US729300A - Fastener for shoe-uppers. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED MAY 26, 1903 w. E. ELLIS. FASTENER FOR $503 UPPERS.

APPLICATION TILED MAY 25, 1901.

NO MODEL.

WASHINGTON u c UNITED STATns PATENT Patented May 26,1903.

OFFICE.

WARREN EUGENE ELLIS, OF HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ELLIS LAOER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

FASTEN ER FOR sHosu PPER-S.

SEEGIFILATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 729,300, dated May 26, 1903. Application filed m 25, 1901. Serial No. 61,939. (Nd model.)

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, WARREN EUGENE ELLIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Haverhill, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fasteners for Shoe-Uppers, of which the followingis a specification.

In the manufacture of lace boots and shoes it is customary to secure together temporarily, during the processes of lasting and relasting, the eyeleted edges of the uppers in order to maintain them'in their normal position with respect to each other. So far as I am aware all the fastening devices hitherto used for this purpose are either incapable of removal from the upper until after the last has been withdrawn, in which case a solid last cannot be employed and a block-last or a hinged last must be used, or else they are so constructed that they must be entirely removed from the upper or at least from one side of the same before the last can be withdrawn, in which latter case they must be inserted anew if they are to be used during the process of relastin g and in any case cannot be used with a solidfollower-last.

My present invention is intended to improve upon the prior devices above referred to by providing a fastener which can be used with any kind of last and may remain in the shoe, if desired, throughout all the operations subsequent to lasting, whether the last is in the shoe or not, thus being available to fasten the shoe during the process of relasting without having to be inserted again at that stage. To this end I have devised a fastener comprising two independent eyelet-engaging members combined with means for opening and closing them at will with respect to each other, whereby the two sides of the top of the shoe may readily be separated to permit the withdrawal of the last after lasting and the insertion ofthe stitching-horn, beating-out jack, follower-last, &c., in the subsequent operations performed on the shoe. After the follower-last has been inserted the sides of the top may be again drawn together and fastened for relasting in theiroriginal position, and the fastener need not be removed until the shoe is ready to be packed.

A preferred form of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a complete fas tener in its open or extended position. Fig. 2 is a section of the same on the line a; m in Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a section on the same line as Fig. 2, but showing the fastener in its closed or drawn-up position. I

In constructing a fastener such as above referred to certain problems present themselves, of which the first is due to the fact that the front edge of the last always projects between the two sides of the upper, so that the eyelet-engaging members of the fastener cannot move directly toward and away from each other, but must necessarily move to some extent along the sloping sides of the last and must also conform to the angle made thereby when drawn together, and hence the means which connect the said members must be so constructed as to be capable of arching over the edge of the last in all positions of said members. Furthermore, the two eyeletengaging members of the fastener must be capable of assuming various angles with rehinges the fastener may form in all positions of its parts an upwardly or outwardlyextending arch, and the two eyelet-engaging members may make any. desired angle with each other, and in connection therewith I provide a locking device so constructed that the ten-' sion put upon the fastener in use is taken up and resisted by the hinged parts of the fastener, and thus has no tendency to cause said device to become unlocked when the fastene is in its drawn-up position.

The fastener shown in the drawings is designed to secure two pairs of eyelets simul taneously, each of the eyelet-engaging members being shown as made of wire and consisting of a longitudinal portion 2 and end portions 3, extendinglaterally therefrom, the ends of the latter being bent to form eyelet engaging and retaining devices of any desired construction, but preferablyconsisting of eyelet-engaging hooks 4, having extended free ends 5, substantially as shown, described, and claimed in other Letters Patent granted to me on the 10th day of December, 1901, No. 688,297, although other forms of eyelet-engaging devices may be employed, if desired.

Around the portion 2 of one of the eyeletengaging members is wrapped one edge of a clip 6 with sufficient looseness to permit said portion 2 to turn therein, and to the other edge of said clip is hinged a leaf 7, the turned-over edges of said clip being located above the top of the same and providing a narrow groove or recess between them. At any convenient point on the hinged edge of the leaf 7, but preferably at its center, is formed a projecting strip 8, which is 'bent around the pintle of the hinge and extends beyond the same substantially parallel to the remaining portion of the leaf 7, as best shown in Fig. 3, the bottom of the clip 6 being cut away, as at 9, to receive said projection, as hereinafter described. To the portion 2 of the other eyelet-engaging member is hinged a loop 10, preferably by means of a clip 11, wrapped around the portion 2 and the adjacent side of said loop, as shown. The two members of the fastener as thus constructed are connected by means of a strap 12, of flexible material, such as tape, which is secured to the leaf 7 and passes through the loop 10. By preference I double the material of which said strap is composed and secure it to the leaf 7 by passing it through a slot 13, cut therein, the two ends of the tape being then passed through the loop 10 and one end being doubled over the other, as shown, the several folds at this end of the strap being secured together by means of a rivet 14 or otherwise.

