AN IMPROVED DISINTEGRATING MACHINE FOR TEARING LEATHER INTO FILAMENTS OR SHREDS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED DISINTEGRATING MACHINE FOR TEARING
LEATHER INTO FILAMENTS OR SHREDS."-A communication from abroad
by Edward Seymour Hidden; of Millburn, New Jersey, United
States of America, Manufacturer.
Sealed the 12th December 1871, and dated the 23rd June 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 23rd June 1871.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED DISINTEGRATING MACHINE
FOR TEARING LEATHER INTO FILAMENTS OR SHREDS," a communication, to be
as follows:-
The said machine is designed for use in a process of making washers,
insoles, and heels for shoes from scraps of leather; part of this process
consists in reducing the leather to shreds by tearing it, and before the
.

page_text: scraps can be torn it is necessary to form them into a compact mass
and so keep them while being acted upon by the tearing teeth. In
order to make up this mass I first submit the scraps to the action of
machinery which rolls over and tumbles them about in a quantity of
water until they are thoroughly soaked and softened and have become
spongy, these wet scraps are then placed in a mould, subjected to heavy
pressure, and afterwards dried so as to form a cake, this cake is placed
in the feeding trough of the disintegrating machine in which it is
tightly confined and fed so as to be acted upon by the revolving teeth.
The first requisite of my machine is therefore a feeding box or trough
capable of holding the cake of leather fragments firmly, and through
which it may be fed to the revolving tearing teeth. The sides and
bottom of the said box are of wood or metal firmly fastened together
and to the frame of the machine. The top is moveable; I prefer to
hinge it to the rear ends of the sides and to provide it with two pins
which drop into notches cut in the sides of the box. Upon the
cover is mounted a double hook, this hook can be adjusted to allow the
box cover to be lifted so that the hooks take into two grooves formed
in a pillar firmly attached to the box or the bed plate or both. The
axle upon which the hook turns is a screw which is free to revolve in
a box and passes through a nut or female screw cut in the hook. When
the hook is in the grooves this screw can be revolved to cause the
cover to descend and compress forcibly the cake of leather contained
in the box. In order to feed the cake forward this box is provided with
a follower or piston, a screw is attached to this piston and passes out
through a bar firmly secured at the back of the box, a cog wheel is
mounted upon a hub forming part of this bar, and prevented from
moving rearwards by a pin entering from the wheel into a groove in the
hub. This wheel has a female screw out in it, and when the wheel is
revolved the screw and consequently the follower will be moved towards
or away from the teeth according to the direction in which the wheel is
turned. In front of the box is a 'revolving toothed wheel mounted in the
frame, it is provided with teeth shaped much like those of wool burring
machines but with a deeper gullet, these teeth I prefer to form either
separately or in rows, and I dovetail them into the wheel or stock.
The teeth in this arrangement in any one row are opposite the interstices
between the teeth of the row before and behind it so that the teeth
may tear over the whole surface of the cake of leather exposed at the
open end of the feeding box. I sometimes set these teeth spirally so

page_text: that the teeth of each row are not exactly opposite the interstices of
the rows before and behind them, or I may set the teeth behind one
another, or make them upon discs which are packed together upon a
shaft with other discs having no teeth and of smaller diameter between
them, but in this latter case I have found it necessary to give a vibratory
movement either to the shaft carrying the teeth' or to the feeding
trough; this is easily done by a cam attached to or in connection with
some shaft of the machine, the feeding box being pivotted to oscillate
horizontally, or the shaft. being fitted to have end play. A stock which
will support the teeth so that those on opposite ends of the same
diameter are seven inches apart and revolving at a speed of about two
hundred revolutions per minute produces good results. The filaments
of leather stick so closely between the teeth that a cleaner or clearer is
essential. This cleaner is a shaft provided with at least two sets of
clearing teeth, those of one row or set are arranged opposite the spaces.
of the other set, one set clears the tearing teeth of one row, the other
set those of the next row of claws, each clearing tooth passing between
two tearing teeth from their heels to their points. The clearer shaft is
so geared to the shaft which carries the tearing teeth that the clearing
teeth will revolve with a greater surface speed than the tearing teeth
and in such wise that one row of clearers clears one row of tearing
teeth, and the other row of clearers the next row of tearing teeth,
another set of clearers clears the first set. When the tearing teeth
are arranged on a cylinder in spirals the clearers must be arranged
in the same way and upon a cylinder of larger diameter. When the
tearing teeth are arranged one behind the other one row of clearers will
answer, although several rows with the teeth of one behind the teeth of
the other may be used. When the tearing teeth cylinder has a vibratory
motion the clearing teeth shaft must have the same motion. A shaft
provided at one end with a mitre wheel gearing into a mitre wheel upon
one of the cross shafts of the machine passes out rearward and is geared
with a wheel which revolves in such a direction as to move the follower
towards the tearing teeth. The rear end of the said shaft is hung in a
bearing formed in a bar pivotted at one side of the rear of the machine.
In working my machine I moisten the cake of leather slightly before
depositing it in the feeding box and combine with the cylinder a pipe
pierced with holes through which jets of water may be thrown. This
pipe may be supported in any convenient manner and position so long
as its holes will direct the jets of water upon the teeth..

