IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED. IN VARIOUS PROCESSES FOR THE DRESSING OF HIDES, SKINS; AND LEATHER
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Meredith Jones, of Wrexham, in the
County of Denbighshire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED. IN VARIOUS PROCESSES FOR THE DRESSING
OF HIDES, SKINS; AND LEATHER.”
Sealed the 15th September 1871, and dated the 26th July 1871.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said John Meredith Jones
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 26th July 1871, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MEREDITH JONES, of Wrexham, in the County of Denbighshire, send
greeting..
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN VARIOUS PROCESSES FOR THE DRESSING
OF HIDES, SKINS, AND LEATHER," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant

page_text: unto my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters
Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the
true and first Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Meredith Jones, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and 5
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to certain processes through which raw hides, 1
skins, or leather commonly pass in their course to an ultimate manu-
factured state. In their broad outline the inferred processes are usually
defined.
First. "Fleshing," which is an operation for stripping off all fatty
and fibrous substances found adhering to the inner surface of the skin 1
intended for manufacture.
"
Secondly. "Scudding" or 'working" by which a skin "skiver " or
split skin is finally purified from all limy substances, scurfy and natural
deposits, and from any extraneous particles of matter.
Thirdly. "Slicking" or "striking out," whereby the skin or leather is 2
stretched, strained, or set out, to a properly available extent.
Fourthly. "Staking," which effects a loosening, softening, and strain-
ing of the fibres of leather or its constituent parts.
And, finally. By what is called "paring" or "grounding," whereby
leather is softened and extended, and to a certain extent pared down, 2
and a suitable appearance given to its surface.
To effect the various operations just detailed, I pass for each distinct
process the hide, skin, or leather between two rollers or cylinders having
a spirally indented, grooved, or raised surface.
In order, however, that the said Invention may be fully understood, 3
I shall now more particularly describe it by means of the several figures
on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the same letters of
reference indicating identical parts in the various figures.

page_text: Figure 1 represents a longitudinal elevation; Figure 2 a longitudinal
section, and Figure 3 an end view of two rollers or cylinders such as I
propose to use for effecting more expeditiously, effectively, and econo-
mically the various operations attending the dressing or manipulation of
hides or skins or dressing of leather.
It will be seen that, the indentations, grooves, or raised surfaces
marked A on the cylinder B, and C on the cylinder D, take a spiral
direction on the surface of the rollers or cylinders, and that the spirals
are developed at the same constant angle right and left of the middle of
cach roller. The degree of obliquity with which the grooves surround
the cylinders or rollers, and the size, pitch, closeness or distance apart
of the spiral or feathers which form the said grooves as well as the form
of their edges or operating surfaces, are not absolutely limited, but will
depend upon the description of skin, hide, or leather to be operated
upon, and also upon the nature of the operation to be performed.
The rollers or cylinders, with their spiral grooves or raised surfaces,
may be constructed of metal, wood, leather, ebonite, or other suitable
material or a combination of suitable materials.
In the foregoing description of the rollers or cylinders, I have in great
part anticipated their action and effect. In passing the skin or leather G
between the two cylinders and subjecting it to the action of their spirally
directed grooves or raised surfaces, it may be made to undergo one or
more of the chief operations necessary in the dressing of skins or leather.
The cleansing, for instance, by means of the comparatively sharp edged
surfaces which form the grooves of the cylinder D, the stretching also
which as the skin passes between the cylinders, the spirally directed
course of the grooves inevitably tends to effect; then again, in other
stages of the manufacture we perceive the loosening and softening
processes aided by the same means.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same may be carried into effect, I now observe in
conclusion that I do not confine myself to the precise details or arrange-
ments which I have had occasion to describe, as many variations may be
made therefrom without departing from the main features of my Inven-
tion, but what I consider to be novel and original and therefore claim is,
the construction, arrangement, and use of two rollers or cylinders having
spirally grooved or raised surfaces, to be employed in performing certain

page_text: processes in the dressing or treatment of hides, skins, or leather,
substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Meredith Jones, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this 25 day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
JOHN MEREDITH JONES. (L.S.)
Signed and sealed by the said
John Meredith Jones this
25 day of July 1871, in the
presence of
CHARLES JAMES WALLIS,
Cliffords Inn,
London.