Improvements in Plant for the Manufacture of Gelatine Capsules.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 24th June. 1890-Accepted, 23rd Aug., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Plant for the Manufacture of Gelatine Capsules.
I, JOHN KREHBIEL, of Kalamazoo, in the County of Kalamazoo and State of
Michigan, one of the United States of America, Physician, do hereby declare the
nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN PLANT FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF
GELATINE CAPSULES, and in what manner the same is to be performed. to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to new and useful improvements in the art of manufacturing
gelatine capsules, and the invention consists in a new and improved plant comprising
various machines and devices, all of which are so combined and operated that the
whole manufacture is practically automatic, while, at the same time, the individual
character of every machine and device is preserved and may be used for independent
operation if contingencies should require.
The devices and machines comprised in a complete plant, are, first, a suitable
number of mold-plates which carry so-called mold-pins on which the capsules are
formed.
Second, a so-called dipping device or machine by means of which the mold pins on
the mold plates are dipped into the hot gelatine solution to be covered with a thin
coating of gelatine.
Third, a device or machine known as the cutting-off machine by means of which
the gelatine capsules while on the mold pins are cut off to the proper length, while
the gelatine is yet soft.
Fourth, a device or machine known as a drying rack on which the gelatine capsules
are hardened or dried under the influence of a suitable heat.
Fifth, a device or machine known as a stripping machine by means of which the
capsules, after they have sufficiently hardened or dried, are removed from the mold
pins, and
Sixth, a device or machine for greasing or oiling the mold pins before they are used
again.
My improved plant embodies all these different machines in an operative com-
bination whereby the whole cycle of operations is performed automatically and con-
tinuously, a few operators being only required to exercise a general, supervision and
stop or start the different devices as the sequence of the steps in the operation and
other contingencies may demand.
To this end my invention consists,
First, in mechanical means for carrying the mold pin plates automatically from
one device or machine to the other as required in the different steps to be carried out.
This I preferably accomplish by using circular mold plates in combination with a
peculiar track or way on which said mold plates may be made to roll by their own
gravity or are caused to slide along when drawn by mechanical means.
Second, in constructing all of the machines or devices to operate automatically
which I accomplish by a suitable mechanical construction and by automatically feedin
the mold pin plates in the required manner to the machines and removing them after
the operation is completed; and
Third in storing the mold plates in the intermediate stage where the gelatine is
required to set before the mold plates are delivered to the cutting machines, and also
in the intermediate stage where the gelatine is required to dry and harden on the
mold pins before the capsules are pulled off. This is accomplished without inter-
fering in any way with the operation of any of the devices or machines and without
interfering with the cycle of operations as a whole; all as more fully hereinafter
described and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a diagram plan of my improved plant.

page_text: Fig. 2 is a diagram elevation thereof.
Fig. 3 is a diagram plan corresponding to Fig. 1 but on a larger scale and
showing only that portion of the plant comprising the different machines, omitting
the larger portion of the tracks or ways connecting them.
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of one of the mold pin plates, and a section of the way
in which the said mold plates are caused to travel.
Fig. 5 is a section on line in Fig. 3.
Fig. 6 is a left end elevation of Fig. 3.
Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the dipping machine with the dipping pan shown in
section.
Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the dipping machine shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 9 is an elevation of the cutting-off machine.
Fig. 10 is a cross-section of the cutting-off machine.
Fig. 11 is a diagram elevation corresponding with Fig. 9 but omitting a portion
of the cutting-off machine.
Fig. 12 is a sectional elevation of one of the knives which effect the cutting off of
the gelatine capsules.
Fig. 13 is a plan illustrating the operation of the cutting off knives.
Fig. 14 is a sectional elevation of one of the scraping knives in the cutting
machine.
Fig. 15 is a horizontal section of a stripping and a greasing machine.
Fig. 16 is a vertical section through a stripping machine, the dotted lines thereon
representing also a corresponding section through one of the greasing machines.
Fig. 17 is a front elevation of a stripping machine with a mold plate, partially
broken away, in front of it, as in operation.
Fig. 18 is a like view of a greasing machine.
