Leather manufactures – Processes – Fur
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-26
2004-03-09
Welch, Gary L. (Department: 3765)
Leather manufactures
Processes
Fur
C069S023000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06701756
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a method and means for fastening of stretched pelts on pelt boards during drying, namely mink pelts and fox pelts, and means for use in the execution of the method. The invention also concerns a method by which it is possible to avoid drying-out of the fur side of the pelt in connection with the drying process.
In the drying of, for example, mink and fox pelts (in the following both referred to as pelts), after the skinning and the scraping of the layer of fat from the grain side of the pelt, the pelts are stretched on a pelt board which is often first provided with a fat-absorbing material, for example a bag made of fat-absorbing paper, a so-called pelt-board bag, with the object that during the drying, the fat remaining on the grain side of the pelt will be drawn into the paper and hereby be removed from the pelt.
In the following, a stretched and fastened pelt is thus to be understood as a pelt drawn onto a pelt board, and stretched and fastened in this position on the pelt board. In certain cases, before the pelt is mounted on the pelt board, the board can be provided with a bag made of a fat-absorbing material, for example in the form of a so-called pelt-board bag, which will thus lie between the pelt board and the grain side of the pelt.
A traditional pelt board can typically be described as being a flat piece of wood with a first and a second front surface, and first and second side surfaces, the breadth of which is considerably less than the breadth of the front surfaces, and where the one end of which (the foot end) is cut off at right-angles to the longitudinal axis of the pelt board, and the breadth of which decreases gradually towards a pointed but rounded-off end part (the fore-end, the nose end), and where the pelt board has a slot lying symmetrically around the longitudinal axis of the board, extending between a point close to the pointed end part and at least over a half of the length of the pelt board.
Distinction is made between male pelt boards intended for use in connection with pelts from male animals, which are normally larger than those of female animals, and female pelt boards which are both shorter and narrower than the male pelt boards. Near the foot end, the male pelt boards also comprise a part where the first and second side surfaces extend in a parallel manner, whereas the breadth of the female pelt boards decreases along the whole of the length between the foot of the board and the pointed but rounded-off end part (the fore-end, the nose end).
The commonly-known drying process which is used for the drying of pelts presents the problem that the fur side of the pelt is dried out to such a degree that this requires a pre-processing in order to minimise the damage to the natural surface of the pelt, so that the fur side of the dried pelt retains its natural, silky surface to the greatest possible extent. This pre-processing, which is quite labour-demanding and is therefore expensive, consists of handling the pelt in a brushing machine with brushes of horse hair, where the pelts are led through two rotating brushes which run in a water bath, whereby water is transferred to the pelt, and the fur on the pelt is laid down in the same direction, whereby the drying-out of the pelt is reduced. However, the preprocessing suffers the disadvantage that the mechanical influence on the fur in combination with the water results in a “washing-off” of the thin, natural film of fat which nature provides on the individual hairs and which contribute towards giving the fur its silky appearance, the result being that the silky lustre of the pelt is not optimal after the drying.
In the mounting and fastening of pelts on pelt boards before the pelt is dried, a stretching of the pelt is carried out. The stretching is often effected mechanically in order to provide pelts of greatest length (which fetch the highest prices at the fur auction), and in order to retain the pelt in the stretched-out position on the pelt board during the subsequent drying, the pelt is fastened to the board with securing means, for example staples or clips which are shot in manually/mechanically, and which penetrate the pelt. Use is made of 8-10 clips per pelt, which thus leave 16-20 holes in the dried pelt.
During the drying process, air is blow into the pelt board, and this air is diffused via small holes in the walls of the pelt-board bag out to the inner side of the pelt 15′ and dries the pelt.
After the drying, the clips are removed and thereafter the pelt is removed from the pelt board, which is often effected mechanically, and as a consequence of the stretching of the pelt, elongated holes resulting from the clips are often left in the pelt, which means that it is not possible to utilise the whole of the dried pelt, in that 2-3 cm of the pelt where this is broadest (and the most valuable) is ruined. Sometimes, the mechanical removal of the clips similarly results in damage to the pelts. All in all, it must be ascertained that the method which is most predominant in connection with the stretching and fastening of pelts on pelt boards during the drying process results in damage to the most valuable part of the pelts. There has long been a desire to be able to avoid this damaging of the pelts during the drying process, but there has not yet been developed a suitable and better fastening technique.
With the invention, the possibility has been realised of being able to render the pre-processing of the pelts superfluous after the stretching and fastening by drawing a sleeve over and around the pelt board with the pelt from the nose end of the pelt board, in that the internal side walls of the sleeve are thus in contact with the fur side of the pelt.
It is hereby achieved that the hairs on the fur side of the pelt are oriented in the same direction, in that these are swept with a parallel-oriented movement in the drawing of the sleeve over the pelt board with the pelt. Moreover, a drying-out of the hairs is avoided without having to effect any pre-processing with rotating brushes and water, which means that the natural layer of fat on the fur is retained, and the pelt is given a more shiny and silky surface. Also, the wastage of water in the drying plant is avoided. Moreover, the forelegs come to lie in a better manner under the pelt, and it is possible to touch the whole of the surface in connection with the handling of the pelts when these are hung up and taken down in the drying plant, in that the hairs of the pelt do not “break” when touched. Furthermore, the pelts are protected against becoming dirty.
A sleeve for the execution of the method according to the invention can be configured as a bag item moulded in one part in thin foil.
In the following, the sleeve for use in the execution of the invention will be referred to as a bag item.
It is preferred, however, without renouncing other configuration, that the bag item be made of a sheet of material which is of such a format that when two opposing sides are assembled, it is suitable for drawing over and around a pelt board on which a pelt has been stretched and fastened in this position, and with a length which approximately corresponds to the length of the stretched pelt, preferably measured between the chin part of the pelt and the lower edge of the back.
Moreover, it is preferred that the bag item is substantially of a shape which corresponds to the fashion of the pelt board with the stretched-out pelt. It is hereby achieved that the load on the fur side of the pelt is more or less uniform.
With the view to providing the possibility of effecting an expedient entry for the introduction of pipes for the blowing-in of air, the bag item can consist of a bag element with a sleeve-like conical shape, i.e. where both ends are open, and where the opening nearest to the nose end of the pelt board is smaller than the opening at the opposite end of the bag nearest to the foot of the board.
With the view to ensuring a certain diffusion of moist air, which stems from the drying of the pelt, through the bag enclosu
Majgaard Invest ApS
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Safran David S.
Welch Gary L.
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