IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND IN BANDS FOR RETAINING THE SAME IN BALES."
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Johnston, of No. 49, Arlington Street,
Woodland Road, Glasgow, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND IN BANDS FOR
RETAINING THE SAME IN BALES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Johnston at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd September 1862.
I, ALEXANDER JOHNSTON, of No. 49, Arlington Street, Woodland Road,
Glasgow, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND IN BANDS FOR
RETAINING THE SAME IN BALES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for pressing
cotton and other materials, and in bands for retaining the same in bales. The
lever presses heretofore used for pressing cotton have usually been arranged
in such manner that the cotton to be pressed is fed into a box, into which a
plunger can be caused by the levers to descend vertically, and a counter-
balance weight is used to counterbalance the weight of the plunger and levers
connected to it.
Now, according to my Invention, I combine together two lever presses in
such manner that the plunger of one press shall be ascending whilst the

page_text: plunger of the other press is descending, the two plungers thus balancing each
other. I also prefer to arrange each press in such manner that after the
cotton or other material has been compressed by the descending plunger the
bottom of the case in which the material is contained shall be forced upwards
by bydraulic pressure, and in order that the levers of each press may in turn
come into a suitable position to withstand the pressure thus put on them, I
arrange the two combined presses in the following manner:-Two levers
similarly formed at one of their ends with sector racks are mounted at a
distance apart from each other on an axis which turns in suitable bearings;
the other ends of the levers are connected together by a pin passing from one
lever to the other. The two presses are situated one on each side of the
lever axis, and the plunger of each press is pin-jointed to the lower end of a
pair of toggle levers, the upper joint of which is stationary, it being carried by
the upper end of the framing. The central joint of the levers of each press
is connected by a link with the pin which connects together the two levers
formed with sector racks; the levers are arranged so that for the plunger of
each press to be moved from its highest to the lowest position the sector
rack must make one-half a revolution, and so that when either of the plungers
is in its lowest position the central joint of the toggle levers connected with it
shall be in a vertical position, and their central joint in the same horizontal
line as the axis of the sector racks, the pin connecting the sector racks being
also in the same horizontal line; thus when the bottom of the case is forced
upwards by hydraulic pressure the levers cannot move out of their vertical
position, as their central joint would be held in position by the link which
connects them with the pin of the sector racks, and any strain on this link
would merely tend to draw the pin in a straight line towards the axis of the
sector racks, but would be unable to cause the racks to turn on their centre.
The sector racks may either have motion communicated to them by toothed
wheels gearing into them, or they may be portions of worm wheels, and be
worked by worms gearing into them. Single lever presses may be arranged
in the manner above described when they are combined with hydraulic appa-
ratus for giving the final pressure. In order to free the ends of the bales
after they have been compressed and had bands fixed around them, I, as usual,
employ a moveable plate, which is capable of receding from the end of the
bale. This plate is kept in its place, when the cotton is being pressed, by its
back being connected with the rams or pistons of small hydraulic presses,
from the cylinders of which the water is prevented from escaping by a valve;
when, however, it is desired to free the end of the bale, the valve is opened
and the water allowed to escape, at the same time water under pressure is

