Improvements in the Manufacture of Matches.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Feb., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 25th Oct., 1893-Accepted, 2nd Dec., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Matches.
A communication by EMILE LAGNEAU, of Lessines, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Match Manufacturer.
I WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON F.C.S. M.I.M.E., of the Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors 6 Lord Street, Liverpool and 6 Bank Street,
Manchester both in the County of Lancaster, and 323 High Holborn in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
:-
The system of making matches which forms the object of this invention allows
of the green shafts being inserted just as they come from the cutting apparatus
directly into the frames, and of these shafts, held in these frames, undergoing
successively all the necessary operations up to the complete finishing, these
operations being the drying of the green match shafts in the frames themselves
and various dippings for the purpose of coating them with the various chemical
ingredients.
In order to allow of this process of methodical manufacture being carried out, which
bas as its characteristic the drying of the green shafts of the matches in the frames
themselves, the frames or presses with close laths, which the preliminary drying
in bulk requires, cannot be used, but frames are used in which the shafts are simply
held remaining loosely suspended when the frame is in a given position, so that,
in spite of the contraction which the matches undergo on drying, they do not alter
their position nor fall out of the frame. The drying of the matches in the frames
themselves has the great advantage of enabling the shanks to be transferred hot
from the drying apparatus direct to the dipping apparatus, and, as this latter
operation may be performed by this new system with great rapidity and cleanliness,
the heat of the shanks amply suffices for completely drying the chemical products,
so that, when the shanks have been dipped in the paste, the matches are finished
and may be delivered direct to the boxes, any subsequent drying of the dipped
matches being superfluous. But matches held loosely in the frames cannot be dipped
in the ordinary manner, because they are not held in presses, and, in order to
effect these operations with facility, dipping apparatus of special construction are
employed in the manufacture in addition to the special frames, and this dipping
apparatus obviates any irregularity and allows a greater precision in the dipping
to be obtained than is the case with the usual apparatus.
The advantages resulting from this system of methodical manufacture are
notably apparent in the manufacture of safety matches, in regard to which the
system will be described.
On its main lines, the system consists, therefore, in employing the green match
shafts just as they come from the cutting machines and introducing them without
preparation direct into the frames. The frame is then transferred direct to a
drying apparatus, on emerging from which the matches, while still hot, are dipped
in paraffin, and immediately afterwards in the chemical paste. The matches thus
finished without being removed from the frames and by means of a single drying
are released from the frames in order to be classified and boxed.
Although, on the one hand, the operations are rapidly and easily carried out,
yet, on the other hand, the apparatus is simple and inexpensive.
The frame employed consists of a simple square of suitable timber, either in
one piece or in several parts counected by means of an external frame which
prevents the flat surfaces of the frame from warping. The area of this wood

page_text: square is perforated with numerous small circular holes very close together, and
having a sufficient diameter to allow a green match or shank to easily pass into
them. In this manner, when the frame is filled with matches, all the ends are
separated from one another at a suitable distance, and may be thus subjected to
all the successive operations for the purpose of obtaining a good article. It may
also be remarked that the quantity of matches to be treated at one time in a frame
is directly proportionate to the surface of the frame, the dimensions of which
may be increased without causing loss of time when refilling, which is done
mechanically and in the mauner hereinafter described.
The empty frame is pushed horizontally beneath a series of little square sheet
metal pigeon holes, in which the green shafts are placed.
The frame rests on a support or stand, which may be raised and folded back at
will to one of its sides; this stand supporting the frame is further acted upon by
some suitable mechanical device in order to impart a shaking to the frame and
thus to cause the matches placed in the pigeon holes to enter into the holes in the
frame, an operation which is performed in very little time because the matches
drop vertically by the lower openings of the pigeon holes directly on to the frame,
the continuous shaking of which directs the matches into the holes. As the
matches are loaded pell mell into the pigeon holes, and this may even be done
with a shovel, whilst the shaking of the stand acts over any extent of surface, the
dimensions of the frame do not affect the duration of the operation. The matches,
which pass easily into the holes, rest on the bed of the stand, and are thus
prevented from falling out of the frame whilst in a horizontal position.
In order that the same shall not happen during the transfer of the frames, these
latter must be simply held in a vertical position when they are removed from the
machine, so that the matches then rest horizontally in the holes on the width of
the wood of the frame and have no longer a tendency to leave it once the frame is
raised into a vertical position, but this tendency exists during the intermediate
period of the raising of the frame from the horizontal position to a vertical one,
and during which the inclined positions might still allow matches to fall out were
this not prevented by the bottom of the stand, which rises with the frame in such
a way as to retain the matches, until it is folded back. The frame is then removed
and is very easily handled during its transfer for the final operations; the next of
which is drying in some suitable drying apparatus which receives the frames in a
vertical position, and from whence they come out in the same position in order to
be passed on for the dipping operations.
As the frames must still be laid down twice into a horizontal position for the
two dippings, and be twice raised before being passed on to the classifying, it must
be noted that all the apparatus of this system of match making must have a
folding frame with a bottom plate holding the matches in the frame when the
latter is in a horizontal position or in the intermediate ones. This folding frame
with a retaining plate is, therefore, a characteristic of the apparatus as a means of
transport where the frames do not grip the matches. But, in addition to the
general supporting action of the bottom plates, these latter yield (according to
their nature) other results of great importance in the dipping apparatus in which
their particular nature varies according to the effect which it is desired to
produce.
In fact, it is easily understood that, if, in order to dip the matches placed on a
bottom plate, it is desired to fold back the whole apparatus into a paraffin bath,
the liquid first displaced by this bottom plate would then penetrate strongly the
ends of the matches in such a way as to soak them, if not along their entire length,
at least far too much of it, without mentioning the dipping in the chemical paste
which it would be simply impossible to do in this manner, by reason of the thick
nature of the paste, which would coat at most the matches placed at the sides, and
those much too heavily.
Under these circumstances, there is only one way of obtaining homogeneous and
clean dippings, and that is to employ porous retaining plates allowing the liquids

page_text: to penetrate them by capillary attraction, and the light pastes to rise over the
bottom plate in a layer of absolutely uniform thickness in which the ends of the
matches then dip and are thus always coated with the same quantity of liquid or
paste. The porous material forming the retaining plate may be of any suitable
kind, but felt is preferably employed for the paraffin dipping and fine meshed wire
gauze for the chemical paste dipping.
--
The apparatus for dipping the shafts in the paraffin is constructed as follows
The folding down frame has a bottom plate of wire net, and this latter is
covered on the inside with a sheet of white or yellow felt. The whole is mounted
by trunnions in bearings having inclined planes, which are fixed on the sides of
the trough which contains the paraffin; this trough is of cast metal and has a
double bottom heated by steam in order to keep the paraffin in a suitably liquid
state.
When the frame is placed in a vertical position in the stand, it rests by its
trunnions in the hollow of the bearings; it is then folded down, and, when it has
reached a horizontal position, it is slid along the inclined planes in order to dip
all the shafts in the paraffin, which then rises through the felt, passing through
the wire net bottom plate which serves as support for it and which rests on the
bottom of the trough. The lower ends of the matches then rest on the felt, are
embedded therein, and absorb the paraffin by capillary attraction by reason of
pressure applied to the upper ends, a pressure which may be produced by any
suitable means either by hand or by means of a flap, or even by means of a roller
mechanism passing over the plank covering the matches.
When the first dipping is completed, which is only the work of an instant, during
which all the ends of the shanks absorb exactly the same quantity of paraffin as
the felt affords them, the porous frame plate covered with felt is withdrawn from
the paraffin, raising it on the bearings in order to allow the paraffin to drain off;
then the whole is raised into a vertical position with a view to withdrawing the
frame from the stand and transferring it to the apparatus for the chemical paste
dipping.
This apparatus differs from the preceding one in the felt being removed, and the
frame being solely provided with a single porous bottom of wire net. The bottom
of the trough, which is double cased and heated by steam, is provided with a raised
floor and the chemical paste is contained in the furrows thus formed and
surrounding the floor, which the chemical paste, which is always maintained at
the same level in the furrows, exceeds by a given amount, that is to say, that the
surface of the floor is always covered with a thin layer of very fluid chemical
paste. The frame, having a porous bottom, is mounted on hinges in such a way
that, when it is in a horizontal position, its bottom plate fits exactly on the surface
of the floor of the trough coated with paste which penetrates the meshes of the
bottom plate above which there is then formed a thin and uniform layer, in which
the ends of the matches of the frame placed on the stand dip. All the matches
are then immersed to an equal depth, in the above named layer of paste by means
of the pressing down plate, which bears on their upper ends. This dipping is
strictly uniform, each match thus receiving a neat small head of inflammable
material. The stand is then folded back, and the frame containing the finished
matches is transferred to the classifying and boxing apparatus.
