CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER, PART OR PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, THOMAS
KEASLEY, of Bermondsey, in the County of Surrey, Tanner, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Iler
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Eleventh day of January, in the eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, tlie
said Thomas Keasley, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Thomas Keasley, my executors, adñiors, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said Thomas Keasley, my executors, administrators,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time.
and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER, PART OR PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Thomas Keasley, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of ny said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately

page_text: after the dato of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Keasley, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of improvements in the manufacture of leather consists in
the construction and employment of certain apparatus, whereby the operation
of tauning hides may be more conveniently, advantageously, and ellectually
carried on than upon the ordinary plan. It is well known to all tanners
that the quality and weight of leather is much improved and increased by
occasionally removing the hides or skins from the liquor, and exposing them for
a short time to the action of the atmosphere. The ordinary plan of doing this
is by pulling the hides or skins one by one out of the pit by manual labour, with
the assistance of a hooked instrument for the purpose. This operation takes.
considerable time, and when the hides are large is a very laborious occupation.
Now the object of my Invention is the employment of a machine or
apparatus whereby a much better result may be arrived at, and at the same
time the operation of tanning will be shortened, the labour considerably
diminished, and the weight of the leather increased. The apparatus consists
of a square, rectangular, or other conveniently shaped frame, from which the
The
hides or skins are suspended vertically in any convenient manner.
dimensions of the framing from which the hides or skins are suspended must
of course correspond with the size of the pit, so that the frame belonging to
cach pit, and with it the hides or skins, or parts of hides or skins, may be raised
or lowered at the discretion of the attendant or attendants. Each of theso
frames containing the hides or skins, or parts of hides or skins, is distinct and
separate, and may be raised and lowered separately by manual labour with the
assistance of a windlass, if required; but I find that it is advisable to connect
two contiguous frames together, so as to make them counterbalance each other,
and thus considerably diminish the labor of working them. A variety of
means may be devised of carrying this idea into effect, but I have shown in
the accompanying Drawings several plans, which will be found fully to answer
the purpose.
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation, and Fig. 2 an end elevation, of one plan
in which the frames a, a, a, a, filled with hides or skins, or parts of hides or
skins b, b, are suspended from the extremities of a vibrating beam or lever c, c,

page_text: by means of chains or cords d, d. The tan pits or vats e, e, are shown in
section in both these Figures. The beam or lever c, c, is mounted at fin
bearings firmly fixed in the framing g, g, for that purpose, and is worked up
and down by micans of chains or cords h, h, which pass round a windlass or
barrel i, i, below; and are fastened at either end to the extremities of the
vibrating beam. On the axle of the windlass or barrel is mounted a toothed
wheel j, seen by dots in Fig. 1, and is driven by a pinion k, which is fixed ori
the shaft, and is actuated by applying power to the said shaft by means of a
winch or otherwise. It will now be understood that as the pinion ; too:hed
wheel j, and barrel or windlass i, i, are made to revolve, that one end of the
beam or lever c, c, will be raised, and the opposite end depressed by one of the
ropes passing over and the other under the barrel or windlass, and by this
means one frame of hides or skins will be lifted out of the tan liquor, while
the hides or skins on the opposite one are totally immersed. This operation
may be reversed by merely turning the winch in the opposite direction, when
the frame that was immersed will be raised, and that one which was clevated
and exposed to the atmosphere will be lowered into the liquor. The ascent
and descent of the frames is assisted by the forked guides m, m (see Fig. 2),
which work against the vertical guide rods n, n. At night, or at other times
when it is necessary that the hides or skins on both frames should be immersed,
this object is easily effected by unlooking from the suspending chains or
ropes d, d, by means of the book r, the frame that is already immersed, and
then allowing the other frame to descend into the liquor, which it will easily
do by its own weight. When one of the frames is raised, it is kept elevated
by merely placing a leather or wooden block between the teeth of the toothed
wheel and pinion k, and thereby preventing them from revolving. This stop
fully answers the purpose, and I find it more convenient than a pall and ratchet
wheel.
Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of another plan of carrying out the
counterbalance principle. In this plan the vibrating beam c, c, is suppressed,
and the suspending cords or chains d, d, and the working cords or chains h, h,
are united together, and form the cords or chains o, o, which pass over
pullies p, p, at the outer extremities of the standards g, g, and down between
the two other pullies q, q, and wind the barrel or windlass i, i, as in the former
instance. If, however, it is thought more desirable the pullies p, p, and 7, 7,
may be attached to a beam, or the ceiling above, instead of to the standards g. y.
The barrel i is furnished with a toothed wheel j, and is driven by a pinion k,
precisely in the manner already explained in reference to Figures 1 and 2,
and therefore no further explanation will be necessary.

