An Improved Machine for Forming Hollow Articles from Wood or Paper Pulp.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd July, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 16th Feb., 1891-Accepted, 11th Apr., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Machine for Forming Hollow Articles from Wood
or Paper Pulp.
I, CHARLES MERITT STARR, of Edwardsbury, in the County of Cass and
State of Michigan, United States of America, Inventor, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to presses or machines for making pails or tubs or other
like articles from pulp, in which a mould is used composed, mainly, of a perforated
hollow frustrum and a waterproof flexible or india-rubber bag or hood outside of
the frustrum, and in which the stock or pulp is introduced into the mould at the
central portion of its crown or upper part, suction being employed to draw the fiber
into the mould and to extract the water from it, and steam, compressed air, or other
fluid under pressure being employed outside of the rubber bag and within a suitable
outer chamber to press and form the pulp into its required shape within the mold
the frustrum being stationary while the molding of the stock is being performed.
Dated this 23rd day of July 1890
F. W. BARKER,
Applicant's Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Machine for Forming Hollow Articles from Wood
or Paper Pulp.
I, CHARLES MERITT STARR, of Edwardsburg, in the County of Cass and
State of Michigan, United States of America, Inventor, do hereby declare the
nature of my invention for AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR
FORMING HOLLOW
ARTICLES FROM WOOD OR PAPER PULP, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This invention relates to presses or machines for making pails or tubs or other
like articles from pulp, in which a mould is used composed, mainly, of a perforated
hollow frustum and a water-proof flexible or india-rubber bag or hood outside of
the frustum, and in which the stock or pulp is introduced into the mould at the
central portion of its crown or upper part, suction being employed to draw the
fibre into the mould and to extract the water from it, and steam, compressed air, or
other fluid under pressure being employed outside of the rubber bag and within a
suitable outer chamber to press and form the pulp into its required shape within the
mould, the frustum being stationary while the moulding of the stock is being
performed.
The invention consists in certain novel constructions and combinations of parts
in a machine of this description, substantially as hereinafter described, and pointed
out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this
Specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the figures.
Fig. 1 represents a vertical section of a machine for making pails from pulp
embodying my invention.
Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, in part, upon the linea in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a partly-sectional side elevation of the upper portion of the machine
in nart

page_text: Fig. 4 is an underside view of the base-piece of the perforated frustum, with
attached means for holding it in its raised and stationary position when the moulding
is being performed.
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of certain mechanism for regulating the introduction
of the compressed air or other medium under pressure into the chamber inclosing
the rubber bag.
Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of a split or expanding and contracting perforated
cover, which is placed over the frustum or former of the machine.
A indicates the outer chamber, into which the compressing-fluid is introduced
to effect the moulding of the pail. This chamber, as usual, is in the form externally
of a frusto-conical hood, or approximately so, and is secured by a lower base-flange
to the top of two or more uprights B from the floor C. The base-piece of this
vessel A has a series (here only shown as two) of annular grooves c in its upper
surface, and the top of said vessel on its under surface is similarly grooved, as
shown at c', to hold and receive within the vessel the top and bottom edges of a
circular or conical perforated sheet metal distributor D for the compressed air or
other fluid under pressure, and the action of which will be hereinafter explained.
E is the foraminous or perforated frustum of the mould, provided, first, with a
perforated and flexible sheet-metal cover or gauze a, applied to the sides of the
frustum only, and, secondly, with an outer cover d, of woven cloth or other
analogous porous material; and F is the rubber bag, arranged at a suitable distance
around or outside of said frustum, suitably secured below, and at its top secured to
the underside of a hollow and perforated cap E', which serves to form the bottom
of the pail, and is constructed to also form the chine around said bottom.
The object of the perforated distributer D is to equalize or distribute the entry
of the compressing-fluid into the space all around the rubber bag, so as to cause it
to act simultaneously, or thereabout, over the whole surface of the rubber bag, and
the object of the grooves c c in the base-picce of the vessel A and in the top of
said vessel is to provide for holding the upper and lower edges of the distributer D
in place and to suit different diameters of distributers.
Gis the cylinder of the hydraulic device, and H its elongated tubular piston for
raising the perforated frustum into its moulding position within the vessel A, and
for permitting said frustum to be lowered when it is desired to remove the made
pail from said frustum.
