CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TANNING OF HIDES AND SKINS
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
TONKIN JONES, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Sixth day of October, in the seventh year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Samuel Tonkin Jones, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Samuel Tonkin Jones, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Tonkin Jones, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time, and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE TANNING OF HIDES AND SKINS;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said Samuel Tonkin Jones, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Samuel Tonkin Jones, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following explana-
tion thereof, that is to say :-
My improvements in the tanning of hides and skins consist in a peculiar
method of effecting the process of tanning in a more perfect manner, and in a
much less time than has hitherto been effected, and consists,-
Firstly, in the application of certain substances to the surfaces of hides or
skins under operation, which substances shall be capable of draining or
absorbing as well as retaining liquors for the purposes of either draining,
absorbing, or injecting, as may be required; and,
Secondly, in submitting the skins or hides either singly or collectively, and
in combination with the said drainers, absorbers, and injections (as shall be
hereafter more fully described), to any well-known mechanical pressure, and
thus to cause a more rapid and effectual dislodgement of the "spent liquor,"
or that aqueous fluid which is contained in the body of the hide or skin after
the usual immersion in the tanning liquor, while the coloring or tanning
matter, which has been taken up by the surfaces of the skin, shall be more
quickly supplied and absorbed simultaneously with the dislodgement or ejection
of the spent liquor.
But in order that my improvements may be more perfectly understood, it
may be better first to advert to the usual mode of conducting the process of
tanning. The hides or skins, after having been cleansed from hairs, grease,
and other extraneous matter, and prepared for the pit in the usual manner, are
immersed in the tanning liquor, which, by pressing equally in all directions,
unites the coloring matter or tanning principle with the skins first at or near
the surfaces; and while the coloring or tanning matter is taken up or absorbed
by the outsides or surfaces, the spent liquor or that which has lost its tanning
effect, has proceeded into the middle or body of the skin. The usual method
of dislodging or getting rid of this useless and spent liquor is very imperfectly
and slowly accomplished by subsequent tedious and frequent drainings; and,
moreover, even after this has been done, that portion which still remains offers
great opposition to the entrance of fresh portions of stronger coloring or
tanning matter when the skins or hides are re-immersed in the tan pit, and s
whereby the process is much delayed. Now it will be seen that the principal
object to be accomplished, in order to effect a more perfect and rapid tanning
process, is to cause a certain, effectual, and speedy dislodgment of the spent
liquor, and also to facilitate the entrance of fresh and stronger liquor, that it

page_text: may be absorbed and taken up by the skins as required, which, by my improve-
ment of the process, is readily done, and by the following means:-
pose,
Firstly, I will describe the substances or materials I intend to be used
in immediate connection with the surfaces of the skins or hides. The
spunges or liquor holders and injectors must be made of similar dimensions-
of the hides or skins to be tauned, and may consist of one or more layers of
flannel of open texture, or other similar material, which must be capable of
holding or retaining a quantity of the tanning liquor, so as to confine it
between the threads or fibres when resting upon or against the surface of
the hides or skins, and prevent the liquor being suddenly pressed out laterally,
and escaping at the sides or edges, so that the liquid shall be retained until a
sufficient time has elapsed for a portion of the liquor to be injected into the
If
pores of the skins, when submitted to pressure in connection with them.
more than one layer of flannel or other similar material is used for this pur-
I should recommend that the threads of one layer should run parallel to
or in the same direction to those of the other, in order that one thread may be
pressed into or between those opposite to it, so that the liquid retained between
them may be pressed into the hide or skin. It will be observed that the
under surface of the liquor holder only is to be in connection with the hide;
and to cause the descent of the liquor to be effectually performed when
submitted to pressure, I sometimes place upon the upper surface of the liquor
holder a layer of india-rubber cloth or any other fabric, "which I call an
injector,"
," which has been made impervious to water by means of any cement,
pitch, or other suitable substance, or sometimes a thin plate of metal or other
material may be used, which must be capable of resisting the upward passage
of the liquor when forced or pressed against the hides or skins under operation.
When it is desirable to submit a pile of skins to pressure at the same time,
then another skin may be laid upon the upper surface of the injector or liquor
holder, and so on.
Secondly, the drainers or absorbers.-The materials which I find more
particularly applicable to this purpose is coarse linen or hempen bagging, or.
ordinary canvass, and they should be composed of coarse even threads, free
from loose or projecting fibres, and a very open texture. Several layers of such
fabric, say six or more, are to be laid upon each other; and in order to render.
them more porous, and to prevent the threads of one layer from being pressed
down between those of the next, which would be done if the threads composing.
the fabric were laid parallel, or in similar directions, the threads of one layer of.
such fabric must be laid diagonally over the one in immediate connection
with it, and so on, until a sufficient thickness has been formed; and exactly

