US2051374A - System of finishing shoes - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 18,11936. M. o. FROST 2,051,374

SYSTEM OF FINISHING SHOES -Fi1ed Aug. 24, 1951 f A s sheets-sheet 1 Aug. 18, 1936.

M. O. FROST SYSTEM OF FINISHING SHOES Filed Aug. 24, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 2` gil/SHE? Y 5 *PEL/5144675.

A64/.4 @as A Aug.A 18,1936. M 'Q FROST I 2,051,374

' SYSTEM oF FINISHING SHOES 3 sheets-shet 5 vFiled Aug. 4, 195;.

uw@ @d N J im Y .NBNQQN WMI um Wma Patented Aug. 18, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SYSTEM OF FINISIIING SHOES Myron 0. Frost, St. Louis, Mo., assgnor, by mesne assignments, to The Lamson Company, Syraeuse, N. Y., a corporation of Massachusetts Application August 24, 1931, serial No. 558,925 1 claim. l(01.12-142) factory in order that the shoes may be advanced progressively from one operator to the next.

It has heretofore been the practice in shoe factories that each individual operator be provided at his operation station with an individual vcase or rack of shoes, it being the usual practice to employ a rack of such size to transport an en tire case of shoes. With an arrangement of this sort it is apparent that any particular time in a shoe factory there are relatively few shoes which are being operated upon although there are a great number tied up at the various operator stations. Furthermore, it has been heretofore the general practice that when it is necessary to permit a rack of shoes to temper or permit the cement thereon to set, the rack containing these shoes have, as a general rule, been set aside in an available space in the shoe factory and consequently a great portion of the space in a shoe factory is occupied with idle racks of shoes, which were. either being dried or else being delivered atv a particular operators station. It is an object of the present invention to overcome the difficulties encountered in the usual process and of manufacturing shoes mentioned above and this invention contemplates a coordination of systems by which the shoes may be advanced individually throughout the various systems and from one operator to the next succeeding operator immediately upon completion of the operation at the first operators station.

The object of this invention generally stated is to provide a system of manufacturing shoes, and particularly a finishing department through which the shoes may be progressed without delay.

Another object of this invention is to provide a system for operating upon shoes through which the shoes may be advanced individually upon completion of a particular operation.

A further object of this invention is to provide a conveying system operating adjacent the various operators of a finishing department of a shoe factory.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a system and arrangement of the operators in the finishing room of a shoe factory in which the number of operators for performing relatively rapid operations is less than the number of operators performing relatively slow operations.

'Other vobjects will become apparent to those skilled in the art when the following description is read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan View illustrating the arrangement of operator stations in a system for nishing the soles of the shoes.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the arrangement of operator stations in a system for finishing the bottoms and otherwise operating upon shoes.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic plan View illustrat ing a system for finishing shoes and particularly the arrangement of operators for treeing, polishing and repairing.

Generally stated, in accordance with this invention the various operator stations of a shoe factory are preferably disposed adjacent suitable conveying devices, such as for instance, belt conveyors, chutes and the like, and in cases where the operations to be performed are relatively sloW,-it is preferable to provide a series of operators who perform these operations. On the other hand'where the operations to be performed may be accomplished with substantial rapidity, a fewer number of operators may be provided for performing the operations. In accordance with this invention suitable conveyors are preferably so disposed that the output of the series of operators may be converged at the station of a fewer number of operators whose operations are accomplished with relative rapidity. This invention further contemplates the provision of conveying drying units suitably disposed in positions Where tempering or setting of the cement or other so-called dopes are necessary, whereby the operator who applies the substance to be dried may deposit individually the shoes upon such a drying unit for the next succeeding operator who removes the same as it comes in position adjacent the latter station. Furthermore, in many instances and particularly in the nishing department of the shoe factory, it is necessary that the shoes of one type be delivered. in position for the performance of various operations which are not necessary with other types of shoes and accordingly this invention contemplates the provision ofsuitable conveyors and a corresponding arrangement of operators whereby the shoes are permitted to move through the most V Wooden heels to shoes it is customary to provide a coating of cement between the heel and the heel seat, and it is consequently of importance thatY this cement should have opportunity to set before the shoes are subjected to finishing operations. Accordingly, as the shoes are completed Vby the wooden heel attaching department they may be depositedin a suitable drier, such as I entering, for instance at 2,7and afterrremainn'g a desirable period of time, making their exit atV 3, it being understood that thei drier, if so desired be provided with suitable mechanism for" priate period of time. .i After the shoes4 have Y remained in the drying unit: I for asufcient time to permit propertempering or's'etting; of

thecement the various racks,such as14; may be. Y removed therefrom and advanced -into :position adiacenti: the system for Viinishing the soles Vto be ,now described.

TheA shoes Y containedk in anVv individual rack, such as, may be distributediamongifa seriesof;V sole Aedgetrimmers 5`positioned adjacent a suit- Y ableconveyor preferably of the duplextype` as '9, and:preferably provided Witha central divid'l ing partition, suchV as 'I.

thatiin a system of this sort a single rack of shoes may be divided amonggaseries'of four-i edge trimmers 5, for instanceythe `right shoes being supplied tothe operators positioned on the right hand. side of the conveyor,v .and the left shoesV being vsupplied, to the operators on they leftrhand'V side of theV conveyor, and viceversa.` Moreover, with a provision of a conveyor of this Y sort', tis apparent that the operators on one sidev of jthe y'conveyors may besupplied with shoes from. a, different rack or casethanrthe rack or case which supplies'the' operators on the ,other1 sid-e of the conveyor, in Which-case the central` dividing ,partition 'I Will be operated rtoV maintain thevshoes Vfrom the diierent cases in segregation.

After the series to properly shape the same, theY shoesmay be deposited on a suitable @chute or conveyor, such asf8, `preferably provided with a central dividing partition 9.` As illustratedfin Figure'l, the conveyor or chute 8 is shownvas disposed directly` beneath'the conveyor or'rchute I5, it beingob- A )served that the conveyor or. chute 8 extends for` Wardly for a sufficiei'itdistanceto make it con- 5 to f venient for each of the series of trimmers A deposit their respectiveY output therein. The

chute or conveyor -lfconducts the shoes from the trimmersinto a position convenient to one of a@ series of Setters I0,'it being observed that there is. provided but one setterfor each pair of trim.- mers in `vievv of the factthat'the settingoperation requires lbut approximatelyonehalf-theV 1i time requiredfc'r trirriiningthe shoes.

l As the shoes are advancedin'to a positionrconvenient for the 'Setters 9,1the setters may removea'small number ofthe shoes from lthe chute or con-l veyor Ban-d applyth'e usual first dope thereto,

depositing the same for a brief ,period (suhc'ient It may .be i pointed :outx' y of operators!) have'completed'- their operations, Vwhich generally consist iny an `edge trimming operation upon the sole in order to dry the dope) upon a suitable table or shelf II. For instance each setter may remove from the chute or conveyor 8 as many as six pairs of shoes, doping the same successively and depositing the same upon the table II. After the last shoe of the sixth pair has been doped, the dope applied to the rst shoe of the first pair is dry enough to permitV the setter to proceed with the setting operation If, however, as is often the case, certaintypes of shoes happen to come 1 through the factory which require a' more lengthy first set than a shoe of the ordinary type, an'additional operator may be provided at station I2 for doping the shoes which proceed down'both sides ofthe conveyor cr chute 8 so 1 that, in this instance, it is unnecessary for either the series of Setters IIJ to apply the dope.

After the setting operation has been completed the oper-ators stationed at I0 may deposit 'their output upon a suitable chute or conveyor 2 I3 'also provided.l with;y a Ycentral dividing Epartition I4. .The-'shoes are.. removed;` from .the chute orconveyor I dxby. an inker- I5'who applies tothe edges of the'sole an appropriate dyeoreinlr.and'` deposits .the-same upon a suitable drier such as for instance.- IIL-'WhichimayA be Yof the conveying' type,; and is .preferably provided." with a dividing line ordevice, such'as .II, in order that: shoes.. proceeding from separate cases or conveyor I3, mayvbe'maintainedgin segregation on the.drier;3 I6; After: theshoes have remained iupo'nnthei drier I6 for :a sufficient .time and have comeinto.l

positionfiadjacent the roppositeV side'of the drierYV 1 6 they ymayberemoved therefrom by foneof the series of `settersilikv/hose duty it is to apply the'3 second set .to the edges of the soles and uponfthecompletionof-Y these operations the shoesmay be depositedginzansuitable rack, such as I9,',it'1be+f ing, understood that iny case Vseparate 'cases of.A shoes are ,proceeding ,down opposite sidespof .the

conveyor there will be provided an individual;

shown, in order to properlygtemper'the same-'i5 before proceeding to the bottom finishing! system. nowfto be described.A Y

After.the:rack I9 has remained for a suflicient timeinthe tempering or drying zunit, just ree ferred to, it may be removed therefrom-and moved intoposition adjacent an edgeIbrusherv-ZL'. 1 Fig. 2,'Whomay. remove vthe shoes from .the rack i. 'Y

I9, brush the edgesl thereof, and deposit the sameupon a chute or conveyor 23 also of the duplextypanand provided with va central dividing partition 24.y With some shoes it is necessaryto perform a scouring "operation upon thel-sole imr` mediately in frontof the breast of the ,heel,y and,

Vif, such ann operation is necessary, the shoes may.v be :passed by..operator.22.o`ver toa :breast scourer 25`Who uponcompletion. of his operation deposits.

theshoesiupcn a.:ch`uteA o r conveyor 23. The.

chiiteorconveyorf operates to conveyth'e sh'oesj, into positionwhere theyare available to Voneiofarseries of nishers, such as for instance .tlebot` 7 tom sanders 26. In view of the fact that there are two such bottom sanders provided, it is often convenient that one sander handlev all the lefts and the other all the rights, it being understood that the bottom sanding operation to be performed by a series of operators 26 requires substantially twice the amount of time for operation as the edge brushing operation and the breast scouring operation. There are provided in the illustrated embodiment a series of bottom sanders VWhile there is provided but one edge brusher.

In order to avoid a possibility of one'of the bottom sanders 26 missing or skipping a shoe disposed upon the chuteror conveyor 23, the bottom sander 26 is deposited for work upon a suitable chute or conveyor 21 disposed on the opposite side of these operators from the position of the chute or conveyor 23. The output of the bottom sanders 26 then proceeds down conveyor 21 to a position convenient for the various operators who perform different finishing operations such as for instance an edge buffer. 28 and the shank finishers 29 who may be provided with a suitable flexible shaft buffer. Each of the finishers just referred to preferably redeposit their Work upon the conveyor upon completion of the respective operations and the work then' proceeds to a position convenient for a series of shank buffers 30 who upon completion of their operation preferably' deposit the Work upon a suitable chute or conveyor 3|, preferably provided with a center line or partition 32 in order to maintain the shoes of diierent cases in segregation as will be pointed out hereinafter. As the output of the shank buffer 33 proceeds down conveyor 3| it may be removed therefrom by breast scourer 33 whose duty it is to scour the heel leaf or flap and further nish the same. Upon completion of these operations at 33 the shoes may be redeposited upon the conveyor 3| from which they may be removed from operator stationed at 34 who may perform further sanding operations Where necessary, and brush the shoes, deposit the same upon a suitable conveyor as 35 preferably of the duplex type and adapted to maintain the separate cases of shoes in segregation.

It will be observed from Figure 2 that the arrangement of operators just described is provided in duplicate, and, it is to be understood that like reference characters denote stations atwhich the same operations are performed upon different shoes. It may be pointed out, however, that different cases or racks of shoes are preferably supplied to the units on opposite sides of the central conveyor 23 which, it will be recalled, is provided with a device, such as for instance the dividing partition 24, for maintaining the shoes in different cases for segregation as they proceed therealong. Upon reaching the bottom Sanders 26 of the duplicate units, however, the shoes are preferably removed from the center conveyor and deposited upon the individual Vconveyors 21 extending along the outside of the respective units, while upon reaching the shank buffers 30 of the duplicate units, the shoes may again be converged upon a central conveyor 3|, being maintained in segregation by positioning the shoes from one unit at one side of the central dividing partition 32 and the shoes from the other unit upon the other side of the center line 32.

The shoes proceed from the operators 34 down conveyor 35V to a position convenient for oney orl more operators stationed at 36 whoseduty it is to apply various treating substances to the shoe soles, such as for instance a polisher or` blackener. After the application of such substance, the shoes are positioned upon a Lsuitable drier, such as 31, preferably of the conveying type, and afterrremaining upon the drier for a desirable period of time may be removed by an operator stationed at 38, who may inspect the bottoms and apply an additional coating of a suitable substancev where necessary, whereupon the shoes may be disposed upon a suitable drier, such as 39 preferably also of the co-nveying type. After the shoes have remained upon the drier 39 for a desired Vperiod of time theyl may be removed therefrom by an operator, such as 49 who may, if necessary, brush the edges of the shoes before depositing them upon a conveyor, such as 4|, which, as illustrated, is preferably provided with markings or ribs to denote three separate rows or aisles therealong. VFor instance shoes, the bottoms of which'are to be of the natural grain, are generally treated with a gum and may be consequently deposited upon the conveyor 4| in one of the outside rows 42. The conveyor 4i transports the shoes to, a position convenient for either of a series of gummers 43 who may remove the same from the conveyor, apply the gum and preliminarily buff the same depositing their respective output upon a suitable drying conveyor, such as 44. As the drying conveyor 44 advances the shoes toward the left, the 'gum applied by the operators 43 becomes sufficiently dry Yto polish, and accordingly upon reaching a position adjacent the polisher 45 the polisher removes the shoes from conveyor 44 and polishes the same, depositing his output upon the conveyor 46.

If, however, the shoes removed by the operator.

40 happen to be shoes Which are provided with a black bottom, the same may be deposited upon a conveyor 4| in the center aisle 41 thereof, and transported to a position convenient for a buinisher 48, who removes the shoes from the conveyor, burnishes and polishes the bottomsY and returns the same to the conveyor. Similarly, shoes with a paint bottom after being removed from the drier 39 may be deposted upon the conveyor 4|, and since there remains nothing further to be done, except polishing, paint bottom shoes may be conveyed directly across the conveyor 4| Without any interruption. t is generally preferred than an operator 49 be stationed adjacent the end of conveyor 4| for removing therefrom the shoes which proceeded thereacross, and such operator may be provided with a suitable brush for brushing white shoes, which at times will proceed across the conveyor. In view of the fact, however, that the shoes of a particular type will proceed from the drier 39 in lots, such as for instance an entire case at a time, it will be apparent that at such times as the burnishers 48 may be busy polishingblack bottom shoes, as a general rule one of the gum polishers willbe idle and accordingly may occupy position 49 for removing the shoes from the center conveyor 4| and deposit the same upon conveyor 46. Similarly, it will seldom happen that both of the exterior aisles 42 and the central aisle 41 of the conveyor will be concurrently filled with shoes` proceed down at center aisle 41, say the gum-- mers of series43 disposed on one sidey of the Y conveyorsA orcthose disposedfonztheaot'her side;y

will befidle and consequently .theseidle 'operators may move into position? ofthe Kburnisherss'; andrhandle the black Vshoes which-.proceed down thefcenter aisle 41 of thef conveyor: 4|, .while the corresponding polisher45`. mayfmove. into. position 49 for transferring. the shoesizfromithe center raislar-lll,onztothe:conveyornll Itl'isfap# parent,rtherefore,Y that such shoesas do. not re'- iquire polishing by the polisher 45 maybe shunted around the :conveyor`44jand '.the .polishe'r 45v by'means of thefconveyorV 41f'so.th'at the shoesiin fact proceedr inthe most direct andshoxtest router to'gthe conveyor 246i? 'Theeshoes::areV them i' transported by the conveyor'46 in a direction indicated by an arrow and upon reaching the :end` thereof may be removed by a screwlpuller `stationed at 50 who may remove the temporary heel-V attaching device from the last` andrdeposit the The conveyor I transports the shoes to a position convenient vfor a series of lastrpulleys 52v disposedrupon opposite sides of the conveyor 5|. who removevthefflast 4fromzthe shoessand return.x1

'l the shoes to the conveyor. Adjacent Aeachof ithe last pulleys 52.,..aV suitable elevatorior otherilast.` receptacle53 may be provided, such.elevatorrmay operateftoreturn the lasts automaticallyntowthe room in which the1last bins are situated.