I is a suction-pipe, provided with a cock e and arranged to communicate with a
pipe I, which projects up through the cylinder G and has a stuffing-box on its
upper end, through which a tubular leg 12, attached to the bottom of the frustum E,
is free to work up and down as said frustum is raised or lowered. These
pipes III establish communication with the interior of the frustum at its base.
J is an air pipe or hose, also provided with a cock fand communicating at its
lower end with the pipe I and at its upper end with a comparatively vertical short
tube or hollow cylinder K. The tube K (see Fig. 1) is screwed at its lower end
into the upper half of the hollow cap or die E', which upper half is not perforated,
only the lower half of said cap or die being perforated and faced with wire-cloth or
other suitable venting material a', so as to relieve the cap from the bottom of the
formed pail. This tube K is hermetically closed at its top by any well-known
means around an interior upright sliding tube or hollow shaft L, leaving a space
between the two tubes K and L, connecting with which is the pipe or hose J, for,
when the cocks e and are opened, producing suction in the mould to draw off
water from the mould brought in by the fibre or stock. This suction, which may
be produced by a pump connected with the pipe I, is established just as or before
the tube L, which projects above the tube K, is slid up through a standard M, that
serves in part to guide or carry it.
The tube L is fitted with a stuffing-box g at its top, through which a rod N
passes. This rod N, that extends down to the cap E and projects up above the
stuffing-box g, has a piston at its lower end adapted to fill the bore of the tube L.
The rod N slips at its top through a hole in a bar O, and has a mut screwed on its

page_text: is a
upper end to hold it to said bar. Between this bar O and the stuffing-box
spiral spring i, which exerts a tendency to raise the rod N. The bar O is pivoted
to another bar O¹, which is connected below with a forked hand-lever P, that has
its fulcrum k on a forked notched bracket Q, connected by set-screws with the
tube L. This lever P serves to raise and lower the rod N, with its attached
piston h, as required, to open or to shut off supply of stock to the mould.
The stock is introduced into the tube L by a pipe R, which passes through
a vertical slot in the standard M. (See Fig. 3.) The pulp is supplied under
pressure through this pipe R to the tube L. By operating the lever P so as
to lower the rod N until said lever, or rather a hand-lever catch n, carried by said
lever, engages with a notch in the bracket Q, as shown in Fig. 1, which holds the
lever P up, the piston h will be depressed below the bottom half of the cap or
die E, thereby admitting pulp to the mould. When the mould is full and the die
or cap E¹ is lifted by the pressure below it, the hand-lever P is also carried up and
strikes under a set-screw m in a standard S, mounted on the vessel A, thereby
releasing the catch n from the notch in the forked bracket Q, when the spring
will, through the connection of said lever with the rod N by the bars O O', lift the
rod N with its attached piston h, and thereby automatically shut off the supply of
pulp to the mould.
To guide the piston when rising to insure its entry within the tube L after the
latter has been depressed below the bottom of the cap or die E, said piston, or
the rod N, which carries it, is provided with wing-guides 0. The piston
forms a piston valve to the tube L.
thus
Extending up over the top of the stuffing-box j and connected with the tube L
is an inverted shaped bar or strap T, which serves to keep the rod N from being
raised too high, to this is another bar which passes upward and through a guide-
way. Said guideway is fastened by means of a set screw to the upright bar
carrying the pulley . To this bar is fastened the chain or cord s, by which the
tubes KL and their attachments, including the whole die or mould, may be raised
by suitably operating a hand-lever U, to which the other end of the chain, that
passes over a pulley, is attached. When the die E', with its attachment, is thus
raised by the lever U, said lever occupies a lowered position. The inner end of
said lever then acts upon a spring-catch a', to cause it to engage with a lip b¹ on
the tube K to hold the die E, with its attachments raised. When the die part E¹
is thus raised by the chain-lever U, the die part E' is not raised to its full limit,
and the lever P by its catch n is not tripped from the notched forked bracket Q,
but is afterward tripped from engagement therewith by the pressure of the pulp
in the mould, as the latter is filled, acting upon the underside of the die part E.
So soon as the pressure of the pulp below the die part E¹ raises the latter, the
spring-catch a flies outward (see Fig. 1) away from the tube K, whereby the die
part E and tubes K L and their attachments may freely descend, the lever P and
its connections 0 0' then allowing the spring i to raise the rod N, with its attached
valve h, to fully shut off further supply of pulp to the mould.
