IMPROVEMENTS IN DIRECT-ACTING STEAM AND HYDRAULIC PRESSES
Year: 1878

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 DIRECT-ACTING STEAM AND HYDRAULIC PRESSES." A communication from
abroad by John Fisher Taylor, of Glenville, County of Fairfield, State of Con-
necticut. United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th February 1878.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DIRECT-ACTING STEAM AND HYDRAULIC
PRESSES." [A communication from abroad by John Fisher Taylor, of Glenville,
County of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, United States of America.]
This Invention relates to improvements in direct-acting steam and hydraulic
presses, especially designed for compressing bales of cotton, and it consists in con-
necting a number of presses with one or two pipes which are connected with the
forcing apparatus.
The Invention also consists in adding to the press an auxiliary' steam cylinder,
having a ram larger than the rams in the other cylinders, for reducing the bulk of the
matter in the press before applying the heavier pressure created by the smaller
rams. The piston of the auxiliary steam cylinder is operated by the exhaust steam
from one or both of the cylinders before described.
The object of the Invention is to effect economy of fuel in working hydraulic
presses and to accomplish the work by means of smaller steam cylinders than have
been hitherto employed, and also to facilitate the operation of tieing cotton bales by
having a number of them under pressure simultaneously, so that the operation of
tieing may be deliberately and thoroughly performed. In pressing cotton and
similar materials it requires a very small amount of force to reduce it to half its
original bulk. When this is accomplished the process may be finished by the
cylinders having the smaller rams.
The steam cylinders of a steam and hydraulic press, as formerly used (hereafter

page_text: referred to as the second and third cylinders), and the first or auxiliary cylinder,
have each a chamber secured to one end, and the said cylinders each contain a
piston with which a ram is connected which extends through a stuffing box in the
end of the cylinder into the said chamber. The ram chambers of the second and
third cylinders are connected with a single pipe which extends along a series of
presses, and is connected by separate branches, in which there are check valves, and
the ram chamber of the auxiliary cylinder is also connected with all of the presses
by means of a pipe and branch pipes, likewise having check valves. The three
cylinders are connected by branch pipes with the steam supply pipe by branch pipes,
each provided with a valve for controlling the admission of live steam to the
cylinders.
The branch pipes are connected together and with exhaust pipes by a pipe which,
as well as the exhaust pipes, is provided with valves, operated as hereafter
described.
A pipe is connected with the front end of the third cylinder having the smallest
ram and with the exhaust connecting pipe between two of the valves on said pipe, and
projects beyond the branch by which it is connected with the cylinder head, and is
provided with a valve. A trunk is attached to the piston of the same cylinder, and
projects through a stuffing box in the rear head. This trunk is designed to
diminish the area of the rear side of the piston, so that the steam when admitted
to the front of the cylinder will be effectual in returning the piston to the rear
end of the cylinder.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-By opening the admission valve
in the branch pipe to the third cylinder, which is the last to come into operation for
giving the final pressure, steam is admitted to the cylinder, and forces its piston
forward. By closing the said valve, and opening the valves in the exhaust con-
necting pipe between this cylinder and the next or second cylinder, steam is permitted
to escape from the third to the second cylinder, and by closing one of these valves
and opening another, the steam contained by the second cylinder is permitted to
escape to the first or auxiliary cylinder; should the steam that passes from the
third cylinder to the second cylinder, and from the second to the first or auxiliary
cylinder, be found insufficient to carry the pistons as far as required, a small quantity
of live steam is admitted to the cylinders.
Suppose the ram chamber in the auxiliary cylinder to be in communication with
one of a series of presses, as already described, the exhaust steam from the second
cylinder by acting on the piston in the auxiliary cylinder forces the ram forward
and reduces the bale in the press to half its original bulk. While this operation
progresses the piston in the second cylinder is being forced back to the rear of its
cylinder by the water forced into the ram chamber of said cylinder by the dropping
down of the rams in another of the presses, and simultaneously with this operation
the piston in the third cylinder is driven forward by steam admitted to it, thus
finishing the compression of the bale by means of the smallest ram.
When the finished bale is removed the piston of said cylinder is returned to the
rear end of the cylinder by the dropping of the ram in the press, from which the
finished bale is removed, and by steam admitted to the front end of the cylinder.
It will thus be seen that to raise a press the piston in the auxiliary cylinder is first
operated, which will raise the press about one-half of the whole travel. The piston
in the second cylinder is then applied, which will raise the press about the of the
remaining half of the travel, and the piston in the third cylinder is then operated,
which finishes the travel of the press rams, and applies the final pressure.
Any press of a series can be raised or lowered at pleasure by opening and closing
the proper valves on the presses, and operating the steam pistons in the order
explained. All of the valves are opened and closed by hand.
The following is a description of the further improvement in direct-acting steam
and hydraulic presses. It is proposed to multiply indefinitely the presses proper,
which are all connected by suitable pipes and valves to one set of steam and
hydraulic cylinders from which the power is supplied.

page_text: The object of this part of the Invention is to get more and better work out of
one set of steam and hydraulic cylinders and boilers of a direct-acting steam and
hydraulic press when used for compressing cotton bales, and for using greater
economy in fuel and general expenses in proportion to the work done.
It has been found in using these presses for compressing cotton bales that a great
deal of time is occupied in tieing the bales after the compressing is done, and besides
the tiers are expected to tie them so quick that in their hurry they do it very
loosely, and thereby lose a great deal of the advantage gained by the machine, and
while the tieing is going on the whole press has to stand still, which, as the steam
is used twice over, first in one cylinder, then in the other, allows the cylinders to
cool, and the steam to condense and lose much of its elastic force for the second
use.
To explain the operation, I will refer to the presses proper as Nos. 1, 3, 4, and
suppose that Nos. 2, 3, 4 are up and held up by the check valves in the branches
leading to them, and with bales in them compresed and being tied up, and that
press No. 1 is down to get in a new bale, then the pressure is applied to that, and
they are all up with bales in them, compressed, and being tied up, and as soon as any
one of them is finished then by raising its appropriate check valve it will be lowered
down and a new bale can be put in, and so on in succession.
It is not proposed to make any change in the construction of the machinery as
now made and used, but merely to add as many presses as one set of steam and
hydraulic cylinders will supply, said presses to be connected with the pipes from
the steam and hydraulic cylinders, and each to have a suitable check valve that will
maintain the pressure while the power is being applied to the others, and by raising
the same valve the press will be lowered.

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
17th August 1878.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DIRECT-ACTING STEAM AND HYDRAULIC
PRESSES." A communication from abroad by John Fisher Taylor, of Glenville,
County of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, United States of America.
This Invention relates to improvements in direct-acting steam and hydraulic
presses especially designed for compressing bales of cotton, and it consists in
connecting a number of presses with one or two pipes which are connected with
the steam and hydraulic forcing apparatus.
The Invention also consists in adding to the two cylinders generally employed a
third or auxiliary steam cylinder having a ram larger than the rams of the other
cylinders for reducing the bulk of the bale before applying the heavier pressure
obtained by the smaller rams. The piston of the auxiliary steam cylinder is
operated by the exhaust steam from one or both of the other cylinders.
The object of the Invention is to effect economy of fuel in working hydraulic
presses, and to accomplish the work by means of smaller steam cylinders than have
been hitherto employed, and also to facilitate the operation of tieing cotton bales
by having a number of them under pressure simultaneously, so that the operation
of tieing may be deliberately and thoroughly performed. In pressing cotton and
similar materials it requires a very small amount of force to reduce it to half its
original bulk, and in this improved press this is done by the auxiliary steam
cylinder and ram. When this is accomplished the process may be finished by the
cylinders having the smaller rams.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a plan view in section of the steam
and hydraulic cylinders and presses, and Figure 2 is a front elevation of the
presses only.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
A, B, are the steam cylinders of a steam and hydraulic press as formerly used,
and C is the auxiliary cylinder for giving the initial pressure to the bale; D, D¹, D³,
are chambers respectively secured by bolts a, a, a, to the ends of the cylinders
A, B, C; and F, F1, F2, are rams respectively attached to the pistons E, E¹, E³, of
the several cylinders, said rams working through stuffing boxes b, b', 62, on the ends
of the cylinders and projecting into their respective chambers D, D1, D2, as shown.
The ram F of the auxiliary cylinder is of still larger area than ram F¹, which is
larger than F.
The chambers D, D¹, are both connected with a single pipe D* which extends
along a series of presses A4, A5, A6, A7, and is connected therewith by separate
branches in which there are check valves et. The chamber D2 is connected with all
of the presses by means of a pipe Ds and branch pipes having check valves et. The
cylinders A, B, C, are connected with the steam-supply pipe G by means of the
branch pipes A¹, B¹, C; and each branch pipe is provided with a valve H for
controlling the admission of live steam to the cylinders.
The branch pipes A¹, B', C', are connected together and with the exhaust
pipes I, J, by the pipe K. In this pipe K there are four valves e, f, g, h, and the
pipe J is provided with a valve i.
The pipe L is connected with the front end of the cylinder A, and communicates
with the pipe K between the valves g, h. The pipe L projects beyond the branch
by which it is connected with the cylinder head, and is provided with a valve l. A
trunk M is attached to the piston E, and projects through a stuffing box in the rear
head of the cylinder A. This trunk is designed to diminish the area of the rear
side of the piston E, so that the steam when admitted to the front of the cylinder
will be effectual in returning the piston to the rear end of the cylinder.

