IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Smith Cottrill, of Great Lever, near Bolton,
in the County of Lancaster, Bleacher, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PRESSES."
Sealed the 30th September 1856, and dated the 2nd April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Smith Cottrill,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd April 1856.
I, JAMES SMITH COTTRILL, of Great Lever, near Bolton, in the County of
Lancaster, Bleacher, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES," to be as follows:-
Instead of the usual plan of applying hydraulic power as a forcing or lifting
power, I fix a strong frame of any convenient shape or suitable material,
within which I arrange another frame, with head and foot cross picces suf-
ficiently strong to bear the intended pressure. Between these cross pieces I
place the goods or material to be pressed. I cause a follower or cross bar to
fall and rise in a slot in the sides of the vertical frame; and by means of rack
and pinion, worked by any system of wheel gearing, I cause the follower or
cross bar to descend, which gives the requisite force or pressure to press the
goods or material to be pressed; thus dispensing with hydraulic power, and
economising time in the operation, and the cost of the machine or apparatus.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Smith Cottrill in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st October 1856. .
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SMITH COTTRILL, of Great Lever, near Bolton, in the County of Lancaster,
Bleacher, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Smith Cottrill, Her special licence that I, the said James Smith
Cottrill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Smith Cottrill, my 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 PRESSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Smith Cottrill, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Royal Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Smith Cottrill, do hereby declare
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
(that is to say):-
Instead of the usual plan of applying hydraulics as a forcing or lifting
power to press goods, I fix a strong frame of any convenient shape or suitable
material, within which I arrange another frame, with head and foot cross pieces
sufficiently strong to bear the intended pressure. Between the said cross
pieces I place the goods or material to be pressed, and cause a follower or
cross bar to fall and rise in a slot in the sides of the vertical frame, and by
means of racks and pinions, worked by any suitable system of wheel gearing,
I cause the follower or cross bar to descend, and thus give the requisite force
or pressure to press the goods or material.
The nature of this Invention will be clearly understood by reference to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and the letters of reference thereon, in

page_text: which Fig. 1 is a plan of my improved press; Fig. 2, a front elevation; and
Figs. 3 and 4, end views of the same. A, A, represent the two vertical cheeks
of the framework; B, the press bottom, resting on the two stands 6¹ and b³;
C, the press follower, with the wrought-iron cross bar D attached, and pro-
jecting through the cheeks A, A. At each end of the cross bar D are the
spur racks E, E, which are worked up and down by the shaft F and pinions
F and F. The pinion and spur wheel I, I, form a single purchase on the
shaft h, and pinion and spur wheel H, HI, a double purchase on the shaft F.
On the shaft J is the strap pulley, by which motion is conveyed through the
wheels I, I, HI, H, and F, F, to the racks E, E, which, having a treble
purchase upon them, great power of compression is given to the goods required
to be pressed or packed. On the shaft J is a catch wheel, with the wrought-
iron catch k fastened into the vertical stand K, to prevent the machine from
running back by the force of the elasticity of the goods being packed or
pressed. On the shaft J is also the fly wheel L, by means of which the
pressure may be adjusted to the greatest nicety.
spur
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I desire it to be
distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the exact details herein
set forth, as such may be varied. or modified without departing from the
principle thereof; but I claim as my Invention, and which, to the best of my
knowledge and belief, has not been hitherto used within this realm, the
arrangement and construction of presses to supersede hydraulic power for
pressing or packing goods, as herein described, and illustrated in the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Smith Cottrill, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of September, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-six.
JAMES SMITH COTTRILL. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named James Smith Cottrill, in the
presence of
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.