US3435641A - Method for processing animal pelts - Google Patents

Description

April 1969 5. J. PINGREE ETAL 3,435,641

METHOD FOR PROCESSING ANIMAL PEL'IS Filed Aug. 17. 1967 INVENTORS SAMUEL J. PINGRE E Gamma rum BY wt ATTO R N EY United States Patent 3,435,641 METHOD FOR PROCESSING ANIMAL PELTS Samuel J. Pingree, St. Louis, Mo., and George A. Batman, Greenville, S.C., assignors to The Fouke Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 661,246 Int. Cl. Cl4b N00 US. CI. 69-22 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A process for removing guard hair from pelts of fur seal which have been previously conditioned wherein a gripping substance such as an adhesive, a thermal-setting material, or an epoxy resin, on a backing is brought in contact with the guard hair on the skin. The guard hair adheres to or embeds in the gripping substance so that when the backing is parted from the pelt or skin the guard hair will be pulled free from the epidermis. When thermal-setting materials are used, they are applied to the hair at a temperature above their solidifying temperatures, but before the pelt and thermal-setting material are parted the temperature of the gripping substance is reduced below its solidifying temperature. Thereafter the thermal-setting material and the embedded guard hair can be separated and the thermal-setting material be used again.

This invention relates to processing of animal pelts and, more particularly, to a process of removing the guard hair from fur seal skins.

Fur seal pelts prepared from the skins of Alaska or other fur seal are a favorite pelt for use in fur garments. These skins are preliminarily processed after being taken from the seal carcasses and thereafter are delivered to a fur company for further processing into elegant furs. Such skins include the familiar soft velvet-like fur, but that fur is concealed or shielded by somewhat longer and much coarser guard hair. In preparing seal pelts suitable for use in garments, this further processing generally includes removal of the guard hair,

The current method of guard hair removal involves considerable manual labor of a highly skilled nature. Generally the skins are conditioned so that the guard hair is loosened. Thereafter a skilled workman by the use of a specially designed knife removes the guard hair from the skin. Inasmuch as a skilled operator can unhair, at the most, about one skin per forty minutes, the

current unhairing process is costly and time-consuming.

The present invention involves the use of various gripping substances for removing guard hair from seal skins. The substance is generaly first applied to a suitable backing and then brought against the guard hair of the seal skin. The guard hair adheres to or embeds in the substance and when the backing is withdrawn or parted from the skin the guard hair comes with it.

Among the several objects of the present invention may be noted the provision of a method for removing guard hair from seal skins which is rapid and reduces the need for skilled manual labor to a minimum; the provision of a method for removing guard hair which is simple and inexpensive; and the provision of a method for removing guard hair which does ont adversely affect or remove the fur. Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the methods here- Patented Apr. 1, 1969 ice inafter described, the scope of the invention being indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which several of various possible embodiments of the invention are illustrated,

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a seal skin mounted upon a support and having its guard hair in contact with a gripping substance carried by a backing material; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an apparatus for removing guard hair from seal skins, which apparatus embodies the process of the present invention.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawmgs.

Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, 2 designates a seal skin or pelt having an epidermis 4, fur 6, and guard hair 8. As previously noted, guard hair 8 is considerably longer and coarser than fur 6 and, in fact, shields or obscures fur 6. After having been conditioned in the usual way, as by soaking in brine followed by drying the hair and fur at an elevated temperature, pelt 2 is spread and stretched across a. platen or other suitable supporting member 10. The flesh side of skin 2 is in contact with the upper surface of member 10 so that guard. hair 8 and fur 6 extend upwardly.

Shiftably mounted above supporting member 10 for movement to and from the upper surface of supporting member 10 is backing element 12 having a gripping substance 14 on its downwardly presented face. A number of materials have been found suitable for use as gripping substance 14 in the present invention and one or a combination of these gripping substances is applied to backing element 12. These may be applied in liquid form by brushing, spraying, rolling, dipping or as a solid in powdered, granular or sheet form to adhere to element 12 when heated or by other suitable method. Among the various gripping substances 14 found suitable for the present invention are:

(a) Water or solvent dispersed or dissolved materials which harden to maintain considerable tackiness upon drying, such as Lepages Photoengraving glue #35, Permacel Photengraving glue #l044.