After the Vdelasted shoes have been-returned tothe conveyoril by the last pullers 52 they are transported to a'position convenient for therseries of heelrnailers 54, it'beingrA generally preferable. thatl the series-*54 :disposed: .uponuone:.sideeot'sthefi :"conveyor 5l handle theshOes of one case, while the. nailersfdisposed ronathe.--,oppositesi'dei1of ithe.,

' conveyor 5I E'handle'vthe shoesufromlaudiflerenti .CaSel thershoes Will be transported to apositionipon@VV venient for' cover cuttersi, who'may removey the shoes' from .Y the1 conveyor 5|; remove =thef covers and fpassithershoes :across .their` tablef to lining. ironersrdisposed at `56! Whose duty =it is toiron the linings of the vshoes andffdeposit thev Y Vsame upon( Vsuitableracks as51,- or uponsother suitable rconveying devices for transporting fthel same-intof a position. convenient for the lperformance ofthe nextf succeeding.operation;A f

InVY the eventi, however, that the vparticular-shoes 1 being operated-'upon'- by the nailers 2541 are 'not Y provided with the usualY protector covers; -r thel nail'ers may deposit their output upon arr-#Youth side conveyor 58. which operates to' transport thef same in the directionY indicatedrbythe-'arrow tov a position convenient the liningfironers S65-iter:V shuntingrtheshoes about thfefcover removers 155.v

' "Whenl oneof thei racks', :such asf-5 hasebeen;

Y completely lled with shoes the :.samemay fbe moved'into position convenient-.for a/seriesofv sock'lliners y585 -lwho -may /remove- 'the shoes from` the rack and insert therein'the'usual-sockflinings.- In the-illustrated iembo'dimentshown-l it'1is` often4 convenient that lone'of the operators-insert'-thef' sock lining` in the-'left shoes,lwlfiilei'th'e'otherifian-I dies-the rightv shoes; "Operatingy adjacent;theV

Y sock liners'580 a suitable`conveyor`59fmay be pro"-KA vided for receivingftheshoes fom-thefsocleliners' From-=the-embodiment illustratedg in fthe' drawings. twol conveyors; such ast'nlare shownL whicharei suciently .spaced from; each other so thai-,1 opi erators mafywvbef@stationed- "y therebetween@A Its accordinglyprovidedca seriesfof trimmersfid i posed: toreceive work from therespectiveco-ns:V veyors 59, it being understood that the trims'.v 6 mers BOimay be provided with suitable trimming; machines; such as :fon instance "the twellilnzmvvxxi Booth: trimmer. If the shoes beof fancy typej which require that Vfurther cutouts be made, ther same may be deposited in asuitablechute as.6 [3210;: Onesuch` chute being conveniently .stationedvad jacent each of the series of trimmers 60. Asillusezf tratedcin:thezxdrawingsa chute 6I `may be and preferablyris, disposed immediatelyabove the con@ veyor`59.; Situated on each sideofv the chute zi 6I andthe conveyor 59 operating therebeneath;

Varseries :of operators 162:, are' providedeforlacs'e complishingssuch;'.cutouts;` as; sarei..necessary;I being understood that the operator 62 either ef fects such cutouts by lhandy or by any. suitab1e.ma;;f20:

chine, itbeing understoodthat the v'cutting out: operationperformed by the operator 62 Yis a rele ativelyslowone. Manyshoes pass through the: ordinaryeshoe factory which does notrrequire'thatf such cutoutsk be made. sufcientlength, allows asubstantial number of: shoes requiring. cutting out to accumulateztherez.l in'withoutfblo'ckingf.the system. Forfinstance, if; a case of'shoesrequiring severalcutouts reach the;

Booth trimmers 60, the same: may Vbe depositedcof upon completion of the operationrinzthe,chutefk andzin-.view of the fact that the time required fon;

