US2527811A - Leather skiving machine or splitter - Google Patents

Description

@ct. 31,1950 R. w. HALL 2,527,811

LEATHER SKIVING MACHINE OR SPLITTER Original Filed July 19. 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VEN TOR.

Get. 31, 1950 Rkw. HALL LEATHER smvmc MACHINE 0R SPLITTER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed July 19. 1947 INVENTOR. Zpiz W di/ RE BY M f Get. 31, 1950 R. w. HALL 2, 27,811

LEATHER SKIVING MACHINE 0R SPLITTER Original Filed July 19. 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Oct. 31, 1950 R. w. HALL LEATHER SKIVING MACHINE OR SPLITTER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed July 19. 194? mQN kNN RNN Patented Oct. 31, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LEATHER S'KIVIN G MACHINE OR SPLITTER g Ralph W. Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The Randall Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original application July 19, 1947, Serial No.

762,177. Divided and this application September 13, 1948, Serial No. 49,075

- This invention relates to improvements in a leather skiving machine, splitter, or the like. This application is a division of my pending application Serial No. 762,177, filed July 19, 1947 which issued as Patent Number 2,524,013 on September 26, 1950.

An object of this invention is to provide means for adjusting and limiting the spacing between rolls of a leather splitting machine.

A further object of this invention is to provide adjustable stop members for limiting the spacing between rolls of a leather splitting machine to a selected distance.

A further object of this invention is to provide stop members each having a plurality of steps adapted adjustably to limit the spacing between rolls. These and other objects and advantages are. attained by the means described in the following specifications and illustrated upon the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the skiving machine embodying the improvements herein described, parts being broken away for clarity of illustration and description.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmental perspective view of the swivel head, with parts broken away for clarity.

Fig. 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the roller assembly and knife support.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmental view of the pressure roller assembly in elevation, with parts broken away for clarity of illustration.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a step flange collar used in spacing the pressure roller in relation to the skiving knife.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the step flange collar taken on line VI-VI of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a fragmental view, partly in cross section, showing the application of the step flange collar in relation to the pressure roller setting screw.

Fig. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the pressure roll spring mounting means.

Machines for skiving leather and kindred materials are in general usage for producin thin sheets employed in the manufacture of bill folds,

bags and cases of various types, shoe parts, andmany other articles of commerce incorporating thin flexible sheet leather and similar materials. Such machines heretofore have given notorious- 1y poor service in the performance of their in tended functions, due to their relative infiexibility of operation, their inability to process with equal effectiveness all grades or weights of raw 8 Claims. (0]. 69-10) material, and various other limitations most of which result from the varied nature of the materials to be processed. The limitations which impair the usefulness and elliciency of such machines are well known in the trade, and many efforts have been advanced in the past with the purpose of overcoming some of the difficulties, but the market still has been seeking a satisfactorily operative and serviceable machine which is capable of advanced universal usage and productiveness. The machine of the present invention has proven itself greatly superior to others heretofore offered to industry, in its ability to process raw materials varying considerably as to weight, size, hardness, and uniformity of thickness, and in addition, provision has been made for maximum continuity of operation by reason of mechanical improvements, and the incorporation of means permittin a plurality of different skiving operations simultaneously. Various other advantages 'of merit. in the improved machine will become manifest to those As exemplified in Fig. 1, the head, generally indicated by the character 15, is mounted on the bed l6, which in turn is supported by the legs I! and I8. The head l5 rests directly upon the upper flat surface 19 of the forwardly extending central portion [4 of bed l6, being universally slidable thereon within defined limits.

An endless band knife 29 (Fig. 1) tracks upon a pair of horizontally aligned coplanar rotating drums 30 and 3|, mounted at opposite ends of the bed H5. The knife, on its upper run, passes through openings 32 (Fig. 2) provided in the head uprights 34 substantially centrally thereof, then passes under the forwardly extending central portion M of the bed IS on its lower run. The knife 29 performs a splittin or skiving action on leather orother material as said material is fed into the machine from the feeding table 33. The knife blade 29 always travels in a fixed path upon the drums 30 and 3| and through the head l5, regardless of the angularly swiveled position of the head IE or the forward or rearward position of said head on the bearing surface l9.

