US1576835A - Trimming machine - Google Patents

Description

March 16', 1926. 1,576,835

A. F. LITTLEFIELD I TRIMMING MACHINE Filed Dec. 6, 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 16 1926. 1,576,835

A. F. LITTLEFIELD TRIMMING mofrum:

Filed Dec. 6, 1919 2 heets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 16, 1926.-

UNITED STATES PATENT AUGUSTINE FRANK LITTLEIEIELD, 0F LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY; A CORPORATION on NEW JERSEY.

TRIMMING MACHINE.

Application filed December 6, 1919.

To all whom it may concern. I

Be it known that I, AUeUs'riNn F. LITTLE- FIELD, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Trimming Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the-drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

lhis invention relates to cutting machines and is herein illustrated as embodied in a machine for trimming surplus material from the bottom of a shoe.

In the manufacture of canvas shoes of the sneaker type it is customary to lay an insole on the bottom of a last and then place an upper on the last and bend the lower margin thereof over upon the margin of the insole. This lasting operation causes packers in the bent-over margin. of the upper partici'ilarl'y at the toe portion of-the shoe.- Packers are also liable to form at the shankportion or elsewhere but not to the same extent as at the toe portion. Aside from this surplus material in puckered form, other surplus material is sometimes present at the shank portion where the vamp and quarter over-lap. It is desirable that all surplus material of Whatever nature be removed as far as practicable so as to provide an even surface to receive the rubber sole since slight projections, which would produce no undesirable appearance on the bottom of a leather sole will be imparted readily to a rubber sole because of its plastic, flexible nature.

lllachines for removing the surplus upper material which projects from the bottom of the toe portion of a lasted McKay shoe have hitherto been of the type shown in the patent to Ashton No. 891,130 in which a rotary milling cutter is used, or the type shown in the patent to McFeely No. 1,054,656, in which a coarse abrading member is employed. Such machines operate satisinctorily upon leather shoes but are not suitable for use upon shoes in which the upper material, by which the lining is meant to be included, comprises rubber or rubberized fabric or fabric which is-more or less imp s ated with rubber cement. Wi'ien such shoes are presented to :iiiiachines SeriaI No. 342,969.

like those of the patents, the tools tear the material of the upper and rapidly become clogged with the rubber content. \Vith Goodyear welt and turned shoes the surplus material at the toe as well as that along the entire inseam has commonly been trimmed oft by so called inseam trirni'ning machines the operation beingbe'gun at a bout the heel breast line and continued rogres sively along the inseam, the lip or shoulder of the insole or sole ser'i' ing as a guide. Such machines are not suitable'for use with shoes of the sneaker type in" which there is no lip or shoulder.

According to one feature of the present invention there is provided cutting means adapted to extend substantially across the shoe so as to be capable of engaging surplus material on opposite sides of the shoe, means for opera-ting the cutting means to produce a draw out and means for directing the toe portion of the shoe in position to cause the surplus material to be severed. In the illustrative mechanism, rotary disk-like knife of CO11QLVOCOI1YOX form is employed, the knife edge being kept moist by means of a wet wick held in contact with it, and a guide engages the bottom of the shoe and directs the shoe, toe foren'iost, to the knife in position to cause the surplus material to be severed first at the extreme toe portion and then simultaneously at opposite sides of the toe portion. With this mechanism the operation is a rapid. one and leaves the oi 'erlaste'd margin of the upper smooth.

According to another feature of the invention a machine is provided by which not only the suiplusmaterial at the toe portion but any which may occur at the shank or sides of the bottom of the shoe may be removed. In the illustrative machine two rotary concave con-vex knives are mounted in proximity to each other in such relation that a lasted shoe may be readily presented first to one and then tothe other, one knife being mounted on a shaft which is inclined at such an angle that the lasted shoe may be presented toe-foremost to it, and the other knife being mounted on a substantia-lly upright-shaft to facilitate presentation of the shoe sidewise. Bypresentinthe shoe first to one and then to the other 0- the knives, all the oljwiectionable surplus terial may readily be removed. And in order to permit this removal to be accomplished readily and accurately, work guides and gages of improved construction are pro vided to co-operate with the knives.