When charging the mould with pulp, the pressure to act upon the pulp in the
mould is preferably only admitted gradually, as by so doing the pulp is more
regularly and perfectly compacted in the mould. This is done by means of a
clock-work escapement mechanism of any suitable kind applied to a cock C' in the
pipe R', which conducts the compressed air or other pressure medium to the mould.
Thus, as shown in Fig. 5, attached to the plug of said cock C₁ is a shaft d¹. On
said shaft also is a loose escapement-wheel ', with which a pendulum /', that may
be pivoted at to any suitable support, engages by a tooth that is, two teeth,
one on either side of the axis of the wheel, as in escapements generally.
Outside of the escapement-wheel is a ratchet-wheel l', fast on a sleeve m¹, and
with which a pawl n' on the escapement-wheel engages. Upon or near the outer
end of said sleeve m³ is another ratchet or toothed wheel o', that engages with slots
in a straight spring, which may be attached to the pipe R' or other fixture. (See
Figs. 1, and 5.) When the handle f¹ is turned so as to shut off pressure through

page_text: the plug of the cock C¹, the spring e¹ being wound up, the escapement mechanism
operates to gradually turn on pressure. Of course this does not occur until the
pulp is shut off automatically, when a bent or twisted spring R, attached to the
lever P, strikes the free end of the slotted spring, and knocking it down releases
the ratchet-wheels l¹ o¹. The sleeve m¹ fits over the plug-shaft, so that, if desired,
the plug can be independently turned by the handle with weight u to put on
pressure.
The cock C is a three-way one. In using the machine this cock is turned so as
to connect with the atmosphere. Then when pressure is turned on automatically
by the liberation of the escapement mechanism said cock turns so as to shut off
connection with the outside air and make connection by the pipe R' with the boiler,
reservoir, or other device which supplies the medium under pressure to the
chamber A. Now, when the supply of pulp shut off by pulling down the lever P,
said lever in descending strikes by its attached spring R' on the free end of the
spring and disengages it from the ratchet o¹. The cock C¹ then turns so as to
shut off connection with the atmosphere and establish connection between the
pressure-supply vessel and the chamber A by the action of the escapement
mechanism controlling the cock. In this way the pressure is admitted to the
chamber A in a gradual and automatic manner. It should here be observed that
when the spring R³ strikes by means of a lip-piece s¹ on the end of the slotted
spring, carrying it down, it holds said spring till pressure turned on and the
die part E¹, with its connections, begins to descend, when in the further descent of
the spring R2 the lip slips off the end of the spring which latter, being
released, then flies back to its original position and holds the valve C', as shown
in Fig. 1.
The die part E' is held up while the mould is being filled with pulp, and when
the lever U is pulled down so as to raise the die part E' with its attachments the
lower end of said lever presses against the spring-catch a', to engage it with the
notched portion or lip b¹ of the tube K. The lever U is now immediately raised to
its normal position, and the die part E', with its attachments, is then upheld by the
spring-catch a', which latter will fly back and release the die part E' and its attach-
ments so soon as the same are raised up a little by the pulp in the mould. The
object of having the die part E', with its attachments, upheld by the spring-catch a',
as described, is to cause the same to be released automatically.
Attached to the annular base 6 of the vessel A is an inwardly-projecting ring b
between which and the base the lower flange of the rubber bag Fis clamped. This
clamping-ring has its inner margin beveled, and the pail-ring has its outer
margin correspondingly beveled, so as to fit up against the clamping-ring. The
pail-ring fits around the frustum E and rests upon the base-flange thereof and
projects somewhat over it. The upper face part H₁ of the hydraulic plunger H
forms the bottom or base of the frustum E, and may be of the same size
diametrically as the base-flange, excepting at two opposite points, where two
lugs 66 66 are formed. (See more particularly Fig. 4.) By this construction the
pail-ring generally projects
1,4
a little over the base of the frustum. The object of
this is to provide, if desired, for placing stops under the press, so that when the
mould, with its moulded pail, descends by the lowering of the plunger H the pail-
ring may strike said stops and be upheld by the latter, and thus not only loosen
the formed pail, but cause it to be removed from the frustum; or the formed pail
may be lifted by hand or any suitable means by the loose ring b from off the
frustum. After the pail has been formed suction is turned off by suitably operating
the cock e, and the cock f is turned on so as to admit air,. in order that the air will
ascend the hose J to the tube K, and thence down to and between the hollow
die part or cap E'. As the formed pail is lowered away from the die part E' air
comes through the perforations in the lower half of said die part, and thus vents
the pail from the die. The lugs 6 6 have bolted to them slotted slides, which
work up and down the uprights B B as the plunger H is raised or lowered, and
which serve to lock or hold the plunger and its attachments when raised by suitable

page_text: mechanism, which is here shown as consisting of a hand-lever 68 on the under side
of the portion H₁ of the plunger H, and connected, as by rods etc and levers c³ ³.
