IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR POLISHING, GLAZING, AND BRUSHING LEATHER, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edward Wilson at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 16th March 1877.
1
EDWARD WILSON, of Exeter, in the County of Devon, Engineer. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR POLISHING, GLAZING, AND BRUSHING LEATHER, AND
FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
This Invention relates to improvements in machinery for polishing, glazing, and
brushing leather, and for other like operations.
In carrying the said Invention into practise I construct a strong frame provided
with means for securing it upon a floor or other foundation. This frame carries
two shafts, one vertical and the other horizontal, the said shafts being fitted to turn
freely in suitable bearings formed or fixed on the said frame. One end of the said
horizontal shaft carries fast and loose pulleys, which are provided with suitable
mechanism for shifting or changing the driving belt or strap thereon. Upon
the opposite or inner end of this shaft is mounted a toothed or frictional
bevil wheel, which gears with a similar wheel fixed on the lower end of the said
vertical shaft. The upper end of this vertical shaft has fixed on it a pulley; the
said vertical shaft is supported in bearings or bushes fitted in brackets projecting
from the main frame. These bushes also form the bearings for an arm which is
thereby jointed with a capability of lateral movement to the said main frame. The
said bushes fit tightly in the bosses of the said brackets, but work easily in the
bosses on the said arm, thereby allowing the latter to move freely around the said
vertical or upright shaft. The free or outer end of this arm has connected to it by
a universal joint a bar or handle. This joint is made universal to permit the said
bar to be turned thereon in any desired direction, that is to say, either vertically,
horizontally, or obliquely. A stud or pin forming part of this joint extends up
through the top of the arm, and on it are mounted two pulleys formed on or attached
to each other, and turning loosely on the end of the said pin. One of these pulleys
is arranged in line with the pulley on the upper end of the vertical shaft, and the
other one of these two pulleys is arranged in line with a pulley near the outer or
free end of the said bar or handle. This last-named pulley is keyed or otherwise
fixed on the upper end of a short vertical shaft, whose lower end is formed to receive
and hold the tools or implements for performing the various operations on the leather
or other material.

page_text: $
The aforesaid pulleys are connected by means of suitable driving belts or straps,
so that motion communicated from the horizontal to the vertical shaft is transmitted
from the latter to the said tool shaft. A table or other support with a suitable
surface is arranged in the proper position under the aforesaid jointed arm and
bar, and the leather or other material to be treated being placed thereon the tool
is brought down upon the surface of the said material, the pressure being applied
and the tool being readily guided over the work by the hand of the operator on the
said handle.
In some instances I modify the construction of the above-described machine in
the following manner, that is to say:-I dispense with the vertical shaft and
bevilled gearing above described. At the top of the main frame I arrange a forked
or curved piece, which is pivotted to the said frame. At the outer or free extremities
of the arms of this forked or curved piece I pivot on the same a second fork or
curved piece, which works freely on its joints or pivots in a direction at right angles
to the movement of the first-named forked piece. Within this second fork or curved
piece or bracket I arrange a third piece of similar form, which is jointed or pivoted
to the second forked or curved piece by a stud or pin, which passes up through the
said second curved piece or bracket. This third curved piece or bracket has the
extremities of its fork arms provided with bearings for the shaft, which passes
through the said bearings and through a pulley arranged between the same. The
said pulley has long bosses which run in the said bearings. The shaft has a lon-
gitudinal groove or key, which in conjunction with a key or groove in the boss of
the said pulley allows the said shaft to be moved endwise through the pulley whilo
it is compelled to rotate with the same.
A strap or belt extends from this pulley to the pulley on the lower horizontal
shaft for communicating motion from the lower to the upper shaft. The latter is
provided with a handle, and has suitable provision for the attachment of the tools
or implements required for performing the various operations upon the leather or
other material.
The three forked arms or brackets, fitted together as above described, form a
universal joint, wherein the said shaft is supported with a capability of free rotation
and adjustment in any required direction by means of the aforesaid handle. I prefer
to provide the said shaft with loose handles to increase the facility of adjustment of
the said shaft.