Figs. 19 and 20 are detached horizontal sections through one of the stripping and
greasing jaws, respectively.
Fig. 23 is an elevation of one of the switches of the tracks or ways on which the
mold plates travel.
The mold plates forming a part of this plant are preferably of circular shape, as
shown in the different views, notably in Fig. 4 which shows a side elevation and in
Fig. 18, which shows a portion of one mold plate in a rear elevation, in which,
1 is a circular base plate,
2 the mold pins secured thereon and placed symmetrically in rows at right angles
to each other.
3 is a circular flange on the back of the plate and provided with notches, 4 which
are in line with two diameters at right angles to each other and parallel with the
rows of pins. The track or way in which these mold pin plates travel consists of the
lower grooved rail, 5, and the upper grooved rail, 6, connected together into a suit-
able vertical frame, parallel to each other, which, as occasion may require, is supported
at different elevations from the floor and forms the various outgoing and incoming
inclines shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
The first step in the manufacture of the gelatine capsules is the dipping of the
mold plates. To this end a dipping device is provided which is shown in detail in
Figs. 7 and 8 and which is arranged as follows: A four-sided reel, 7, is supported_on
trunnions, 8, in which the dipping reel is adapted to revolve intermittently. The
four sides of this dipping reel are provided with tracks 9, as before described, and
in which the mold plates are adapted to roll. The front side of this dipping reel
registers with the inclined incoming track, 10, and the rear side of the dipping reel
registers with the out-going track 11. Underneath the reel is supported in vertical
..guides the vertical reciprocating gelatine pan, 12, which is intermittently raised and
lowered by means of revolving cams, 13, on a shaft, 14, which has at one end the
gear wheel 15, to which motion is communicated from a pinion, 16, on the main
shaft, 17, to which the power is applied.
The gelatine pan, 12, is preferably provided with a suitable steam jacket by

page_text: means of which the gelatine contained in the pan is kept at a suitable temperature'
and suitable devices for stirring the gelatine at intervals are provided.
The dipping is accomplished by the intermittent raising of the gelatine pan high
enough to dip all the mold pins on the mold plates contained on the underside of the
reel into the gelatine, and after the pan recedes, a quarter revolution is imparted to
the dipping reel to bring a new set of plates into position. The dipped mold plates
are discharged from the reel by an endless cable 18, preferably made of a wire rope
and running over two elevated pulleys 19 and 2, near the extreme ends of the plant.
This endless rope or cable is adapted to rest upon the top of the mold pins on the mold
plates contained on the rear side of the dipping reel and on the track 11, whereby the
contact with the rope rolls the mold plates off the reel onto the track 11, and along
said track such distance as is found necessary to give the gelatine time to set
sufficiently and form an even coating on the mold pins.
The intermittent revolving of the reel and the intermittent raising and falling of
the gelatine and the feeding of the mold plates to the reel are accomplished by suitable
mechanical devices, such as shown in the drawings, wherein 21 is a notched wheel
secured upon one trunnion of the reel; 22 a lever adapted to engage into one of the
notches; 23 a lug on the gear wheels 15, adapted to lift the lever, 22, out of engage- :
ment with the notched wheel, 21. 24 is a pulley on the shaft, 17; 25 a pulley on one
of the trunnions of the dipping reel; 26 a belt passing over the pulleys 24 and 25;
27 a sheave upon which the endless cable, 18, is supported near the reel; 28 a
standard carrying the sheave 27; and 29 a lifting lever, which is intermittently acted
on by the lifting pin 30, on the gear wheel, 15.
An arm 31, is secured to one end of the gelatine pan and this is pivotally connected
to a rock arm on the rock shaft, 32. This rock shaft is journalled in suitable bearings
on the incoming track 10, and has two rock arms 35 and 34, which are the necessary
distance apart to admit four plates between them.
