IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING CAKES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR MAKING CAKES." A cominunication from abroad by George
Washington Nelson, of the City, County, and State of New York, United
States of America.
Sealed the 1st September 1876, and dated the 3rd April 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander' Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd April 1876.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middle-
sex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING CAKES."
The object of this Invention is to furnish an improved machine for making
jumbles, kisses, drops, macaroons, and other similar cakes, of dough so soft that here-
tofore it could be worked only by hand, and which shall be simple in construction
and convenient in use.
Heretofore the difficulty experienced in the attempt to construct a suitable
machine for this purpose has been the soft and adhesive nature of the dough, so that
cakes of the classes named have been almost altogether made by hand. The con-
struction and arrangement of the several parts of the machine are as follows:-To
the upper middle part of a suitable frame is attached a dough box, into the open
top of which the dough is fed from a hopper attached to the rear part of the frame.
The dough box is divided into as many compartments as there are discharge open-
ings by thin vertical partitions, and into each compartment is fitted a plunger,
which enters through the rear side of the said dough box. The object of this con-
struction is this: The dough is soft and must be discharged downward, and if the
plungers work vertically they would have to be raised to a considerable distance
before the dough could be put into the dough box, which would cause a great loss of
timo in working the machine. When the plungers work horizontally, the top of
the dough box can be opened, and the dough can be put in while the plungers are
receding, so that the plungers need be drawn back no farther than to give space for
the charge, and hence no time is lost. The open top of the dough box is closed
with a sliding cover to prevent the dough froin being pushed out of said open top
by the action of the plungers. Upon the lower forward side of the dough box is
formed an extension, the bottom of which is at a lower level than the bottom of the
[Price 6d.]

page_text: main part of the dough box, and slides in and out in grooves in the sides of said
extension, so that it can be taken out and exchanged for a plate with larger or
smaller openings when desired, and in it are formed one, two, or more round holes,
which are beveled off or made conical.
Ring cutters are employed, made in the shape of hollow cylinders, with closed
upper ends, and with the outer sides of their edges beveled off with a longer bevel
than the bevel of the holes in the bottom or cutter plates, so that when the cutters
are forced down their extreme edges may come in contact with the extreme edges
of the holes in the cutter plate, and separate or pinch off the dough. The cutters
are never raised entirely out of the holes in the bottom plate, so that when the
dough is pressed down and out by the advance of the plungers it passes out upon all
sides of the cutters, is pinched off by the descent of the said cutters, and drops as
a ring upon pans placed beneath the bottom plate upon endless carriers, which are
placed in line with each other and at a little distance apart.
The object of thus separating the carriers is this:-The first cakes dropped froin the
plate are incomplete or not so well forined as those subsequently made when the pres-
sure of the plunger has compacted the dough. It is, of course, not desired to bake
these incompletely formed cakes, nor that they shall be allowed to drop on the carriers,
and hence they are not received into the baking pans which travel on the carriers,
but drop between the ends of such carriers into a separate pan, which is slid under
the machine on rabbeted bars. The carriers are sufficiently near each other to allow
the baking pans to pass from one on to the other. The carrier aprons pass around
rollers driven by belts from a shaft revolving in bearings attached to the upper for-
ward part of the machine frame. To the end of the shaft is attached a large gear
wheel, in the teeth of which mesh the teeth of a large intermediate gear wheel,
revolving upon a gudgeon attached to the frame, and into its teeth mesh the teeth of
a small gear wheel attached to the end of the driving shaft, which revolves in bear-
ings attached to the frame; and to its other end are attached the pulleys to receive
the driving belt.
To the end parts of the shaft which drives the carrier aprons are attached two
bevel gear wheels, the teeth of which mesh into the teeth of bevel gear wheels,
attached to the forward ends of screws which are swiveled to the frame and pass in
through screw holes in the end parts of a cross bar, attached to the rear ends of the
plungers before mentioned, so that the said plungers may be forced forward with a
steady and uniform movement while the machine is at work. The ring cutters
before mentioned are attached to the lower ends of rods, the upper ends of which
pass up through a block attached to the dough box, in the angle between the
upper part of said dough box and its extension, and their upper ends are attached
to a cross bar, which moves up and down upon guide pins attached to the block, and
is forced down to cause the cutters to make a cut by spiral springs placed upon the
upper parts of guide pins, the upper ends of the springs resting against the heads of
the pins, and their lower cuds against a cross bar.
