IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR STRIKING OUT LEATHER."
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Jacob Flitch and John Richard Flitch, of Leeds, in
the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR STRIKING OUT LEATHER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Jacob Flitch and John
Richard Flitch at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th
December 1877.
JOHN JACOB FLITCH and JOHN RICHARD FLITCH, of Leeds, in the County of
York. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR STRIKING OUT
LEATHER."
This Invention relates to means of effecting what is known as striking out, setting
out, or stretching and straightening skins in the process of leather dressing.
According to our improvements we employ two rollers, an upper and a lower one.
The lower roller may have a plain surface, and be provided with suitable fastener
for retaining the skin in position thereon. On the upper roller we fix in irregular
positions and angles any required number of slickers or rubbers, which may be made
of metal or of any other suitable material, and in some cases we substitute for these
slickers or rubbers brushes or bristles of any convenient degree of hardness; these
are more applicable to delicate or tender skins. These rollers are caused to rotato
either in the same or opposite directions, as may be preferred, and the speed of
each roller may be varied with regard to each other in accordance with the quality
or nature of the material to be operated upon, though by preference we drive the
upper roller containing the rubbers or brushes at a greater surface speed than the
plain or lower roller.
The above rollers are mounted on suitable framework or standards, and motion
conveyed thereto from any convenient source.
Instead of the herein-before mentioned bottom roller a flat or curved table or
"beam" may be employed.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents an end elevation of one end of machine; Figure 2, an end
elevation of the other end of the same, Figure 3, a front elevation, Figure 4, an
end elevation of bottom roller; and Figures 5 and 6 are plans of top rollor,
showing the whole circumference or periphery thereof.
Figure 6 is drawn to a smaller scale.
On
a and b are two rollers mounted within ordinary framework c, and by preference
one above the other, as shewn. The lower roller b has a plain surface, and the
bearings in which it is mounted are stationary. This roller b has a recess d, in
which is passed the rod e, such rod being employed for retaining the skin in position
thereon, and is of ordinary construction, and applied in the ordinary manner.
the upper roller & we fix in irregular positions and angles any required numbers of
"slickers" or "rubbers"f; the irregularity of the position, which is clearly shewn
at Figures 5 and 6, may be varied to suit different kinds or natures of skins, and
may be made of metal or of any other suitable material.
In some cases we substitute for these "slickers" or "rubbers" brushes or bristles
of any degree of hardness, these being more applicable for tender or delicate
skins.
The roller a is carried in bearings g, which are capable of adjustment by means
of the screws h, actuated by means of the lever or handle i or hand wheel J through
the medium of the shaft K and bevel wheels Z.
On one end of the top roller a are the fast and loose pulleys m and m², and on the
other end the worm n in gear with the wheel o, which is loose on the upright shaft p,
on which is provided the worm q in gear with the wheel r on the end of the shaft of
the roller On the top of the shaft p is a clutch 8 of ordinary construction, actuated
by means of the lever‍t mounted on the hinged pillar u on the framework c. By

page_text: this arrangement the clutch & is thrown in or out of gear with the worm wheel o,
and when in gear motion is transmitted thereby at any suitable speed from the
upper roller a to the lower roller b.
Instead of the lower roller b a flat or curved table or beam may be employed.
The method of using this machine is as follows:-A bolster of india-rubber,
another of felt, and another of leather are first fixed each by one edge in the recess
of the roller b, and are loose at the other edges, so that as the said roller is turned
they become wound tight on the said roller, and the india-rubber being elastic will
yield to the inequalities in the substance of the skin when placed thereon to be
operated by the "slickers" or rubbers fon the rollers a.
It will now be readily seen that if a skin be placed with its rigg or about its
middle from neck to butt or acrosswise thereof from belly to belly under the slip
rod c in the recess, and the rod secured in the ordinary manner so as to hold the
said skin thereon, and on motion being given to the rollers in the proper direction
the skin will pass in betwixt them, when the "slickers" or rubbers on the roller a
will "strike out" or stretch the said skin on one side of the rod during its passage,
and thereby straighten or make it even ready for the process of shaving or any
other purpose for which it may be required; the said skin is then turned or changed
that the other side may be operated upon in like manner.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and shewn by Drawings
how the same is performed or carried into practice, we would have it understood
that we do not limit ourselves to the precise details or configuration of the parts we
have explained and shewn, as the same may of course be varied or modified without
in any way departing from the nature of our Invention, but what we claim and
desire to be secured to us by Letters Patent is,-
First. The combination of a plain roller with an upper roller having" slickers "
or rubbers, brushes or bristles, fixed at irregular angles thereon, substantially as and
for purposes herein set forth.
Second. The combination of the herein-before mentioned upper roller (having
"slickers" or rubbers, brushes or bristles, fixed at irregular angles thereon) with a
lower table or beam, substantially as and for purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Jacob Flitch and John Richard Flitch,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fourteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.