Improvements in Machinery for Slitting and Trimming Leather.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Nov., 1896-4ccepted, 27th Feb., 1997
[Communicated from abroad by ELLIS SPEAR and FRANK LEANDER MIDDLETON,
both of 1003 F Street, Washington, United States of America, Patent
Attorneys.]
Improvements in Machinery for Slitting and Trimming Leather.
I, ERNEST RICHARD ROYSTON, of 15 Water Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, C.E., Fel. Chart. Inst. P.A., 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 :-
My invention relates to machinery for slitting and trimming leather in the formation
of leather articles such for instance as seamless leather pockets or pouches.
In forming such a pouch or pocket the leathor piece is held and guided to the
slitting knife by grooved guide bars which receive the leather edges while rollers
intermediate of the bars press on the body part of the leather between the grooved
bars. In the form of machine used for slitting the leather blanks the knife is
arranged between the grooved guide bars while in the modified form of machine
for trimming the leather edges the trimming knives are located in the grooves of
the guide bars, the action however being practically the same in both instances,
that is, the grooves of the guide bars receive and guide the edges of the leather
while rollers intermediate of the guide bars press on the body part of the leather
piece and feed it properly to the knife or knives.
In the drawings,
Figure 1 is a plan view of the pocket slitting machine;
Figure 2 is a side view;
Figure 2 is a detail view of the knife, rollers and grooved bars;
Figure 3 is a front view of the modified form of nachine for trimming the
leather edges;
Figure 4 is a plan view of the same;
Figure 5 is a side view of the same; and
Figures 6, 7 and 8 show detail features.
or
The piece of leather to be slit into the form of a pocket pouch is placed with
its opposite side edges in grooves A, extending lengthwise of the inner faces of the
bars B. The front edge of the blank is forced into the bight of upper and lower
rollers C, shown in dotted lines in Figure 2 and these rollers being driven through
the gearing D, E, F, G, will grasp the leather piece and feed the same to the cutting
knife H, the cutting edge I of which lies directly in the plane of and adjacent to
the bight of the rollers. The knife is of less width than the distance between the
grooved guide bars and it together with the rollers lies between said bars and by
this arrangement the edges of the leather in the grooves will be left intact while the
body part of the leather intermediate of these bars will be engaged by the rollers and
be fed to the knife which slits only the body portion edgewise thereof.
The grooved guide bars are adjustable towards and from each other to take pieces
of leather of different widths and the knife is readily removed and may be replaced
by a wider or narrower knife.
The roller is formed in sections splined to the roller shaft and may be accordingly
shortened or lengthened by throwing more or less of the sections out of or into use.

page_text: For instance, if the guide bars are to be set inward a distance equal to that of
the end sections J of the roller, Figure 1, these sections are slipped along the roller
shafts to the outer sides of the bars and for this purpose the rolls must be separated
by operating the cam plates K which are pivoted to the outside of the machine
standards and have cam slots which receive the ends of the roller shafts. By turning
these can plates by means of the handle L at the upper ends of the arms M, the
rolls are separated, and the guide bars adjusted inwardly, and after the rolls are
made of the proper length by shifting the sections, the rolls are adjusted towards
each other by reversing the movement of the cam plates. The roller shafts bear in
sliding boxes in the frame. The rolls may also be adjusted by the cam plates to
suit different thicknesses of leather. The knife is carried on a pivoted bracket N,
dotted lines in Figure 2, which may be adjusted and held in different positions by
the bolt O so as to accurately position the cutting edge of the knife to the bight of
the rolls.
By taking off the slitting knife and substituting for the guide bars shown in
Figures 1 and 2 other similarly grooved guide hars having shaped cutting knives
in said grooves, the machine may be converted into one for trimming the edges of the
leather, in which case the roller sections may be adjusted to have only two sections
between the bars, one being directly adjacent to each groove.
In Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, I have shown an embodiment of this idea in a
modified form, in which the grooved guide bars are held outside of the side standards
of the frame upon slotted extensions P of the cross braces Q. The rolier shafts are
also extended outside the frame and have the rollers thereon. In this case each
roller comprises two sections R, S, and these are adjustable towards and from each
other to correspond to the adjustment of the guide bars by right and left hand screws
Figure 3 which engage nuts T projecting inwardly from the roller sections through
slots in the roller shafts X Figure 7. The angular knives for trimming the edges of
the leather, Figures 3 and 6, are arranged in the grooves and the rollers press upon
the leather directly adjacent to the trimming knives. The roller shafts extend eccen-
trically through bushings U which are carried by segments Y and bear in openings
in the frame so that when the segments are turned by the handle V the bushings
turn and the upper and lower rollers are adjusted towards or from each other to suit
different thicknesses of leather and they may be fixed in any desired position by a
lock W. By placing the guide bars and rollers outside the frame they can be more
readily adjusted and the machine more easily attended to and the main frame need
not be disturbed.
It will be understood that in both instances the essential features of the invention
are the same, the grooved bars guiding the leather to the knife or knives and the
rollers between the bars pressing upon and holding the leather at the cutting point.
I do not wish to limit myself to the precise arrangements shown as these may be
varied without departing from the spirit of the invention. The guide bars may slide
with the leather in the first form of the machine.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. In a machine for slitting and trinuming leather, a pair of grooved guide bars
to receive the edges of the leather, the knife and the rollers operating upon the
leather between the grooved guide bars.
2. The slitting knife of Claim 1 of less width than the distance between the
grooved bars and arranged between the same to slit the body part of the leather
leaving the edges intact.
3. The adjustment of the guide bars and the adjustment of the rollers by means
of the movable sections.
4. In connection with the grooved guide bars and rollers, the adjustment of the
knife by the pivoted bracket to position the cutting edge accurately to the bight of
the rollers and the grooves of the guide bars.

page_text: 5. The grooved guide bars having the knives in the grooves and the rollers
arranged with their bight in the plane of the grooves for pressing upon the leather
adjacent to the knives.
6. The grooved guide bars, with the knives in the grooves and the rollers arranged
with their bight in the plane of the grooves, each roller being made up of two sections,
each section pressing upon the leather adjacent to the grooves.
Dated this 9th day of November 1896.
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON,
15 Water Street, Liverpool, Applicant's Patent Agents.