IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND COMPRESSING CHAFF OR OTHER MATERIALS IN SACKS OR OTHER RECEPTACLES, WHEREBY THE CONTENTS MAY BE SECURED BEFORE THE PRESSURE IS REMOVED
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Gilders, of Stratford by Bow, in the County of
Essex, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND
COMPRESSING CHAFF OR OTHER MATERIALS IN SACKS OR OTHER RECEPTACLES,
WHEREBY THE CONTENTS MAY BE SECURED BEFORE THE PRESSURE IS
REMOVED." -
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Gilders at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th April 1881.
GEORGE GILDERS, of Stratford by Bow, in the County of Essex.
"IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND COMPRESSING CHAFF OR OTHER MATERIALS
IN SACKS OR OTHER RECEPTACLES, WHEREBY THE CONTENTS MAY BE SECURED
BEFORE THE PRESSURE IS REMOVED."
The apparatus used for the purpose of this compression is a cylinder, preferably
vertical, and of iron or other suitable material, and so arranged within a frame
that it can be lowered into the sack at pleasure; it is also of suitable dimensions
to contain the goods in a loose condition.
The apparatus is also provided with a rammer passing through the cylinder and
provided with a head or flange of sufficient size to force the material which is
being pressed down the cylinder into the sack, barrel, or other receptacle; the
rammer may be impelled by hydraulic or other suitable mechanical power.
The press is also provided with a support, by preference circular, for the sack
immediately under the cylinder when lowered. The sacks or bags may be of the
ordinary kind made of hemp, or flax, or of any material suitable, and a convenient
lid is also provided for each sack.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The sack is first secured to the support
open, the cylinder is then lowered into the sack till it reaches nearly to the bottom;
the cylinder is then filled with chaff or the other substance requiring to be
compressed; the lid covering for the sack is then placed between the rammer-head
and the chaff, and forced down in this position with the rammer till it reaches
about level with the top of the sack; the pressure is allowed to remain while the

page_text: cylinder is withdrawn and the canvas lid secured to the top of the sack by being
sewn, or otherwise; the pressure is then removed and the sack or bag taken away.
In the case of casks and the like the arrangement of lid would be varied, it would
generally require to be of wood or metal, and as the cylinder is of smaller diameter
than the cask, a suitable arrangement is provided upon the cask or lid to lap over
and be secured in any convenient manner, or to fill the annular space between the
periphery of the lid and the cask.
The cylinder for general purposes may be circular in section, but I do not bind
myself to that shape only, and there is no reason why a square or other angular
form should not be adopted, this would have the advantage of saving room when
the sacks or other receptacles were stowed after filling. I have hitherto alluded
only to chaff; but this apparatus may be used with advantage for filling and
compressing bran, pollard, hops, and other materials for which it is adapted.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said George Gilders in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th
October 1881.
"IMPROVEMENTS
GEORGE GILDERS, of Stratford by Bow, in the County of Essex.
IN APPARATUS FOR FILLING AND COMPRESSING CHAFF OR OTHER MATERIALS
IN SACKS OR OTHER RECEPTACLES, WHEREBY THE CONTENTS MAY BE SECURED
BEFORE THE PRESSURE IS REMOVED."
