Improvements relating to Cracker Making Machines.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Nov., 1892-Accepted, 31st Dec., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Cracker Making Machines.
I CHARLES SILLECK FOWLER, of 455 Willoughby Avenue, Brooklyn, in the
County of Kings, and State of New York, United States of America, Machine
Builder, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in whai manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The object of my invention is to provide an improved valve mechanism for
supplying compressed air or other gas to the air-box of a cracker cutting machine
and relieving the pressure thereon and permitting the escape of said compressed air
at the proper time.
In the accompanying drawings:
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of that portion of a cracker machine, which contains
the cracker cutting mechanism, provided with my improved valve mechanism.
I have not thought it necessary to show those portions of the machine which
convey the dough to the cutting mechanism and remove the cut crackers and scrap
away from the cutting mechanism.
Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of my improved valve mechanism, seen from the
side.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of the end of the valve mechanism.
Same letters indicate similar parts in the different drawings.
A is the framework of the machine, supporting the uprights or standards B.
C is the fly-wheel, which operates the entire machine and is mounted upon a
suitable shaft not shown, journalled in the framework A and driven by belting not
shown; the dough feeding mechanism, not shown, is situated behind the apparatus,
shown in Fig. 1, and the removing mechanism, not shown, is situated in front of the
apparatus, shown in Fig. 1, the framework A being extended sufficiently to support
said dough feeding mechanism.
D is a vertically reciprocating bar or cross-head fitted in the slots b of the
standard B. E is the cutting plate. The up and down movement of the cross-
head is produced by the eccentric rods F, the upper ends of which are secured to
the bar D, and the lower ends of which are operated by eccentrics on the shaft of
the fly-wheel, in the usual manner, each revolution of the wheel C and shaft a
causing the eccentric rods to make one up and one down stroke, under the operation
of the eccentric cam.
The reciprocating bar D carries what may be called, as a whole, the cutter head,
which moves up and down with the reciprocating bar D, into and away from
contact with the dough carrying apron. This cutter head is rigidly connected to
the bar D by the two yokes H, the centre of which is bolted to the bar by the
bolts c and the nuts f, and the branches of which are bolted by means of the bolts d
and nuts e to the corners of the air-box I.
C
The air-box I is of sufficient extent to cover the tops of all the cutters.
The
cutter plate J is armed on its under surface with a number of hollow cutters K,
each one of which has an opening at the top h, which extends through the cutter
plate J, and over which is secured the spring cutter valve L. The cutter plate J
is detachably connected with the base of the air-box I by screw bolts o, joining the
lugs projecting from the air-box, with the lugs projecting from the cutter plate.
The air-box is supplied at the proper time with air through the pipe P, one end of
which enters the hole in the side of the box, and the other end of which connects
with the valve O, attached to one of the standards B, by the bracket 9, and con-
nected with a suitable reservoir of compressed air, not shown in the drawings.

page_text: Communication between the reservoir and the pipe P is normally closed, but is auto-
matically opened by a cam T, shown by dotted lines, Fig. 1, fastened on the rim of
the fly-wheel C and striking against the projecting valve at every revolution of
said wheel C.
The machine is protected from the jar, caused by the striking of the cutter
plate J in its descent, by hollowing out the branches of the yokes on the under
sides, and also the upper part of the corners g of the air-box frame, and placing
strong spiral springs in the openings, thus made, around the bolts d, which connect
the yokes and the air-box together, leaving sufficient space between the surfaces
of the yokes and the air-box to permit of a limited action of the springs.
Suspended below the cutter plate J is the perforated clearing plate or stripper Q,
attached at the four corners by the bolts r, surrounded by the spiral springs s and
serving to prevent the scrap from being lifted, through adhesion to the outside of
the hollow cutters.
The valves L, which close the top of the individual cutters are preferably of flat
spring brass and are normally open. When a charge of compressed air is admitted
to the air-box, through the pipe P, to blow out the crackers, the pressure of said
compressed air, as soon as it has blown the crackers from the cutters, closes said
valve, the pressure upon them being strong enough to keep them closed long
enough for the cutter to make another stroke. As a blast of compressed air is
admitted to the air-box at every revolution of the fly-wheel, it is manifest that the
valves would remain constantly closed, in spite of the resilient force of the spring,
unless the pressure of the air in the box is diminished nearly or quite to that of
the normal atmosphere. This is brought about by providing a suitable valve com-
municating with the outside atmosphere and automatically opened at some time
during the ascent or descent of the air-box, to allow the compressed air to escape,
and for said relief valve to be closed again before it is time for the next blast of
air to be let into the air-box.
The valves L being open at the instant when the cutter plate and air-box begin
their upward motion and the relief valve being closed, the charge of compressed
air, which is admitted through the pipe P, by the action of the cam T opening the
valve box O, rushes into the hollow cutters and blows out the crackers therein, at
once closing the valve L of each cutter, from which the cracker is blown. Should
the cracker in any cutter, for any reason, exert unusual resistance to being blown
out, its corresponding valve L will not close immediately; and therefore, the whole
force of the charge of compressed air becomes directed against the cracker in that
special resisting cutter. This cracker, then being blown out, its corresponding
valve L closes, and by the time the air-box and cutter plate have reached the top
of their upward stroke, the relief valve is automatically opened and the compressed
. air in the box is allowed to escape thereby. Thus, when the air-box and cutters
descend, the air in the box I is only under the normal atmospheric pressure and
the valves L open automatically by their resilient force.
Without this relief valve or some equivalent means of restoring the air in the
box I to its normal atmospheric pressure, the residue of the charge of compressed
air, after blowing out the crackers, would resist the opening of the valves L; and
hence, the cutters would fill up with dough, on account of there being no force to
expel the dough when cut.
The apparatus and construction thus far described, is now well known; and my
improvement consists in a valve mechanism, by which this supplying the air-box
with air and relieving the pressure thereon at the proper time, is more easily,
conveniently and with greater certainty effected than has heretofore been the case.
Instead of a separate valve for admitting air to the box and a relief valve at some
other part of the box for restoring the equilibrium, I provide the duplex valve or
valve mechanism, O, which by reason of its peculiar construction, serves both to
admit air into the box from the reservoir and to allow the air to escape from the
box into the surrounding atmosphere.

page_text: This duplex valve Û consists of two independent compartments, each of which
communicates with the pipe P through the openings p-p¹ respectively. Each of
these compartments is provided with a valve and a valve stem, which projects into
the path of revolution of the cam T, before spoken of. One of these compart-
ments, M, constitutes the inlet portion of the valve mechanism and communicates
by the pipe m with a reservoir of compressed air and is separated into two
compartments connected by the ports t―t, which are normally closed by the
valve V, held over said. ports against the partition or valve seat, by the pressure
of the compressed air entering through the pipe m.
This valve V is opened for a
very brief interval, when the projecting stem v is struck by the cam T, and thus
admits air to the pipe P, through the opening p, and hence into the air-box. The
valve V is immediately closed, as soon as the retreating of the cam T permits.
The relief valve V', in the compartment M', which constitutes the relief portion
of the valve mechanism, is normally open, being held open by the springs R,
surrounding the valve stem v', and is only closed for a short interval by the cam T
striking against the projecting valve stem v¹, immediately before the valve V is
When the valve V¹ is
opened by the cam T striking against the valve stem v.
closed, it rests against the valve seat and closes the ports t-t¹. The spring
buffer R' is provided to diminish the force of the blow of the cam T, through the
valve stem. The air received in the compartment M', through the opening p¹,
in the pipe P, escapes through the ports w into the surrounding atmosphere.
Although the drawings show a duplex valve mechanism, consisting of two
parallel cylinders, set one on each side of a pipe P, it is obvious that other forms
of duplex valves may be substituted, provided they are so arranged that the relief
valve is closed, while the admission valve is open, and vice versa.
The operation of this improved valve mechanism is as follows: The fly-wheel C
revolving at the desired rate of speed, and the rest of the cracker machine
operating in unison, the cam T is brought against the projecting valve stem v¹ and
closes the valve V' at the instant that the crackers are cut from the sheet of dough
under the cutter plate. Immediately thereafter, and before releasing the valve
stem v¹, the cam T strikes the valve stem vand opens the valve V. A charge of
compressed air rushes into the air-box, through the pipe P and blows out the
crackers; and the pressure on the air in the air-box is at once released by the
almost simultaneous closing of the valve V and opening of the valve V¹, the air
rushing back through the pipe P, through the opening pl and compartment M², to
the outer air, through the ports w. This process is repeated for each revolution
of the fly-wheel C and the rest of the mechanism has to be so timed as to feed the
dough and remove the crackers cut each time this operation of filling and emptying
the air-box takes place.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. A cracker machine, provided with an air-box armed with suitable cutters and
cutter valves, a duplex valve connecting said air-box with a reservoir of compressed
air, and with the surrounding atmosphere, and mechanism for operating in succession
the relief portion and the inlet portion of said duplex valve, substantially as shown
and described.
2. A cracker machine, provided with an air-box armed with suitable cutters
and cutter valves, a duplex valve connecting said air-box with a reservoir of
compressed air and with the surrounding atmosphere, and a cam brought into
contact with the relief and inlet portions of said valve successively, whereby the
relief portion is closed and kept closed, while the inlet portion is opened by said
cam, and thereupon both portions are released by said cam and allowed to return
to their normal positions, substantially as shown and described.
In a cracker machine, a valve mechanism, which consists of a normally closed

page_text: inlet portion and a normally open relief portion, and devices which successively
close the relief portion, open the inlet portion, close the inlet portion and open the
relief portion, substantially as shown and described.
Dated this 29th day of September 1892.
CHARLES SILLECK FOWLER.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.