IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR GLASSING, STRIKING, AND FINISHING LEATHER
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Haste and William Brown, both of Bramley,
near Leeds, in the County of York, Tanners and Curriers, for an Invention
of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR GLASSING, STRIKING, AND FINISHING
LEATHER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Haste and William
Brown at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th February
1880.
WILLIAM HASTE and WILLIAM BROWN, both of Bramley, near Leeds, in the
County of York, Tanners and Curriers. "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR GLASSING,
STRIKING, AND FINISHING LEATHER."
Our Invention relates to machines for glassing, striking, and finishing leather,
and comprises various improvements whereby such machines are rendered more
efficient and convenient than those heretofore used.
Our said improvements relate partly to the tool or implement used in these
machines, and to the manner of and means for operating the same.
The said tool is formed of glass, stone, or other suitable material, and is arranged
to act upon the work always in one direction. It is operated by a crank on the
driving shaft through the medium of a rod, whereby the tool carrier is moved to
and fro in suitable guides; a spring is provided for lifting or raising the tool from
the leather in its return or back movement. The tension or pressure of the spring
can be regulated by a screw or other suitable device to produce any degree of
pressure required for the work being performed. We may use a spiral spring
connected at one end to an arm on the shaft of the tool carrier and at the other
end to the aforesaid rod.
We provide the said machine with a table, on which the leather to be finished
is placed; the said table is arranged at the front of the machine, and affords very
convenient access to the leather placed thereon during the working of the
machine.
In combination with the aforesaid tool and the guides for the tool carrier we
employ for supporting the said guides a jointed frame, consisting of levers and
parallel rods or bars, one joint being connected to a lever whose fulcrum is on some
convenient part of the machine frame. The said lever is provided with weights,
which serve to regulate the pressure upon the leather. By means of this lever the
operator can raise or lower the guides according to the requirements of the work.
The said machine may be very advantageously employed for glassing and
finishing leather for the uppers of boots and shoes and for similar purposes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Haste and William Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th August 1880.
WILLIAM HASTE and WILLIAM BROWN, both of Bramley, near Leeds, in the
County of York, Tanners and Curriers. "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR GLASSING,
STRIKING, AND FINISHING LEATHER."
Our Invention relates to machines for glassing, striking, and finishing leather,
and comprises various improvements whereby such machines are rendered more
efficient and convenient than those heretofore used.
Our said improvements relate to the tool or implement used in these machines
and to the manner of and means for operating the same.
The said Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a machine with our improvements applied to the
same, and Figure 2 shews a portion of the said machine detached.
A is the frame of the said machine, constructed of cast iron or other suitable
material;
B is the table on which the leather or skin is placed. It will be seen
that this table is arranged at the front of the machine, and affords very convenient
access to the leather laid thereon during the working of the said machine.
The tool a is formed of glass, stone, or other suitable material. It is carried by
a tool holder a', whose shaft b extends across the machine, and is supported in the
slide blocks c fitted to work freely in the slide bars or guides d, whose arrangement
is hereinafter described. The said tool is arranged and operated to act upon the
work always in one direction, that is to say, it has to act on the leather when
moving in the direction of the arrow, and must not act thereon when moving in
the opposite direction. For this purpose we provide the following mechanism :-We
mount on the driving shaft e a crank wheel or pulley f; the connecting rod g,
which is attached at one end to the pin of the said wheel, is fitted loosely at its
other end upon the tool carrier shaft b. The said wheel through the medium
of the rod g moves the shaft b to and fro in the guides or guideways d. This shaft
also has a rocking motion for lifting the tool from the leather and setting it down
thereon. For this purpose we fix on the shaft b an arm h, which is connected by
a spring h¹ to a screw g*, passing through a lug or extension g¹ on the rod g, as
shewn in Figure 2; 9%, 92, are screw nuts on the screw g*, by means of which the
tension or force of the spring may be regulated as desired to suit the thickness and
nature of the material under treatment. Any other suitable device may be
employed for this purpose. We also fix upon the shaft 6 an arm j. This arm is
provided at j¹ with a pin or extension which is adapted to rest in contact with the
rod g, as shewn more clearly in Figure 2. When the tool has been moved back
into the position it should occupy prior to its advancing or moving in the direction
of the arrow and acting upon the surface of the leather, the shaft b will be turned
to bring the tool down upon the work by the downward angular movement of the
rod g, that is to say, as soon as the crank pin in the pulley f, to which the rod g is
attached, passes below a horizontal line drawn through the axis of the said pulley,
the arm j, and consequently the shaft b, will turn far enough to press the tool a upon
the leather on the table B.
When the tool [arrives at the end of its stroke and commences to return the
upward angular movement of the rod y causes the said arm and shaft to raise the
tool from the leather.
In combination with the aforesaid tool and the guides & we employ for supporting
the said guides a jointed frame, consisting of shafts i, levers i¹, and parallel rods or
bars . The said shafts are mounted to rock in bearings in the frame A; the
levers are fixed on the said shafts, their upper ends being connected to the
parallel bars i and their lower ends to the guides d. A lever k, whose fulcrum is

page_text: on some convenient part of the machine frame, may if desired be provided with
weights, which serve to regulate the pressure upon the leather. By means of this
lever the operator can raise or lower the guides according to the requirements of
the work. represents a screw by which the position of the lever k may be
varied when desired. The said machine may be very advantageously employed for
glassing and finishing leather for the uppers of boots and shoes and for similar
purposes, and by substituting a movable table for the fixed table B the said machine
may be advantageously employed for striking butt or sole leather. Moreover, by
substituting a roller for the tool a the machine may be adapted for the printing
and levanting of leather or similar material.
To ensure the efficient action of the tool upon the leather and prevent injury to
any part of the machine by reason of the varying thickness of the hide to be
operated upon, we prefer to arrange a lignum vitæ slab upon that part of the surface
of the table B over which the tool travels; this slab is supported upon an india-
rubber or other suitable elastic bed, so that if the leather increases in thickness at
any part the india-rubber bed will yield and prevent any undue strain upon the
tool and other parts of the machine.
Having thus fully described our said Invention, and shewn how the same may
be conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, we wish it understood
that we do not claim the aforesaid guides and parallel jointed frame provided with
the weighted lever for adjusting the latter irrespective of their combination with
the tool, operating in the peculiar manner above specified, and the devices for
actuating the same, but we claim,―
First. The tool supported by its holder or carrier in adjustable guide ways,
wherein it is moved to and fro, and at the proper times is vibrated or turned on its
axis, and thereby so adjusted that it acts on the skin or leather when moving in
one direction and passes over the leather without acting thereon when moving in
the other direction.
Second. The mechanism above described and shewn, whereby the said tool
holder and tool have imparted to them the required to-and-fro movement, and at
the proper times are operated to alternately raise the tool from the leather and
force it down thereon, so that the said tool acts on the leather only in its movement
in one direction, as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brown, for myself, and on behalf
of the said William Haste, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this
Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and eighty.
WILLIAM BROWN. (LS.)