The machine is provided with two sets of knife guides, one directly behind the feed rolls, as shown at I I! in Fig. 3, and the other at the grinding station, as indicated at H8 in Fig. 1. The knife guides ll'l (Fig. 3) are mounted upon the knife guide supports H9, which in turn are supported between the head uprights 34 (Fig. 2) and held against displacement by means of the screws USA. In order to preclude displacement and distortion of the knife when leather or the like is being fed to the said knife, a backing blade I26 is provided, which is supported by the plate I2I mounted upon an adjustable back bar I22, shown inFig; 2. The back bar is mounted on back bar supports I23 by means of adjusting screws I25. The knife guides H8 are mounted in suitable brackets depending from the bed I6 (Fig. 1).

.A pair of vertically aligned parallel feed rolls I28 and I29 are horizontally mounted in the head I (Fig. 3) and rotated in opposite directions toward the beveled forward edge I36 of the knife 29, said rolls being driven by an ap propriate motor, not shown.

The upper feed roll I28 is called the gauge roll because it controls the thickness of the split of leather. This roll, which may be solid, is journaled in bearings I31 (Fig. 2) mounted in the vertically adjustable gauge roll carriage I33 mounted upon the head, the up and down movement of which i's'controlled by the "hand wheel I39 centrally disposed upon the sprocket housing I49 atop the head I5. Within the housing is a chaina'nd sprocket mechanism for rotating in unison the screws I 43 which elevate and lower the gauge roll carriage I38; Adjustingmeansfcr aligh'ingthe "gauge 'rollin parallelism" with the band knife' 29 :aref in ciica'i'ed asfadjusting collars I42 threaded upon the screws 1M3 and locked by the'ilocknutsfll'l when the proper adjustment hasbeenflmade by rotating, the collars within the smoothly'bored brackets I45 fixed to the carriage.

f frhe gauge roll carriage I 39 is also provided withbressure Din limit gauges (Fi 3), one at each end of said carriage. I p

The'lower feed roll I29 is called the pressure roll and isiyieldably mounted on springs at opposite'sides of the head I5, the amount of spring pressure being controlled by the hand wheel I62, Fig. 2 As shown in Fig. 1, the pressure roll I29 isdriven by means of spiral gear I36, said roll being journaled in the pressure roll assembly, generally indicated by the symbol I63 (Figs. 2 and 3). The pressure roll assembly is slidably mounted in the vertical slideways I65 provided in the head uprights 34. A plunger guide I69, bored for slidably receiving the plunger housing I61, is secured to each outer face of the head uprights 34, as indicated in Fig. 2. The cylindrical plunger housing I61 is bored for receiving the plunger I68 (Fig. 8) which is tapped for threadedly engaging the lower end of the stud I69 and counterbored for receiving the compression spring I16. As will be noted in Fig. 8, the spring I10 is confined within the plunger I68 and the plunger housing I61 by abutment with bottom "I 'of the plunger housing bore and the shoulder J12 of the plunger counterbore. The upper endof the sImd I69 is in engagement with the clevis I13 (Fig. 2), which in turn supports the pressure roller assembly I63 by engaging the laterally extending arm I15 thereof. Means for locking any adjustments made upon the pressure roll spring mount may be provided, such as the lock ut I16 on the stud I69.

As ereinbefore stated,th spring pressure of thepressure roll I29 is controlled by the hand wheel I62, which is keyed to a shaft I11 suitably journaled in bearing blocks, one of which is shown at I18 in Fig. 3. Keyed to the shaft I11 is the worm I19 which meshes with the worm gear I81 keyed to a longitudinal shaft I82 joure screw I89, to each end of the front plate naled in and extending through the head uprights 34, a bearing being shown at I83. Keyed to each outer end of the longitudinal shaft I82 is a pinion I83 (Fig. 8), the teeth of which engage-the rack teeth I85 provided on the outer diameter of the plunger housing I61.

Thus it will be seen that rotation of the hand wheel I62 will act to elevate and lower the pressure roll assembly I63 in the vertical slideways I65.

