IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR ROLLING AND POLISHING Leather
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Huxham, of Exeter, in the County of Devon,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR ROLLING AND
POLISHING Leather."
Sealed the 9th March 1880, and dated the 13th September 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Huxham at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th September 1879.
CHARLES HUXHAм, of Exeter, in the County of Devon, Engineer.
MACHINERY FOR ROLLING AND POLISHING LEATHER."
"IMPROVED
This Invention relates to a novel construction of machine for rolling butts and
other kinds of leather, the object being to effect an economy in that operation, and
obtain a better finish than by hand work.
To this end I mount a flanged girder between two vertical standards above the
table which is to receive the leather to be operated upon, and to the lower double
flange of this girder I hang a roller carriage by means of slipper blocks or their
equivalent.
The smooth roller which is to operate on the leather is mounted in bearings in
this carriage, and pressed downwards by means of springs, and the traverse of the
carriage along the girder I effect by means of a wire, rope, or endless chain, or it
may be by a rack and pinion motion, or by means of a reciprocating piston.
The table on which the leather is to be operated upon is placed, is mounted on
toggle levers, and pressed up to the travelling polishing roller by means of a
treadle, and it is retained in its raised position by the locking of the treadle by a
catch or otherwise.
For shifting the work the treadle is disengaged from its catch, and the table is
lowered to free the leather for the moment from the pressure of the polishing
roller.
In order to reverse the traverse motions of the roller carriage automatically the
carriage is provided with a rod or arm which traverses with the carriage between
two tappets adjustable on a horizontal sliding rod, which rod is connected with, and
serves to operate the belt shifter. As therefore this rod or arm is caused to strike one
or other of the tappets, the tappet rod will be moved to the right or left, and the
belt shifter will thereby be caused to reverse the direction of rotation of the driving
shaft of the machine.
When a rack and pinion motion is used for traversing the carriage the pinion in
gear with the rack will be mounted on the driving shaft, and in a similar way the
motion for working the wire rope or chain will be derived from the driving shaft.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Huxham in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th March
1880.
CHARLES HUXHAM, of Exeter, in the County of Devon, Engineer. " IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR ROLLING AND POLISHING LEATHER."'
This Invention relates to a novel construction of machine for rolling butts and
other kinds of leather, the object being to effect an economy in that operation, and
obtain a better finish than by handwork.
To this end I mount upon a hollow girder carried between two vertical standards
situate above the table which is to receive the leather to be operated upon a
traversing carriage fitted with a polishing roller, and I give to this a traversing
motion while the work is held up to the action of the roller.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my improved butt
rolling machine; Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on the line x, x, of Fig. 1; and
Fig. 3 is a partial plan view of the machine.
A, A, are vertical standards which carry between them a hollow girder consisting
of two pieces B, B, L shaped in cross section, and set at a suitable distance apart
with their flanges inwards and bolted or otherwise firmly secured to one another,
and to the standards A, A. Along the edge of the horizontal flange of each piece
B, and standing at right angles thereto is a rib a, which ribs constitute a track for
a pair of flanged rollers C, C, from the axle of which depends a roller carriage. The
roller carriage consists of two side plates E, E, which are connected by a cross head
D', which is bolted to a stem D, pendent from the axle of the flanged wheel C, C.
The side plates E, E, carry at their upper edges the bearings for two pairs of
flanged rollers or wheels F, F, which bear against the underface of the girder for
the purpose of preventing the carriage from being lifted off its race. The carriage
is made adjustable with respect to the axle of the rollers C, C, by means of screws.
which pass through the slotted head of the stem D, as shown in Fig. 2, and bear
upon a brass bush fitted to the axle of the rollers, and lying in the slot of the
stem.
G is the polishing roller mounted in adjustable bearings in the side plates of the
carriage. These bearings are held down by springs, the pressure of which can be
regulated by the screw nuts b in any convenient manner.
H is the table on which the butt of leather to be operated upon is placed. This
table is mounted between bracket guides projecting from the inner face of the side
standards A, and is carried on toggle levers I, and pressed up to the roller G by
means of a treadle 1. The table H is retained in its raised position by the locking
of the treadle to a bar I', provided with ratchet teeth, into which a catch on the
treadle lever takes (see Fig. 1ª.)
For shifting the work the treadle lever is disengaged from its ratchet teeth, and
the table is lowered to free the leather for the moment from the pressure of the
polishing roller C.
A traverse motion along the girder is given to the roller carriage either by means
of a rack and pinion, an endless rope or chain, or by the reciprocating piston rod
of a direct acting steam engine.
The rack and pinion arrangement is shewn at Fig. 1 of the Drawing, and consists
of a horizontal rack J, which is attached to the roller carriage, and gears with a
pinion J¹ mounted on the axle J2, which is carried in suitable bearings in one of
the standards A. Rotary motion is communicated to this axle through the pinion
J³, keyed thereon from the toothed wheel J, which is keyed on the axle J5 of the
driving pulley K. The outer end of the rack J is supported by a roller J6, which
runs on a horizontal bar J', bolted at one end to the standard A, and at the other
end to a standard A¹.

page_text: On the axle J, and on either side of the driving pulley K, is mounted a loose
pulley to receive the driving belts L, L', when the machine is not at work. The
belt L is a straight belt, and L' a crossed belt, and by shifting these belts
alternately on to the driving pulley K, the direction of travel of the rack will be
changed, and a reciprocatory motion across the leather butt will be communicated
to the roller carriage.
The shifting of the belts is effected automatically, the motion therefor being
derived from the traverse motion of the carriage. For this purpose the
pendent stem D is prolonged upwards above the girder to receive a cam piece M,
which as the carriage traverses to and fro strikes alternately against one of two
inclined tappets N, N, mounted on the horizontal tappet rod N¹. This rod is
connected by links or arms to a rock shaft O, which is mounted in suitable bearings
in the standards A, A, and carries at its outer end an arm 0¹. This arm O¹ is
pivotted to the sliding belt shifter O³. As the cam piece M strikes against one or
other of the inclined tappets N, the tappet rod N' will communicate axial motion to
the rock shaft O, which by means of the arm O' will move the belt shifter.
The loose pulleys are double the width of the driving pulley K, and the forks of
the belt shifter are so arranged that both belts may run on the loose pulleys when
it is desired to stop the working of the machine. For the purpose of stopping the "
machine a hand lever P is keyed on the rock shaft O, by which the shaft may be
rocked a sufficient distance to bring both belts on to the loose pulleys. The lever P
may be locked in this position by a pin passed through the guide box P¹, or in any
convenient manner. It may be remarked that the speed at which the roller
carriage is driven may be regulated by changing the gears on the axles J2 and Jo,
A wooden trough Q is placed between the roller G and the flanged rollers F, F¹, to
catch oil or dirt. This trough is carried by the standards A, A¹
In Fig. 4 of the Drawing the application of an endless chain for actuating the
roller carriage is shewn.
In this instance the chain is attached to opposite ends of the carriage, and passes
round chain wheels mounted, one at either side of the machine and under the
table. The mode of driving this chain and reversing it is the same as that used
with the rack and pinion. When a wire rope is used it will be necessary to employ
either a clip pulley or take a turn of the rope round a drum mounted on the axle
of the driving pulley K.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention for "Improved Machinery
for Rolling and Polishing Leather," and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent I claim,―
1. The means above described for imparting automatically a traverse motion
to the carriage in which the polishing roller is mounted.
2. The means above described whereby a regulated elastic pressure of the roller
upon the work is obtained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Huxham, have hereunto set my hand
and affixed my seal, the 10th day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
CHARLES HUXHAM. (L.S.)