In order to provide for locking the parts in their closed position, (shown in Fig. 3,) a portion of one edge of the clip 6 may be cut to form an integral upwardly-extending projection 15, adapted to spring over the edge of a slot or recess 16, cut in the leaf 7, thus forming a species of snap-lock, the operation of which will be readily understood by referring to Fig. 3.

The operation of the fastener above described is as follows: The eyelet-engaging members are secured one to each side of the upper in the manner described in the Letters Patent above referred to. When the fastener is originally attached to the upper prior to lasting, the members will be in the closed position (shown in Fig. 3,) with the free side of the loop 10 held between the upturned edges of the clip 6 and confined therein by the leaf 7, and it will be noticed that when in this position the portions 2 and the two sides of theloop 10 provide, in effect, four hinges, thus enabling the fastener toadapt itself perfectly to the contour of any last with which it may be used. The leaf 7 is prevented from turning to release the loop 10 by the snap-lock formed by the projection 15 and recess 16, and the tension imposed upon the fastener by the lasting process is distributed among the clips 6 and 11 and the loop 10 and has no tendency to unlock the leaf 7. When it is desired to withdraw the last, the free edge of the leaf 7 is pulled upward by means of the strap 12, thereby disengaging the recess 16 from the projection 15 and opening the left-hand member of the fastener into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. As the leaf 7 turns on its pintle the projection 8, which when the fastener is closed lies beneath the free portion of the loop 10, acts to'lift said loop out of the groove formed by and between the edges of the clip 6, so that when said leaf 7 is turned into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the loop 10 is free to slide along said leaf and onto the strap 12, thus permitting the separation of the eyelet-engaging members to the desired extent. The free end 17 of the strap 12 being loose and normally bent outward, the loop 10 will pass beneath said end 17 and will thereby be prevented from sliding entirely off said strap, the riveted portion of the strap being sufficiently thick to prevent it from being passed through said loop except by the exercise of considerable care. To close the fastener, the operator takes hold of the riveted end of the strap 12 and pulls it toward the left, referring to'the drawings, whereupon the loop 10 is drawn onto the leaf 7, and said leaf is finally pulled over into the position shown in Fig. 3, carrying said loop with it and dropping it behind the hinge, which unites said leaf to the clip 6, the edge of the recess 16 being finally pushed down past the projection 15 into the position shown in said figure, thuslocking the parts of the fastener securely together.

It will be seen that by reason of the flexibility of the strap 12 and also by reason of the numerous hinges provided by the con struction above described the connecting portions of the fastener will always be capable of arching themselves to conform to a last of any given contour and that the members of the fastener maybe separated to any desired extent by providing a strap 12 of suflicient length. The two members of the fastener are not liable to become separated accidentally or when the fastener is not in use, and yet they are practically free and independent of each other when in the open position. I

I do not consider my invention to be limited to the details of construction herein shown, since so far as I am aware I am the first to provide a fastener for shoe-uppers which is capable of being opened and closed 'IIO over theedge of a last at will, regardless of the shape of the last, and is thus adapted to be used with a solid last in relasting.

I do not claim, broadly, herein a detachable fastener composed of two eyelet-engaging members hinged together along the line corresponding to the opening between the edges of the upper, as such construction forms the subject of prior Letters Patent No. 704,451, granted to me on the 8th day of July, 1902.

I claim as my invention 1. A fastener for shoe-uppers comprising two members each provided with eyelet-engaging devices, in combination with connections between said members for opening and closing the same with respect to each other, said connections and members being hinged together, and means for locking said parts in their closed position.

2. A fastener for shoe-uppers comprising two members each provided with eyelet-engaging devices, a flexible strap secured to one of said members and having a sliding engagement with the other member, and means for locking said members in their closed position.

3. A fastener for shoe-uppers comprising two members each provided with eyelet-engaging devices, in combination with a clip secured to one of said members and provided with a locking projection, a leaf hinged to said clip and provided with a recess 16, substantially as described, and a flexible connection secured to said leaf and having a sliding engagement with the other of said members.

4. A fastener for shoe-uppers comprising two members each provided with eyelet-engaging devices, a loop secured to one of said members, a flexible strap secured to'the other member and adapted to slide within said loop, said strap having its free end doubled over upon itself and left free to bend outward and the folds of the strap beingsecured together at a distance from said free end, and means for. locking said members in their closed position.

.5. A fastener for shoe-uppers comprising, in combination, two members each provided with eyelet-engaging devices, a loop hinged to one of said members, a clip hinged to the other of said members, a leaf hinged to said clip and provided with a projection 8, substantially as described, a flexible connection secured to said leaf and passed through said loop, and means for locking said leaf and clip together.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 22d day of May, 1901.

WARREN EUGENE ELLIS.

Witnesses:

E. D. CHADWIOK, JOSEPH T. BRENNAN.

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