Improvements in Rotary Polishers.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 14th May, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Aug., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 7th Sept., 188
Improvements in Rotary Polishers.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark, of
53, Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication to me from
abroad by The Zucker & Levett Chemical Company (Incorporated) of the City,
County, and State of New York, United States of America) to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to rotary polishers or polishing wheels composed of chamois
leather, cloth, or other suitable yielding material, adapted to be secured to an arbor
and revolved thereby. Heretofore, such polishers have been made of superposed sheets
or discs of the material, each disc cut to the same area as the completed wheel, and as
a large number of discs are required for a single wheel, it follows that much expense
is involved in the production of the wheel owing to the unused portions cut at
away
the centre and corners of each disc.
This Invention has for its object to enable a polishing wheel of this class to be made
from small waste scraps or fragments of material, thereby effecting a considerable
saving in expense, and utilizing material that would otherwise be wasted, and also to
produce a polisher which shall be practically of uniform strength around its entire
circumference, a result not attainable with wheels formed, as above described, of
superposed full sized discs owing to the continuous change in the direction of the grain
around the peripheries of the several discs.
In forming the polisher, waste scraps or fragments of chamois leather, felt, or other
suitable yielding material of small size (the shape being immaterial) are superposed to
form a pile of any desired thickness, the scraps being arranged to radiate or diverge
from a common central area. In arranging the scraps, care should be taken to make
the pile as nearly as possible of uniform thickness; but in order to enable the scraps
to be secured together at their inner ends they may have to be overlapped at the outer
ends, so that the pile may be somewhat thicker at the central portion than at its
margin. These scraps are connected firmly together at the central portion of the pile,
by any suitable means, preferably by means of glue or cement; the inner ends of the
scraps being saturated or coated with such material and then subjected to a very strong

page_text: pressure until the coated portions are compressed sufficiently to reduce the extra
thickness at the centre of the pile caused by the overlapping inner ends of the scraps,
the central part of the pile being made, if desired, thinner than the surrounding
portions. When the glue or cement hardens, the central portion of the pile becomes
in effect a rigid homogeneous mass leaving the outer ends of the scraps free.
central perforation is made in the pile to receive an arbor, either by arranging the
scraps around a mandrel in forming the pile or punching or boring the pile after
the scraps are united. The pile is trimmed to a circular form after the scraps are
united.
A
It is preferred to place single discs or pieces upon opposite sides of the pile, said
pieces being of the same area as the pile and keeping the outer scraps from lateral
displacement. A similar disc or piece may also be placed in the centre of the pile if
desired. It is also preferred to place collars or washers of stiff pasteboard or other
comparatively rigid material, upon the outer side of the pile, said collars, as well as
the dises, having perforations to coincide with the central orifice, and being united to
the pile by glue or other means used for securing the scraps together. If desired, the
scraps may be connected by stitches passed through and through the pile a number of
times. The glue or cement is preferred, because it unites the scraps most securely,
dampens the scraps, and thus enables them to be compressed to a greater degree than
they could be if dry, and it retains the pile in its compressed condition when it (the
glue or cement) hardens.
In a modification of the invention, the polisher is built up of a number of sections
or sectors which are cut from the material of which the wheel is to be made. The
sectors may be attached to a spider or rounded piece of material out of which the
sections have been cut, and which is formed with a central hole to receive the arbor
on which it is to be mounted. The sectors may be fastened to the spider by rivets, or
by folding them and securing together by a wire fastener.
A convenient way of attaching the sectors in position, would be to take two round
pieces of metal of suitable diameter, lay the sectors between them and then rivet
through the whole pile, providing a central hole for the arbor. If desired full-sized
pieces of the material may be placed on the outside of the outer sectors, to give a
finished appearance to the wheel, and rows of stitching may be run around the central
portion to unite the whole, as before described. By this latter construction and
arrangement, I am enabled to make a wheel which will be of substantially uniform
strength around its entire circumference for, as is apparent, the outer circumferential
edge of each piece cuts on the same line of the material. The sectors may be cut from
scraps or fragments of the material, if desired, and in any case there is no waste. The
polisher may be fastened on the rotary arbor between washers or flanges, in the usual
way.
A. MELVILLE CLARK.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London,
Patent Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rotary Polishers.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark, of
53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication to me from
abroad by The Zucker and Levett Chemical Company (Incorporated) of the City,
County, and State of New York, United States of America) and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :--
This Invention relates to rotary polishers or polishing wheels composed of chamois-
leather, cloth, or other suitable yielding material adapted to be secured to an arbor
and revolved thereby. Heretofore, such polishers have been made of superposed
sheets or discs of the material, each disc cut to the same area as the completed wheel,
and as a large number of discs are required for a single wheel it follows that much
expense is involved in the production of the wheel owing to the unused portions cut
away at the centre and corners of each disc..
This Invention has for its object to enable a polishing wheel of this class to be made
from small waste scraps or fragments of material thereby effecting a considerable
saving in expense, and utilizing material that would otherwise be wasted and also to
produce a polisher which shall be practically of uniform strength around its entire
circumference, a result not attainable with wheels formed, as above described, of
superposed full-sized discs owing to the continuous change in the direction of the grain
around the peripheries of the several discs.
The Invention consists of a polisher formed substantially as hereinafter described
and as distinctly pointed out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specifi-
cation, in which figure 1 is a side elevation of a rotary polisher embodying the
invention. Figure 2 is a side elevation of the said polisher without the outer dise
and collar shewn in figure 1. Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the polisher as
shewn in, and on the line x-x of, figure 1. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the
same as shewn in, and on the line y-y of, figure 2. Figure 5 represents a piece of
material marked to shew how it is to be cut to form a modified form of the improved
polisher; and figure 6 is a side elevation of a polisher thus formed. Similar letters of
reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.
In forming the polisher illustrated in figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, waste scraps or frag-
ments of chamois leather, felt, or other suitable yielding material of small size (the
shape being immaterial) are taken. These scraps are superposed to form a pile of any
desired thickness, the scraps being arranged to radiate or diverge from a common
central area, as shewn in figure 2. In arranging the scraps, care should be taken to
make the pile as nearly as possible of uniforin thickness, but in order to enable the
scraps to be secured together at their inner ends, they may have to be overlapped at
the outer ends so that the pile may be somewhat thicker at the central portion than at
its margin. These scraps-are connected firmly together at the central portion of the

