Improvements in Cracker Machines.
Year: 1892

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Cracker Machines.
I, CHARLES SILLECK FOWLER, Machine Builder, of 455 Willoughby Avenue,
Brooklyn, in the County of Kings and State of New York, United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of my invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My invention relates to that class of machinery in which a sheet of dough or
similar material is fed from a suitable source of supply under a cutting plate
provided with one or more cutters; the cut crackers and scrap being afterwards.
conveyed away out of the path of the cutters and my invention relates more
particularly to the cracker cutting mechanism which forms what may be called the
middle third of a cracker machine, the feeding mechanism constituting the first
third of the machine, and the removing mechanism the last third. I have not
considered it necessary to illustrate what I have called the first and last thirds of a
cracker machine as their structure and use is well known to persons familiar with
such machinery.
In this class of machinery, the cutters are arranged on the under side of a plate
which is situated at right angles to the line of travel of the sheet of dough and is.
made to reciprocate vertically alternately cutting through said sheet as the dough
passes under the cutter, leaving the dough thus cut in the form of crackers and
scrap on the endless apron on which the dough is fed to be carried forward to the
removing mechanism where the scrap is separated from the crackers in the usual
way. As the motion of the dough feeding apron is intermittent where reciprocating
cutters are employed and as the latter move very rapidly some means of discharging
the cut crackers from the cutters with as much or greater rapidity and precision,.
has to be provided to prevent the crackers and scrap from interfering with each
other and thereby preventing the proper action of the machine. In the class of
machinery to which my invention relates this discharge of the crackers from the
cutters is accomplished by the use of compressed air.
My invention consists in providing such a machine with devices for enabling the
blast of compressed air to work with greater certainty and speed for diminishing
the strain and jar caused by the impact of the cutters on the cutting plate; and for
enabling the cutters to be removed from the machine and replaced by others more.
readily than has heretofore been the case.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the cracker cutting mechanism.
Fig. 2 is a view of the cracker cutting apparatus at right angles to Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 shows the under side of the cutter plate.
Fig. is a top view of the cutter plate.
Fig. 5 is a detail of one of the cutters with its valve.
Fig. 6 represents the base of the air box over the cutter plate..
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, a, journalled in the framework A and driven by belting not shown; the
dough feeding mechanism (not shown) is situated at the right of the apparatu
shown in Fig. 1 and the removing mechanism not shown is situated at the left of
the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; the framework A being extended to the right and
left sufficiently to support said dough feeding and removing mechanism. D is a
vertically reciprocating bar or cross-head fitted in the slots of the standards B.
E is the cutting plate. The up and down movement of the cross-head D is.
produced by the eccentric rods F, the upper ends of which are secured to the bar D

page_text: as shown in Fig. 2 and the lower ends of which are operated by the eccentric
cam G on the shaft, a, 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 1 (see Fig. 6).
.
The air box I is of sufficient extent to cover the tops of all the cutters. The
details of its construction will be described presently. The cutter plate J is
provided on its under surface with a number of hollow cutters K each one of which
lias an opening at the top, h, (Figs. 3 & 4) which extends through the cutter
plate J and over which is secured the spring valve L (Figs. 4 & 5). The cutter
plate J is detachably connected with the base of the air box I by screw bolts o,
joining the lugs, m, projecting from the air box with the lugs n, 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 and connected with a suitable reservoir of compressed air. not shown in
q
the drawings. Communication between this valve box and the pipe P is normally
closed but is automatically opened by a cam T, shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2,
fastened on the rim of the fly-wheel C and striking against the projecting valve at
every revolution of said wheel C. A relief valve M is provided preferably on top
of the air box I as shown in Fig. 2 which valve is normally closed but is opened as
the air box rises by causing the valve stem p to strike against the projecting arm N
rigidly secured to the upright B, in the path of the valve. Any kind of valve may
be employed instead of that shown, provided it is automatically opened each time
the box rises. Thus far, there is nothing new in the apparatus above described
except arranging the cutter plate so that it can be readily detached from the
machine without at the same time removing the air box or any other heavy part;
and second, in providing a relief valve for the air box automatically opened by the
motion of the box.
I have also introduced a new means of protecting the machine from the jar
caused by the striking of the cutter plate J in its descent. This consists in
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, , 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 necessity for the devices which I have referred to as .constituting.my
invention arises as follows:
:
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 out 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

page_text: communicating 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 valve M 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 valve M is automatically opened and the compressed air in the
box I 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
opening automatically by their resilient force.
Without this relief valve M 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 utility of what may be called the spring buffers namely, the spiral springs, S,
and the hollowing out of the yokes H and the corners g, of the air box in preventing
or very largely diminishing the noise and jar of the machine in operation would
seem to be obvious without further information.
The utility of making the cutter plate detachable by itself so that the cutter.
plate J and the perforated clearing plate Q which are comparatively light can be
removed and the cutters replaced by others is manifest as compared with the old
method of removing the entire cutter head by detaching the bolts c, connecting the
yokes to the vertically reciprocating bar. The operation of a cracker machine
with my improvements embodied therein is substantially the same as that of other
cracker machines except in the particulars pointed out.
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. In a cracker machine, an air box, cutters therein, valves L, connected there--
with, a compressed air reservoir connected by suitable valve with said air box and
a relief valve M opening out of said air-box and automatically opened by said box
in its reciprocating motion and with mechanism for causing said air-box to recipro-
cate in unison with the plate carrying said cutters, substantially as shown and for
the purposes specified.
2. A cracker machine provided with a vertically reciprocating bar rigidly
attached to which are yokes, the under side of each branch of which is hollowed
out to receive the upper end of a spiral spring; an air box, the upper side of each
corner of which is similarly hollowed out to receive the lower end of said spiral
spring; and a spiral spring set in each of said hollowed out yokes and corners.
around the bolts connecting said yokes with said air box, substantially as shown.
and described.
Dated th: 0-1 M 1900
CHARLES SILLECK FOWLER.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant..