IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPLITTING LEATHER
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tonilinson Bousfield, of Sussex Place,
Loughborough Road, Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR SPLITTING LEATHER."-A commu-
nication.
Sealed the 2nd March 1855, and dated the 20th December 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bous-
field at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 20th December 1854.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Sussex Place, Loughborough Road,
Brixton, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR SPLITTING LEATHER" to be as follows:-
In the machines most commonly in use for the purpose of splitting leather,
the hide is pressed up to the guage roll by a spring plate, over which it passes
on its way to the knife. The action of this plate is not, however, uniform,
owing to the varying thickness of the leather.
guage
To keep the leather more uniformly and evenly pressed up to the
roll, however variable may be its thickness, is the object of the present Inven-
tion; the first part of which consists in the use of a roll, composed of metallic
sections or rings, placed beneath the guage roll, and which performs the office
intended to be performed by the spring plate heretofore employed; the sections

page_text: or rings being forced up by means of springs, and so secured to the shaft
which carries them, that while they are allowed to play up and down, they are
also caused to revolve with the shaft, and thus feed the leather into the
machine.
The second part of the Invention consists in the use of a feed apron, which
carries the leather in between the rolls, and which is non-elastic and unyielding
in the direction of its length, and elastic in the direction of its thickness. The
object of this apron is to hold the leather more perfectly and uniformly up to
the guage roll than has heretofore been accomplished.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th May 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of 8, Sussex Place, Loughborough Road, Brixton, in
the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I, the said George
Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 LEATHER," (being a communica-
tion from abroad,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George
Tomlinson Bousfield, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, together with the Drawings hereto annexed, that
is to say :-
In the machines most commonly in use for the purpose of splitting leather,
the hide is pressed up to the gauge roll by a spring plate, over which it passes
on its way to the knife. The action of this plate is not, however, uniform,
owing to the varying thickness of the leather.
To keep the leather more uniformly and evenly pressed up to the gauge
roll, however variable may be its thickness, is the object of the present Inven-
tion; the first part of which consists in the use of a roll, composed of metallic
sections or rings, placed beneath the gauge roll, and which performs the office
intended to be performed by the spring plate heretofore employed; the sections
or rings being forced up by means of springs, in a manner which will be here-
after described, and so secured to the shaft which carries them, that while they
are allowed to play up and down, they are also caused to revolve with the shaft,
and thus feed the leather into the machine.
The second part of the Invention has reference to a peculiar construction of
feed apron, which carries the leather in between the rolls, and which is non-
elastic and unyielding in the direction of its length, and elastic in the direction
of its thickness.
The object of this apron is to hold the leather more perfectly and uniformly
up to the gauge roll than has heretofore been accomplished. For this purpose,
a wooden roll covered with india-rubber has been tried, but has failed to
accomplish the desired end; for the reason that the roll when in use is sub-
jected to great pressure, and it is found to be impossible to attach the india-
rubber so securely to its surface that it will not be torn off. Another objection
to the use of an elastic roll thus constructed arises from the fact that the great
pressure forces out the india-rubber, and causes it to bulge out, and thus
diminish the size of the throat through which the leather is to pass, and this
happens more especially where the leather is thickest, and requires the largest
throat. These defects have rendered-the elastic roll entirely impracticable and
useless for the purpose. By means, however, of the before-mentioned elastic
feed apron, I have overcome all the above difficulties, and am enabled to feed
the material to the rolls, and to press it uniformly and evenly up to the
roll, however varying and uneven it may be in thickness.
gauge
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use this Invention, I will
proceed to describe the manner in which it is carried out, referring generally
to the principal parts of the machine, and more particularly to those features
which form the. subject of the Invention.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan of the machine; Fig. 2,
a section through the same upon the line A, A; Fig. 3, a transverse section
upon the line Y, Y; Fig. 4, a section on the line X, X; Fig. 5, a section
of the elastic apron upon an enlarged scale; Fig. 6, a detached view of one of
the rings of the sectional roll. B is the framework of the machine; C, the
main driving shaft, carrying at one end the pinion D, which drives the cog
wheel E upon the shaft of the sectional roll F; G is a pinion upon the other
end of the shaft C, which engages with the pinion H, which latter drives the
cog wheel I upon the shaft of the gauge roll K. The gauge roll is prevented
from springing in the center by the rollers b, which run in ears c upon the
bottom of the transverse bar L, the ends of which are secured to the uprights
M. N is an endless apron, which passes over the sectional roll F and the
stretcher roll O. Beneath that portion of the apron N which is contiguous
to the gauge roll is the swinging table P, the forward edge of which rests upon
the sectional roll F, the rear of the table being pivoted to the side bars of the
frame at d. The object of this table is to support the feed apron, and prevent
it from sagging when loaded with the leather. A portion of the weight of this
table is carried by the springs f, which bear upon brackets upon the frame-
work, by which means the sectional roll is relieved from unnecessary pressure.
The shaft of the sectional roll F runs in boxes h, which slide up and down
in the guide pieces k. The boxes 1, which carry the gudgeon i of the gauge
roll K, slide in the same uprights, their position being regulated by the hand]
screws in the customary manner. R is a spreader, which is revolved by
means of the bands m, from the shaft of the gauge roll. The object of this
spreader is to ensure the uniform and even delivery of the leather to the gauge
roll and knife. S is the knife, which is secured to the bar T, the latter being
attached to the frame by means of the screws n, or otherwise.
I will now proceed to describe the first part of the Invention. p are longi-
tudinal feathers upon the surface of the roll F; q are metallic rings, of the
form represented in Figs. 2 & 6, which are strung upon the roll F, as seen
in Fig. 4. The ribs p. fitting loosely within the grooves 7, prevent the rings
from turning independently of the roll F. There is sufficient play between the
rings to enable them to move vertically, to accommodate themselves to the
varying thickness of the leather, as will be hereafter explained. t are springs
secured to the cross timbers U; s are ears upon the extremity of the springs,
which carry the long spindle a; v are rollers, which are strung upon the
spindle a, and are placed one beneath each of the sections of the roll F, or
they may be so arranged that each roller may bear equally upon two conti-
guous sections of the roll. These sections, while they are allowed to yield to

