US1558011A - Support for stretching and drying skins - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 20,192 1,558,011

L. H. HAMEL V SUPPORT FOR STRETCHING AND DRYING SKINS Filed Nov. 20, 1925 V////// ////A ///V//i//Q "4 22g 2. ma 2 1 Patented Oct. 20, 1925.

UNITED STATES Y LOUIS H. HAMEL, or HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS.

sorroar ronsrasronme AND DRYING SKINS.

Application filed n vembr 20, 1923. Serial no; erases.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS H. HAMEL, a citizen of the United States, a resident of Haverhill, in the county of Essex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in. Supports for Stretching and Drying Skins, of which the following is a specificatlon. v

This invention relates to apparatus used in the manufacture of leather, for the purpose of holding skins stretched while they are being dried, so that, when dry, they will be without wrinkles.

In drying skins after they have been put out, it is customary to stretch them on boards and secure them in position by tacks, in which position they are subjected to warm dry air until dry. Prior to my invention, it has been customary to secure skins in this manner to large boards, several being socured to each board. These boards are heavy to handle, and as the skins lie close to the boards, the drying process is necessarily slow. This work calls for considerable skill and experience in properly tucking and stretching the skins on the boards, and it is necessarily a slow process, so that the expense of drying the skins is an item of considerable importance.

The objects of my invention are to provide a form of board, or frame to which the skins may be conveniently and rapidly secured by tacks, or similar means, and may be tightly stretched while the securing operation is being performed, so that all wrinkles'will be removed and the middle portion of the skin will be stretched more tightly than has been possible with methods previously employed. Also, to provide a form of board or frame to which the skins may be properly secured by comparatively unskilled labor and on which the skins will dry much more rapidly than they will be with present methods.

I accomplish these objects by the means and in manner hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a stretching and drying board and holder therefor embodying my invention,

Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse sectional views thereof, at line ww of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail view, partly in section, of a portion of the base of the stand.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the stretching rail and adjacent portion of the board, and i Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view of the rail, on an enlarged scale.

According to my invention I provide a rectangularly shaped board 2 of soft wood. of substantially greater width than length and having a stretching rail I, mounted on one of its longitudinal edges, said rail be ing centrally pivoted at each end in brackets 6, secured on the ends of the board to permit the rail to tilt sidewise. The inner side of the rail nextthe board is preferably fiat and its transverse dimension is preferably several times greater than the thickness of the board, and the opposite or outer side thereof is transversely convex or rounded, in a preferably somewhat elliptical shape, as shown in Fig. 6, although the exact con-- figuration is not essential to my invention. The distances from the pivotal connection with the bracket to the points where the convex face meets the flat face is preferably substantially greater than the distance from the pivot to the middle of the convex face. The distance from the flat side to the adjacent edge of the board is substantially less than half the width of said side, so that while the rail may tilt on its pivots to an extent to either side of the middle position, the ex-. tent is limited by the corners of said edge with which it will engage. The rail is also made in a somewhat bowed form, so that the transversely convex surface is also somewhat longitudinally convex, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. The middle portion of the board. at the longitudinaledge next the rail 4 is preferably cut-away to form a notch or recess 3 for the purposes hereinafter described.

In order that the board may be advantageously employed for the purposes intended, it is provided with means whereby it may be relnovably supported in a manner, to permit universal movement thereof. To this end I provide a support which preferably'comprises a round pedestal or base 10 on which a table 12 is mounted for vertical and rotatable adjustment by means of a vertical post 14 which is rotatably mounted in the base and is held in different vertical positions by a collar 16 and Set screw 18.

A pair of arms 20and 21 are slidably mounted in the table and held in adjusted position'by bolts 22 and said arms are re spectively provided with ' uprlghts 24, 25

at their ends, the upper ends of each upright having an upwardly opening socket 26, 27, formed therein adapted to receive projecting trunnions 28, which are mounted in the ends of the board 2 at the middle thereof, so that the board may be rotatably mounted in the upper ends of said uprights and may be readily placed in position thereon and removed therefrom. A latch 30 is mounted on the upright 24 and .is adapted to engage th'e'board at its upper and under side when in horizontal position, to lock the same in this position, said latch having a handle 31 by mcansof which it may be conveniently released. A tray 32 is preferably provided on the table, to serve as a convenient means for holding the tacks which are used in securing the skins in position and to receive them when removed.

In practice any convenient number of boards will be successively used in connection with each support or stand which will be adjusted according to the size of the boards.

In use, a board is placed in position in the uprights 24,- 25 and locked in horizontal position with thelatch,-the workman standing at the opposite edge from the rail 4. A skin is then placed in position on the board so that approximately one-half the skin rests on thenpper surface of the board andextends over the rail so that the other half is suspended from the base, as indicated in Fig. 2. The weight of the skin on the rail will cause the latter to tilt, so that the then upper edge portion thereof will tilt against the edge or corner of the board. The portion of the skin resting on the board is then pulled out flat and tacked in position, as shown in said Fig. 3. The board is then unlatched and turned over and locked in the opposite horizontal position, and, at the same time, the stand is rotated one half a revolution, so that the workman will still be standing at the edge opposite that carrying the Itlllt. As the board is being turned over and the stand is being rotated, the other half of the skin will be drawn over the rail A onto the other side of the board, which will then be uppermost and will be pulled with as much force as the operator is able to exert, so that the slack leather on the half of the skin which was previously attached will be taken up. In drawing the skin over the rail 4t and pulling it onto the other, or thenupper side of the board, the frictional engagement of the skin with the rail will cause the latter to tilt to its opposite position, as shown in Fig. 3, therail thus acting as an anti-frictional device, or as a lever, transversely, so that practically all the force employed in pulling on the skin will be effective in stretching it longitudinally. Also, as the rail is longitudinally convex with its highest point at the middle, the middle portion of the skin will be stretched to a greater extent, or more tightly than the edge portions and this is important because the middle portion is usually the heaviest and most valuable portion and, therefore, resists stretching more than other parts and should be stretched as much as possible to give increased area to this portion. When the slain has been. stretched at its middle portion, the middle portion of its end may be sxcured to the board by tacks and then the side portions may be pulled out and'likewise secured, as indicated in Fig. 3.