These and other features of the invention will be described as embodied in an illus trative machine and pointed out in the ap pended claims. I

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine in which the present invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a view, principally in elevation, showing a piece of work about to be presented to the knife for removing surplus material from the toe portion of the shoe;

Fig. at is a perspective showing more particularly the means for limiting the depth of cut of the knife which is shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section showing the piece of workbeing presented to the knife which removes surplus material from the shank portion of the shoe, and t Fig. 6 is a perspective of a lasted shoe after it has been operated upon at the toe portion and at one side of the shankportion.

The illustrative machine comprises two rotary disk-like concavo-convex kniv 7 and 9, the former being designed to remove surplus upper material from the bottom of the toe portion of a lasted. shoe and the latter being adapted to remove surplus material from the side portions of the bottom of the shoe and particularly from the shank thereof. Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, a driving shaft 11 has mounted upon it fast and loose pulleys 13 and 15 from one to the other of which a driving belt 17 may be moved by means of a belt shifter 19 by manipulating a handle 21 at the end of an arm 23, said arm being pivoted at 25 to the frame of the machine and having a pin 27 which passes through a slot formed in the shifter 19. Fast to the driving shaft 11 is a pulley having three steps 29, 31, The rotary knife 7 is driven from the step 9.9 by a belt 35 which passes around the step 29, around two idler pulleys one of which is shown at 37, and around a pulley 89 which is fast to the shaft l1. This shaft is mounted at an angle of about 45; and the knife 7 fast to its lower end has its concave side facing downward. The other knife 9 is driven from the step 31 by a belt 13 which passes around the step, over the idler pulleys 45 and around a pulley 47, the latter pulley being fast to a vertical shaft upon the lower end of which the knife 9 is mounted. In order to maintain the knives sharp, there are provided grinders 51 and 53 both driven, by mechanism which will now be described, from the step The grinder 53 for the knife 7 is fastto a shaft 55 which is slidably and rotatably mounted in hearings in the frame of the machine and has a keyway 57 to receive keys carried re spectively by pulleys 59 and 61, the latter being driven by a belt 63 which passes around the step 33 and over an idler The grinder 53 is normally held away from the knife 7 by a coiled spring 67 one end of which abuts against part of the frame of the machine and the other against a collar 09 which is fast to the shaft. The position of the grinder is determined by the contact of this collar with a thumb nut 71 threaded on a stationary screw 7 3. By manipulating the thumb nut the grinder may thus be caused to move into or out of contact with the knife 7. The mounting of the grinder 51 is similar to that of the grinder The shaft 75 which carries the grinder and is inclined as shown, is slidingly and rotatably mounted in three stationary bearings 77, 79, 81 and is driven by means of a belt 85 which passes around a pulley 83 on the shaft 75 and around the pulley 59 on the shaft of the other grinder. The pulley 83 is held from longitudinal movement along the shaft 75 by means of a spacer 87. 111 order to permit the shaft 75 to be adjusted and to be held in adjusted position, a thumb screw 89 threaded upon a stationary screw 91 is located between two outwardly extending ears 93 on a hub 95 which is loose on the shaft 75 and is located between collars 97 and 99 which are fast to the shaft. With this construction it will be clear that when power is applied to the shaft 11 the knives 7 and 9 and the grinders 58, 51 will be retated continuously; and that the grinders may be moved into operative relation with respect to their respective knives when desired.

Turning now to the knife 7, there is pro vided a guard 101 which covers all of the edge of the knife except the upper and lower portions and leaves exposed enough of the under side to permitacccss to the screw 10% by which the knife is fastened to its shaft. This guard is mounted on pins 105 which are adjustably held in sockets in the frame of the machine by screws 107 so that the guard may be adjusted when desired. In order to guide the toe portion of a shoe in a path which corresponds roughly to the curvature of the knife, there is provided a work guide in the form of three tria. gillarly arranged rollers two of which 109 are at the same level and the other 111 at a lower level.

