A NEW AND IMPROVED MACHINE FOR FINISHING LEATHER
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Lorentz Albert Groth at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th August 1880. A communication by
John Theodore Liedtkie and Philip Fredrick Lenhart, both of Brooklyn, in
the County of Kings, and State of New York, United States of America.
LORENTZ ALBERT GROTH, Civil Engineer and Proprietor of the Scandinavian
Patent Office, under the Firm of L. A. Groth & Co., 97, Finsbury Pavement.
London, E.C. A NEW AND IMPROVED MACHINE FOR FINISHING LEATHER."
A communication by John Theodore Liedtkie and Philip Fredrick Lenhart, both
of Brooklyn, in the County of Kings, and State of New York, United States of
America.
"
This Invention relates to an improved machine for finishing leather by which all
the surface-finishing operations, such as graining, lining, dicing, "putting out or
calf facing," etc., may be accomplished in a quick and reliable manner without
creasing or folding the leather in its passage through the machine.
The invention consists essentially of a reciprocating table that supports the
finishing plate in combination with an oscillating arc shaped or semi cylindrical
sheet metal shell, which is faced with a layer of elastic material and acted upon by
a central transverse pressure roll.
The supporting frame of our improved leather-finishing machine is rigidly braced
by longitudinal and transverse stays, and provided with upright side standards. A
central screw extends longitudinally through the frame and turns in bearings at
both ends of the same, said screw being revolved to the right or left, either by a
crank-wheel, when the machine is to be operated by hand, or preferably by two
loose pulleys and an intermediate fixed pulley, and by a belt and cross-belt, when
the machine is to be operated by power. In the latter case, the belts are either
shifted by a hand-lever by the attendant, or automatically by the action of the
machine by the employment of a suitable reversing gear. The belts are thereby
alternately shifted from one of the loose pulleys on to the fixed pulley, so as to
The central screw passes
change thereby the direction of motion of the screw.
through a nut at the under side of a table, which is supported on a number of
anti friction rollers, which are arranged on both sides of the central propelling
screw. By revolving the screw in one direction the table is moved forward, while
by turning the screw in the opposite direction, the table is moved backward, the
shifting motion being alternately imparted by the shifting of the bolts from the

page_text: loose pulleys to the fixed pulley. On the reciprocating table is supported a plate,
the surface of which is either smooth, or engraved with a suitable design, according
as the leather is either to be simply "put out or calf faced," or to be grained, lined,
diced, or otherwise finished. By "putting out or calf facing" the finishing of the
leather with an entirely smooth surface without any design is understood, while by
the terms graining, lining, and dicing, the different surface patterns of the leather
are understood.
Above the table and in contact therewith is arranged an arc-shaped or semi-
cylindrical shell of suitable sheet metal, which is provided with a more or less
elastic facing of felt, pasteboard, leather, or other suitable material, according to the
work to be done. The shell is braced by stay-rods, which connect the ends at
diametrically opposite points of the same. These stay rods may be threaded and
attached by screw nuts or otherwise to the shell, so as to impart a certain stiffness
and rigidity thereto and keep the facing stretched taut over the outer surface of
the shell.
A pressure-roll extends transversely above the table at the inside of the shell,
and turns in journal bearings of the side standards; the bearings are adjusted by
means of set screws, by which the pressure of the roll upon the shell and plate is
regulated. The roll gears by cog-wheels with racks at both sides of the
reciprocating table, so as to move uniformly therewith. When the reciprocating
table arrives at one end of its motion, a fixed stop at its underside engages a
projecting heel on the shifting rod of the reversing belts and shifts thereby
automatically the belts by the simple action of the machine. The shifting rod is
also connected by intermediate crank-levers and rods with the reversing hand
lever, so that the machine can be reversed at any moment.
When the table has arrived at one end of its motion and at one side of the shell,
the entire piece of leather to be finished is placed with its face downward upon the
surface of the plate, and then the table moved forward below the shell and pressure
roll. The shell follows thereby the motion of the table and plate, and oscillates
also from one side to the other, exerting an equal pressure upon the leather along
the line of pressure below the roll, so as to avoid creasing or drawing the leather
into folds. By the action of the shell, the leather is spread smoothly and evenly
upon the finishing plate, and thus finished in a uniform manner.
The qualities in the thickness of the leather are compensated for by the elastic
facing. When the leather has passed through below the pressure roll, and the
table has arrived at the other end of the machine, the finished piece is removed and
an unfinished piece of leather placed on the table, the motion of the table, when
reversed, and the leather finished during the return motion of the table. A piece of
leather can thus be quickly finished with any desired surface design, at each motion
of the table, and the design be changed by simply changing the finishing plate and
adapting the facing of the shell to the work to be performed.
The machine may also be used for finishing paper, imitation leather, and other
material.