As thus held the skin will not only be tightly stretched, but will be held out of contact at its inner side with the board throughout its entire middle portion except where it rests on the bar and is held against the board by tacks; This permits circulation of air between the board a'nd skin, so

that the skin will dry much" more rapidly than if it were held flat on a board, and the air could come in contact with the outer side only. The notch or recess in the board also permits the air to circulate freely from one side of the board to the other and over the inner surface of the skin.

After the skin has been secured in position as above described, the board will be removed from the uprights and set aside for the skin to dry and another will be inserted in place thereof and the operation repeated.

The tray 32 is employed as a convenient receptacle for tacks, and, after a skin has dried, the board is placed in the uprights 24, 25' again and held in a vertical position and then, by means of a hand rake or other implement designed for the purpose, the tacks are pulled out and permitted to fall into the tray, the means permitting rotation of the stand enabling the workman to have ready access to the board while in vertical position.

It will be obvious that the boards will be made in various sizes according to the size of the skins to be attached, and that the support or stand will be adjusted as conditions may require.

I claim:

1. A device for supporting skins comprising a flat holder having its opposite sides adapted for the attachment of the end portions of the skins thereto and a rail extending longitudinally of one edge of the holder and pivotally mounted thereon to swing about a longitudinal axis towards either side from a middle position as the skin is drawn thereover from one side to the other.

2. A device for supporting skins comprising a flat holder having its opposite sides adapted for the attachment of the end portions of the skins thereto and a rail extending longitudinally of one edge of the ll ll holder and pivotally mounted thereon to swing about a longitudinal axis towards either side from a middle position as the skin is drawn thereover from one side to the other, said rail being arranged to extend transversely beyond each side to support the skin out of contact with the adjacent portions of said sides.

3. A device for supporting skins comprising a flat holder having its opposite sides adapted for the attachment of the end portions of the skins thereto and a rail extending longitudinally of one edge of the holder, and pivotally mounted thereon to swing about a longitudinal axis towards either side from a middle position as theskin is drawn thereover from one side to the other, said rail being of greater width than the thickness of said holder and having a transversely convex engaging face for the skin arranged to extend beyond each side.

4. A device for supporting skins comprising a flat holder having its opposite sides adapted for the end portions of a skin thereto, and a stretching rail mounted on one edge of the holder to tilt laterally to either side from a middle position, and having a transversely convex face opposite the holder arranged to extend to a substantial distance beyond each side and means to limit the lateral tilting movement of the rail.

5. A device for supporting skins comprising a flat holder having its opposite sides adapted for attachment of the end portions of a skin thereto, and having a stretching face extending longitudinally of one edge thereof to permit the skin to be drawn thereover as it is drawn from one side to the other, said stretching face having a longitudinally convex surface arranged to take up the middle portion of the skin to a greater extent than the side portions thereof.

' 6. A device for supporting skins comprising a fiat holder having its opposite sides adapted for the attachment of the end portions of a skin thereto, a stretching rail mounted on said holder and extending along one edge thereof, said rail having a face on its side opposite the holder adapted to engage the skin as it is drawn from one of said sides to the other, said face being downwardly inclined from its middle portion to its end to provide a raised engaging portion for the middle portion of the skin and means permitting lateral tilting movement of said rail.

7 A device for supporting skins comprising a flat holder having its opposite sides adapted for the attachment of the end portions of a skin thereto, a stretching rail mounted on said holder and extending along one edge thereof, said rail having a face on its side opposite the holder adapted to engage the skin as it is drawn from one of said sides to the other, said face being downwardly inclined from its middle portion to its end and convexly curved transversely, and means permitting limited lateral tilting movement of said rail to each side of a middle position.

8. A device for supporting skins comprising a flat holder having its opposite sides adapted for the attachment of the end portions of a skin thereto, a stretching rail mounted on said holder and extending along one edge thereof, said rail having a face on its side opposite the holder adapted to en gage the skin as it is drawn from one of said sides to the other, said face being downwardly inclined from its middle portion to its end and convexly curved transversely and extended beyond said sides to hold the skin out of contact with the adjacent portions thereof and means permitting lateral tilting movement of said rail to either side of a middle position.

9. A holder for supporting skins consisting of a rigid board adapted for the temporary attachment of the end portions of a skin at each side, a stretching rail mounted on the board at one edge and extending between its ends to engage the skin as it is drawn about said edge from one side to the other, a stand for pivotally supporting the board at its ends to swing about a horizontal axis and means permitting rotation of the board about a vertical axis.

10. A holder for supporting skins consisting of a rigid board adapted for the temporary attachment of the end portions of a skin at each side, a stretching rail centrally pivoted at its ends on the board and extending in approximate parallelism with one of the longitudinal edges thereof, said rail having a transversely convex outer side and a relatively flat inner side arranged in proximity to said edge, the width of said inner face being substantially greater than the thickness of the board and arranged to engage the same to limit the tilting move ment thereof to either side from an intermediate position.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

LOUIS H. HAMEL.

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