with the slides 67. Supposing the perforated frustum E, having its perforated
and porous coverings ad applied to it, be raised and locked in position, as in
Fig. 1, the first operation will be to pull down the lever U, and afterward return it
to its normal or vertical position. This raises the die part E' and its attachments,.
in which position they are held by the spring-catch a'. The cock e is then turned
to put on suction, the cock being closed. Next the lever P is raised until its
lever-catch n engages with the notch in the bracket Q. Pulp thereby is admitted
to the mould, and the rubber bag F expands until it touches the pressure-.
distributer D. The pressure of pulp in the inould now lifts the die part E', with
its tubes K and L and their appendages, until the lever-catch n hits the thumb-
screw m, thereby releasing the lever P. As soon as the die part E', with its
attachments, is thus raised the spring-catch a' flies out from engagement with the
tube K, and said die part is free to descend. The supply of pulp is thus shut off
automatically, and as this takes place the lever P, carrying the spring R2, moves
down and, striking the end of the slotted spring, knocks the latter down, and so
provides, as hereinbefore described, for, by the action of the escapement and
handle with weight u, controlling the cock C, to let the pressure on gradually to
the chamber or vessel A, said cock having previously been turned to give escape to.
the atmosphere from the vessel A of air displaced by the expansion of the rubber
bag F. The heavy pressure introduced into the chamber A by the pipe R' forces
the rubber bag toward the frustuun E, around which it contracts, and the die
part E is also driven down and forins and presses the end of the pail. When the
pail is formed or pressed, the cock C¹ is turned so as to shut off pressure and to
allow the medium under pressure in the vessel A to escape to the atmosphere. If
water be used as the pressing medium, then the same may be drawn off by a cock
in the bottom of the vessel A. Suction is then turned off and the cock turned to.
admit air to the hose J, and the base of the frustum is unlocked by the mechanism
shown in Fig. 4. The pressure in the hydraulic cylinder G is also allowed to
escape, which admits of the frustum E descending. The pail being removed from
said former or frustum, the flexible perforated cover a", which is made expansible
and contractible around said frustum, shrinks away from the inside of the pail and
is removed, as also the cloth bonnet or cover d. Said bonnet d is then drawn over
the flexible or contractible cover a, which is readily done. Then both are shoved
down over the frustum E, and the latter raised to its previous position by admitting
pressure to the cylinder G, and then locked in position for the formation of another
or succeeding pail.
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 machine or press for making pails and other hollow articles from pulp by
fluid-pressure, the combination, with the rising and falling die part E', with its
attachments, of a spring-catch operating to hold said die part partially raised, and
mechanism for controlling the same, essentially as set forth.
2. In a machine for making pails and other hollow articles from pulp by fluid-
pressure, the combination, with the rising and falling die part E, its attached
tubes K and L, the piston-valve h and its rod N, spring i, and lever U, with its con-
nection operating to lift said die part, of the spring-catch a', actuated by said lever
and arranged to engage with the tube K, the lever P, with its connections 0 0¹,
the notched bracket Q, the lever-catch n, and the stop m, whereby not only pulp
is admitted to the press and the die part E held raised while pulp is being supplied,
but after the press has been charged further supply of pulp is automatically shut
off, substantially as described
3. In a press for making pails and other hollow articles from pulp by fluid-
pressure, the combination, with the mechanism by which the supply of pulp is

page_text: controlled and shut off, and with the cock by which fluid-pressure is admitted to
the interior of the pressure-chamber, of a spring-escapement mechanism applied to
said cock, whereby pressure is automatically turned on to the press, as set forth.
Dated this 16th day of February 1891
F. W. BARKER,
Applicant's Agent.