Improvements in Machines for the Treatment of Hides or Skins.
Year: 1898

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by THE VAUGHN MACHINE COMPANY, of Portland,
Maine, United States of America, whose principal place of business is at
Peabody, Massachusetts, United States of America.]
Improvements in Machines for the Treatment of Hides or Skins.
I, DAVID YOUNG, Patent Agent, of the Firm of D. Young & Co., of 11 and 12,
Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion 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 a machine or apparatus for working hides and skins,
and is especially adapted among other uses, for acting upon light material, such
as goat and sheep skins.
My present invention has for its object to improve the class of machines referred
to, and more especially provide a simple, efficient and rapid machine, with which
a maximum number of skins may be treated in a given time.
The machine is provided with an operating roll or cylinder, which is automatic
in its action, so that the use of treadles may be dispensed with and the treatment
of the skin expedited, and injury to the skin avoided as will be described.
The machine may and preferably will be provided with an automatic feed for the
work, as will be described. The machine is further provided with a novel clamping
mechanism for the hide or skin, as will be described.
These and other features of this invention will be pointed out in the claim at
the end of this Specification.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation with parts broken out, of a machine embodying this
invention:
Fig. 2, a detail in elevation of the grinding mechanism to be referred to.
Fig. 3, a vertical sectional detail on the line 3-3, Fig. 2.
Fig. 4, a horizontal sectional detail on the line 4-4, Fig. 3.
Fig. 5, a side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1, looking toward the
right.
Fig. 6, a side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1 looking toward the
left.
Fig. 7, a sectional detail on an enlarged scale to more clearly show the clamping
mechanism, the section being taken on the line 7-7, Fig. 1.
Fig. 8, a sectional detail similar to Fig. 7 with the parts-occupying a different
position.
Figs. 9 and 10, details on an enlarged scale to be referred to.
Fig. 11, sectional detail on an enlarged scale taken on the line 11-11, Fig. 7,
the shafts 17, 18 being shown in elevation.
Fig. 12, a letail in side elevation and on an enlarged scale to be referred to.
Fig. 13, a front elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 12.
Fig. 14, a sectional detail on the line 14-14, Fig. 12.
Fig. 15, a detail in rear elevation and on an enlarged scale of the grinder to,
be referred to, and

page_text: Fig. 16, a perspective view on an enlarged scale of the grinder shown in Figs. 2
to 4 inclusive.
The working parts of the machine hereinshown, are supported by a framework,
consisting essentially of side pieces or uprights A A¹ joined together by one or
more tie rods A2, the said uprights being hereinshown as bolted to a suitable
foundation A³.
The side frames or uprights A A¹ support in suitable bearings a shaft a, upon
which is firmly secured the support for the hides or skins of the machine hercin-
shown, preferably segmental work supports a¹ a², provided with suitable radial
arms or ends which are clamped or otherwise fastened to the shaft a.
The segmental work supports a¹ a² are located substantially diametrically
opposite each other, 80 as to leave spaces
or openings between their
edges for the ready insertion and withdrawal of the skins a5 a6. The segmental
supports a a practically form segments or sectors of a drum, and are designed
in the present instance to be continuously revolved, which may be accomplished
as will be described.
This invention has for one of its objects to provide a tool or instrument for
operating upon the hide or skin, which is normally in its operative position with
relation to the work support, and which automatically adjusts itself to the thick-
ness of the hide or skin, thereby dispensing with the use of treadle mechanisms,
which relieves the work of the operator and enables the output or capacity of the
machine to be increased, and which is sensitively supported so as to respond to
slight differences in the thickness of the hide or skin and so as to avoid injurious
action of the said roll due to its weight upon the said hide or skin and especially
upon light skins as will be more specifically described.
In accordance with this feature of my invention, the tool or instrument, pre-
ferably a cylinder or roll a having on its periphery a series of blades a arranged
to suit the particular work required and which in practice frequently weighs
from four to six hundred pounds, is yieldingly supported with relation to the
work support and is normally held close to the said work support, so as to engage
and act on the hide or skin at its thinnest portion, and which automatically yields
to the thicker part of the hide or skin but remains in operative engagement
therewith, as the thicker portion of the hide or skin is carried by the work support
past the operating cylinder or roll, the hide or skin being relieved from injurious
action due to the weight of the roll.
