IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Shortrede, of Brighton, in the County of
Sussex, Major General in Her Majesty's Indian Army, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER ARTICLES."
Sealed the 21st November 1862, and dated the 31st May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Shortrede at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st May 1862.
I, ROBERT SHORTREDE, of Brighton, in the County of Sussex, Major General
in Her Majesty's Indian Army, do hereby declare the nature of the said.
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR PRESSING COTTON. AND, OTHER:
ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
The improvements relate to a combination of means to facilitate the
operation of pressing cotton and other articles..
For this purpose the top and bottom plates or followers are moveable, one-
of them being actuated by compound links of the character of what are called"
"toggle joints" in pairs, operated simultaneously by links from arms or points
turning on centres so as to obtain a comparatively quick motion to such plate
or follower for the first pressure. The other plate or follower is operated by
bydraulic means as is well understood.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Shortrede in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
SHORTREDE, of Brighton, in the County of Sussex, Major General in Her
Majesty's Indian Army, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Shortrede, Her special licence, that I, the said Robert Shortrede, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Shortrède, 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 Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PRESSES FOR PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Robert Shortrede, ny executors 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 performed, 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 Robert Shortrede, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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:
This Invention consists of an arrangement of a box or well of wood or iron
or other suitable material to contain the cotton or other article to be pressed.
The upper part of this box is open, and in it is fitted loosely a plate or
follower of iron or other material, which rests upon the cotton. Above
this plate or follower are attached the lower extremities of compound links
or toggle joints of wood or metal, the upper extremities of which are attached
to a plate connected with the press by stay rods or with the roof of the building

page_text: in which the press is situated. These links or toggle joints are jointed at or
near the centre, and to the pins of these centre joints are connected links or
connecting rods, the other extremities of which are attached to cranks or armis
fixed on a revolving shaft in such a way that when the latter revolves in one
direction the centre joints of the links or toggle joints are separated, and the
upper plate or follower of the press is raised, and when the shaft revolves in
the opposite direction the centre joints are made to approach each other, and
the upper plate or follower is depressed. One or more openings are left at the
upper part of the box through which the cotton or other substance to be
pressed is fed into the box, and these are then closed and fastened and the
follower is made to descend by the revolution of the shaft. The lower part of
the box is also closed by a plate upon which the cotton rests, and in some cases
I make this plate a part of the box and fixed at any required height. When
this is the case the upper plate or follower is depressed until the cotton is
compressed to the size of a finished bale, and hoops or bands are passed round
the bale through recesses left in the lower plate and in the upper follower, and
their ends are fastened and the upper follower made to rise by the counter-
revolution of the shaft, the pressure being thus taken off the finished bale,
which is then removed. But in some cases I make the lower plate moveable
vertically as well as the upper one. When this is the case I arrange the
links or toggle joints so that when the upper plate or follower is depressed to
its lowest point the cotton or other substance in the box is only partially com-
pressed, and I then complete the compression by forcing up the lower plate
by hydraulic pressure, and when this is effected I secure the bale and remove
it through doors in the box which are opposite to the bale in its finished state
as before described. A steam engine or any other convenient source of power
may be employed to cause the revolution of the shaft carrying the cranks or
arms, coupling or reversing boxes of the ordinary description being employed
to enable the attendant to effect the speedy revolution or reversal of the shaft
and the same steam engine, or other power may be employed to give motion
to the hydraulic press when necessary. Two or more of the boxes may be
arranged side by side so that they may be operated on by one driving shaft.
In like manner for producing lightly pressed bales, commonly called half pressed
bales, I make the lower plate, by means of levers or other convenient power,
to be raised about a foot more or less before making the follower to descend.
as already described, to compress the bale to the degree required. Great
economy is effected by this Invention both in the first cost of the machine and
in the time required to press the cotton or other substance, and to form the

page_text: same into a finished bale, the economy of time being effected by the rapid
motion (with slight pressure) of the upper plate or follower during the first
part of the process, which motion gradually diminishes (with increasing pressure)
as the centre pins of the links or toggle joints approach one another during
the descent of the upper plate.
In illustration of this Invention the accompanying Sheet of Drawings
contains Figures exhibiting the form and arrangement which it may be con-
venient to give to machines constructed according to my Invention.
Figure 1 is an elevation; Figure 2, a plan of the press; and Fig. 3 a
sectional plan of the box.
A is a box or well which contains the cotton or other article; B is a plate
or follower resting on the cotton, to which are attached the toggle joints C, C;
the upper extremities of which are attached to a plate D, connected with the
press by stay rods E, E. To the centres of these toggle joints are connected
links F, F, the other extremities of which are attached to cranks or arms G, G,
fixed to a shaft H. I is an opening through which the cotton is fed into the
press, and K is a lower plate which is raised when required by the hydraulic
press L; M, M, are doors in the box opposite to the finished bale, which are
opened for the purpose of fastening the bale by means of hoops or bands, and
for the removal of the completed bale. The box A having been filled with
cotton, the upper follower B is made to descend' by the partial revolution of
the shaft H, and when the cotton has been thus partially compressed, the
pressure is continued by means of the bydraulic press L, and the bale com-
pleted and removed by means of the doors M, M.
Having now described my said Invention and the manner in which it
is intended to be employed and worked for the purposes for which the said
machines are designed and intended to be employed, I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not claim the pressing of cotton or other similar article by
means of presses worked by levers or hydraulic pressure, but I claim as my
Invention,-
First, the novel combination of the several parts of the machines herein
described for the purpose of pressing cotton or other similar article.
Second, the novel application of double links or toggle joints worked by
arms or levers upon a revolving shaft in the manner described for the purpose
of effecting by diagonal action the direct descent of the follower without
lateral thrust against the side of the well for the compression of cotton or other
similar article.
Third, the combination with such links or toggle joints as described of a

page_text: plate moved by hydraulic pressure for the purpose of giving the final pressure
to the cotton or other article to be manufactured into a bale.
Fourth, the raising of the lever plate by lever or hydraulic pressure before
the descent of the follower, for producing half pressed bales, and in some cases
also of full pressed bales.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Shortrede, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of November in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
EDMUND EDWARDS,
1, York Buildings, Adelphi,
London.
ROBERT SHORTREDE. (L.B.)