Improvements in Soap Presses.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Dec., 1899-Accepted, 20th Jan.,
1900
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Soap Presses.
We, JOHN JAMES FORSTER, Pattern Maker, and ROBERT LUCIUS MURDOCK,
Hinge Maker, residing at Avalon, County of Allegheny, State of Pennsylvania,
United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:.
The invention described herein relates to certain improvements, in presses for
condensing and solidifying cakes of soap, and has for its object a construction of
apparatus whereby the cakes may be automatically fed into a compress in a
suitable matrix, and by the reverse operation of the compressing plungers, with-
drawn from such matrix, and then, by the operation of suitable grippers, so
clamped or held as to permit of the separation of the plungers from the sides of
the cake of soap. In general terms, the invention consists in the construction
and combination substantially as hereinafter. more fully described and claimed.
In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Fig. 1 is
a top plan view of our improved press; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;
Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, the plane of section being indicated by the
line III-III, Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional elevation, the plane of
section being indicated by the line IV-IV, Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a perspective view
of a portion of the feed mechanism; Fig. 6 is a top plan view illustrating certain
modifications in the construction of the machine, and Fig. 7 is a sectional eleva-
tion the plane of section being indicated by the line VII-VII, Fig. 6.
In the practice of our invention, the power shaft 1 having a crank 2, is mounted
in suitable bearings 3 on the frame 4 of the machine. Around the crank 2 are
secured bearing blocks 5 adapted to move up and down during the rotation of
the crank in the yoke 6 which is secured to or formed integral with the recipro
cating cross-head 7. In this cross-head is mounted the plunger 8, which is
normally held in a forward position by a spring 9 arranged within a suitable
recess in the cross-head and bears at one end against a collar 10, and at its opposite
end against the rear wall of the recess. In the front end of the plunger 8 is
detachably secured a compressing and shaping head 11.
On the power shaft 1 is secured a disk 12 having a cam-groove 13 formed
therein. A pin or roller projecting into the cam-groove is secured upon a pit-
man 15 which has its rear end forked so as to straddle the power shaft, while its
forward portion is supported and guided by a lug. 16 formed on the frame 4 and
having an opening therethrough for the passage of the pitman. The arm 17 is
secured to the forward end of the pitman 15 and to this arm is attached a rod 18
having the compressing head 19 secured to its inner end. By the operation of the
grooved disk 12 through the described connections, the auxiliary. compressing
head 19 is moved back and forth through the mold box 20, which is detachably
secured in any buitable manner, known in the art, to the front end of the
frame 4..
In the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the cakes of soap are placed
on or fed to a feed belt 21 which passes around a driving roller 22 secured on the

page_text: shaft 23, mounted in suitable bearings 24 projecting up from the frame of the
machine. The belt also passes around a roller, not shown, mounted in any suit-
able manner a short distance in front of the machine. The cakes of soap are
retained as against movement laterally off of the belt by means of side pieces 25
and 26 arranged along opposite edges of the belt, as elearly shown in Figs. 1, 4
and 5. In order to permit of the compressing of different sizes of cakes, one of
the side pieces, as 26, is adjustably mounted, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 5,
upon its supports. The shaft 23 may be driven in any suitable manner, such
for example as that shown by belts and pulleys from the power shaft 1. By the
action of the belt 21 the cakes to be compressed are delivered into and forced
partially down between the vertical guides. These guides consist, as clearly
shown in Figs. 1 and 2, of side pieces 27 and 28, the former being arranged in
line with stationary side plate 25, and the latter being adjustably mounted so as
to be capable of being shifted in accordance with the adjustment of the şide
plate 26, upon brackets 29 suitably secured to the frame of the machine. The
cakes of soap are prevented from dropping out from between the side plates
forming the vertical guides by means of retaining strips 30, which project inwardly
towards each other and are provided with lugs 31. These lugs are slotted as shown
in Figs. 2 and 5, so as to permit of their adjustment upon the side plates in accor-
dance with the thickness of the cakes to be compressed.
In the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 5 the cake feed mechanism is arranged
at one side of the machine, so that the cakes will be deposited upon an adjustable
ledge or shelf 32 at one side of the mold box 20. The cakes are shifted along
this mold box to a position in front of the latter by means of a pusher 33, which
as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 is adjustably attached at its outer end to a reciprocating
block 34, movably mounted upon a guide arm 35 attached to the side of the frame
of the machine. The back and forth movement of the block 34 is effected by a
slide 36. which is mounted in guides 37 secured to the frame of the machine.