This result may and preferably will be accomplished as hereinshown and as
will now be described.
The operating roll or cylinder a' has its journals a³ (see Figs. 1, 5 and 6) sup-
ported in suitable bearing boxes a0, a13 pivotally and adjustably supported by
screws aa between the arms a5 a6 of yoke-shaped levers a¹7, a18, pivoted as
at a1, a20 to offsets or arms on the side frames A A'. The supporting levers a¹7 18
are pivoted at their lower ends as hereinshown and are vertically arranged, so
that in the normal position of the roll a², it is substantially on a dead center in
a vertical line with the pivots a¹, a20 of the said supporting levers and is thus
sensitively supported and requires substantially little power to move it either side
of its center, for a purpose as will be described.
The operating roll or cylinder a is adjustably and yieldingly held in operative
position with relation to the work support, and this may and preferably will be
accomplished as hereinshown and as will now be described. The levers 7, 118
have pivotally connected to their upper ends, rods a extended substantially
through hollow bosses or cylinders 23 a secured to or forming part of the side
frames A A¹
The rods a preferably extend through the cylinders or hollow bosses a²³ a²
and are encircled within the said cylinders by spiral springs a27, 28 having their
front ends bearing against the front heads of the cylinders, and their rear ends
bearing against collars a25, a retained on said rods by suitable nuts a 50, 51, which
engage the screw-threaded ends of the said rods, and which may be provided

page_text: as hereinshown, with spokes or arms to facilitate turning the said nuts on the
said rods.
The springs a27, a28 are normally compressed, and tend to draw the levers a¹7 a 18
and the operating roll or cylinder a toward the work support, and this movement
may be termed the inward movement of the cylinder or roll. In order to properly
position the operating roll with relation to the drum or work support, so that
the said roll will engage the thinnest portion of the hide or skin, the levers a¹, a18
are provided as hereinshown with set screws or bolts a30, 31, which are extended
through suitably threaded holes in extensions or arms 10, 12 of the said levers,
and which set screws are adapted to engage a fixed portion of the framework,
which is represented as a part of the cylinders 23, 24, the said fixed portion con-
stituting a stop to limit the inward movement of the operating roll. The operating
roll a is adapted to yield automatically as the skin varies in thickness, the thicker
portions of the skin forcing the roll outward away from the support or drum and
compressing the spring a, a, which, as soon as the thick portion of the skin.
passes beyond or out of engagement with the operating roll, expand and move the
cylinder inward, so as to retain it in contact with the thinner portions of the hido
or skin. In this manner, the operating roll automatically adjusts itself to the
thickness of the hide or skin being acted upon. The operating roll supported as
above described, may be used to advantage with other forms of support for the
hide or skin, such, for instance, as a segmental drum adapted to carry but a single
skin and having a continuous or an oscillating rotation, but to increase the capacity
of the machine, the operating roll is preferably employed in connection with a
drum or work support made in two segments a³, a², and in accordance with this
invention, each of the said segments has co-operating with it a clamping mechan-
ism for the hide or skin, which is of novel construction and automatically operated
preferably as will be described.
Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, the drum segment al has secured to it by bolts b
or in other suitable manner, a stationary jaw b¹, with which co-operates a movable
jaw be suitably fastened to levers 63, pivoted on a shaft 64 supported in the radial
arms of the segment a³. The lever 63 is adapted to be moved toward and away
from the fixed jaw b¹, preferably by cam plates or disks 65 attached to the frame-
work of the machine, and represented in Figs. 5 and 6, as fastened to the side pieces
or uprights A A¹ by bolts 66. Each cam plate or disk 65 is provided with 'a cam
groove 67 in which travels a roller 68 (see dotted. lines, Figs. 7 and 8 and full lines
Fig. 11) forming part of an actuating mechanism for the movable jaw b3 of the
clamp. The actuating mechanism referred to, is hereinshown as composed of two
members or parts, which are yieldingly connected together so as to move as one
piece, but which yielding connection enables one of said parts to move independent
of the other, to permit the movable jaw 62 to engage hides or skins of varying
thickness, as will be more specifically described. The two members of the actu-
ating mechanism are shown in Figs. 9 and 10, and one of which consists essentially
of a yoke-shaped casting having two sets of arms 610, 612 joined by a tie bar or
web 6, and the other of which is a sleeve or hub provided with arms 615, 616.