Means for limiting the upward travel of the pressure roll assembly may be provided, such as the adjusting screws I86, shown in Figs. 1 and 7. A block I81 is suitably fixed, as by means of the I89 or the pressure roll assembly, said blocks being tapped for the reception of the adjusting screws I86. By means of these adjusting screws, the ends of which abut the under surface I89 of the feeding table 33, the lower pressure roll I29 is prevented from coming into contact with the knife 29 as the pressure roll assembly is elevated. The adjusting screws I86 may be set to receive the minimum thickness of leather fed to the feed rolls.

In order to eliminate guess work and the necessity of re-setting the adjusting screws I29 each time a different thickness'of leather is fed to the knife, means for quickly and positively setting the pressure roller I29 may be provided. A step flange collar I89, shown in perspective in Fig. 5, is envisioned for accomplishing this object. The flange I90 of the collar is provided with a series of sector-like steps I93, as shown, the flange becoming progressively thicker with each sector, beginning with the thinnest sector I9I and ending with the heaviest sector I92. The step flange collar I 89 is centrally apertured, as at I95, for rotatably mounting same upon the under surface I84 of the feeding table 33, the mounting means being a stud or screw I96, shown in Fig. '7. The collar diameter may be knurled, as at I91, to provide finger gripping means in rotating the collar, said collar being mounted with the upper face I98 thereof in abutment with the under surface I86 of the feeding table 33, in a position whereby the end face of the adjusting screw I86 will contact the substantial median radius of the flange steps I93. A blank or cut-out sector I99 may be provided between the steps or sectors I9I and I92 in order to permit the adjusting screw I86 to directly contact the under surface I 84 of the feeding table when the pressure roll I29 is set for the minimum thickness of leather.

Thus it will be seen that it is an easy matter to adapt the pressure roll to various thicknesses of leather by the simple expedient of lowering the pressure roll assembly I63 by means of the hand wheel I62, manually rotating the step flange collars I89 until a predetermined step or sector thickness reaches a' point above the adjusting screws I86, and then elevating the pressure roll assembly until the adjusting screws contact the step flange collar I89.

Means for positioning each step or sector sub stantially centrally of the adjusting screws I86 may be provided, such as the ball 206 peened into a. pocket 2III of the collar I89, and backed by the spring 202, the ball being urged by the spring into one of a series of sockets 263 radially disposed upon the under surface of the feeding table 33 in alignment with the steps or sectors I93.

When the pressure roll assembly I63 has been elevated to the point where the adjusting screws I86 contact the feeding table under surface I84 or a step I93 of the flange collar, as the case may be, the hand wheel I62 is given approximately two full turns for the proper working compression of the springs III] in the plunger housing I61. This compression, of course, may be varied to suit the individual requirements of various types and textures of leather.

In order to compensate for variations of thickness in a piece of leather being fed to the knife, novel compensating means have been provided, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. It will be noted that the pressure roll I29 comprises a plurality of collars 205, each independently yieldable vertically, the collars being mounted upon a roll shaft 206, said shaft being provided with longitudinal grooves 201, which may be substantially V-shaped, as shown in Fig. 3. The inner diameter of the collars is substantially the same in configuration as the outer diameter of the roll shaft 206, but substantially larger in size, to permit vertical movement of the collars upon said shaft. The space between the collars and shaft is indicated at 288. The engagement of the inwardly projecting V-shaped lugs 209 in the collars 205 with the corresponding U-shaped grooves 20'! on the roll shaft 205 assures rotation of said collars with rotation of said shaft.

