US242954A

US242954A - Charles michel

Info

Publication number: US242954A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1881-06-14
Anticipated expiration: 1898-06-14

Description

(No MmmV y C. MICHEL, Jr., C. KOLLEN & G. HER'I'ZG.V

Apparatus Yfor Tanning.

N0.242,954. Parenfed1une14nss1.

t t UNITED STATES PATENTA OFFICE,

CHARLES MICHEL, JR., CHARLES KoLLEN, AND CUSrAvE HERrzoe, oF

REIMS, FRANCE. I

APPARATUS FOR TANNING.

g `SIEECIIEICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,954, dated June 14, 1881.

Application tiled4 May 7, 1881. (No model.)

Toall whom it may concern.:

Be it known that we, CHARLES MICHEL, Jr., CHARLES KOLLEN, and GUsTAvE HERT- ZOG, all citizens of France, and all residing at 5 Reims, in the Republic of France, have invented a new and useful Improved Apparatus for Tanning, of which the following is aspeciiication.

All the improvements in the methods and I o apparatus heretofore employed in tanning have not enabled the problem of rapid tanning to be Solved, it being still necessary to subject the hides for months to this process. Some special apparatus for accelerating the process have from time to time been patented, but they have not been practically successful, either because the processes were too expensive or because the tanned hides had not the desired qualities. zo The apparatus to which the present invention relates obviatesthese difficulties by permitting calf-skins to be tanned iu a few hours, and cow or ox hides in about forty-eight hours, While at the same time affording the leather z 5 produced allthe flexibility and firmness indispensable toa perfect product.

The essential objects of these apparatusare, first, to regulate at will during the operation',

of tanning the temperature of the liquors in 3o the operating-tank and in the receptacle containing the hides to betanned; second, to regulate the density of the liquors in the said receptacle, and also to change their nature, as required, for consecutive processes without interruptin g the operation of the apparatus;

third, the clarifying of theliquors used in former processes in order to enable them to serve for future processes; and it is by the combination of these means that according to the pres- 4o ent invention rapid tanning may be effected.

The accompanying drawings show the combined apparatus which we employ, Figure 1 showing a longiimdinal` section, and Fig. 2 a plan. t It consists of a receptacle or drum, A, a suction and force pump, B, (shown in elevation in Fig.`l,) an operating-tank, E, two filters, I I, of which one is shown in elevation in Fig. l, and of reserve-tanks K L J.

The drum A, constructed of wood, revolves 5o upon a horizontal axis, its trunnions, which are secured to its sides, as shown, being carried in bearings on standards fixed to the foundation. O11 the one trunnion is fixed a worm-wheel, A', in gear with a worm, A2, 55 driven by fast and loose pulleys, so as to cause the drum to perform about ten to fifteen revolutions in a minute, according to the nature of the hides. The other trunnion is hollow to allow the passage through it of two pipes, ce 6o and b, carried by a bracket. The one pipe, a,

is bent downward inside the drum, so as to descend to the lowest point thereof and enable the liquor to be withdrawn therefrom through it by means of a pump, B, of any suitable construction. The second pipe, b, communicates with a reservoir, E,Which will be presently described. 'lhe drum has a double side or partition, A3, having perforations, so as to protect the pipes a b while the drum revolves, and a 7o charging-hole, D, closed hermetically by a cover, so as to prevent any escape of liquor While rotating. The interior of the drum is furnished with projections of Wood of different lengths, so as to cause the skins to be effectu- 7 5 ally moved about and beaten during the opersation.

`The operating-tank E is mounted upon a raised platform, E', by which access is gained all round it. It is closed with the exception 8o of an opening at top, in which is suspended a basket, E2, of wicker-Work or perforated metal, through which the liquor may be introduced.

The pump B can force the liquors ofthe drum A into the tank E by means of the pipes d d, the liquor being made to pass through a refrigerator, F, consisting of a tubular receptacle, through which cold water is made to flow, for which purposethe casing of the receptacle is connected by a branch pipe, j', with stop- 9o cock IL, to a pipe, g, leading to a water-supply under pressure, while the discharge is conveyed by the pipes t' and j to a discharge-channel, Gr. The liquor passing through` d enters a number of small tubes in the refrigerator, so as to offer large coolingsurfaces to the liquor in a well-known manner, and issues at the upper end into the upper pipe, d, again, leading into the tank E. On the bottoni of this tank is a worm, 7c, throughwhich steam may be passed so as to raise the liquor to a certain temperature, which is indicated by a thermometer at H, and by means of a pipe, b, provided with a stop-cock, the. liquor may be allowed to pass down from the tank E into the drum A again. The operating-tank E may also be emptied by means of a pipe, l, having cocks m m, by opening which the liquor is discharged into lilters I I, placed over tanks J, which receive the filtered liquors, and from which these can be again conveyed into the tankE by means ofthe pipe a and force-pump B.

