IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PRESSES
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
LOUIS ALPHONSE PETIGARS, of Brewer Street, Golden Square, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Jean Louis Alphonse Petigars, Her especial licence, full power, solo
privilege and authority, that I, the said Jean Louis Alphonse Petigars, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jean Louis Alphonse
Petigars, my exors, adññiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PRESSES," communicated
to me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said Jean Louis Alphonse Petigars, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Jean Louis Alphonse Petigars, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference

page_text: being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, (that is to say):-
By these improvements in presses I am enabled to obtain a great force by
the simple action of one man pressing against a handle, and the press so
improved will be found to be capable of being advantageously employed in
place of the ordinary screw press, which, if required to act against more than
two hundred thousand pounds, requires the aid of the capstan and several
men to put it into operation; it also has this advantage over the dydraulic
press, that the same force is obtained in less time. The combination of this
press comprises several distinct parts,―
First, a system of progressive pressure.
Second, an apparatus which I call a dynometer, for measuring the force
employed.
Third, a reporter and regulator.
Fourth, a reservoir of force obtained by the weight of the machine which
causes a continued pressure.
I will first describe the system of progressive pressure. The Drawing
represents, at Figure 1, a front view of the press, Figure 2 a side view, and
Figure 3 is a plan of the mechanism which actuates the whole system. A is
the basement which rests upon four feet, tied together by a framing, in the
form of a parallelogram. C, C, are four hollow metal columns resting upon
the basement A, which are kept upright by the cross frames D, D. These
columns serve as guides to the moveable plates E, to which a vertical
alternative movement is given by the chains F, F, which work in the lower
part of the machine with the pinion of the same thickness as the metal shafts
(7, 7), Figure 3. These chains form an endless chain by being joined with
other chains G, G, which work over the rollers V, placed at the upper part
of the columns C, which run over the transverse axes ✗ to the plate E.
The tension of this chain is regulated as required by two double sockets and
screws H, as will be seen in the Drawing, the one to the right and the other
to the left. By this arrangement it will be easily seen how the motion of the
endless chain, being moved by the pinions working into the shaft 7, com-
municates motion to the plate E, but pressure may be given to this plate in
any varied degree, the mode in which this is done being one of the combina-
tions of this press.
I will now describe the action. I, I, Figures 1 and 2, the two upright
columns fixed to the basement A; J, K, are two horizontal shafts on which are
placed three wheels of different diameters, so arranged that the smallest of
the upper shafts J will work into the largest of the lower shafts K. These three

page_text: wheels a, b, c, placed upon the shaft J. The largest wheel is loose upon the
shaft, and the two other wheels b, c, kept together by a washer, and they are
made to slide upon this shaft by means of the forked piece d. The washer
carries upon the left surface projections which (when it is required to move
the washer to the left or right) work into the holes at the right of the front
of the wheels a, in order to give the rotatory movement of the shaft J; the
shaft K has attached to it three wheels e, b¹, f, and a chained wheel M.
The Drawing, Figure 1, represent the wheel a taking into the wheel e; by
turning the handle L an impulsive movement will be given which will com-
municate motion to the shaft J and the shaft K by means of the wheel a and
e, which transunits from the wheel M by means of the chain o to the wheel
N, fixed at the end of the horizontal shaft P. At the end of this shaft P is
a toothed wheel 1, seen in Figure 3, which takes into a toothed wheel 2,
which is fixed on the shaft 3. This carries near the end two endless screws
not shown in the Drawing, which take into the wheels 4, 4, one of which is
placed at the right and the other at the left. The wheels 4, 4, are fixed upon
two cross shafts, which carry the pinions 5, 5, in contact with the double hollow
toothed wheel 6, 6, placed over the shafts 7, 7, over which the chains E, E,
work. The description will explain how the action of the handle L com-
municates motion to the chains F, F, and consequently to the moveable plate
E; by this, with a power of forty pounds applied to the handle, communicates
a power of ten thousand pounds. If, however, you should move the washer
of the shaft J with the wheel a, and make it slide by means of the forked
piece d to take into the pinion 6 with the pinion of equal diameter fixed
upon the shaft K, then the force communicated to the plate F will only be
half the speed, but with the same force of forty pounds applied to the handle
L, double the power. Again, in moving the washer from the left to the right,
by means of the forked piece d, and making the small c of the shaft J
take into the large wheel ƒ of the shaft K, the speed will be much
decreased; but by applying the same power to the handle L a power of forty
thousand pounds will be transmitted to the plate E. To obtain a still greater
wheel a of the shaft J,
pressure, the washer is to be brought against the
and to take into the wheel e of the shaft K; then, instead of (as has
already been explained) making the wheel 1 of the shaft P, Figure 3,
take into the wheel 2 of the shaft 3, I release the toothed piece 8, with
the wheel 2, which becomes free upon the shaft 3, and the toothed wheel 8
takes into the double wheel 9, and by thus joining turns the shaft 3. The
sliding of the piece 8 acts by the drawing of the handle 10 of the rod 11,
and of the handle 12, which transmits the movement to the toothed wheel 8.