The operation of the parts just described is as follows:
At each revolution of the gear wheel 15, the mold plates on the under side of the
reel are dipped by the raising of the gelatine pan, and, as soon as this is accomplished
and the gelatine pan has fallen out of the way, the lug 23, strikes the lower end of the
lever 22, thereby unlocking its upper end from the notched wheel, 21. This allows
the belt, 26, to communicate motion from the pulley 24 to the pulley 25, and revolve
the wheel one quarter of a revolution. The lever 22, drops into the next notch, owing
to the tension of a suitable spring, while the belt, 26, will slip on the pulleys until the
next operation. This quarter revolution carries the dipped mold plates to the rear
side of the reel while the fresh mold plates on the front side are turned into position
for dipping.
The fresh mold plates are received from the track 10, by the action of the arm 31,
which when the gelatine pan is raised rocks the shaft 32, and thereby withdraws the
arm 33 and allows a number of mold plates to run onto the reel, while the rock
arm, 34, pointing in opposite direction, forms at the same time a stop to arrest the
succeeding plates on the track 10. At the receding of the gelatine pan, the
rock arms 33 and 34 are reverset, permitting thereby the required number of mold
plates to advance on the track 10, ready to charge the reel at the next quarter
revolution.
The object of the sheave 27, is to lift the cable, 18 out of the way when the reel
revolves, after which it drops again onto the mold plates, or, rather, the mold pins of.
the mold plates, thereby imparting by frictional contact a rolling motion to the mold
plates, which carries them from the reel to the track 11, on which they continue to
roll for a sufficient distance to allow the gelatine to set sufficiently to form an even
coating on the mold pins.
After the operation of dipping is thus completed, the dipped mold plates are then
carried to the device or machine (marked 35 in Figs. 1, 2 and 3) which cuts off the
gelatine capsules to the proper length. As it requires a certain interval of time, to
allow the gelatine to harden sufficiently, before they can be operated upon by the

page_text: cutters of the cutting machine, 1 provide for a necessary delay of the mold plates, by
constructing a sufficient number of storage tracks, 30, in which the mold plates are
stored for the required length of time. These storage tracks are connected with the
track 11, by means of suitable switches, 37, (a better description of which will be
found hereinafter) by which the mold plates may be run into any one of the storage
tracks and from which they may be allowed to escape after the proper lapse of time,
to the cutting machine by the use of similar switches connecting said storage tracks
with the storage track 38.
The track 38 leads past the cutting machine, but the mold plates do not roll
past, but are checked by suitable light obstructions in the track, or otherwise, and
are drawn past the cutting machine by a nechanical feed device, which is shown
more in detail in Figs. 9 and 11 and wherein 40 is a crank on the shaft, 41,
which derives its power, as shown in Fig. 6, from the grooved pulley 19, over
which the cable travels.
The crank 40, actuates the reciprocating feed bar 42, located between the upper
and lower rail of the track and carrying a number of spring dogs, 43, which are
adapted to project into the path of the mold plates whereby in the reciprocation of
the feed bar, the mold plates are intermittently drawn past the cutting machine. In
the intervals between such feeding the cutting machine operates to effect the cutting
off of the capsules.
This cutting machine is shown more fully in detail in Figs. 9, 10, 12, 13 and 14, in
which 44 is a metal frame in which two plates 45 and 46, are detachably secured.
This metal frame is mounted in a vertical plane upon two cranks, 47, in close
proximity to the front side of the track. The plate, 45, secured in this frame carries
the cutters, (48, Fig. 9) which correspond in numbers and arrangement with the mold
pins on the mold plates, and the plate 46, contains a corresponding number of scrapers,
(49 Fig. 9).
The cutters are constructed, as shown in Fig. 12, wherein 50 is a rotary cutter
disc;
51 an arm on which it is carried; 52 a shaft on which the arm loosely revolves;
53 a bushing secured in the plate 45 and in which the shaft, 52, is loosely held; 54 a
col spring on the projecting end of the shaft 52; and 55 a thumb-screw for adjusting
the tension of the spring.
The construction of the scrapers carried by the plate, 46, is similar, as shown
in Fig. 14, wherein 56 is the scraper knife; 57 a shaft on the end of which the scraper
knife freely revolves; 58 a bushing secured in the plate, 46, and serving as a bearing for
the shaft, 57; 59 a coil spring on the end of the shaft, 57; and 60 a thumb-screw for
adjusting its tension.
