USRE477E - Improvement in the method of cutting out the uppers of boots and shoes - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES JOHN oniLcOfrr JAND nonnenl sNnLt, or BROOKLYN, Nnw YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE METHOD OF CUTTING OUT THE UPFEHS 0F BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Lettcrslatent 10,009, dated September' 13, 1353; Reissue No. 477, dated July 7,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN CHILOOTT and ROBERT SNELL, of Brooklyn, in the county ofv Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement inthe Manufacture of Boots; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specication, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of a boot made according to our improvement. Fig. 2 shows the opposite side of the same. Fig. 3 is a back view of t-he same. Fig. 4 shows the shape of the piece of leather or other material from which the upper 7 of the boot ismade. Fig. 5 shows the piece partly folded in the farm of a boot.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

In the manufacture of boots as at present carried on the fronts require to undergo the process of crimping, which is a very laborious and consequently expensive operation, and weakens the leather to a very great degree. It moreover precludes the employment oi' any` material that is inelastic or that would be inipaired by stretching, unless the boot be made in several pieces-the fronts (themselves, as considered separately from the backs) requiring at least two pieces, as in the case of patent-leather boots manufactured in the common way. The manufacture of boots without crimping and without making the front in two pieces has been attempted in France as far back as the year 1842, by M. M. rFhomas and Hairion, who made the uppers each of a single piece of leather, with the exception of a gusset, which was inserted in one side to make it complete. But in these boots, though they might have been fitted to the front part of any foot, no provision was made for fitting the ever-varying sizes of the leg and'hcel and in many cases the part of the boot, technically termed the nich,7 instead of itting closely into the junction between the top of the foot and the leg, must have been half-way down the instep. In other cases it would not have been possible to fit the boot to the heel so that it would retain its proper position. Boots have also been made in Belgium lfrom one piece of leather Without crimping and without the additionoi' a gusset, but these are liable to the same objections as above named. y

Our invention consists in a certain new mode of cutting out or otherwise forming al piece of leather or other material so that it may be folded without crimping and without the addition of other pieces to take the required form of what is commonly termed the upper 7 of a boot, to fit any foot, heel, and leg not positively deformed with the greatest accuracy. Another very important result Obtained by this mode ot' cutting out or forming the upper is that when the piece of leather or other material is folded upy the closing can be entirely performed by a sewing-machine, as the edges that require to be sewed all form laps on the exterior of the boot.

To enable others skilled in the art to use our invention, we will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

rIhe piece cut or otherwise made of the form shown in Fig. 4 is suitable for a boot for the right or left foot; but as one side of a boot made in this way presents a somewhat neater appearance than the other, we make one from a piece of a form preciselyT the reverse of the other, and this enables us to bring the neater side of the boot, which is seen in Fig. 2, to the outside of the foot. The view Fig. 4 shows the inside of a piece to form a boot for the left foot. The part A, included between the lines a b e d and d c, will lform one entire side of theboot. The part B, between the lines a b and the edge f, will form the other side of the leg and heel, and will extend partly along the side of the foot, but this part may be cut oit' anywhere below the red line j, so as not to reach beyond the side of the heel. The part C, divided oit' by the line d c and the cut g will form the side of the foot to imite with the. side B of the leg and leave a piece, h, to go round the heel to the side A. The piece D, between the line c d, the cut g, and the edge i, forms a lap for the front seam. A eut, 7n, is made in the line a b to about the height* of the top of the heel, To form the boot the piece is folded in the line a b'to lay the part B on the part A', the edge f being brought even with the line c d. The lap D is then folded over the edge f, and the part G is folded in the line d c and laid over the lower parts of A and B. The piece in the state now described is exhibited in Fig. 5, whcrc Ythe edge ot the curved part of B is indicatedby a dotted line, l m, supposed to be seen through G. The part h then requires to be turned round the heel, and the boot is then ready for closing either by stitching, cementing, or other means of fastening, and when closed it receives the sole, as usual.

The rules for fitting boots in this manner are substantially the same as for titting those made in the usual way. The angle formed by the lines c d and d e will have to be varied to suit the height of the instep ofthe wearer, and will also depend in a measure upon the height oi'l the heel ofthe boot. The cut le will in almost every case require to be opened-that is to say, to have the sides parted, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, to give the necessary form to the heel, and the openingwill be covered by the piece h, the width of such opening depending 011 the size of the heel, a broad or long heel requiring a greater opening thanfa narrow or short one. The rcd line in Fig. 5 shows the difference in shape, in profile, required ;tor a larger leg with the same-sized foot, and it is there shown by the dotted part of the said line that if the heel were made .without opening, as in M. M. Thomass and Hairions, the form would be such that the boot could not retain its position on the heel, butwouldhaveatendency to slip oft'. The blue line on the heel in the same 1i gure shows the form that may be given by slitting the lower part of the back and properly turning the part h.

No waste ,of leather is involved by making the heel double, as the double part will give all or nearly all the necessary stiftenin g.

The form of the piece of material from which the upper is made may be modified to a certain extent. We sometimes bring the front lap-piece, D, inside the 'piece B, and in that case we eut out the piece indicated by D in Fig. 4 in the drawings, but leave a piece of corresponding form outside the line there indicated by j'.

A short boot may be made by omitting a suitable portion of the upper part of the piece. (Shown in Fig. 4.)

It is obvious that a piece ot the form substantially as shown in Fig. 4 and hereinabove described may be made by joining two or'morc pieces together, and we will therefore state that We consider the union of two or more pieces of the same or of different materials to produce thator a substantially similar form to be equivalent to ina-king the same form in 011e piece. We do not claim, generally, the man utacture of boots without crimping; but

What we do claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Cutting or otherwise making thc leather or other material to form the upper of a boot by folding, without crimping, ofthe form substantially as shown in Fig. 4, and having its characteristics herein fully described, whether the said form beproduced by a single piece of material or bythe union of two or more picce.

JOHN CHILCOTT. ROBERT SNELL.

Witnesses i FRANK J ENKs, ABRAHAM Lo'ra.

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