An Improved Machine for Treating Skins and Hides.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Nov., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 22nd July, 1898-Accepted, 1st Oct., 1898
An Improved Machine for Treating Skins and Hides.
I, PAUL LEYENDECKER, of 106, Schillerstrasse, Charlottenburg, near Berlin, in the
German Empire, Master, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
}
This invention relates to a machine for softening and smoothing skins and hides
and for rendering them supple and has for its object to provide a machine which
The said hand
shall replace the tedious hand work still to a large extent in vogue.
work consists in working the skins, which in the preliminary operations have had a
certain amount of stiffness imparted to them, with sharp convex or curved knives,
provided with handles, upon the flesh.side for the purpose of making them supple
and in working them upon the grain side with similarly shaped glass or steel plates
having rounded polished edges.
1
2+
Machines with long rollers, the knives of which have curved or convex cutting
edges and against which the skins or hides are pressed, are unsuitable for energetically...
working skins and cannot be looked upon as an efficient substitute for the above
mentioned hand work.
Now the object of this invention is to obviate this disadvantage and to this end
I provide a machine the main feature of which consists of a wheel or drum designed
to be rotated and which carries the knives and plates for working the flesh side and
the grain side respectively of the skins, the said knives being alternately inclined in
opposite directions with respect to the wheel shaft and having convex cutting or
working edges for the purpose of enabling the skin to be pulled to-and-fro laterally
in the arc of a circle over the knives or smoothing plates of the quickly moving
wheel or drum, the skin being held by means of a suitable device arranged at
a distance from the parts being worked and against which the attendant presses with
his body.
In a suitable arrangement for carrying out the invention the machine is provided
with a wheel or drum designed to be rotated at a high speed by means of a pulley
and shaft and carrying sharp knives and smoothing plates for working respectively
the flesh side and the grain side of the skin, the said knives and plates being alter-
nately inclined in opposite directions with respect to the drum shaft. The object of
thus inclining the knives alternately in opposite direction's is to prevent the skin or
hide being pulled towards one side.
The working edges both of the sharp knives and of the smoothing plates are curved
in such a manner that it is possible to pull the skin to-and-fro over the said knives
and plates in the arc of a circle, the skin or hide being held against the edge of the
work table at a point removed from the parts of the skin being worked by means
of a clip against which the attendant presses with his body. The said clip is carried
by a spring rod so that when pressure is removed therefrom the skin or hide is at once
released.
The leather dust is caught in a known manner by. a hood and conveyed away by
means of an exhauster. This hood extends from the rear of the machine practically
7

page_text: to the vertical plane through the drum shaft so that there are always about three
tools above the table free to grip the skin.
The knives and the smoothing plates are provided with cheeks having screw-
threaded pins for securing them to the drum. The shaft of the said drum is mounted
in bearings in the frame of the machine and is rotated by means of one of two pulleys
of which one is fast and the other loose upon the said shaft.
The machine is started by passing the belt upon the fast pulley. The workman
seizes the skin or hide at the sides, brings it between the table and the spring clip
and presses with his body against the latter thereby holding the skin fast at this
point. He then draws the skin to-and-fro in a lateral direction over the rapidly
moving knives and plates so that the latter work in a scoop like manner to the right
and left and do not tend to pull the skin to one side or the other.
By means of the spring clip which follows the movements of the body of the
workman the skin can be easily released, readjusted and again gripped.
I, PAUL LEYENDECKER, of 106, Schillerstrasse, Charlottenburg, near Berlin, in the
German Empire, Master, do hereby declare the nature of this invention 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 for softening and smoothing skins and hides
and for rendering them supple and has for its object to provide a machine which shall
replace the tedious hand work still to a large extent in vogue. The said hand work
consists in working the skins, which in the preliminary operations have had a certain
amount of stiffness imparted to them, with sharp convex or curved knives, provided
with handles, upon the flesh side for the purpose of making them supple and in
working them upon the grain side with similarly shaped glass or steel plates having
rounded polished edges.
Machines with long rollers, the knives of which have curved or convex cutting
edges and against which the skins or hides are pressed, are unsuitable for energetically
working skins and cannot be looked upon as an efficient substitute for the above
mentioned hand work.
Now the object of this invention is to obviate this disadvantage and to this end I
provide a machine the main feature of which consists of a wheel or drum designed to
be rotated and which carries the knives and plates for working the flesh side and the
grain side respectively of the skins, the said knives being alternately inclined in
opposite directions with respect to the wheel axis and having convex cutting or
working edges for the purpose of enabling the skin to be drawn, to-and-fro laterally
in the arc of a circle over the knives or smoothing plates of the quickly moving wheel
or drum, the skin being held by means of a suitable device arranged at a distance
from the parts being worked and against which the attendant presses with his body.
In the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine constructed according to the invention.
Figure 2 is a side elevation, and
Figure 3 is a plan thereof; and
Figure 1 Sand & are viario of dataila

page_text: The machine is provided with a wheel or drum a (see rigure
ated at a high speed by means of a pulley and shaft w and carrying sharp
ves m (see Figure 5) and smoothing plates p (see Figure 6) for working respec-
ely the flesh side and the grain side of the skin, the said knives and plates being
ernately inclined in opposite directions with respect to the drum shaft was shewn
Figure 3. The object of thus inclining the knives alternately in opposite
rections is to prevent the skin or hide being pulled towards one side.
The working edges both of the sharp knives in and of the smoothing plates p are
rved in such a manner that it is possible to pull the skin to-and-fro over the said
nives and plates in the arc of a circle, the skin or hide being held against the
ige of the work table at a point removed from the parts of the skin being"
orked by means of a clip s against which the attendant presses with his
ody. The said clip 8 is carried by a spring rod so that when pressure is removed
herefrom the skin or hide is at once released.
The leather dust is caught in a known manner by a hood k and conveyed away by
means of an exhauster. This hood k extends from the rear of the machine practically
to the vertical plane through the drum shaft w so that there are always about three
tools above the tablet free to grip the skin.
The shaft w of the said
The knives m and the smoothing plates p are provided with cheeks n having
screw-threaded pins for securing them to the drum a.
drum & is mounted in bearings g in the frame of the machine and is rotated by
means of one of two pulleys r of which one is fast and the other loose upon the
said shaft. The arrows in Figure 1 indicate the direction of rotation of the drum a
and the direction in which the dust particles are drawn through the hood.
The machine is started by passing the belt upon the fast pulley. The workmen
seizes the skin or hide at the sides, brings it between the table,t and the spring clip s
and presses with his body against the latter thereby holding the skin fast at this
point. He then draws the skin to-and-fro in a lateral direction over the rapidly
moving knives and plates so that the latter work in a scoop like manner to the
right and left and do not tend to pull the skin to one side or the other.
By means of the spring clip s which follows the movements of the body of the
workman the skin can be easily released, readjusted and again gripped.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
35 claim is:-
1. In a machine for treating skins and hides of the kind wherein a drum or the like
is employed which is rapidly rotated and carries knives and smooth plates having
curved or convex edges for working the flesh and grain sides respectively of the
skins or hides, arranging the said knives and plates to incline alternately i
40 opposite directions with respect to the axis of the drum, for the purpose o
enabling the skin or hide to be drawn to-and-fro laterally over them, the sai
skin or hide being suitably gripped or held at a point removed from the pa
being worked, substantially as herein before described.
2. The combination and arrangement of parts forming the improved machin
45 for treating skins herein before described and illustrated in the accompanyi
drawings.
1000
wings.
Dated the 22nd day of July 1808.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
Seth Street. Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.