The filters consist of a wooden receptacle having at top a tray of perforated copper, and below this, on a perforated tray, at 0, small pebbles or gravel, below which at I), is another tray carrying a layer of charcoal and Spanish White or otherisuitable substances, which purify and clarify the liquor so as to renovate its tanning properties. The several trays can be readily removed for cleansing purposes. If, notwithstanding this triple filtration, it should be necessary to leave the filtered liquors quiescent, in order to clarify still more by subsidence, cocks may be provided in the filteringtanks at different heights for drawing off the supernatant clear liquor, as indicated at12 3 4.

The reserve-tanks K L J communicate on the one hand with the operating-tank E by pipes g, and on the other hand, by pipes a, with the suction-pipe a ofthe pump B.

The operation of tanning is carried out as follows A certain quantity such as from one thousand to fourteen hundred pounds weightof hides are introduced into the drum A through the opening at D, which is then closed, and the drum is rotated after having been charged through the pipe b from tank E with a certain quantity of liquor composed of tanning extracts and other essences ordinarily employed in tanning, the supply being regulated by a cock. The liquor in the operating-tank requiring to be maintained at a certain temperature, this is effected either by heating by means of the steam-coil k or by means of fermentation in the drum, or, on the other hand, by cooling by the action of the refrigerator F, which can be regulated by the cocks on the cold-water supply.

All attempts hitherto made to effect the tanning operation in a revolving drum have failed for the want of means for properly regulating the temperature of the interior of the drum. Leather produced by tanning at too high a temperature has no consistency, and is rigid and liable to crack, and, even though it should possess the requisite densityfthe shrinking which may always result in its use renders it practically useless. If, on the other hand, the temperature is not raised sufficiently high at the proper time, the penetration of the liquor is not facilitated by the swelling of the hides, and it cannot be effected afterward if the fermentation is not produced at the proper moment.

In order to observe accurately the temperature ofgthe drum, a thermometer is-provided, which descends into the drum through the hollow trunnion like the pipes a and b.

1n order to prevent undue pressure inside the drum, openings are left at the side of the pipes a and I) in the hollow trunnion.

For eecting the various kinds of operations required in the tanning process we are enabled', without stopping the motion of the drum, to Withdraw therefrom by means of the pump, and discharge into the tank, the liquor that has served for a particular operation, and then to draw into the drum from the reserve-tanks the liquor that is to serve for the next operation heated to the requisite degree.

The hides, although previously prepared for undergoing the degree of treatment required in the drum, may, on account of their thickness, require a more prolonged action than is otherwise advisable; and in order to prevent fermentation under these circumstances that might be hurtful, it is requisite to maintain the liquors at a determined constant temperature, for which purpose they may be caused by means of the pump to circulate continuously from the drum through the refrigerator F and tank E back into the drum again, the action of the refrigerator being regulated to any desired eX- tent by regulating the cold-water supply.

It will be evident that with this process may be used -any known solid or liquid extracts which in a very concentrated condition will not only operate very powerfully, but also nourish the leather in a very uniform manner.

- After each tanning process the liquors are caused to pass through the filters I to be clariiied, so as to free them from fatty and other objectionable matters.

Having thus described the nature of our invention Aand in what manne-r the same is to be performed, we claim- I. In apparatus for tanning, the combination of a rotating drinn for receiving the hides and tannin g-liquor, the liquor-reservoir E, refrigerator F, and suction and force pump B, all communicating with each other through the pipes b, d, and a, for operation substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In apparatus for tanning, the combination of a rotating drum, A, in which the hides are subjected to the action of the tanning-liquors, a suction and force pump, B, with suction-pipe b, leading into the lower part of the drum, and a liquortank, E, into which the liquors from the drum are forced by the pump through a pipe, d, and refrigerator F, and from which they pass into the drum by a pipe, a, substantially as herein described.

3. In apparatus for tanning, the combination of the rotating drum A, pump B, tank E, filter or filters I, supplied by pipes Z from tank E, and tanks J, for receiving the clarified liquors, from which they are conveyed back to the tank E and drum A by means of the pipes n a and pump B, substantially as and for the purposes described.

IZO

4. In apparatus for tanning, the combination of therotating drum A, pump B, and tanks EJ K L, connected to pump B by pipes provided with stop-cocks, wherebyV the hides in the drum can be consecutively subjected to the. action ofdift'erent descriptions of tanningliquors contained in the said several tanks,

'substantially as set forth.

5. In apparatus `for tanning, the drum A, revolving on trunnions, through oneof which inlet and outlet pipes b a enterin order to pass downward within a double side, A3, communicating with the other space of the drum by means of holes, so that the liquorcan be uninterruptedly withdrawn from and intro- 1'5 two subscribing witnesses, this 11thV day of 2o April, A. D. 1881.

CHAELEs MICHEL, Ens. CH. KCLLEN. C. ,EEETZoeE Witnesses:

JULEs DUPONT, W. BLACK.