IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1862

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edward Beel Clark at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th July
1862.
I, EDWARD BEEL CLARK, of Lower Polgooth, in the Parish of Saint Ewe, in
the County of Cornwall, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to manufacture candles in a more simple,
speedy, and efficient manner than by the means hitherto adopted for the like
purpose. I propose, instead of the ordinary mode of dipping, to place the
tallow or other material suitable for the manufacture of candles in a cold or
partly cold state within a covered trough or receptacle placed upon a suitable
framing; one end of this trough or receptacle is open, and is provided with a
corresponding block, across which are a series of holes, in which are secured
polished metal dies of the required diameter of the candle. A bar is placed
behind and across the block within the trough, in the front of which bar wires
are fixed, which pass through the centres of the dies. About the middle of the
trough and fitting closely thereto is placed a plunger, which is caused to
move towards the dies by means of racks and pinions attached to the back of
the plunger within the opposite end of the trough, thus when motion is
imparted to the pinions by winch handles outside the trough, the tallow or
other material contained therein is forced against the dies, and in passing

page_text: propose
through them is formed, by means of the centre wires, into hollow candles or
tubes, which are then to be cut off at certain distances, as required, by a cutter
or cutters working in front of the dies or in a groove formed in the block
near the mouth of the dies. The wicks of such candles are to be drawn
through in a dry or partially dry state by means of wires. The advantages
afforded by this method of manufacturing candles are that the wicks being
dry will when lighted absorb the tallow, and thus form cups, and prevent the
candles from guttering, besides which uniformity of size and weight is ensured,
and the consistency of the tallow ensures an uniform-light. When using hard
materials,
to heat the block and dies to the required temperature
either by moist, dry, or other heat, the principal object of my Invention being
to manufacture candles of cold or partially cold materials by pressure, that is,
by forcing or pressing the material of which the candles are to be made
through blocks, dies, or tubes, and also to use a dry or partially dry wick, as
before mentioned. I further propose in some cases, after the.candles have
been manufactured according to the foregoing method, to supply them with an
additional coating or surface of material used in the manufacture of candles,
which material may generally be of a superior-character and appearance, such
as wax or spermaceti, and which may be colored or otherwise figured or
fluted by the following arrangement of apparatus:-I propose to place the
candles in hollow grooves, tubes, or cylinders of a larger diameter than the
candles themselves. These tubes may be arranged in a vertical or longitudinal
position, and the candles may be maintained in a central position by means
of projecting points or wires just entering or biting each end of the candle, and
which points are inserted and fixed ono set in the end of the cylinder or tube
of wood or metal, and the other set on the face of a circular block, disc, or
plate, the diameter of the candle to be covered or coated, the whole forming
a mandril for the additional layer of material. The series of tubes with the
candles so arranged therein are to be placed and fixed by screws, bolts, or
other fastenings to a second machine in a similar situation to that in which
they were when first formed by the machine, and the discs being held in
position either by means of a rod of iron passing through rings at their back,
or by their being fixed to a bar in a similar way to that in which the central
wires were fixed in the aforesaid machine, it follows, by the action of the
plunger in the second machine containing the material for the second layer,
that a tube or pipe of tallow, wax, fatty, or other suitable matter may be forced
along and round the surface of the interior candle, and so form one solid body
of the whole. In like manner the process can be repeated with a larger series
of tubes and discs if required. The extra tubes may be fluted or figured as

page_text: required, in order to form the exterior of the candle of an ornamental figure or
pattern. These tubes may be made in two longitudinal divisions, and secured
together by bolts, screws, or clamps during the process of making the extra
layer on the candle; they may afterwards be separated so as to enable the
figured surfaced or other candles to be removed. The advantages of the
second or further layers of material are, that the outer surface of the candle
may be of superior material, such as wax or spermaceti, which does not melt
so readily, so that a cup is always formed on the burning surface thereof,
which prevents the candle from guttering; and the centre of the candle may
thus be made of common materials, and the outer portion of a very superior
class of substance.