The pressure roll collars 205 are independently urged upwardly by means of frictionally rotatable rollers 2H! mounted in spring loaded clevises 2 I I, said rollers being .at all times in contact with the roll collars 205, as illustrated, the rollers ZIO and the clevises 2H being equal in number to the pressure roll collars 205. As shown in Fig. 3, the clevises are mounted in a clevis block 2I2, bored to receive the clevis shanks 2 I3 and counterbored as at 2I5 to receive the springs 2M in encircled relation with the clevis shanks 2I3 As illustrated in Fig. 3, the clevis block 2I2 is interposed between the pressure roll assembly front plate I88 and back plate ZIB, said plates being detachably secured to the clevis block by means of the screws 2I'I-2l8. For purposes of clarity, the front plate I88 is omitted from Fig; l. A longitudinal slot 2I9 is machined in the clevis block M2, in alignment with the bores 2I5, the slot providing a seat for the clevises 2 when downward pressure is exerted upon them. The springs 2M are confined in the bores 2I5 by the clevises 2 I I. The lower end of each clevis shank 2I3 is threaded as at 220, and threaded thereon is a pair of perforated jam nuts 22 I. Means for turning the contiguous pairs of nuts 22I upon the threaded clevis shanks have been provided by the perforations 222 in said nuts, the nuts being rotated by a rod, such as 223, inserted in said perforations. As will be noted in Fig. 4, the jam nuts are adjusted to provide a clearance 225 between the clevis 2H and the clevis block 2| 2 when the clevises are urged upwardly by the springs 2M. The clearance 225 is substantially equal to the clearance 208 between the roll shaft 266 and the collars 2B5. Clevis pins, upon which the small rollers 2m are mounted, are indicated at 226. Adjustable scraper plate 224 and 224A, suitably fixed to the gauge roll carriage I38 and the pressure roll assembly I33, respectively, as shown in Fig. 3, may be provided. a

Fig. 4 clearly delineates the function of the pressure roll I29 on a piece of leather 22'! being fed to the knife 29. Normally the leather, as it is gripped between the rotating feed rolls, will force the pressure roll collars 205 down upon the roll shaft 286, as shown by the collars 205A. If

a thin section in the leather 221 is encountered by the pressure roll I29, the collars which are in contact with the thin portion will force the leather upward against the solid gauge roll I28 by the action of the springs 2 I4, as indicated by the collars 2953 in Fig. 4, thus assuring a split of leather of uniform thickness. It might be here stated that the upperor usable part of the skived leather is called the split, while the lower part is scrap or waste. In Fig. 4, the split and scrap are indicated by the symbols 221Aand 2213, respectively.

From the foregoing, it will be understood that the arrangement of clevises disclosed herein relieves vital parts of the machine of undue and injurious strains that might otherwise spring the shaft, and particularly the roll shaft 206 which is made relatively light in order to keep the size of collars 205 within reasonable size limits. As previously stated, the collars all have a definite clearance for lateral displacement upon the shaft 206. This clearance is the same as the limit of reciprocation of the clevises. Thus, the lock nuts 22I are adjustable to preclude upward movement of the clevises beyond the free movement of the collars permitted by the collar clearance at the roll shaft 206, so that none of the force of springs 2 I4 is available to arch the shaft upwardly intermediate its ends, when splitting thin leather or when the machine is running idle. Similarly, the shoulders 2IA of all the clevises provide definite and substantial stops operative against the heavy rigid clevis block or bar M2, to limit the extent to which a thick or hardened workpiece might force the collars 205 downwardly, thereby avoiding depression of the collars beyond the downward limits established by the collar clearances at 225. Thus, there is no danger of collar shaft 206 being sprung or downwardly arched, by passing an unusually thick or hard workpiece through the machine. 7

In addition to the advantage of individually yieldingly'mounted collars 2B5 forming the pressure roll I 29, the entire pressure roll assembly IE3 is yieldably mounted upon the spring loaded plungers I68, as hereinbefore recited and shown in Fig. 2. This pressure roll design assures efficient operation of the machine and a uniform quality of production.

The machine constructed as disclosed herein is highly productive and will perform many operations which heretofore had to be assigned to other machines especially adapted for splitting different grades and weights of leather. Repeated handling of the products is thereby avoided, and the machine therefore is kept in continuous operation with a resultant saving of labor and operating expense. Various other advantages have been set forth previously herein, and still others will be evident to those skilled in the art.

It is to be understood that various modifications and changes in the structural details of the machine may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the class described, a pressure roll, mounting means for said pressure roll including means for elevating and lowering said pressure roll, a feeding table including a lower face, means for limiting upward travel of said pressure roll, said limiting means comprising a block having one end extending upwardly therethrough and adapted to abut said feeding table lower face when said roll is elevated to its limit, means for selectively limiting the upward travel of the pressure roll to other predetermined limits, said selective limiting means comprising a step collar including a flange, said flange being provided with a plurality of sector-like portions progressively increasing in thickness, beginning with a sector of minimum thickness and ending with a sector of maximum thickness, a sector-like portion of the flange being completely removed between the minimum thickness and the maximum thickness thereof, said step collar being rotatively mounted upon the feeding table lower face contiguous to the point where the adjusting screw contacts the said lower face, said adjusting screw being adapted to selectively abut the various sector-like portions of said flange upon elevation of the pressure roll.