(b) Thermal-setting materials which harden or maintain considerable tackiness upon cooling, exemplified by Elvax Resin #210 distributed by DuPont, and LV-355 Hot Melt distributed by Stein-Hall.

(c) Materials which upon setting develop or maintain tackiness such as epoxy resins. Suitable epoxy resins are Epo-n No. 815 and its curing agent Epon T-l, both marketed by the Shell Oil Company.

Pressure-sensitive materials such as adhesives and tapes have also been found suitable for use as gripping substance 14. In particular, No. 131 fiat paper backing tape marketed by Behr Manning and No. 6376 Kraft fiber reinforced tape distributed by Mystic are suitable. The former tape has a tensile strength of 50 lbs. per inch width and an adhesive strength of 65 oz. per inch width while the latter has a tensile strength of 50 lbs. per inch width and an adhesive strength of oz. per inch width.

The gripping substance may be applied to backing element 12 just prior to use, or this may be done at a convenient time and place previously and the coated backing used when desired. Once gripping substance 14 is applied to backing element 12, the latter can be brought into contact with skin 2 on supporting member 10. Gripping substance 14 comes into engagement with guard hair 8 and the latter adheres to or embeds in the former so that when backing element 12 is withdrawn or lifted away from support member 10, skin 2 will remain aflixed to backing element 12. Thereafter, skin 2 is parted from backing element 12 or vice versa and when this is done guard hair 8 will be pulled from epidermis 4. This is preferably accomplished by peeling skin 2 away from backing element 12, commencing with the tail-end.

The particular gripping substance 14 employed should not be of such a thin consistency that it flows into the fur itself, for this would result in an undesirable removal of fur as well as guard hair. Moreover, it may be desirable to apply at least limited pressure to backing element 12 to insure better adherence to or embedding in gripping substance 14. Gripping substance 14 may be applied to guard hair 8 by brushing, spraying, rolling, or the like, instead of to backing element 12, in which case backing element 12 is brought into engagement with gripping substance 14 on skin 2. It is also possible to apply gripping substance 14 to both backing element 12 and guard hair 8. Backing element 12 can be a rigid member such as a plate, or it can be a flexible material such as a fabric.

Referring now to FIG. 2, thermal-setting materials may be used as a gripping substance in a somewhat more complex form of the present process. Seal skin 2 is spread out and stretched across a bottom plate 20 with the flesh side in contact with the upper surface thereof so that fur 6 and guard hair 8 extend upwardly. It has been found that skin 2 at this stage of processing will adhere to plate 20 if it is metal. Plate 20 is mounted on a suitable support 22 with a plurality of springs 23 interposed therebetween. Support 22 includes an elevating assembly 24 for raising and lowering plate 20.

Disposed in upwardly spaced relation to bottom plate 20 is a heat sink 26 which is connected to and maintained at reduced temperatures by a refrigeration unit 28. Suspended from and located beneath the side margins of heat sink 26 are a pair of parallel guide rails 29 which are spaced apart a distance greater than the width of bottom plate 20.

At a remote location a matching upper plate 30 which is sufiicient in size to cover skin 2 is heated by an oven, heat lamps, or any other suitable means 31, to an elevated temperature and, unless previously applied, thereafter a thermal-setting material 32 is sprayed, rolled, or brushed onto one surface thereof. The temperature of upper plate 30 should be sufiicient to maintain thermalsetting material 32 in a liquid or semi-liquid state. Among the thermal-setting materials suitable for covering upper plate 30 are Elvax Resin #210 distributed by DuPont, and Hot Melt LV-355 sold by Stein-Hall.

After heated upper plate 30 is coated with thermal-setting material 32, it is inverted and may be passed through a scraper assembly 34 located adjacent the ends of guide rails 29. Scraper assembly 34 includes drive and guide rollers 36, 38, and a scraper blade 40, over which the coated surface of plate 30 passes so as to remove excess material 32 as well as to evenly distribute it in a uniform coating. Thereafter, plate 30 is passed onto guide rails 29 with its coated surface presented downwardly so that upper plate 30 is interposed in spaced relation between heat sink 26 and skin 2 on bottom plate 20.

Elevating assembly 24 is then actuated and raises bottom plate 20, bringing seal skin 2 into contact with the coating of thermal-setting material 32 on upper plate 30. Further advancement of plate 20 lifts plate 30 off rails 29 and brings its opposite or the upper surface into abutment with heat sink 26. Springs 23 at this point compress slightly and evenly distribute the force applied to bottom plate 20 as a substantially uniform pressure across the entire skin 2. Once skin 2 engages the coating of thermal-setting material 32, the latter will flow around guard hair 8 so that it is thoroughly embedded therein. The thickness of the coating of material 32, the temperature of upper plate 30, and the pressure applied to plate 30, are all such that thermal-setting material 32 will flow around that part of guard hair 8 located beyond fur 6 but will not flow into fur 6.

Heat sink 26 absorbs heat from upper plate 30 and thereby depresses its temperature. The temperature of plate 30 is reduced below the solidifying temperature of thermal-setting material 32, causing it to set-up or solidify with guard hair 8 embedded in it. While upper plate 30 is being cooled it is desirable to maintain bottom plate 20 at a slightly elevated temperature.

Subsequently, upper plate 30 with skin 2 adhering thereto is removed from bottom plate 20, inverted, and skin 2 is stripped or parted from upper plate 30 by pulling from the tail-end toward the head-end. This pulls guard hair 8 from skin 2 leaving fur 6 unobstructed and guard hair 8 embedded in the solidified thermal-setting material 32 adhering to upper plate 30. It has been found that approximately 90% by weight of guard hair 8 can be removed in one pass by the foregoing process. The remaining guard hair 8 is extracted quickly on a beam in the conventional manner by an operator manipulating a beaming knife or other tool, or by repeating to some extent the above-described process.

As an economy measure some types of thermal-setting material can be reclaimed and used again. Thi may be accomplished, for example, by subjecting the thermalsetting material with the hair embedded therein to impact, dislodging it from the backing on which it is carried and pulverizing it. A relatively strong air stream may then be used to separate the pulverized thermal-setting material and the hair.

With other types of thermal-setting material a solvent recovery process may be utilized. In this instance the thermal-setting material is dissolved away from the hair and subsequently recovered from the solvent.

Since the recovery measures outlined above are conventional and do not form a necessary part of the present invention, they are not defined in detail.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As various changes could be made in the above methods without departing form the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What claimed is:

1. A process for removing guard hair from a fur seal skin without substantial removal of fur therefrom, said process comprising conditioning the skin to loosen the guard hair, applying a gripping substance to the guard hair while avoiding substantial contact between the gripping substance and the fur, and parting the skin from the gripping substance, said substance, upon the parting, pulling guard hairs out of the skin and leaving the air on the skin.

2. A process according to claim 1 in which the gripping substance is an adhesive.

3. A process according to claim 1 in which the gripping substance is an epoxy resin.

4. A process according to claim 1 in which the gripping substance is a liquid which hardens and maintains tackiness upon drying.

5. A process according to claim 1 in which the gripping substance is a thermal-setting material.

6. A process according to claim 5 wherein the thermalsetting material is applied to the skin at a temperature above its solidifying temperature so that the guard hair will adhere to and embed in the thermal-setting material.

7. A process according to claim 6 wherein the thermalsetting material is cooled below its solidifying temperature before the skin is parted therefrom.

8. A process according to claim 7 and further characterized by reclaiming the solid thermal-setting material after it has been parted from the skin, the guard hair being separated from the thermal-setting material.

9. A process according to claim 1 in which the gripping substance is carried on a backing element when the skin is parted therefrom.

10. A process according to claim 9 in which the skin is supported on a supporting surface when the gripping substance is applied thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 416,151 12/1889 Gomess 6922X 6 984,940 2/ 1911 Landau 15668 2,693,610 11/ 1954 Hensley. 2,708,761 5/1955 Bergquist.

FOREIGN PATENTS 6,454 1900 Great Britain. 3,647 1889 Great Britain.

ALFRED R. GUEST, Primary Examiner.

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