AN IMPROVED TOBACCO PRESS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Welch, of St. John's Square, Clerkenwell,
in the County of Middlesex, and James Biggs, of Norton Folgate, in the
J
T...
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Welch and James
Biggs at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 17th September, 1858.
We, EDWARD WELCH, of St. John's Square, Clerkenwell, in the County of
Middlesex, and JAMES BIGGS, of Norton Folgate, in the City of London,
Tobacco Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED TOBACCO PRESS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel construction of hydraulic press, whereby.
the operation of pressing tobacco, and, thereby preparing it for the cutting
machine, may be greatly expedited. To this end we fit the press with a railway,
upon which the mould or box containing the material to be compressed
traverses, it being provided with wheels for the purpose. Secured to the head'
of the press is a block which is formed to fit the mould loosely. Immediately
below this block the ram of the hydraulic cylinder is situated, and over it is
placed the mould. As the ram rises under the action of the fluid injected into
the hydraulic cylinder it will lift the mould from the railway, and cause the

page_text: tobacco contained therein to be pressed into a compact cake by reason of its
contact with the fixed block attached to the press head. When sufficiently
compressed the ram is returned to its normal position, the mould containing
the cake of tobacco is then quickly pushed aside and a freshly charged mould
put in its place, and the operation repeated. To ensure the facile discharge
of the tobacco from the mould, it will be desirable to incline the sides of the
mould and provide it with a loose bottom.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Welch and James Biggs in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th March 1859.
4
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWARD
WELCH, of St. John's Square, Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex, and
JAMES BIGGS, of Norton Folgate, in the City of London, Tobacco Manu-
facturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent. Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Edward Welch and James, Biggs, Her special license that we,
the said Edward Welch and James Biggs, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Edward Welch and James Biggs,
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
Íslands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED. TOBACCO PRESS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Edward Welch
and James Biggs, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals,
or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 Edward Welch, (on behalf of myself
and of the said James Biggs), do hereby declare the nature of our said In-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly

page_text: described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked.
thereon (that is to say):
This Invention relates to a novel construction of hydraulic press, by the use
of which the operation of pressing tobacco to prepare it for the cutting machine'
may be greatly expedited, and a considerable economy in labour effected.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews the improved press in plan
view; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken through the line 1...2, of Fig. 1;'
and Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the press. a, a, are four standards bolted
to a bed plate b, to which is also secured the hydraulic cylinder c midway
between the standards. Attached to the standards a, a, is a railway d, d, for
receiving an iron box or mould e, in which the material to be compressed is to'
be placed. This mould is mounted upon wheels to facilitate its traverse over
the railway. The standards are bolted at their upper ends to a cast-iron
plate f, which forms the head of the press, and secured to this fixed plate.
by screw bolts is a block g, which is formed to fit the mould loosely. The
situation of this block is immediately above the ram h of the hydraulic cylinder,
so that when the filled mould is run into position to be acted upon by the
press, the ram in rising will lift the mould from the railway, and cause it to
slide over the fixed block, which entering the mould will compress the tobacco
contained therein. The mould is furnished with a loose false bottom, which is
placed in the mould before charging it with tobacco, to facilitate the discharge
of the tobacco when compressed, and connected to the front of the mould by a
link is a hooked hand lever k, the point of which enters the mould below the
false bottom through an opening made in the mould for the purpose of forcing
up the false bottom and giving the compressed material a start in the mould.
In order to fill the mould, it is drawn forward on the railway to the dotted
position of Fig. 2, and having been charged with tobacco it is pushed back
under the fixed block g, a stop being provided at the end of the railway to
ensure its taking up a proper position; water or other suitable liquid is then
pumped into the hydraulic cylinder c through the pipe c*, by steam or other
power, and as it accumulates therein the ram h will rise, lift the mould off the
rails, and forcing the tobacco contained in the mould into close contact with
the fixed block attached to the press head, will reduce the tobacco to a compact
cake or block. When sufficient pressure has been put on the tobacco the
pump must be stopped, and the pressure may be retained for a few minutes,
more or less, to ensure the solidification of the mass, but not so long as to affect
the colour of the tobacco; the water is then to be run off from the cylinder.
The ram will by its own weight return to its norinal position, carrying with it

page_text: the mould, which will be deposited upon the railway. This being done, the
attendant next draws forward the mould to the dotted position of Fig. 2,
depresses the lever k, and thereby raises the compressed cake of tobacco to the
upper part of the mould, whence it can be lifted out, or the mould when drawn
forward may be lifted off the rails and a freshly charged mould put in its place
to undergo the like compressing operation.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "An Improved Tobacco
Press," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, we wish it
to be understood that we lay no claim to the application of hydraulic power to
the compression of tobacco; but what we claim under the above in part recited
Letters Patent is, the construction of hydraulic press, as herein described,
whereby the compression of tobacco to prepare it for the cutting machine.
may be expeditiously effected.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Welch, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
EDWARD WELCH. (L.S.)