IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING HIDES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE. WITH
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Charles Henderson, of No. 31, Charing
Cross, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING HIDES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE.
WITH." A communication from abroad by Emile Stanislas Beaux,
Tanner, and Edward Pannifex, Merchant, both of Paris, in the Empire
of France
Sealed the 20th October 1865, and dated the 7th June 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Charles Henderson
at the Office of.the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th June. 1865:
I, ARTHUR CHARLES HENDERSON, of No. 31, Charing Cross, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING HIDES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE-
WITH," a communication to me from abroad by Emile Stanislas Beaux,
Tanner, and Edward Pannifex, Merchant, both of Paris, in the Empire of
France, to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in an improved method of tanning hides, and differs
essentially from any process at present employed, inasmuch as it combines in
one single operation all the various and well-known stages through which
hides have to pass to be converted into leather..

page_text: The skins are cleansed, macerated, and the hair removed in the usual way,
after which they are subjected to the improved process, which is a combina-
tion of chemical and mechanical means, and is as follows:-The chemical
process consists first in the preparation of a tan liquid, consisting of a decoc-
tion of 4 pounds of green oak or birch bark, 4 pounds of catechu, and 12
gallons of water; this liquid is prepared in a closed vessel or digester, such
for instance as the Papinian pot, which permits of the temperature being raised
a little above the atmospheric pressure, and yet not sufficiently high to dis-
organize the substance, the whole is reduced to a density of 45 degrees
Reaumur (the quantity above mentioned is sufficient for 1 cwt. of hides.)
Secondly, by the same method a decoction is prepared from 2 pounds of
oleaginous seeds such as linseed, colza, lichen or marine moss, and the like, to
which are added tallow, olein, or other fatty matters, which produce a mucila-
ginous and unctuous mixture. Thirdly, a solution of the following metallic
oxides or salts, such as chlorid of iron, sulphate of alumina or chromium, in
the proportions of from two ounces to one pound,according to the strength of
the same, and the quality of the leather to be produced, to which are added
the recently employed antiseptics, such as pinic acid, creosote, or their equiva
lents in the usual proportions, that is to say, from Jobo to 100, according to
the degree of purity thereof, for instance, should Dr. Calvert's carbonic acid
be used one ounce in 100 gallons will be sufficient for preventing decay,
whereas if common tar oil is employed one gallon in one hundred will be neces-
sary. These three liquids having been prepared separately as abovedescribed;
and now all mixed together as well as their natures will admit, and form an
emulsive liquid which is poured into a vessel or apparatus (furnished with a
man-hole and capable of being hermetically closed), the skins are then placed
therein, where they are fulled by the apparatus. The apparatus which may
be made of iron or wood, or both combined, and of suitable dimensions, is by
preference of a polyhedrous form, and supported by two pedestals, the axles
turning in bearings connected therewith, the pedestals being mounted on an
appropriate frame. In the interior of the vessel, and fixed to one of its sides,
are a number of triangular pieces of wood rounded at the edges, and placed
at equal distances, and between the spaces of each are placed projecting pieces,
also of wood, of different heights and sizes, which act as fulling sticks.
rotary or oscillatory motion is communicated to the apparatus by means of a
leather band, and whilst in motion the skins continuously falling on the sticks
become thoroughly fulled and completely impregnated with the various ingre-
dients forming the emulsive liquid, which by this mechanical contrivance
forces them into the cellular tissues of the skins. By this process leather of
A

page_text: a superior quality can be produced with greater facility at a considerable
economy, and in a much less space of time than is required by the old method.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Arthur Charles Henderson, in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS, SHALL COME, I, ARTHUR
CHARLES HENDERSON, of No. 31 Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Arthur Charles Henderson, Her special licence that I, the said
Arthur Charles Henderson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Arthur Charles Henderson, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING HIDES, AND IN APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH," a communication to me from abroad by Emile Stanislas
Beaux, Tanner, and Edward Pannifex, Merchant, both of Paris, in the
Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Arthur Charles Henderson, 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 Arthur Charles Henderson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say: -
This Invention consists in an improved method of tanning hides, and
differs essentially from any process at present employed, inasmuch as it