The block or cutter head is detachable, so that it may be detached and exchanged
for another with larger or smaller or with different shaped cutters when desired.
The ends of the above-mentioned cross bar project, and are recessed upon their
lower sides to receive the upper ends of push bars, the lower ends of which are
pivoted to levers near their forward ends. The rear ends of these levers are pivoted
to the frame, and their forward ends rest upon cams formed upon the driving shaft,
so that the cutters may be operated at each revolution of the driving shaft.
The cutters, as herein-before described, are designed for cutting jumbles or other
ring cakes, for cutting kisses, drops, macaroons, and other similar cakes, without
holes through them, there are used sliding beveled cutters pinching off the dough
against the beveled side of the discharge openings in the same manner as the
cutters pinch it off.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd
October 1876.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middle-
sex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING CAKES." A
communication from abroad by George Washington Nelson, of the City, County,
and State of New York, United States of America.
The object of this Invention is to furnish an improved machine for making cakes,
such as jumbles, kisses, drops, macaroons, &c., of dough so soft that heretofore it
could be worked only by hand, and which shall be simple in construction and con-
venient in use.
This machine is for giving form to dough for making cakes, such as jumbles,
kisses, droops, macaroons, &c. Heretofore the difficulty experienced in the attempt
to construct a suitable machine for this purpose has been the soft and adhesive
nature of the dough, so that cakes of tlie classes named have been almost
altogether made by hand.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure I is a top view of the improved machine;
Figure 2 is a side view of the same; Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section
of the same, taken through the line c, x, Figure 1; Figure 4 is a vertical cross
section of the same taken through the line y, y, Figure 1; Figure 5 is a detail
section of a modification of the same; Figure 6 is a detail cross section taken
through the line 2, 2, Figure 5.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A is the frame of the machine, to the upper middle part of which is attached
the dough box B, into the open top of which the dough is fed from a hopper C
attached to the rear part of the frame A. The dough box B is divided into as
many compartments as there are discharge openings by thin vertical partitions b',
and into each compartment is a plunger D which enters through the rear side
of the said dough box; the object of this construction is this, the dough is soft
and must be discharged downward. If the plungers worked vertically they would
have to be raised to a considerable distance before the dough could be put in the
dough box, which would cause a great loss of time in working the machine.
When the plungers work horizontally the top of the dough box can be opened
and the dough can be put in while the plungers are receding, so that the plungers
need be drawn back no farther than to give space for the charge, and hence no
time is lost.
The open top of the dough box B is closed with a sliding cover 3 to prevent the
dough from being pushed out of said open top by the action of the plungers D).
Upon the lower forward side of the dough box B is formed and extension E, the
bottom of which is at a lower level than the bottom of the main part of the
dough box.
The bottom F of the extension or offset E of the dough box B
slides in and out in grooves in the sides of said extension, so that it can be taken
out and exchanged for a plate with larger or smaller openings when desired, and in
it are formed one, two, or more, round holes which are beveled off or made conical,
as shown in Figures 3 and 4. G are the ring cutters, which are made in the shape
of hollow cylinders with closed upper ends, and with the outer sides of their edges
beveled off with a longer bevel than the bevel of the holes through the bottom or
cutter plates F, so that when the cutters G are forced down their extreme edges
may come in contact with the extreme edges of the holes in the cutter plate F and
separate or pinch off the dough. The cutters G are never raised entirely out of
the holes in the bottom plate F, so that when the dough is pressed down and
out by the advance of the plungers D it passes out upon all sides of the cutters G,
is pinched off by the descent of the cutters G and drops as a ring upon the pans
placed beneath the bottom plate F upon the endless carriers H, which are placed in
line with each other and at a little distance apart. The object of thus separating

page_text: the carriers is this:-The first cakes dropped from the plate F are incomplete, or
not so well formed as those subsequently made, when the pressure of the plunger
has compacted the dough. It is of course not desired to bake these incompletely
formed cakes, nor that they shall be allowed to drop on the carriers H, and hence
they are not received into the baking pans which travel on the carriers H but drop
between the ends of such carriers into a seperate pan I which is slid under the
machine on rabbetted bars J. The carriers are sufficiently near each other to allow
the baking pans to pass from one on to the other. The carrier aprons pass around
rollers K and L, and the latter are connected with shaft P by belts N passing
around pulleys M and O.
