IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR STRIKING OR SCRAPING LEATHER AND TANNED OR UNTANNED HIDES."
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Abraham Ripley, of 21, Bridge Street, Blackfriars,
London, County of Middlesex, Engineer, and John Roberts, of Nelson
Square, Bermondsey, County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR STRIKING OR SCRAPING LEATHER AND
TANNED OR UNTANNED HIDES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Abraham Ripley and
John Roberts at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 2nd April 1859.
I, ABRAHAM RIPLEY, of 21, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, London, County of
Middlesex, Engineer, and I, JOHN ROBERTS, of Nelson Square, Bermondsey,
County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR STRIKING OR SCRAPING LEATHER AND
TANNED OR UNTANNED HIDES," to be as follows, and consists of a suitable
frame or bench, upon which the machinery is mounted, and the article
to be operated upon is laid upon an endless band of felt or other suitable
substance, which traverses on rollers over this bench. By means of a
series of layers of india-rubber or other elastic material a portion of the
upper surface of this bench is made so as to form an yielding bed.
Supported on the bench is the driving axle, upon which I mount, on each
end of it, and consequently on each side of the bench, an excentric and a
cam, from the former of these proceeds an excentric rod, which, operating
through a crank lever on a radious rod, gives to a blade or knive at the
extremity of the latter a reciprocating backward and forward motion. Pro-
ceeding from the cam, and actuated by it, is a connecting rod, the other extremity
of which is attached to and acts upon a vibrating lever, on the one end of

page_text: which is suspended a counterbalance, and from the other a radious rod, which
is connected with the fore-mentioned blade or knife, which, through the action
of the action of the cam and the various rods, receives a compound upward and
downward motion. The machine being symetrical, a similar arrangement, com-
posed of the excentric, the cam, and the rods, on the other end of the driving
shaft actuates and gives a similar motion to another knife. These knives or
blades are suspended so as to rotate on their centres, and have their cutting or
scraping edges preferably segmental in form, and their position is arranged so
that their motion and action shall be over the elastic portion of the bed. The
action and motion of this combination is as follows:-The leather or hide to
be operated upon is put on the endless band which travels under the knives.
The action of the cams gradually brings the latter into contact with the article
to be operated upon, and keeps them there while the excentric urges them
forward; the knives themselves rotating on their centres by means of a pin
or stud, causes the point of contact in each gradually to receed from each
other until the end of the stroke, when the cam gradually lifts them up and
the excentric carries them back to the first position, and the same action is
repeated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Abraham Ripley and John Roberts in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 1st October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ABRAHAM
RIPLEY, of 21, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, London, County of Middlesex,
Engineer, and I, JOHN ROBERTS, of Nelson Square, Bermondsey, County of
Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her. Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said Abraham Ripley and John Roberts, Her special licence that
we, the said Abraham Ripley and John Roberts, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Abraham Ripley and
John Roberts, our 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

page_text: Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR STRIKING OR SCRAPING LEATHER AND TANNED OR
UNTANNED HIDES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Abraham Ripley and John Roberts, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in 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 we, the said Abraham Ripley and John Roberts,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, that is to say:-
'
Hitherto, with slight exceptions, leather has been struck or scraped by
the hand, the hide operated upon being laid upon a bench sloping slightly
from the vertical, while the operator, holding the knife or scraper in both hands,
urges it down over the surface of the bide; the skill of the operator con-
sisting in the method of holding the knife at a proper angle with the surface
of the leather, and by giving such a twisting movement as to enable him to enter
all the inequalities on the surface, and at the same tine an abrading rather
than a cutting action.
The main object of our Invention is, therefore, the production of a machine
which will approach as near as possible to the action of hand, that is to say,
to give to the knives which act upon the hile a direct backward and forward
horizontal motion over the surface of the hide, and at the same time a motion
of rotation on their edges in a plane nearly at right angles to the former, and
by means of these compounded motions to imitate and even excel the effects
produced by the knife when actuated and guided by the hand. The mode by
which we effect these motions is as follows, and consists in the means by
which we produce three distinct motions within the knife or knives; two of
these motions may be said to result from effects transferred to the knives, the
third from the action within the knife or knives themselves; the resultant of
the whole three being the twisting or oscillating motion before alluded to.
Upon a suitably formed bench or table we mount the machinery for pro-
ducing the above-mentioned results; on rollers turning on axles on the bench
we cause an endless band to traverse over its surface; on this band the leather
or hide to be operated' upon is carried. A portion of the surface of the bench
is formed into the bed, on which the knives act on the face of the leather; this
portion of the bench is preferably near to the centre of the table, so that the

page_text: striking" apparatus shall be over it. The bed we propose to form either of
clastic materials, or to be inelastic itself, but supported on elastic materials or
springs. Upon the frame of the bench, and preferably under the bed last
mentioned, we mount in proper bearings the main driving axle of the machine,
and from this shaft we obtain the three motions before mentioned. We
would here premise that the machine being symetrical about a central plane,
the parts are in pairs, and symetrically placed on each side of the axis of that
plane. Upon this driving axle we form two double cranks, from these cranks
proceed two connecting rods, which actuate two vertical rocking shafts; these
rocking shafts in their turn support and actuate a horizontal shaft, from which
proceed two rods, each actuating a block, and causing it to move backwards
and forewards in slides or guides which are formed in a frame placed over the
axle and over the before-named bed; these blocks are attached to and give a
similar motion to the frame, within which two knives are attached. From
this combination and arrangement the foreward and backward motion of the
knives is obtained. Upon the said axle we also mount two cams, the
peripheries of which acting on two vertical rods, give the latter a vertical
motion, which they communicate to the framework supportting the slides, the
blocks, and knives. By means of this arrangement and the peculiar form of
the cams, the knives are, at the beginning of the foreward stroke, lowered and
brought in contact with the surface to be operated upon, and continued there
until the end of the stroke, when by the same means they are raised abovo
the said surface, and kept above it during the time occupied by the backward
stroke, and at the end of it and beginning of the foreward one they are, as
before described, brought in contact again. The knives are preferably curved
on their striking edges, but they may also be straight; they may be formed
either of steel, iron, or any mixed or composition metal, or of any hard wood,
and in some cases hard brushes may be substituted for the knives. We
mount the blades of the knives in frames, and in such a way that they will
rotate or oscillate round the point which attaches them to the frame. The
two knives are also arranged to overlap at the centre, that is, that where they
meet each other, the one shall pass a little in front of the other. Both they
and the frame to which they are attached are also arranged that, while they
.stretch from side to side of the machine, the two ends which mect in the
centre shall form a salient angle in front and an obtuse angle in the back.
The following is the mode by which they are caused to rotate or oscillate on
their edges: A spindle which is attached to the end of the blade passes
through a vertical slot in the slide blocks, and enters into a horizontal slot or
guide in a side frame, which, by means of spindles at each extremity passing

page_text: into vertical slots, can be set at any angle with the plane of the slides, and
hence any degree of angular rotation given to the knives. In order to
produce an equable action of the cam and vertical rod upon the frame bearing:
the slides and knives, we suspend the said frame from a spring placed over
it, and from this means obtain a compensating and equable action. In order
to carry the aforesaid endless band regularly forward, and so carry with it the
hide, we, by the motion of the cam, actuate through rods a detent which
works in a toothed wheel mounted upon the axle of the roller which carrys
the band. Moreover, in order to hold the band, and with it the hide, during
the forward action of the knives upon the latter, a horizontal bar actuated
through the cams is brought on to the surface of the hide, and retained there
during the action of the knives.
In order to render the foregoing description clear and intelligible, we have
to this Specification appended the accompanying Drawings, it being clearly
understood, however, that we do not bind ourselves to the exact shape, outline,
dimensions, or combinations of the different parts composing the machine
therein exhibited, as all of these may be varied and modified, and several of
the details may be substituted by other well-known equivalents; that which
we do wish to claim being a machine possessing the action before described, and
the principles of form and combination of parts by which the motion producing
that action is obtained. In the various Figures the same letters indicate the
same or similes norte

page_text: plane of the slides by means of the pins 7, 7, working in the vertical slots 2", ".
If, then, with such an arrangement the pin n (Figure 4) represent the handle
of a knife, and if it be inserted through the slot of the block n', and into the
slot n, which forms an angle with the plane of the slides, the other extremity
of the knife being free, it will be evident that as the block, and with it the
handle, moves along, the slide, owing to the resistance of the groove n³, the
knife will not only have a horizontal foreward movement, but will describe a
curve having the constrained point of the spindle n as a contre, that part of
the blade which is furthest from the handle rising first from the plane of the
table; and each portion of the blade from the free end to the shank coming
successively in contact with it during the stroke. Referring to Figures 2, 4,
and 5, it will be seen that the blades i, i, are suspended from the front
frames j, j, so as to oscillate round the point s, the pins K', K', moving in the
slides K, K; K2, a screw to elevate or depress the blade i, and hence vary
the point of contact; the spindles n are attached to and act as levers in causing
the blades to rotate; is the back frame, to which both knives are fixed; it
will be seen from Figure 1 the particular angle the blades form with each
other, and also how the one slightly overlaps the other. The action of the
Knives is the same as last described; the spindle n moving at the same time in
the slots n and 22, will cause the blades to oscillate round the point s, and
also round the constrained point of the spindle n, while the back frame is
arged directly forward, the resulting motion being the twisting or oscillatory
action before described, and such that the points of the blades at the vertix
of the angle between them first come in contact with the hide, the other
portions succeeding during the continuance of the stroke; the whole blade
having been in contact when the stroke is completed. The two cams are
marked b, b; round their periphery the roller 6 works; this roller is attached to
and drives the vertical spindle or rod b³, the lower end of which passes through
the guide, the upper end being bolted at a to the slide a'. The action of
the cams and rods bs is to raise the slide frame, and with it the knives and
their frames, from the bed at the end of the forward stroke, and to retain it
at that elevation during the succeeding backward stroke, and at its termination
or the beginning of the forward stroke to bring them in contact with it again,
and keep them there during this stroke. The great use of the spring o, and
the arrangement for suspending the slide frame and parts connected with it,
is brought out in the last-described action, where they tend to obviate all
shocks which might otherwise be occasioned by the action of the cams upon
the parts. The mode of securing the clasticity of the bed C will be understood
from Figure 6, where it is shewn separate from the rest of the machine. e, e,