The sleeve is mounted on a stud or stationary shaft 617 (see Fig. 11) projecting
from the radial arm of the segment a¹, and has its arm 615 extended between and
pivotally connected to the forked arms 613 by a pin 618 (see Fig. 11) to which the
arm may be fastened by a set screw 619. The pin 618 has mounted on it the
cam roller 68. The forked arms 610 have pivotally connected to them one end
of an adjustable link 620, having its other end pivotally connected to the free end
of the lever by a pin 6 to which the link 620 is fastened by a screw 62. The
arms 16 13 have interposed between them a. yielding medium shown as a spiral
spring 6, which, in the present instance, is shown as having one end encircling
a boss 62 on the arm 616, and, at its other end encircling a boss 623 on a cap or
plate which is engaged by, the end of an adjusting screw 625 extended through
a threaded opening, in the arm 613, and by means of which screw the tension of
the spring may be regulated. The screw 65 may be locked in its adjusted

page_text: position by a nut 64. The sleeve or hub 614 may be provided also with a lug 630,
which co-operates with a screw 631 extended through a lug 63 on one of the arms 6¹³,
for a purpose as will be described.
The drum segment a² has co-operating with it a clamping mechanism of like
construction and the parts of which are lettered the same as like parts of the
clamping mechanism for the segment a¹ with the addition of the affix a."
:―
The operation of the clamping mechanisms may be briefly described as follows:-
Referring to Fig. 7, the movable jaw 62 is shown as closed and the hide or skin a³
is clamped to the segment a¹ and is represented as being 'acted upon by the
operating roll. At the same time, the movable jaw ba is shown open and the
skin or hide a6, which is supposed to have been acted upon by the roll a has
dropped or been removed from the segment a' when the latter has traveled in the
direction indicated by the arrow 20, Figs. 7 and 8, from the position shown in
Fig. 8 to that shown in Fig. 7.
In the rotation of the drum segments, the cam rollers 68, 68 travel in the cam
groove 67, which is properly shaped to positively open and close the movable
jaws 2, 6, and in the present instance, the portion of the cam groove from the
point 30 in Figs. 7 and 8, to the point 31, may be supposed to open the movable
jaws, and the portion of the cam groove from the point 31 to about the point 32
being on a true circle, serves to hold the movable jaws open, while the portion, of
the cam groove from the point 32 to the point 33 effects a gradual closing of the
movable jaws, and the portion of the cam groove from the point 33 to the point 30
being on a true circle serves to maintain the movable jaws closed.
In Fig. 7, the cam roller 68 is traveling in the portion of the groove from the
point 33 to the point 30 and the jaw ba is closed, and the hide or skin a³ is
yieldingly clamped between the jaw ba and the jaw 61 by the spring 621, for by
inspection of Fig. 7, it will be seen that by reason of the cam roller 68 being in
a true circular portion of the cam groove 67, the sleeve 6+ is held from turning,
but that the forked part of the clamp-actuating mechanism comprising the
arms 610, 612 is free to turn on the pin 618 against the action of the spring 621, when
the movable jaw 68 engages the hide or skin a5 and presses it against the fixed
jaw.
