Improvements in Apparatus for Disintegrating or Separating Animal Matter.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Nov., 1899-Accepted, 6th Jan., 1900
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Disintegrating or Separating Animal
Matter.
I, JEFFERSON CHASE, of 18, Stone Street, Portland, in the County of Cumber-
land and State of Maine, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to bo particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
-
My invention is directed to apparatus for disintegrating or separating the fibres
of leather, raw hide or other fibrous animal matter, without appreciably cutting,
grinding or pulverizing said fibres, the purpose being to obtain a fibrous mass
which while moistened and in a plastic state can be shaped into any desired form
or article--the resulting product possessing most of the characteristics of leather
made from natural hide, such as fibrous and cellular structure, elasticity, dura-
bility, resistance to abrasion, leather affinity, and other qualities which are
peculiar to leather.
The fibrous structure of leather or animal skin is due to a plexus or network
of muscles, blood-vessels, nerves and other animal fibres, interwoven in an
irregular manner for Nature's functional purposes. When such substance is
subjected to the abrading influences of a rapidly moving friction surface under
conditions of a considerable pressure and especially when in a dry condition, the
effect is to grind, cut or pulverize it and to destroy the desired fibrous condition
of the resulting particles. But if such substance can be subjected to the action
of the moving abrading surface, without pressure, or when under a very light and
yielding pressure, and especially when it is moistened or in the presence of a
liquid, the result will be a disintegration und separation of the fibres by a tearing
action without the production of any substantial amount of granular or pulverized
particles.
It is the object of my invention to realize this result.
In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a disintegrating apparatus embodying my
invention.
Fig. 2 is a plan view laken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a detail view, enlarged, illustrating the abrading stone and the spider
associated therewith.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the bottom and lower part of the
casing surrounding the abrading stone and the discharge passage for the dis-
integrated material.
Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail.
In such drawings A represents a curb in which is mounted the driving and
adjusting mechanism of a horizontally arranged disintegrating stone B, mounted
on a vertical shaft C. This driving and adjusting mechanism may be of any
usual or preferred construction. The stone Bor other equivalent abrading
substance which might be employed in its stead-is mounted in the lower part
Pains 11

page_text: of a feed cylinder, tube or casing D, which is adapted to receive the pieces of
leather or other suitable animal substance which are to be disintegrated into their
component fibres; which casing is preferably made liquid tight and provided with
means such as supply pipe E whereby a liquid may be supplied to keep the
material moist or in suspension in a body of the liquid. The lower part of the
cylinder or tube D-the part which surrounds the stone-is shaped to collect the
material which has been disintegrated, and a pipe F, through which such material
may pass, leads off therefrom. To facilitate the discharge of the material through
this pipe I prefer to construct the bottom D of the tube or casing in the lower
part of which the stone is mounted, with an inclined part d, which slopes down-
ward in the direction in which the stone runs, and joins at its upper or most
raised portion with the main part of the bottom by a step or vertically disposed
face In this vertical face the opening f into the discharge pipe l' is situated.
The disintegrated fibres mixed with liquid form a semi-fluid mass which will
readily flow; and this collecting in the lower part of the casing 1 surrounding
the stone, will have a rotary or whirling movement imparted to it by the rapid
rotation of the stone B. As the opening into the discharge pipe F stands directly
across or in the course of such movement of the suspended disintegrated material,
there is a constant and easy discharge; and as the opening is in the bottom or
lower part of the casing, the fibres--which sink in the liquid-cannot collect or
become lodged in the casing but pass away rapidly and freely after being separated.
The flow through the pipe F', by reason of the construction just described is
largely governed by the speed at which the apparatus is being worked.