page_text: The tearing teeth described are like hooks or talons and must have
intervals between the teeth in the same row. They are not like cutters
and do not like cutters extend across the surface to be cut.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st December 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents;
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give-
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 "AN IMPROVED
DISINTEGRATING MACHINE FOR TEARING LEATHER INTO FILAMENTS OR SHREDS,"
a communication to me from abroad by Edward Seymour Hidden, of
Millburn, New Jersey, United States of America, Manufacturer, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and

page_text: by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings forming a part of this Specification.
The said machine is designed for use in a process of making washers,
insoles, and heels for shoes from scraps of leather. Part of this process
consists in reducing the leather to shreds by tearing it, and before the
scraps can be torn it is necessary to form them into a compact mass,
and so keep them while they are acted upon by tearing teeth. In order
to make up this mass I first submit the scraps to the action of machinery.
which rolls and tumbles them about in a quantity of water until they
are thoroughly soaked and softened and have become spongy, these
wet scraps are then placed in a mould, subjected to hoavy pressure and
afterwards dried to form a cake, this cake is placed in the feeding
trough of the disintegrating machine in which it is tightly confined and
fed to the revolving teeth.
Figure 1 is a plan of the said machine; Figure 2 is a side elevation ;
Figure 3 is a front elevation; and Figure 4 is a longitudinal central
section of the same.
'
The first requisite of my machine is a feeding box or trough capable
of holding the cake of leather fragments firmly and through which
it may be fed to the revolving tearing teeth. This box is indicated
by a, a, a', the sides and bottom by a, a, and the top by a³, it has no
ends, the sides and bottom are of wood or metal firmly fastened together
and to the frame of the machine. The top is moveable, I prefer to
hinge it to the rear ends of the sides by a pivot a³ and to provide it
with two pins a³ which drop into notches cut in the sides of the box.
Upon the cover is mounted a double hook b, this book may be in the
position shown by dotted lines, Figure 1, to allow the box cover to be'
lifted or it can be turned into the position shown in full lines, so that
the hooks take into two grooves each formed in one of the pillars 6³,
which are firmly attached either to the box, or the bed plate, or both.
The axle upon which the hook turns is the screw 6ª, which is free to
revolve in a box 6', and which passes through a nut or female screw
cut in the hook, when the hook is in the grooves this screw may be
revolved to cause the cover to descend and compress forcibly the cake
of leather contained in the box. In order to feed the cake forward this
box is provided with a follower or piston c, a screw c¹ is attached to

