IMPROVEMENTS IN MA- CHINERY FOR ROLLING OR POLISHING LEATHER
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Josiah Vavasseur, of 28, Gravel Lane, Southwark,
in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MA-
CHINERY FOR ROLLING OR POLISHING LEATHER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Josiah Vavasseur at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th September 1860.
I, JOSIAH VAVASSEUR, of 28, Gravel Lane, Southwark, in the County of
Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING OR POLISHING LEATHER," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists of a carriage which is provided with a roller or rollers
for rolling and polishing the hide or butt, being travelled to and fro. alternately
in a longitudinal direction over a table on which the hide or butt is placed, by
means of a rope of steel or iron wire, or hemp, or leather, or by means of a
chain or band directly attached to each end of the carriage. Over the table,
supported on suitable standards, is a guide frame resembling an inverted lathe
bed, forming a guide in which can travel the carriage.
The rope,
chain or band attached: as before stated to the carriage, is passed
round the entire or partial circumference of a pulley or drum. situated at each
extremity of the machine, and attached thereto by suitable framework, so that
it forms, in connexion with the travelling carriage, an endless rope, chain, or
band. The requisite tension is given to the rope, chain, or band by means of
a guide or pressure pulley placed beneath the framework of the machine, and
so constructed that it may be raised and lowered between two sliding cheeks,

page_text: according to the degree of tension desired, in order to prevent the liability of
slip round the pullies; or the same object may be attained by passing the
rope, chain, or band one or more times round a smaller pulley, drum, or barrel,
so that one end will uncoil while the other is wound up.
The peculiarity of my travelling or traversing carriage may be thus
explained-Instead of being pressed down loaded or weighted by weights,
placed in a box directly above the carriage as hitherto done, a series of levers
or links receive the required pressure by a weight applied at the extremity of
a lever placed horizontally above the carriage. The object of this is to enable
the weight to yield, in case any foreign object or substance should present
itself beneath the roller, as well as to render the hide or butt of an uniform
texture throughout. The pressure produced by the combination of levers or
links and weights as described, may also be produced by means of a spring or
springs acting on the one part against the under side of the guide frame, and
on the other against the travelling or traversing carriage, or it may be pro-
duced by means of india-rubber, or a similar elastic substance, or by a com-
bination of levers or links and weight with springs, or india-rubber, or other
elastic substance, provided in all cases that each roller is acted upon indepen-
dently and is allowed to move vertically and sideways, so that it will press
with an equal or nearly equal pressure over the whole surface of the butt or
hide, a stop being so arranged that the rollers may be prevented from touching
the table when they run off. the hide or butt. The roller or rollers which roll
or polish the bide or butt I make. of glass, but I do not limit myself to that
material for their construction.
Another feature in my Invention is the gear employed for obtaining the
reciprocating motion of the carriage as well as the amount or degree of travel
deemed necessary.
The reversing of the motion I accomplish by means of a series of pullies,
similar to those applied in the reversing of the tables of planing machines. I
make the pullies round which the rope, chain, or band passes of such a dia-
meter, that one half, or at the most two thirds, of the circumference shall equal
the travel of the carriage, in which case, the rope may be fixed to the pulley
by means of a pin, so that by this arrangement any slip which is liable to arise
when the motion is reversed may be obviated. This reversing motion is
effected by means of levers, forming a connexion between the strap and a hori-
zontally placed rod, so that when the rod is moved in its longitudinal direction
either one way or the other, the motion of the carriage is regulated accord-
ingly. To the carriage are fixed two studs, which, after the termination, of its
travel in either direction, come into contact with plugs or nuts placed at each

page_text: end of the before-named bar or rod, and communicate a slight motion to the
latter, which acting upon the arrangement of the levers, produces the reversing
of the motion. The plugs or nuts situated at each end of the bar or rod
may be simultaneously shifted from or towards the centre of the machine by
an arrangement of triple bevel wheels. The shaft being screwed will of course
produce the displacement of the plugs or nuts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Josiah Vavasseur in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSIAH
VAVASSEUR, of 28, Grave! Lane, Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Josiah Vavasseur, Her special licence that I, the said Josiah Vavasseur,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Josiah
Vavasseur, 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, use, 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 ROLLING OR POLISHING LEATHER," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Josiah Vavasseur, 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 Josiah Vavasseur, 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:
The rolling or polishing of leather has heretofore been accomplished by
means of rollers travelled backwards and forwards over the surface of the butt
or hide by hand power, the requisite pressure being given to the rollers by