page_text: accommodate themselves to the varying thickness of the leather, are thus kept
firmly and evenly pressed up to their work by the springs. w is a bar, which
runs transversely across the machine, and is adjusted in position by set screws .
The object of this bar is to limit the upward motion of the springs t and rollers
v, the ends of the springs resting upon the under side of the bar. In the
accompanying Drawings, the rollers are represented as carried by the long
Under certain circumstances I contemplate providing each roller with
a separate shaft, so that each roller shall be operated upon by its individual
spring. The choice of these methods will depend upon the work which the
machine is called upon to perform. W is a roll, which may be driven by
hand or by a band, and serves at times to assist the draught of the "grain "
from the machine.
The elastic feed apron, which constitutes the second part of this Invention,
is made in the following manner :-a', a', Fig. 5, are two thicknesses of canvas
of suitable strength, which are firmly cemented to a band of india-rubber, or
other suitable elastic substance b¹.
The above is the construction which I prefer for the elastic apron; it may,
however, be composed of one or more thicknesses of canvas upon one side,
and of elastic material upon the other; the object being to render it strong
and non-elastic in the direction of its length, and elastic in the direction of
its thickness.
The leather being placed upon the apron, as seen at f¹, Figs. 1 & 2, the
machine is set in motion by turning the crank A'; the leather is thus drawn in
against the edge of the knife (Fig. 2); by the notion of the apron, the "grain"
passing up at c is wound upon the roller W and "split," passing off beneath
the knife as usual at d. Owing to the peculiar action of the elastic apron and
the sectional spring roll, the leather is kept uniformly pressed up against the
gauge roll, however irregular may be its thickness. Under certain circum-
stances the sectional roll may be used alone, without the elastic apron, and
for certain kinds of leather the elastic apron may be used without the sectional
roll; this machine operates most perfectly, however, when the two are used
together, as represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, as described to me
by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of carrying it out, I would have
it understood that I do not claim the use of rolls composed of sections or rings
strung upon a shaft when the sections and shaft are allowed to revolve inde-
pendently of each other; but I only claim the same in combination with the

page_text: springs t, or their equivalents, and when they are so united with the shaft
which carries them, that while they are permitted to rise and fall, to accommo-
date themselves to the varying thickness of the leather, they are at the same
time forced to revolve with the shaft, and feed the leather into the machine, as
described.
2d, I claim the feed apron N, non-elastic in the direction of its length, and
elastic in the direction of its thickness, constructed in the manner substantially
as described, for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
year of
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (L.S.)
Witness,
RICHARD CULLEN,
5, New Court, St. Swithin's Lane,
City, London.