Improvements in Pelt Dressing Machines.
Year: 1896

page_text: We, PHILIP JENIK, MAX BOWSKY, and LEOPOLD LOEWUS, Furriers, residing at
309-311 E. 59th Street, New York, in the State of New York, United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to apparatus for cleaning, brushing and equalizing the fur,
and removing coarse hairs and impurities from pelts.
For this purpose the pelts to be dressed are advanced step by step and caused to
bend sharply over the chisel edge of a vertically reciprocating bar having on its one
side a revolving brush which lays the fur backwards. While a portion of the pelt
after passing the brush is raised by the bar in a sharply bent condition over the
edge of the bar, its long coarse hairs projecting from the body of the fur are
singed off by a hot blade which advances horizontally and then retreats while the
bar again descends and rises bringing another portion of the pelt into position to
be operated on. After passing the edge of the bar and having the coarse hairs
singed off, the pelt passes under another oppositely revolving brush which lays the
fur the right way and removes loose matters. The brush being mostly enclosed
in a casing, the loose matters are carried away by the draught caused by a fan.
The singeing blade may be heated by a current of electricity passed through it, or
by Bunsen burners acting on it when it retreats.
Dated this 30th day of June 1896.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.
Improvements in Pelt Dressing Machines.
We, PHILIP JENIK, MAX BOWSKY, and LEOPOLD LOEWUS, Furriers, residing at
309-211 E 59th Street, New York, in the State of New York, United States of
America, 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 :-
This invention relates to apparatus for cleaning, brushing and equalizing the fur
and removing coarse hairs and impurities from pelts as we shall describe referring to
the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which similar letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved pelt-refining machine.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on line 2-2 of Fig. 3 which is a plan, part of
the brush cover being removed.
Fig. 4 is an elevation of the side opposite to that shewn in Fig. 1.
Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view shewing the brushes and singeing-blade in
position to operate on the pelt.
Firepresents these parts onerating.
19

page_text: Figs. 7 and 8 are respectively an enlarged side view and transverse section of
the singeing blade and its electrical connections.
Fig. 9 is part of Fig. 3 shewing on an enlarged scale details of construction.
Fig. 10 is a vertical section through the exhauster and the multiplying driving
gear.
Fig. 11 is a cross section through the Bunsen burners which may be employed
to heat the singeing blade.
Fig. 12 is part of Fig. 5 enlarged.
Fig. 13 is part of Fig. 1 enlarged.
A is the iron frame, a is the driving shaft carrying the driven pulley b, the
driving pulley c and toothed wheel d which drives a pinion e set on a shaft fon
which there is an excentric g connected by a rod h to the transverse bar i of the
rocking frame B and moving it to and fro on rollers k and with its slotted arms 61
on shaft thus giving horizontal reciprocation to arms which are adjustably attached
to the frame B and carry the singeing blade.m.
A rotating brush C consisting of six rows of radial bristles is mounted in.bearings
capable of vertical and horizontal adjustment, so that it can be brought nearer to or
moved farther from the edge of a bar p. The vertical adjustment is made by set
screws n' supporting the bearings, the horizontal by moving the slotted L flanges n
of the bearings which are secured to the frame A by bolts n passing through
the slots.
Another smaller circular brush K is mounted in bearings horizontally adjustable
relatively to the bar p.
The brush C is driven by a belt from the pulley c to the pulley o on the axis of the
brush. Over the brush there is a sheet iron hood D connected to an exhauster E
which draws off the impurities brushed out from the pelts, the singed off water hairs,
and the fumes produced in the process.
The exhauster E is driven from the axis o of the brush C by the multiplying gear,
shown in Figs. 9 and 10.
A wheel e keyed on the shaft o of the brush C drives pinion e¹, on the shaft of which
is a wheel e driving a pinion on the bushed sleeve e³ and on this sleeve is fixed the
boss e carrying the fan blades e³. A bracket o' supports the shafts.
The brush K as shewn in Fig. 13 is driven from a pulley Y on the shaft of the
brush by a band passing over a tightening pulley U which is mounted in sliding
bearing pressed by a spring u; the band thus arranged drives K in the opposite
direction to C.
A bevel edged bar p, sliding up and down between flanges 7 and 91, is worked by
adjustable toggle links r from the reciprocating frame B. "A canvas apron s, having
one end fastened on the roller u, passes between a pair of pressing rollers t and over
the bar p and is loaded by weights v attached to it by piercing hooks vl. Weights w,
suspended on the axis of the upper roller t, may be lifted by a lever a moved by a
treadle y.
A friction disc u¹ on the axis of the roller u is .pressed on by the belt from pulley c
to pulley o which tends to turn the disc and roller u, thus keeping the canvas apron s
stretched from the rollers t to u, and winding it upon u as it is moved onwards by the
.rollers t.
A ratchet wheel F on the axis of the lower roller t is moved step by step by a
pawl Z attached to a lever worked from a rod G and crank pin I on a disc H fixed
on the shaft f, the stroke being regulated by moving the pin I nearer to, or farther
from, the centre, and also by engaging a pin held in a slot of the lever in one or
other of several holes in the rod G. By adjusting the stroke of the rod G and its
connection to the lever 2 the revolution of the rollers' t is regulated to correspond with
the motion of the apron s over the bar p.
The singeing blade m is heated by electric current and is preferably composed of
silver and platinum alloy which strongly resists the passage of an electric current,
the energy of which is converted into heat.
Otherwise the singeing blade may be a strip of platinum m mounted on an iron

