Iм- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPLITTING OR DIVIDING HIDES, SKINS, LEATHER, AND OTHER LIKE MATERIALS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street, in
the City of London, E.C., Patent Agent, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPLITTING OR DIVIDING HIDES, SKINS,
LEATHER, AND OTHER LIKE MATERIALS:"-A communication from F. Martin,
residing at Paris.
Sealed the 28th June 1859, and dated the 30th December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 30th December 1858.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, E.C., Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPLITTING OR DIVIDING HIDES, SKINS,
LEATHER, AND OTHER LIKE MATERIALS," (communicated to me by F. Martin,
residing at Paris,) to be as follows:-
These improvements consist, first, in the employment of knives or cutters,
by preference serrated and attached to a cutter carrier, the height of which is
regulated by means of screws connected with its supports, and which receives
a reciprocating motion from a main shaft by a connecting rod or otherwise.
Secondly, in the employment of a roller for supporting the hides, skins, &c.
as they are cut, which roller is incapable of ascending or descending motions,
being supported in fixed bearings:
Thirdly, in the employment of a movable bar or presser carrier for carrying
a number of pressers which bear. on the hides, skins, &c. as they are cut,
immediately in front of the knives, and which are kept down upon the hides,
skins, &c. by springs. This presser carrier is rendered adjustable as to height
by suitable cranks, levers, &c.

page_text: Fourthly, in forming the said pressers each square or rectangular in section
at their lower parts, and sinking these parts in a groove in the carrier to prevent
them turning round, or otherwise moving improperly.
Fifthly, in communicating motion to the cutter carrier by a connecting rod
or other appliance at the end of the said carrier, and not at or near the
middle, to prevent trembling or unsteadiness of action.
Sixthly; an arrangement of antifrictional or other supports to enable the
cutter carrier to slide smoothly in its bearings.
Seventhly, the employment of a roller of less diameter at the middle than at
the ends for winding up the cut hides, skins, &c., and the method of driving
this roller by means of worms and endless screws.
Eightly, a method of throwing the said roller in and out of gear by means
of suitable levers, handles, &c.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th June 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, E.C.,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 SPLITTING OR DIVIDING HIDES,
SKINS, LEATHER, AND OTHER LIKE MATERIALS," (communicated to me by
F. Martin, residing at Paris,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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

page_text: 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 Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
These improvements consist, first, in the employment of kuives or cutters,
by preference serrated and attached to a cutter carrier, the height of which is
regulated by means of screws connected with its supports, and which receives
a reciprocating motion from a main shaft by a connecting rod or otherwise.
Secondly, in the employment of a roller for supporting the hides, skins, &c.
as they are cut, which roller is incapable of ascending or descending motions,
being supported in fixed bearings.
Thirdly, in the employment of a movable bar or presser carrier for carrying
a number of pressers which bear on the hides, skins, &c. as they are. cut
immediately in front of the knives, and which are kept down upon the hides,
skins, &c. by springs. This presser carrier is rendered adjustable as to height
by suitable cranks, levers, &c.
Fourthly, in forming the said pressers, each square or rectangular in section
at their lower parts, and sinking these parts in a groove in the carrier to pre-
vent them turning round or otherwise moving improperly.
Fifthly, in communicating motion to the cutter carrier by a connecting rod
or other appliance at the end of the said carrier, and not at or near the middle,
to prevent trembling or unsteadiness of action.
Sixthly, an arrangement of antifrictional or other supports to enable the
cutter carrier to slide smoothly in its bearings.
Seventhly, the employment of a roller of less diameter at the middle than
at the ends, for winding up the cut hides, skins, &c., and the method of driving
this roller by means of worms and endless screws.
Eighthly, a method of throwing the said roller in and out of gear by means
of suitable levers, handles, &c.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is an elevation of a machine con-
structed according to this Invention; Figure 2 is an end view; Figure 3 is
a longitudinal section-through the centre of the machine, and in front of the
knife; Figure 4 is a cross section; Figure 5 is a plan; and Figure 6 is a view
of the end opposite to that shewn at Figure 2: P is. the knife carrier; T is
the knife, which is fixed to its carrier by a screw or screws passing through it,

page_text: and into an iron or other band; the thread of the screw, only takes into the iron
band; the hole is smooth and cylindrical for a certain distance, and is extended
into the band in order to enable the cutters to slide, so as to be able to regulate
its advance as it becomes worn. The knife receives a to-and-fro motion by
means of a crank B on a shaft a... S, S, are two supports for the knife
carrier, sliding in grooves formed in the frame of the machine; their height,
and consequently the height of the knife, is regulated by means of a screw d,.
nuts, &c.; C is a cast-iron roller, covered by preference with bronze, the axles
of which rest in bearings (1), provided with pressure screws (2) on their
sides and underneath, in order to regulate the position of the roller according
to the thickness the skin may be required to be cut; R is a wooden roller
round which the skin is rolled; a groove is formed in this roller in which pins
or hooks are fixed to a band of iron screwed to the bottom of the groove; to
each of these hooks a small chain is attached, which has a second hook
attached to it, and to which the leather is hooked as, shewn at Figure 4. The
roller R is not perfectly cylindrical in order to allow the skin to stretch a
little. Rotary motion is communicated to this roller by an endless screw v,
mounted upon a vertical shaft: i, and gearing into a wheel r; the vertical
shaft is itself put in motion by a second endless screw v', mounted on a
horizontal shaft, and gearing into a second wheel r', at the lower part of the
vertical shaft. The shaft receives motion from the principal shaft-a, through
the pulleys p, p'. A crank m placed at the end of the roller allows the
machine to be regulated by a workman. A is a cast-iron bed, the lower part.
of which carries a series of washers (3), which press on other washers (4)
fixed on a shaft extending from one end of the machine to the other, as seen
at Figure 4. These washers. (4) press on the skin as it advances to be cut.
Behind the bed A there is another series of washers which hold the skin in a
suitable position to be subjected to the cutting operation. The bed A is
supported at its ends in a frame C, C; each end is attached to a screw passing
into a thread (6),. and terminated by a fly wheel carrying a crank (7). The
rotation of this fly wheel one way or the other regulates the height of the.
bed A, but in order that the 'motion may be simultaneous on each side of the
machine, there is fixed on the axle of the screw a bevel wheel (8), Figure 1,
which gears into a pinion (9), transmitting to a shaft (10) a rotary motion
which gives to the. screw at the opposite end a similar movement, and thus
regulates the height, of the, bed A, the whole of its length..
In order to, regulate the thickness the skin shall be cut on the back part of
the frame a', there is fitted a fly wheel b', the rotation of which causes a rod c²
to advance or recede, and consequently lowers or raises, an eccentric d'a

page_text: certain distance. This excentric acts on the regulator e', pivoted at f', and
causes the guide g', which is fixed to the slide h', to ascend. The slide h' acts
on the knife carrier, and causes it to rise or fall according to the thickness
the skin is required to be cut. To introduce the skin into the machine at the
commencement of the operation, it is necessary to raise the knives sufficiently
to allow of its passage; this is effected by a segment o' fixed on a shaft p","
gearing into a pinion g', the axle of which carries a crank; from this arrange-
ment it follows that the rotation of the pinion determines the oscillation of the
toothed segment, and the play of an excentric s¹, which acts on a washer t',
causes the support to which the knife is fixed to rise; y is a plank covered
with zinc or other metal, on which the skin is placed to pass to the machine.
This plank is supported at each end by bearings on which it oscillates; it is
provided with a small bracket æ, to remove the grease and other substances
that may become attached to the roller. This arrangement of the plank to
receive the skin and clear the roller is shewn at Figure 4.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The knives being raised for
the admission of the skin, and the thickness it is required to be cut regulated,
the height of the bronzed cylinder is then adjusted, the leather is hooked on
to the roller by means of the short chains, the endless screw vis put in gear
with the wheel r, and the machine is set in motion. As the roller revolves, the
knife moves to and fro, the leather or skin is drawn by the roller R to the
knife, where it is cut, and passes on to the said roller, the roller C revolving
through the action of the skin in passing over it. That part of the leather
which passes above the band is seized by hooks fixed to the ends of chains,
which roll round a drum furnished with counterweights, and give to it a rotary
motion. When the skin has been thus cut the whole of its length it is un-
rolled by turning the crank m, and the operation is finished.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the several im-
provements in machinery for splitting or dividing hides, skins, leather, and
other like materials, herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of June, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
R. A. BROOMAN.
(L.S.)