IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR REMOVING THE STIFF OR COARSE HAIRS FROM FUR
Year: 1881

page_text: "
LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Hasoltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR REMOVING THE STIFF OR COARSE
HAIRS FROM FUR." A communication from abroad by François Lambert
and Joseph Kokesch, both of the City and State of Now York, United States
of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th June 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR REMOVING
THE STIFF OR COARSE HAIRS FROM FUR." A communication from abroad by
François Lambert and Joseph Kokesch, both of the City and State of New York,
United States of America.
This Invention has for its object the removal of the stiff hairs from the fur or
dressed skins.
In the common method of performing this operation the skin, or a portion of it,
is folded over the finger of one hand, and then the fur is blown away from around
the standing hairs, and while thus separated they are clipped off with a pair of
scissors close to the skin, but this process is very tedious and laborious, and this
Invention is designed to supersede it by furnishing a machine which is so organized
as to perform the work automatically and rapidly, requiring an attendant only
for the introduction of the skins to the machine, and for setting the latter in
motion.
The said Invention consists chiefly in the combination of parts comprising a
holding device for supporting the skin, a brushing or combining agent for drawing
the fur away from the hairs, and a clipping or removing device to remove them
when so separated from the surrounding fur, as hereinafter specified.
In the accompanying Drawing,
Figure 1 is an elevation of one end of a machine constructed according to this:

page_text: Invention showing all the operating parts, and the fur under the action of the
separating brush.
Figuro 2 is a similar view of portions of the said machine with the hairs under
the action of the cutters, or when separated from the surrounding fur.
A is the end plato of the frame of the machine, drawn to about one third the
actual size. At the other end of the said machine is another plate of the same
form, and the two are connected by rods and nuts on the outer ends to hold them
at proper positions apart to support the working parts of the machine.
The width of the machine may be made according to the width of the skins to
be treated, and hence the support for the skin. The brushes and the cutters may
be made of any required length to reach across the skin.
The supporting device for the skin is shown at B, and consists of a bar whose
upper edge is slightly rounded to resemble the form of the finger, over which the
skins are curved as in the hand process. This bar is supported at each end in
uprights (one of which is shown at C), the lower ends of which are supported on a
shaft at C¹, the ends of which have excentric bearings in the frame A so that
when the shaft C' is partially revolved the supporting bar B will be slightly raised
and lowered, the object of which will be hereinafter explained. The said bar is
caused to vibrate from the fur opening brushes at D and D' to the cutters at E
and E' by connecting rods F attached at one end to the uprights C, and at the
other end to crank pins on a shaft Ɑ which receives motion in any convenient
manner.
Over the bar B an endless apron H is caused to travel to carry the fur skins
shown at H. This apron is drawn first between two compression rolls K and K¹
on the front edges of the vibrating supports C, and underneath a compression plato
at K², which is held at an angle against the upper front edge of the supporting
bar B as shown, and is supported by two fingers that reach out from a shaft K³
which has a handle K on its outer end by which the compression plate may be
raised from the bar B whenever a skin is to be introduced. The said plate is held
against tho bar by spring at L, the pressure of which is regulated by a set
screw L', the end of the spring acting against a toc at L depending from the shaft
that supports the compression plate, so that any desired degree of pressure may be
brought upon the skin during its movement over the supporting bar B.
The apron and skin after passing over the bar B are then drawn between two
rolls M and M', the one at M being provided with a toothed wheel at M2 which 3
engages with a worm or screw on a shaft M³ which is supported in bearings upon
the plato N which is suspended by a pivot or pin at N₁ on the upright C, and is
held from vibrating by a spring pawl N³ which engages in notches on the edge of
the said plate, so that the worm may be thrown in and out of gear with the feed
wheel Mas desired. The worm M³ receives motion from a spring pawl at N 4
which is fastened upon the frame A at N³ by screws in a slot as shewn, so that it
may be adjustable endwise, and its other end engages with a ratchet-wheel O on
the end of the worm shaft, so that as the upright C moves over to the position
shown in Figure 2 the said ratchet wheel will engage with the pawl N, and when
the motion of the upright C is reversed the feeding operation will take place.
4
Two brushes or brushing rolls are represented in the Drawing at D and D' driven
by the same belt in the same direction, and these are covered with card clothing,
bristles, or teasels to draw the fur on the skin over the edge of the bar Band away
from the compression plate, and when the fur is so drawn the stiff hairs will stand
up by themselves, as indicated in the Drawing, and in this condition are carried 5
over to the cutters E and E', where they are removed.
The cutters E consist of blades set in a roller or made of spiral form, as in the
well known shearing machines for cloth, and the stationary cutter E' is a straight
blade fastened upon a plato W which is mounted upon bearings in the frame A,
and on the opposite side to the said cutter aro projections W₁ which extend back 5
between set screws W² for regulating the position of the cutter to the knives or
cutters E.