. the .trimmers 60 is; substantia11y'-less than ther1 time required for the accomplishment of the' cut-l ting `out operation by operator 62, thefshoes-ref-;?A 'Y quiringcutouts may accumulate in the chute- 154.-, After the trimmers 60 have completed',their-Opf;V eration upon the` entire icase of. s'hoes,f;it.may bespossible that a case will come through-the sys-'- tem which will require no cutouts, infwhichin stancek the kshoes will ,be redepositedupon conveyor l59v upon completion of the trimming opp-1 erations by trimmers 60 Yso that even -thoughthe chute 67| be'completely filled withvshoesrequir-VV ingcutouts, they system is, nevertheless'estill cae:n 45 pablefofhandling shoes which do not-require icute: outsl to be made. kAfter` the'` operatorsY 62 haver completed the cutting out operation necessary;`

theymay'return the work tothe Yconveyor-"59 from vwhich it .may be removed by one of a series; g of usingerszsta'tioned adjacent ther-'end row:A In" view offsthe-fa'ctthatthe singeinggoperation re:-j quiresY little time,-v the singers V63 yhave sufiicient time: to deposit the shoes on rack 64-or other? conveying device to transport the shoes'into other` 551- next.- succeeding departmentv ofV thisjfactory.';

VAfter the-shoes have been racked bythe-"singers: llithetrack 64 may bey movedinto'th'e-'department-illustrated in.-Figure-3, andfthegracksgmnvede intopositions adjacent a series of suitable shape.-

ingmachines V655 As Vshowngin Fig-ure 3.onef rack as-,64 maybe lmoved, into position adjacent apair of shaping'machines, onefof which is adapt'n ed to shapewth'e \left-shoes, the other thearightr shoes.4 These shapingl machines operate'topress-351,l Y Y the'upper; at the counter and sides against aform,

in'theeshoef t Y Y After` theshaping operation has been completed-.i

upon-ran' entire rack of shoes,-therrackmay 4bei moyedeintdl position V66i adjacent voneot'itheeseriesemr'12 ofsioperators:1lil,Y each of which isprovided with. airbrush and bufii'ng rolli device forrfcleaningagand': polishing the shoes. The operator 6'!V may removef; thev` shoestlfrom the racks: inz-wpositionfv 66,1. performing vhis operations thereupon and'i'depositingie;

The chute lrbeing 012251r them upon a suitable duplex conveyor,'such as 68. If the shoes proceed down conveyor 68 they may be removed therefrom by Vone of a series of treers disposed in pairs onfopposite sides of the respective conveyors, it being understood that in view of the fact that a diiferent tree must be employed for treeing left shoes from the tree which is employed for treeing right shoes, one operator of each pair may conveniently operate exclusively upon left shoes, the other exclusively upon right shoes. The treer 69 performs'the usual Washing and ironing operations upon the shoes, employing any suitable treeing device. Upon completion of these operations the shoes may be redeposited upon conveyor 68 by which they will be transported into position adjacent a shining station 10, after which they may be redeposited upon conveyor 68 and will proceed to a series of cleaning and dressing stations, such as 1| and 12, it being understood that any suitable number of stations for performing the different dressing operations customary in a particular factory may be provided adjacent the conveyor 68. 'I'he last of the series of operators, such as 12, in the illustrated embodiment, may, however, deposit the shoes upon a suitable rack, such as 13, or other conveying device for moving the same into convenient position fo-r the next succeeding operation. The rack 13 may then be moved into position, such as 14, adjacent a series of repairers 15 arranged in pairs and adjacent a suitable duplex conveyor, such as 16. The respective repairers of each pair are preferably so positioned that one operator of each of the pairs may remove sufficient shoes from the rack 14 for supplying each operator of the pair. Accordingly some of the time all of the repairers 15, remote from the conveyor 16, are occupied in passing shoes from the rack 14 tov the inside repairers or those which are nearer the conveyor 16, but on the other hand, substantially the same amount of time of the inside repairers, or those nearest the conveyor 16 are occupied in passing the Work from the outside to the conveyor 16. The various repairers 15 inspect the shoes and touch up any of the bruised places with suitable inks and dies in order to bring the bruised or marred leather as near as possible to its original condition. Upon completion of these operations the inside operator of each pair of repairers 15 deposits the output of the repaired work upon conveyor 16 by which it is transported to. a position convenient to one of the singers 11 Whose duty it is to singe away the loose threads from the shoes, and due to the fact that such an operation requires but little time, the singers may distribute the work among a series of secondary conveyors 18 and 19 each of which is preferably of the duplex type, it being understood that at thisv point the various types of shoes proceed to have individual operations performed thereupon, which are by no means common to all the various types. For instance, the conveyor 18 may be adapted to transport shoes of the patent leather type to operating positions such as 80, where operations may be performed which are not necessary upon other types of shoes.