In Fig. 7, the cam roller 68 is shown at or about the point 31, and it will be
seen, that as the cam roller 68 travels from the point 30 inward toward the
center of the drum, the sleeve 614 and its arm 615 are no longer locked from
turning, and consequently the spring 621, being relieved from compression as soon
as the roller 68 passes by the point 30, expands and forces the arms 616, 613 apart
until the screw 631 and lug bare brought into engagement as shown in Fig. 7,
and when in this position, the two parts of the clamp-actuating mechanism travel
in the cam groove as one piece, until the cam roller 68 reaches the point 33 of the
large circular path or portion of the cam. As the cam roller 68 travels in
the portion of the cam groove 67 from the point 32 to the point 33 (see Fig. 8) the
sleeve 64 is turned on its pivot in the direction indicated by the arrow 100, which
movement is transmitted by the arm 6, and spring 621" to the arm 13, and as a
result, the screw 631 is maintained in engagement with the lug 30,
and consequently the actuating mechanism as one piece is turned on
the stud or pivot 617, thereby gradually straightening the link 6,20 and
bringing it into substantially a straight line with the pivot 617, when
the cam roller 68 has reached the limit of its outward movement, namely,
the point 33. When, however, the roller 68ª reaches the limit of its outward move-
ment and passes into the outer circular path, the union or connection of the two
parts of the cam actuating mechanism may be broken by the hide or skin between
the jaw 6, 61, compressing the spring 621, and the movable jaw ba is thus per-
mitted to accommodate itself to hides or skins of different thickness. The action
of the cam groove 67 upon the actuating mechanism for the jaw 62 is the same
as just described with relation to the jaw 6, and in Fig. 7, the cam roller 68 is
shown in the outer circular portion of the cam and as having just passed the

page_text: point 33. By reference to Fig. 7, it will be seen that the hide a³ is clamped
between the jaws 62, 61, and that the jaw 62 is held in engagement with the hide
by the spring. The jaw is held closed until the cam roller 68 passes the point 30
of the cam groove, and when the said cam roller reaches the point 30, the drum
segment will have advanced sufficiently to carry the hide a past or beyond the
operating roll. After the cam roller 68 passes the point 30 in the cam groove,
the jaw is opened as the roller 8 travels from the point 30 to the point 31,
thus permitting the ready removal of the skin or hide, the said jaw at such time
being in the position occupied by the jaw 62 in Fig. 7. The jaw 62 remains wide
open while the roller 68 travels on the circle from the point 31 to the point 32,
and at such time, the drum segment a¹ will have advanced into the position occupied
by the segment a³ in Fig. 8, ready to receive the hide or skin, which may be placed
within the drum between the jaws 62, 61, by hand or by an automatic feed mechan-
ism preferably of the construction hereinshown, and which consists of a feed bar c
extended substantially the length of the drum segments and secured to cranks
or arms c¹² on rock-shafts c³, having bearings in boxes 5, (see Figs. 1, 5
and 6) and provided at their opposite ends with cranks c7, to which are joined
links or bars c, c, the link c being pivoted to the side frame A, and the link c¹0
being connected to an arm c¹2 on a rock-shaft c¹³, having bearings in the side
frame A¹ and provided with a crank or arm c¹ adapted to be engaged by cranks
or arms cls, cle on the drum shaft a, and shown in Fig. 5 as made in one piece.
The feed bar c has co-operating with it a push bar 20 attached to levers 123
pivoted to the cranks c', ea and having arms 23, 24 which are adapted to engage
studs or pins 25 on the side frames A A', which studs turn the levers ca, con
their pivots and move the push bar 20 forward over the upper surface of the
feed bar c and thereby push the hide or skin into the drum as represented in Fig. 3.
The feed bare is moved forward twice during each revolution of the shaft a, by
the cranks or arms c¹³, 16 engaging the crank or arm c¹ and moving it in the
direction indicated by arrow 40, Fig. 5.
C
In leather working machines employing an operating roll having blades, it is
desirable to keep the said blades in good operative condition, which may be accom-
plished by a grinding or sharpening mechanism as will now be described.
Referring to Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, and to Figs. 15 and 16, d represents a holder
for the grinder d¹ preferably a block or brick of emery. The holder is provided
with a suitable opening through which the brick is capable of being moved
vertically to adjust it to the blades as of the roll a', and in which it may be secured
in its adjusted position by a set screw. The holder d is itself vertically ad-
justable on a carrier by means of a screw, which is secured to the upper
end of the carrier to turn freely without vertical motion, and which extends
into a threaded opening in a lug on the back of the holder, the said back being
dove-tailed as shown in Figs. 4 and 6, to engage dove-tailed ribs d on the carrier.
The carrier d³ is designed to slide upon a supporting bar, secured at its opposite
ends to arms 8 (see Figs. 5 and 6) fast on the tie bar A. The bar is provided
as hereinshown with a flat upper face and an inclined bottom or lower face as
shown in Fig. 3, and the carrier has at its lower end a rearwardly inclined
cross bar or rib do, and at its upper end a cross bar or rib d¹³ (see Fig. 4), which
extends over the flat upper face of the bar d. The carrier d³ is fitted to the
bar d to slide thereon, by means of a shoe or metal piece d¹³ (see Fig. 3) inserted
between the rib d¹³ and the upper surface of the bar d', and the shoe ¹³ may be
connected to the carrier d³ in any suitable manner so as to move therewith, which
may be effected by screws (15 extended down through the rib 2 into sockets or holes
in the upper surface of the shoe. The carrier may be secured on the bar
by a back plate or bar 20 fastened to the said carrier by screws or bolts 21, to
which are attached the opposite ends of a link chain ., passed about a sprocket
wheel and a pulley on shafts 25, do having bearings in lugs 27, 28 secured
to the front face of the supporting bar d. The shaft may be provided with
hand wheel by means of which the link chain may be made to travel, so

page_text: as to move the brick d' the length of the operating roll and thereby sharpen or
grind the blades of the same.
By means of the grinding mechanism hereinshown, the blades of the operating
roll may be kept sharpened and in good operative condition, and as the said blades
wear away, the brick of grinding material may be adjusted and brought in
contact therewith by the adjusting screw d, and as the grinder d¹ wears away,
it may be adjusted in the holder.
I
Another feature of this invention, consists in a novel cover or hood e for the
operating roll, which in accordance with this invention is made substantially
semi-circular in shape and provided at its ends with arms e¹ e pivoted as at c³ et
to lugs e³ e on the roll-supporting levers a¹7 a¹s (see Figs. 1, 12, and 13).
The cover or hood e is adapted to be turned down on the pivots e³ et so as to
permit of access to the operating roll, and the said cover is locked in its raised
or normal position, by locking devices, shown as pins or rods elo e12 pivoted to move
in a horizontal plane on lugs ele attached to the levers a a¹8 (see Figs. 5, 6,
12, 13, 14). The rods or pins e10, e12 are adapted to enter slots e in the side of
the arms e¹ e (see Figs. 12, 13 and 14) and are provided with screw-threads or
thumb-nuts e15, e¹ to engage one face of the arms and with lock nuts e17 18 to
engage the other face of said arms.
By unscrewing the thumb-nuts e15 e16, the rods e10, 12 may be turned out of
the slots.e in the cover, and the latter may be turned down so as to uncover the
roll a².
The drum shaft a may be rotated in any suitable manner, and in the present
instance the said shaft has fast on it a gear fin mesh with a pinion fl on a shaft f
having mounted on it a gear f³, which meshes with a pinion f on a main shaft fo
provided with a fast pulley f which may be belted to a counter-shaft not herein-
shown. The operating roll a' may be driven in any suitable manner and as
hereinrepresented, the said roll has fast on its shaft a pulley f and preferably
also a fly wheel fo. The pulley f8 may be belted to the counter-shaft not herein-
shown but to which the pulley f is connected.
The lugs are bolted or otherwise detachably secured to the front face
of the supporting bar d', so that by removing the said lugs, the carrier d³ may
be slipped off from either end of the said supporting bar.
By mounting the operating roll in vertical levers or pivoted arms with the
center of the roll in substantially a straight line through the center of said
supporting levers or arms, treadle mechanisms for moving the operating cylinder
or roll may be dispensed with, which leaves the operator free to attend solely to
the feeding of the skins, and also relieves him of considerable work, and the skin
is operated upon by a pressure due substantially to the springs alone, which
spring pressure may be varied according to the thickness of the hide or skin
acted upon, and which may be substantially light for treating light or thin skins,
such as calf or goat skins, owing to the fact that the weight of the operating
roll is substantially in a vertical line with the pivots of its supports and practically
on a dead center, and consequently requires but little or substantially little pressure
to move it as there is substantially no friction to overcome.