page_text: admitted to the opposite sides of the pistons or rams, and the plate is thus
forced back. In order to be able to fix bands around the bales after the
hydraulic rams have completed the pressing of the bale, I make each band of
metal and in two parts, one part is of sufficient length to pass across the top
of the bale, and its two ends are bent at an angle slightly downwards, the
edges of the plunger being formed to correspond with the ends of the bands.
These parts, which pass across the top of the bale, I, by preference, connect
the one to the other into a kind of frame, which I connect to the plunger
which descends into the box. The other part of the band is of a length to
pass around the bottom and the two sides of the bale. These parts of the
band are, in the first instance, straight, and are laid in grooves made in the
top of the plunger, which is pressed upwards by the hydraulic presses, and
the ends of the bands project on each side of this plunger. Jointed to each
side of this plunger is a plate; theso plates, when the plunger is in its lowest
position, are in the same plane as its upper end, but when the plunger has
been forced to its highest position, and has thus finished compressing the bale,
the plates have been turned up so as to be at right angles to the top of the
plunger, and they will thus have bent up the projecting ends of the parts of
the bands which lie upon it. The ends of the parts of the bands which go
over the top of the bale have buttons or studs projecting from them, and in the
ends of the other parts slots are made to receive them; and when the ends of
the parts of the bands which pass under the bottom of the bale have been bent
up, as above described, the studs on the parts of the bands which go across
the top of the bale are caused to enter the slots in their ends, and the bands
are thus secured. To allow the bands to be thus bent round the bale, two
doors in the sides of the box containing the cotton are opened after the lever
press has finished its stroke and before the hydraulic press has commenced.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Johnston in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd March 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
JOHNSTONE, of No. 49, Arlington Street, Woodland Road, Glasgow, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alexander Johnstone, Her special licence that I, the said Alexander
Johnstone, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Alexander Johnstone, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER
MATERIALS, AND IN BANDS FOR RETAINING THE SAME IN BALES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Johnstone, my execu-
tors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Johnstone, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for pressing
cotton and other materials, and in bands for retaining the same in bales. The
lever presses s heretofore used for pressing cotton have usually been arranged
in such manner that the cotton to be pressed is fed into a box, into which a
plunger can be caused by the levers to descend vertically, and a counterbalance
weight is used to counterbalance the weight of the plunger and levers con-
nected to it.
Now, according to my Invention, I combine together two lever presses
in such manner that the plunger of one press shall be ascending whilst the
plunger of the other press is descending, the two plungers thus balancing each
other. I also prefer to arrange each press in such manner that after the
cotton or other material has been compressed by the descending plunger the
bottom of the case in which the material is contained shall be forced upwards
by hydraulic pressure, and in order that the levers of each press may in turn
come into a suitable position to withstand the pressure thus put on them, I
arrange the two combined presses in the following manner :-Two levers
similarly formed at one of their ends with sector racks are mounted at a
distance apart from each other on an axis which turns in suitable bearings;

page_text: the other ends of the levers are connected together by a pin passing from one
lever to the other. The two presses are situated one on each side of the lever
axis, and the plunger of each press is pin-jointed to the lower end of a pair
of toggle levers, the upper joint of which is stationary, it being carried by the
upper end of the framing. The central joint of the levers of each press is
connected by a link with the pin which connects together the two levers
formed with sector racks; the levers are arranged so that for the plunger of
each press to be moved from its highest to its lowest position the sector rack
must make one-half a revolution, and so that when either of the plungers is
in its lowest position the central joint of the toggle levers connected with it
shall be in a vertical position, and their central joint in the same horizontal
line as the axis of the sector racks, the pin connecting the sector racks being
also in the same horizontal line; thus when the bottom of the case is forced
upwards by hydraulic pressure the levers cannot move out of their vertical
position, as their central joint would be held in position by the link which
connects them with the pin of the sector rack, and any strain on this link
would merely tend to draw the pin in a straight line towards the axis of the
sector racks, but would be unable to cause the racks to turn on the centre.
The sector racks may either have motion communicated to them by toothed
wheels gearing into them, or they may be portions of worm wheels, and be
worked by worms gearing into them. Single lever presses may be arranged
in the manner above described when they are combined with hydraulic appa-
ratus for giving the final pressure. In order to free the ends of the bales after
they have been compressed and had bands fixed around them, I, as usual,
employ a moveable plate which is capable of receding from the end of the
bale. This plate I keep in its place when the cotton is being pressed by its
back being connected with the rams or pistons of small hydraulic presses,
from the cylinders of which the water is prevented from escaping by a valve;
when, however, it is desired to free the end of the bale, the valve is opened
and the water allowed to escape, at the same time water under pressure is
admitted to the opposite sides of the pistons or rams, and the plate is thus
forced back. In order to be able to fix bands around the bales after that
the hydraulic rams have completed the pressing of the bale, I make each
band of metal in two parts, one part is of sufficient length to pass across
the top of the bale, and its two ends are bent at an angle slightly downwards,
the edges of the plunger being formed to correspond with the ends of the
bands. These parts, which pass across the top of the bale, I, by preference,
connect the one to the other into a kind of frame, which I connect to the
plunger which descends into the box. The other part of the band is of a

