IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC PRESSES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Wilson, of Colombo, in the Island of Ceylon,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC PRESSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Wilson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
January 1862.
I, DAVID WILSON, of Colombo, in the Island of Ceylon, do hereby declare
the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC PRESSES," to be
as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in hydraulic presses. For
these purposes when preparing seeds or fatty and other substances in order to
express oil therefrom, where it is desirable first to form the substances into
cakes to be placed in a suitable press to have the oil expressed from them, such
preparatory process is performed in a press of the following construction:-
If circular cakes of the substance are to be made then a long cylinder is
employed having a ram or piston capable of being moved by hydraulic or other
power from the lower to the upper end thereof. The substances to be pressed
are to be supplied in regulated quantities in the following manner:-The cover
or top of the press is to be moved out of the way and the piston is to be near
the top of the long cylinder of the press, there being a space between the top
of the cylinder and the upper surface of the piston equal to that required for
receiving the proper measure or quantity of seeds or fatty or other matters to
form a cake. On the top of the piston is placed a circular plate and piece of
basketwork, and over this a layer of woven fabric, then a quantity of crushed

page_text: seed or other substance from which oil is to be extracted is to be supplied into
the cylinder above the piston so as to come nearly level with the top of the
cylinder, on to this a piece of woven fabric is to be placed, then a sheet of
metal, and then a piece of woven fabric, the piston is to be lowered a distance
below the top of the cylinder so as again to leave a space for another quantity
of the crushed seed or other substance, and so on till the cylinder of the press
is full, when the cover or top of the cylinder is to be fixed in its place and the
contents of the press are to be subjected to moderate pressure, so as to form
the several layers of crushed seed or other substance into cakes, but not to
express the oil therefrom. The cover or top of the press is then to be moved
out of the way and the contents of the cylinder are to be progressively raised
above the top. The cakes thus produced are as they come above the top of
the cylinder to be removed and placed, together with the metal plates and
woven fabric, into another press of the following construction worked by
hydraulic power:-Two rams are used, one within the other, and capable of
being worked or actuated separately, which however is not new, but the
peculiarity consists in constructing the upper parts of such hydraulic press
without a perforated cylinder or trunk, and in place thereof a series of upright
bars are employed; it is preferred that the head or upper covering of the press
should be fixed to the cylinder by means of five pillars set round a circle in a
suitable manner to enable the head or upper plate of the press to resist the
strain consequent on pressing the materials between the rams and the head or
upper plate of the press. Within the circle around which these pillars are
fixed there are, by preference, five bars up as high as the floor, and three bars
above that level, at equal distances apart, around an inner circle, and it is
between these bars that the matters or substances which are being pressed are
retained. It is preferred that the larger part of this press should be below
the floor of a building and that only a few feet of the upper part of the press
should rise above the floor, and it is also preferred that at the level of the floor
there should be a plate or partition having an opening through it of suitable
diameter to admit of the passage of the cakes of the materials to be pressed
passing freely through such opening. In addition to the floor plate above
mentioned there are also one or more other partition plates interposed between
the pillars and the upright bars so as to retain the upright bars correctly
in position. At the upper part of the press one of the three upright bars is
arranged to be removed, so as to leave a space sufficiently wide to admit of
the cakes of material being introduced into the press through the space
between the upright bars. In charging this press the piston or circular plate
which is fixed or formed on the upper end of the inner or smaller ram is

page_text: brought up to the floor and the cakes of the material are to be placed thereon,
the piston being caused to descend as the pile of cakes is progressively
increased, and when the piston has descended to its lowest position the space
in the press between its top plate or cover and the floor is to be filled up by
continuing to pile the cakes in the press till that space is also filled.. The
upright bar which has been removed is now to be replaced and fixed securely..
then the larger ram having within it the smaller ram is caused to rise, so that,
ha pile of cakes of material from which oil is to be expressed will be progres-
sively sthjjected to pressure. When completed the pressure is to be relaxed,
the upright bar is to be again removed, and the cakes of material above the
floor are to be removed. The larger ram on arriving at the end of its stroke
is stopped by proper stops; the inner or smaller ram is now to be caused to
ascend, which it will do when water is pumped into the cy'inder, there being a
passage through the lower end of the larger ram, so as to admit the water
from the outer cylinder of the press into the larger ram; by these means the
pile of cakes will be progressively raised above the floor plate of the press, and
such cakes are to be removed from the press as they ascend. The whole of
the pile of cakes having been removed, the press will then be in condition to
be again used in the manner above described.
When a press is to be used in packing cotton or other fibrous materials,
then, in place of the upright bars before described, an upright trunk or
chamber, such as is ordinarily used in cotton presses, is to be employed, and
the hydraulic press is arranged to work in a somewhat different manner. The
piston or follower of the press is to be fixed on or form part of the smaller of
the two rams. The upright trunk or chamber at its upper sides is to be made
with doors or moveable sides, which are opened or moved out of the way when
supplying the upright trunk or enclosed chamber with cotton or with other
fibrous matters to be packed. For this purpose the upper parts of two of the
sides of the trunk or chamber are arranged to move on hinges, whilst the
other two sides are caused to move into and out of their places by two excen-
trics outside of each of such two sides, which excentrics are caused to turn
simultaneously, and thus to move the ends. The inner surfaces of these two
sides are grooved with parallel grooves, which receive the ends of the other
two sides which turn on hinges, by which means such hinged sides aro
prevented moving till the other two sides have been moved out of the way by
their excentrics. Provision is also made, as heretofore, for binding or fixing
the bale (when pressed) by hoop iron or other suitable bands. In this, as iu
the former arrangement, it is preferred that only the upper part of the press
should rise above the floor to such an extent as to admit of the moveable,

