Improvements in the Manufacture of Compressed Leather.
Year: 1888

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Compressed Leather.
I ALFRED EDWARD ARNOLD of Marrickville, near Sydney in the Colony of New
South Wales Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
:-
For a great many years past I have been manufacturing compressed leather of a
very good quality from the wastes of factories &c but had not succeeded in satisfying
myself with the same and therefore. have been experimenting until the present when
by the improvements hereinafter described I am enabled to turn out moulded articles
of compressed leather satisfactory as to shape hardness durability and cost-I have
found the material more especially suitable for making brake blocks for railway and
other rolling stock-New South Wales Letters of Registration dated respectively the
twenty-second day of December one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one and
the eighth day of July one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six have already been
granted to me but these present improvements have resulted from experiments made
since such later date.
These improvements in the manufacture of compressed leather consist first in the
use and manufacture of a peculiar glutinous solution by which the resulting material
is held together-secondly in the use of a mixture of finely disintegrated leather or
compressed leather or both or the dust of one or both and the prepared solution in
the incorporation of the materials, and thirdly in the peculiar manipulation of the
materials for incorporation in a mould.
But in order that my invention may be clearly understood I will now describe
in detail the manufacture of compressed leather according to these my last
improvements.
I prepare as heretofore scraps of leather or hide generally known as "waste" from
boot and shoe factories saddleries tanneries and of any unperished leather by first
separating them from all pieces of metal wood dirt &c and other matter having a
deleterious effect. These scraps are then cut torn or made into shreds or fibrous
condition by hand or machinery and are then ready for mixing with the peculiar
solution. This peculiar solution is an extract of untanned hide and is prepared in

page_text: are
the following manner-Scraps of green or untanned hide and "glue pieces
treated by steam for say six hours twenty-eight pounds of the glue pieces being
immersed in say fifty gallons of water at a temperature not exceeding one hundred
and eighty degrees Fahrenheit. This mixture contains gelatin and chondrin which
at a certain temperature (about one hundred and eighty degrees Fahrenheit) becomes
coagulated therefore the heat should not be too prolonged nor too high as if coagulated
the mixture will not serve the purpose required-judgement is required as to stopping
the treatment at the right moment and experience will soon provide the proper
tests I stop the boiling when the mixture shows a consistency by salinometer test
of about two thirty seconds or say 7° Baume and I retain this solution at say one
hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit until I require to use it-I prepare a third
material by taking the dust of leather or of compressed leather or of both and soak
it in the prepared solution and then dry it so that it still remains granulated.
"
Having these three materials prepared I mix the peculiar solution into and with
the shredded or fibrous leather very intimately by immersing the latter in the solution
and straining off the surplus moisture--Placing a small portion say a handful of
the solutionized shreds in the forming mould I then spread over it a small portion
of the dry solutionized leather dust so as to fill up all interstices and then add more
solutionized shreds and so on until the mould is full when pressure is applied to the
mould preferably in the manner described in the specifications of my former patents
that is the mould or shape is so constructed that it will compress the material on all
sides at one and the same time thus upsetting" and avoiding lamination--Tho
compressed material may then be sawn into shape or roughly shaped and finally
pressed in a finishing mould.

page_text: I, ALFRED EDWARD ARNOLD, of Marrickville, near Sydney, in the Colony of New
South Wales, Engineer, 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 :— .
For a great many years past I have been manufacturing Compressed Leather of a
very good quality from the wastes of factories &c but had not succeeded in satisfying
myself with the same and therefore have been experimenting until the present when
by the improvements hereinafter described I am enabled to turn out moulded articles
of compressed leather satisfactory as to shape hardness durability and cost. I have
found the material more especially suitable for making brake blocks for railway and
other rolling stock. New South Wales Letters of Registration dated respectively the
twenty second day of December One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one and
the eighth day of July One thousand eight hundred and eighty-six have already been
granted to me but these present improvements have resulted from experiments made
since such later date.
These improvements in the manufacture of Compressed Leather consist first in the
use and manufacture of a peculiar glutinous solution by which the resulting material
is held together-secondly, in the use of a mixture of finely disintegrated leather or
compressed leather or both or the dust of one or both and the prepared solution-in
the incorporation of the materials and thirdly in the peculiar manipulation of the
materials for incorporation in a mould.
But in order that my invention may be clearly understood I will now describe
in detail the manufacture of compressed leather according to these my last
improvements.
*
prepare as heretofore scraps of leather or hide generally known as "waste" from
Boot and Shoe factories, saddleries, tanneries, and of any unperished leather by first
separating them from all pieces of metal, wood, dirt &c., and other matter having a
deleterous effect. These scraps are then cut torn or made into shreds or fibrous
condition by hand or machinery and are then ready for mixing with the peculiar
solution This peculiar solution is an extract of untanned hide and is prepared in the
following manner-Scraps of green or untanned hide and glue pieces are treated
by steam for say six hours twenty-eight pounds of the glue pieces being immersed in
say fifty gallons of water at a temperature not exceeding one hundred and eighty
degrees Fahrenheit-This mixture contains gelatin and chondrin which at a certain
temperature (about one hundred and eighty degrees Fahrenheit) becomes coagulated
therefore the heat should not be too prolonged nor too high as if coagulated the
mixture will not serve the purpose required. Judgment is required as to stopping
the treatment at the right moment and experience will soon provide the proper -
tests-I stop the boiling when the mixture shows a consistency by salinometer test
of about two thirty seconds and I retain this solution at say one hundred and fifty

page_text: degrees Fahrenheit until I require to use it-I prepare a third material by taking
the dust of leather or of compressed leather or of both and soak it in the prepared
solution and then dry it so that it still remains granulated.
Having these three materials prepared I mix the peculiar solution into and with
the shredded or fibrous leather very intimately by immersing the latter in the solution
and straining off the surplus moisture. Placing a small portion say a handful of the
solutionized shreds in the forming mould I then spread over it a small portion of the
dry solutionized leather dust so as to fill up all interstices and then add more
solutionized shreds and so on until the mould is full when pressure is applied to the
mould preferably in the manner described in the specifications of my former patents
that is the mould or shape is so constructed that it will compress the material on all
sides at one and the same time thus "upsetting" and avoiding lamination. The
compressed material may then be sawn into shape or roughly shaped and finally
pressed in a finishing mould.
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 peculiar glutinous solution manufactured by immersing in water green
or untanned hide or glue pieces or both and treating them by steam substantially in
the manner and for the purposes herein described and explained.
Second The peculiar mixture of finely disintegrated compressed leather or leather
or the dust of one or both with a glutinous solution substantially as herein described
and explained.
Thirdly The method or process of incorporating the solutionized shreds or finely
torn scraps of leather and the dry solutionized disintegrated leather or dust of leather
and compressed leather together in a mould for compression substantially as herein
described and explained.
Dated this Third day of December One thousand eight hundred and eighty