page_text: length to pass around the bottom and the two sides of the bale. These parts
of the band are, in the first instance, straight, and are laid in grooves made
in the top of the plunger, which is pressed upwards by the bydraulic presses,
and the ends of the bands project on each side of this plunger. Jointed to
each side of this plunger is a plate; these plates, when the plunger is in its
lowest position, are in the same plane as its upper end, but when the plunger
has been forced to its highest position, and has thus finished compressing the
bale, the plates have been turned up so as to be at right angles to the top of
the plunger, and they will thus have bent up the projecting ends of the parts
of the bands which lie upon it. The ends of the parts of the bands which
go over the top of the bale have buttons or studs projecting from them, and
in the ends of the other parts slots are made to receive them; and when
the ends of the parts of the bands which pass under the bottom of the
bale have been bent up, as above described, the studs on the parts of the
bands which go across the top of the bale are caused to enter the slots in
their ends, and the bands are thus secured. To allow the bands to be thus bent
round the bale, two doors in the sides of the box containing the cotton are
opened after the lever press has finished its stroke and before the hydraulic
press has commenced.
Figure 1 shews the side elevation of two lever presses combined together;
Figure 2 is an end elevation, the side of the trunk of one of the presses being
removed in order to shew the interior; Figure 3 is a plan. The trunk of
each of the presses is of the ordinary construction, and although hydraulic
apparatus is partly shewn for raising the lower follower B, and for pressing on
the side or end plates, no claim is made thereto. C is the follower of each
press, which is actuated by levers D, D, the upper ends of one pair of which
are pin-jointed to the upper part of the framing E at d, whilst the lower end
of the other pair of levers D are pin-jointed to the follower C. The two
followers C and their pairs of levers D, D, are so arranged that one fol-
lower C is at its highest position when the other is at its lowest position.
L is ordinary reverse gearing, put in motion by the shaft F by steam or
other power; M is the floor or platforms where the cotton is fed into the
trunks Ex. Motion is communicated from the engine shaft F to the screw
shaft H by an endless strap on the pullies or drums G, G; I, I, are rods, by
which the rods D, D, are connected to the sector wheels J, J. The end
plates of each press are acted on by small hydraulic rams K, K, worked by
the same pumps as the hydraulic cylinders A, and when it is desired to free
the end of the bale the plates are, as above described, forced away from the
bale by the rams K, K. Figure 4 shews a section, on an enlarged scale, of
.

page_text: the top and bottom plungers of a press arranged as above described, so that
the iron bands are by the working of the press bent around the bale.
Figure 5 is a plan of the bottom plunger, shewing the portions of the iron
bands which are to go around the sides and bottom of the bale laid in
grooves made across it. Figure 6 shews a bale complete. The parts of the
bands which are to go across the top of the bale are, as above described,
connected together into a sort of frame, and this frame is connected to the
top plunger before the cotton or other material to be pressed is fed into the
press; one of these parts of the bands which go across the top of the bale is
seen at a, Figure 4. The outer ends of each of these parts is bent down-
wards, as is there shewn, and the top plunger A is made to correspond with the
bands. b, b, are the parts of the bands which go across the bottom plunger B.
Jointed to each side of the bottom plunger is a plate c; these plates, when
the plunger is in its lowest position, are in the same plane as the top of the
plunger. At each end of these plates is an arm c', which, when the bottom
plunger is caused to rise by the hydraulic press, come against stops, the plates
are thus caused to turn up at right angles to the plunger, as is shewn by
dotted lines at Figure 4; the portions b, b, of the bands are thus bent up at
right angles to the plunger B; the studs or buttons on the ends of the parts a
of the bands can then be caused to enter the slots formed in the ends of the
parts 6 of the bands, there being slots in the edges of the top plunger to
admit of this.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Johnstone, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
ALEX. JOHNSTONE.
(L.B.)