page_text: •
this piston and passes out through a bar d firmly secured at the back
of the box. A cog wheel c³ is mounted upon a hub forming part of
this bar, and prevented from moving rearwards by a pin entering from
the wheel into a groove in the hub. This wheel has a female screw.
cut in it, and when the wheel is revolved the screw and consequently
the follower will be moved towards or away from the teeth according
to the direction in which the wheel is turned. In front of the box is a
revolving toothed wheel e mounted in the frame, it is provided with
teeth e¹ shaped somewhat like those of wool burring machines but with
deeper gullet, these teeth I prefer to form either separately or in
rows, and to dovetail them into the wheel or stock. By examining the
Drawing it will be perceived that the teeth in any one row are opposite
the interstices between the teeth of the row before and behind it, so
that the teeth may tear the whole surface of the cake of leather
exposed at the open end of the feeding box. I sometimes set these
teeth spirally so that the teeth of each row are not exactly opposite the
interstices of the rows before and behind them, and at other times I
set the teeth behind one another or make them upon discs, which are
packed together upon a shaft with other discs having no teeth and of
smaller diameter between them, but in this latter case I have found
it necessary to give a vibratory movement either to the shaft carrying
the teeth or to the feeding trough, this is easily done by a cam attached
to or in connection with some shaft of the machine, the feeding box
being pivoted to oscillate horizontally, or the shaft being fitted to have
endwise play. A stock which will support the teeth so that those on a
opposite ends are seven inches apart and revolving at a speed of about
200 revolutions per minute produces good results. The filaments of
leather stick so closely between the teeth that a cleaner is essential,
this cleaner is a shaft provided when the tearing teeth or claws are
arranged as shown in the Drawings with at least two sets of clearing a
teeth, those of one row or set are arranged opposite the spaces of the
other set, one set clears the tearing teeth of one row, the other set those
of the next row of claws each clearing tooth passing between two
tearing teeth from their heel to their points. The clearer shaft is so
geared as shown in the Drawings to the shaft which carries the tearing a
teeth that the clearing teeth will revolve with a greater surface speed
than the tearing teeth, and in such manner that one row of clearers
clears one row of tearing teeth, and the other row of clearers the next
row of tearing teeth, another set of clearers 9 for clearing the first set.

page_text: though not essential often serves a good purpose. When the tearing
teeth are arranged on a cylinder in spirals the clearers must be arran d
in the same manner, and upon a cylinder of larger diameter. When
the tearing teeth are arranged one behind the other, one row of clearers
will answer although several rows with the teeth of one behind the
teeth of the other may be used. When the tearing teeth cylinder has
a vibratory motion the clearing teeth shaft must have the same motion.
A shaft provided at one end with a mitre wheel 4*, gearing into a
mitre wheel upon one of the cross shafts of the machine passes out
rearward and is geared by means of the spur wheel ¹ with the wheel c³,
when the machine is at work this shaft will cause the wheel c³ to
revolve in such a direction as to move the follower towards the tearing
teeth. The rear end of the shaft h is hung in a bearing k formed in
a bar pivotted at one side of the rear of the machine, this bar is held
up so that the wheel h¹ may engage with the wheel c³ by means of a
lever m pivotted at m' and which catches under a pin m². When one
cake of scraps has been nearly torn into filaments the machine is
stopped, the top of the box opened after slackening the screw &, and
the cog wheel h' is dropped out of gear with the wheel c' by raising
the end m³ of the lever m, the wheel c³ can then be turned by hand
in the reverse direction, the follower being thus moved back to the
rear of the box, and the box put in the proper state for the reception of
a new cake of scraps. The box may also be opened and the follower
run back, while the tearer shaft and the clearers are kept revolving.
.
In working my machine I moisten the cake of leather slightly before
depositing it in the feeding box, and as small jets of water playing
upon the cylinder of tearing teeth not only keep them cool but also
facilitate the clearing of the teeth, I combine with the cylinder a pipė
pierced with holes through which jets of water may be thrown. This
pipe may be supported in any convenient manner and position so long.
as its holes will direct the jets of water upon the teeth. It is shown in
clevation and section in Figures 2 and 4 as supported by rods-fastened
to the frame of the machine.
The tearing teeth above described are like hooks or talons and must
of necessity have intervals between them in the same row. They
are not like cutters and do not extend across the surface to be cut.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner in which the same is

page_text: to be performed, I wish it distinctly understood I am aware that a box
in which matter can be clamped and fed forward in macliines for cutting
tobacco and the like, and also the tearing teeth and feed box in com-
bination with cutters as in tobacco and straw cutters, and the revolving
clearers have already been used, I therefore do not claim any of these
parts separately, but I claim,-
-
•
First. The combination of a feeding box, a follower or piston, and a
set of revolving tearing teeth, with intervals between them in the
direction of their axes of revolution, the combination being such that
the teeth tear throughout the whole exposed surface of the material
acted upon as herein described.
Second. In combination with a feeding box, follower, and set of
revolving tearing teeth, all constructed and operated as herein specified,
a set of revolving clearers acting as described to clear out the tearing
teeth.
Third. The combination of a feeding box, a follower, a set of revolving
teeth, and two sets of clearers, all constructed and operated as herein
set forth.
Fourth. The combination of a feeding box, a set of revolving tearing
teeth, a follower or piston, and a contrivance for throwing streams of
water upon the teeth, all constructed and operating as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one
Witness,
WILLIAM J. LOWE.
W". ROBT..LAKE. (L.S.)