IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TREATING HIDES, SKINS, AND LEATHER
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Meredith Jones, of Oteley House, Wrexham,
in the County of Denbighshire, North Wales, for the Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TREATING HIDES, SKINS, AND LEATHER.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Meredith Jones
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 23rd October 1875.
I, JOHN MEREDITH JONES, of Oteley House, Wrexham, in the County
of Denbighshire, North Wales, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TREATING HIDES, SKINS, AND
LEATHER," to be as follows :-
These improvements relate to a machine for fleshing, scudding or
cleansing, striking out or slicking, skiving, unhairing, laying out,
sizing or covering with a liquid, finishing or glazing hides, skins, and
leather, as may be necessary, within the meaning of the several terms,
which are well known and understood among hide, skin, and leather
dressers.

page_text: For the purposes aforementioned I construct a frame and set therein
two rollers parallel to and revolving from each other in contrary
directions. On the face of these rollers I place thin projecting strips of
metal, cach strip running spirally and in an opposite direction from the
middle of the roller face towards each end. These spiral face rollers as
well as their driving gear are arranged so as to be raised vertically whilst
running by means of a weighted lever or other suitable contrivance,
whilst the spiral face rollers themselves are brought into contact with
the hide, skin, or leather by means of a treadle or its mechanical
equivalent, or I reverse the arrangement by causing the spiral face
rollers to come in contact with the endless band by means of the
weighted lever, and to be raised vertically by the treadle or other like
mechanical equivalent. Between the two spiral face rollers are set
four smaller rollers, three of them acting as retaining and travelling
rollers, and the fourth as a brush rollor or "picker."
In connection with the spiral face, retaining, travelling, and brush
rollers are drums or other rollers for the purpose of carrying and
cleaning an endless band. The cleansing roller is faced with a brush or
other suitable contrivance.
"
In a modification of my Invention I add other rollers in connection
with the endless band to act as wringers or pressers, as well as
brushes or rollers, to serve as distributors of any liquid matter or
substance to the skin or leather to be treated. In addition I suspend,
when necessary, a vessel, over the endless band, containing liquid for
distribution. The whole of the various rollers are suitably set in the
frame, and are driven by means of gear well known for such purposes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Meredith Jones in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th March 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN 30
MEREDITH JONES, of Oteley House, Wrexham, in the County of
Denbighshire, North Wales, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Lotters Patent bearing date the Twenty-third day of October in the

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said John Meredith Jones, Her special
licence that I, the said John Meredith Jones, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Meredith Jones,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR TREATING HIDES, SEINS, AND LEATHER,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Meredith
Jones, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Meredith Jones, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say :-
These improvements relate to a machine for fleshing, scudding or
cleansing, striking out or slicking, skiving or frizing, unbairing,
laying out, sizing or covering with a liquid, finishing or glazing hides,
skins, or leather, as may be necessary within the meaning of the several
terms which are well known and understood among hide, skin, and
leather dressers.
For the purposes before mentioned I construct a frame and set therein
two rollers parallel to and revolving from each other in contrary
directions. On the face of these rollers I place thin projecting strips of
metal, cach strip running spirally, and in an opposite direction from the
middle of the roller face towards each end. These spiral face rollers as
well as their driving gear are arranged so as to be raised vertically
whilst running by means of a weighted lever or suitable contrivance,

page_text: whilst the spiral face rollers themselves are brought into contact with
the hide, skin, or leather, by means of a treadle or its mechanical
equivalent, or I reverse the arrangement by causing the spiral face
rollers to come in contact with the endless band by means of the
weighted lever, and to be raised vertically by the treadle or other like
mechanical equivalent. Between the two spiral face rollers are set four
smaller rollers, three of them acting as retaining and travelling rollers,
and the fourth as a brush roller or picker.
In connection with the spiral face retaining roller and the travelling
and brush rollers are drums or other rollers for the purpose of carrying
and cleansing an endless band. The cleansing rollers are faced with a
brush or other suitable contrivance.
In a modification of my Invention I add other rollers in connection
with the endless band to act as wringers or pressers as well as brushes,
or rollers to serve as distributors of any liquid matter or substance to
the skin or leather to be treated. In addition I suspend when necessary
a vessel over the endless band containing liquid for distribution. The
whole of the various rollers are set in a frame, and are driven by means
of suitable gearing well known for such purposes.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in all the corresponding Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings is a longitudinal section on line X, X,
my improved machine for treating hides, skins, or leather.
of
Figure 2 is a corresponding plan of the same; a, a, a, is a frame
constructed to carry the various rollers and gearing; 6 and 6' are two
rollers having thin projecting strips of metal arranged spirally on their
faces, each strip running spirally and in opposite directions from the
middle part of the roller face towards each end. These said rollers
6 and 6' are so arranged that they may together with their driving gear
be raised out of contact with the endless band by means of the
weighted lever c, the lever c being so constructed in this arrangement
that the application of the workman's foot to the treadle board d raises
the weight box e, and causes the rollers 6 and to be brought into

