US478499A - burns - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets sheet 1.

' T. BURNS. APPARATUS FOR SCOURING AND WASHING SKINS, &0. No. 478,499. Patented July 5, 1892.

m g o w us (:04, Pno'roamw WASNINQTGN a c '(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

T. BURNS.

APPARATUS FOR SGOURING AND WASHING SKINS, 8:0.

No. 478,499. Patented July 5, 1892.

I1 1/: for:

V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS BURNS, OF EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND.

APPARATUS FOR SCOURING AND WASHING SKINS, 81,0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 478,499, dated July 5, 1892.

Application filed September 13, 1889. Serial No. 323,886. (No model.) Patented in England February 9, 1889, No. 2,311, and July 10, 1889, No. 11,133 in Victoria August 20,1889, No. 7,013; in South Australia August 20, 1889,1l0. 1,897: in New South Wales August 21,1889,N0. 1,639 in Queensland August 22, 1889, No. 826; in New Zealand August 29, 1889, No.

3,918, and in Canada October 27, 1891, No. 37,692.

To all whom it Wmy concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS BURNS, skinner, tanner, and wool merchant, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, of Messrs. White, Burns dz Oo., Bonnington Skin \Vorks, and 1 Pilrig Street, Edinburgh, in the county of Mid-Lothian, Scotland, have invented Machinery or Apparatus for Scouring and WVashing Skins and Wool and Analogous Materials, (for which I have obtained Letters Patent in the United Kingdom of Great Britain, dated February 9, 1889, No. 2,311, and dated July 10, 1889, No. 11,133, re spectively; in New Zealand, dated August 29, 1889, No. 3,918; in New South \Vales, dated August 21, 1889, No. 1,639; in Queensland, dated August 22, 1889, N0. 826; in Victoria, dated August 20, 1889, No. 7,013; in Australia, dated August 20, 1889, No. 1,397, and in Canada, dated October 27, 1891, No. 37,692,) and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to machinery or apparatus for scouring and washing skins and wool and analogous materials, and has for its objects to facilitate the said scouring and washing operations, these operations being done in a much more efficient manner, with practically no loss of wool, in less time, and at less expense than is obtainable at present by the hand process. 7

In carrying out my said invention employ a large oblong trough, through which 1 cause a continual flow of water to pass, and havingasuitable number of pairs of squeezers mounted at intervals along its length, the said squeezers being preferably a pair of rollers capable of adjustment, so as to regulate the pressure on the material being washed or scoured. This trough also carries the necessary entering, adjusting, and guiding rollers, as also the leading band or rollers and guiding-ropes for the leading through of the material; and, further, I employ another oblong trough, through which a continual flow of water passes, for steeping the skins in, this trough having mounted at its one end a number of rollers (some of which are formed u with spurs or grooves along their length) for feedingthe material out of the steeping-trough onto the leading band or rollers of the firstmentioned trough. squeezers which require to be driven are driven by means of spurgearing, endless band, chain, and chain-wheels or their equivalents from one or more main driving-shafts, these driving-shafts being driven by steam, hand, or horse power.

In cases where skins which have been treated with lime or other substances on their flesh sides are to be washed or scoured Imay mount a spurred or grooved roller across the steeping-trough immediately in front of the entering set of rollers, and which I drive in the opposite direction to that-of the other rollers, so that the spurs or top edges of grooves scrape the flesh side of the skin as it passes over it. The said troughs and their connections may be built upon suitable foundations and used as fixtures, or they may be mounted on wheels in any suitable manner and therefore made portable and capable of being moved from place to place. The said troughs may also be used jointly with one another or separately, as desired.

In order that my said invention may be more readily carried into effect and more easily understood, I will now proceed to describe it with reference to the annexed drawlugs.

In the drawings, Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 1, are elevation and plan of that part of my said invention which I term the washing and scouring machinery as used for skins. Figs. 3 and 4:, Sheet 2, are elevation and plan of that part of my said invention which I term my steeping-trough and entering set of rollers, as used for skins and shown in conjunction with the entering end of my washing and scouring machinery.

A, Figs. 1 and 2, Sheet 1, is a large oblong The said rollers and trough or box, made of wood, iron, or other 5 material, for holding water, which is caused to flow continuously in and out by any suitable means. The said trough may be mounted in any suitable manner to foundations to as a fixture, or 1t may be mounted on wheels, so

as to be portable and therefore capable'of being moved from one place to another. This trough carries a number of pairs of squeezers B, B, and B entering-roller O, dischargeroller D, guide-rollers E, E, E E and E endless band F, guide-ropes G, driving-shaft H, and gearing K, the said rollers, drivingshaft, and gearing being all carried in suitable bearings either formed on the said trough or attached thereto by any suitable means. For allowing of the said trough being cleaned out, when desired, I may provide one or more openings J in or near its bottom, the said openings being capable of closing by any suit able means.

As shown in the drawings, I preferably employ six pairs of squeezers B, B, and B some in, and some above the water and mounted across the trough at intervals along its length, the said squeezers being preferably a pair of wooden or iron rollers packed or covered with yarn, rope,or india-rubber Z), so as to-form a yielding surface, and so mounted that the desired degree of pressure may be applied on the material passing through them, the said pressure being obtained by mounting the one roller b in fixed or stationary bearings 12 while the other roller b is carried in sliding or movable bearings b, which are also provided with spiral or'ot-her springs 7) and the necessary screw arrangement for adjusting the pressure on the springs, the said squeezers being driven in any suitable manner from the main driving-shaft by means of spur-wheel gearing, endless band, chain andchain-wheels, or their mechanical equivalents, but preferably by keyinga spur-wheel 70, Fig. 2, onto the driving-shaft H, which carries the bottom roller of the first set of squeezers B. The said spur-wheel transmits its power into an intermediate wheel 70', thence into an intermediate 70 on top roller of squeezers B, thence into an intermediate 70*, thence into a driver 70, keyed on the bottom roller of the squeezers B thence into a central intermediate 10 from which it repeats the same routine, only backward, till it expends itself at end squeezers B, the top rollers on the pairs of squeezers B and B being driven from the under ones by means of spur-wheels L, the said -driving-shaft H being driven by steam, hand, or horse power.

For the purpose of carrying or leading the material to be washed through the said squeezers .I employ an endless band F, of wire-cloth, cloth, or belting, which is caused to pass over the under rollers of the squeezers B, B, and B and partly round the enteringroller 0, the discharge-roller D, and guiderollers E and E, the said endless band being tightened or slackenedby means of mounting the entering-roller U or the dischargeroller D, or both, as shown, in sliding or movablebearings c d, which are carried in suitably. grooved or recessed brackets c d, which are either formed on the said trough or at tached thereto by suitable means and provided with the necessary screw arrangements (Z the said band being also adjustable transversely by means of mounting the one end of the guide-roller E in a movable bearing 6, carried in a suitable bracket 6 and provided with the necessary screw adjusting arrangement 6 the opposite end of said guideroller working in an oval journal to allow of its movement.

In order to guide the material in passing through the squeezcrs and so prevent it from getting out of place or winding round any of the 'top rollers, I employ three, five, or any number of endless ropes G, which I cause to pass under the top rollers of the squeezers and over the grooved guide-rollers E and E the said ropes working in grooves formed in the said top rollers of the squeezers, the said grooves being such that the rope fills up the space of groove, so that an equal surface is always pressing on the material, the said ropes being capable of adjustment-that is, tightened or s1ackenedby means of the guide-roller E being carried in movable bearings 0 which work in suitable grooved or re cessed brackets 6 formed on or fixed to the said trough, and provided with the necessary screw adjusting arrangement 6 the rollers hereinbefore mentioned may be made of wood or iron, or both, or any other suitable material. The flow of water into the said trough is preferably such that the clean Water on entering the machine falls on top of the small guide-roller E (which is here mounted to prevent the weight of the falling water from bagging the endless band F,) and thus comes into contact with the material immediately before it passes out of the machine, or when the materialis nearly cleaned. The waterthen passes out of the machine by overflowing in its dirtiest state at the entering end A, where it comes in contact with the material in its dirty state as it enters the machine, though I may use any other arrangement of water supply and outlet. As a modification of my said endless band for carrying or leading the material through the squeezers I may employ in lieu thereof a number of sets of small wooden or iron rollers, each set being so'mounted as to occupy the space between each pair of the squeezers, and I also mount another set of these rollers at the entering end of the machine for the purpose of leading the material to the first pair of squeezers, these rollers being all driven by spur-gearing, endless band, or chain and chain-wheels from the main drivingshaft, this modification doing away with the endless band, guide, and adj Listing-rollers for same, as hereinbefore described.

N, Figs. 3 and 4, Sheet 2, is the steepingtrough, preferably oblong in shape and made of wood, iron, or other which a continual flow of water is caused to pass, the said flow preferably entering at the material, through All ITO

end where the rollers are mounted and passor their equivalents, though I may, if desired,

provide a separate driving-shaft for thembn the said trough. These rollers M are preferably arranged as shown, m being a spur or grooved roller of, say, about twelve inches in diameter, m and m being two smaller spur or grooved rollers, and the remainder plain rollers, so that on the material or skinbeing lifted from the trough and placed on top of the spur-roller m the spurs tend to pull the material or skin up onto the other rollers, which then lead it on till it falls on the endless leading-band F of the washing or scouring machinery. This band then enters them into the said machinery.

\Vhere lime or other substances are used for preserving. or cleaning the flesh. sides of the skins, I mount another spur or grooved roller S in suitable bearings 3, these being so formed as to allow of the rollers removal when not required. This roller is driven in the opposite direction to that of the others by means of spur-gearing P or its equivalent, so that as the skins are being drawn up from the trough by the rollers M the spurs on the roller S rub orscrape the lime off the flesh side of the skins before they enter the machinery. The said trough N may be mounted on suitable foundations as a fixture or it may be mounted on wheels, so as to be portable and capable of being moved from place to place, and for the purpose of cleaning it out or running off the water I may provide one or more suitable openings T in or near its bottom, the said openings being provided with suitable doors or covers.

If desired, I may use my first-mentioned trough and mountings as machinery or apparatus for scouring and washing and dispense with the steeping-trough and its mountings, though when skins are being washed or scoured I prefer to use both troughs jointly.

I claim- 1. In machinery or apparatus for securing and washing skins, W001, 850., the combination v of the tank A, carrying a series of squeezingrolls and grooved guide-rollers E, E, and E an endless band F, passingabout said guiderollers and between the squeezing-rolls, adjustable pulleys G and D for regulating the tension of the endless band, endless ropes Gr,

passing around groovedguide-rollers E E and between the squeezing-rolls, and gearing for connecting together and simultaneously driving the squeezing-rolls,substantially as described.

2. In a machine or apparatus for securing and washing skins, W001, 850., the combination of a tank of ordinary or suitable construction carrying a series of squeezing-rolls, a steeping-trough N, carrying a series of enteringrollers mounted upon the end of said trough, a spur-gear P, and means for connecting together and driving the gearing of the tank and trough simultaneously, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS BURNS.

WVitnesses:

ROBERT WHITE,

Springbank, Ferry Road, Edinburgh.

JAMES TATE J OHNSON,

115 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow.

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