page_text: upper parts of the sides of the upright enclosed chamber or trunk being opened
to fill the press, and also to admit of the bale, when pressed and bound, being
removed from the press. Supposing the enclosed chamber or trunk of the
press to have been filled with cotton or other fibre, and the moveable upper
parts of the sides of the press to have been closed, the bydraulic rams are
arranged to act in the following manner:-The larger or outer ram is retained
down at its lowest position by suitable stops; on water being pumped into the
cylinder of the press the smaller ram and piston will rise up the interior of
the enclosed chamber or trunk of the press and to some extent compress the
fibrous materials therein between the piston or follower and the top plate or
cover of the press. Then between the upper end of the larger ram and the
unler side of the piston r follower props are to be introduced, so that the
larger ram may not rise without acting on the piston or follower as if it formed:
a part or continuation of the larger ram of the press. The larger ram is then
tobe released from its stops or holding apparatus, when, as the water is again
pmped into the cylinder of the press, the larger ram will be moved out of the
einder and act on the piston or follower of the press and thus cause it to
emplete the pressing of the fibrous materials into a bale, which is then to be
und and secured as heretofore. To admit of this being accomplished the
(centrics which retain two of the upper parts of the sides of the chamber or
ank are to be caused to rotate, and when these two sides have been moved
ick the other two sides may then be turned away on their hinges.
In the above description fatty and oily matters, also cotton and other fibrous
aterials only have been mentioned, but it should be stated that by suitable
1odifications of the trunk or chamber, and other parts of the presses, above
xplained, presses may be constructed according to this Invention suitable for
ressing and packing woven and other goods and substances.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
July 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
WILSON, of Colombo, in the Island of Ceylon, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord One-
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said.

page_text: David Wilson, Her special licence that I, the said David Wilson, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said David Wilson,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC
PRESSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said David Wilson,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said David Wilson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
For
This Invention has for its object improvements in hydraulic presses.
these purposes, when preparing seeds or fatty and other substances in order to
express oil therefrom, where it is desirable first to form the substances into
cakes to be placed in a suitable press to have the oil expressed from them, such
preparatory process is performed in a press of the following construction:―
If circular cakes of the substance are to be made, then a long cylinder is
employed, having a ram or piston capable of being moved by hydraulic or
other power from the lower to the upper end thereof. The substances to be
pressed are to be supplied in regulated quantities in the following manner:-
The cover or top of the press is to be moved out of the way, and the piston is
to be near the top of the long cylinder of the press, there being a space
between the top of the cylinder and the upper surface of the piston equal to
that required for receiving the proper measure or quantity of seeds or fatty or
other matters to form a cake. On the top of the piston is placed a circular
plate and piece of basketwork, and over this a layer of woven fabric, then a
quantity of crushed seed or other substance, from which oil is to be extracted,
is to be supplied into the cylinder above the piston, so as to come nearly level
with the top of the cylinder; on to this a piece of woven fabric is to be
placed, then a sheet of metal, and then a piece of basketwork, and woven
fabric. The piston is to be lowered a distance below the top of the cylinder,
so as again to leave a space for another quantity of the crushed seed or other

