A MACHINE FOR CUTTING OFF THE FUR OR HAIR FROM BEAVER AND OTHER SKINS
Year: 1832

page_text: WALMSLEIS
SPECIFI
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Joun
WALMSLEY, of Manchester, Silk Winder, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fifteenth day of March, in the second year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Walmsley, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said John Walmsley, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, and such others as
I, the said John Walmsley, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "A MACHINE FOR CUTTING OFF THE FUR OR HAIR FROM BEAVER
AND OTHER SKINS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,.
the said John Walmsley, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled
in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery, within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and.
at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Walmsley, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention of
"A Machine for Cutting off the Fur from Beaver and other Skins," and the
manner in which the same is to be performed and carried into effect are
described and clearly shewn by the Drawing hereto annexed and the following
description, the same letters of reference and figures marked thereon indicating
the same parts throughout.
In the annexed Drawing, Figure 1 represents a side elevation; Fig. 2, an
end elevation;. Figure 3, a plan of a machine for cutting off the fur from
beaver and other skins. In these various views A, A, represents a revolving
shaft which receives its motion either from the hand by the winch, as seen in
the Drawings, or by a strap over the driving pulley in the ordinary manner.
At one extremity of the shaft A is placed the fly wheel B, which is applied for
the purpose of equalizing the motion of the shaft, and carrying the eccentric
point b. To this point b is attached the connecting rod C for the purpose of
carrying a reciprocating or back-and-forth motion to the carriage D. This
carriage D traverses freely in a rectilineal direction between the stationary
guides d, d, d, d, and carries the cutter d', which is held in a perpendicular
position and adjusted by means of a set screw, as best seen in the plan,
Figure 3. On the revolving shaft A is placed a tappet or scrole E, with two
opposite projections, which respectively depress or forces down the catch or
doge (as best seen in Figure 2), and thereby gathers a tooth in the ratchet
wheel F, at each half revolution of the shaft A; ff, and f, f, Figure 1, are
two fluted rollers, the upper roller being weighted by the levers and weights
X, X, and geered to the lower roller by means of spur, wheels g, g. To the
opposite extremity of the lower of these rollers is fixed the ratchet wheel F, so
that every half revolution of the shaft A, which gathers a tooth in F, as already
described, revolves the fluted rollers f, f, a small portion of a revolution, and
it is by means of this. motion that the skins are drawn forward during the
process of cutting, as hereafter described; H, H, represents an endless cloth for
the purpose of receiving the fur when cut off the skin, passing over the rollers
h, h, the latter of which receives.motion from, the: lower, roller f, f, by means
of a band or strap in such direction as to cause the upper surface. of the cloth
to move in the direction represented by the arrows on its surface;. I, I, repre-
sents a rest or block of iron, over which the skin passes in the process of
cutting, and which can be elevated or depressed by means of the tempering
screws i, i, as best seen in Figure 1; and K, K, is a presser, vibrating on the
centrey and weighted at the lower extremity, so as to press against the surface

page_text: of the rest or block I, I; L is another presser for the purpose of holding the
skin firm on the rest I, I, during the traversing of the cutter.
This presser L
acts by its own weight, and is raised a little by means of the arm 1, which rests
against the dog e, so as to relieve the skin at the same period that motion is
imparted to the drawing rollers f,f, but as soon as the skin has been traversed
the amount of a tooth of the ratchet F, the presser L returns to its former
position and holds the skin firm during the traverse of the cutter d¹; m, m,
are sharpeners or files placed in an oblique position for the purpose of sharpen-
ing the cutter at each traverse across the skin, and against which the knife or
cutter presses at the extremity of each traverse. The first step to be taken in
putting the machine in operation is to pass the skin between the presser K and
the block. I, and forward between the fluted roller f, f, which is effected by
relieving the upper roller of the weights X, X, and passing the skin in the
direction as shewn by the red line at Figure 2. The weights X, X, being then
replaced, and the presser K allowed to act, it is obvious that the skin must be
drawn forward in the direction of the red bent arrow (see Fig. 2), at each
motion of the fluted rollers received from the ratchet wheel F, as already
described, and by referring to the ratchet which gives motion to the fluted
rollers, it will be seen that the tooth is gathered and motion imparted at the
period when the cutter is at the extremity of its traverse and clear of the skin,
and also that during the traverse of the knife or cutter that the ratchet is not
in action, but that both the rollers f, f, and presser L are stationary along with
the skin, while the cutting of the fur takes place. And I have further found
it desirable to adjust the rest I, I, during the process of cutting, by means of
the tempering screws i, i, which, with a little experience, is effected to a great
nicety, so that the cutter d¹ shall not go deeper in a thick part of the skin, but
cut the fur or hair regularly from the surface throughout.
Having described the construction and method of operating with my Inven-
tion of "A Machine for Cutting Fur off Beaver and other Skins," I do not
claim as of my Invention any of the separate or well-known parts of which my
machine is constructed, but I do claim as my Invention the general arrange-
ment of the whole, together with the application of sharpeners as herein-before
described, to a machine for cutting furs from skins, all which I believe to be
new and never before practised in this kingdom.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Walmsley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.
JOHN (L.S.) WALMSLEY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twelfth day of September, in
the year of our Lord 1832, the aforesaid John Walmsley came before our said.
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification.
aforesaid, and all and everything therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fifteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.