page_text: In this arrangement it is not the wheel 1 which communicates motion but the
bevelled wheel 18, fixed at the end of the shaft l' in the interior of the
basement A, which takes into the wheel 14, and turns the endless screw 15,
the double wheel 9, and consequently the shaft 3, which transmits the motion
to the plate E. By the transmission of motion obtained by the sliding of the
toothed wheel 8, the same power of forty pounds applied to the handle L
will give a power of pressure of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds to the
plate E with the toothed wheel 8. In this state, and by sliding, as before
explained, the washer of the shaft J to bring together the wheel b and the
wheel of the shaft K, by exerting the same force at the handle you will
obtain a power to the plate E of three hundred thousand pounds. If no
greater power is required, and only half the power applied to the handle, you
can, by sliding over the shaft J the moveable washer, so that the wheel takes
into the wheelf, and the same force of three hundred thousand pounds will
be obtained by the application of only half the power to the handle L. It
is evident that in multiplying thus the changes and the points of resistance,
that a press of several millions of pounds pressure may be established. It
should be added that this mode of varying the power of the press, according
to the degree of resistance, is effected during the operation of working the
press without requiring to stop its action in any way.
I will now describe the dynometer. At the side of the handle is placed a
dial to indicate the quantity of force of the press. The hands on the dial re-
power applied to them, as
ceive their movement according to the intensity of
will be afterwards described. The shaft of the endless screw 15 presses
against a lever 16, which is connected with other levers 17, 18, 19, making a
rectangular form, shewn at Figure 3. To this lever is attached a weight 20,
which is divided into five parts a', b', c', d', e', as shewn in detail at Figure 6.
The weight a¹ is calculated to indicate a resistance of one hundred thousand
pounds. When this pressure is being used it presses against the weight &¹ and
raises it, and indicates one hundred and fifty thousand pounds; when that is
raised it will press and raise the weight c', and indicate a pressure of two
hundred thousand pounds; these three being raised, with the addition of the
weight d', will indicate a pressure of two hundred and fifty thousand pounds,
and then by joining with the weight c', a pressure of three hundred thousand
pounds will be indicated. The whole of these separate pressures will be com-
municated to the hands of the dial in the following manner :-The branch 19
of the lever carries a small rack 21, which at the lower part takes into a small
wheel placed at the end of the horizontal shaft 22; this last carries at the
opposite end a bevelled wheel which is in contact with another wheel which

page_text: turns the transversal shaft 23; then, by means of a small pair of bevelled
wheels 24 and a second axis 25, the movement is communicated to the hands
of the dial. It will be seen therefore that it is the successive action of the
five parts of the weight acting upon the rack 21 which produces the rotation
and the indication on the dial by means of the handle.
I will now describe the reporter. The arrangement of the weight a', b¹, c¹,
d', e', previously described, is such that the weight a¹ is only fixed to the rod
by which it is raised, the other weights having holes in them so that they rise
independent of each other. When all the weights have been raised the lever
19 draws a bolt against a tongue piece, which serves as a stop to the shaft P,
when the greatest pressure is obtained, but this stop may be employed to
regulate the pressure as required. Thus, when the handle of the dial is at
three hundred thousand pounds the bolt will stop the shaft P; but if you place
the handle at two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, which may be done by
a small handle, and by means of the mechanism shewn at Figures 7 and 8,
a retrograde movement of the handle will raise the tablet 26 by means of the
rack 27 and pinion 28, and the course of the handle from three hundred
thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand will by this raising of the tablet
(26), annul the effect of the weight e', which will be struck away from the
bolt and leave the lever 16 only the the resistance of the four weights, which
will show on the dial two hundred and fifty thousand instead of three hundred
thousand. In bringing back the handle of the reporter to the division two
hundred thousand on the dial, the rack 27 again raises the tablet 26, which
will remove the weight d', and leave the lever with only the remaining three
weights a, b, c, attached to it, and the bolt will stop the shaft P, shewing the
pressure of two hundred thousand on the dial. Thus the handle of the
reporter stops the machine at the degree of pressure required, and on the other
hand the dynometer the quantity of pressure.
I will now explain the mode of obtaining continuous pressure. The toothed
wheel (8), before spoken of, should have sufficient space between the double
wheel (9) and the pinion (2) to leave it free upon the shaft (3); or when the
press has exerted its greatest pressure it happens sometimes that the matter
being pressed with the greatest force of the press will yield from its clasticity,
and afterwards be forced back, which will force back the handle of the dyno-
meter to a lower figure. In order to counteract the effect of the resistance
I employ the weight of the machine as follows:-The basement rests upon
feet R, R, shown at Figures 1 and 2, having toothed rods or racks placed in
the interior of the cylinders S, S, at the four corners of the basement. These
four toothed rods g raise the basement A by means of the pinion h, h, fixed

