US1968785A - Shoe holding device for bootblack stands - Google Patents

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July 31, 1934. F. T. RICHARDSON 1,968,785

SHOE HOLDING DEVICE FOR BOOTBLACK STANDS Filed 001;. 1a, 1953" 5 d QLZ A@$.

Patented July 31, 1934 1,968,785 SHOE HOLDING DEVICE FOR BOOTBLAGK STANDS Frederick T. Richardson, DesMoines, Iowa, assignor'to "H, B. Brock, Des MoinesJ'owa Application October 16, 1933, Serial No. 693,772

3 Claims. (CI. -26?) The object of my invention is to provide a shoe holder for bootblack stands of simple, durable and inexpensive construction, and so constructed that it maybe readily, quickly and easily applied 5 to and held permanently in position upon the heel portion of a bootblack stand, and may be adiiusted to fit stands of various sizes and shapes;

Further it is my object to provide a device of m this character which may be readily and easily moved by a bootblack to position for yieldingly engaging the sole portion of a shoe upon the stand, and when thus engaged will yieldingly hold the shoe against upward movement, and yield- [5 ingly hold it against lateral movement.

More specifically it is my object to provide a device of this character in which the shoe holding arms may be readily and easily spread laterally by the bootblack and swung upwardly and downwardly by the bootblack so that they may be readily fitted to shoes of all ordinary widths and lengths. In other words, one that is adapted to be instantly fitted to shoes of all ordinary sizes.

5 1 A further object is to providea device of this character which will not interfere with the ordinary operations of the bootblack in shining shoes, either with a brush or a cloth. I

My invention consists in the construction, ar-

39 rangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

5 Y Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a portion of a bootblack stand with my improvement applied thereto and in position holding a shoe ready to be shined.

Figure 2 shows a vertical, longitudinal, sectional view of my shoe holder; and

Figure 3 shows an inverted plan View of my device.

Referring to the accompanying drawing I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate gener- Ially the part of my device intended for clamping to a bootblack stand. The bootblack stand is indicated generally by the numeral 11. This clamping portion 10 is preferably made of sheet metal adapted to fit over the top of the heel portion of a bootblack stand, and is provided at its forward end with downwardly extended lugs 12 through which a bolt 13 may be passed under the heel portion of the stand for firmly fixing the device to a bootblack stand. 5 At the rear of the attaching member 10 are two downwardly extended lugs 14. These lugs 14 are for pivotally supporting a body portion 15, which has upwardly extended lugs 16 to co-operate with the lugs 14, and a'piv'ot bar 17 isextended through the lugs 14 and 16, thus pivotally supporting the body member 15 to the supporting member 10, and

for permitting the said body portion 15 to swing upwardly and downwardly. i

For yieldingly holding the body portion 15 at 7 its downward limit of movement, I have provided 6%" a spring 18 fixed at one end to the under surface of the supporting member 10, and then curved downwardly and forwardly over the forward end of the body 15.

The shoe clamping arms, of which there are 76 two, indicated by the numeral 19, are pivoted to-- gether and crossed immediately above the forward end of the body, 15, to which they are connected by means of a rivet 20 extending through a slot 21 in said body portion. These arms ex- 75" tend forwardly under the bootblack stand to a point near the forward end of the bootblack stand, and each has at its forward end an up- Wardly extended shoe engaging finger 22, having at its upper end a depression 23 to grip over the 5 sole of a shoe. At their rear ends, the shoe gripping arms 19 are provided with pins 24 which extend downwardly through arcuate slots 25 in the body 15, and this pin and slot arrangement provides means by which the outward and inward movement of the shoe clamping arms 19 is equalized, so that each extends the same distance laterally from the center of the bootblack stand to which the device is applied.

For the purpose of yieldingly holding the shoe gripping arms inwardly toward each other, I have provided a spring 26 attached to the pins 24 tending to move said pins to the inner ends of the slots 25.

In practical use it is obvious that the device 3 may be readily, quickly and easily fixed to any ordinary bootblack stand by simply adjusting the bolt 13 to bring the lugs 12 into engagement with the side edges of-the bootblack stand. When a customer places his shoe upon the stand, the bootblack grasps the clamping arms 17 and separates them against the yielding pressure and also holds them upwardly against the yielding pressure, and guides them to position where the flanges 23 of the shoe gripping fingers 22 engage just over the top of the shoe sole. He then releases the shoe gripping arms, and obviously the customers shoe is yieldingly held downwardly against the shoe stand, and also against lateral movement, and the customer then need pay no &

attention to the problem of holding his shoe firmly centered above the bootblack stand.

One of the desirable features of my invention is that the shoe gripping arms and all the rest of the apparatus is so positioned that it will not in any Way interfere with the normal operation of the shoe shining, except for that small portion of the sole which is covered by the shoe gripping fingers, and when the shoe has been completely shined, the bootblack then removes the gripping fingers from the shoe and completes the operation of applying blacking to that part of the sole covered by the shoe gripping fingers.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a shoe clamp for bootblacl: stands, the combination of a body portion, means for pivotally supporting it in position under the foot rest portion of a bootblacks stand for movement in a vertical plane, a pair of shoe clamping arms pivoted to said body portion to swing in a hori- Zontal plane, and a yielding pressure device for normally holding the shoe engaging portion of said clamping arms toward each other.

2. In a shoe clamp for bootblack stands, the combination of a body portion, means for pivotal ly supporting it in position under the foot rest portion of a bootblacks stand for movement in a vertical plane, a pair of shoe clamping arms pivoted to said body portion to swing in a horizontal plane, a yielding pressure device for normally holding the shoe engaging portion of said clamping arms toward each other, and means for yieldingly moving said body portion in a direction to apply downward pressure to said shoe clamping arms.

3. A shoe clamp for bootblack stands, comprising a clamp comprising a supporting member designed to be applied to the heel portion of a bootbblack stand and to project downward ly and rearwardly therefrom, a body portion pivoted to said supporting member to swing in a vertical plane, two shoe gripping arms pivoted to said body to swing laterally, said arms being shaped to project forward- 1y on opposite sides of a bootblack stand and beneath the foot rest portion thereof, shoe grippmg fingers at the forward ends of said arms extended upwardly to such an extent that the said fingers may engage a shoe sole on the stand when said gripping arms are wholly below the foot rest portion of the stand, a spring for yieldingly holding said gripping arms toward each other, and a spring for normally holding said body portion in position for moving said arms downwardly.

FREDERICK T. RICHARDSON.

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