IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PRE- PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION FOR PREPARING DOUGH, PASTE, AND OTHER SIMILAR PLASTIC SUBSTANCES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Robert Humphrey and John Hasler, botli
of Old Street, St. Luke's, in the County of Middlesex, Engineers, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PRE-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Robert Humphrey
and John Hasler at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 1st June 1864.
We, CHARLES ROBERT HUMPHREY and JOHN HABLER, both of Old Street,
St. Luke's, in the County of Middlesex, Engineers, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR PREPARING DOUGH, PASTE, AND OTHER SIMILAR PLASTIC SUBSTANCES," to be
as follows:-
Our Invention relates to machinery for preparing dough, paste, and other
similar plastic substances, in which a number of mixers or stirrers are caused.
to revolve in or pass through a trough or receptacle containing the flour, meal,
or other substance together with the fluids, and are thus made to stir or knead
the same in the requisite manner for forming it into dough, paste, or other
similar plastic materials.
One part of our Invention has for its object an improved arrangement for
raising the mixers or stirrers out of the trough; for this purpose we arrange.

page_text: such machinery in the following manner :-We fix a number of mixers o
stirrers radially upon a central shaft or spindle passing through the trough o
receptacle for the dough, which spindle revolves in bearings in or upon th
ends of two arms situated outside the trough; the other ends of these arm
are placed loose upon the main driving shaft of the machine, from which
motion is imparted to the spindle carrying the mixers or stirrers by means o
suitable gearing, so that the ends of the arms carrying the stirrer spindle car
be raised with the lätter out of the trough for the purpose of removing the
dough, paste, or other material, whilst at the same time the spindle, as also
the stirrers fixed thereon, have still rotary motion imparted to them from the
main shaft. Or, in some cases, in place of the main driving shaft we employ
a spindle carried by the framing of the machine, to which spindle the ends of
the side arms are fixed, and upon which the driving gear runs loose. Upon
either end of the stirrer spindle is fixed a pinion, which when the operation of
mixing is finished is put in gear with a segment rack fixed outside the trough;
the centre of the curvature of which rack corresponds with the centre of the
main driving shaft. As the rotation of the stirrer shaft continues, the pinion
upon its end will travel over the fixed segment rack, and the said shaft with
its mixers or stirrers will thereby be raised out of the trough, the contents of
which can then be readily removed and replaced by fresh material to be
operated upon by the mixers or stirrers, which can readily be lowered by
reversing the rotation of the main shaft. The sides of the trough through
which the stirrer spindle passes are formed with curved slots so as to allow of
this motion, which slots are closed by means of slides actuated by the rising
and falling of the stirrer spindle.
Another part of our Invention has for its object the more effective mixing
or stirring of the dough than was the case heretofore; for this purpose a
bracket is attached to each of the side arms, which brackets support a bar or
frame across the trough, and to which bar or frame is secured a number of
fixed stirrers, between which the revolving stirrers pass, whereby the dough
or other material is more effectually mixed. The fixed stirrers are also raised
out of the trough by the before-described motion of the side arms. We also
prefer to make the revolving stirrers of some width, and to fix them alter-
nately in opposite angular positions on the spindle, so that the tendency of the
die set to push the dough to one side of the trough is counteracted by the
opposite tendency of the other set.
Furthermore, in order to adapt the machine to troughs of different widths;
we fix the stirrers upon the spindle by means of a slotted boss, so that any
one of them can be readily removed from between the rest, in order to make

page_text: room for the side of the troughs of reduced widths; thus, according to the
quantity of dough or other material required to be mixed at one time, a
trough either of a width equal to the entire length of the stirrer spindle, or of
a width equal to only a part of the length of the stirrer spindle, may be used.
The stirrers that are then situated outside the trough need not be removed. .
.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Robert Humphrey and John Hasler in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 1st December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
ROBERT HUMPHREY and JOHN HASLER, both of Old Street, St. Luke's, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Charles Robert Humphrey and John Hasler, Her special licence that
we, the said Charles Robert Humphrey and John Hasler, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Charles Robert
Humphrey and John Hasler, our 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING DOUGH, PASTE, AND OTHER
SIMILAR PLASTIC SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Charles Robert Humphrey and John Hasler, our executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals,
or under the band and seal of one of us or them, 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 Charles Robert Humphrey, on behalf of
myself and the said John Hasler, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to. be performed, to be parti-
cularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,

page_text: reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say:-
Our Invention relates to machinery for preparing dough, paste, and other
similar plastic substances, in which a number of mixers or stirrers are caused
to revolve.in or pass through a trough or receptacle containing the flour, meal,
or other substance together with the fluids, and are thus made to stir or knead
the same in the requisite manner for forming it into dough, paste, or other
similar plastic materials.
One part of our Invention has for its object an improved arrangement. for
raising the mixers or stirrers out of the trough; for this purpose we arrange
such machinery in the following manner :-We fix a number of mixers or
stirrers radially upon a central shaft or spindle passing through the trough or
receptacle for the dough, which spindle revolves on bearings in or upon the
ends of two arms situated outside the trough. The other ends of these arms
are placed loose upon the main driving shaft of the machine, from which
motion is imparted to the spindle carrying the mixers or stirrers by means of
suitable gearing, so that the ends of the arms carrying the stirrer spindle can
be raised with the latter out of the trough for the purpose of removing the
dough, paste, or other material, whilst at the same time the spindle, as also
the stirrers fixed thereon, have still rotary motion imparted to them from the
main shaft. Or, in some cases, in place of the main driving shaft we employ
a hollow or solid spindle carried by the framing of the machine, to which
spindle the ends of the side arms are fixed, and upon which the driving gear
runs loose. Upon either end of the stirrer spindle is fixed a pinion, which,
when the operation of mixing is finished, is put in gear with a segment rack
fixed outside the trough, the centre of the curvature of which rack cor-
responds with the centre of the main driving shaft. As the rotation of the
stirrer shaft continues, the pinion upon its end will travel over the fixed
segment rack, and the said shaft with its mixers or stirrers will thereby be
raised out of the trough, which can then be removed and replaced by another
one, or the contents of which can be removed and replaced by fresh material
to be operated upon by the mixers or stirrers, which can readily be lowered
by reversing the rotation of the main shaft. The ends of the trough through
which the stirrer spindle passes are formed with curved slots so as to allow of
this motion, which slots are closed by means of slides actuated by the rising
and falling of the stirrer spindle.
Another part of our Invention has for its object the more effective mixing
or stirring of the dough than was the case heretofore; for this purpose a
bracket is attached to each of the side arms, which brackets support a bar or

page_text: frame across the trough, and to which bar or frame is secured a number of
fixed stirrers, between which the revolving stirrers pass, whereby the dough
or other material is more effectually mixed. The fixed stirrers are also raised
out of the trough by the before-described motion of the side arms. We also
prefer to make the revolving stirrers of some width, and to fix them alter-
nately in opposite angular positions on the spindle, so that the tendency of the
one set to push the dough to one end of the trough is counteracted by the
opposite tendency of the other set.
Furthermore, in order to adapt the machine to troughs of different lengths,
we fix the stirrers upon the spindle by means of a slotted boss, so that any
one of them can be readily removed from between the rest, in order to make
room for the end of the troughs of reduced length; thus, according to the
quantity of dough or other material required to be mixed at one time, a
trough either of a length equal to the entire length of the stirrer spindle, or
of a length equal to only a part of the length of the stirrer spindle, may be
used. The stirrers that are then situated outside the trough need not be
removed.
On the accompanying Drawing is shown a machine or apparatus for pre-
paring dough or paste having our before-described improvements.
Figure 1 shews a side elevation, Figure 2 shews a front elevation, and
Figure 3 shews a plan. Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in
each of the Figures.
A is the main driving shaft of the machine, carried by the side framing B,
and driven either by a crank handle C, as shewn, or by suitable gearing from a
steam engine or other source of motive power. The shaft A has upon it a loose
hollow shaft D, to which are fixed, at each end of the removable, trough E, the
arms F, F, the ends of which serve as bearings to the stirrer spindle G, which
passes across the trough E, carrying the revolving stirrers H, H, and the
stationary stirrers I, I. Upon the one end of the stirrer spindle G are fixed
two spur wheels J, K, of different diameters, which, according as the stirrers H
are desired to revolve faster or slower, can be put in gear respectively with
the pinions L, M, upon the driving shaft A, these pinions being for this
purpose made to slide upon the shaft by means of the lever N. By the above-
described arrangement it will be seen that the shaft A in revolving can cause
the stirrer spindle G and stirrers H, H, to rotate at the same time that these
are raised or lowered by the raising or lowering of the arms F, F, on account
of these being made to turn upon the shaft A. When employed in mixing the
dough or paste in the trough E, the stirrers and stirrer spindle require to be
down in the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1, whilst when after