2. In a machine of the class described, a pressure roll, mounting means for said pressure roll including means for elevating and lowering said pressure roll, a feeding table including a lower face, means for limiting upward travel of said pressure roll, said limiting means comprising a block including a vertically disposed tapped hole, said block being fixed to the pressure roll mounting means, an adjusting screw threaded into said block having one end extending upwardly therethrough and adapted to abut said feeding table 7 lower face when said roll is elevated to its limit,

means for selectively limiting the upward travel of the pressure roll to other predetermined limits, said selective limiting means comprising a step collar including a flange, said flange being provided with a plurality of sector-like portions progressively increasing in thickness, beginning with a sector of minimum thickness and ending with a sector of maximum thickness, and means rotatably mounting the sector collar upon the lower face of the feeding table in position to dispose the sectors thereof selectively in intercepting relationship to the adjusting screw.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame, a pressure roll, and a gauge roll, means on the frame rotationally supporting the gauge roll in substantial parallelism with the pressure roll, means for bodily shifting the pressure roll relative to the frame and toward and from the gauge roll, and means including a series of stepped abutments for predetermining a, multiplicity of spacings between the gauge roll and the pressure roll.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame, a pressure roll, and a gauge roll, means on the frame rotationall supporting the gauge roll in substantial parallelism with the pressure roll, means for bodily shifting the pressure roll relative to the frame and toward and from the gauge roll, and means selectively adjustable for predetermining a series of spacings between the rolls.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame including a feed table, a pressure roll, a gauge roll, means on the frame rotationally supporting the gauge roll in substantial parallelism with the pressure roll, a slidable carriage including journals rotationally supporting the pressure roll, means for moving the carriage toward and from the gauge roll, resilient cushion means intermediate the carriage and the carriage moving means, and adjustable stop means limiting movement of the carriage toward the gauge roll in advance of operation of said resilient cushion means, to urge the pressure roll toward the gauge roll.

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame including a feed table, a pressure roll, a gauge roll, means on the frame rotationally supporting the gauge roll in substantial parallelism with the pressure roll, a slidable carriage including journals rotationally supporting the pressure roll, means for shifting the carriage toward and from the gauge roll, a stop i normally fixed for movement with the carriage and toward the feed table, a stop collar rotationally mounted upon the feed table, an extending flange on the stop collar located to be struck by the stop when the carriage is elevated, and steps on the flange selectively alignable with the stop as the stop collar is rotated to various positions, to establish different elevations of the carriage relative to the feed table.

7. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame including a feed table, a pressure roll, a gauge roll, means on the frame rotationally supporting the gauge roll in substantial parallelism with the pressure roll, a slid-- able carriage including journals rotationally supporting the pressure roll, means for shifting the carriage toward and from the gauge roll, a stop normally fixed for movement with the carriage and toward the feed table, a stop collar rotationally mounted upon the feed table, an extending flange on the stop collar located to be struck by the stop when the carriage is elevated, steps on the flange selectively alignable with the stop as the stop collar is rotated to various positions, to establish different elevations of the carriage relative to the feed table, and means for adjusting the normally fixed stop in the direction of travel of the carriage.

8; In a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame, a pressure roll, a gauge roll, means on the frame rotationally supporting the gauge roll in substantial parallelism with the pressure roll, a, slidable carriage including bearing means rotationally supporting the pres sure roll, means for yieldingly shifting the carriage toward and from the gauge roll, a stop and a rotary stop collar, one of which is mounted upon the shiftable carriage and the other upon the stationary frame, an extending flange on the stop collar located to be struck by the stop when the carriage is elevated, and steps on the flange selectively alignable with the stop as the stop collar is rotated to various positions, to estab lish different elevations of the carriage relative to the stationary frame.

RALPH W. HALL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,382,755 Baxter June 28, 1921 2,082,057 Hood June 1, 1937 2,423,500 Johnson July 8, 1947

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