663,894. Roughing leather &c. BRITISH UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CO., Ltd., JAMES, C. H., PRATT, J. W., and PEARSON, E. J. June 20, 1950 [May 21, 1949; Oct. 15, 1949], Nos. 13612/49 and 26515/49. Class 31 (i). A machine for roughing the surfaces of leather or like sheet material comprises a roughing tool 32, Fig. 1, which is rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the surface of the work to be operated upon and has a plurality of roughing teeth spaced apart around the axis of rotation, and a feed roll 60 which engages with its periphery that surface of the work remote from the roughing tool and is so disposed that, without the use of any workfeeding roll engaging the same surface of the work as does the roughing tool, a thrust is exerted by the roll tending to maintain the work against an edge guide 96. The machine described is a modification of that described in Specification 467,591 for roughing the marginal portions of shoe soles prior to cementing them to shoe bottoms, and the roughing tool may be provided with a number of teeth circularly spaced around the axis of the tool. As shown in Fig. 1, the spindle 32 has a hollow lower end which is split diametrically to receive a blade 44, Figs. 2 and 3, formed at opposite ends with teeth 46 projecting from the end of the spindle. A screw 48 clamps the blade in adjusted position, and holes 58 in the spindle permit the escape of dust &c. The spindle is mounted in a bracket 30, Fig. 1, which is adjustable vertically in a slideway in a column 22. The feed roll 60 and an idler roll 62 are carried, respectively, by pivoted levers 64, 66 which extend transversely and rearwardly and are urged by springs 70, 72 against stops 74. A chain 76 attached to the lever 64 is operable by a treadle to lower the feed roll 60 for the insertion of the work, and this movement of the lever 64 acts through a bracket 78 also to lower the roll 62. The roll 60 is rotated by a belt 84 passing over pulleys 82, 86, the pulley 86 being driven by a further belt and pulleys from the main drive shaft through reduction gearing. This shaft also drives the spindle 32 through a belt 36 passing over pulleys 28, 34. The work is maintained against the adjustable edge guide 96 by so mounting the axis of the feed roll and shaping the arm 64 that, as viewed from above, the roll is angularly offset to a slight extent in a clockwise direction from the line of feed of the work ; the feed roll is also offset slightly from the material in a direction to apply increased marginal pressure on the work. In the modification shown in Fig. 6, a tool holder 102 on the lower end of the spindle 32 has a diametral slot 108 housing three rotatable rollers 112, 112, 114 on a bearing pin 110 ; the rollers 112 project slightly beyond the lower end of the holder 102 to engage the work. The holder 102 has two vertical bores 116 receiving roughing tips of hardened steel wire with sharpened ends, grub-screws 126 serving to clamp the tips in the position to which they are adjusted by screws 120. This tool is used with a feed roll 128, Figs. 8 and 9, having a periphery of soft rubber, and an idler roll 130 of disc shape and preferably formed of metal. Both these rolls are carried by levers 132, 134 as in the construction described above, but the drive of the feed roll is from a reduction gear 152 which is connected to the spindle 148 of the feed roll by an intermediate shaft 154 and universal joints 156, 158. An edge guide, Figs. 8 and 9, for use with the tool shown in Fig. 6 comprises two rollers 140 rotatable on upstanding pins 142 on an adjustably-mounted carrier 144 which also carries near the level of the tops of the rollers a forwardly-projecting guide 146 for restricting upward movement of the work. By suitable adjustment of the guide, the machine may be set to roughen a strip of work offset inwardly from its edge. Dust thrown up by the operation of the tool is extracted by a vacuum extraction system connected to a cowling surrounding the tool holder 102 ; part of the cowling may be transparent to permit observation of the operation. A brushing device for removing loose fibres from a roughened sole is constructed similarly to that shown in Fig. 5 of Specification 467,591, with the addition of freely-rotatable and yieldable rollers 178, Fig. 11, co-operating with the driven rollers 180. The work is gripped between the rollers 178, 180, and the rollers 178 are accommodated in a modified cover 182 which has a flat portion 186 serving to hold the sole against the brush 188 ; the cover is pivoted at 190 and urged by a spring 192 into operative position. The machine described in connection with Figs. 6, 8 and 9 permits a roughing operation to be carried out around the periphery of a sole without any assistance from the operator in guiding its movement. When treating a sole around one of its ends, it may, however, be supported at its free end by a disc spaced forwardly of the tool, such disc.having a convex upper face and being rotated in a direction to assist the desired turning movement of the sole.