page_text: The operation of the steam cylinders is as follows:-By opening the valve H in
the branch pipe A¹ steam is admitted to the cylinder A and forces piston E forward,
and by closing the said valve and opening the valves h, g, in the pipe K steam is
permitted to escape from the cylinder A to the cylinder B through the pipes K, B¹;
and by closing the valve g and opening the valve f the steam contained by the
cylinder B is permitted to escape through the pipes K, C', to the auxiliary cylinder C.
Should the steam that passes from the cylinder A to the cylinder B be found
insufficient to carry the pistons as far as required, a small quantity of live steam is
admitted to the cylinder B through the valve H in the pipe B¹. And should the
steam that escapes from the cylinder B to the auxiliary cylinder C be found
insufficient, a small quantity of live steam may be admitted to the said auxiliary
cylinder through the valve H in the pipe Cl.
Suppose the chamber D2 to be in communication with one of a series of presses,
as already described, the exhaust steam from the cylinder B, by acting on the
piston Es, forces the ram F forward and reduces the bale in the press to half its
original bulk. While this operation progresses the piston E' is being forced back
to the rear of the cylinder B by the water forced into the chamber D¹ by the
dropping down of the rams in another of the presses, and simultaneously with this
operation the piston E in the cylinder A is driven forward by steam admitted
through the pipe A¹, thus finishing the compression of the bale by means of the
smallest ram F.
When the finished bale is removed the piston E is returned to the rear end of
the cylinder by the dropping of the rams of that particular press, and by steam
admitted to the front end of the cylinder through the valve h and pipe L. It will
thus be seen that to raise a press the piston E in the cylinder C is first operated,
which will raise the press about one-half of the whole travel. The piston E¹ in
the cylinder B is then applied, which will raise the press about the of the
remaining half of the travel, and the piston E2 is then operated which finishes the
travel of the press rams, and applies the final pressure.
Any press of a series can be raised or lowered at pleasure by opening and closing
the proper valves on the presses and operating the steam pistons in the order
explained. All of the valves are opened and closed by hand.
The following is a description of the further improvement in direct-acting steam
and hydraulic presses. It is proposed to multiply indefinitely the bale presses as
shown in the accompanying Drawings, which represent four presses, all connected
by suitable pipes and valves to one [set of steam and hydraulic cylinders, from
which the power is supplied to operate as many bale presses as are found
practicable.
The object of this part of the Invention is to get more and better work out of
one set of steam and hydraulic cylinders and boilers of a direct-acting steam and
hydraulic press when used for compressing cotton bales, and to ensure greater
economy in fuel and general expenses in proportion to the work done.
It has been found in using these presses for compressing cotton bales that a great
deal of time is occupied in tieing the bales after the compressing is done, and besides
the tyers are expected to tie them so quickly that in their hurry they do it very
loosely, and thereby loose a great deal of the advantage gained by the machine,
and while the tieing is going on the whole press has to stand still, which as the
steam is used twice over, first in one cylinder, then in the other, allows the
cylinders to cool and the steam to condense and lose much of its elastic force for
the second use.
To explain more fully, the machine as now constructed with one bale press will
with fair activity in working and tieing compress one bale per minute
upon the
average. The machine does its part of the work in fifteen seconds, and it requires
about fifteen seconds to take out and put in a new bale, which leaves thirty seconds
to tie it up. Now as there are six or seven and sometimes eight hands to tie, with
all kinds of buckles to fasten them with, it follows that the tieing must be done
very quickly and hence very imperfectly. Now in the new plan herein proposed,

page_text: say with four bale pressers to one set of steam and hydraulic cylinders, the result
would be about as follows: say 15 seconds for the steam and hydraulic cylinders
to do their work, say 15 seconds to take out and put in a new bale, and 60
Beconds to tie it up. This gives double the time to tie the bales, and the outcome
of the work would be doubled, while the consumption of fuel and many other
expenses would not be much increased. To explain the operation I have marked
the bale pressers A, A, A, A', and will suppose that A5, A6, A7, are up and held up
by suitable valves e, and have bales in their lower parts B, C, compressed and
being tied up, and that press A* is down to get in a new bale. Then the pressure
is applied to that, and they are all up with bales in them compressed and being tied
up, and as soon as any one of them is finished, then by raising the appropriate check
valve e it will be lowered down and a new bale can be put in, and so on in
succession.
It is not proposed to make any change in the construction of the machinery as
now made and used, but merely to add as many presses as one set of steam and
hydraulic cylinders will supply, said presses to be connected with pipes D³, D', and
each to have a suitable check valve e that will maintain the pressure while the
power is being applied to the others, and by raising the same valve the press will be
lowered.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
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. The method herein described of operating one or more hydraulic presses with
three direct-acting steam and hydraulic cylinders, the pistons of the several cylinders
being operated one after the other, either by live or exhaust steam as herein
specified.
2nd. The method herein described of using the steam that has been employed
to propel one piston for the propulsion of a second and a third piston, substantially
as specified.
3rd. Two or more presses, A4, A5, Aº, A', when connected with and operated
by the motive power of a direct-acting steam and hydraulic press, as herein set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.