page_text: substance, and so on till the cylinder of the press is full, when the cover or top
of the cylinder is to be fixed in its place and the contents of the press are to
be subjected to moderate pressure, so as to form the several layers of crushed
seed or other substance into cakes, but not to express the oil.therefrom.
I would state that I make no claim to any part of the apparatus separately.
This part of my Invention consists in the arrangement of pressing apparatus
herein described for producing shaped and pressed cakes of substances from
which oil is to be pressed in another press, as hereafter explained. The
cover or top of the press is then to be moved out of the way, and the contents
of the cylinder are to be progressively raised above the top. The cakes thus
produced are as they come above the top of the cylinder to be removed, and
placed, together with the metal plates and woven fabric, into another press of
the following construction, worked by hydraulic power. Two rams are used
one within the other, and capable of being worked or actuated separately,
which, however, is not new, but the peculiarity consists in constructing the
upper parts of such hydraulic press without a perforated cylinder or trunk, and
in place thereof a series of upright bars are employed. It is preferred that the
head or other covering of the press should be fixed to the cylinder by means
of five pillars set round a circle in a suitable manner to enable the head or
upper plate of the press to resist the strain consequent on pressing the materials
between the rams and the head or upper plate of the press.
ram B
Figure 1 shews a side elevation of a press, arranged and combined according
to this part of my Invention; Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, show some of the parts
separately. A is the hydraulic cylinder; B is the larger ram, working in the
cylinder A; within the ram B another ram C works in such manner that the
goes first when the press is started, as will be hereafter explained;
D, D, are two plates, which keep the parts correctly in position between the
top of the bydraulic cylinder A and the plate E, which is preferred to come
level with the floor where the press is packed and unpacked; F is the top or
cover of the press; this top or cover F of the press is connected to the
hydraulic cylinder by the five pillars F¹, F1, as shown in the Drawings. The
under side of the plate E is shown at Figure 2, and the upper side thereof is
shown at Figure 3. Within the circle around which the pillars F¹, F¹, are
fixed there are, by preference, five bars G, G, up as high as the floor, and
three bars H, H, above that level, at equal distances apart around an inner
circle, and it is between these bars that the matters or substances which are
being pressed are retained. It is preferred that the larger part of this press
or that which is below the plate E, should be below the floor of a building,
and that only a few feet of the upper part of the press should rise above the

page_text: floor; and it is also preferred that at the level of the floor there should be a
plate or partition E, having an opening through it, of suitable diameter to
admit of the passage of the cakes of the materials to be pressed freely through
such opening. In addition to the floor plate E above mentioned, there are
also one or more other partition plates D, D, interposed between the pillars
and the upright bars, so as to retain the upright bars correctly in position.
At the upper part of the press one of the three upright bars II is arranged to
be removed, so as to leave a space sufficiently wide to admit of the cakes of
material being introduced into the press through the space between the
upright bars. For this purpose it is preferred that one of the bars H should
be arranged to slide up through a hole or passage in the top or cover of the
press, whilst the lower end, when down, is received into a socket or hole in
the upper surface of the plate E.
In charging this press the piston or circular plate which is fixed or formed
on the upper end of the inner or smaller ram, is brought up to the floor, and the
cakes of the material about to be pressed are to be placed thereon, the piston
being caused to descend as the pile of cakes is progressively increased, and when
the piston has descended to its lowest position the space in the press between its
top plate or cover and the floor is to be filled up by continuing to pile the cakes
in the press till that space is also filled. The upright bar H, which has been
removed, is now to be replaced, and fixed securely; then the larger ram having
within it the smaller ram, is caused to rise, so that the pile of cakes of material
from which oil is to be expressed will be progressively subjected to pressure.
When completed the pressure is to be relaxed, the upright bar is to be again
removed, and the cakes of material above the floor are to be removed. The
Jarger ram on arriving at the end of its stroke is stopped by proper stops ;
the inner or smaller ram is now to be caused to ascend, which it will do when
water is pumped into the cylinder, there being a passage through the lower
end of the larger ram so as to admit the water from the outer cylinder of the
press into the larger ram; by these means the pile of cakes will be pro-
gressively raised above the floor plate of the press, and such cakes are to be
removed from the press as they ascend. The whole of the pile of cakes having
been removed the press will then be in condition to be again used in the
manner above described.
Having thus described this part of my Invention, I would remark that I
make no claim to any of the mechanical parts separately, and I would state that
the peculiarity of this part of my Invention consists in the combined arrange-
ment herein described.
When a press is to be used in packing cotton or other fibrous materials,