page_text: bar and heated by a row of Bunsen burners M arranged below it, as shewn in
Figs. 9 and 12. The burners M are stationary, but so placed that while the blade-
is moved to and fro the flames always touch the iron bar maintaining the heat of
the singeing blade m.
For protecting the fur against damage from the burners, and to prevent heating
of the brush K, a shield N made of sheet metal and lined with asbestos, extends.
along the row of burners, as shewn in Fig. 11.
The pelts are fastened successively on the moveable apron s in front of the bar p
and below the brush K. The singeing blade m and brushes C and K are adjusted
according to the thickness of the fur, and the blade m is heated. The motion of
the reciprocating frame B is so timed that on each lift of the bar p a fresh strip.
of pelt is pulled under the brush K and the coarse and stiff hairs are singed off by
the blade m which approaches the pelt exactly when one of the six rows of bristles.
of the brush C has passed over and brushed away the fur from the edge of the-
bar p, and the gap, following the row of bristles, allows the stiff hairs to rise.
This operation is continued until the pelts, fastened to the aprons have passed
through the rollers t which move the apron with the refined pelts step by step.
toward the roller u upon which they are wound. When all the pelts have thus
been operated upon, the machine is stopped, the treadle y is depressed, thus lifting
the weights w, and the apron with the pelts is drawn back and the pelts removed
from it. The machine described not only removes water hairs from sealskins, but
also all coarse hair from other pelts, equalising the fur and cleaning it from all
impurities. The lifting of the bar p stretches the pelts on its edge just at the
moment when the singeing blade approaches, thus facilitating the removal of the
stiff or coarse hairs close to the skin while the woolly covering is held off the bevel
by the brushes C and K, which can be adjusted near to the bar p so as to keep.
even a very short fur below the edge.
We are aware that machines exist, having some parts similar to those in the
machine above described, which however comprises not only new combinations of such
parts, but also new parts not heretofore used and parts previously known in improved
forms whereby their efficiency is greatly increased.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-.
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. A pelt dressing machine constructed and operating substantially as described
with reference to the accompanying drawings.
2. In a pelt dressing machine such as is above referred to the combination of the
bevil edged vertically reciprocating bar, the apron stretched over the bar and carrying
pelts, the rotating brushes acting on the pelts, the singeing blade moved to and from
the bar with means of heating it, a pair of rollers drawing the apron step by step over
the bar to a winding on roller, and a friction disc on the axis of this roller driven by the-
pressure of the running belt, substantially as described.
Dated this 24th day of March 1897.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.