page_text: pile, by any suitable means, preferably by means of glue or cement, the inner ends of
the scraps being saturated or coated with such material, and then subjected to a very
strong pressure until the coated portions are compressed sufficiently to reduce the
extra thickness at the centre of the pile caused by the overlapping inner ends of the
scraps, the central part of the pile being made, if desired, thinner than the surrounding
portions, as shown in figures 3 and 4. When the glue or cement hardens the central
portion of the pile becomes, in effect, a rigid homogeneous mass loaving the outer onds
of the scraps free. A central perforation d is made in the pile, to receive an arbor,
either by arranging the scraps around a mandrel in forming the pile or punching or
boring the pile after the scraps are united. The pile is trimmed to a circular form
after the scraps are united.
It is preferred to place single discs or pieces a a upon opposite sides of the pile, said
pieces being of the same area as the pile and keeping the outer scraps b from lateral
displacement. A similar disc or piece may also be placed in the centre of the pile, if
desired. It is also preferred to place collars or washers c c of stiff paste-board or other
comparatively rigid material, upon the outer side of the pile, said collars as well as the
discs a a having perforations to coincide with the central orifice d and being united to
the pile by glue or other means used for securing the scraps together. If desired, the
scraps may be connected by stitches e passed through and through the pile a number
of times, as shewn in figures 1 and 3. The glue or cement is preferred, because it
unites the scraps most securely, dampens the scraps, and thus enables them to be com-
pressed to a greater degree than they could be if dry, and it retains the pile in its
compressed condition when it (the glue or cement) hardens.
In forming the modified form of polisher shewn in figure 6, the material of which
the wheel is to be made is cut to form sections or sectors, as shewn in figure 5, which
are of such shape that when a number of them are properly placed they may be formed
into what is substantially a complete wheel. The several parts f, shewn in figuro 5,
may be cut again across the middle to form sectors g or they may be folded upon
themselves. The parts at the edge of the material may be disposed, as shewn in
figure 6, to avoid any waste of material. In figure 6, the sectors are shewn attached
to a spider or rounded piece of material out of which sections have been cut and which
is formed with a central hole to receive the arbor on which it is to be mounted. Around
the annular ring of the piece I some of the sectors are shewn fastened by rivets 1, and
one of the sectors by folding it around the annular ring and securing its flaps together
by a wire fastener m. A convenient way of attaching the sectors in position would be
to take two round pieces of metal of suitable diameter, lay the sectors between them,
and then rivet through the whole pile providing a central hole for the arbor. If
desired, full-sized pieces a of the material may be placed on the outside of the outer
sectors, to give a finished appearance to the wheel, and rows of stitching e may be
run around the central portion to unite the whole, as before described.
latter construction and arrangement, I am enabled to make a wheel which will be
of substantially uniform strength around its entire circumference for, as apparent,
the outer circumferential edge of each piece cuts on the same line of the material.
The sectors may be cut from scraps or fragments of the material, if desired, and in any
case there is no waste, as can be seen on inspection of figure 5.
By this
The polisher may be fastened on the rotary arbor between washers or flanges, in
the usual way.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
-
1. An improved rotary polisher having a central arbor-receiving orifice and having
the polishing surface composed of superposed scraps, fragments, or sections of chamois
leather, felt, or other suitable yielding fabric, substantially as described.
2. An improved rotary polisher composed of layers of yielding or flexible material,
such layers being formed of scraps or fragments of such material united together and
adapted to receive a central arbor, substantially as specified.

page_text: 3. An improved rotary polisher consisting of a pile of superposed scraps of yielding
material connected together centrally provided with a central arbor-receiving orifice
and with external discs or single pieces of like material covering the opposite sides
of the pile, and perforated to coincide with the orifice of the latter, substantially as
described.
4. An improved rotary polisher composed of sectors of textile fabric disposed sub-
stantially as described.