page_text: In Fig. 4, Sheet II., I have shewn a means of raising the frames containing
the hides or skins one at a time. In this case the pullies are fastened as
before mentioned to a beam above, the windlass or barrel being placed below..
Fig. 5 represents another plan of raising the frames. In this instance
several frames, with the hides or skius suspended vertically, may be raised at
one time, but not upon the counterbalance principle. The frames with the
hides or skins are raised by means of a rope or cord s, s, s, s, which passes
over pullies t, t, t, t, affixed to a strong beam u, u, u, above. One end of the
ropes, s, is firmly fixed to the beam, as seen in the Drawing, and the other
end is passed over the pullies t, t, and round a windlass at the other
extremity of the beam. The suspension cords of the frames are furnished with
a pulley or block v, v, constructed in such a manner that it may with facility
be hooked on to or detached from the ropes, s, according to whether it be
required to raise the frames containing the skins or hides, or parts of skins
or hides, out of the tan liquor, or to allow them to remain immersed. It will
be found most convenient to raise only one half the number of frames at one
time, leaving the remainder in the tan liquor. In order to do this I bring
down the ropes, 8, to every other frame, and hook the pullies v, v, on to the
rope, then by turning the windlass or barrel, and causing the rope s, s, to
become coiled thereon, the frames with the hides or skins or parts of hides or
skins suspended therefrom, will be raised out of the pits, as shewn in the
Drawing, the other frames which are not attached to the ropes remaining
immersed. When the first lot of skins or hides have been exposed for a
sufficient length of time to the atmosphere, the frames are lowered into the
liquor again, where they are allowed to remain by unhooking the pullies v, v.
which connect them to the rope s, s, and those which were before immersed
are now to be raised by hooking them in their turn by means of their pullies
v, v, on to the rope s, s. If thought desirable the counterbalance principle may
be applied to this arrangement or plan of raising and lowering the frames by
merely employing an additional ropes, s, passed over pullies, exactly similar to
the one shewn in the Drawing. One end of this rope also would be firmly
attached to the end of the beam u, u, and the opposite end to the windlass or
barrel; or instead of two ropes one only may be employed by having it of
sufficient length to pass from the end of the beam u over the pullies t, t, round
the windlass, back again over similar pullies t, t, to the end of the beam, so as
to present a double rope, to one part of which the three frames I, 3, 5, would
be suspended while the other frames 2, 4, 6, would be suspended from the
other rope.
Now, if a double rope s is employed there will be no necessity to
detach the frames from the ropes.; the pullies u, v, are merely made to run

page_text: freely on the said ropes, and are not required to be constructed so as to hook
on as above mentioned. It will now be understood that if the counterbalance
principle is carried out in this manner, one set of frames will be elevated while
the others are immersed, and the action of lowering one set will raise the other;
that is, when the windlass is unwinding the rope to lower one set, it is at the
same time winding up the other rope, and thereby raising those frames con-
nected with it.
Fig. 6 represents another plan of raising the frames. In this plan I make
use of a travelling windlass, which may be made to travel along a railway or
floor constructed on the top of the beam u, u, above the frames. When it is
required to raise a frame with its skins or hides, the windlass is moved along
the railway or floor to immediately above the frame, then a rope with a hook
at the end is let down to the frame, which is then attached thereto. The
frame is then raised up by means of the windlass until the skins are
drawn out of the liquid and are completely exposed to the atmosphere;
the frame is then suspended from a hook we, firmly fastened to the beam u,
where it remains until the manufacturer thinks it advisable to immerse
the hides or skins again. Having raised one frame up and suspended it
from the hook w, the attendant releases the rope belonging to the windlass, and
proceeds along the floor or railway with the windlass to another frame, which
le raises and suspends from its hook w in the same way. When it is required
to lower the frames and their hides or skins into the liquor, this must be done
by means of the windlass in exactly the same manner.
I would here observe, that although in the foregoing description I have only
described my improved apparatus in connection with or as applied to the
manufacture of leather, still it will be evident that the apparatus may be also
applied to other purposes in which it is required to raise the materials
occasionally out of the liquor, so as to expose them to the atmosphere. I
intend to employ an apparatus of the description above shewn to dyeing
various fabrics, with such modifications as this particular process will require,
and which will readily suggest themselves to the mind of any intelligent
manufacturer or mechanic.
Having now described my Invention, and the best and most convenient
means with which I am acquainted of carrying the same into effect, I wish
it to be understood that I do not intend to confine myself exclusively to either
of the above-described plans, as other means may doubtless be employed with-
out departing from the nature of my Invention. But that which I consider to
be new, and therefore wish to claim under the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, is,-

page_text: First, suspending hides and skins vertically, and other substances, to
movable frames, which may be raised out of or lowered into the tan liquor
in any convenient manner.
Secondly, I claim the peculiar modes above described of raising and lowering
the said frames, and more especially those plans in which one frame is made
to balance another, and thereby reduce the labor of working the frames.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Keasley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.