US1024149A - Shaving-machine. - Google Patents

Description

M. E. RYAN.

SHAVING MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED D130. 29, 1910.

1,024,149. Patented Apr. 23, 1912.

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M. E. RYAN. SHAVING MAUHINE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 29, 1910. 1 ,O24, 149. Patented Apr. 23, 1912.

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MICHAEL EMMET RYAN, OF FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHAVING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 23, 1912.

Application filed December 29, 1910. Serial No. 599,870.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, MICHAEL EMMET RYAN, a citizen of the United States, resid ing at Fall River, county of Bristol, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shaving-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the shaving of the fur growths of skins, and particularly to the shaving of the tips of certain hairs or fibers of such a fur growth.

There are two main industries to which this invention relates particularly; first, to the general business of dressing furs for wearing purposes, or like uses, and, second, in the art of preparing fibers for felting.

The natural fur growth of any pelt is varied, both as to the nature of the growth and to the state of the growth. There are two wholly distinct types of growth on the usual pelt, one a soft growth of considerable abundance, usually referred to as the fibers, and the other a longer, stouter growth of somewhat greater sparsity and scattered through the fiber growth. The fiber growth, there fore, constitutes the main body of the fur and is the more valuable element, bot-h for warmth and beauty, as well as for such mechanical usages as felting. The longer hairs extend above the fiber growth so as to overlap the same and to appear uppermost as it were, covering in the natural posit-ion of the fur the softer fibers underneath. These projecting hairs are usually termed master hairs and, while they are of no value in felting and are usually considered undesirable on skins used for wearing apparel, still they have a certain material value in other industries. In the dressing of furs for wearing apparel the appearance of these master hairs is usually considered as detrimental to the beauty of the fur and it is, therefore, usually desired to get rid of the master hairs, or at least to eliminate so much of it as extend above the fiber growth. The same is true in the use of fur for felting, except that in the latter industry it is desirable to eliminate the master hair altogether. It, therefore, is desirable in certain processes of treating fibers for felting on the skins to shave the tips of the master hairs in the same manner that skins for wearing apparel are shaved. The term shaving is used herein to designate the clipping of the extreme tips of the protruding growth as counterdistinguished from any ordinary cutting or shearing of the growth without regard to length, and especially as distinguished from the pulling process or plucking process in which it is intended to drag out the master hairs by the roots. The pulling or plucking of a pelt is a matter of great difliculty for the rather obvious reason that the hairs which are to be pulled only extend slightly above the fiber and that they cannot be pulled without gaining on them a fair hold. If, therefore, the hold be sufficient to pull the hair it is very apt to mean an engagement at a level which is apt to take in or seize within the same grip the tips of the underlying fiber which it is desired to leave on the skins. While there have been devised mechanical plucking or pulling machines the difficulties of adjustment have been so great that hand plucking is usually resorted to. This is accomplished by an operator who uses a heavy knife between which and a rubber guard on his thumb the hair is grasped. It will be readily seen that this also is a crude and difficult operation in which there is a constant tendency to get hold of and pull out a portion of the fiber growth.

It is the object, therefore, of my present invention to provide a machine capable of shavingythat is to say, clipping the tips of the master hairs without the liability of cutting or gouging or pulling any of the fiber growth. As will be seen from the above, one of the great difliculties is the gaging of the shaving so that only the hair tips will be cut. This gaging is complicated by the peculiar nature of fur.

Returning to the discussion of the growths on the skin, it will be understood that at almost any period of the year there are on the pelt a variety of lengths of both fiber and hair. Regarding the main body of the growth, that is to say, the long master hairs of which the tips must be cut excluded, and considering the denser body of growth as a whole, it will be understood that there is a mixture of fiber of somewhat variant length of somewhat varying fineness. This growth in nature, that is, while on the animal, lies symmetrically and evenly in an inclined po sition with each individual fiber normally straight. When handled as a pelt, however, this fiber growth tends to become confused and tangled. Some of the longer and finer fibers havea tendency to become matted in the main body of the fur. The shaving of the tips of the long hairs, therefore, involves a handling which shall overcome this tendency to tangle and which shall work to present the fiber at the time of the cutting in a position where the growth is substantially straight and normal, so that only the tips of the master hairs will be out.

As illustrative of my invention I have shown a machine which I have found well adapted to practical use and, together with this, I have shown certain diagrams in the endeavor to make more clear the conditions under which the machine operates, as well as the operation of the machine itself.

Throughout specification and drawings like reference numerals are employed to indicate corresponding parts and in the drawings,Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying my invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view just inside the inner bearing, Fig. 3 is a detail of the skin bar, Fig. 4, a diagrammatic representation of a fur growth, Fig. 5 a diagrammatic view illustrating one adjustment of my machine, Fig. 6, a corresponding view showing another adjustment, and Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the cutting knives and the bearing roll.

Upon a bed or table 1, mounted on any suitable support 2, are upright bearings 33. These bearings are vertically slotted at 44 and transversely slotted at 5-5 in a diagonal direction, so as to give both a vertical and an oblique bearing. Within the openings 4 are journaled boxes 6 within which is mounted a knife shaft 7. \Vithin the openings 5 are boxes 8 within which is journaled a roll shaft 9.

10 is a shell fixed on the knife shaft 7 and having blades 11 spirally disposed on the shell and set forward in their direction of rotation, so as to give a slightly curved forward surface 11. On the roll shaft 9 is mounted a roll 12, preferably of rubber and usually of slightly smaller diameter than the peripheral measurement of the knives. The shaft 9 is driven by a smaller pulley 13, while the shaft 7 is driven by a larger pulley 14, so that the roll 12 will revolve faster than the knives. The end of the shaft 7 is journaled in a box 15 adjustably mounted in a support 16 and, held therein by a set screw 17. The boxes 6 are vertically adjustable in the slot 4 by means of screws 18. The boxes 8 are adjustable in their diagonal slots by screws 19.

20 is a slide working in a slideway 21 and carrying adjustable rods 22, between the ends of which is a bar 23. This bar has on one side an edge 24 and on the other side a rounded back 25. The bar is adjustably held by a thumb nut 26 so that it may be set with either the rounded back or the sharp edge forward, according to the nature of the skin which is to be drawn over it. The bars 22 are adjustable by set screws 27. Springs 28 normally hold the slide 20 in outward position, it being advanced to the cutters by the pressure of the body of the operator against the slide, while he draws the skin over the bar 23. For this purpose hetakes hold of the skin with one hand on each end, drawing it over the edges of the bar and advancing it to the knives by the pressure of his body on the slide, as described.

Referring to Fig. 4, it may be explained that the. skin in general is indicated by m, the upper layer being specifically numbered as w and the inner skin as 00 The growth y, indicated in the lighter lines, is intended to diagrammatically represent the fiber growth of slightly varying lengths. The darker growth, indicated as e is intended to indicate the master hairs which are to be shaved. It has been attempted to show that the fibers g are rooted in the outer skin 00, while the master hairs are rooted in the inner skin 00 Referring to Fig. 5 it will be seen that the knife shaft 7 is indicated as directly over the roll shaft 9. It will be seen that when the skin 0; is drawn across the bar 23 in the direction of the arrow with the natural growth of the hair inclined forward in the direction of its movement, it is moved past the blades 11 in their descent. That is to say, the blades strike down toward the fur growth, swinging in the direction of that growth, so that there is a constant tendency to stroke with the growth of the hair. This is of great advantage for several reasons, the first being that the master hairs which are intended to be clipped lie shingled over the lower fiber, thus protecting it against the action of the knives. In this way the very part which is to be shaved when it reaches the vertex of the two rolls is made to protect that part which it is desired to avoid in cutting. In the second place, the stroking of the blades tends to straighten out all of the growths in their normal direction and so arrange them as it were, so that the tips of the longest growth will be presented at the line of shaving between the knife and the roll. In addition to this, and in order to make more certain a presentation of the growth to the cutting line between the roll and the path of the knives, I have given to the roll 12 a rapid reverse movement. That is to say, I rotate the roll shaft 9 in an opposite direction to the knife shaft 7 in any suitable manner, as by the ,cross belt or other device not shown. This rapid reverse rotation of the roll 12 tends to support and press back by its light surface friction the fur growth on the pelt as it makes the turn about the bar 23. That is to say, as the skin passes over the bar 23 it is successively folded. On account of the normal angular growth of the fiber and hair there is, of

course, a tendency, as soon as the fold is formed in any line, for the growth on that fold to point down. This tendency is met by the reverse rotation of the roll 12 which lightly bears up the tips of the growth. The longer portions of the growth having a greater engagement with the roll 12 are more positively affected than the shorter growths and are thus the ones which are more positively fed up to the shaving line between the knives and the roll 12. In this way I am able to secure a remarkable degree of accuracy in shaving the tips of the master hairs.

In preparing fur for wearing apparel I am able to shave the most valuable skins at the same rapid rate at which cheaper skins are handled without the slightest danger of damaging the fine fur fiber which it is desired to expose by the removal of the hair tips. By avoiding the cutting of this fine fur fiber I make a great saving in the weight of the fur left on these valuable skins. It will be understood that in the art of dressing furs for wearing apparel that, while this underlying fur fiber which might be cut ofi" is valuable for felting purposes, it is enormously more valuable left on the pelt for wearing apparel, provided of course that the master hairs can be shaved to expose it.

