IMPROVEMENTS - IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING LEATHER."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Jenkins, of Leamington, in the County
L
of Warwick, Machinist, for the, Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS - IN
MACHINERY FOR ROLLING LEATHER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Jenkins at the
. Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th July 1872.-
I, WILLIAM JENKINS, of Leamington, in the County of Warwick,
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING LEATHER," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the mechanical arrangement or combination
of parts herein-after described for rolling leather for the purpose of
consolidating the said leather and giving a smooth and polished surface
thereto.
:

page_text: .
My Invention is specially applicable to the rolling of butts or hides
used in the manufacture of boots and shoes, but may also be applied to
the rolling of leather generally for various purposes.
My Invention consists of a machine the parts of which are constructed
and arranged as follows:-The butts or hides or other leather to be
rolled are supported upon a travelling or sliding bed or table, the said
bed working upon the framing of the machine. Motion may be given to
this travelling or sliding bed by means of a rack on its under side with
which a pinion gears, or the said bed may be driven by a screw and screw
box, or in any other convenient manner, and the said bed may run upon
wheels, or otherwise work upon the framing of the machine. Over
the said travelling or sliding bed a pressing frame is supported, the said
pressing frame carrying a series of four or more rotating pressing rollers.
The said frame carrying the pressing rollers consists of a disc or circular
plate, in the axis of which is a spindle or vertical shaft turning in
bearings in a bracket above the said travelling or sliding bed. By
means of bevil or other gearing a rotary motion is communicated to the
pressing frame, and the said pressing frame and the rollers carried
thereby are made to perform a rotary motion upon the travelling bed or
table, the said rollers at the same time turning on their axes. The butts
or hides to be rolled being placed upon the travelling or sliding bed, the
machine is set to work, and the said butts or hides are carried under the
rollers of the pressing frame. By the combined motion of the travelling
bed and rotating pressing frame, every part of the butt or hide is in
succession brought under the operation of the pressing rollers, and the
said butt or hide is thereby effectually rolled and its surface made
smooth and polished. The pressure of the pressing rollers of the rotating
frame is regulated by means of a lever or screw. The travelling bed
supporting the butt or hide or leather to be rolled may have a backward
and forward motion given to it in the direction of the length of the
machine or across the machine to bring the butt, hide, or leather under
the operation of the pressing rollers, or the table may have both the.
motions described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Jenkins in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th January 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JENKINS, of Leamington, in the County of Warwick, Machinist, send
greeting.
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Jenkins, Her special license
that I, the said William Jenkins, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Jenkins, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thoreafter 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
MACHINERY FOR ROLLING LEATHER," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Jenkins, 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 William Jenkins, 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, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the mechanical arrangement or combination
of parts herein-after described for rolling leather for the purpose of con-
solidating the said leather and giving a smooth and polished surface
thereto.
My Invention is especially applicable to the rolling of butts or.. hides
used in the manufacture of boots and shoes, but may also, be applied, to
the rolling of leather generally for various purposes...

page_text: My Invention consists of a machine the parts of which are constructed
and arranged as follows:-The butts or hides or other pieces of leather
to be rolled are supported upon a travelling or sliding bed or table, the
said bed working upon the framing of the machine. Motion may be
given to this travelling or sliding bed or table by means of a rack on its
under side with which a pinion gears, or the said bed may be driven by
a screw and screw box, or in any other convenient manner, and the said
bed may run upon wheels or otherwise work upon the framing of the
machine. Over the said travelling or sliding bed a pressing frame is
-supported, the said pressing frame carrying a series of four or other
number of rotating pressing rollers. The said frame carrying the
pressing rollers consists of a disc or circular plate, in the axis of which
is a spindle or vertical shaft turning in bearings in a bracket above the
said travelling or sliding bed. By means of bevil or other gearing a
rotary motion is communicated to the pressing frame, and the said
pressing frame and the rollers carried thereby are made to perform a
rotary motion upon the travelling. bed or table, the said rollers at the
same time turning on their axes. The butts or hides to be rolled being
placed upon the travelling or sliding bed the machine is set to work,
and the said butts or hides are carried under the rollers of the pressing
frame. By the combined motion of the travelling bed and rotating
pressing frame every part of the butt or hide is in succession brought
under the operation of the pressing rollers, and the said butt or hide is
thereby effectually rolled, and its surface made smooth and polished.
The pressure of the pressing rollers of the rotating frame is regulated
by means of a lever or screw. The travelling bed supporting the
butt or hide or leather to be rolled may have a backward and forward
motion given to it in the direction of the length of the machine, or
across the machine, to bring the butt, hide, or leather under the
operation of the pressing rollers, or the bed may have both the motions
described.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
.describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, and Figure 2 in plan, a machine
for rolling leather, the parts of the said machine being constructed and
combined according to my Invention. The same letters of reference
indicate the same parts in both Figures of the Drawing..