page_text: upon the contrary principle to the construction of the liquor holders or injectors
previously mentioned. In this state the collection of layers of such fabrics
forms a substance sufficiently porous for the liquid to run out upon, with-
drawing them from an immersion, or for the spent liquor to escape freely
when the hide or skin is pressed upon it, when placed between two skins and
pressed in that position. In order to form a more even surface for the hides
or skins to be pressed against, I interpose an outside layer of straw, or a
covering of stout blanket, flushing, or other fibrous material which will
protect the surface of the skins when under pressure from the indentations of
the coarse threads of the canvass or other fabric. The hides or skins not
not being of uniform substance, but thicker on those parts which have covered
the back and loins of the beast, would not form a pile of uniform height when
adjusted for pressure, unless an extra degree of substance were given to those
parts of the drainers corresponding to the thin parts of the former, but which
I compensate by an extra layer or layers of the canvass or bagging, partially
extended to effect the same; or it may be done by the straw or other outside
covering, and by this means I increase the facility or regular and uniform
pressure. In some cases it may be found convenient to use layers of straw, with
the stalks arranged in a similar manner as the threads of the canvass or bagging,
and this will be found to possess much the same porous effect. Should, however,
the experienced tanner prefer to immerse his hides into the pit by themselves,
and in the usual way, or to handle them separately, the absorbers are to be
used in a dry or in a slightly damped state, and the drainers in this case may
be dispensed with; then these absorbers must consist of a layer or layers of
blanketing, or stout woollen cloth or flushing, or any such suitable material,
and having affinity for moisture, upon or against which the saturated hides or
skins are to be pressed, for the purpose of absorbing the spent liquor. When
these absorbers have become saturated with the spent liquor, they must be
removed, and fresh ones supplied after the re-immersion of the hides. Thus
it will been seen that these drainers and absorbers differ in their nature and
application. The former only are to be used when the arrangements of
the tanner permit both the immersing and the subsequent pressing of a
considerable number of hides or skins adjusted one upon another, together
with the drainers, liquor holders, and injectors in a vat, pit, or other vessel
charged with tanning liquor, or the pile may be constructed upon a platform and
altogether let down into a pit and immersed in the tanning liquor, froni
whence the are to be withdraw and conveyed to the press without disturbing
the original arrangement of the pile.
I will now proceed to describe the manner of arranging the hides or skins in

page_text: a vat or other vessel, or upon a platform, for the purpose of immersion and
saturating the skins with a charge or supply of the tanning and coloring
matter. Upon the bottom of the vat or platform I extend a drainer (as des-
cribed above) and upon it I place a hide or skin with a liquor holder upon its
upper face, and upon this an injector is placed, its under waterproof surface
acting upon the liquor holder, and thus injecting the liquor into the hide or
skin, and its upper waterproof surface acting upwards upon the lower surface
of another liquor holder which has been placed upon it, thus injecting the
liquor into the hide above, and so on until a sufficient pile is constructed, which
will be found to consist of about twenty or thirty skins. Upon pressure being
applied, as subsequently described, the injectors will force the tanning liquor out
of the liquor holders, and into the pores of the hides or skins, and from which
a portion of the spent liquor will at the same time escape into drainers above
and below. After this pile has been properly constructed in the vat, it is to
filled with tanning liquor and the whole immersed until the hides or skins and
liquor holders are saturated with liquor, which is afterwards to be withdrawn
by a suitable contrivance in the bottom of the vat, when it will be found that a
portion of the liquor which had been imbibed in the porous drainers will also
pass off, and the liquor absorbed by the liquor holders will remain. Uniform
mechanical or other pressure (say about twenty pounds upon the square inch)
being now quickly applied upon the upper surface of the pile, in the space of a
few minutes the strong liquor will be injected freely into the hides or skins,
while that spent liquor which was before in them, after having lost all its
tanning effect, will at the same time be squeezed or pressed out of the body of
the skins, and into the drainers or absorbers. After a short period has been
allowed for the spent liquor to run from the drainers, it should be separately
withdrawn from the vat, and the latter again filled with fresh and stronger
liquor, when the pressure is to be removed and the different layers will rise in
the liquid, separate, and again become saturated with fresh liquor, and the
pressure may now be re-applied as before, which operations may be done several
times a day and continued without intermission until the tanning process is
considered complete.
Having now described the principal features of my Invention, which I
presume is fully understood, I have only to observe that instead of laying the
hides or skins, liquor holders, injectors, and drainers in a pile, and thus
submitting them to pressure collectively or in the mass, I sometimes prefer
to submit each skin separately to a similar operation, and which may be found
to effect the same in a more perfect and desirable manner, and a contrivance
for this object I have shewn in the Sheet of Drawing attached hereto, in which