Coming now to the matter of adjustment, I have endeavored to show in Fig. 6 a posi tion of roll and knife shaft which will illustrate my feature. As above suggested, the skins of a great variety of animals are presented for shaving, each having difierent peculiarities. There is, therefore, a difference in the way which certain skins must be handled. In Fig. 6 I have shown an adjustment for a certain class of skins for which the adjustment shown in Fig. 5 would present some difiiculties. Referring back to Fig. 5, it will be seen that there is a small arrow pointed directly down to the fur and indicated as a. This arrow is intended to represent the downward draft of the knives as they approach the fur. In certain fur growths there are fibers of considerable length which can be easily shaved at the same time that the master hairs are shaved. They have, however, none of the stiffness of the master hairs and, on account of their length and stiffness, are easily blown down, crumpled or entangled in the main body of the growth. This down draft, therefore, has a tendency to disarrange these fibers in such a way that it is diflicult for them to get back to their proper and natural attitude in time to be shaved at the line of contact between the knife cylinder and the roll. I, therefore, provide for the adjustment shown in the machine and as illustrated in Fig. 6. In this fi re it will be seen that, while there is sti l a tendency to blow down in the direction shown by the arrow a, there is a greater space of travel before reaching the shaving line. Over this space the fanning tendency of the blades occurs more and more to the horizontal until, in the arrangement shown in Fig. 6, at the cutting point it begins to rise again, as indicated by the arrow 6. This gives a chance for a counter action of the crumpling tendency, as indicated by the arrow a, by the straightening, as indicated by the arrow 6. In addition to this draft creating tendency, the adjustment affords another advantage for this type of pelt. The skin a: in being drawn over the bar 28 presents its growth more directly against the-cylinder 12, so that the frictional effect of the cylinder in its rapid upward rotation is more positive and tends to more positively maintain the growth which is to be shaved.

In connection with the drafts, it may be said that at 29, in Fig. 2, I have shown a curved guard which extends down on the front side of the machine partly covering the knife blades. This guard to some extent controls the downward draft, as indicated by the arrow a. It also tends to protect the fingers of the operators. It is not possible, however, to extend this guard far enough around the knife cylinder to wholly protect it from the downward draft a on ac count of the disarrangement of the fur which must pass under it without being ruffied up.

Various modifications may obviously be made in the general construction of my machine and a great variety of manners of adjustment may of course, be substituted for the simple arrangements which I have shown. All these matters are considered to be within the spirit of my invention if within the limits of the appended claims.

I/Vhat I, therefore, claim and desire to se cure by Letters Patent is 1. In a machine for shaving the fibers of pelts, a rotary cutter, a rest roll in peripheral contact therewith, means for positively and continuously drivin said cutter and said rest roll in opposite dlrections, the speed of said rest roll being greater than said cutter.

2. In a machine for shaving the fibers of pelts, a rotary cutter, a rest roll located below said cutter and having peripheral contact with said cutter, means for positively and continuously driving said cutter and said rest roll in opposite directions, the speed of said rest roll being greater than said cutter.

3. In a machine for shaving the fibers of pelts, a rotary cutter having spirally disposed blades spaced about said cutter, a rest roll located below said cutter and having peripheral contact with said blades, means for positively and continuously driving said cutter and said rest roll in opposite directions, the speed of said rest roll being greater than said cutter.

4. In a device of the class described a rotary cutter having spirally disposed blades, spaced about said cutter, a rest roll located below said cutter and having peripheral contact with said blades, means for positively and continuously driving said cutter and said rest roll in opposite directions but at different speeds, the speed of said rest roll being greater than said cutter and means for presenting the hairs of pelt between said cutter and roll.

5. In a device of the class described a rotary cutter having spirally disposed blades, spaced about said cutter, a rest roll located below said cutter and having peripheral contact with said blades, means for positively and continuously driving said cutter and said rest roll in opposite directions but at different speeds, the speed of said rest roll being greater than said cutter and means for presenting the hairs of pelt between said cutter and roll in the direction of their growth.

6. In a device of the class described a rotary cutter having spirally disposed blades, spaced about said cutter, said blades being curved in the direction of their rotation, a rubber rest roll located below said cutter and having peripheral contact With said blades, means for driving said cutter and said rest roll in opposite directions but at different speeds, the speed of said rest roll being greater than said cutter and means for presenting the hairs of pelt between said cutter and roll.

7. In a machine for shaving the fibers of pelts, a rotary knife and a rotary restroll positioned for peripheral contact with said knife, means for feeding a fur skin past the line of contact of said knife and rest, means for rotating said knife to cause it to travel in operative contact with the fur of a skin in the direction of its feed and means for rotating said rest roll in an opposite direction.

8. In a machine for shaving the fibers of pelts, a rotary cutter, a rest roll in peripheral contact therewith, means for positively driving said cutter and said rest roll in opposite directions, the speedof said rest roll being greater than said cutter and means for providing for a relative peripheral adjustment of said rolls.

9. In a machine for shaving the fibers of pelts, a rotary cutter, a rest roll in peripheral contact therewith, means for driving said cutter and said rest roll in opposite directions, the speed of said rest roll being greater than said cutter andmeans for providing for a diagonal adjustment of said rest roll and for a vertical adjustment of said rotary cutter and means for presenting the pelt to the cutter.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD F. HANIFY, THOMAS F. HIGGINS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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