcu thc inseam has been sewn the unattached portion of the upper is drawn taut over the heel of the insole and is attached thereto preferably by a series of tacks. This manner of attaching the upper to the insole enables the upper, if its lower margin happens to be too large to fit accurately the margin of the insole. to be attached to the insole without producing folds or puckcrs in the margin of the upper which will be yisible in the finished shoe.

If for any reason. such as the inaccurate guiding or gaging of the upper during the sewing operation. there is any surplus upper material projecting beyond the inseam after the upper, welt and insole are sewn to gether. this surplus is trimmed oil preferably directly after the inseam is sewn. This trimming operation may be performed upon a disk knife skiving machine or other suitable trimming. machine, or the upper may be trimmed off by means of a hand knife.

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macaw? In actual practice it has been found that when the parts of the shoe are prepared,

assembled and sewn together in accordance with the present process of manufacture, it is unnecessary to trim off the upper except in a very small number of shoes.

Then the upper, welt and insole are sewn together without a last or othersupporting form within the upper, the marginal portion or feather of the insole projecting beyond the between substance is ordinarily bent to a considerable degree out of the plane of the body of the insole during the sewing operation. In a welted shoe the feather gives the proper bulge or overhang to the upper just above the line of the inseam and determines to a great degree the shape of the shoe and when the feather is bent unduly away from the plane Oftll body of the insole, itallows the'upper to draw away from the welt, thus giving the shoe an irregular and unfinished appearance. In applicants process of manufacture of Welted shoes, after the inseam is sewnthe welt is beaten out flat in substantially the same manner as in the ordinary process of manufacture of such shoes, and the feather of the insole is also bent back into the place ofthe insole and setin position by subjecting the margin of the insole to a beating operation similar to that performed on the welt.

In the operation of beating out the welt and the feather as preferably performed a support such as that indicated at 14, Fig. 6,

L is inserted in the shoe in positionto engage the inner face of the margin of theinsole and support thefeather in the plane of the body of the insole and the welt of the shoe is placed upon a suitable support such as indicated at 15, the welt support being shaped to enter the crease between the upper and the welt and located with its upper surface substantially parallel with the upper surface of the feather support 14. The feather and the welt while supported substantially in the plane of the body of the insole respectively by the feather support and the welt support are beaten out in one operation by theblows delivered by a hammer such as that indicated at 16. The hammer is rapidly reciprocated in a direction substantially perpendicular to the upper surfaces of the feather and welt supports.

The hammer is arranged to extend over the welt across the insteam and over the-marginal portion of the insole so that it acts to beat out and set the welt and the feather of the insole in substantially the plane of the body of the insole and also to beat the pro jecting edges of the welt and upper down into substantially the plane of the outer face of the insole.

The beating out of the welt and feather reduces the shoe to the proper condition for the laying of the outsole. In order to supas in the commercial process.

and upper are attached to the insole.

port the insole during the sole-laying opera tion the bottom of a divided last such as that shown-at 17, Fig. 7, is inserted in the shoe. The .outsole may be laid in applicants process in substantially the same manner as in the commercial process of making welted shoes. In preparing theoutsole it is preferably cut substantially to its final outline or substantially to the shape and size it is to have in the finished shoe, before it is applied to the shoe. In the ordinary process of male ing welted shoes it is practically impossible to cut the outsole to its final outline before it is laid. It is obviously essential to the correct appearance of the shoe that the outsole after it is applied to the shoe project the proper distance beyond the inseam at all points. In the operation of sewing together the WGlt,- upper and insole as performed in the regular commercial process of manufac ture of welted shoes, the operator exerts a comparatively heavy strain or pull upon the shoe against the channel guide. Considerable strain also isexerted upon the between substance by the stitches themselves as they are drawntaut to drawthe upper and between substance tightly together. The stock of the insole is then in a tempered condition and is easily stretched out of shape,

and the result isthat during the sewing operation the between substance of the insole is pulled out of its natural or proper position. and that the marginal portion of the illsole is stretched out of its proper shape at certain points. This stretching of the material of theinsole and displacement of the position of the inseam is never the same in any two shoes of the same size and style, so

