IMPROVE- MENTS IN TANNING HIDES, AND MATERIALS FOR THAT PURPOSE.
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for au Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TANNING HIDES, AND MATERIALS FOR THAT PURPOSE.
A com-
munication from abroad by Jean Ballatschano, Constantin Ballatschano, and
Heinrich Trenk, all of Berlin, in the German Empire.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th January 1880.
"
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex. IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING HIDES, AND MATERIALS
FOR THAT PURPOSE." [A communication from abroad by Jean Ballatschano,
Constantin Ballatschano, and Heinrich Trenk, all of Berlin, in the German
Empire.]
The present Invention has for its object to effect the tanning of hides in a very
short time, while at the same time the leather produced shall be equal to that of
the best quality.
In particular with horse hides a considerable increase in substance is obtained by
this process.
For this purpose the hides are treated with the following tanning compounds,
either singly or in a certain order, or mixed together according to the kind of hide,
its thickness, and the various purposes to which it is to be applied; the compounds
are as follows:-
No. 1 consists of a solution of chromate of alumina in pyroligneous acid in the
proportions of about 1000 parts of water to 20 to 30 parts respectively of the
chromate and of the acid.
No. 2 consists of a concentrated solution of argol, to which is added a small
quantity of the solution of a protoxide (such as of nickel with chlorine) in ammonia.
The said argol bath has the property of considerably increasing the substance of the
hides after treatment in the bath of pyroligneous acid and chromate of alumina, if
such hides, after coming from the said bath, are first rinsed, and then while wet are
treated with the solution for from 24 to 48 hours or longer.
The hides are by treatment with the argol bath rendered so sensitive to
vegetable tanning agents that a bath of one part tannin with 1000 parts of water
and 20 parts of pyroligneous acid will tan a hide in 30 days, whereas a hide not

page_text: treated with the argol bath will, with the exception of the brown colouring, shew
no trace of tanning under the same treatment.
The tanning with these compounds may, as before stated, be effected in various
ways.
Thus, if two parts of the solution No. 1 are mixed with one part of solution
No. 2, the tanning of thick ox and horse hides can be completely effected in the
mixture in from 18 to 21 days.
When it is possible to maintain the bath at a constant temperature of from 72°
to 82° Fahr., the tanning process can be more quickly effected. It is to be observed
that the raw hides before treatment in the tanning bath are to be prepared in the
usual way.
Sheep skins, and generally the skins of smaller animals, can be finished by this
process in a much shorter time.
According to the purposes to which the finished leather is to be applied, different
mixtures of both the solutions Nos. 1 and 2 are employed, such as,-
a. 2 parts of solution No. 1, and one part of solution No. 2.
b. The hides are first treated with solution No. 2 for at least 36 hours, and are
then finished in a bath of No. 1.
c. The hides are first treated with solution No. 1, and then for any desired length
of time with solution No. 2.
d. The hides are merely treated with solution No. 1, without employing No. 2.
It is advantageous to mix a small quantity of carbolic acid with the baths.
The hides treated by the above described processes must afterwards be carefully
washed, and then finished in the usual way.
Before tanning the lime must be completely removed from the hides.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
July 1880.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING HIDES, AND MATERIALS
FOR THAT PURPOSE." A communication from abroad by Jean Ballatschano,
Constantin Ballatschano, and Heinrich Trenk, all of Berlin, in the German
Empire.
The present Invention has for its object to effect the tanning of hides in a very
short time, while at the same time the leather produced shall be equal to that of
the best quality. In particular with horse hides a considerable increase in substance
is obtained by this process.
For this purpose the hides are treated with the
following tanning compounds, either singly or in a certain order, or mixed together
according to the kind of hide, its thickness, and the various purposes to which it is
to be applied; the compounds are as follows:-
No. 1 consists of a solution of chromate of alumina in pyroligneous acid in the
proportions of about 1000 parts of water to 20 to 30 parts respectively of the
chromate and of the acid. No. 2 consists of a concentrated solution of argol, to
which is added a small quantity of the solution of a salt, such as zinc, ammonium,
nickel, or calcium chloride.
The said argol bath has the property of considerably increasing the impermeability
of the hides after treatinent in the bath of pyroligneous acid and chromate of
alumina, if such hides, after coming from the said bath, are first rinsed, and then
while wet are treated with the solution for from 24 to 48 hours or longer.
The hides are by treatment with the argol bath rendered so sensitive to
vegetable tanning agents, that a bath of one part tannin with 1000 parts of water
and 20 parts of pyroligneous acid will tan a hide in 30 days, whereas a hide not
treated with the argol bath will, with the exception of the brown colouring, show
no trace of tanning under the same treatment.
The tanning with these compounds may, as before stated, be effected in various
ways.
.
Thus, if two parts of the solution No. 1 are mixed with one part of solution
No. 2, the tanning of thick ox and horse hides can be completely effected in the
mixture in from 10 to 14 days. When it is possible to maintain the bath at a
constant temperature of 72° to 82° Fahr., the tanning process can be more quickly
effected. It is to be observed that the raw hides before treatment in the tanning
bath are to be prepared in the usual way.
Sheepskins, and generally the skins of smaller animals, can be finished by this
process in a much shorter time.
It has been proved by a great number of trials that in employing pyroligneous
and analogous acids in the above described, as well as all other tanning processes, it
has an accelerating action on the process, and in addition has a peculiarly beneficial
effect on the quality of the leather.
According to the purposes to which the finished leather is to be applied, different
mixtures of both the solution Nos. 1 and 2 are employed, thus,
(a.) The hides are treated with a mixture of 2 parts of solution No. 1, and one
part of solution No. 2.
(b.) The hides are first treated with solution No. 2 for at least 36 hours, and are
then finished in a bath of No. 1.
(c.) The hides are first treated with solution No. 1, and then for any desired
length of time with solution No. 2.
(d.) The hides are merely treated with solution No. 1, without employing No. 2.

page_text: It is advantageous to mix a small quantity of carbolic acid with the baths. The
action of the various baths should be tested, the hides being if necessary subjected
to stronger solutions, or treated repeatedly with the solutions described.
The hides treated by the above described processes must afterwards be carefully
washed, and then finished in the usual way.
Before tanning the lime must be completely removed from the hides.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents,
I claim,―
First. Treating hides in a bath containing a solution of chromate of alumina in
pyroligneous acid with admixture of a large proportion of water, substantially as
herein described.
.
Second. Treating hides in a bath containing a more or less concentrated solution
of argol with a small admixture of the solution of a salt, such as zinc, ammonium,
nickel, or calcium chloride.
Third. Treating hides in a bath consisting of a solution of from one to two parts
of tannin in one thousand parts of water, and from 20 to 25 parts of pyroligneous
acid.
Fourth. The combined use of any two or more of the baths referred to in the
preceding claims, either by employing them consecutively or by mixing them
together, substantially as herein described.
Fifth. The use of pyroligneous acid in combination with tanning processes
generally.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
CHAS. D. ABEL, (L.S.)