May i, 1903.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



271 



THE DOUGHTY RUBBER SHOE MACHINE. 



UNDER date of March 17, 1903, there was issued by the 

 United States patent office to Henry J. Doughty, a 

 most interesting patent [No. 722.822] for a mechanism 

 for the manufacture of lubber shoes, which patent was 

 assigned to the Atlantic Rubber Shoe Co. (Trenton, New Jer- 

 sey). To the few persons who have seen the Doughty machines 

 it will be recognized as one of the basic patents under which 

 the company is working, and for which application was filed 

 back in 1901. There are eleven claims which describe, in brief, 

 " a mold for making rubber shoes by interior pressure consist- 

 ing of outer movable parts and an interior part forming a work- 

 ing support, provided with an air inlet and adapted to co- 

 operate with the outer parts to compress the work and form an 

 air tight joint," which is the first claim exactly as it was 

 allowed. 



The second claim describes the manner of securing the shoe 

 in its expanded condition. 

 The third coversthe sole mold 

 and the two side molds for 

 forming the sides and upper of 

 the shoe, and the work support 

 in combination with means for 

 moving the side molds in op- 

 posite directions to open the 

 top of the molds and facilitate 

 the insertion of the work. 

 The fourth claim describes the 

 combination with a four part 

 mold, the abutments adjust- 

 ably secured to the form and 

 rods connecting the abutments 

 and forming the sliding sup- 

 ports of the two sides of the 

 mold together with a toggle 

 jointed mechanism and hand 

 lever whereby the mold may 

 be opened or closed by one 

 movement of the hand lever. In the fifth claim is described a 

 combination with the work support, the sides of the mold and 

 the sole mold, of chambered side blocks and chambered block 

 for supporting the sole mold and of means for operating the 

 side block and lifting the sole block. The sixth claim relates 



FORMING AND CURING PRESS. 



PERFORATED LAST IN MACHINE. 



to the moldingof the work by its being placed between unyield- 

 ing surfaces and an elastic air pressure, and the seventh to 

 means whereby the margin of the shoe is clamped between rigid 

 surfaces so that the air under pressure may not escape. The 

 eighth claim covers the beveled ribs in the mechanism which 

 while they close the side molds act at the same time to raise the 

 sole mold. 



In claim number nine the inside part forming an air inlet and 

 a margin to support the work is mentioned. Number ten treats 

 the combination of the work support and certain surfaces 

 whereby parts in the shoe may be pressed between the rigid 

 part of the work support and the mold, while in number eleven 

 the description is " a mold for forming rubber shoes by interior 

 pressure, an inside pau consisting of a perforated hollow last 

 having an air inlet." 

 The illustrations which accompany the official specification 



are eleven in number. Of 

 these the most interesting to 

 the casual reader is a skeleton 

 view of the machine itself, 

 which shows the parts of the 

 mold closed around the shoe, 

 the hand lever for opening and 

 shutting the parts, and the 

 steam and air inlets, and this 

 is repeated on this page. The 

 other two illustrations here- 

 with show the perforated last 

 in position and the sole plate. 

 It goes without saying that 

 the detailed description of a 

 machine such as is found in 

 patent specifications needs 

 considerable imagination to 

 spur one to construct and oper- 

 ate mentally from such a 

 source. It is, therefore, inter- 

 esting to know in tK"s connection a few more facts about this 

 most interesting mechanism. The machine itself is a marvel 

 of simplicity and effectiveness. It is small, compact, and oper- 

 ated very easily by the moving of the hand lever to right and 

 left. What its exact dimensions are, the writer does not know, 

 but the workman standing in front of it can reach any part and 

 its simplicity is such that one would say there was little likeli- 

 hood of its ever getting out of order. It is not only a forming 

 press but a cur- 

 ing press as 

 well, as the 

 chambers re- 

 ferred to in the 

 claimsarefitted 

 to receive live 

 steam, and the 

 side molds and 

 sole plate being 

 placed in posi- 

 tion against 

 these heated sole plate. 



chambers are in a very short time, hot enough to vulcanize rub- 

 ber surfaces. It is understood that in practical use the machines 