This slide 36 is provided with an angularly arranged arm 38, slotted as shown,
and through the slot in the arm projects a pin 39 preferably provided with an
anti-friction roller and secured upon the block 34, as shown in Fig. 4. It will
be readily understood that by the back and forth movement of the slide 36, the
block 34 and the pusher 33 will be moved back and forth to shift a cake of soap
into position in front of the mold box. The slide 36 is provided with an arm 40
connected to one end of a pitman 41 which has its opposite end connected to a
crank pin 42 eccentrically secured to the disk 43, keyed to the power shaft 1.
The movement of the slide 36 is so timed that a cake of soap will be forced into
position in front of the mold box 20 immediately after the retreat of the auxiliary
presser head 19 into the mold box. During the movement of the presser arm to
shift a cake of soap into position, the plunger 8 is moved forward and will force
a cake into the mold box against the auxiliary head 19 and subject it to the
necessary pressure which is determined by the tension of the spring 9.
After the soap has been compressed the plunger 8 is withdrawn, and during
this return movement of the plunger the auxiliary head is caused to move forward
with a speed equal to that of the plunger until the compressed cake has been
pushed entirely outside of the mold box and is held by the heads 11 and 19
between the grippers, whose operation and construction will be hereinafter
described. As the presser arm is moved inwardly a new cake of soap will be
delivered by the feed mechanism on top of the presser arm, and as the latter is
withdrawn during the return movement of the plunger, the presser arm will be
withdrawn from under the cake, which will then drop onto the shelf 32, so as to
be in position to be fed into the machine by the inward movement of the pusher.
As the cakes of soap are likely to adhere to the presser heads, provision is made
for gripping the cakes at their exposed ends until the heads have been detached
therefrom. This gripping mechanism consists of plates 44 on the inner ends
of slides 45, which are mounted in guide blocks 46. As clearly shown in Figs. 1
and 4, these blocks have one side grooved for the reception of the vertical arms 47,

page_text: °
between guide ribs on the frame of the machine and are slotted to permit of the
secured to or formed integral with plates 48, which are mount
adjustment back and forth between such ribs. The blocks 46 are provided on the
sides with threaded stems 49, which project through slots into the vertic
5 arms 47, and the blocks are held in their adjusted positions by means of nu
screwed on the threaded stems. The outward movements of the slides 45 a
effected by means of levers 50 pivoted at their rear ends to the frame of th
machine, while their forward ends are slotted for the reception of pins 51, on th
lower ends of blocks 52, adjustably mounted on the slides, as shown in Fig. 4
10 The levers are shifted to move the slides outwardly by means of pins or rollers 5
adjustably mounted upon brackets 54 secured to the cross-head 7. These roller
bear against the edges of the levers, the portions of the edges against which they
bear being made of such a contour that the rollers will shift the levers outwardly
and hold them in such position during the back and forth movements of the cross-
15 head and auxiliary compressing head 19, except during the independent backward
movement of the plunger 8, at which time the compressing heads are separated
from the compressed cake. The inward movements of the slides 45 are effected by
springs 55 having one end connected by pins 56 on the underside of the levers and
the opposite ends to a stationary portion of the machine.
0 insure a quick inward movement of the grippers just prior to the separation of the
presser heads and the return movement of the auxiliary head, so that the cakes
These springs will
will be yieldingly held by the grippers at the time when it is desired to separate the
presser heads from the sides of the cake. The release of the cake is effected by
the action of the pins or rollers 53 on the levers 50 as soon as the compressing
heads have moved away from the cake.
As shown in Fig. 4, the adjustment of the shelf 32 is effected by a wedge
block 57 engaging a correspondingly shaped lug 58 depending from the shelf.
The back and forth movement of the wedge 57 being effected by a threaded rod 59
passing through an internally threaded sleeve 60 on the wedge 57. The rod 59
is. mounted in suitable bearings in the frame 4, and is rotated to effect the
adjustment of the shelf 32 by hand wheel 61.
In some forms or constructions of machines it is desired to arrange the feed
mechanism of the cakes to be pressed centrally or immediately above or in line
with the pressing mechanism, as clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 7, and in the
machine described in the application hereinabove referred to. When the feed
mechanism is so arranged, the cakes are deposited upon the mold box 20, or upon a
ledge or shelf 62 immediately above the mold box. In order to shift the cakes
from the mold box or shelf, a pusher 63 is connected to the arm 17 so as to move
in unison with the auxiliary plunger 19, so as to push a cake off of the shelf or
mold box while the auxiliary plunger is at the forward limit of its movement,
as shown in Fig. 7.
stop 64 adjustably secured to the sides 27 and 28 of the vertical guides.. It some-
A too great movement of the cakes is prevented by a
imes happens that the cake will adhere to the end of the pusher or to the stop,
nd will not drop onto the auxiliary plunger, thereby clogging the machine. In
rder to dislodge the cakes in case of such adherence, an arm 65 is pivotally
ounted upon a bracket 66,-so that its front end will move up and down between
he stops 64 and will strike any cake adhering either to the pusher or stops. A
oring 67 is so connected to the striker 65 as to tend to normally hold the front
ad of the striker down. In order to raise the striker and place the spring 67
nder a striking tension, a roller 68 is adjustably mounted on a standard 69
cured to the cross-head 7.
ised so that on the return movement of the cross-head and the pusher, a new
As the cross-head moves forward the striker is
ke can be pushed forward by the latter. As the cross-head reaches or approaches
e rear limit of its movement, the rollers 68 will permit the spring to operate so
at the forward end of the striker will hit a cake a sharp blow and force it down
to position in front of the mold box.
When the grippers are withdrawn the compressed cakes drop onto a

page_text: belt 70 passing around suitably driven rollers, the shafts of which are mounted in
suitable bearings secured to the frame of the machine.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:―
1. In a soap press, the combination of a mold or matrix, a positively driven
plunger for compressing the soap, a plunger for forcing the compressed cake out
of the mold or matrix and mechanism for causing the second plunger to move with
the compressing plunger during a portion of the return movement of the latter and
then returning the second plunger to normal position within the mold or matrix,
substantially as set forth.
2. In a soap press, the combination of a mold or matrix, a plunger for compress-
ing the soap within the mold or matrix, a plunger for forcing the compressed cake
out of the mold or matrix, and grippers controlled by the main plunger for holding
the cake during the return movements of both plungers, substantially as set forth.
3. In a soap press, the combination of a mold or matrix, a compressing plunger
a delivery plunger, a chute for the cakes to be pressed, a pusher for forcing the
cakes from the chute and a travelling apron for receiving the compressed cakes,
substantially as set forth.
4. In a soap press, the combination of a trough having one of its sides adjust-
able, a feeding belt travelling between the sides of the trough and inwardly
projecting retaining plates adjustably mounted on the sides of the trough, sub-
stantially as set forth.
5. In a soap press, the combination of removable mold box, movable heads
for compressing a cake of soap within the box, a supporting ledge or shaft arranged
in front of the mold box, means for adjusting such ledge or shelf, and a pusher
for shifting a cake of soap along the ledge to position in front of the mold box,
substantially as set forth.
6. In a soap press, the combination of a mold box, movable heads for compressing
a cake of soap with the box, a supporting ledge or shelf arranged in front of the
mold box, a pusher adjustably, connected to a movable block, a reciprocating slide
provided with a slotted arm arranged at an angle to the direction of movement
of the slide, and engaging a pin on the movable block, substantially as set forth.
7. In a soap press, the combination of movable compressing heads, vertically
and horizontally adjustable grippers, levers pivotally mounted on the frame of
the machine, and having their free ends connected to the grippers, springs for
shifting the levers inwardly, and adjustably mounted pins movable with the main
compressing head and adapted to move the levers outwardly, substantially as set
forth.
8. In a soap press, the combination of cake feeding mechanism, a mold box,
"compressing heads operative within the box to compress a cake of soap, and a
spring actuated striking arm to insure the movement of a cake to position in
front of the mold box, substantially as set forth.
Witnesses:
FRANCIS E. GAITHER,
DARWIN S. WOLCOTT.
JOHN JAMES FORSTER,
ROBERT LUCIUS MURDOCK,