The operation of these knives and scrapers is as follows; the cranks, 47, which
carry the frame of the cutters and scraper knives are intermittently revolved by suit-
able devices, such as shown in Figs. 9 and 11, to impart to the frame a rotary
reciprocating motion which carries the shafts 52, in a circular path, shown in Fig. 13,
while the knives are kept in contact with the mold pins and travel around the same,
sufficient pressure to cut through the gelatine being obtained by the tension of the
springs 54, which may be increased to any desired degree by means of the thumb-
nuts, 55.
The operation of the scrapers is performed in the same way upon the mold pins
previously operated upon by the knives, and it will be seen that the angular portion, 56,
of the scraper scrapes off the waste portion of the capsule, so that it will not adhere to
the finished capsule.
It is obvious that the mold plates have to be brought in proper juxtaposition to the
cutting machine, with the rows of pins corresponding to the rows of knives and
scrapers. This is effected by providing the way in which the mold pins are held with
a locking bar 61, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11, which at the proper position of the
mold plates is adapted to engage into the notches in the back of the mold plates and
to prevent them from rolling while they are carried past the cutting off devices. As
arranged in the drawings, the capsules of one plate are first cut off to the proper

page_text: length and then at the next stroke of the feed bar the mold plate is carried one step
further to be operated upon by the scraper knives; but it is obvious that a cutting off
machine may be constructed to operate upon more than one plate at a time.
As the knives and scrapers in their operation press against the mold pins with a
certain degree of pressure which in the aggregate, considering the number of mold
pins, amounts to considerable, I prefer to lock the mold plates firmly in position
against accidental displacement by a locking device which consists of the lifting bar 62,
Figs. 9 and 11, which at each revolution of the feed crank, 40 is lifted up by the
engagement of the wrist pin, 63, against the underside of the lifting bar, and thereby
operates, by means of suitable connection, a rock bar, 64, Figs. 10 and 11, which is
provided with the rock arins 65. When the lifting bar 62 is raised up the rack arms 65
engage on the edges of the mold plates and hold them, and when the lifting bar is
lowered they are withdrawn again and allow the mold plates to be moved.
All the parts of the machine are provided with suitable adjustments for cutting off
the capsules at any required length and for adjusting the parts in proper relation to
each other to effect the desired result with the proper accuracy.
The next step performed in the operation of the plant is to carry the mold plates to
a suitable place for drying the capsules. To do this I take advantage of the fact that
in a room artificially heated by stoves or radiators on the ground floor there always will
be a considerably higher temperature near the top of the room or roof. For this
reason, I leave off any intermediate floor between the ground floor and the roof so
that the heat will be more confined under the roof, and any extra floor space for the
drying room is avoided by arrangement of the drying racks underneath the roof and
carrying the mold plates onto these drying racks by means of the vertical way 66, in
which they are elevated by a suitable carrier chain, 67.
In Fig. 2 I show an arrangement of these drying racks, consisting of a series of
inclined ways, marked 68, all communicating with the vertical elevating track or
way, 66, by means of switches, of the same description as used in the outgoing track
or way, 38, and whereby the mold plates may be directed into any one of the ways, 68,
as desired. According to the extent of the plant a greater or lesser number of these
drying racks may be employed. Further provision for storing a larger number of
mold plates may be made by having one section of these racks hinged, as shown
in Fig. 1, at 69. This hinged section may be made to communicate then with anyone
of a number of parallel tracks, 70, shown in the same figure.
After the capsules have become hardened by drying, they are ready to be removed
from the mold pins. To this end the mold plates are allowed to roll onto the track, 71,
Fig. 1, of which that portion nearest to the drying racks is hinged in order to be made
to register with anyone of them. This track 71 gradually approaches the floor again
with the necessary incline to carry the mold plates to the stripping machine. Before
these machines are reached the track becomes horizontal to check the mold plates' from
rolling further as there are again automatic feeding devices provided substantially of
the same nature as for the cutting off machine, for carrying the mold plates inter-
mittently step by step past the stripping machines.
The construction of the stripping machines is shown more fully in Figs. 15, 16, 17
and 19, in which 72 are spring clamping jaws secured to vertical bars, 73, a sufficient
number of which are placed side by side parallel to each other and provided with the
necessary number of spring jaws to correspond with the number of mold pins on the
mold plate.
