US23015A

US23015A - Bootjack

Info

Publication number: US23015A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1859-02-22
Anticipated expiration: 1876-02-22

Description

nNrrED STATES 'PATENT carica.

HENRY N. DE GRAW, OF GREEN ISLAND, NEW YORK.

BOOTJACK.

Specicaton of Letters Patent No. 23,015, dated February 22, 1859.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HENRY N. DE GRAW, of Green Island, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Bootjack; and I c lo hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in whichd Figure l, represents a side elevation of my boot jack, and Fig. 2, is a transverse section of the same taken in the plane indicated by the line m, 00, Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference in the two figures indicate corresponding parts of my invention.

This invention consists in connecting a swinging platform to two movable jaws by means of a guide piece of such a construction that the jaws open and close by raising or depressing the front end of the platform without the aid of springs, said swinging platform to be hinged to the bottom of the boot jack at such points that the front end of the same may be raised or depressed by applying more or less weight to the heel or to the toes of the foot which rests on the platform.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention I will proceed to describe it.

A, is the bottom of the boot jack which is supported at one end by a leg B, so as to give it a slightly inclined position, and C, are the jaws which are attached to the front end of the bottom A, by means of pivots a, the position of which is strengthened by a cross brace b, which connects the same.

D, Ais a swinging platform which has its bearings in side pieces E, which are attached to the bottom about two thirds of its length from the front end of the same, and the platform D, rests on pivots c, so that it can be moved up and down freely. A spiral spring F, keeps the front end of this platform raised and a guide piece G, is attached to the under side of the same and near to its front end, which is provided with slots el, d, which are inclined as represented in Fig. 2, and which form the guides for the back ends e, e, of the jaws C. These ends are twisted so as to conform to the inclined position of the slots The guide piece G, works into a mortise e', in the bottom A, of the boot jack and it is obvious that by depressing this guide piece the back ends e, of the jaws are forced apart and consequently the jaws will close and by raising the guide piece the back ends are brought closer together and the jaws open.

The operation is as follows :-One foot is placed on the swinging platform D, as represented in Fig. 1, so that the heel of the boot rests on that part of the platform which is behind the pivots c, while the toes rest on the part before those pivots. The spring F, is so balanced that it is quite easy to regulate the weight which is thrown on the toes or on the heel, and by throwing more weight on the toes the front end of the platform D, is depressed and the jaws close by the action of the slots (l, d, on the back ends e, e, of the same. In order therefore to pull off the boots, one foot is placed on the platform so as to keep the weight of the body on the heel and the other foot with the boot is placed between the jaws. The weight of the body is now brought to bear on the toes of the foot on the platform whereby the jaws close and take hold of the boot which is to be pulled off. After the boot has been pulled o the weightV of the body is thrown on the heel of the foot on the platform and the boot is released from the jaws.

I am aware that boot jacks with movable Vjaws have heretofore been constructed. I

do not lay claim therefore on this part of my invention; but, i

Having thus described my invention, what I do claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

The arrangement of a guide piece G, for the purpose of operating the jaws C, as herein described in combination with a swinging platform D, which rests on pivots c, at points between its front and back ends so that it Vcan be operated by throwing more or less weight on the heel or on the toes of the foot placed on the same, substantially in the manner and for the purpose specified.

vHENRY N. Dn GRAW.

Vitnesses:

WILLIAM W. SHUrnL'r, BENJAMIN F. MANIER.