US850396A - Shoe-cleaning device. - Google Patents

Description

' PATENTED APR. 16, 1907.

- .J; J-. POLT.

' SHOE CLEANING DEVICE. S APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23. 1906.

INVENTOR v 6 45? TORNEY v WITNESSES:

'JOHN J. POLT, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

' SHOE-CLEANING DEVICE.

850,396. Specification of Letters Patent. lr'atented April 16, 1907.

Application filed ovem r 23,1906. Serial No. 344.672.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. Pour, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Cleaning Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention has reference to a brush to be placed on the floor at the entrance to a structure and is adapted to be. used in place of a scraper to removethe mud and dirt from the shoes of a person entering, and is arranged to rovide a surface on the bottom that has a rush and also side members having horizontally-projecting bristles above the brush of the bottom portion, these side members being arranged to yield and having a spring action to return them to their normal position.

The invention is designed to provide the side members with brush portions or bristles that are cut away at one end to provide a wider space between them and at the other end. to provide for the easy insertion of the toe of a shoe or boot to force the side members apart.

A further object of the invention is to provide the bottom plate supporting the brush at the bottom witha series of perforations that are designed to allow dust or water swept from the shoes to pass down through the brush.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-*- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device, and Fig. 2 is partly a section and. partly an elevation looking from one end.

The device is composed of a base-plate 10, which can be made of anymaterial suitable for the purpose, but is preferably made of wood, and it is provided with a brush portion 11, having a horizontal top surface. Secured near each edge of the base-plate 10 is a side member 12, arranged, preferably, at a slight angle and each one being provided with a brush portion 13, arranged approxi mately horizontally and projecting over the brush portion 11 on the bottom plate. To prevent longitudinal motion of the side pieces 12, they are secured by means of the links 14,0ne end of each link being pivoted to the end of the side plate 12 and the other end being pivoted to the end of the baseplate 10. To cause the side members 12 to assume a position shown in the drawings, a spring member is provided to force the side members toward one another, and this may be of any suitable construction; but I prefer to make it as shown in the drawings, in which a single piece of wire is bent to form a straight longitudinally-lying portion 15 and. bent at each end into a member 16, approximately at a right angle to the member 15, and the ends of the wire are then bent into the coils 17 and finished off to project downward to the ointed end 18 and be driven in the wooden base-plate 10, as shown more particularly in Fig. 2.

are cut away at one end to form a much wider distance between the opposed bristles, as shown in Fig. 1, on the end of the brush nearest the observer, this end thus forming somewhat of an entrance or wedge-shaped conformation, so that the toe of a boot or shoe can be forced forward to spread the side members apart, as the bristles on this end are normally separated by a considerable distance.

When shoes are being scraped, the dust or mud will fall between the bristles composing thebrush 11, and to allow it to pass on down without clogging the bristles I provide the base-plate 10 with a series of perforations 1.9, arranged, preferably, between the groups of bristles both longitudinally and transversely.

held against any longitudinal movement and and furnish a fairly strong pressure against the shoe by reason of the springs on either side of the side members.

The device can be fastened to the floor by screws passingdown through some of the perforations 19, or other means can be employed for fastening the device permanently to the floor. The links 14 can have the end that is secured to the base portion 10 secured at any convenient point at the end of the base portionthat is, the links can incline either inwardly or outwardly from the pivotal point on the side member.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. An article of the kind described com- The side members in this structure are thus 1 The brush portions 13 of the side members are also normally kept in acompact shape IIO to project across and above the brush portion of the base-plate, springs arranged on the base-plate and in sliding relation with the outside of the side members, and links on the ends of the base-plate connecting the baseplate with the side members.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 21st day of November, 1906.

JOHN J. POLT. WVitnesses I WM. H. CAMFIELD, E. A. PELL.

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