US853326A - Art of applying reinforcing fabric to innersoles and the like. - Google Patents

Description

ART OF APPLYING REIN PATENTED MAY 14, 1907'.

, A. THOMA. PORGING FABRIC T0 INNERSOLBS AND THE LIKE.

APPLIUATION FILED 0012. 1906.

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ANDREW THOMA, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGN OR TO CLIFTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPO- RATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ART OF APPLYING REINFORCING FABRIC TO INNERSOLES AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 2', 1905. Serial No. 280,930.

Patented May 14, 1907.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW THOMA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in the Art of Applying Reinforcing Fabric to Innersoles and the Like, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

-()ne of the most difficult parts of shoe manufacture is the reinforcing of the innersoles with canvas, due to the difiiculty of making the canvas stick to leather. The innersole bodycontains a feather edge for supporting the upper and a stitch-receiving rib or projection to which the edge of the upper and of the welt are sewed, and in order to make the com aratively stiff canvas conform neatly an accurately to these depressions and projections and become adherent to the entire surface, pounding machines are used for pressing the canvas to the leather by rapid pressing movements or blows applied simultaneously to the canvas at the opposite sides of the rib and progressing around the rib from one end thereof to the other. The result is that as the stiff canvas is being pounded down at one side, it is pulled up at the other side of the innersole. The usual 7 means of securing the canvas is by naphtharubber cement, which is not only expensive, but, because of the evaporation of the naphtha and its quick oxidation, will not hold properly. Moreover, it is re elled by the wet leather, and, being exceedingly stringy in character, is wasteful and tends to smear surrounding objects. Other means have been devised for cementing the fabric, but

the absorbent characte" of the fabric and the repellent character of the wet or oily leather have stood in the way of success.

My invention consists in providing the fabric with a thin coating im ervious to the cementing agency, but which 1s influenced by heat so as to become capable of amalgamating or uniting with the cementing agency without losing its character as a coating, and then applying a special cementing agency capable of uniting tenaciously with the external. surface of the coating on one side and with the fibcr of the leather on the other side.

in other words, 1 interpose between the se of the cement externally available and active for adhering to the leather.

I have found that,in cements which are capable of penetrating and enveloping the surface fibers of leather with the requisite grip to maintain adhesion in spite of the presence in the leather of dampness, oil, whiting or other repellent matter, a great amount of the sticky property is commonly absorbed by the canvas, so that the strength and adhesiveness of the cement is lost for the leather. I provide a special means of applying the cement, and the latter is so compounded that, taken with the above-described method, a copiousness and adhesiveness are obtained which will reduce a tenacious close union with the leat er under all circumstances and will not be repelled by the damp leather, whether fatty in. character. or otherwise filled with repellent or undermining materials such as soap, whiting, etc.

Further details of my invention will be more particularly pointed out in the course of the following description, reference being had to the accompanymg drawings in which I have illustrated in vertical transverse section one form of mechanism for carrying out my invention. I do not, however, herein claim the machine nor the fabric-article, but reserve them for separate patents, the present case being restricted to the process or art of treating, applying and securing the fabric.

I first coat the canvas, full width, with a layer ofsuitable resinous or sticky material ca-. pable of becoming firm and non-sticky or dry when cold, so that the coated sheet or strip can be rolled and practically handled. I will mention later on a Wide variety of materials which may be used for this purpose, but I prefer to use a gutta percha or vegetable gum coating, as it can be readily applied in an exceedingly thin coating if desired, affords a great strength of resistance or toughness on cooling, and is readily responsive to heat. The sheet when thus coated is then cut into strips of the required width for the reinforcing purpose in hand. For the purpose of rendering my invention plainly understood, I will confine my description to the reinforcing of innersoles (although it will be coated strip, wound understood that it is capable of various other applications). I then mount a roll 1 of this with the coated side inward, on a suitable support 2 and pass the same down over guide rolls 3, 4, into contact with the upper side of a moistening drum 5 provided with an external surfaced of felt or other suitable moisture-carrying material, and turning freely in a moistening tank 7 preferably filled with water, shown as steam heated by pipes 8, 9. the fabric is pressed tightly on the upper side of the drum 5 over a suilicient extent of surface thereof to insure proper moistening of the fabric in order to render it readily pliable, being thence conducted over guide rolls 10,

,11, 12 to a hot drum 13 of iron or other suit able heat-radiating material, said guide rolls 12'and drum being so located as to bring the coated side of the fabric in contact with the drum, heated by any suitable means as steam from a steam pi'pe 14. The heat of the drum 13 instantly transforms the previously dry coating of the fabric to a sticky condition, and simultaneously moistens it with an application of hot, strongly adherent, non-oxidizing cement 15 ma1ntained highly liquid by a steam-jacket 16 or other heating means for the cement tank 17..

