IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MECHANICAL, COMPRESSION OF VARIOUS SUBSTANCES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by David Blair White at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th June
1861.
I, DAVID BLAIR WHITE, of the Town and County of the Town of Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, Doctor of Medicine, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MECHANICAL, COMPRESSION OF VARIOUS
SUBSTANCES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, first in compressing substances in a vessel or cham-
ber, the capacity of which can be diminished, or the sides or ends of which
can be brought closer together by the action of water, steam, or other fluid,
communication being retained if required between such vessel or chamber
and the open air, or an exhauster, by which the enclosed air may be either
partially or entirely expelled or withdrawn.
In carrying out this part of my Invention any of the following arrangements
of apparatus may be employed. A cylinder or vessel, open at one end and
closed at the other, and in which an air-tight piston or plunger works, into
this cylinder or vessel, or into a cylinder or vessel connected with it, I place,
by means of an air-tight door the substance or material to be compressed, I
then lower the apparatus into water or other suitable liquid, and the pressure
of the water on the piston or plunger will cause the latter to move and press
the substance against the end of the cylinder or vessel, I prefer to employ two
such cylinders or vessels and pistons or plungers and to lower them into the water
alternately. I do not confine myself to working such an apparatus by hydraulic
pressure obtained by submergence, as in some cases, I employ a hydraulic pump

page_text: or column, or steam, or other power, the cylinder in such cases being closed at the
end and the power being admitted by some communication against the piston
or plunger. In any of these arrangements a pipe or tube may be employed to
convey the air from the interior of the cylinder or vessel, and the process may
be assisted, or a vacuum made if desired by an air pump or exhauster, the
return of air being prevented by a valve or stop cock. For some purposes I
simply employ a box or case with flexible sides and with a door or opening which
can be made air-tight, through which the articles or materials to be compressed
are passed into the interior. I then lower the box or case into water or other
liquid to such depths as may be required, a pipe or tube may be used in this
as in the former arrangements. For the modification of the pressure, I some-
times use two cylinders and pistons connected together and acting the one
upon the other and prefer to exhaust the air from both cylinders.
My Invention consists, secondly, in a method by which the substance
compressed may be so retained until it is bound. For this purpose at the
extremity of the cylinder in which the material is to be compressed, I place
the upper part of a cross-barred box or holder, the lower part being laid on
the top of the piston or plunger. When the piston has risen to the proper
position the lower part of the holder is locked into the upper and the material
retained in a compressed state until it is removed from the cylinder and bound;
in certain cases I envelop the material in an air-tight covering or sack or
bag.