IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING LEATHER STRIPS FOR COVERING ROLLERS
Year: 1884

page_text: IFICATION.
I JOSEPH STANDRING DRONSFIELD of the firm of Dronsfield Bros of the Atlas
Works Oldham in the County of Lancaster Machine Makers do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING
LEATHER STRIPS FOR COVERING ROLLERS" to be as follows:-
-
My Invention relates principally to the cutting of the leathers with which the
top rollers used in spinning machinery and in machinery used in the preparation of
textile materials are covered. Each roller is covered with a strip of leather which
is wrapped around the roller with the edges of the strip meeting and overlapping
as is well understood. To make a neat and secure joining of the edges of the strip
the said edges are beveled so that they can overlap without producing a ridge. In
my improved apparatus the beveled edges are produced in the operation of cutting
up the pieces of leather whereby greater accuracy and speed are obtained. The
piece of leather to be cut into covering strips is pushed up to an adjustable stop
which is secured to the bed of the apparatus and determines the width of each
strip. The leather is held down to the said bed by means of two clamps which are
acted upon by a hand lever which is fixed upon a shaft which is mounted to rock
in bearings and passes below the bed of the machine. On the said hand lever and
on a second lever at the other end of the shaft or on two side levers are mounted
links which carry anti-friction bowls. The two clamps are mounted to turn upon
fulcra and each clamp is provided at each end with a lever or finger and inclined
faces are formed on these levers the faces on the levers on one clamp being opposed
to the faces on the levers of the other clamp. When the said hand lever is pressed
down by the left hand or is acted upon by the hand the aforesaid anti-friction
bowls act upon the inclined faces on the two sets of levers and cause both clamps
to be pressed down upon the leather. Springs or weights or inclines or parts on
the main levers tend to raise the clamps and thereby to release the leather One
clamp presses downward upon the leather and is kept low so that the knife can
pass over it. The fulcra of the second clamp are raised above the bed so that the
clamp when moving downward also moves away from the first clamp so that the
second clamp has a tendency to extend the leather or both clamps may have this
tendency The clamps are as near to each other as conveniently possible leaving

page_text: room for the knife to act upon the leather exposed between the clamps or the part
to which the clamp is fixed. I may to some extent vary the arrangement for
actuating these clamps. The knife is carried by a sliding carriage which is mounted
upon a cross slide which is carried above the bed. The part to which the knife is
secured is made adjustable vertically or in a direction at right angles to the slide
The knife makes an acute angle with the bed and is adjusted for the point of the
knife to pass through the leather. The leather is clamped by a movement of one
hand and the carriage is drawn across the leather by a movement of the other hand
the knife cutting straight across the leather with a diagonal slicing cut which
leaves the strip with beveled edges. I may mount the slide to swivel so that the
angle of cut of the knife can be varied.

page_text: I JOSEPH STANDRING DRONSFIELD of the firmn of Dronsfield Brothers of the
Atlas Works, Oldham in the County of Lancaster, Machine Makers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
CUTTING LEATHER STRIPS FOR COVERING ROLLERS" and in what manner the same
is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying drawings:-
My Invention relates principally the cutting of the leathers with which the
top rollers used in spinning machinery and in machinery used in the preparation
of textile materials are covered. Each roller is covered with a strip of leather
which is wrapped around the roller with the edges of the strip meeting and over-
lapping as is well understood. To make a neat and secure joining of the edges of
the strip the said edges are beveled so that they can overlap without producing
a ridge. In my improved apparatus the beveled edges are produced in the opera-
tion of cutting up the pieces of leather whereby greater accuracy and speed aro
obtained. The piece of leather to be cut into covering strips is pushed up to an
adjustable stop which is secured to the bed of the apparatus and determines the
width of each strip. The knife is carried by a sliding carriage which is mounted
upon a cross slide. The knife makes an acute angle with the bed and is adjusted
for the point of the knife to pass through the leather. The leather is clamped
by a movement of one hand and the carriage is drawn across the leather by a
movement of the other hand the knife cutting straight across the leather with
a diagonal slicing cut which leaves the strip with beveled edges.
To render the description of my invention more clear I have attached hereto
a sheet of drawings to which I will make reference. In the said drawings Fig: 1
is a side elevation and Fig: 2 a plan of a machine constructed in accordance with
my invention the said Figs being made to a scale of about six inches to the foot.
Fig: 3 drawn about the full size is a vertical longitudinal section through the
centre of the machine. In the said Figs a is the cutting knife b and c are the
clamps and d in Fig: 3 represents a piece of leather being cut. The leather to be
cut is placed upon the flat surface of the table or bed e. Upon this table are fixed
or formed brackets ƒ which carry a planed vee cross slide g which extends across
the table and projects beyond the same upon each side as seen in Fig: 2. Upon
this slide is mounted a carriage h which is fitted to slide freely to and fro and in
the example is provided with an adjustable strip h. This carriage is planed or
prepared to receive an angle piece or knife corrier i to which is secured the
cutting knife a. In the example the face of the cross slide is inclined at such an
angle from the face of the table as that the knife when secured to the right angled
piece i shall be inclined at the desired cutting angle but it is not necessary that the
face of the said slide shall be at right angles to the knife. The knife carrier is
adjustable upon the carriage h in a direction at right angles to the movement of
the carriage or to some extent in an upward and downward direction a screw j