Above the stone there is arranged a perforated or slotted plate or spider G, the
under face of which is flat and arranged ciose to the upper abrading face of the
stone. The preferred form of the spider is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, and
consists of a plate of thin material, preferably metal, so shaped as to have an
annular rim by means of which it is secured to the tube or casing surrounding
the stone, and an intermediate radially slotted portion gl. The central part of the
plate from which the spider is formed is cut away for the passage of the shaft C,
when that is carried up above the spider. The main intermediate part g' of the
plate is cut with a number of shaped slits : and the edges of the radially
arranged segments thus formed, are turned up and form wings g', under which
are openings through the spider. The wings on their upper faces incline
downward in the direction in which the stone B3 turns, and the upper edges of the
wings are preferably at a distance apart greater than the longest dimension of any
piece of leather or other substance which will be fed into the apparatus to be
disintegrated, in order that the material may not lodge upon two adjacent wings
bridging the opening through the plate between them, and so tending to that
extent, to clog the feed of the apparatus.
The apparatus is used and operates as follows;
Scraps or small pieces of leather or raw hide or other suitable animal substance
are fed into the cylinder or tube D, together with a sufficient supply of water or
ollier suitable liquid such as oil, to keep the pieces in suspension, and the stone is
set to revolving rapidly. The pieces of leather settle upon the spider and their
edges pass through the openings therein and, coming in contact with the stone
or moving abrading surface, are gradually torn apart or disintegrated thereby,
the fibres of which leather or hide are composed being separated from each other
without being cut or ground up into minute particles. This action rather than
a grinding action--takes place because the material to be disintegrated is
presented to the moving abrading surface under very light pressure and the action
is assisted by reason of the presence of water or other liquid which softens the
leather and renders its disintegration more easy. The spider prevents the material
from being carried around with the stone, and operates to cause the pieces of
leather to be presented to the stone in a manner to cause their most rapid dis-
integration. The spider might be dispensed with and other contrivances employed
to properly present the material to the abrading or disintegrating surface. While

page_text: I prefer to use an abundant supply of liquid, such as water, in order to keep the
pieces of leather in suspension. still the end in view would be attained, though
in a less perfect manner, if the leather were merely moistened, or even if fed to
the stone in a dry condition.
The disintegrated fibres, mixed with water, are drawn off through the pipe F
and collected in suitable receptacles, where the excess of water may be drawn off
in any suitable way. The material after the water has been thus drawn off may
be shaped into various articles by moulding and pressure or by being passed
between calendering rollers it may be made into sheets from which various
articles may be cut by dies, saws or other tools.
'
For some purposes it is desirable to mix the animal fibre produced as described
with wool, cotton, wood pulp or other suitable animal or vegetable fibre. Articles
made from such mixed fibres possess many of the characteristics of the articles
made entirely from the disintegrated animal fibre herein described, and are less
expensive.
By my process I am enabled to utilize small pieces and scraps of leather, which
are now a waste and useless product of many lines of manufactures, and to make
therefrom a valuable substance. The product is homogenous, hard and tenacious,
and is especially suitable for pulleys, mallets, gears, buffing wheels, etc.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. The hereindescribed apparatus for disintegrating animal matter into its
component fibres, comprising a single movable abrading surface, and an opposing
spider, through which the material is fed to the abrading surface, consisting of
a thin plate slotted between its edge and central portion, substantially as and for
the purposes herein before set forth.
2. The combination with a stone, and means for causing it to revolve, of a
spider arranged opposite one face of the stone, and consisting of a plate having
radial segments separated from each other by slits, the edges of the segments
which face the direction of the movement of the stone being turned up, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes herein before set forth.
3. In a machine for disintegrating animal matter into its component fibres, the
combination of a movable abrading surface, an opposing spider through which
the material is fed to the abrading surface, consisting of a thin slotted plate and
aliquid-tight casing surrounding the said parts. substantially as and for the
purposes hereinbefore set forth.
4. In a disintegrating apparatus, the combination of a revolving disintegrator,
a casing surrounding the same having a bottom with a step or vertically disposed
portion arranged opposite to the direction of rotation of the disintegrator, and
discharge pipe communicating with the interior of such casing through an
opening in the said part of the casing bottom, substantially as and for the
purposes hereinbefore set forth.
Boted the 14th N
1400
BOULT, WADE & KILBURN,
Agents for the Applicant.