page_text: then in place of the upright bars, before described, an upright trunk or
'chamber, such as is ordinarily used in cotton presses, is to be employed; and the
hydraulic press is arranged to work in a somewhat different manner. The
piston or follower of the press is to be fixed on or form part of the smaller of
the two rams. The upright trunk or chamber at its upper sides is to be
made with doors, or moveable sides, which are opened or moved out of the
way when supplying the upright trunk or enclosed chamber with cotton, or
with other fibrous matters to be packed. For this purpose the upper parts of
'two of the sides of the trunk or chamber are arranged to move on hinges
whilst the other two sides are caused to move into and out of their places by
'two excentrics outside of each of such two sides, which excentrics are caused
to turn simultaneously and thus to move the ends. The inner surfaces of these
two sides are grooved with parallel grooves, which receive the ends of the
other two sides which turn on hinges, by which means such hinged sides are
prevented moving till the other two sides have been moved out of the way by
their excentrics. Provision is also made, as heretofore, for binding or fixing
the bale (when pressed) by hoop iron, or other suitable bands. In this, as in
the former arrangement, it is preferred that only the upper part of the press
should rise above the floor to such an extent as to admit of the moveable
upper parts of the sides of the upright enclosed chamber or trunk being
opened to fill the press, and also to-admit of the bale, when pressed and bound,
being removed from the press.
Figures 6 and 7 shew two elevations of a press suitably arranged according
to my Invention for pressing cotton and other fibrous substances into bales.
Figures 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, shew separate plans and transverse sectional
views, the nature of which will be understood on examining the Drawings.
A is the hydraulic cylinder of the press; B is the larger ram; C is the smaller
ram, on the upper end of which is formed or affixed the follower or piston of
the press; F, F', are the pillars which connect the cylinder A with the top F
of the press; at the upper part of the press where the bale is delivered there
are two doors J, J, which open on hinges or axes at J'. These doors when
shut are retained in position by two moveable sides K, K, which are moved
and retained in position by inclined surfaces L, L, which it is preferred should
be in the form of excentrics on the pillars F', F', and it is preferred to give
motion thereto by means of worms or screws L, L, on the shafts or axes L².
The ram B is arranged at its lower end with four bolts B', B', which are actuated
by a key passed down into and placed in the square hole B in the rotating
plate B³, which has grooves in it, in which work pins on the bolts B', so that
in turning the plate in one direction it will shoot the bolts outwards, and by

page_text: turning the plate in the opposite direction it will draw the bolts in. The
object of this arrangement is to prevent the ram from being forced out of the
cylinder A when the bolts are projected out of the ram. The working of this
press is as follows:-A moveable saddle may be placed on the piston of the
cotton press, which can be clamped up to the upper part of the press or
fastened by bolts inserted below the saddle on the pressure being finished, so
as to admit of the rams descending whilst the bale is being fastened; or, if a
saddle be laid on the top of the cotton when the press is full, the two saddles
may be clamped together, and removed from the press to be fastended by
ropes or iron. Supposing the enclosed chamber or trunk of the press to have
been filled with cotton or other fibre, and the moveable upper parts of the
sides of the press to have been closed, the hydraulic rams are arranged to act
in the following manner :-The larger or outer ram is retained down at its
lowest position by suitable stops; on water being pumped into the cylinder A
of the press the smaller ram and piston will rise up the interior of the enclosed
chamber or trunk of the press, and to some extent compress the fibrous
materials therein between the piston or follower and the top plate or cover of
the press. Then between the upper end of the larger ram and the under side
of the piston or follower props are to be introduced, so that the larger ram
may not rise without acting on the piston or follower as if it formed a part or
continuation of the larger ram of the press; the larger ram is then to be released
from its stops or holding apparatus, when as the water is again pumped into
the cylinder of the press, the larger ram will be moved out of the cylinder,
and act on the piston or follower of the press, and thus cause it to complete
the pressing of the fibrous materials into a bale, which is then to be bound
and secured as heretofore. To admit of this being accomplished the excen-
trics which retain two of the upper parts of the sides of the chamber or trunk
are to be caused to rotate, and when these two sides have been moved back
the other two sides may then be turned away on their hinges. In the
Drawings the two hinged sides are caused to move on vertical axes or hinges,
but it will be evident that they may, if preferred, move on horizontal axes or
hinges of the upper parts. In will be seen in the Drawings that the ends of
two of the moveable sides are caused to enter grooves in the other two sides;
this is not essential, as other means of forcing and of retaining them into position
may be resorted to.
In the above description fatty and oily matters, and also cotton and other
fibrous materials only have been mentioned, but it should be stated that by
suitable modifications of the trunk or chamber, and other parts of the presses
above explained (which a workman acquainted with such presses will readily

page_text: introduce) presses may be constructed according to this Invention suitable for
pressing and packing woven and other goods and substances.
I would remark that I make no claim to any of the mechanical parts sepa-
rately of which the hydraulic press, above described, is composed; and I
would state that the peculiarity of this part of my Invention consists in the
combined arrangement herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Wilson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.