This feature of the invention may be employed with other forms of work support
than the double drum segment hereinshown.
Furthermore, it is preferred to provide the machine with an automatic feed
mechanism for the skins, but this feature may be omitted and a superior machine
still obtained, in which case the skins may be placed in position on the work
support by the operator.
By means of the adjusting devices for the springs, the pressure of the operating
cylinder upon the skin may be regulated as desired to suit the different kinds
of work. So also, by means of the set screws 613, 613, the operating roll may be
accurately positioned or adjusted with relation to the work support.
By reference to Figs. 7 and 8, it will be noticed that the movable jaw of each
clamping mechanism, is pivoted on the opposite sides of: the center of the drum

page_text: from its co-operating stationary jaw, and that the said movable jaw co-operates
with the inner face of the stationary jaw rather than with the upper face thereof,
as in machines of this class as heretofore constructed and in which the movable
jaw is pivotally mounted on the drum shaft.
With the construction and arrangement of the clamping mechanism hereinshown,
the entire space between the drum segments is available for the operator to place
the hide between the movable jaw and the stationary jaw with a minimum opening
of the said jaws. Furthermore, the fleshings or parts removed by the operating
roll are permitted to drop into the drum and do not lodge on the biting face of
the stationary jaw, which in the construction hereinshown, is the inner face, and
which is in a substantially vertical position, when the said jaw is brought under
or in such position with relation to the cylinder a as would enable the fleshings
to drop upon its upper surface, consequently no opportunity is afforded for the
fleshings to cling to the inner face of the stationary jaw. By reference to Fig. 7,
it will be seen that part of the fleshings removed from the hide a can drop on to
the drum and upon the jaw when the latter in the revolution of the drum is
brought beneath the roll a
In practice, the fleshings deposited on the upper surface of the stationary jaw
accumulate and form a soft and slippery layer upon which the hide rests, and
when the movable jaw is pivoted on the drum shaft and co-operates with the upper
face of the stationary jaw, as in machines heretofore constructed, the slippery
layer of soft fleshings between the hide and the stationary jaw, prevents the hide
being firmly and securely clamped, whereas in the construction hereinshown,
the stationary jaw is provided at all times with a clean biting face.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is:
-
1. A machine of the class described, comprising a movable work support upon
which the hide or skin to be treated is placed, and an operating roll or cylinder
supported by levers whose pivots are in a substantially vertical plane passing
through the axis of the roll or cylinder and normally held substantially in the
path of movement of the work support, and means to automatically hold the said
cylinder in its normal position and permit it to yield as the skin passes by it
and yet automatically maintain the said cylinder in contact with the hide or
skin under pressure irrespective of the thickness of the said hide or skin, sub-
stantially as described.
2. A machine of the class described comprising a revoluble drum or work
support, means to secure the work thereon, a revolving cylinder or roll co-operating
with the said drum, pivotal supports for said roll in which said roll is mounted
in a substantially vertical line through the pivots for said supports, means to
automatically move the said supports and the roll or cylinder toward said drum
and maintain the said roll in engagement with the work on the revolving drum,
substantially as described.
3. A machine of the class described, comprising a revoluble drum or work
support, a revoluble operating tool co-operating with said drum, substantially
vertical pivotal supports for said tool movable toward and from the drum and in
which the said tool is supported substantially in a vertical line through the
pivots for said supports, means to automatically move said tool toward the said
drum, and means to limit the movement of the tool toward said drum, substantially
as described.
4. A machine of the class described, comprising a movable work support, an
operating roll or cylinder co-operating therewith, pivoted levers supporting said
roll, rods connected to said levers, springs to act on said rods and normally position
the operating roll substantially in the path of movement of the work support,
and means to limit the movement of the said operating roll toward and from
the work support, the said springs automatically keeping the said operating roll

page_text: in engagement with the work while the latter is carried by its support past the
said roll, substantially as described.
5. A machine of the class described, comprising a movable segmental drum,
a clamping mechanism co-operating therewith, and an automatic feed mechanism
co-operating with the segmental drum and clamping mechanism and actuated by
said drum to feed the work onto the drum when the clamping mechanism is open,
substantially as described.