These bars, 73, which carry these jaws are stepped with their upper and lower ends
respectively into two sliding plates, 74, which are secured to the free end of the sliding
bars, 75, Fig. 15, which in turn are connected into a rigid frame by two vertical cross
bars, 76, between which the cam 77 on the shaft, 78, is adapted to revolve and produce
thereby a reciprocating motion which carries the spring clamping jaws in and out of
engagement with the mold pins of an adjacent mold plate. Between each vertical row
of spring jaws there is inserted a spreader bar, 79, which is stepped at the upper and
lower end in sliding plates, 80, secured to the free ends of two sliding bars, 81, both

page_text: of which are rigidly connected by vertical cross-bars 82, and between which there
revolves a cam, 83, of proper shape to impart a reciprocating movement to the spreader
bar to effect thereby the spreading of the jaws so as to enable them to clamp the mold
pins. The proportion between the cains 83 and 77 is such that a relative motion
between two frames carrying the spring jaws and the spreader bars respectively is
created; when the jaws are moved forward, compels them to open up and allow the
mold pins to pass freely into the jaws, while at the return movement of the jaws the
spreader bars are first withdrawn thereby causing each spring clamp to close by its
tension upon the mold pin, and thereby cause the stripping off of the capsule during
.such return movement. The spring jaws, as shown in the drawings, in Figs. 17, 19
and 21 are provided with suitable notched stripping jaws, preferably with circular
notches of different sizes, to operate upon mold pins of different sizes, and the bars
which carry the spring jaws are vertically adjustable to adjust, them in the proper
relation with the mold pins.
With the construction of the plant shown in the drawings I find it preferable for
the sake of continuity in the operation to use two of these stripping machines side by
side, both being of similar construction and operating at the same time.
The next step in the operation of the plant is to lubricate or grease the mold pins
preparatory to dipping them again which is done for the purpose of having the
capsules adhere with less tenacity to the pins. This step in the operation is carried
out by so-called greasing machines, marked 84 in Figs. 1 and 2, of which there are
two, shown in the drawings, side by side and in close proximity to the stripping
machines so that the same feeding device may be utilized for both sets of machines.
The construction of the greasing machine does not differ materially from that of
the stripping machine, except that the spring clamps, instead of having stripping jaws,
have more flattened jaws, as shown in Fig. 20, and are lined with a greased cloth 85,
which is drawn in and out between the jaws of the clamps and held therein in position
by vertical rods, 86, which are detachably secured in any suitable manner to the front
edges of the plates which carry the greasing jaws; all in such manner that after the
lubricating quality of the cloths is expended it may be replaced by a fresh one without
much loss of time.
After the mold plates are greased they are returned by a vertical track 87, which is
provided with an elevating chain, 89 onto the track 10 leading to the dipping machines;
and one complete operation of the plant is performed with the mold plates in position
to go on with the next.
In transferring the mold plates from the last named vertical track 87 onto the
track 10, the mold plates are reversed to bring their pins into the proper position for
dipping. This may be accomplished by means of a roller over which the plates
tumble, as shown in Fig. 5.
The dipping machine operates at a suitable elevation above the floor to provide for
the necessary incline of the track towards the cutting machine, which like the rest of
the machine is placed upon the floor.
The dipping, stripping and greasing machines are preferably grouped in proximity
to each other and provided with suitable mechanical connections for operating them
jointly or independently of each other; the cutting machine at the further end derives
its motion by suitable connection with the cable pulley 19, and is also arranged to
operate jointly with the other machines or independently thereof.
It is obvious that a joint and practically continuous and automatic operation of the
whole plant is obtained after the dipping and cutting machines have been at work for
a certain time and the capsules become dry enough to be stripped. The mold plates
are delayed by the operator upon the storage tracks the necessary time to allow the
capsules to attain the proper condition necessary for the operation which follows, and
if the capacity of these tracks is adequate, no interruption in the continuous operation
of the plant need occur, although it is quite evident that the plant is quite as well
adapted for operating the different devices independent of each other, as circumstances
may arise which may make it desirable.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature or my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1.
claim is:
1. In a plant for manufacturing gelatine capsules, the combination of a number of
independent mold plates having mold pins upon which the capsules are formed, a way
upon which said mold plates are caused to travel, and mechanical devices arranged at
intervals on the way, and adapted to carry out automatically the different steps in the
process of manufacture, substantially as described.