The shaft P revolves in bearings attached to the upper forward part of the
frame A. To the end of the shaft P is attached a large gear wheel Q, into the
teeth of which mesh the teeth of a large intermediate gear wheel R.
The gear wheel R revolves upon a gudgeon attached to the frame A, and into its
teeth mesh the teeth of a small gear wheel S attached to the end of the driving
shaft T which revolves in bearings attached to the frame A, and to its other end
are attached the pulleys to receive the driving belts.
To the end parts of the shaft P are attached two bevel gear wheels U, the
teeth of which mesh into the teeth of the bevel gear wheels V attached to the
forward ends of the screws W which are swiveled to the frame A and pass through
screw holes in the end parts of the cross bar X, attached to the rear ends of the
plungers D, so that the said plungers may be forced forward with a steady and
uniform movement while the machine is at work.
The cutters G are attached to the lower ends of the rods Y, the upper ends of
which pass up through the block Z attached to the dough box B, in the angle between
the upper part of said dough box and its extention E, and their upper ends are
attached to the cross bar A¹. The cross bar A¹ moves up and down upon guide
pins B attached to the block Z, and is forced down to cause the cutters G to make
a cut by the spiral springs C¹ placed upon the upper parts of the guide pins B¹.
The upper ends of the springs C¹ rests against the heads of the pins B¹, and their
lower ends rests angainst the cross bar A¹.
The cutter head Z is detachable so that it may be detached and exchanged
for another with larger or smaller or with different shaped cutters when desired.
The ends of the cross bar A¹ project and are recessed upon their lower sides
to receive the upper ends of the push bars D¹ the lower ends of which are pivoted
to the levers E¹ near their forward ends. The rear ends of the levers E are pivoted
to the frame A, and their forward ends rest upon the cams F1 formed upon the.
driving shaft T, so that the cutters G may be operated at each revolution of the
driving shaft T. The cutters G, as herein-before described, are designed for cutting
jumbles or other ring cakes.
For cutting kisses, drops, macaroons, and other similar cakes without holes
through them, there are used sliding beveled cutters G¹ pinching off the dough
against the beveled side of the discharge openings in the same manner as the
cutters G pinch it off, as shown in Figures 5 and 6.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. A dough box B made with an extension and offset E to receive the cutters
and enable them to operate at right angles with the plungers D, substantially as
herein shown and described.
2nd. A dough box made with its discharge openings at right angles with the
line of motion of the plungers D that force out the dough, substantially as herein
shown and described.
3rd. A dough box divided by partitions b¹ into two or more compartments, cach
provided with a discharge opening, and with a plunger D, substantially as hercin
shown and described.
4th. The combination of the detachable and exchangeable cutter head Z with

page_text: the dough box D and its extension and offset E, substantially as herein shown and
described.
5th. The combination of the cross bar A¹ and its guide pins B' and springs C,
the push bars D¹, levers E¹, and cams F¹, with the detachable head blocks Z, the
cutters G, Y, and the driving shaft T, substantially as herein shown and described.
6th. A cake machine having the cutters adapted to work within the dough
box, said cutters being surrounded with and embedded in the dough when at work,
substantially as herein shown and described.
7th. The combination with a plunger and dough box, of cutters made with
beveled edges and cutter plates having openings with beveled edges, as shown and
described.
8th. Two endless carriers in a cake machine, working in line with each other,
and with a space or opening between them beneath the discharge opening of the
dough box, substantially as herein shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)