Improvements in Machines for the Manufacture of Candles.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Nov., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 21st Sept., 1894-Accepted, 27th Oct., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by Louis JEAN BAPTISTE FOURNIER, commonly
called Felix Fournier, of 44, Boulevard Longchamp, Marseilles, France,
Merchant.]
Improvements in Machines for the Manufacture of Candles.
I, ERNEST DE PASS, of 78, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Fellow of
the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:--
This invention relates to improvements in machines for the manufacture of
candles in a continuous manner, by means of an arrangement of moulding boxes
with pushers working below them and actuated by a projecting rib on a revolving
drum, or by other equivalent arrangement, so as to eject the candles from the
moulds after setting and cooling have taken place.
A suitable means for effecting this purpose may consist of a main driving shaft
carrying a pinion which engages with a rack on the drum from which, as aforesaid,
a rib projects. The pushers are secured to a plate carried by a movable rod upon
which friction rollers, bearing upon the upper and lower sides of said rib, are
mounted in such a manner as to accommodate themselves to the inclination of the
said rib. This latter is so shaped as to allow these pushers to remain for a certain
time stationary in their lowest and highest positions, and to raise and lower them at
the requisite intervals.
Around each group of moulds is a box which, before the material is run into the
moulds, is filled with hot water, and after the running in is effected, is emptied and
refilled with cold water to hasten the setting and cooling of the candles. The hot
and cold water enter the boxes from an automatic distributor which may
advantageously consist of two distributing boxes one above the other, provided
respectively with a hot and a cold water supply pipe. In each distributing box is
a revolving perforated plate which controls the outlet from its respective box.
Both these perforated plates are secured to a common spindle driven by suitable
gearing from the main driving shaft. The outiets of the distributor communicate
with the boxes surrounding the moulds, and the plates are so arranged as to open
the said outlets at the proper times. The boxes are emptied by a cock operated by
the attendant.
Rests are provided above the moulds for the candles after they are ejected by
the pushers. They consist of cups secured to a cross bar carried by arms or
depending pieces fixed upon a rocking shaft furnished with a handle. After the
candles have been ejected, the pushers hold them until they have been taken by the
rests. The pushers then descend and clear the moulds ready for a fresh operation.
Meanwhile the candles remain held by these rests until after the moulding and
setting of the next lot, the wicks, during the operation, being kept tense.
cutting of the wicks permits the removal of the candles.
The
Obviously the arrangement might be modified without departing from the nature
of the invention, and the pushers might be actuated by eccentrics, grooved discs,
cords, or in any other convenient manner.
Dated this 22nd day of November 1893.
°

page_text: Improvements in Machines for the Manufacture of Candles.
I, ERNEST DE PASS, of 78, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Fellow of
the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had
to the accompanying drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say-
This invention relates to a machine whereby the continuous manufacture of wax
candles may be effected by a succession of mechanical movements.
The machine hereinafter described in all detail, operates in a continuous manner
by the arrangement of the moulding boxes on a circular plate, below which a very
simple mechanism works, and by means of which mechanism the candles are ejected
from the moulds after cooling has taken place, the said mechanism raising pushers
by causing rods which carry plates, upon which these pushers are grouped, to
ascend, and the raising of the rods being effected by means of an inclined rib
carried on a drum revolving in front of these rods.
And in order that the invention may be readily understood, I will describe the
same fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken through the axis of the machine, and showing,
on the left, a group of moulded candles the pushers of which are in their lowest
position; and on the right, a box of moulded candles the pushers of which are in
the highest position.
Figs. 2 and 3 show respectively in elevation and in plan, partially in section, a
modified construction of the machine.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal axial section of the valve box for the automatic
emptying.
