Year: 1897

page_text: I, CITRISTOPHER JOSEPH DUNN, of Watercourse, Cork, in the County of Cork,
Ireland, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in that stage of the manufacture of
leather in which the green hides are suspended in vats and kept in movement in
the tanning liquor.
This movement is preferably an intermittent one and the object of this inven-
tion is to provide automatic means of regulating the duration of the periods of
time during which the hides are kept alternately in motion and at rest.
In order to obtain a good result the motion given to the hides should be gentle,
and regular, but intermittent, it being found by experience that it is desirable
to discontinue the movement altogether for a considerable portion of the time the
hides are under treatment.
In practice this movement is imparted to the hides in various ways, as for
example by suspending them on a pivotted frame arranged to work a few inches
either way, or the frame is furnished with wheels and caused to make a short
travel, horizontally to and fro, the requisite mechanism being worked in each
case from a shaft.
In carrying out this invention, motion is given to whatever description of
mechanism may be employed, by means of an electric motor, of any suitable kind,
to which the supply of electricity is controlled by a clock, so arranged that the
movement of the clock is made to switch on and cut out the current of electricity
at any desired moment of time. For example the clock may be arranged to
switch on the current at the commencement of each half hour, and cut it off at
ten minutes past each hour and half hour, so that the hides would be in motion
The duration of these alternate
for ten minutes and at rest for twenty minutes.
periods of rest and motion is made capable of being varied at the will of the tanner.
Preferably the current would be supplied by a dynamo which, during the work-
ing hours of the day, besides supplying the necessary current to the motor would
store a sufficient charge of electricity in accumulators to run the motor during
the night.
The process of manufacture may thus be continued uninterruptedly for any
length of time necessary for its completion, perfect regularity being automatically
ensured, and the need of supervision at night time dispensed with.
Dated this 1st day of June 1897.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in or relating to the Tanning of Leather.
I, CHRISTOPHER JOSEPH DUNN, of Watercourse, Cork, in the County of Cork,
Ireland, 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 improvements in that stage of the manufacture of
leather in which it is desirable that the green hides be moved in the tanning liquid.
This movement is preferably an intermittent one and the object of this inven-
tion is to provide automatic means of regulating the duration of the periods of
time during which the hides are kept alternately in motion and at rest.
In order to obtain a good result the motion given to the hides should be gentle 1
and regular, but intermittent, it being found by experience that it is desirable
to discontinue the movement altogether for a considerable portion of the time the
hides are under treatment.
In practice this movement is imparted to the hides in various ways, as for
example by suspending them on a pivoted frame arranged to work a few inches
either way, or the frame is caused to make a short travel, horizontally to and fro,
the requisite mechanism being worked in each case from a shaft.
In carrying out this invention, motion is given to whatever description of
mechanism may be employed, by means of an electric motor, of any suitable kind,
to which the supply of electricity is controlled by a clock so arranged that the
movement of the clock is made to switch on and cut out the current of electricity
at any desired moment of time. For example the clock may be arranged to
switch on the current at the commencement of each half hour and cut it off in
ten minutes so that the hides would be in motion for ten minutes and at rest for
twenty minutes in each half hour. The duration of these alternate periods of rest 2
and motion is made capable of being varied at the will of the tanner.
Preferably the current would be supplied from accumulators of adequate
capacity charged by a dynamo during the working hours.
This process of manufacture may thus be continued uninterruptedly for any
length of time necessary for its completion, perfect regularity being automatically 3
ensured, and the need of supervision at night time dispensed with.
The invention is not limited to any particular form of mechanism either for the
control apparatus, motor or hide handler, but in the accompanying drawing, partly
in perspective, partly diagrammatic, is shown a convenient arrangement.
A clock A is provided with a disc B, attached to an extension of the spindle of 3
the minute hand, so as to rotate with the latter. Holes B equidistant from each
other are formed in a circle near the edge of the disc, to receive a pin or pins 132.
A curved piece of copper C is so placed in relation to the disc B, that as the
latter rotates the pin 131 will make contact with it once during each revolution.
The contact piece C is electrically connected by wires C C² with a relay magnet 1) 4
and with the accumulators, the latter are not shown in the drawing. The disc B
is likewise connected with the accumulators by the wire 133 the resistances being
such that only a weak current is used in this circuit which may be called the
disc circuit.
One end of the pivoted bar E is arranged to be attracted by the magnet D, its 4
other end carries a copper bridge El making contact, when the other end of the
bar is attracted by the magnet, with cups of mercury E2 E connected respectively
by wires E E5 with the accumulators and one terminal F of the motor F, the
circuit which may be called the motor circuit being completed by the wire F,
from the other terminal.
5

page_text: Depending on into which of the disc holes B¹ the pin or pins B2 are placed, at a
determined moment of time a pin coming in contact with the piece C, closes the
disc circuit. The magnet D is energised, attracts the bar E, depressing the
bridge piece E¹, and so closing the motor circuit, starts the motor. As soon as
the pin clears the contact piece both circuits are broken and the motor stops
The length of time during which the motor runs depends therefore on the length
of the contact piece C and this may be made interchangeable so that five, ten, or
more minutes may be made to elapse between the starting and stopping of the
motor. Or the contact piece may be of a fixed length, extending between two
adjacent disc holes. If then it be desired to run the motor more than five minutes,
two or more pins are placed in adjacent holes, so that the second makes contact as
the first pin leaves the contact piece.
G is a vat provided with a rocker G¹, pivotted centrally at G³ having cross
bars G on which the hides are suspended. The rocker is operated from the
shaft H by eccentrics H¹ and connecting rod H2, the shaft H being geared to the
motor by the belt I and pulley H³.
As electric motors require to be run at high speed and the oscillations of the
hide rocker should not exceed eighteen to twenty a minute, the shaft H requires
to be materially geared down and a countershaft may be conveniently employed
for this purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The combination with apparatus for giving motion to hides in a tanning vat
of a motor electrically controlled by clockwork.
2. In the tanning of hides automatically starting and stopping apparatus for
the purpose described at determined moments of time.
Dated this 7th day of March 1898.
CHRISTOPHER JOSEPH DUNN.
Boult & Wade,
Agents for the Applicant.