These rollers are carried by a which slidable in vertically ali bear-- ings 115, said stem being keyed to one of the bearings to prevent it from turning. ln order to accomplish vertical adjustment of the stem a thumb'screw 117 threaded int' the frame of the machine has fast to it a disk 119 which extends into a horizcaital groove cut in the stem 113. The bearings of the two rollers 109 are rigid with the stem 113, but the bracket 121 which carries the roller 111 is adjustable vertically on the stem and held in position by aset screw 123. The difference in level between the roller 111 and the two rollers 109 can thus be varied to provide for different curves onthe bottoms of shoes or lasts of different styles. In order properly to support the puckered surplus material as it is being presented to the knife, a guide in the form of a series of fingers 125 is provided. In the illustrative construction there are three pairs of these' fingers as best shown in Fig. 1. Each pair is adjustably fastened by a bolt127 to the downwardly projecting portion of an angle plate 129, the horizontal portion of which is ad-justably fastened by cap screws 131 to a supporting plate 183, said last namedpla-te being fast to the lower end of a stem 135 which is vertically adjustable in a bearing in the frame of the machine and held in adjusted position by a set screw 13?. After the bolts 127 have been loosened, the fingers may beadjusted up or down, or angularly about the axes of the bolts. The .ngular adjustment is for the purpose of causing them to conform as nearly as possible to the transverse curvature of the bottom of the.

shoe. The fingers extend. between the puckcrs and serve in a manner to separate and to support them as shown in Fig. 4. The

. illustrative machine is designed particularly for operating upon rubber soled footwear such, for example, as a-rctics, in which the upper material is composed more or less of rubber. In order to keep the edge of-the knife wet so as to facilitate cutting; rubber or rubberized material, a wick 139 is held against the lower edge of the knife, the lower end of the Wick dipping into a reservoir for water as indicated in Fig. .1".

Referring now to the knife 9 which is designed to trim off surplus material at localities other than the toe portion of the shoe, this knife is also concave-convex but with the convex side facingdownwardly to ward the work. Surroundingall of the-edge of this knife except the frontand back portions is a guard 141 fast to the lower end ofa stem 1.43. Fast to the upper end of this stem is the lower end of an adjusting rod 145 the upper end of which is threaded through a sleeve 147 having at itsupperend a thumb-nut 149 211121 fast to its lower end a collar 151 the sleeve being rotatable ina bearing in the frame of the machine but held from vertical movement- By turning the thumb nut 149' the guard 141 maybe adjusted vertically. Adjustably fastened to the guard by screws 153 is a gage 155, the screws passing through slots in the gage and being threaded intothe guard so as to permit horizontal adjustment of. the gage.

This gage, as best'shown in Fig. 5, is bentdo-wninto a space formed by cuttin-gout. a portion of the guard. and has a beveled forward edge located in proximity to the edge of the knife. By adjusting the gage away from or toward the. edge of the knife, the depth of cut of the knife may be regulated. The purpose of this knife, as has been stated, is to trim off any small projections of surplus material which may be present on the bottom ofthe shoe aside from that at the toeportion. In the manufacture of certain canvas shoes it is customary to employ a piece of'tape 100' which overlaps the vamp and quarter; and in the manufacture of this sort of a shoe,.the. knife 9 is used to sever the endsof this piece. of tape.

The shoe as it comes to the operator of this machine has been lasted, the margin of the upper having been drawn over the insole and attached to' the insole by reason of its stickiness. The portion of the upper which overlaps the insole is more or less puckered especially about the toe. It may also be more or less puckered at other points, for example at the shank and it may have a piece of tape 100 the projecting. ends of which should be removed. The. operator presents the toe of the shoe to the knife 7 as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. holding. the bottom of the shoe against the guide rollers 1.0.9 and 11.1. and pushing the shoe, forward. The gage fingers 125 extend between the puckers as shown in Fig. 4. .The effective portion; of the cutting means 7 conforms approximately to. the, transverse; convexity of the bottom of the shoe and the guiding meanscomprising the: spaced rollers 109 and 1 11 oeeupy 'positions: conforming to the longitudinazl and transverse curvatures of said bottom, the. two-rollers 109 preventing sidewise I'OCkillg of the. shoe so that the knife will not cut more deeply into one margin ofthe bottom of the shoe than into the other. As the shoe is pushedforward, toe foremost, with the longitudinal middle of the.- bottom of the shoe in substantial alinement with the middle of the cutting means, the shoe is rocked lengthwise by reason of the difference in level between that of the roller 111 and that of the rollers 109 so that the cutting takes place in a curved path which corresponds substantially to the longitudinal convexity of the bottom of the shoe. Thetoe of. the shoe after having been sub-- jected to the operation of the knife 7 appearssomewhat. as: shown in Fig. ,6, all of the. puckers. around; thetoe having been cut off. The'ope-rator then presents the side of the shoe to the knife-9 as indicated in Fig. 5. and moves the shoe ina curved path such as that indicated by the arrow in that figure in order to cutoff the end of the tape or to cut off any puckerwhichmay-be present. The margin of the bottomof: the shoe is thus made smooth and even so that when a rubber sole is attached and vulcanized to the shoe its bottom will also be smooth.