I will describe first what takes place with reference to that group of moulded
candles on the left of Fig. 1. 1, is a driving shaft, which is directly set in rotation
by any motor, and acts by means of a pinion 2, upon a rack 3, arranged on
the circumference of, and under, the drum 4, so as to cause said drum to con-
tinuously rotate around its axis. A rib 5, suitably shaped to produce the result
hereinafter referred to, projects from this drum. Pushers 6, of which there are
twenty for each box, are carried by a plate 7, mounted on a rod 8, upon which are
keyed two movable friction rollers 9, engaging the rib 5. When the drum 4, is set
in motion, the rib 5, is displaced between the two friction rollers 9, and causes
them, and hence the rod 8, and the pushers 6, to rise, or to fall, according to the
shape of the said rib 5. Therefore, with the shape indicated in Fig. 1, and by
supposing that the drum is turning in the direction of the arrow, the plate 7 will
remain stationary and in its lowest position so long as the rotation of the drum 4
causes the horizontal portion 10, 11, and 12, of the rib to pass between the friction
rollers 9.
During the passage of the portion 12, 13, the friction rollers 9 ascend this rib,
which causes the rod 8, the plate 7, and the pushers 6, to rise, these latter then
ejecting the candles out of the-moulds; the rotary movement of the drum 4
continuing, the horizontal portion 13, 14, of the rib keeps the pushers in their
highest position. When the last part 14, 10, of the rib passes between the rollers 9,
the said rollers re-descend, and with them the pushers which clear the moulds
ready for a fresh moulding.
Around each group of moulds 16, is a box 17, which, for the purposes of the
moulding, must be filled successively with hot water, and with cold water. Before
moulding, the moulds must be surrounded with hot water, and on the moulding

page_text: being effected, the hot water must be replaced by cold water to hasten the setting
and the cooling of the candles.
For this purpose I provide the machine with a hot and cold water distributor
which works automatically in the following manner :-A pipe 18 leads the hot
water into a distributing box 19, this water entering the upper chamber 20 of the
said distributing box.
A plate 21 is revolved by the gearing 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36, and is
provided with holes 37 corresponding to the passages 38, and pipe 48, through
which the hot water passes, at the desired moment, into the box 17 surrounding
the mould 16. When the solid part of the revolving plate 21 closes the passage 38,
the hot water is prevented from entering the box 17. The shaft 30, revolving in
a continuous manner, sets in rotation, at the same time, the distributor plate 39,
of a similar distributing box 40, placed above the first one, and into which leads
the cold water pipe 41. The discharge orifice 42 allows the cold water to pass
through the pipe 43 to the same box 17. The emptying of the boxes is effected
by hand by means of a cock which may be arranged at the lower part of these
boxes.
The working of the machine is as follows:-The driving shaft 1 having been
set in motion, the drum 4 commences to revolve continuously, as well as the
gearing of the hot and cold water double distributor. The pushers 6, of the left
hand box, the working of which we will follow, are then in their lowest position,
as the left part of Fig. 1 shows. The candles made by the previous moulding, are
retained by the rests 44; at this moment the action of the distributor is such that
hot water is flowing through the passage 38 and pipe 48 into the box 17, which
box is removed so as to show the moulds. The material is then run into the
moulds in which the wicks 50 are kept in the centre in the ordinary manner, and
immediately after the running in, the hot water is drawn off. The distributor then
fills the box with cold water through the opening of the passage 42, and the
pipes 43 and 48. During the time necessary for the setting of the candles, the
horizontal portion of the rib 5 allows the pushers to remain at the lowest position,
and they only commence to rise after the time required for the cooling, according
to the inclination of the rib on the drum. The candles are then ejected from the
moulds, and the pushers 6 hold them until the moment that they are taken by the
rocking rests 44.
The set of rests, 44, upon which the finished candles find themselves placed is
seen on the right side of Fig. 1; by acting upon the handle 45, the axis 46, which
carries, by means of two pieces 47, the cross piece 48, is caused to turn; on this
cross piece 48 are fixed cups so shaped as to receive the points of the candles, as
is shown in the section to the left of Fig. 1, indicating the finished candles 49
which are detached from the apparatus by simply cutting the wicks 50, after the
moulding and setting of the following series.
