US1704676A - Process of making leather diaphragms - Google Patents

Description

m ch 5, 1929. H. L. BERRY 1,704,676

, mocsss or MAKING LEATHER bummer;

Filed June 10, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INF 12 N2 0 March 5, 1929. V

H. L. BERRY PROCESS OF MAKING LEATHER DIAPHRAGIS Filed June 10, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ck"? Z Berry Patented Mar. 5, 1929.

warren srafres PATENT? oF IcE.

HARRY n BERRY, or ATLANTIC cr'rY, NEW JERSEY.

PROCESS OI MAKING LEATHER DIAPHRAGMS.

Application filed June 10,

My invention relates to anew and useful process of making a leather diaphragm, particularly such diaphragms 'as are used in gas metersand the like, and consists of certain steps by which a piece of leather may be fashioned and fixed to the desired shape with out the necessity of wetting. the diaphragm material.

Another objectof the invention is to form consists in placing a piece .of leather upon a die of the desired configuration by means of a cord leaving an over-hanging portion of the leather which is afterwards evenly distributed about the die and the whole smoothed out as large as possible; the die with the leather thereon is then placed in a mold and the over-hanging part smoothed out and fixed to an adhesive treated ring forming a stiffening flange.

In order that those skilled in. the art to Y which this invention appertains may understand how to carry out the process, I

will describe the various successive steps referrlng by numerals tothe several instrumentahties, as lllustrated 1n the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this appli- In carryingout my process, I first place a piece of sheet leather 5. over the convex surface of a suit-able'die .6 and then fasten said leather on the die by means of a-cord 12, or its equivalent, which is drawn tight enough to seat a portion of the leather in a circumferential groove 11, located adjacent the flat outer surface of said die. Next, V

the ruflied overhanging or skirt portion of the leather is rearranged to evenly distribute said ruflle portion and smooth out that part of the leather disposed over the die by drawing said leather under the cord, after which said cord 12 is made taut'to prevent accidental displacement of the leather.

For convenience of working, the die may have a central opening '7 for registration a leather diaphragm by a process which 1926.. Serial No. 114,933.

standard 9 extending or projecting from a base 10. v 1 Y I The next step is to placea gasket"15 on withflthe reduced end 8 of the upright or Y the rim of a mold '14, the expos'edsurfaceof said. gasketfhaving an adhesive applied thereto, and then inserting the die" 6, with the leather thereon, into the chamber 13 of said mold and removing the fastening cord. Next, the leather skirt is seated against the adhesive treated gasket and, finally said leather skirt is pressed into firm contact with the adhesive surface'of the gasket andthe adhesive allowed'to set.

The pressing is accomplished with a paper hangers or burnishing roll or in any other suitable manner. The cord, when fixed to the gasket, forms the stifl flange 17 about the body of the. diaphragm 16 as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. g

' From the foregoingdescription, it will be particularly noted that at no time during the processes of formingthe diaphragm, do

I use water or other moistening substances;

neither do I stretch the leather, whereas, in fact, I do compress the skirt portion thereof in order to eliminate the ruffles or wrinkles therein, and,-if found desirable, the completed diaphragm maybe dipped in wax,

oil or other preservative and lubricating sub stances.

'Byeliminating the use of water in the I formation of diaphragms of this character, the leather is left fairlypliable, whereas, it is a well-known fact that the use of water tends to stiffen the leather after it is dried out, whichoften results in causing the formation of cracks, so that the diaphragm must be discarded; I 4

Of course I do not wish to be limited to 3 the exact: details of construction as herein shown as these may be variedwithin the parting from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and useful is 1. The herein described method offorming a leather diaphragm which consists of fasteningv a piece of leather over a die,

smoothing that portion of the leather in limits of the appended claims without decontact with the die, placing said leather covered die within" a mold, smoothing out the margin of the leather over the mold; and

V mountinga gasket on the smoothed-out por tion.

2. Theherein described method of form .evenly distributing the Wrinkles or rufiies in" the depending portion of the leather, then inserting the leather covered die in a mold;

then bending back the wrinkled portion of the leather over the top face of the mold,

and then smoothing the wrinkles out of said ruflled portion of the leather so as to form 'a-flanga 3. The method of forming a leather dia- I phragm, which consists in placing a piece of leather over a convex, die, then fastening said leather about the circumference of the die, then evenly distributing the wrinkles in the leather about the die, the fastening of the leather providing a depending skirt; then inverting the die and inserting it in a mold with the leather between said die and mold; then removing means fastening the then smoothing said skirt to provide a flat flange; and then mounting a gasket on said flange. Y

afiix'ed my signature.

HARRY L. BERRY.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto"

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