page_text: means of weights placed in a box directly over the rollers and attached thereto..
Machinery has also been devised in which steam power is directly employed
through the intervention of steam cylinders, forming an integral part of the
machine.
The object of my Invention is to supersede the necessity for employing
hand power for directly actuating the rollers, and at the same time to construct
a machine for the purpose of effectually rolling or polishing the butt or hide,
which can be actuated by either steam, water, hand, or any other motive power,
as may be most convenient to the users thereof, the great advantage being that
the complication and expense caused by the introduction of steam cylinders
and their appurtenances into the machine is avoided, and a really efficient
machine obtained which can be worked, as before stated, by either steam, hand,
or any other motive power.
My Invention consists of a carriage which is provided with roller or rollers.
for rolling or polishing the butt or hide, being travelled to and fro in a longi-
tudinal direction over a table on which the butt or hide is placed, by means of
a rope of steel or iron wire, or hemp, or leather, or by means of a chain or
band directly attached to each end of the carriage. Over the table supported
on suitable standards is a guide frame resembling an inverted lathe bed form-.
ing a guide, in which can travel the carriage. The rope, chain, or band
attached as before stated to the carriage is passed round the entire or partial
circumference of a pulley or drum situated at each extremity of the machine,
and attached thereto by suitable framework, so that it forms, in connexion
with the travelling carriage, an endless rope, chain, or band. The requisite
tension is given to this rope, chain, or band by means of a guide or pressure
pulley placed beneath the framework of the machine, and so constructed that
it may be raised and lowered between two sliding cheeks, according to
the degree of tension desired, in order to prevent the liability of slip round the
pullies.
The peculiarity of my travelling or traversing carriage may be thus ex-
plained: Instead of being pressed down, loaded or weighted by weights, placed,
in a box directly over the carriage as hitherto done, a series of levers or links
receive the required pressure by a weight applied at the extremity of a lever
placed horizontally above the carriage. The object of this is to enable the
weight to yield in case any foreign object or substance should present itself
beneath the roller, as well as to render the butt or hide of an uniform texture
throughout.
The pressure produced by the combination of levers or links and weight as
described may also be produced by means of a spring or springs acting on the

page_text: one part against the under side of the guide frame, and on the other against
the travelling or traversing carriage; or it may be produced by means of:
india-rubber or a similar elastic substance, or by a combination of levers or
links and weight with springs, or india-rubber or other elastic substance, pro-
vided that in all cases each roller is acted upon independently and is allowed
to move vertically and sideways, so that it will press with an equal or nearly
equal pressure over the whole surface of the butt or hide, a stop being so
arranged that the rollers may be prevented from touching the table when they:
run off the butt or hide. The roller or rollers which roll or polish the butt or
hide I make of glass, but I do not limit myself to that material for their:
construction.
Another feature in my Invention is the gear employed for obtaining the '
reciprocating motion of the carriage as well as the amount or degree of travel.
deemed necessary. The reversing of the motion I accomplish by means of a
series of pullies, similar to those applied in the reversing of the tables of:
planing machines. I make the pullies round which the rope, chain, or band:
passes of such a diameter that one half or at the most, two thirds of the cir-:
cumference shall equal the travel of the carriage, in which case the rope,:
chain, or band may be fixed to the pulley by means of a pin, so that by this
arrangement any slip which is liable to arise when the motion is reversed may
be obviated. This reversing motion is effected by means of levers forming a:
connexion between the strap or band, and a horizontally placed rod, so that:
when the rod is moved in its longitudinal direction, either one way or the other,:
the motion of the carriage is regulated accordingly. To the carriage are fixed;
two studs, which, after the termination of its travel in either direction, come
into contact with plugs or nuts placed at each end of the before-named bar or
rod, and communicate a slight amount of motion to the latter, which acting:
upon the arrangement of the levers, produces the reversing of the motion. The
plugs or nuts situated at each end of the bar or rod may be simultaneously?
shifted from or towards the centre of the machine by an arrangement of triple.
bevel wheels. The shaft being screwed, will of course produce the displace-:
ment of the plugs or nuts.
In order that my Invention may be clearly understood, I have appended to>
this. Specification Drawings, which I now proceed to describe, and in which
the letters of reference on each view indicate corresponding parts of the
machinery employed..
Figure 1 is a side elevation; Figure 2, a plan of my improved machinery for
rolling and polishing leather; and Figures 3, 4, and 5 are views to an enlarged.
scale of my improved travelling or traversing carriage.
:

page_text: To the uprights or frames a, a, is secured a timber sleeper supporting the
table upon which the butt or hide is laid for undergoing the process of
rolling or polishing. Immediately above the table are sustained the two guide
frames c, c, presenting the form of inverted lathe beds. These guide frames or
cheeks are likewise supported at each end by the upright a, a, above men-
tioned, and serve for the guidance of the carriage d. In order to render' the
butt or hide throughout of an equal and uniform texture, the carriage is not
loaded (as has been done hitherto in machinery for this purpose) by a direct
weight, but by a load acting at the end of the lever e, as shewn more clearly
in Figure 3. It will be perceived that by this contrivance, in case any grit or
other foreign substance should present itself under the rollers, the weight will
be raised, and thus impart more uniformity to the butt or hide.
The carriage
c is moved reciprocally over the butt or hide by means of a band or rope of
steel or iron wire, or hemp, leather, or of any other suitable material. This
rope, chain, or band f,f, is attached at each end of the carriage c, and passed
at each end of the machine over a grooved pulley g, to one of which pullies
a reciprocating motion is given by machinery, which will be described
hereafter.
The band or strap f.f, may be coiled once; twice, or more times round these
pullies, in order to obviate the slip which might be caused by the sudden alter-
ation in the direction of these rotations. I prefer, however, merely to pass the
rope, chain, or band f.f, over a part of the periphery of the pullies g. 9,
making the latter at the same time of such dimensions that only one half or
at the utmost two-thirds of their revolutions is sufficient to produce the motion
in either direction. In order to prevent the gliding or slip of the rope, chain,
or band in this case, I propose to fix the aforesaid rope, chain, or band by
means of a pin or stud to the pullies in a permanent manner.
To impart the necessary tension to the rope, chain, or band f,f, I propose
to pass it over a third roller h, which serves on the one part as a guide, and
on the other as a means for tightening the rope, chain, or band ff. The
spindle of this roller h rests in moveable bearings, constructed to slide between
suitable cheeks, by which contrivance the tension of the rope, chain, or band
can be adjusted as may be desired; or the same object may be attained by
passing the rope, chain, or band one or more times round a smaller pulley,
drum, or barrel, so that one end will uncoil while the other is wound up.
The groved pullies g, g, are supported by bearings, fixed likewise to the
upright frames a, a, thus giving a great compactness to the whole machine.
Reciprocating motion is imparted to the driving pullies by sets of ordinary fast
and loose pullies, similar to those used for giving motion to planing machines.

page_text: These pullies may be worked by steam or hand power, according to convenience.
The contrivance for reversing the machine (which may be made either self-
acting or to be worked by hand) as well as its adjustment is as follows:-A
series of small brackets fixed to one of the guide frames c, c, supports a bar or
rod k. To the moveable carriage d, d, are fixed two little lugs or snugs, which,
after the termination of the motion of the said carriage in either direction, come
into contact with corresponding screwed snugs or nuts which are placed on
the bar k, and shift the same either forwards or backwards. One end of the
rod or bar k is connected by means of a link to a bell crank m, which being
moved, act on the sliding bar n, for displacing the strap driving the machine
from one pulley to another. In order to facilitate the adjustment of the travel
of the carriage d, I have introduced a series of small mitre wheels o, o, o, which
being turned, shift the nuts (acted upon by the snugs on the carriage d), by
virtue of the screwed rod, either to or from the centre, thus adjusting the
stroke or travel as circumstances may require.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I claim the travelling or traversing of the
carriage in the guide frames or inverted lathe beds by means of a rope, chain,
or band attached thereto, in the manner shewn and described; the improved
travelling or traversing carriage loaded or weighted by means of the lever or
weight, or by means of springs, as herein-before described, and the combination
of the above arrangements with the gear for producing the reciprocating
motion, as herein described, for the purpose of constructing machinery for the
rolling or polishing of leather.
I claim also the substitution, where desirable, of a glass roller in the travel-
ling or traversing carriage for the metal rollers ordinarily employed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Josiah Vavasseur, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of March, One thousand eight.
hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
EDWIN DONN.
JOSIAH VAVASSEUR. (L.s.)