that it is obviously impossible to cutythe outsole so that when it is applied to theshoe it will project the proper distance beyond the inseam at all points in its marginal portion. In applicants process of making welted shoes the welt, upper and between substance of the insole are drawn together by the stitches against. practically no. resistance whatever, and there is no pull or strain exerted upon the parts of the shoe against the channel guideand consequently substantially no outward stretching force exertedby the channel guide upon the between substance The marginal portion of the insole, therefore, is not stretched out of shape or the between substance displaced at any point during the sewing operation, so that the inseam occupies its natural and proper position after the welt For this reason, the outsole may be cut to its final outline before it is applied to the shoe, there by enabling the rough-rounding operation to be eliminated.

Outsoles out inblock form may be employed, and in that event after the .outsole is laid upon the lasted. shoe bottom-the outsole is rough-rounded, preferably by pre senting the shoe to a suitablerough-rounding machine. In this operation the marginal portion of the sole is trimmed off at the proper distance from the inseam.

The shoe is then ready for the stitching of the outsole of the welt. The outsole stitching operation does not differ from'the outsole stitching operation in the regular process of making welt shoes, and may be performed upon any suitable stitching machine for stitching outsoles.

After the upper has been attached at its lower margin to the insole and preferably after the outsole is stitched to the welt, the upper is subjected to a stretching operation to take the stretch out of the upper and to give the'upper its proper shape and size, and a la-stis then inserted in the shoe to hold the upper in shape. The stretching operation may be performed at any convenient stage in the manufacture of the shoe after the upper is attached to the insole butis preferably deferred until after the outsole is attached, since the insole is then much less liable to be stretched-and the inseam displaced or and the upper is stretched by moving these blocks relatively in opposite directions from thecentral portion of the shoe bottom outwardly. In Fig. 8 the shoe is shown with a heel form 18 shaped to fit the inside of the shoe at the heel located Within the heel of the shoe and with two forms 19 and 20 pivoted together at 21 and having substantially the shape of the interior of the forepart of the shoe located within the forepar; of the "shoe. Nith stretching forms such as these applied to the inside of the shoe the upper may be stretched by relatively moving the heel form 18 and the two forepart forms away from each other in a direction lengthwise of the shoe and at the same time swinging the forepart forms 19 and 20 outwardly on thepivot 21. In this way the upper is stretched longitudinally of theshoe for substantially the whole length of the shoe and the forward portion of the upper is stretched laterally to a progressively increasing extent from the toe toward the ball. This manner of stretching the upper has certain marked as usually performed in the commercial process of making shoes, the upper is often over-stretched and sometimes torn at the separated points at which the lasting pincers or grippers are applied, while at intermediate points the upper is not sufficiently and properly stretched. Furthermore, in this operation the upper is drawn by the grippers over the bottom. of the last. with the result that the upper is stretched chiefly between the last bottom and the grippers, and coinparatively little so tchiug strain is given to the upper above the last bottom. 1n the upper-stretching operation as performed in accordance with the present process of manufacture, substant by the whole o f the upper is subjected to a tching force from within while its lower margin is secured to the shoe bottom by the QXj'HlDSiOH or relative movement of the stretching forms with the result that the upper is subjected to the required stretching strain at substantially all points to give it the proper shape and size.

Sifter the upper has been properly stretched a complete last is inserted in the shoe. In order to facilitate the insertion of the last which shouldfit tightly in the shoe. the last is divideo as shown along the curved line y, Fig. 7, forming a bottom portion 11' shown in section in Fig. 7, and an upper forward portion 22. The bottom portion 17 is arranged to it over the whole interior of the shoe bottom and to fill the heel of the shoe. Before the last is inserted in the shoe the parts of the last are separated and the bottom portion is first located within the shoe as shown in Fig. 'i'. The insole is preferably out to the exact size of the bottom o f the last so that when the bottom portion placed within the shoe the marginal portion of the upper at its junction with the edge of the insole hugs tightly to the bottom of the last. The manner in which the last divided gives the upper forward portion 22 of the last which is adapted to iit the upper portion of the forepart of the shoe, a tapered cross-section, increasing from the forward end thereof rearwardly. This shape of the portion 22 of the last enables it to be easily driven into place in the shoe after the bottom portion 17 has been inserted.

lVhen the complete last has been inserted in the shoe, the shoe may be finished in substantially the same manner as in the ordinary commercial process of manufacture of welted shoes.