page_text: When two brushes are used, as represented, it is desirable that the fur should
escape from the brush intermediate between the cutters and the other brush,
consequently the shaft C² is mounted on the excentric bearings as above stated,
and upon one end is fastened an arm X to which a link X' is attached connecting
to a lever X which is pivotted to the frame A at X³. One end of the said lever
engages by a pin in a grooved cam at Y fixed on the crank shaft G, and tho said
cam is so shaped that at each revolution of the shaft a vibratory motion is given to
the lever X, and thence to the shaft C¹, which by its partial rotation causes the
uprights C to gradually descend as the bar moves under the brushing roll D', and
thus it describes a curve like a concave to the roll, and in this manner a longer or
shorter brushing action can be produced. By such a construction only one
revolving brush may be required, but two-has been found preferable, and it is also
preferable to make them small so that the air may not be agitated over the fur in
its passage under them.
With a machine constructed as above described the skin is fastened in any
suitable manner by sewing or pins on the apron between the pressure rolls and
between the pressure plate and the supporting bar B, and then the machine is set
in motion, and as the drawing action of the apron by the roll M proceeds the skin
is advanced over the bar B and towards the action of the brushing rolls, and
at each reciprocation of the bar to the cutters the stiff or standing hairs are
removed.
As above stated, one brushing roll may answer the purpose, and in this case the
one at D, or that farthest from the cutters, may be dispensed with.
Instead of using the cutters as shown, a flame as from a slotted pipe and like
the flame from a blow-pipe, may be used to singe the stiff hairs and burn them off'
at each reciprocation of the bar B, or a pair of nipping bars may be used instead
of the said cutters so constructed as to open and close at each vibration to pull the
bairs from the skin if desired. These can be easily placed on the same supporting
shaft that supports the fixed or stationary cutter.
It will be readily understood that the bar B may be fixed or stationary, and the
portion of the frame that carries the cutters and brushes may be caused to vibrate
with the same movements as those above described, without departing from the
nature of the said Invention.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,-
First. An apparatus for removing the stiff hairs from fur, consisting of a holding
device for supporting the skin, a brushing or combing device for opening the fur,
and a removing agent, as herein before set forth.
Second. The combination of the vibrating bar B with one or more separating
brushes and clipping devices, as herein beforo set forth.
Third. The combination of the supporting bar B and the uprights C mounted on
a shaft having excentric bearings, and to which motion is imparted to cause
the said bar to describe a curve to correspond to the brushing roll, as above set
forth.
Fourth. The combination of the bar and the compression plate upon its side
opposite to the brushing roll, as and for the purpose herein before set forth.
Fifth. The combination of the bar, the compression plate, the apron, and the
feeding rolls to carry and hold the fur properly under the action of the brushing
roll, as herein before set forth.
Sixth. The combination of parts comprising the feed rolls, the worm gear, the
ratchet-wheel on the worm shaft, and the spring pawl, operating as and for the
purpose hereinbefore set forth.
Seventh. The combination of the vibrating supports for the bar B with the
grooved cam, and the crank on the shaft G, and the intermediate connections, as
and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.
Eighth. In a machine for removing the stiff hairs from fur, the combination of

page_text: the reciprocating bar, the compression plate, and one or more brushes with a
clipping or removing device, as hereinbefore set forth.
Ninth. The combination of the regulating and holding spring for the compression
plate with its adjusting screw and the too depending from the shaft that supports
the plate, as and for the purpose herein before set forth.
Tenth. The combination of the plate for supporting the worm pivotted at one
end to the supporting plate C, and having the spring pawl for holding the worm
either in or out of action, as above set forth.
Eleventh. The combination of the fixed or stationary cutter with a shaft on the
frame A, and adjusting screws to regulate the relative position of the said knife to
the revolving cutters, as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.