The permanent tension of the wicks at this time is necessary so that they remain
centrally in the moulds during the moulding and the setting of the following
series.
The friction rollers 9 are secured to each of the rods 8, by a plate capable of
turning about its centre, so as to remain normal to the rib 5, whatever may be the
inclination which this rib may assume.
51 are the bobbins which carry the wicks 50, but as they are common to all
candle making machinery it is unnecessary to further describe them.
The machine may also be constructed as shown in Figs. 2 to 4, so as to allow of
wax candles being made in various lengths by quickly changing the working, and
to effect economy in the automatic working of the water delivered into the moulds,
and its return to the feed tanks.
In this modification, the movement of the pushers is effected by means of a
sector-shaped cam 5, mounted upon a circular rack 3; the upper edge of this
cam corresponding to the outline of the rib on the drum of the previously described
machine. Each of the rods 8 has a single friction roller, and the rods are raised

page_text: on their
at the desired moments in the manufacture by the action of the cam
rollers. The lowering of the rods 8, and of the pushers 6, is effected by the
weights A. Their downward movement is regulated according to the length of
the candles to be moulded, by collars B which are secured at a suitable height on
the rod 8, and which, on meeting the plate C, arrests the descent of the pusher 6.
It will thus be seen that it is only necessary to regulate the position of the
collars B to allow the pushers to descend more or less in the moulds and therefore
to produce longer or shorter candles. The gearing 33, 34, is connected directly
with the shaft I, instead of being driven by the intermediate gearing 35 and 36.
This machine also allows of the automatic emptying of the boxes enclosing the
moulds, and the outflow of the cold water and the hot water into distinct tanks
whence they can be taken up again separately for further use, without alteration of
temperature.
The arrangement for distributing the cold water, or the hot water, into the boxes
surrounding each group of moulds, being the same as that previously described, it
is not necessary to again mention it here. The pipes through which the emptying
of each of these compartments is effected, open into a circular gutter D keyed to the
revolving shaft E. This gutter is divided into a certain number of compartiments,
say three, one for hot water, one for tepid water, and one for cold water. Each of
these compartments carries, on its interior, a projecting finger which, in passing,
opens a valve F in which the pipe G terminates, thus effecting the emptying of
the boxes. The pipes H for the overflow of the feed from each box also terminate
above these compartments. The various compartments of the circular gutter D
discharge through the pipes K into other circular gutters L, L, L, whence they
flow to separate tanks to be afterwards pumped to the upper part. These arrange-
ments therefore enable the whole of the used waters to be recovered perfectly
separated and collected according to their temperature.
In Fig. 4 the valve F is shown to a larger scale. It consists of a box N inside
of which a valve O is free to work, and is carried by a spindle P. The pressure
of the water from the boxes holds the valve O down on to its seat so long as the
roller Q, at the end of the spindle P, is not raised by one of the projecting fingers
of the gutter D.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is :--
1. A rotary drum provided with a rib which drives, in its revolution, pushers
corresponding to each moulding box, and by means of which they are caused to
rise successively, stop outside the mould, then descend and again stop for a certain
time in the bottom of the mould, so as to automatically effect the working which is
usually performed by hand in ordinary machines, substantially as set forth.
2. The modified arrangement in which the rods carrying the pushers are raised
by a sector-shaped cam connected to a circular rack, and the descent of said pushers
is effected by weights, and regulated by stops, for moulding candles of various
lengths, substantially as herein described.
3. The means for bringing the water at different temperatures to the boxes
surrounding each group of moulds, and for running off and collecting separately
the hot and cold water, substantially as herein described and shown in the drawings.
4. The improvements in machines for the manufacture of wax candles, substan-
tially as herein described and shown with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Π
ERNEST DE PASS.