page_text: facilitating the adjustment of the part and a bolt k securing the knife carrier in
its adjusted position. The knife can also be adjusted toward and from the table
in the direction of the cut and when adjusted is secured by means of a screw
which passes through a slot in the knife. Each one of the two clamps extends
across the table and is formed with end trunnions which are mounted in bearings.
The bearings for the clamp b are formed at 6' in the brackets f. The fulcra of the
clamp care at c¹ the bearings being formed in brackets which are formed on or
secured to-the sides of the table. From each end of the clamp ba lever arm b
extends downward below the top of the table and from each end of the clamp c
a lever arm c² also extends downward. The lower ends of the two lever arms b²
and c³ on each side of the table approach each other and resting upon them is an
anti-friction bowl m which is mounted upon a link n which is hinged to a lever o.
The two levers o and o¹ one on each side of the machine are both fixed upon
a shaft P which passes below the table and is mounted to rock in bearings. The
lever o¹is extended to receive a button of upon which the left hand is pressed at
the required times. The machine is provided with a stop plater which is secured
by means of a screw bolt which is fitted to slide in a slot & so that the stop can be
fixed in the required position according to the desired breadth of the strip of
leather. In the example the leather d for the sake of clearness is represented as
being thicker than the leather ordinarily used in the covering of rollers used
in spinning machinery.
The machine is used in the manner which may be described as follows:-
The leather cut to a suitable width equal to the length of the required strip is
pushed forward below the two clamps. To permit of this the clamps are acted upon
by springs and abutments which tend to raise the clamps away from the table at the
-times when the hand is not pressed upon the button o². Previously to the moving
forward of the leather the carriage has been-pushed to one end of the cross slide
the knife being then outside of the edge of the band of leather. The end of the
band of leather having been pushed into contact with the stop plate r the left hand
is pressed upon the button of whereby the shaft is caused to turn in its bearings
the two levers o and o¹ noving in unison and drawing downward the two links n, n.
The bowls m upon these links are by the concerted movements of the two levers
drawn downward thereby pressing outward or separating the lever arms b³ and c²
whereby the clamps b and c are caused to press upon the leather. It will be seen
that owing to the positions of the fulcra of the two clamps the clamp o will be
caused to press downward only and to tightly hold the leather whereas the clamp b
will have a motion away from the clamp c as well as downward. This has a
drawing effect upon the leather so that the portion extending between the two
clamps is tightened and caused to lie smooth and flat upon the table. The pro-
jection upon the carriage h is now grasped with the right hand the other hand
continuing to hold down the lever of and the said carriage is drawn across the
machine the point of the knife passing through the leather and severing it with an
inclined cut as clearly indicated in Fig: 3. To permit the point of the knife to
pass completely through the leather a groove is cut across the table and the point
of the knife enters this groove. The groove however may be dispensed with. The
leather is then released by discontinuing the pressure upon the lever o' and the cut
strip is removed. The leather may now be pushed forward against the stop and
the next strip be cut by a return movement of the knife or the carriage may be
returned to the far side of the machine before pushing forward the leather as
preferred. Before cutting the first strip off a long band of leather a slice is first cut
off the end of the said band which end is thrust just up to or a little beyond the
groove in the table so that a beveled end is produced. The succeeding cuts leave
the strips with both edges beveled as in the case of d¹ in Fig: 3. Fig: 4 illustrates
one of the modifications which may be made in the apparatus the object being to
render adjustable the angle of the cut of the knife. The knife carrier i is formed
in two parts the knife being directly secured to the part which is hinged to the
part i which is secured to the carriage h. The part i¹ can be set at a varying angle

page_text: with relation to the part i as indicated by the dotted and full lines and secured in
the required position by means of a bolt. Other modifications may be made so long
as the knife carried by a sliding part so as to maintain a constant angle of cut is
caused to move in a straight line across the leather and to sever the leather by an
inclined cut so as to produce the beveled edges on the strip.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare what
I claim is
1. The combination of parts constructed, arranged and acting substantially as
and for the purpose set forth and indicated.
2. In apparatus for cutting strips of leather having beveled edges attaching the
knife to a carriage which is mounted to slide in a straight line the knife being
arranged and adjusted to sever a strip of leather with an inclined cut so as to form
the required beveled edges in the severing operation substantially as and for the
purpose set forth and indicated.
3. In apparatus for cutting strips of leather for covering rollers the two clamps
for pressing down the leather upon a table or bed in combination with an inclined
knife which is guided in a straight line across the leather the whole acting
substantially as set forth and indicated.