page_text: contact with the endless band f; but I also contemplate so arranging
the lever c or its equivalent mechanical device that the application of
the workman's foot or other force shall raise the rollers and b' out of
contact with the endless band, while they may be brought into contact
by means of suitably arranged weights on the removal of the opposing
force. The vertical movement of the rollers 6 and 6', and consequent
pressure on the endless band f, f, is governed by the set of screws g, g',
which are adjustable and regulate the travel of the end of the lever c,
while the adjustable set screws 1, h', acting on the ends of the vertical
pieces i, ¹, carrying the spiral rollers 6 and 6' give a means of adjusting
the vertical height of the rollers, so as to cause them to press more or
less on the endless band f. Between the rollers and 6' are placed
three rollers j,j, and acting as retaining and travelling rollers, the
upper one being adjustable between the other two, j and j', which are
fixed by means of the set screw 1, and one brush roller or picker m, also
adjustable by means of a set screw. f,f, is an endless band carried on
two drums and o, the drum being adjustable by means of the set
screw p for the purpose of stretching the band tightly. The drum o is
caused to revolve, and consequently to move the endless band ƒ by
means of the gear wheels 2 and 3, which are driven by the main driving
shaft 6. Cleansing rollers 1 and 2' are provided, faced with brushes or
other suitable devices, and caused to revolve in contact with the inner
and outer surfaces of the endless band f, f, for the purpose of cleansing
it from any impurities which may adhere to it.
In an extended arrangement of my improved machine I add pressure
rollers and 8, between which the endless band f travels, carrying with
it any skins or hides which it is required to press or wring; the upper
roller is carried in moveable bearings which are pressed downwards
towards the roller 8 by india-rubber springs or buffers t, t, the
compression of which can be regulated by set screws.
A picking
roller
r
is added for the purpose of preventing the skin adhering to the
roller r.
If it be necessary to size or color the skin I further extend my
machine by adding distributing rollers and to similarly adjustable to
the pressing rollers and 8, and a vessel x containing colour, size, or
other liquid matter, and carrying rollers y and z, which feed the said
matter from the vessel to the distributing roller t, the said roller z
being so arranged that it may be thrown into or out of contact with the
roller
at the will of the operator for the purpose of stopping the

page_text: supply of color or size when it is not required; a picking roller u' is also
provided for the purpose of preventing the skin adhering to the roller v.
Motion is given to the whole of the rollers from the main driving
shaft 6, which is itself driven by a belt running on the fast and loose
pulleys 4 and 5. The roller 6 is driven by a belt from the pulley 7
fastened to the main driving shaft 6. The shafts of the rollers and b
are connected together by spur wheels, and are thus driven in opposite
directions; all other rollers are driven directly from the main driving
shaft by the arrangements of spur and bevel geared wheels shewn on tho
Drawings.
In the annexed Sheet of Drawings the machine is shewn containing
all the parts necessary for the purposes of fleshing, scudding, or
cleansing, frizing, unhairing, laying out, sizing or covering with a
liquid, finishing or glazing hides, skins, or leather, as may be necessary,
but it is evident that according to the use to which the skin is to be
applied, it may be removed from the endless band at any part of the
process, that is, either immediately after passing under the spiral
rollers and b¹ and before entering between the presser rollers 7 and 8,
or it may be allowed to travel between the presser rollers and removed
before reaching the coloring or sizing rollers and 10, or where the
machine is only required for one or two of the purposes mentioned it
may be shortened by removing either or both of the sets of rollers »
and 8, or v, w, y, z, the driving drum o being then placed in the position
of the rollers & or to respectively, as may be required.
The action of the machine is as follows:-Motion being given to the
various rollers and the endless band I place on such endless band a
skin or hide to be operated on; the skin or hide travels forward on the
band until it reaches the retaining roller k, when by means of the
treadle d and lever c, the spiral rollers 6 and 6' are brought into contact
with the skin, and such pressure given to the rollers 6 and 6' by the
operator as may be necessary to perform the operations already
enumerated; these spiral faced rollers b and revolving in contrary
directions extend the skin in every direction and perform the various
operations of fleshing, scudding, or cleansing, striking out or slicking,
frizing, unhairing, and laying out. If the further operations enumerated
are required to be performed upon the skin, it is allowed to travel
forward on the endless band between the presser rollers and 8, and
also between the sizing and coloring rollers and w.

page_text: Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention to
be secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
is,―
First. The spiral faced rollers revolving in contrary directions in
combination with other rollers and an endless band, substantially as and
for the purpose herein-before described and illustrated.
Second. The mounting the spiral faced rollers in a moveable frame so
that they may be brought into or thrown out of contact with hides or
skins carried on an endless band, substantially as and for the purpose
hercin-before described and illustrated.
Third. The combination with the spiral faced rollers and endless band
of other rollers for the purposes of pressing, and also for distributing
sizing or coloring matter to hides or skins, substantially as and for the
purpose herein-before described and illustrated.
In witness whercof, I, the said John Meredith Jones, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.
Witness,
ROB. S. JONES,
8, Erddig Terrace,
Wrexham,
Clerk.
JOHN MEREDITH JONES. (L.S.)