US2203250A - Device for applying treating material to leather - Google Patents

Description

DEVICE FOR APPLYING TREATING MATERIAL T0 LEATHER Filed Jan. 1l, 1939 To Foo? TREAaLs Patented June 4, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DEVICE FOR APPLYING TREATING MATERIAL TO LEATHER Application January 11, `1939, Serial No. 250,378

3 Claims.

This invention relates to certainnew and useful improvements in a machine adapted, more particularly, for use in applying a liquid reenforcing agent to the unfinished side of pieces of leather, such as Vamps, linings, or the like, in

order to stiiTen the leather and expedite subsequent operations thereon, especially those involving cutting or die-stamping the leather in producing ornamental designs therein of an open-work nature. The machine is equally Well adapted, however, for applying paste, or other liquid substances, to leather.

The application of a re-enforcing agent to leather vamps, or the like, to stiften the same is commonly practiced in shoe factories, such stiening of the leather not only rendering the pieces easier to handle and operate on, but en` abling the leather to be cut, or diedout,with out leaving ragged edges around the cuts. The stiifening liquid generally employed is quite thin, and the prevailing practice is to apply this liquid to the leather manually by means of a brush, as it has heretofore been considered impossible, or at least impracticable, to apply it successfully in any other fashion. In the larger factories, a relatively large number of operators, usually females, are employed for doing this work alone.

One reason. that has made the application of re-enforcing liquid to the leather by hand-uni- 30'- versal, so far as our knowledge extends, is the fact that the liquid agent employed if not frequently agitated, quickly hardens, assuming the nature of glass. Where the use of machines has been attempted for this purpose, it was` found that material left in the container of the machine, or on parts for applying it, for even a relatively short length of time, would harden to such an extent that the machine would have to be taken apart and the hardened material re-y come the obstacles incident to the `use of a ma chine for applying a stiiiening agent to pieces of leather, by providing a machine for this pur'- pose of exceedingly simple construction, which may be readily dis-assembled and reassembled whenever a cleaning operation is necessary.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a machine of this nature which in operation will cause a continuous agitation of the i stiffening agent in the container of the machine, and which will permit of the utilization of practically the entire capacity of vthe container for holding the stiffening liquid.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a machine which may beeasily and readily operated, even Aby an inexperienced person, and which will practically eliminate danger of accident toI the hands of the operator from being caught between rollers used in applying the liquid to the leather.

Other objects relate to details of construction of the machine, which may be better understood from the detail description of the invention to follow.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is an end elevation partly broken away, facing the operator;

Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line Z-Z of Figure `1;

Figure 3 is a plan View;

Figure 4 is a rear end elevation, broken away to show a leaf spring support for the pick up roll; f

Figure 5 is an enlarged vVertical section on the line 5 5V of Figure 3;

Figure 6y is an enlarged vertical section on the line 6 6 of Figure 3;

Figure 7 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 'le-'l of Figure 4; and

Figure 8 is a plan View of a vamp showing, by stippling, the re-eniorcing liquid applied to one side thereof.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral l indicates the top of a table, or other support, on which our machine is mounted. Said machine comprises a container 2, having side walls 3, end walls 4, and a bottom 5, and being open at the top. Extending along the sides of themachine at the bottom are ilanges 6, having apertures to receive screws l, kby means of which the machine is secured on the top of the table.

The numeral 8 indicates a pick-up roll, which is in the form of a hollow metal cylinder having an integral cross-bar, or spoke, 9 near each end providing hubs Ill, by means/of which the cylinder is mounted on a shaft il, projecting at its ends beyond the outer ends of the spokes 9. Cast integral with the inner side of each end wall 4 are two parallel pairs of retaining guide lugs I2, between each pair of which is slidably mounted a pila-te I3, each plate resting at its lower end o-n the free end of a leaf spring I4, the other end portion of which is bent to extend between holding pins I5 provided on the inner side of each end wall. Each of the plates I3 is provided with an aperture for receiving the corresponding projecting end of the shaft Il, as clearly shown in Figure 2, so that the pick-up roll is yieldably supported in the container 2, and is normally pressed upward against the under side of a distributing roll I6 by the leaf spring I4.