2. A plant for manufacturing gelatine capsules, comprising a number of mold plates.
provided with mold pins upon which the capsules are formed, a way upon which
said mold plates are caused to circulate, and mechanical devices substantially as
described for dipping the mold pins into gelatine, cutting off and removing the
capsules and greasing the mold pins, said devices being arranged stationarily at intervals
on the way and adapted to operate upon the mold plates on the way, substantially as
described.
3. A plant for manufacturing gelatine capsules, comprising a number of circular
mold plates provided with mold pins upon which the capsules are formed, a way upon
which said mold plates are caused to circulate, and provided with inclined storage
ways, communicating with said way, and mechanical devices located at intervals on
the way and adapted to carry out automatically the different steps, of dipping the
mold pins into the gelatine, cutting-off and removing the capsules and greasing the
mold pins, substantially as described.
4. A plant for manufacturing gelatine capsules, comprising a number of circular
mold plates provided with mold pins upon which the capsules are formed, a way upon
which said mold plates are adapted to circulate, said way having two inversely inclined
portions upon which the mold plates are adapted to roll by gravity and vertical
portions connecting the ends of the inclined portions, and provided with mechanical
e evating devices for the mold plates, inclined storage ways communicating with the
inclined ways and devices located at intervals on the way and adapted to automatically
carry out the different mechanical steps of dipping the mold pins into the gelatine,
cutting off the gelatine capsules, removing them from the mold pins and greasing the
nold pins, all substantially as described.
5. In a plant for manufacturing gelatine capsules, a dipping machine comprising
an intermittently revolving reel provided with ways upon which the mold pin plates
are held and adapted to be moved, a gelatine pan placed below the reel and provided
with raising and lowering mechanism, stationary ways communicating with the ways
on the reel and mechanical devices for controlling the feed and the discharge of the
mold plates onto and from the reel, substantially as described.
6. In a plant for manufacturing gelatine capsules, a dipping machine comprising
the intermittingly revolving reel provided with ways for holding the mold pin plates,
the stationary ways communicating with the ways on the front and rear-side of the
reel respectively, the intermittingly rising and falling dipping pan under the reel of
the feeding device for charging the reel with mold plates from the stationary way on
one side, and the endless cable for discharging the dipped mold plates from the reel
and rolling them on the stationary way on the other side of the reel, substantially at
described.
7. In a plant for manufacturing gelatine capsules, a capsule cutting-off machine
consisting of the way in which the mold pin plates are adapted to be moved and
locked in position, a frame placed adjacent to and in front of the mold pin plates and
carrying a series of revolving cutters, and mechanism for imparting a rotary
reciprocating motion to said frame substantially as described.
8. In a plant for manufacturing gelatine capsules, a capsule cutting-off machine
consisting of the way provided with an intermittent feeding device for the mold pin
plates and devices for locking the same in position, an adjustable, rotary reciprocating
frame placed adjacent to and in front of the mold pin plates and carrying a series of
revolving cutters and a series of revolving scrapers, substantially as described.

page_text: 9. In a plant for manufacturing gelatine capsules, a machine for removing capsules
from the mold pins consisting of the way, in which the mold pin plates are adapted to
be moved, a reciprocating frame carrying clamping jaws adapted to engage upon
the mold pins, and a reciprocating fraine carrying spreader bars engaging between
the clamping jaws, substantially as described.
10. In a plant for manufacturing gelatine capsules, a machine for greasing the mold
pins, consisting of the way in which the mold pin plates are adapted to be moved, a
reciprocating frame carrying clamping jaws adapted to engage upon the mold pins, a
reciprocating frame carrying spreader bars engaging between the clamping jaws and
a greasing cloth having folds secured between the clamping jaws, substantially as
described.
HO
JOHN KREHBIEL.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.