IMPROVEMENTS IN GRAINING AND BRUISING LEATHER AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSE
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Harry Foster at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th.
September 1868.
I, HARRY FOSTER,. of Neckinger Mills, Bermondsey, in the County
of Surrey, Leather Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GRAINING AND BRUISING LEATHER
AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED FOR SUCH PURPOSE," to be
as follows:-
In the ordinary process of throwing up the grain of leather and
of bruising or softening the leather previous to varnishing (in making
what is commonly called "Patent leather") the workman places the skin
doubled upon a table, and holding the lower fold with one hand rubs
the upper
fold over it with the other, using a certain amount of pressure
which either wrinkles or throws up the grain of the leather or bruises
and softens the same according to which side of the leather is folded
inwards during the operation. It is evident that by this hand process
only a small portion of the skin can be acted on at a time, and hence
the process is slow and laborious, and it is impossible to get a perfectly
even effect over the whole surface. In order to remedy these defects

page_text: I have invented a machine which will act upon the whole breadth of
the skin at once and give the required movement and pressure in a much
more even, rapid, and effective manner than could have been produced
by hand.
The apparatus consists principally of an endless band or belt of a
sufficient width passing round two rollers or cylinders mounted and
revolving above a table which is capable of being pressed up against
the band or belt by means of a treadle. One of the rollers or cylinders
is mounted on an axis carried in fixed bearings, and is driven with
a slow motion by suitable gearing whilst the other roller or cylinder
is mounted in bearings capable of adjustment so as to keep the band
or belt always distended to the proper tension, and revolves mercly
by friction of contact with the band or belt which is driven by the
first roller or cylinder. That part of the band or belt which extends
between the two cylinders immediately above the table is supported
above by a backing of wood or other suitable substance fixed to the
side frames so as to keep the band or belt perfectly flat and prevent
it from yielding to the pressure. The table which lies immediately
beneath has its surface parallel to that of the backing above mentioned
and is carried on a frame capable of rising and falling slightly in
suitable guides. The table is pressed upwards when required by means
of a treadle and falls by its own weight when the foot is removed
from the latter. It is nearly counterbalanced by a weight attached
to the treadle, but the table slightly preponderates. The workman
first folds one edge of the leather underneath and places it upon the
table with the fold beneath the first cylinder and between the belt
or band and the table. He then places his foot upon the treadle, raising
the table so that the fold is gripped between it and the belt. Then
holding the underneath edge firmly by hand (or by a clamp) he sets
the machine in motion, when the action of the belt or band draws
the skin slowly through the machine, rubbing one fold over the other
with an even and regular motion, and thus producing a perfectly uniform
effect over the whole surface of the skin.