Improvements in or relating to Machinery or Apparatus for Scouring and Washing Skins and Wool and Analogous Materials.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 10th July, 1889-Accepted, 10th Aug., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Machinery or Apparatus for
Scouring and Washing Skins and Wool and Analogous Materials.
I, THOMAS BURNS of Messers. White, Burns and Company, Bonnington Skin
Works, and 1 Pilrig Street, Edinburgh in the County of Midlothian, North Britain,
Skinner, Tanner, and Wool Merchant, 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 :-
This Invention which relates to improvements in or relating to machinery or
apparatus for scouring and washing skins and wool and analogous materials, is a
further developement of the Invention described in the specification of my Patent
No. 2311, dated 9th February, 1889.
My present Invention relates to the employment of a steeping trough made of
wood, iron, or other material, into which 1 cause a continual flow of water to
pass. The said trough has mounted at its one end a number of rollers to feed
the skins or other material out of the trough into the washing or scouring
machine. The said rollers may be made of wood, iron, or other material, some of
which are formed with grooves or spurs along their length, while the others are
left plain; the said rollers are carried in suitable bearings formed on the trough
or fixed thereto by suitable means, and are driven from a main driving shaft by
means of spur gearing, endless band, chain and chain wheels, or their equivalents,
so that on the skins or other material being lifted out of the steeping trough and laid
on top of the spurred rollers, the said rollers tend to draw up the skins and cause them
to enter into the machine for washing or scouring.
In cases where sheep skins, which have been treated with lime or other substances
on their flesh sides, are to be washed or scoured, I preferably mount another spurred
or grooved roller across the said steeping trough, and in front of the entering rollers,
this roller being driven (by means of spur gearing, endless band, chain and chain
wheels, or their equivalents,) in the opposite direction to the entering rollers, so that
the spurs on this roller tend to scrape the lime off the flesh side of the skin while the
skin is passing over it.
In order that my Invention may be more readily understood and easily carried into
effect, I will now proceed to describe it with reference to the accompanying sheet of
drawings, Figures 1, and 2, of which are elevation and plan of my present Invention
as attached to the entering end of the washing or scouring machinery or apparatus.
N is the steeping trough preferably oblong in, shape, and made of wood, iron, or
other material, through which a continual flow of water is caused to pass, the said flow
preferably entering at the end where the rollers are mounted and passing out at the
other. This trough carries a number (preferably eight) of entering rollers, M, at its
one end, the said rollers may be made of wood, iron, or other suitable material, and
mounted in suitable bearings, either formed on the trough or on suitable brackets R,
which are fixed to the trough by bolts or their equivalents, and preferably driven from
the main driving shaft H of the washing or scouring machinery by means of spur
gearing P, endless band, chain and chain wheels or their equivalents, though I may if
desired provide a separate driving shaft for them on the said trough. These rollers M
are preferably arranged as shown, m being a spur or grooved roller of say about
12 inches in diameter, m³, and m³, being two smaller spur or grooved rollers, and the
remainder plain rollers, so that, on the material or skin being lifted from the trough
and placed on top of the spur roller m, the spurs tend to pull the material or skin up
on to the other rollers which then lead it on till it falls on the endless leading band F,
of the washing or scouring machinery, this band then enters them into the said
machinery

page_text: Where lime is used for preserving or cleaning the flesh sides of the skins, I mount
another spur or grooved roller S, in suitable bearings s, (these being so formed as to
allow of the roller's removal when not required), this roller is driven in the opposite
direction to that of the others by means of spur gearing P₁, or its equivalent, so that,
as the skins are being drawn up from the trough by the rollers M, the spurs on the
roller S, rub or scrape the lime off the flesh side of the skins before they enter the
machinery.
The said trough N may be mounted on suitable foundations as a fixture, or it may
be mounted on wheels so as to be portable and capable of being moved from place to
place, and for the purpose of cleaning it out or running off the water, I may provide
one or more suitable openings, T, in or near its bottom, the said openings being
provided with suitable doors or covers.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. The general arrangement and construction of the various parts constituting
my steeping trough and entering set of rollers, all substantially as and for the purposes
hereinbefore described with reference to figures 1, and 2, of the accompanying
drawings.
Second. In combination with the steeping trough and entering rollers, the employ-
ment of a spur or grooved roller S, all substantially as and for the purposes herein-
before described with reference to figures 1, and 2, of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 8th day of July 1889.
JOHNSONS,
115, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Applicant's Agents.