IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER, AND .IN MACHINERY FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Fitchew Cox, of the City of Bristol, for the
<Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER, AND .IN
MACHINERY FOR THAT PURPOSE."
Sealed the 15th April 1856, and dated the 19th February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stephen Fitchew Cox at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th February 1856.
I, STEPHEN FITCHEW Cox, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER, AND
MACHINERY FOR THAT PURPOSE," to be as follows:-
The Invention relates to the mechanical processes of rubbing and scraping
hides, skins, and leather, and to the process of rolling, or condensing sole
leather. The various operations of depiling, scudding, striking, smoothing,
slicking, and stretching are now usually effected by manual labour. The hide
oriskin or piece of leather is supported upon a beam or horse of wood or other
substance in front of the workman,' who scrapes or rubs it with a knife or
worker, or a pin or striker, gradually passing over the whole surface. By my
Invention I perform these voperations! by means of machinery. The hide or
skin or piece of leather is carried. by ia cylinder or roller, or by a' moving.bed
or, platform, which presents it gradually to a revolving spiral bar, rib, knife,
or rubber. The spiral consists: of: a. right..and left handed screw," so arranged
as to rub or scrape the hide,'.skin, or leather from the centre towards the

page_text: sides, or it may consist of a single thread of a screw or of several threads, or
of portions of several threads. The sectional form of the bar, rib, knife, or
rubber may be varied. The roller or bed which carries the hide, skin,
or leather is pressed towards the revolving spiral instrument by springs or
otherwise, and is gradually advanced by a ratchet and eccentric or otherwise,
so that the whole of the hide, skin, or leather is gradually and successively
and uniformly exposed to the action of the revolving spiral instrument. A
treadle is employed for withdrawing the roller or bed from the revolving spiral
to facilitate the adjustment of the hide, skin, or leather. The sole leather is
afterwards rolled or condensed in the finishing process of drying by means of
an oscillating pendulum roller alternately traversing over the leather, which
is laid upon an elastic platform or bed. For this purpose I construct a plat-
form on elastic bearings of wood or other elastic support. The pendulum is
a vertical bar or frame of wood or other suitable material, suspended at its
upper end by elastic bearings or spring beams, or otherwise, so as to press the
pendulum down upon the leather on the platform. At the lower end of
the pendulum is a roller which rests upon the leather. The pendulum is
worked backwards and forwards by means of a crank driven by a steam
engine or otherwise. The length of stroke of the crank is capable of adjust-
ment. The roller thus sweeps or traverses backwards and forwards over the
leather supported on the elastic platform, and the leather is shifted gradually
in a transverse direction by hand, or by a self-acting motion, so as to expose
the whole of the leather in succession to the action of the roller.
construction of the apparatus admits of some variations.
The
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed 2
by the said Stephen Fitchew Cox in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
FITCHEW Cox, of the City of Bristol, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters s
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Stephen Fitchew Cox, Her special licence that I, the said Stephen
Fitchew Cox, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as. 3

page_text: I, the said Stephen Fitchew Cox, my executors, administrators, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER, AND IN MACHINERY FOR THAT
PURPOSE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Stephen
Fitchew 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 Stephen Fitchew 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the Figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
The Invention relates to the mechanical processes of rubbing and scraping
hides, skins, and leather. The various operations of depiling, scudding,
striking, smoothing, slicking, and stretching, are now usually effected by
manual labour. The hide or skin or piece of leather is supported upon a
beam or horse of wood or other substance in front of the workman, who
scrapes or rubs it with a knife or worker, or a pin or striker, gradually passing
over the whole surface. By my Invention I perform these operations by
means of machinery. The hide or skin or piece of leather is carried by a
cylinder or roller, or by a moving bed or platform, which presents it gradually
to a revolving spiral bar, rib, kuife, or rubber. The spiral consists of a right
and left handed screw, so arranged as to rub or scrape the hide, skin, or
leather from the centre towards the sides, or it may consist of a single thread
of a screw, or of several threads, or of portions of several threads. The
sectional form of the bar, rib, knife, or rubber, may be varied. The roller or
bed which carries the hide, skin, or leather is pressed towards the revolving
spiral instrument by springs or otherwise, and is gradually advanced by a
ratchet and excentric, or otherwise, so that the whole of the hide, skin, or
leather is gradually and successively and uniformly exposed to the action of
the revolving spiral instrument. A treadle is employed for withdrawing the
roiler or bed from the revolving spiral to facilitate the adjustment of the hide,
skin, or leather.

page_text: Figure 1, Sheet I., of the accompanying Drawings, is an elevation or front
view, and Figure 2 is a plan of a machine constructed according to my
Invention. Figure 3, Sheet II., is an end view of the same. The same letters
indicate similar parts in each Figure. A, A, are cast-iron standards connected
by wrought iron bars B, B, and forming the framing of the machine; C is
the main roller, whose journals work in bearings, which are capable of sliding
up and down in slots in the standards A, A. The roller C is covered with
woollen cloth or felt. D is the upper cylinder or roller, which carries a spiral
bar, rib, knife, or rubber E. The rubber E, shewn in the Drawings, is a
rounded bar of gun-métal, of the sectional form shewn in Figure 4, Sheet II.
This form of bar is well adapted for smoothing and finishing leather. The
bar may, however, be made angular, and its sectional form and tlie material
of which it is made, may be varied according to the nature of the operation
which it is required to perform, and the nature or quality of the hide, skin, or
leather operated upon. F; F, are fast and loose pulleys for- receiving a band,
by which the roller D is driven in the direction of the arrow marked upon it.
The spindle of the lower roller or cylinder C carries a toothed wheel G, which
is driven by a pinion H on the axis of a ratchet wheel I The ratchet wheel
I is driven by a paul J on à lever K, which turns freely upon the axis of the
ratchet wheel, and has a long curved slot which receives a sliding-block, to
which is connected the end of a rod L from an excentric M. on the spindle
of the upper roller D. Each revolution of the upper roller D⚫thus- gives
motion to the ratchet wheel I and pinion E and wheel G, and thus advanceś
the roller C a little. The amount of the advance may be varied' and adjusted
by varying the position of the block in the slotted lever K. The bearings of
the roller C rest upon pins, which are capable of sliding up and down in
sockets N, N, in the frames A, A. The lower ends of these pins are screwed
and 'pass through nüts 0, 0, into sockets P, P, supported by strong springs
Q; Q. The lower roller C is thus forced upwards by the springs Q, Q; the
force of which may be adjusted by turning the nuts O, O. 'The roller C may
be drawn downwards by means of a treadle R, which is carried by two levers
S;S, upon the shaft T. U; U, are two connecting rods, whose upper ends
embrace the spindle of the roller C, while their lower ends are connected to
and support the levers S, S, with the treadle R.
.
'The mode of using the machine is as follows:-The machine being put in
motion, the workman places the hide, skin, or piece of leather, on the roller
C, which carries it forward, and presents it to the action of the revolving spiral
bar, rib, or instrument. The operation then proceeds. The hide, skin, or
leather is pressed by the springs towards the revolving spiral instrument,

page_text: which rubs, or scrapes, or works it from the centre towards each side, and at
the same time it is gradually advanced by the lower roller until it is carried
completely through the machine; the operation may then be repeated one
or more times if required. The position of the hide, skin, or leather on the
roller C is readily adjusted, if required, by first releasing it by pressing upon
the treadle R, and then placing it in the required position, and removing the
pressure from the treadle. I do not confine myself to the precise materials
herein-before mentioned, nor to the precise mode of constructing the machine
shewn in the Drawings, as the same may be varied. Thus, the hide, skin, or
leather may be advanced by a regular and constant motion in lieu of being
advanced by the intermittent motion of a ratchet wheel, and it may also be
laid upon a flat bed in lieu of being placed upon a roller, and various other
modifications may be adopted, but in all cases the hide, skin, or leather is to
be exposed to the rubbing or scraping action of a revolving spiral bar, rib, or
instrument in such manner as to produce the effect of the ordinary manual
operations of depiling, scudding, striking, smoothing, slicking, or stretching.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what
I claim is,-
First, the depiling, scudding, striking, smoothing, slicking, or stretching
hides, skins, or leather, by means of a revolving spiral bar, rib, or instrument
in manner herein-before described.
Second, the constructing machinery for depiling, scudding, striking, smooth-
ing, slicking, or stretching hides, skins, or leather, with a revolving spiral bar,
rib, or instrument, and a roller or similar means for presenting the bide, skin,
or leather to the spiral instrument, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen Fitchew Cox, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
STEPHEN FITCHEW COX. (L.S.)
Witness,
CHARLES COWPER,
20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane.