84.53 ‑ Machinery for preparing, tanning or working hides, skins or leather or for making or repairing footwear or other articles of hides, skins or leather, other than sewing machines.
This heading covers machinery for preparing hides or skins (including furskins) ready for tanning, machinery for effecting the tanning (including parchmenting) processes, and machinery for the subsequent finishing operations. It also covers machinery used for making or repairing articles of hide, skins or leather (e.g., for making leather footwear, gloves or travel goods). But the heading excludes sewing machines (heading 84.52).(¥°) MACHINERY FOR PREPARING, TANNING OR WORKING HIDES, SKINS OR LEATHER Many machines of this group are, in practice, used at several stages in the processing of hides or skins (e.g., in the washing, pre‑tanning, dyeing or other finishing processes). Such machines include special vats, drums, washers, etc., incorporating mechanical features such as stirrers, rotating mechanisms or devices for manipulating the skins. This group also includes, inter alia : (1) De‑hairing machines, which remove from the raw skins the hairs previously loosened by chemical action. (2) Fleshing machines, for removing flesh, fat, etc., from the raw skin. (3) Hammer mills (faller stocks) and cylinder beater mills. The hammers or the grooved rotating cylinder of these machines work the skins or leather during the washing, tanning, oiling or impregnation processes. (4) Machines for stretching skins or leather to open the pores, eliminate creases or other surface flaws; scraping machines, used to smooth out the flesh side and to remove foreign matter; softening machines, in which the leather is treated by the action of cylinders covered with cork or rubber. (5) Hammering machines which beat the surface of the leather with small hammers to remove dirt and excess moisture, and to restore the grain. (6) Hammer machines used for compacting, hardening or smoothing leather (e.g., for shoe soles or machinery belting). (7) Shaving or splitting machines which, by means of knives, equalise the thickness over the whole skin, or split skins into layers. (8) Emery machines, e.g., for roughening the surface of the skin to produce a velvety effect. (9) Brushing machines, e.g., to clean the skin and increase the velvety effect after roughening. (10) Machines for glazing leather by working it with agate polishing stones, or with small rollers of agate or glass. (11) Graining machines. This group further includes machines for processing furskins. In general these skins receive pre‑tanning and tanning treatment on similar machines to those described above, but the heading also includes those for treating the fur itself (e.g., for trimming the hair to an even length, for removing long hairs, for curling, combing, brushing or dyeing the fur). The heading also excludes : (a) Drying machines of heading 84.19. (b) Calenders (e.g., for smoothing, glazing or graining leather) (heading 84.20). (c) Centrifugal dryers (heading 84.21). (d) Machines for spraying dyes, varnish, etc. (heading 84.24). (e) Hog de‑hairing machines of the type used in butchery (heading 84.38). (f) General purpose presses (heading 84.79). (g) Machines for measuring hides or skins (heading 90.31). (¥±) MACHINERY FOR MAKING OR REPAIRING FOOTWEAR OR OTHER ARTICLES OF HIDES, SKINS OR LEATHER This group covers machinery for making or repairing articles made from hides, skins (including furskins) or leather (e.g., footwear, gloves, jackets and other articles of apparel, saddlery, book‑covers, handbags, travel goods). The group includes, inter alia : (A) Skiving or paring machines for thinning the edges or certain other parts of pieces of leather before sewing or gluing them together. (B) Machines for cutting out leather in particular shapes (e.g., shoe uppers, glove blanks, straps, etc.). The two most common types are the band‑knife machine and the clicking press (which cuts out by the use of dies). (C) Perforating machines, for ornamenting toe caps, glove backs, etc. (D) Boot or shoe machinery, e.g., : (1) Channel cutting machines, used to cut grooves or channels into which the stitches can be inserted (e.g., round the edge of the sole); and machines for opening or closing the channels before or after sewing. (2) "Pulling‑over" or lasting machines, for drawing the upper on to the last, and tacking or sticking it onto the in‑sole. (3) Machines for pounding and hammering the edges of the uppers and the bottoms of the in‑soles after they have been put together on the last. (4) Machines for glueing the outer sole onto the in‑sole and upper, e.g., glueing machines, sole laying machines. (5) Machines for fastening the heel onto the sole. (6) Machines for trimming, smoothing or finishing the edges of the sole or heel. (7) Roughening machines which by means of a wire brush or an abrasive belt remove the finish from the upper in order to make it adhere better when being glued to the sole. (8) Polishing and finishing machines, consisting of a series of grinding stones, polishing brushes and felts used to give a good surface to the uppers; the heading includes similar machines used by boot or shoe repairers. (9) Boot or shoe stretching machines. It should be noted that some of the machines of this heading such as graining, cutting out, perforating, pricking, and even certain boot or shoe making machines, can be used for materials other than leather (e.g., cardboard, imitation leather or plastics); they remain, however, in this heading provided they are clearly designed to be used mainly for hides, skins or leather. The heading does not, however, include : (a) Boot or shoe lasts (classified according to the constituent material, generally heading 44.17). (b) Wood‑working machines for making clogs, wooden soles, heels, etc. (heading 84.65). (c) Automatic shoe brushing machines and eyeletting machines (heading 84.79). PARTS Subject to the general provisions regarding the classification of parts (see the General Explanatory Note to Section XVI), parts of the machines of this heading, and dies and other interchangeable tools for these machines are also classified here.
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