The result is that a strong union of the guttaercha coating and the cementitious liquid is efiected and a more perfect and copious external stickiness is secured without losing any of its penetrating qualities than can be obtained otherwise. The saturated covering of the dampening roll 5 properly and uni- ,formly dampens, without soaking, the uncoated side of the fabric which not only facilitates the subsequent application of the canvas to the innersoles, but makes certain that the canvas side or inner surface of the gutta-percha coating will not beinflueneed by the heat but will remain as an impervious barrier between the cement and the canvas,

while the external surface of said coating is instantly rendered tacky and sticky by the steam heated drum, so that it will unite with and support any desired amount of the nonoxidizing outer layer of hot cement 15. I

rovide a cement-regulator or coatin -controller 18 capable of being carefully ad usted by a screw 19 for limiting the amount of fluid cement conveyed by the hot roll, thereby insuring the exact and uniform coating required. The heat of the drum directly on the gutta-percha-coated side of the fabric softens said coating and the hot cement prolongs the heating of the undercoating and unites with it in producing an adhesive uality (as well as quantity) which it is im* poss'ble to get with the methods at present em loyed. l

he penetrating outer coating of sticky non-oxidizing cement consists of soft, sticky The uncoated side of pitchor other strongly adhering resinous mass capable of being used for this purpose. My special coating is set forth in my application Ser. No. 249,688, liled Mch 13 1905. This treatment of the gum or gutta perm-ha coating develops an exceedingly pliable and adhesive qurity which is notrepelled or undermined by a little moisture or fatty or oily dressing, a different organic element is introduced, and the still more pliable and sticky cementitious element of the top dressing is introduced at the time of the subjeetion'ol the gutta percha coating to the action of heat, thereby not only rendering the entire coating non-oxidizable, but retaining on the surface all the penetrating, viscid qualities. If the gutta percha coating were placed on the outside and the non-exidizing coating on the inside of the fabric, only .a small amount of the sticky properties would be available, whereas by my present method I can get a y amount of stickiness, and instead of being required to use a large amount of gutta percha, thereby tending -to stiffen and harden the cloth, my present method enables me to secure extreme pliability, because only a very thin basic coating is necessary, amounting,- in fact, to not much more than a mere sizuw, as it depends almost wholly on the externa cement layer for" the sticking (iuality 'and'does not necessarily depend at al therefor upon the foundation coating. Although preferably I use a more or less heavy foundation coating such as already described, which maadhesive q'ualities, Ipreferto use gutta ercha as a foundation coating, for reasons a ready mentioned, and also as it is non-sticky when dry, althou h a normally sticky coating can be used and dusted over with starch, whiting, or the like, to enable it to be rolled and handled, which willdisa pear when heated, being taken u or lost etween the heated coating and t e heated cement. For instanee,I may em loy solutions of vegetable oils and resins. i or do I limit myself to the particular composition mentioned for the cementitious external layer, as it may be modified to a limited extent, as, for instance, during the winter season, I introduce means reater liability and elasticity to the coating. Tint-em to chan e and modify the cement, moreover, accor n to the particular surface to which the fabric or reinforcing mate-; rial is to be applied. The remaining step in using the cemented fabric consists simply) of pulling or delivering said cemented fa lic om a guide roll 20 to a table 21 where it is applied by hand to the innersoles, and then cut off from the strip anddelivered to the pounding and pressing machine already mntioned.

It will be understood that While I have ex-.

matter, for, by union with this special top terially aids in developing and retaining the such as boiled vegetable oils, for insuring seaszo plained my invention in connection with re inforcing innersoles, I do not intend to limit it in all cases thereto. Having described my invention, What claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. The herein described process, consisting of providing the fabric with a permanent coating impervious to cement but capable of uniting with it, providing a strongly adherent, sticky cement in liquid form, uniting a thin layer of said liquid cement as a top dressing to said coating, and then applying the cemented fabric under pressure to the leather or surface to be covered.

2. The herein described process,- consisting I of providing the fabric with a normally nonsticky coating, capable of being rendered stick by heat, heating said coating, applying thereto a dressing of strongly adherent sticky cement, and then applying the ce.

merited fabric under pressure to the surface to be covered.

3. The herein described rocess, consisting of providing the fabric Wit a normally nonsticky coating, capable of bein rendered sticky by heat, applying on sai coating a I hot dressing of strongly adherent, sticky cement.

4i The herein described process, consisting of providing the fabric with a normally dry,

oxidizable coating, capable of becoming superficially sticky under heat, heating the same, applying thereto a layer of sticky nonoxidizing cement, and pressing the fabric,

then cemented upon the leather or other surface. 4 v

5.' The herein described process, consisting of providing the fabric with a normally dry,

oxidizable coating, capable of becoming superficially sticky under heat, applying thereto a layer of hot non-oxidizable sticky cement, and then pressing the cemented fabric upon the leather or other surface. v

. 6. The herein described process, consisting of providing the fabric with a gutta percha coating, heating the outer surface of said coating, applying thereto a hot cement con-

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