page_text: combines in one single operation all the various and well-known stages
through which hides have to pass to be converted into leather.
The skins are cleansed, macerated, and the hair removed in the usual way,
after which they are subjected to the improved process, which is a com-
bination of chemical and mechanical means, and is as follows:-The chemical
process consists first, in the preparation of a tan liquid consisting of a
decoction of pounds of green oak or birch bark, 4 pounds of catechu,
and 2 pounds of sumach, and 12 gallons of water; this liquid is prepared
in a closed vessel or digester, such for instance as the Papinian pot, which
permits of the temperature being raised a little above the atmospheric
pressure, and yet not sufficiently high to disorganize the substance; the
whole is reduced to a density of 45 degrees Reaumur (the quantity above
mentioned is sufficient for 1 cwt. of hides). Secondly, by the same metbod
a decoction is prepared from 24 pounds of oleaginous seeds, such as linseed,
colza, lichen or marine moss, and the like, to which are added tallow, olein,
or other fatty matters, which produce a mucilaginous and unctuous mixture.
Thirdly, a solution of the following metallic oxides or salts, such as chloride
of iron, sulphate of alumina or chromium, in the proportions of from 2 ounces
to one pound, according to the strength of the same, and the quality of the
leather to be produced, to which are added the recently employed antiseptics,
such as pinic acid, creosote, or their equivalents in the usual proportions,
that is to say, from Job to do, according to the degree of purity thereof;
for instance, should Dr. Calvert's carbolic acid be used, one ounce in
100 gallons of water will be sufficient for preventing decay, whereas if
common tar oil is used one gallon in one hundred will be necessary.
These three liquids having been prepared separately as above described,
are now all mixed together, as well as their natures will admit, and form an
emulsive liquid, which is poured into a vessel or apparatus (furnished with a
man-hole, and capable of being hermetically closed), the skins are then placed
therein, where they are fulled by the action of the apparatus. The apparatus
which may be made of iron or wood, or both combined, and of any suitable
dimensions, is by preference of a polyhedrous form, and supported by two
pedestals, the axles turning in bearings connected therewith, the pedestals
being mounted on an appropriate frame. In the interior of the vessel, and
fixed to one of its sides, are a number of triangular pieces of wood rounded
at the edges, and placed at equal distances, and between the spaces of each
are placed projecting pieces, also of wood of different heights and sizes, which
act as fulling sticks. A rotary or oscillatory motion is communicated to the
apparatus by means of a leather band, and whilst in motion the skins continually

page_text: falling on the sticks or projections, become thoroughly fulled and impregnated
with the various ingredients forming the emulsive liquid, which, by this
mechanical contrivance, forces them into the cellular tissues of the skins.
Fig represents a side view; Fig 2, a partly sectional front view of the
apparatus. A, being a sexagonal drum, the coloured portion representing
the interior, and showing the projections a, above mentioned, by the action of
which the leather is fulled. B is the framework; C, the bearings; D, the
man-hole, capable of being hermetically closed by aid of the screw E; F is the
axle of the drum; G is a circular portion over which the endless band H
passes for transmitting motion. The same letters indicate the same parts in
the two Drawings. It is needless to observe that the form and dimensions
of the apparatus may vary; but the arrangement of parts and form indicated
and represented in the accompaning Drawings appear to me the most suitable
and convenient.
The action of the above described apparatus is as follows:-When the
skins and emulsive liquid have been introduced, the man-hole closed, and
the drum set in motion by the endless band, the skins are carried by the
velocity near the top, from which they fall, and coming in contact with the
wooden projections get thoroughly fulled, the several chemical actions
bitherto performed separately going on at one and the same time, for instance
the fatty matters become incorporated with the cellular tissues of the leather,
whilst the astringent and antiseptic substances enter into the pores, serving
to preserve and maintain the skin in that condition so essential in good leather;
these various actions are by no means incompatible one with the other, and the
endosmosis which naturally goes on, when a membrane is subjected to various
fluids is further intensified by the motion of the drum.
By what has been said it will be seen that I cannot positively fix the exact
proportions of the various ingredients going to form the emulsion,neither can
I indicate all the materials which could be employed in place of those above
named, and which appear to me the most applicable and economical in the
proportions herein-before stated.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim and desire to secure by
Letters Patent is, the new and improved method above described of preparing
skins, whereby a considerable economy is effected, the various processes going
on at one and the same time, and commencing from the maceration, and
washing of the skins, which is performed in the ordinary manner, and serves
simply to remove the animal and fatty matters, which would otherwise inter-
fere with the after process, I wish it to be observed that I do not confine
myself to the precise details, reserving to myself the right of substituting

page_text: similar chemical substances for those indicated, the proportions and length of
time naturally varying according to the nature of the skins to be prepared. I
also reserve to myself the right of modifying the form of the apparatus, and
imparting either rotary or oscillatory motion, as the nature of the skins may
require.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Arthur Charles Henderson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
A. C. HENDERSON. (L.S.)