The various other types of shoes may, however, be deposited upon conveyor 19, adjacent which may be provided with a series of operators 8| for dressing the white shoes, a series of spraying operators 82, a series of breast cleaners 83 for operating particularly upon box heel shoes, and any number of other operators for performing operations. which are not common to all the various types of shoes, and whichl are necessary before the completedl shoes may be delivered to the packing room. For instance, if the shoes are of such types as require the attachment of ornaments, the same may be racked at the end of the conveyor 19 and moved into position such as 84, adjacent a series ofvornament-attaching machines 85. On the other hand, if the shoes require the stitching of buckles or center straps the shoes requiring these operations may be' separately racked and moved into position adjacent machines for .performing'these operations, which may be stationed in any suitable position. Again, if the shoes require only lacing, after emerging from the conveyor 19 the racks may be moved into position adjacent an operators station 81 where the laces may be applied, and upon application of the laces the shoes may then be deposited upon a suitable conveyor 88 and transported past a series of skilled trimmers and inspectors 8S whose duty it is to closely inspect the shoes passing thereby and perform such trimming operation as necessary. After the shoes have passed the trimmers and inspectors 89 the same may be deposited upon a table 90, Where the shoes will be assembled in boxes and prepared for packing, being subsequently put in the shipping cases and thence delivered to the shipping room as by suitable conveyor 9|.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that the invention accomplishes its operations and that a system of manufacturing shoes is provided which is made up of a plurality of subsystems such as, for instance, a system for iinishing the soles, a system of finishing the bottom and otherwise operating upon the shoes as nailing the heels in positions after the performance of a number of finishing operations, and finally concluding with a system of trimmers, polishers, and repairers, in which the final touches are given the shoes before proceeding tol the packing room. However, all these respective sub-systems are so arranged and coordinated that the output of one sub-system may proceed directly to the next Without delay. Accordingly the time required for manufacturing of shoes in accordance with the present invention is considerably shorter than that heretofore required. Moreover, it is apparent that many modifications of the system of manufacturing shoes hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings will present themselves to those skilled in the art Which Will not depart from the spirit of this invention. It is to be distinctly understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to the specific details hereinbefore set forth, but that such modifications or the use of such individual features or sub-combinations of features as do not depart from the spirit of this invention are, although not specifically described herein, contemplated by and within the scope of the appended claim.

In this specification reference hasY been had to various machines or devices designated in accordance with the operations they are to perform; such as sole -edge Setters, trimmers, etc. Such machines or devices are Well known and in common use in various shoe factories and are illustrated in various catalogues, as well as patents, to which reference need not be had in order to enable those skilled in the art to obtain a disclosure of the system embodying this invention. In many cases the various operations may be performed by hand and, in 4Some cases, are performed by hand. It is, therefore,- to be understoodithatf whereaanyzoperatinn is referred to -fitcontemplates'znotolmagmachine but a1soastations-at whchzanioperatorivmayrsbe positioned to'perforniirtheiaoperation n Having; thus f, described the iinventlonfswhatxis claimed is: 'n A 'f ,Lf Y' The art of.manufacturing;shoesawhereinzthe shoes are progressively ,assembiednby i -operators at stations, certain operationsonlyibeing'performed upon the shoes at each stationgwhicn comprises transporting the shoesf between-:itwozvf'stations and-toa, third;station':uponzafconveyor on which the shoesare separated vintoy three 1ots,1one

-tions after.A treatment: .thereat .to fourth stations, respectvelyassociatedswith eachiofsaidfffrsthtwo Stations,':.by other' conveyors independent: oteach f otherfandf-of the first named conveyor, transporte ing theriots of; shoes despatched to the third Aste-- .tion and ftoeach of `saidfourth stations to aefth station byaaf conveyor on'which theiots -ofshoes aref5kept/f:separate, andr after -treatmentfatthe 10 ithpstation,rremoving the shoes therefrom.

f MYRON O. FROST.

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