Improvements in Boot and Shoe Buffing Machines and other Machines in which Sand Paper or other Abrading Fabric is Employed.
Year: 1888

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
1
Improvements in Boot and Shoe Buffing Machines and other
Machines in which Sand Paper or other Abrading Fabric is
Employed.
I, THOMAS E. KEAVY, of No. 92 Ontario Street, City of Cleveland, State of Ohio,
United States of America, Inventor, 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:-
My invention relates to Boot & Shoe Buffing Machines, and while it is designed to
be adaptable to all machines in which sand paper or other abrading fabric is employed
in scouring or dressing leather, wood, or other fibrous material, the invention for the
purpose of this description and patent is considered more especially in connection with
boot and shoe buffing or dressing mechanism.
A source of annoyance and expense in this class of machines as heretofore used is
found in the accumulation of dust and fibres on the cutting surface of the rolls. The
cutting or dressing pulleys operate at an average speed of say thirty five hundred
revolutions a minute. Running at this high velocity and with the paper in fairly
good condition, it is not necessary to bear hard upon the shoe that is being
dressed to get the necessary action, and by reason of the speed of the roll the
fibres are cut off sharply and mostly cast at a tangent from the surface of the
roll, though of course some will adhere to its surface. But in the class of machines
using the endless belt this casting off process is less effective than in those with a
plain roll, and a large amount of the severed material adheres to and is carried round
by the paper.
Ordinarily both classes of machines are provided with exhaust or suction fans for
carrying away the detached particles, and for this purpose exhaust tubes with hoods
extend round to the rear and sides of the cutting devices and a strong exhaust is
maintained to make the operation as complete as possible. But, owing to a tendency
in both machines of the separated fibres to adhere to the sand paper, and the further
tendency of the fibres to be caught up again by reason of the velocity of the pulleys
notwithstanding the exhaust, especially in the machine with the endless sand paper
belt, it has been found in practice and in every day experience, that the sand paper

page_text: so quickly becomes embedded and encrusted with leather that not exceeding thirty or
forty pairs of shoes can be dressed before the efficiency of the paper is gone and new
paper must be supplied.
Now, I have found that originally these leather fibres are not really embedded in
the sand paper but cling to the surface merely, and that the embedding mostly
occurs when they are carried round and pressed in by the suction of the shoe in
further dressing, until finally the whole surface becomes clogged and smooth although
the paper itself in fact may be almost as good as new. Hence I conceived the
idea of devising some effectual means of not only preventing accumulations from
the air but also cleaning the sand paper surface of the pulley of the stuff that
may gather there from any cause. This I am enabled to do by introducing a sharp
blast of air to the surface of the paper or pulley at about the point where the
accumulations from the air would otherwise occur, and where the removed particles
will be carried into the exhaust, thus not only practically overcoming and preventing
such accumulations but really cutting away adhering fibres and carrying all into
the exhaust, which is the same as in the old machines. This operation insures a
clean roll of paper until the paper is literally worn out, and thus I am enabled to
buff and dress three or four hundred pairs of shoes with the same paper that would
dress not exceeding thirty or forty pairs in the old style of machines.
I am aware that a process of washing the paper after it becomes filled with leather
is known and used by some, but this process to be carried out necessitates the removal
of the paper from the machine, can only be done by experts as there is great danger
of softening the glue and loosening the sand, and at the best it leaves the paper with
much less efficiency than before.
Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a
perspective view of the top portion of the machine showing the arrangement of the
exhaust and the blast pipes. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a roll provided with a
number of metallic strips on its inside having substantially the form shown in
Fig. 4.
A represents the supporting frame of the machine which may be of the form
shown or any other suitable form. In the front view Fig. on a single arbor or
shaft B, supported in suitable bearings, are shown two pulleys or rolls say of the
form shown in Fig. 3, or of any other suitable form, the particular form not being
material.
D is a counter shaft carrying the buffing wheel and run by a band d from the
shaft B.
In the lower part of the machine supported upon suitable shafts are hung the blast
blower E and the exhaust blower F.
As hereinbefore described the exhaust tubing G is extended around at the rear and
sides of the buffing rolls, forming hoods therefor so as to gather up and carry away
as completely as possible the dust and flying material produced in the operation of
the machine. The exhaust and blast blower may be of any suitable style of which
there are many in the market. As here shown the blast tubing fis divided into
branch pipes g, one of which extends forward over each of the rolls and over the
exhaust hoods, and has its mouth flattened and so arranged as to deliver the blast at a
tangent to the periphery of the roll on its rear so as to deliver the blast where it will
clean the roll before it gets round to its working point and to leave the material that
is removed where it will be taken up and carried away by the exhaust. The special
arrangement of the exhaust and blast tubing shown here need not necessarily be
followed, and the spirit of the invention will be observed if the exhaust is so arranged
as to take up the flying material about the rolls, and the blast is arranged so as to
deliver the air to the rolls equally or nearly so at all points from end to end and in
such manner as to most certainly remove the adhering material therefrom.
In Fig. 3 I show a longitudinal section of an improved form of roll. In this roll
there is an end cap H having a sleeve h formed therewith and adapted to the shaft,
the end cap having a circumferential groove /¹ on its inner face. At the opposite
end there is a cap I having a circumferential groove i on its face corresponding to

page_text: the groove . In these grooves I arrange sheet metal plates K substantially of the
form shown in Fig. 4, and outside of these I have a body L of india rubber. The
shaft on which this roll is secured is screw threaded at one end, and a nut k servos
to tighten the parts and to expand the roll more or less as shall be desired. In
practice when it is desired to place the sand paper tube over the roll, which should
first be covered to a suitable depth with felt or equivalent material to get a cushioned
effect beneath the sand paper and to prevent heating of the rubber, the nut will be
loosened when the roll will measurably contract and the sand paper tube can be easily
slipped thereon. Then by tightening the nut the roll will be compressed ondwise and
pressed outward so as to completely fill the sand paper tube and hold it in working
position.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is;
1. The process of cleaning a buffing roll while at work and of removing the dust
from about the roll at the same time, consisting in applying a blast of air to the
surface of the roll at a tangent thereto opposite the direction of rotation, and in
maintaining an air exhaust about said buffer roll to carry away the dust, substantially
as set forth.
2. In a buffing machine, a buffing roll and a hood extending partly around the roll
and having a tube to maintain an exhaust about said roll, in combination with air
blast mechanism having the jet or delivery point of the blast arranged to direct the
air at a tangent to the surface of the buffer roll, whereby the sand paper is cleaned
on the roll and the dust is removed, substantially as set forth.
3. In a buffing machine, a roll made of elastic material, sheet metal strips arranged
within the roll to expand the same, and caps on the roll which confine the ends thereof,
substantially as set forth.
4. In a buffing machine, an elastic roll, metallic spring plates within the roll, a
supporting axle, adjustable caps on the roll to expand the same and to confine the
ends, and a buffing band upon the roll, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 1st day of May 1888
THOMAS E. KEAVY.