IMPROVED MEANS AND ÅPPARATUS FOR DRESSING OR FINISHING LEATHER
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Priestman and Thomas Priestman, of the
Firm of John Priestman and Son, of Preston Brook, in the County
of Chester, Tanners, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS AND
ÅPPARATUS FOR DRESSING OR FINISHING LEATHER”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Priestman and
Thomas Priestman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 2nd June 1870.
We, JOHN PRIESTMAN and THOMAS PRIESTMAN, of the Firm of John
Priestman and Son, of Preston Brook, in the County of Chester,
Tanners, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR DRESSING OR FINISHING LEATHER," to be as
follows:-
It has been usual in the process of finishing skins or pieces of leather
to strike them by means of a pin.
Now the object of our Invention is to dispense with the operation of
striking and in lieu thereof to employ a series of knives arranged upon.

page_text: a drum in a peculiar manner to ensure all parts of the leather being
operated upon in a most efficient manner, and thus produce a better
finish to the skin than heretofore. The knives, which are of steel or
other metal, or of glass or ceramic ware, are of curved form and are
fixed on the periphery of a drum in a diagonal manner in opposite
directions. The inner ends of the two sets break joint with one another,
so that before one knife on one side of the drum which may be acting on
the skin has fairly left it one of the knives on the other side of the drum
is brought into action; thus all parts of the skin are brought under the
knives in their rotation. The drum is narrow so as not to cover too
great a surface of the skin at one time. The skin is moved over or
gainst a table or board covered with metal or other hard material, and
the table or board is adjustable to regulate the degree of pressure the
knives shall exert upon the skin. This is preferably accomplished by a
weighted lever which can be regulated to lift or clear the skin from the
knives, by a foot plate, or treadle, or by any other appliance as found most
desirable. The pressure which the knives exert against the leather
causes it to move slowly over the table as each part is operated upon.
The speed of rotation given to the drum will be governed by the nature
of the skin under treatment.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Priestman and Thomas Priestman in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
PRIESTMAN and THOMAS PRIESTMAN, of the Firm of John Priestman
and Son, of Preston Brook, in the County of Chester, Tanners, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said John Priestman and Thomas Priestman, Her
special licence that we, the said John Priestman and Thomas Priestman,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the
said John Priestman and Thomas Priestman, our executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, 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, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS
FOR DRESSING OR FINISHING LEATHER," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said John Priestman and Thomas Priestman, or one of us,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our, or one of our 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 we, the said John Priestman and Thomas
Priestman, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, referenco
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
It has been usual in the process of finishing skins or pieces of leather
to strike them by means of a pin.
Now the object of our Invention is to dispense with the operation of
striking and in lieu thereof to employ a series of knives arranged upon
a drum in a peculiar manner to ensure all parts of the leather being
operated upon in a most efficient manner, and thus, produce a better
finish to the skin than heretofore. The knives, which are of steel or
other metal, or of glass or ceramic ware, are of curved form and are
fixed on the periphery of a drum in a diagonal manner in opposite
directions, the inner ends of the two sets break joint with one another,.
so that before one knife on one side of the drum which may be acting
on the skin has fairly left it one of the knives on the other side of the
drum is brought into action, thus all parts of the skin are brought
under the knives in their rotation. The drum is narrow so as not to
cover too great a surface of the skin at one time.
over or against a table or board covered with metal or other hard
material, and the table or board is adjustable to regulate the degree of
pressure the knives shall exert upon the skin.
This is preferably
accomplished by a weighted lever, which can be regulated to lift or
clear the skin from the knives by a foot plate or treadle, or by any
The skin is moved

page_text: other appliance as found most desirable. The pressure which the
knives exert against the leather causes it to move slowly over the table
as each part is operated upon. The speed of rotation given to the drum
will be governed by the nature of the skin under treatment.
The manner in which our Invention is carried into effect is represented
in the accompanying Sheets of Drawings, in which the Figures show the
construction of the apparatus as herein-before referred to.
Figure 1 is a side view of the apparatus in its complete form, and
Figure 2 is a front view of the same.
A is the drum, which is made of skeleton form for the sake of light-
ness; it is supported by the central spindle or shaft B, which passes
through the bearings C of the main frame D. The drum is furnished
with a double series of knives E on its periphery, both series being
secured thereon in a diagonal direction, the inner ends slightly over-
lapping each other alternately, so that every part of the skin under the
drum can be acted upon by them. The knives are curved in a portion
of their length, say the inner portion, while the other portion is straight
or nearly so, the working edges of them are chamfered to form a
scraping face or edge, the bases being formed at right angles to enable
them to be bolted or screwed to the drum in the required manner.
The drum is driven by a belt from an overhead pulley or from below in
a similar manner to other machinery or apparatus which acts upon fast
or loose pulleys F, G, as the case may be. The knives as before stated
may be of steel, bell or other metal, or of glass or ceramic ware, and
of any length to correspond with the width of the drum. Directly
under the drum the table is arranged on which the skin to be operated
upon is placed. This table, marked H, is capable of being raised and
lowered at one end only by means of the treadle or foot plate I, which
is centred upon the pin J, and weighted at its opposite end at K, which
weight is principally intended to exert the necessary pressure of the
skin against the knives. The portion of the table under the drum is
covered with a metal plate, or some other material with a hard smooth
surface, to enable the skin to lie flat upon it in as smooth a manner as
possible for the proper action of the knives.
It will be observed in Figure 2 that the width of the table and the
drum is the same, so that the knives act upon the whole of that portion
of the skin which is upon the table, the pressure which the knives exert
being sufficient to move the skin gently along or over it. By this means

page_text: the skin is operated upon by streaks or lines from one end to the other
in succession until the whole of it has been done.
In Figure 2 we have shown the table as fitted with two side flaps or
wings L, and it is upon these that the portions of the skin not being
operated upon are caused to move, the movement being entirely
regulated by the action of the knives as before explained.
Figure 3 is a back end view of the machine.
We wish it to be understood that we do not lay any claim to the
rising and falling action of the table to bring the skin up to the knives
as that has been done before, though not exactly in the same manner.
In other machines the table is lifted bodily and at both ends, whereas in
our Invention we only lift one end of it and that is the end under the
drum; neither do we lay claim to a revolving drum fitted with knives
for dressing or finishing leather, as a drum with continuous spiral knives
has also been used, but what we do consider novel, and desire to claim
under these our Letters Patent is, fixing knives upon a revolving drum,
the knives being of curved form, and so arranged that their inner edges
overlap each other alternately in an opposite direction to act upon the
leather in a more efficient manner than in the machines hitherto
constructed, without in any way restricting ourselves to fixing them at
the exact angles shown in the annexed Drawings.
We also claim the improvement before referred to, of raising a table
at one end only, when such is employed for the dressing and finishing
of skins.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Priestman and Thomas
Priestman, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this First
day of December, One thousand eight hundred and seventy.