page_text: Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the machine, Figure 2 is a plan or
a horizontal view of the same, and Figure 3 an end elevation of the same; and
in.all these Figures similar letters of reference point out corresponding parts of
the machine. a, a, a, a, is a framing of cast iron or other suitable material,
having two rails at the top parallel to each other; with these rails are cast small
pedestals as bearings for the axes of several pairs of small flanged friction.
rollers b, b, b, b. There is a table or bed of wood c, c, c; this table is to be
perforated with very small holes in order to allow any liquor to pass freely
through the table or bed. Upon the under side of this table are two small rails
which run in corresponding grooves in the pullies b, b, b, this table being of
sufficient dimensions to sustain the skin or hide when fully extended upon its
surface. Immediately above the table, in the centre of the machine, is a
roller d, d, of wood, metal, or other material, which is adjustable in the
mortice formed in the upright framing of the machine, and is kept down
upon the table, or the pressure regulated by the screws e, e, being raised or
lowered as required, or by weighted levers, springs, or any other means. Upon
the shaft of this roller is a spur or toothed wheel f, f, having a corresponding
pinion 9, 9, geared with it, capable of receiving rotary motion, by power being
applied to the winch or handle h, and this gearing may be applied either upon
one or both sides of the machine, as may be required. Upon the table or
bed c, c, I first place a drainer, as above described, and then the hide or skin
after it has been immersed in the pit or vat of tanning liquid, the spent
liquor of which is ejected, and a fresh charge of strong liquor supplied in the
following manner :-In order to give greater surface and some degree of elas-
ticity to the roller d, d, that it may adapt itself to the inequalities of the skin
under operation, I coil twenty to thirty or more yards of woollen or worsted
and linen lapping, such as that used by printers in a similar object, and at the
last few outer coils of which I enclose an india-rubber cloth or other water-
proof material in order to form a cylindrical injector; or this injector may, if
preferred, be made in the surface form previously described, and laid upon the
skins as before. Around this roller d, d, may also be lapped or wound a
liquor holder of the material before described; or this liquor holder may be
used in the extended state as heretofore, and it is evident that in that case
two or three layers or thicknesses of each material, in the rotation heretofore
explained, may be passed under the roller at the same time; or if the cylin-
drical injector or liquor holder are used, the skins may be operated upon
separately, as will be very speedily determined by the experienced operator,
and any degree of weight or pressure may be employed, as experience will
determine, from five to twenty pounds or more upon the square inch. After.

page_text: the hide or skin has been made to pass once or twice beneath the roller the
liquor holder should be charged with fresh liquid, and these operations
repeated until the skin or hide becomes compressed, when it may be again
immersed in liquor, and become saturated thereby.
Having now sufficiently explained the nature of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not claim any of the dimensions or materials of which any of my improved
drainers, absorbers, injectors, and liquor holders, as above explained, or any of
the parts of pieces of the machine described are composed, as it will be very
evident that many forms and modifications may be constructed and applied to
the same purpose with similar success and effect, and as many well-known
mechanical arrangements to suit the same purpose may be employed, I have
merely shewn the above by way of illustration; but I do claim,―
Firstly, the tanning of any convenient number of hides or skins, or parts
thereof, by the aid of mechanical or other pressure, in conjunction with the
joint or separate use of my drainers or absorbers, and of the liquor holders
and injectors, in whatever form or of whatever material they may be con-
structed. And,
Secondly, the application of the same to a roller or rollers, or other suitable
form as a rotary bed, capable of receiving the same, and the whole combination,
or any part of the materials above described, for the purpose of injecting the
tanning liquid into hides or skins and expelling the spent liquor therefrom.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Tonkin Jones, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
SAMUEL TONKIN (LS.) JONES.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-third day of March,
in the seventh year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth,
the said Samuel Tonkin Jones came before our said Lord the King in His
Chancery, and acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every
thing therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the
Instrument aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made
in the fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Sixth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-
seven