page_text: to the corners of the basement A, but before the basement A can be raised, in
order that the pressure may be continuous, the plate E must remain at rest,
and also the machinery which communicates the motion to it. This result
will be obtained by ungearing the toothed wheel (8) with the pinion (2), and
the double wheel (9). This ungearing operates by the action of the bandle
(10) of the rod (11) and the handle (12), as has been already explained;
every movement of the handle L being communicated to the plate E will be
thus prevented. The machinery which causes the basenient to ascend will be
seen at Figures 4 and 5. Above the handle (10) is a handle i, which, by
means of the bevelled wheels j, j, and their shafts, and the forked piece m,
the wheel n on the shaft P is made to gear into the wheel O upon the shaft
P. At each end of this shaft P is a wheel q, which, by means of the wheels
2, s, t, communicate motion to the shafts u, u, at the ends of which are placed
the pinions h, h, which take into the toothed pieces g, g. When the move-
ment of the handle I, is stopped it should be turned the contrary way, to
slacken the press, and this backward movement will raise (by the combination
of the wheel n, fixed at the end of the shaft p, the wheels q, r, s, t, the pinions
h, and the toothed rack 9,) the basement A against the plate E, and thus
becomes the moveable part whilst the plate E is fixed.
I will now describe what I call my regulator. The continuous pressure
obtained by the weight of the machine should be the greatest power; but in
order that that may be kept up when once gained, I have arranged a regulating
apparatus between the pressing machine and the weight of the machine, the
bolt of the rack which stops the shaft P when pressed by the action of the
lever (16), then the bolt cannot return upon it, for the pressure will re-operate
afresh when the matter being pressed shall have again yielded to the pressure.
Upon the shaft P is a wheel (30) and a pinion (31), which is put into gear by
means of the handle (32), Figure 5. The axis of the pinion carries another
wheel (83) which communicate motion to an endless screw (34), on which is
placed a small flyer (35) with two vanes. These vanes in their rapid motion
strike against the tenon or ring placed upon the lever (19) at the moment
when the bolt has entered into the teeth of the rack of the washer of the shaft
P. As soon as the tenon strikes one of the vanes of the flyer the whole is
stopped and the motion is not continued, but when the pressure again yields,
and the weight which acts with the lever again falls and causes the handle of
the dynometer to fall back, in this state the weight of the machine gives
motion to the shaft P. As the draft takes place before leaving the handle L,
the toothed wheel (8) should be geared with the double wheel (9). When
this is done the play of the mechanism takes place (that is to say), as soon as

page_text: the matter being pressed loses its resistance, and the handle of the dynometer
falls back.
Having thus described the system of this press, I would remark that the
principal characters of it are,-
First, in a system of changing the pressure by regulating the speed at which
the power is communicated to the plate E, as herein described.
Secondly, in an apparatus which I call a dynometer, by which I am enabled
to ascertain the exact pressure exercised upon the plate E.
Thirdly, in an apparatus for regulating the pressure.
Fourthly, in the means of obtaining a continuous pressure by the raising of
the basement A, as herein described.
Fifthly, in the means of retaining the pressure at the greatest quantity
obtained by the regulating apparatus herein described; and,
Sixthly, the new arrangement of chains which gear into the pinions placed
upon the plain shaft.
It is to be observed, as a great advantage in this press, that the whole
operations may be produced by the aid of the handle L, operated upon by one
man.
In conclusion, I would remark that I do not confine myself to the form or
dimensions of the press, nor to the material of which the different parts are
made, nor to the precise arrangement of the plate, as all these may be varied
without departing from the character of the Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Louis Alphonse Petigars, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.