The distributing roll I6 is loosely mounted on a drive shaft I1 which is mounted in the bearings I8 provided in the end walls 4. One end of this drive shaft is screw threaded and has a nut I9 applied thereto which, when screwed home, bears against the outer side of the bearing |8 and holds the shaft in position in its bearings. On the opposite end of shaft I1 is a drive pulley 25, and adjacent this pulley is secured a gear 2|. At a point on the shaft within the container 2 there is removably mounted in the shaft a stud 23, which engages in a slot 24 provided in the end of the distributing roll I6. The shaft |1 is continuously rotated by the driven pulley 20 and the engagement of stud 23 in the slot 24 causes the distributing roll I6 to be rotated with it. The pulley 2|) is driven in the usual manner b-y a belt (not shown) from any suitable source of power.

Referring to Figures 2 and 7, the end wall 4 of the container adjacent the gear 2| has secured thereon by means of screws 25 two parallel guide members 26, which form a guide way for a slidebar 21, which is provided intermediate its ends with a slot 28 through which the shaft I1 extends. In the upper end of slide bar 21 there is mounted a bearing 29 for receiving the outer end of a stub shaft 30, on which outer end beyond the slide-bar is mounted a pinion 3|, which is adapted to be brought into and out of mesh with the driving gear 2|. Secured on the stub shaft 30, as by being press-fitted thereon, is a presser roll 32, which is adapted to be raised or lowered with respect to the distributing roll I6, by means now to be described.

Screw threaded into the lower end of slide-bar 21 is a rod 33, which passes downward through an opening 34 in the top and has an adjusting nut 35 applied to an intermediate screw threaded portion 36, which nut is adapted to bear against the under side of the top to limit the upward movement of the slide-bar 21 and roll 32, which is caused by the pressure of a coil spring 31 surrounding the rod 33 and interposed between the lower end of slide bar 21 and the top of table I. Secured to the lower end of the rod 3 3 is a pull rod 38, which at its lower end is connected to a conventional foot treadle (not shown).

When the treadle is depressed the slide bar 21 carrying pinion 3| and presser roll 32 is moved downward; and when pressure on the treadle is released, the coil spring 31 raises these parts to the position shown by dotted lines in Figure 2.

The container 2 is of a size to contain -about a gallon of the re-enforcing fluid, the liquid level of which, when the container is lled, being somewhat below the upper edge of the pick-up roll 8, as shown in Figure l.

A gallon of the re-enforcing uid is ordinarily suiiicient for a days work. If more of the uid is required, however, the additional amount may be poured into the container by lifting a cover plate 39, extending on one side of the distributing roll I6, which is normally held in position on the container by means of fixed, or integral, studs 40 projecting below its underside and being received into holes 4| provided in the upper edge of one of the sidewalls 3, as indicated in Figure 6.

A second cover plate 42 is located at the opposite side of roll I6, and is provided at its opposite ends and near its outer side with two slots 43, Figure 5, through each of which slots extends a screw 44 which is secured in the upper end of the other side wall 3. This cover plate 42 may thus be adjusted toward or from the upper side of the distributing roll I6, in order to regulate the amount of liquid which will be carried up for application to the leather by said roll.

The botto-m of the container is provided with an aperture which is normally closed by a screw plug 45, which is located within an opening 46 provided in the top I. By removing plug 45, the container 2 may be drained when operation of the machine is to be suspended for a considerable length of time, `as at the end of a days work.

By making the pick-up roll 8 hollow and open at its ends, the liquid in the container will also occupy the greater portion of the interior of the roll, enabling practically the full capacity of the container to be employed for the liquid. Moreover, as the pick-up roll rotates, the liquid on the inside of the roll, as well as that displaced by the exterior of the roll, will be thoroughly agitated and thus kept from hardening so long as the machine is in operation.

The pick-up roll 8 being held in constant contact throughout its length with the under side of the positively-driven distributing roller IG by means of the leaf springs I4, will be rotated by such frictional contact and will operate to constantly supply the liquid re-enforcing agent to the surface of said distributing roll.