page_text: When it is
completion of the operation the trough E has to be removed, the spindle and
stirrers require to be raised up out of the trough, as indicated by the position
shewn in full lines on the Drawing. In order to effect this motion of the
arms F, F, and spindle G, a segment rack or toothed quadrant O is carried at
its centre by the shaft A being placed loose upon the hollow shaft D, and is
supported in front by a spring P fixed to the framing B. This spring tends
to press the quadrant in an upward direction, whereby the quadrant, unless
pressed down, is slightly raised from the position shewn in the Drawing, until
the stop o comes in contact with the framing B. This raised position is just
sufficient for the teeth of a pinion Q fixed on the spindle G to work clear of
the teeth of the quadrant when the spindle and beaters are down in the
trough in the position indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1.
required to raise the spindle G and the stirrers H out of the trough, the
quadrant O is depressed by the attendant until its end teeth are put in gear
with the teeth of the pinion Q; the spindle G, and with it the pinion Q, are
then caused to revolve in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1, whereby it
will be seen that they will be raised up in the position shewn by the pinion Q
being made to travel upon the quadrant O. At the upper end of the
quadrant a stop is formed, as shewn, to prevent the pinion Q from working out
of gear with it. When the spindle and stirrers are raised into their highest
position the trough E can be drawn out, a portion e of the back of the same
being made to flap down, as indicated, to allow the ends of the beaters H to
pass out. When the trough is replaced by another filled with fresh materials
the spindle and stirrers H are lowered into their working position by turning
the spindle G, and consequently the pinion Q, in the reverse direction to that
of the arrow.
In order to allow of the above-described motion of the
spindle G and stirrers H into and out of the trough E, the ends of the latter
have curved slots R formed in them corresponding with the path of the
spindle, which slots are closed by a self-acting arrangement in the following
manner-A slide formed with a curvature corresponding with that of the
slot, and consisting of two separate parts S, S', hinged together at s, is made
When
capable of working up and down over the slot R. between guides r.
the spindle G is down in the trough the part S of the slide covers the slot R,
a semicircular notch being formed in the meeting ends of both parts of the
slide, as shewn, to allow of the passage of the spindle between them. When
the spindle is raised it pushes up the part S of the slide, which draws the
other part S' after it, thus keeping the slot R covered; when the part S has
passed up beyond the guides r the thrust of the spindle G causes it to turn
on the hinge s, so as to flap back out of the way until it comes in contact

page_text: with a stop or small roller U fixed to the end of the trough. The upper part
of the slot U is thus left open, as shewn on the Drawing, allowing the spindle
and stirrers to pass up out of the trough. When the spindle and stirrers are
lowered again into the trough the spindle presses down the part S' of the slide,
which in moving down draws the part S after it, which being made to turn
upon the pulley U as a fulcrum is thereby first raised into its former posi-
tion covering the slot R, and then moves down with the spindle.
:
In order to hold the before-mentioned stirrers' I; I, stationary upon the
spindle G, the upper ends of the same are made to pass through holes formed
in the bar V passing across the trough, and carried by brackets W fixed to
the side arms F. In order to allow of troughs of different lengths being
used in one and the same machine, the stationary stirrers I are carried by the
spindle G in the manner indicated in the part section at Figure 4, the boss of
the stationary stirrers being slottéd; as shewn, and kept on the spindle by the
pin i, so that on removing this pin the stirrer can be drawn off the spindle in
a lateral direction, and thus room is made for the end of a trough of reduced
length; or if the end of the trough would not come at the exact point where
one of the fixed stirrers are situated, then one of the revolving stirrers H may
be slid along upon the spindle into the space left by the stationary stirrer; or
the revolving stirrers may be fixed upon the spindle in a removable manner,
similar to that described with reference to the stationary stirrers.
By the employment of the before-described stationary stirrers placed inter-
mediately between each set of revolving stirrers the dough or paste will be
mixed or stirred much more effectually than heretofore, and the effectiveness
of the operation is still further increased by forming the revolving stirrers H
of some width, and at an angle to the axis of the spindle, as shewn, each two
opposite stirrers being made to incline in opposite directions, so that the one
set tends to push the dough to one end of the trough, whilst the other set
tends to push it in the contrary direction.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the precise details of the arrangement herein-before described
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, as these may be variously
modified without departing from the nature of the various parts of our
Invention; but what we claim is :-
First, supporting the stirrer spindle and stirrers by means of arms that are
made to raise and lower the stirrer spindles and stirrers out of and into the
rough by the rotary motion imparted to such stirrer spindle.
Second, closing the slots in the ends of the trough through which the

page_text: stirrer spindle passes, by means of slides actuated by the motion of the stirrer
spindle, substantially as herein-before described.
Third, the employment of stationary stirrers situated between the revolving
stirrers, and carried by the stirrer spindle, substantially as herein-before
described.
Fourth, making the revolving stirrers of some considerable width, and fixing
them at an angle to the stirrer spindle, but alternately in reversed positions,
so that one set in revolving pushes the dough or paste to one end of the
trough, whilst the other set pushes it to the other end.
Fifth, making the stirrers removeable from the stirrer spindle in manner
herein-before described, so as to admit of troughs of different lengths being
used in one and the same machine.
Sixth, the improved apparatus or machinery for preparing dough, paste,
and other similar plastic substances, herein-before described with reference to
the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Robert Humphrey, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
C. R. HUMPHREI. (LB.)