page_text: .
a is the travelling or sliding bed or table upon which the leather to be
rolled is placed. This bed or table a works upon the framing or side
plates b, b, of the machine by means of the flanged wheels c, c, the
flanges of the said wheels engaging with the inner edges of the said
framing or side plates b, b, in the manner best seen in the plan,
Figure 2.. The side plates or framing b, b, are braced together by the
transverse tie rods 62, 62. Motion is given to the said travelling bed or
table a by means of the toothed rack ḍ on its under side, with which
rack a toothed pinion e carried by the cross shaft f gears. The said
shaft may be worked by hand or by steam power. On the rotation of
the pinion e in opposite directions a reciprocating motion is given to the
travelling bed or table upon the framing b, b, of the machine. Instead
of the rack and pinion d, e, for giving motion to the travelling bed a,
the said motion may be given by a screw capable only of a rotary
motion, the said screw being supported by the framing of the machine,
and made to engage with a screw box fixed on the under side of the bed
or table, or other equivalent arrangements for driving the bed or table
may be employed. Over the travelling or sliding bed or table a is a
horizontal pressing frame g carrying a series of four or other number of
rotating pressing rollers h, h, having a spherical, ellipsoidal, cylindrical, or
other figure. The said pressing frame consists of a disc or circular plate
provided with bearings i, i, in which the axes of the pressing rollers h, h,
work. The pressing frame or plate g has a rotary motion given to it by
means of the vertical shaft k, near the top of which shaft a bevil toothed
wheel is situated, the said bevil wheel gearing with the bevil toothed
wheel m
on the end of the driving shaft n furnished with fast and loose
pulleys. The bearings for the shafts & and n are carried by the bracket p
supported on the cross heads q, q: The shaft k is connected with the
bevil wheel by means of a sliding key, so as to provide for the slight
rising and falling motion of the pressing frame as the pressing rollers
pass over inequalities in the leather. By driving the shaft n a rotary
motion is communicated to the pressing frame g, and the pressing
rollers h, h, carried by it are made to perform a rotary motion upon the
leather on the travelling bed or table a, the said rollers also turning
on their axes. The pressing frame g may be raised from the bed or
table a in order to place upon it the leather to be rolled, and afterwards
brought down upon the said bed by operating the hand lever on the
end of the shaft s turning in bearings at t, t, on the bracket p.. Con-

page_text: 1.
nected with the said shafts are arms or links u, u, which are jointed to
the sliding collar or clutch v, within which the vertical shaft & turns.
By operating upon the hand lever r the sliding collar or clutch v may be
raised on the shaft k, and made to bear against the fixed collar w on the
said shaft k, and thereby lift the said shaft, and remove the pressing
rollers from the table or bed a. On loosing the hand lever the parts
return to the positions represented. I do not however limit myself to
any particular arrangement for raising the pressing rollers from the
travelling bed or table. In using the machine the butt, hide, or leather
to be rolled is placed upon the travelling bed or table a, and the pressing
rollers h, h, are brought down upon it. The machine being set to work
the travelling bed or table a advances upon the framing b, b, and the
butt, hide, or leather on the said bed or table is carried under the pressing
rollers h, h, of the rotary pressing frame. When the travelling bed has
moved the required distance in one direction under the pressing rollers
h, h, its motion is reversed. By the combined motion of the travelling
bed a and rotary pressing frame g every part of the butt, hide, or leather
on the said bed a is in succession brought under the operation of the
pressing rollers h, h, and the said butt, hide, or leather is thereby very
effectually rolled, and its surface made smooth and polished. The
pressure of the pressing rollers h, h, of the pressing frame g may be
regulated by a lever or screw, but in practice I have found that the
weight of the said pressing frame g and parts carried by it gives
sufficient pressure for ordinary purposes. Instead of the travelling bed
or table moving in the direction of the length of the machine as repre-
sented in the Drawing, the said bed or table may have a transverse
backward and forward motion given to it under the pressing rollers, or
both a longitudinal and transverse motion.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention, the improvements in machinery
for rolling leather herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say, the combination of a travelling or
sliding bed upon which the butt, hide, or leather to be rolled is supported
with a rotary pressing frame furnished with a series of pressing rollers,

page_text: whereby every part of the butt, hide, or leather is effectually rolled,
and its surface made smooth and polished, the parts of the machine
being constructed, arranged, and worked substantially as described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Jenkins, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Jenkins, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
WILLIAM JENKINS. (L.S.)