In cutting the upper of the shoe SllliEiLilll' tially to the size which it is to have. in the finished shoe, and sewing it to the sole in such a manner that no surplus material of the upper is left projecting beyond the inseam, the upper stool: which is trimmed off in the upper trimming and inseam trimming operations of the commercial process is.

commercial process of manufacture of welted and turn shoes, the upper and sole remain upon the last from the time when they are first assembled until the shoe is finished, while in applicants process the last is .not inserted until after the sewing of the inseam. Since the shoe remains on the last a much shorter time in applicante process than in the commercial p1 ocess, the number of lasts which are required in a shoe factory in which shoes are made by applicants proc one is much less than the number required in a factory in which the commercial process is followed. Applicantls process of manufacture of welted and turned shoes also reduces considerably the amount of labor required in the making of the shoe which results in a further reduction in the cost of manufacture.

In the present process applicant eliminates the pulling over and the lasting operations, the tack driving operation, the tack pulling and resetting operation, and ordinarily the inseam trimming and rough-rounding opera tions. The only operations included in this process which do not form a part of the regular commercal process are the upper molding and stretching operation, the upper stretching operation performed after the upper and insole are attached and the inser tion of the last in the shoe, which obviously require much less labor and time than the operations which are eliminated. Welted and turned shoes made in accordance with this process have substantially the same construction and are in all respects as good as the shoes made by the commercial process, and the shoes may be manufactured at a greatly reduced cost due to the reduction in the amount of stock, the number of lasts and the amount of labor required.

It is to be understood that the. term up per is employed in its genericsense in the claims and mayinclude the usual parts such as upper leather, lining and toe and heelstiflt'eners. i

It is also to be understood that the term unlasted as employed in the claims signifies that the parts are not applied to a last and does not indicate that the parts have received. no preliminary stretching or shaping. H

Having explained the nature and object of the invention and having specifically described the preferred embodiment thereof,

what is claimed is:

1. The process of making shoes which consists in preparingan insole having a lip and a marginal portlon or feather pro ecting beyond the lip, placing the marginal portion of an upper over the outer face of the marginal portion of an insole and at taching the upper and a welt to the between substance ofthe insole in an unlasted condition, beating out the feather of the insole and the welt'to cause them to lie substantially in the plane of the body of the insole and attaching an outsole to the welt.

2. The process of making shoes which consists in attaching an upper and a welt to an insole in an unlasted condition, attaching an outsole to the welt and stretch ing the upper after the outsole is applied.

3. The process ofmaking shoes which consists in attaching an upper and a welt to an insole in an unlastedcondition, cutting an outsole substantially to its final outlines, attaching the outsole to the welt and stretch ing the upper after the outsole is applied.

l. The process of making shoes which consists in attaching an upper and a welt to an insole in an unlasted condition, inserting a last bottom in the attached upper and insole, cutting an outsole substantially to its final outline, laying the outsole, attaching 'the outsole to the welt and stretching the upper after the outsole is applied.

5. The process of making shoes which. con sists in molding an upper to give it sub stantially the shape of a lasted shoe upper, attaching the upper and a welt to an insole in an unlasted condition, attaching an outsole to the welt and stretching the upper after the outsole is applied.

6. ,The process of making shoes which con sists in cutting an upper substantially to the size it is to have in the finished shoe, molding the upper to give it substantially the shape of a lasted shoe upper, attaching an upper and a welt to the insole in an un lasted condition, beating out thefeather of the insole and the welt to cause them to lie substantially in the plane of the body of the insole, attaching an outsole to the welt and stretching the upper after the out sole is applied. y p

7. The process of making shoes which consists in stretching an upperzbefore it .is attached to a sole, then attaching the upper to a sole inan unlasted condition, again stretching the upper after the upper and sole are attached, and thereafter inserting a last in the attached. upper and sole.

8. The process of making shoesiwhich con sists in attaching an upper to a sole in an 'unlasted condition, then stretching the upper before the upper and sole are applied to a last andthereafter insertinga lastinlthe attached upper and sole. p p

9. The process of making'shoes which con sists in molding into permanent shape the marginal portion of an upper at one or more points, and stretching the upper atother points, then attaching the upper to a sole in an unlasted condition, and thereafter inserting a last in the attached upper and sole.

10. The process of making shoes which consists in attaching a welt and an upper to an insole in an unlasted condition, cutting an outsole substantially to its final outlines, and attaching the outsole to the welt.

11. The process of making shoes which consists in attaching a welt and an upper to an insole in an unlasted condition, cutting an outsole substantially to its final outlines, attaching the outsole to the welt and stretching the upper. 7

12. The process of making shoes which 7 consists in cutting'an upper substantially to the size it is to have in the finished'shoe, attaching a welt and the upper to an insole in an unlasted condition, attaching an outsole to the welt, and stretching the upper.

13, The process of making shoes which consists in cutting an upper substantially to the size it is to have in the finished shoe, molding the upper at one or more points, attaching the upper and a welt to an insole in an unlasted condition, beating out the welt and'the feather of the insole, attaching an outsole'to the welt and stretching the upper. r

14. The process of making shoes which consists in stretching the upper before it is attached to a sole, attaching the upper to the sole in an unlasted condition, and again stretching the upper after the upper and sole are attached together and before they are applied to a last.

15. The process of making shoes which consists in molding into permanent shape the marginal portion of an upper at one or more points, and stretching the upper at other points before it is attached to a sole, and attaching the upper to the sole in an unlasted condition.

16. The process of making shoes which consists in attaching an upper to a sole in an unlasted condition and beating out the marginal portion of the sole while the upper and sole are unlasted.

17. The process of making shoes which consists in attaching an upper to a sole in an unlasted condition, and thereafter beating out'the marginal portion of the sole to cause it to lie substantially in the plane of the body of the sole.

18. The process of making shoes which 7 consists in attaching a welt and upper to an insole in an unlasted condition, and thereafter beating out the welt and the feather of the insole while the shoe is unlasted.

19. The process of making shoes which comprises molding an upper at one or more points to substantially its final shape and with inturned flanges to overlie the outer face of the margin of a sole, stretching the upper at other points before at least the greater part of its margin is attacheil to the sole, and thereafter inserting a line of fastenings to attach the greater part of the margin of the upper permanently and curely to the sole.

21. The process of making shoes whirl:

comprises assembling an upper and a sole,

and, with the parts in unlasted condition. attaching at least the greater part of the margin of the upper to the sole in permanent and final position with relation to the sole while leaving a portion of the upper unattached to the sole at the heel, and thereafter folding the unattached portion of the upper at the heel over the outer face of the sole and securing the same in position.

22. The process of making shoes which comprises cutting an upper substantially to the size it is to have in the finished. shoe. assembling the upper and a sole, and, with the parts in an unlasted condition, attaching at least the greater part of the margin of the upper to the sole in pcrmanent and final position with relation to the sole while leaving a portion of the upper unattached to the sole at the heel, and thereafter folding the unattached portion of the upper at the heel over the outer face of the sole and securing the same in position.

23. The process of making shoes which comprises assembling an upper and a sole having a sewing rib and a marginal portion projecting beyond the rib. and, with the parts in an unlasted condition, inserting a line of fastenings to attach in per manent and final position at least the greater part of the margin of the upper to the rib of the sole while leaving a portion of the upper unattached to the sole at the heel, and thereafter folding the unattached portion of the upper at the heel over the outer face of the sole and fastening the same securely in position.

1 KARL ENGEL.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent N 01 1,360,277, granted November 30,

1920, upon the application of Karl Engel, of Arlington Heights, Massachusetts,

for an improvement in Processes of Making Shoes, errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 84:, for the Word on read or, page 3, line 28, for the Word place read plane; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent ()flice.

Signed and sealed this 4th day of January, A. 1)., 1921.

L. B. MANN,

[SEAL] p Acting Oomnnz'ssiomr of Patents.

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