IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING HIDES AND
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hinkes Cox, of Bermondsey, in the County
of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING HIDES AND
Sealed the 18th July 1865, and dated the 31st January 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Binkes Cox at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st January 1865.
I, WILLIAM HINKES Cox, of Bermondsey, in the County of Surrey, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TANNING HIDES AND SKINS, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in tanning hides and skins,
and in apparatus employed therein. For these purposes a frame somewhat
shorter than the length of the pit, and as nearly as may be as wide as the pit,
is used. From the transverse bars of this frame, or from rods or bars carried
thereby, hides or skins are suspended, each from one of its sides or ends,
there being by preference in each case a space between the neighboring skins
or hides. The frame is arranged to be raised above and to descend into the
liquor in the pit. It is preferred that this raising and descending of the frame
should be in parallel planes, but this is not essential, and may be varied, so as
to cause the frame to incline to the surface of the liquor in the pit. When
the frame is raised into its highest position, the skins or hides will bang per-
pendicularly from the frame and parallel to each other above the liquor in the
pit.
When the frame is lowered so as to come to or below the top of the

page_text: liquor in the pit the skins or hides will bang parallel to each other in the
liquor, the liquor occupying the spaces between the parallel skins or hides.
When the frame is moved endways to the right hand or to the left, and is
lowered into the pit, the skins or hides will assume inclined positions, and rest
against and on each other. When the frame is lowered perpendicularly the
skins will descend down to the bottom of the pit, and the upper part of the
skins or hides will press on the lower parts thereof, and on and against each
other at the bottom of the pit. The skins or hides may be retained for any
desired length of time in any of these positions, and the positions may readily
be changed from time to time as may be desired. In some cases partitions
are used transversely across the pit below the liquor, and such partitions
are arranged to assume vertical positions and also inclined positions, either to
the right hand or to the left hand, so that the suspended hides or skins when
inclined may rest on these partitions; and more or less of such partitions
may be used according as it may be desired that a larger or smaller number
of skins or hides may come in contact with each other, and rest on each of
these partitions. The partitions may be made of openwork, or they may be
close. In some cases brushes are used of a width corresponding with the
width of the frame, in order that such brushes may be caused to descend
between the parallel skins or hides, and so to separate them one from the
other, and cleanse their surfaces. The bars or rods from which the skins or
hides are suspended may be arranged so as to be capable of being moved to
and from each other, so that the skins may be brought to and separated more
from each other at different times. In some cases I cause streams of air to
be forced into the liquor in a pit in order to stir it up and freshen it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hinkes Cox in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st July 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HINKES Cox, of Bermondsey, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Hinkes Cox, Her special licence that I, the said William
Hinkes Cox, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Hinkes Cox, my executors, administrators, and assigns,

page_text: 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 SKINS, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Hinkes
Cox, 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 Hinkes Cox, 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 by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
.
A rectangular frame is used of nearly the length and width of the pit
employed, from which frame the hides are suspended so as to be capable of
hanging perpendicularly in the pit, and so that the whole length of the hides
may be immersed in the liquor in the pit. It is preferred that the lower ends
of the hides or skins should not touch or only slightly touch the bottom of the
pit. The side rails of this frame extend to such an extent as to allow of their
ends resting on the ends of the pit when the hides or skins are hanging per-
pendicularly in the pit. The hides or skins are suspended across the frame so
as to come near to, but not to touch each other when they are at their greatest
distance apart, and the bars or cords by which they are suspended from the
frame are arranged to be moved to and from each other, so that at any time
the hides or skins may even when hanging perpendicularly in the liquor in the
pit be moved and caused to touch each other all over. The hides or skins are
suspended from three points, that is, at the two corners and from a point midway
between the two corners of the upper end of each hide or skin, but this may be
varied; it is however desirable that they should hang as flat and even as may
be. Inclined partitions are applied in the pit, which are preferred to consist
of parallel fillets or bars, the edges of which come near to but do not touch each
other. Any desired number of these inclined partitions may be used in a pit,
but the arrangement preferred, and which has been found sufficient in practice,
is to have only two such inclines, one at each end of the pit. The number of
hides or skins suspended to a frame may be varied, but it has been found con-
venient to suspend a hundred hides to a frame used with a pit of the ordinary

page_text: size. In working it is desirable that the hides or skins treated at the same
time in a pit should be as nearly as may be of the same size, and it is preferred
that they should be sorted into sizes, the object being that when they are
brought in contact with and rest against each other all parts of each hide or
skin should be in contact with all parts of the hide or skin on either side of it,
otherwise the liquor would get at and be in contact with the exposed or
uncovered parts more than with the other parts. The inclination of the
partitions may be varied, but it is found that an inclination of about 12 inches
from top to bottom of the suspended hides is sufficient.
Ordinarily the partitions are fixed and stationary, but they might be arranged
to be moveable. It is preferred to suspend the hides or skins from the
shoulder ends in pairs, flesh side to flesh side, but this is not essential. The
frame with the hides or skins suspended therefrom is arranged to be lifted out
of and lowered into the pit by an overhead traveller or other convenient
mechanism, but it will be evident that in place of lifting the frame so as to
raise the hides and skins suspended therefrom out of the liquor in the pit the
liquor may be run off or be pumped from the pit; it is, however, found, more
convenient to examine the several bides and skins when they are lifted out of the
liquor than when they remain in the pit, and the liquor is run off or removed
therefrom. Supposing a hundred or other convenient number of hides or
skins to be suspended to a frame, such as above-mentioned, and that the
cords or bars to which they are suspended singly or in pairs (or more
than two may be suspended together) are readily capable of being moved along
the side rails of the frame to and from each other, the process is as follows:-The
hides or skins are lowered into the liquor in the pit, and it is preferred that
when boing so lowered they should be separate one from the other so that the
liquor may flow readily between them. In this state they are allowed to
remain for some time, then one-half are moved towards each other and
towards the inclined partition at one end, and the other half of the hides or
skins are to be similarly moved towards the inclined partition at the other
end of the pit, in which positions the several hides or skins at either end of
the pit will be resting on or against each other, and the whole at that end
will be resting against the partition, and in this state the bides or skins are
allowed to remain for a time. The times which the hides or skins are
allowed to hang perpendicularly in the liquor, and the times that they are
allowed to rest on or against each other, and on the inclined partitions or
ends of the pit will vary and will be judged of by the workmen. When they
bang perpendicularly they quickly imbibe the liquor, and if allowed to hang
too long the surfaces of the hides or skins have a tendency to become hard,

page_text: whilst the interior of the hides do not progress in proportion. When the
skins are out of or separate from the liquor, two workmen, one on each
side of the pit, separate the hides or skins in succession, by which they will
be enabled to see the surfaces from side to side, and judge of the progress of
the process. Ordinarily the frames are lifted so as to raise the hides or
skins out of the liquor morning and evening, and the hides or skins are
moved from each other towards the centre of the pit several times a day,
generally five or six times cach day, so that they may for a time hang perpen-
dicularly, and they are then moved back towards the ends of the pit, so that
they may rest on or against each other, and on the inclined partitions at the
ends of the pit. The practical tanner will, by examining the progress of the
process, realily judge as to the times which the hides or skins should in each
case bang perpendicularly, and allow of the liquor getting freely between them,
and as to the times they should rest on or against each other so as to exclude
the passage of the liquor between them. Ordinarily during the night and the
greater part of the day they are allowed thus to rest against each other, and
they are allowed to hang perpendicularly for comparatively a short time from
time to time during the day. Although it is preferred to move the hides or
skins suspended in the liquor in a pit to and from each other, and to and from
inclined partitions at the ends of a pit as above described, it will be evident
that inclined partitions might be arranged to remove to and from the hides or
skins suspended in a pit so as to cause them to rest on or against each other
and all against the inclined partitions. When the hides or skins are out of
the pit, or when the liquor has been removed, narrow bars may be caused to
be moved up and down between them, and such bars may be covered so as to
form brushes, but it is found that the opening out or separating the hides or
skins by the workmen answers well. Ordinarily the cords by which the pairs
of hides or skins are suspended to the frame are moved along the side rails of
the frame by hand, the workmen using hooked rods for the purpose, but they
may if desired be arranged to be moved by other means.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hinkes Cox, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
W. HINKES COX. (L.S.)