The apparatus used for the purpose of this compression is a cylinder, preferably
(though not necessarily) vertical, slightly larger at bottom, and made of steel, iron,
or other suitable material, and so arranged within a frame that it can be lowered
or placed into the sack at pleasure; it is also of suitable dimensions to contain
the goods in a loose condition. The apparatus is also provided with a rammer
passing through the cylinder and provided with a head or flange of sufficient size
to force the material which is being pressed through the cylinder into the sack,
barrel, or other receptacle; the rammer may be impelled by hydraulic or other
suitable mechanical power. The press is also provided with a support, by preference
circular, for the sack directly under the cylinder when lowered. The sacks or
bags may be of the ordinary kind made of hemp, or flax, or of any material
suitable, and a convenient lid or equivalent is also provided for each sack. In the
case of casks and the like, the arrangement of lid would be varied, it would
generally require to be of wood or metal; and as the cylinder is of smaller diameter
than the cask a suitable arrangement would be provided upon the cask or lid to
lap over and be secured in any convenient manner, or to fill the annular space
between the periphery of the lid and the cask. The cylinder for general purposes
may be circular in section, but I do not bind myself to that shape only, and there
is no reason why a square or other angular form should not be adopted; this would
have the advantage of saving room when the sacks or other receptacles were
stowed after filling. I have hitherto alluded chiefly to chaff; but this apparatus
may be used with advantage for filling and compressing bran, pollard, hops,
sawdust, paper chippings, and other materials for which it is adapted, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings, in which like letters represent like
parts. Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the apparatus with the head of the rammer
raised clear of the cylinder throughout its full height, and Fig. 2 is the same on a
larger scale, showing the sack charged and the rammer about level with the top of
the sack. A is the sack and B the cylinder; C, the rammer head; D, the base
plate upon which the sack sits; D' are rods or stays forming part of the framing
of the whole apparatus to which the cylinder guides D2 are attached, and also the
frame or support D³ upon which the mouth of the sacks is fastened in any
convenient manner; A¹ is the lid of the sack placed loosely on top of the cylinder
in Fig. 1 ready for the rammer head to force it down on top of the chaff till it
reaches the position shown in Fig. 2, where the chaff is fully compressed and ready
for the cylinder B to be withdrawn. The mode of operation is as follows:-The
sack A is placed in position as shown, the cylinder B is let down to near the
bottom of the sack and is then filled with the chaff, &c., to the desired height;
the lid or covering A is then laid across the top of cylinder B and the rammer-
head C brought down upon it, forcing it down and compressing the chaff
till it reaches about the position (or it may be withdrawn as the pressure is
progressing; this will prevent much of the friction otherwise produced, and con-
sequently lessen the power required to withdraw the cylinder) shown in Fig. 2.
The cylinder B is now withdrawn without disturbing the rammer, which still
maintains the pressure upon the chaff. The edges of the lid A¹ are laid down and

page_text: secured by stitching or otherwise to the edges of the mouth of the sack, and when
this is finished the rammer-head is removed and the sack taken away. The process
for filling a cask, or metal drum, or other like receptacle is similar, excepting that
as the lid is generally rigid, so that the edges cannot be folded down as with the
pliable lid of the sack, suitable provision has to be made for filling the annular
space between the rammer-head and the cask or drum. One way of doing this
(where sufficient room is left between the outside of the rammer-head and the
inside of the cylinder, so that a aperture of the lid can project all round the head)
is to employ a stiff ring in halves, which fits close round the head and rests upon
the projecting edge of the lid, the ring being then secured to the drum in any
convenient manner.
On account of the friction between the compressed material and the inside of
the cylinder, it is sometimes difficult to withdraw the cylinder when a full charge
is used at one compression; this difficulty may be overcome by compressing, say,
first one third, then another third, and then the last third; when this method is
adopted the lid of cylinder is only placed upon the cylinder with the last charge.
I have not described any special construction of framing or means of applying the
pressure, as these form no part of my present Invention, and there are many well-
known ways of doing them. When packing wool, straw, or the like by this
apparatus, it is not always necessary to have a lid, properly speaking, at all; instead,
grooves are made in the face of the rammer head, and through these rods or bands
can be forced without removing the pressure and their ends fastened down in any
convenient manner. This is not a new method and is commonly in use at the
present time.
Having now described my Invention and the method of performing the same, I
wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself myself absolutely to the details
herein set forth, as these may be varied to-a reasonable extent without departing
from the principle of my Invention, but that what I claim and desire to protect
under the hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. In a machine or apparatus for compressing chaff and other materials in
sacks, casks, or equivalent receptacles, the combination of a movable cylinder of
smaller diameter than, and capable of being inserted in, the said sack or equivalent
receptacle with an independent compressing rammer whereby the pressure upon
the compressed materials may be maintained during and subsequent to the with-
drawal of said cylinder, and the lid made fast to the receptacle before the pressure
is removed, substantially as and for the purposes set forth and shown.
Sceond. In a machine or apparatus for compressing chaff or other materials in
sacks, casks, or equivalent receptacles, the method of applying the lid of the
receptacle by forcing it through the cylinder between the rammer and the material
being compressed, whereby it remains in position during and after the removal of
the cylinder, and may be attached to the receptacle during the continuance and
before the removal of the pressure, substantially as set forth and shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Gilders, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty one.