Although the invention has been described as embodied in a particular machine, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular machine which has been described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for cutting off the puckered surplus upper material from the bottom of a shoe having a smooth insole to which the lasted upper is attached by an adhesive substance, having, in combination, a cutter, means for operating the cutter to produce a draw cut, a rigid guide member arranged to engage the bottom of the shoe, and a pucker-engaging member extending over the edge of the cutter.

A machine for cutting off the puckered surplus upper material from the bottom of a shoe having a smooth insole to which the lasted upper is attached by an adhesive substance having in combination a rotary disklike knife and a gage member supported above the knife and extending down over the edge of the knife into contact with the bottom of the shoe.

8. Mechanism for removing surplus material from the bottom of a shoe comprising a concavo-convex knife, means for driving the knife, and a guide adapted to direct the shoe into the concavity of the knife.

1-. Mechanism for removing surplus material from the bottom of a shoe comprising a concavo-convex knife, means for driving the knife, and a guide shaped to engage the bottom of the shoe at a plurality of separated points and adapted to direct the shoe to the knife.

Mechanism for removing surplus material from the bottom of a shoe comprising a concave-convex knife, means for driving the knife, and a guide having three triangularly arranged shoe contactingmembers adapted to direct the shoe to the knife.

6. Mechanisn'i for removing surplus material from the bottom of a shoe comprising a coneavo-convex knife, means for driving the knife, and a guide adapted to direct the toe portion of the shoe along the con cave side of the knife in proximity thereto to cause the knife to sever the surplus material.

T. Mechanism for removing surplus ma terial from the bottom of a shoe comprising a concavo-couvex knife, means for driving the knife, and a guide shaped to engage the bottom of the shoe at a plurality of separated points and adapted to direct the toe portion of the shoe along the concave side of the knife in proximity thereto to cause the knife to sever the surplus material;

8. ltflechanism for removing surplus mate rial from the toe portion of a lasted shoe comprising a concavo-convex knife, means for driving the knife, and a guide shaped to direct the toe portion of the shoe to the knife in a path the curvature of which corresponds approximately to that of the knife from a point on the edge to the center thereof.

9. Mechanism for removing surplus upper material from the bottom of the toe portion of a lasted shoe comprising cutting means, and means for guiding the shoe to the cutting means in such manner that the upper material is severed close to the insole, said guiding means including a group of spaced members for engaging separated localities on the bottom of the insole of the shoe.

10. lviechanism for removing surplus ma terial from the bottom of a shoe comprising a knife, and means for guiding the shoe to the knife, said guiding means including spaced rollers located at different levels for engaging separated localities on the bottom of the sole of the shoe.

11. hiecl'ianism for removing surplus up per material from the bottom of the toe portion of a shoe comprising cutting means constructed and arranged to sever surplus material from opposite sides of the shoe simultaneously, and means for guiding the shoe to the cutting means, said guiding means incl ding three triangularly arranged memers for engaging the bottom of the insole of the shoe.

12. Mechanism for removing puckered surplus material from the bottom of a lasted shoe comprising a cutter, a guide for directing the shoe to the cutter, and a plurality of members for separating and supporting the puckers.

13. Mechanism for removing puckered surplus material from the bottom of a last-ed shoe comprising a cutter, a guide for directing the shoe to the cutter, and a plurality of members arranged to extend between the puckers.

lvlechanism for removing puckered surplus material from the bottom of a lasted shoe comprising a cutter, a guide for directing the shoe to the cutter, a plurality of members adapted to extend between the puckers, and means whereby said members may be adjusted toward and from the knife.

lvlechanism for removing puckered SlllPltlS material from the bottom of a lasted shoe comprising a cutter having a curved edge and pucker-separating members adjustable to conform to the transverse curvature of the bottom of the shoe.

16. Mechanism for removing surplus material from the toe portion'of the bottom of a lasted shoe comprising cutting means the edge of which is inclined in two direc tions in such :raanuer as be capable if severing simultaneously the surplus mate rial on opposite sides of the shoe close to the insole, means for operating the cutting means to produce a draw cut, and a guide adapted to facilitate directing of the shoe bottom side up and toe foremost to the cutting means.

17. Mechanism for cutting off the puckers of surplus upper material from the bottom of the toe portion of a lasted shoe comprising rotary cutting means the effective portion of the edge of which is inclined downwardly in opposite directions to provide for the transverse curvature of the bottom of the shoe, and means for guiding the shoe to the cutting means in such manner as to cut off the puckers close to the insole, said guiding means comprising three spaced triangularly arranged members adapted to engage the bottom of the insole, one in advance of the other two.

18. Mechanism for removing surplus material which projects from the bottom of the toe portion of a lasted shoe comprising disk-like cutting means capable of severing simultaneously portions ofthe surplus material located on opposite sides of the shoe, there being a free and unobstructed space beneath said cutting means to permit the shoe to be presented toe foremost to and past said cutting means with the middle of the bottom of the shoe in substantial alinement with the middle of the cutting means, and means adapted to engage the bottom of the shoe to facilitate such presentation.

19. Mechanism for removing surplus material which projects from the bottom of the toe portion of a lasted shoe comprising cutting means adapted to extend across the bottom of the shoe and shaped to engage simultaneously surplus material located on opposite sides of the bottom of the shoe, and guiding means for facilitating presen tation of the shoe bottom side up to the cutting means, said guiding means comprising three members adapted to engage the bottom of the shoe, two of said members being located at the same level and the third being located in advance of the other two and at a different level.

20. Mechanism for removing surplus material which projects from the bottom of a lasted shoe comprising cutting means the effective portion of which conforms approximately to the transverse convexity of the bottom of the shoe, and guiding means adapted to facilitate presentation of the shoe to the cutting means in a curved path which corresponds approximately to the longitudinal curvature of the bottom of the shoe.

21. Mechanism for removing surplus material which projects from the bottom of a lasted shoe comprising cutting means the effective portion of which extends across the bottom of the shoe so as to engage opposite margins simultaneously and conforms ap proximately to the transverse convexity of the bottom of the shoe, and guiding means adapted tofacilitate presentation of the shoe to the cutting means in a curved path which corresponds approximately to the longitudinal curvature of the bottom of the shoe.

22. Mechanism for removing surplus material from the bottom of a lasted shoe comprising cutting means and guiding means for facilitating movement of the shoe into engagement with the cutting means, said guiding means being constructed and arranged to prevent sidewise rocking of the shoe and to permit and control lengthwise rocking thereof. 4

28. Mechanism for removing surplus ma terial from the bottom of a lasted shoe comprising cutting means and guiding means for facilitating movement of the shoe into engagement with the cut-ting means, said guiding means being constructed and arranged to engage the bottom of the shoe at three separate points in such manner as to prevent sidewise rocking of the shoe and to permit and control lengthwise rocking thereof. r

24:. Mechanism for removing surplus material from the bottom of a lasted shoe comprising cutting means shaped to engage simultaneously opposite margins of the bottom and means constructed and arranged to guide the shoe in such manner that the cut takes place in a curved path which corresponds substantially to the longitudinal curvature of the bottom of the shoe.

25. Mechanism for removing surplus material from the bottom of a lasted shoe comprising cutting means and guiding means constructed and arranged to control presentation. of the shoe to the cutting means in such manner as to prevent sidewise. rocking of the shoe and to permit and control lengthwise rocking thereof while the surplus mate rial is being severed progressively.

26. Mechanism for removing surplus ma terial from the transversely and longitudinally curved bottom of a lasted shoe comprising cutting means shaped to engage simultaneously opposite margins of the bottom and guiding means arranged to engage the bottom of the shoe at different levels and adapted to cause the path of the cut to curve in accordance with said longitudinal curvature.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

AUGUSTINE FRANK LITTLEFIELD. I

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