Normally, the presser roll 32 is in the elevated position indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 2. If a vamp, such as shown by Figure 8, and indicated by the numeral 41, is to be treated, the operator places said vamp with its unnished side downward on the top I and moves it into engagement with the top of distributing roll I6 and at the same time presses the foot treadle downward, thereby bringing the pinion 3| into mesh with gear 2| and the presser roll 32 into engagement with the upper, or nished -side of the vamp. The vamp then rapidly passes between the two rolls I6 and 32 and its under side is pressed by roll 32 into firm engagement with the upper side of the ldistributing roll I5, so that the reenforcing liquid is evenly distributed over the under, or unnished side, of the vamp as indicated by the stippled portion 48 of Figure 8. The passage of the vamp 41 between the rollers is indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1. Just as the rear portion of the vamp is about to pass between the rollers, the operator releases pressure on the foot treadle, and spring 31 immediately causes the lroller 32 to be raised, thus preventing the roll 32 from coming in contact with roll I6 and having its surface covered with the liquid.

Should fingers of the operator be caught between the rolls I6 and 32, the upward pressure of the foot treadle on the foot of the operator occasioned thereby will immediately cause her to release pressure on the foot treadle and allow the roll 32 to be raised. Ordinarily, however, the operator would promptly release pressure on the foot treadle the moment her iingersl v r entirely out of the machine.

became engaged. As the pressure exerted by the upper roll IG is only that produced by the operator, there is practically no danger whatever of sufficient pressure being exerted to injure the ngers, as the operator would instinctively release pressure of the foot treadle the moment her fingers came in contact with the rolls.

l/Vhen it becomes necessary to disassemble the machine for the purpose of cleaning it, or for any other purpose, the nut I9 is first removed, the shaft Il pulled out far enough to carry the stud 23 out of the slot 24, when the stu-d is pulled out of the shaft by means of pliers and the shaft with its gear 2| and pulley 23 pulled This of course enables roll i6, to be removed. The pull rod 38 is then lifted out of engagement with the rod 33, and the latter unscrewed from engagement with the slide bar 21, which permits the latter with its pinion 3l and roller 32 to be lifted off of the machine. The pick-up roll 8 may now be removed by simply lifting it out of the machine, the plates I3 sliding out of engagement with the lugs I2. These operations require only a few minutes, and the machine may be reassembled in the same short length of time.

We claim:

1. In a machine of the class described, a container, a leaf spring and guide members provided on the inner side of each end wall of said container, an apertured plate slidably mounted in each set of said gui-de members and supported on one of said leaf springs, a pick-up roll having a shaft mounted in the apertures of said plates, a distributing roll mounted in said container having driving means and a driving gear, and frictionally engaging the upper side of said pick-up roll against the resistance of said leaf springs, a presser roll located above said distributing roll and having a pinion, means for manually lowering said presser roll to bring its pinion into engagement with the gear of the distributing roll, and automatic means for raising said presser roll when released from manual control.

2. In a machine of the class described, a container, guide members provided on the inner side of each end wall of said container, a plurality of spaced pins xedly mounted on and projecting inward from each of said end walls, a leaf spring threaded between said pins on each end wall and having a free end extending beneath said guide members, an apertured plate slidably mounted in each set of guide members and supported on the free end of the leai spring beneath said members, a pick-up roll having a shaft mounted at its ends in the apertures of said plates, a distributing roll mounted in said container having driving means and a driving gear, and frictionally engaging the upper side of said pick-up roll against the resistance of said leaf springs, a presser roll located above said distributing roll and having a pinion, means for manually lowering said presser roll to bring its pinion into engagement with the gear of the distributing roll, and automatic means for raising said presser roll when released from manual control.

3. In a machine of the class described, in combine-tion with a container having a pick-up roll removably mounted therein, a shaft slidably mounted in the walls of the container and having a securing nut applied to one end thereof, a distributing roll loosely mounted on said shaft and having at one end a slot, a removable pin carried by sai-d shaft and engaging in said slot, a slide-bar mounted on one end of said container and having a slot receiving said shaft, a stub shaft mounted at one end in a bearing on said slide bar and having a presser roll secured thereon located above sai-d distributing roll, a pulley and a gear on the shaft of the distributing roll, a pinion on the shaft of said presser roll, a spring normally holding said slide-bar and its shaft, pinion and presser roll in a raised position, a rod removably secured in the lower end of said slide-bar, means for lowering said sli-de bar at the will of the operator detachably connected to said rod, and a stop on said rod for limiting the upward movement of said slide-bar,

the combination being such that by unscrewing the nut from said shaft, removing the pin therefrom'and removing said rod from the slide-bar,

the entire machine may be disassembled.

PETER BOLHOFNER. THEODORE KOCH.

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