page_text: the inverted spring, resting upon the brackets e', e, which are supported by
the side frame, and is held at the centre by the brace e, which receives the
weight of the bed C from the head of the screw e'; f, f, are guide rods,
passing through the guides f', f, and having nuts ff, on their heads; the
object of this arrangement being to prevent the bed from rising beyond a
certain point when acted upon by the spring. The elasticity of the spring is
increased or diminished by depressing or elevating the screw by means of
the small fly wheel &. D, D, is the endless band, travelling upon the
rollers 9. 9, having their axis fixed in the bearings g'; 92, 92, an arrangement
for tightening or easing the band. The motion of the band, and consequently
the leather upon it, is regulated by means of the cam acting on the spindle h,
which again pushes out h', which acting upon the detent lever h³, causes the
toothed wheel h to turn on the axis of the roller, and thus carry round
the band D, the spring he maintaining the rod h against the cam; by means of
the slot link it will be seen that the motion of the toothed wheel may be
increased or diminished. As it is necessary that during the forward stroke,
when the knives are acting upon the leather, this latter should be stationery,
we effect this by means of the clamp rod m, which is so acted upon by the
cam as to press firmly on the surface of the hide and endless band during
the forward stroke and when the knives are in action, but during the back-
ward stroke it is removed, and the hide and band are carried onwards by
means of the detent.
Having now described our Invention, and how the same is formed, con-
structed, and acts, we wish it understood that what we claim and want
protected by the before in part recited Letters Patent are,―
First, the mode of forming the knives or scrapers as shown in Figures 1,
2, 4, and 5 of the appended Drawings, that is to say, having the blades on
the striking edge either curved or straight, and so arranged as to oscillate
or rotate round the point of suspension within the frame when force is applied
at either end.
Second, making the said knives either of steel, iron, composition metal,
or hard wood.
Third, making use of hard brushes to effect a similar object to that of the
knives.
. Fourth, the mode of combining the knives in pairs, and aflixing them to
their frames, as shewn in the various Figures of the appended Drawings, and
more particularly described in this. Specification.
Fifth, the mode of actuating these knives when fixed in their frames and
combined with the different within-mentioned driving or actuating parts, that
:

page_text: .
.
is to say, so as to impart to them a reciprocal horizontal motion, and at the
samo time a motion of oscillation round a fixed point and in a variable planc,
substantially as described in this Specification; and generally illustrated in the
Figures of the accompanying Drawings.
Sixth, the application of a cam or its equivalent, and the general arrange-
ment for the purpose of giving the knives a vertical motion at the commence-
ment and end of each stroke, as described more fully in this Specification, and
illustrated in the different Figures of the accompanying Drawings.
Seventh, the mode of forming the bed so as to have it of a springy nature,
being either of itself clastic, or inelastic, and actuated by elastic matters or
devices, and generally as described and illustrated.
Eighth, the mode of suspending and actuating the framework placed over
the bed, and within which and to which the slides, blocks, and knives are
attached and supported, substantially as described in this Specification, and
generally illustrated in Figures 1, 2, & 3 of accompanying Drawings.
Ninth, the mode of actuating and regulating the motion of the endless
band, and consequently of the article placed upon it, by means of the action
of the cam, substantially as described in this Specification, and more fully
illustrated in Figure 3 of the accompanying Drawings.
Tenth, the application and mode of actuating the clamp bar for holding
the band and material during the action of the knives, as described in this
Specification and illustrated in the Drawings.
Eleventh, the form, arrangement, and combination of the various parts
herewith described, or of similar well-known equivalents, and analogous
devices for the purpose of producing a machine for "scraping or striking
leather and tanned or untanned hides," the knives or scrapers of such said
machines having the form and being actuated by such means as will effect
or produce the various motions hero-within described, and substantially similar
to that set forth in this Specification, and generally illustrated in the Drawings
appended thereto.
In witness whereof, we, the said Abraham Ripley and John Roberts,
have hereunto set our names and seals, this First day of October, in
the rear One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.