6. A machine of the class described, comprising a movable work support, an
operating roll or cylinder co-operating therewith, substantially vertical pivoted
levers supporting said roll, rods connected to said levers, and springs to act on
said rods and automatically keep said operating roll in engagement with the work
while the work is carried by its support past the said roll, substantially as described.
7. A machine of the class described, comprising a rotatable segmental drum
provided with a clamping mechanism comprising a stationary jaw, and a movable
jaw pivotally supported within the drum at one side of the center thereof and
movable toward the center of the drum to open said jaw, substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
8. A machine of the class described, comprising a movable work support upon
which the hide or skin to be treated is placed, and an operating roll or cylinder
movable in the arc of a circle having its center in a substantially vertical plane
extended through said roll and normally held substantially in the path of move-
ment of the work support, and means to automatically hold the said cylinder in
its normal position and permit it to yield as the skin passes by it and yet auto-
matically maintain the said cylinder in contact with the hide or skin under a
minimum pressure irrespective of the thickness of the said hide or skin, and
means to adjust the pressure of the operating roll or cylinder upon the work,
substantially as described.
9. A machine of the class described, comprising a movable work support upon
which the hide or skin to be treated is placed, and an operating roll or cylinder
movable in the arc of a circle having its center in a substantially vertical plane
extended through said roll and normally held substantially in the path of move-
ment of the work support, and means to automatically hold the said cylinder in
its normal position and permit it to yield as the skin, passes by it and yet auto-
matically maintain the said cylinder in contact with the hide or skin under a
minimum pressure irrespective of the thickness of the said hide or skin, substan-
tially as described.
10. A machine of the class described, comprising a segmental drum, a clamping
mechanism co-operating therewith and comprising a stationary jaw and a movable
jaw pivoted within the drum off the center thereof and movable toward said center
to open said jaw, an operating roll, substantially vertical levers supporting said
roll and pivoted in a substantially vertical plane tangential to said drum, means
to move said roll toward said drum, and means to limit said movement of the
roll, substantially as described.
11. A machine of the class described, comprising a rotatable work support, a
clamping mechanism movable with said work support and provided with a movable
jaw pivoted within the said work support off the center thereof and movable toward
the center of said work support in the act of opening, an actuating mechanism
for said movable jaw, and a cam provided with a cam groove which is engaged
by said actuating mechanism and is constructed to open the jaw, to hold the same
open to permit the hide to be placed in position, to gradually close said jaw on
the hide, and to hold the jaw closed while the hide is being acted upon, substan-
tially as described.
12. A machine of the class described, comprising a rotatable segmental drum, a
clamping mechanism co-operating therewith and provided with a movable jaw
pivoted at one end within said .drum and having its free end movable toward the
center of the drum in the act of opening, an actuating mechanism positively
connected to the free end of said jaw, and a cam having a cam groove engaged

page_text: by said actuating mechanism to positively move said jaw in opposite directions
and thereby positively close and open said jaw, substantially as described.
13. A machine of the class described, comprising a rotatable work-support, a
clamping mechanism co-operating therewith and provided with a movable jaw,
an actuating mechanism positively connected to said jaw and consisting of loosely
connected members having a yielding medium between them, means to limit the
movement of said members by said yielding medium, and a cam positively engaged
by said actuating mechanism to positively close and open said movable jaw, sub-
stantially as described.
14. A machine of the class described, comprising a rotatable segmental drum,
a stationary jaw secured to said drum, a movable clamping jaw pivoted within
the drum at one side of the center thereof and movable toward the center of the
drum in the act of opening, and a cam to actuate said jaw to open the same, sub-
stantially as described.
15. A machine of the class described, comprising a rotatable segmental drum,
a stationary jaw secured to said drum, a movable clamping jaw pivoted within
the drum at one side of the center thereof, and movable toward the center of the
drum in the act of opening, a cam provided with a cam groove to positively open
and close said movable jaw, and means to permit the said movable jaw to yield
to adapt itself to hides or skins of different thickness, substantially as described.
Dated the 5th day of April 1898
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 and 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.