IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILLS
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PALMER, of Sutton Street, Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex, Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-first day of November, in the seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Palmer, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Palmer, my exors, adñors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Palmer, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILLS;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said William
Palmer, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said In-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in
Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in

page_text: and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Palmer do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to the covering of pills with a coating of gelatine or
other suitable adhesive matter when in a liquid state, and also causing the
powder to adhere by adhesive fluid. And in order that the Invention may be
most fully understood, and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to explain
the means pursued by me.
The pills, being formed, are to be submitted to gelatine or other adhesive
matter, which when dry will offer a perfect covering to the pills, rendering the
surfaces smooth, and for the most part preventing taste in taking them. The
coating of pills with fluid gelatine or other suitable adhesive matter may be
accomplished in various ways, but it is important that they should be done
on a large scale and at small cost; I have therefore devised apparatus for
facilitating the process of coating pills with matter when in a fluid state.
The matter I prefer to use is the best gelatine, which being rendered fluid,
and kept sufficiently warm for the purpose, I place in the trough a, which
is divided into numerous compartments; into these compartments the fluid
coating matter is placed. The trough a slidės along the trough b, which
contains sweet oil, and has a sieve b', fitted into it, which when covered for
the most part with pills which have been coated with gelatine is raised out
of the oil trough, and the pills thus drained are dried on the sieve. The
trough a has pills supplied one to each of its divisions or compartments a', by
means of the apparatus c, which is divided into as many compartments as there
are compartments a¹, in the trough a. The pills having been introduced into c,
that apparatus is raised and the pills run off into the compartments of the
trough a, where they remain only for a short time, and are then all drawn out
by means of the instrument or rake d, the workman allowing the pills to
drain for a short time when they have been raised out of the gelatine; he then
draws them over and allows them to drop into the oil and on to the sieve b¹.
The trough a is then slided, and a fresh quantity of pills treated in the same
manner, till the whole surface of the sieve is nearly covered with pills without
touching each other, when the sieve is withdrawn, allowing the oil to drain

page_text: well through, when the same is to be suspended in any convenient room,
in order that the pills may become well dried, when the oil is removed by
rolling the pills between surfaces of calico, or other fabric, or by other means,
when they are ready for packing away for use. The pills may have more than
one coating where the nature of the medicine requires it; and I have found it
desirable when the pills are made, and still in a damp state, to roll them in dry
flour, which aids in preventing the gelatine melting the surface. There are
other means of drying the pills when coated with gelatine in place of immersing
them in oil, though I believe that process to be the most convenient. Thus in
some cases, having obtained a coating of gelatine, I cause them to fall into dry
flour, the vessel containing it being kept constantly agitated, so that the pills
do not remain stationary till the gelatine is well set, and when dry much of the
flour may be rubbed off.
When it is desired to coat pills with a matter of a fatty character, I prefer
to use spermaceti, reduced with sufficient sweet oil that when dry on the pills
it may not crack off; and having submitted the pills to this matter when in a
melted and fluid state I withdraw them therefrom, and when the coating matter
is beginning to set I allow them to drop from a considerable height into water
(or they may roll down on to an inclined plane into any convenient receptacle),
from which they are quickly removed on a sieve, in like manner to that above
described, and drained and dried, when they are ready to be packed away in
boxes or otherwise for use.
I would here remark that there are other materials which may be used
when in a fluid state for coating pills, and other means may be resorted to for
accomplishing the coating; I do not, therefore, confine myself to the materials
herein described, nor to the means herein recommended, but I believe them to
be the best for the purpose.
. Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I would have it under-
stood that what I claim is, the mode of coating pills by causing them to be
submitted to gelatine, fatty, or other suitable matter when in a fluid state, and
also the coating pills with fine powder when they have been previously sub-
mitted to an adhesive fluid.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Palmer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.
W (L.S.)
PALMER.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of May, in the
year of our Lord 1844, the aforesaid William Palmer came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-four.