It is easily understood that all the movements of the apparatus, the working of
which has been hereinbefore described, as well as all the movements for transferring
the frames may be effected mechanically by subjecting them to the action of a
driving mechanism suitable for this purpose.
In order to remove the matches, when finished, from the frames, these latter
are placed on a frame composed of pigeon holes of tinned iron, similar to those
which are employed for placing the matches in the frames, and this pigeon hole
frame is placed on a trough having an india rubber bottom, thus preventing the
ignition of the matches when phosphoric matches are being made. The whole,
that. is to say, the frame, stand and trough, is placed on a tilting table which is

page_text: almost vertically inclined to receive the frame, which is just leaving the manu-
facturing part of the operation, and which is then to be raised into a horizontal
position. The matches then drop into the pigeon holes and are thus received in a
vertical position in the trough, in order to be sorted into rows for boxing. This
operation is effected very rapidly, by means of the very simple apparatus, the
essential part of which consists of a trough, the bottom of which is hollowed out
into a certain number of adjacent grooves of semi-circular section, each being as
long as the width of a box. These grooves are filled with layers of matches in
rows of a suitable height, so that the surface of the rows is quite level at the top.
On this surface, a sheet metal plate is placed, which holds, in a suitable frame,
the boxes or drawers lying open below intended to receive the matches which pass
into the drawers as soon as the sheet metal plate is withdrawn from between the
two parts of the apparatus, which is generally arranged for 75 boxes at a time.
It is then only necessary to insert the drawers in their cases, to render the boxes
ready.
This arrangement allows the matches to be boxed with great rapidity, and is
performed without any loss or waste.
Dated this 13th day of February 1893.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co..
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Matches.
A communication by EMILE LAGNEAU, of Lessines, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Match Manufacturer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E. of the Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors 6 Lord Street, Liverpool and 6 Bank Street
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster and 323 High Holborn in the
County of Middlesex Civil Engineer, 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 :-
The system of making matches which forms the object of this invention is called
methodical, because it allows of the green shafts being inserted just as they come
from the cutting apparatus, directly into the frames, and of these shafts, held in
these frames, undergoing successively all the necessary operations up to the coin-
plete finishing, these operations being the drying of the green match shafts in the
irames themselves and various dippings for the purpose of coating them with the
various chemical ingredients.
Naturally, in order to allow of this process of methodical manufacture being
realised, which has, as its characteristic, the drying of the green shafts of the
matches in the frames themselves, the frames or presses with close laths, which the
preliminary drying in bulk requires, cannot be used, but frames are used in which
the matches or shafts are simply held remaining loosely suspended when the frame
is m a given position, so that, in spite of the contraction which the matches undergo
on drying, they do not alter their position nor fall out of the frame. The drying
of the matches in the frames themselves has the great advantage of enabling the
shanks to be transferred hot from the drying apparatus direct to the dipping
apparatus, and, as this latter operation may be performed by this new system with
great rapidity and cleanliness, the heat of the shanks amply suffices for completely
drying the chemical products, so that, when the shanks have been dipped in the
paste, the matches are finished and may be delivered direct to the boxes, any
subsequent drying of the dipped matches being superfluous. But matches held
loosely in the frames cannot be dipped in the ordinary manner, because they are
not held in presses, and, in order to effect these operations with facility, dipping

page_text: apparatus of special construction are employed in the manufacture, in addition to
the special frames, and this dipping apparatus obviates any irregularity and allows
a greater precision in the dipping to be obtained than is the case with the usual
apparatus.
The advantages resulting from this system of methodical manufacture are
notably apparent in the manufacture of safety matches, in regard to which the
system will be described, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in
which:-
Figure 1 shows a vertical section of the apparatus for filling the frames with
matches in a horizontal and vertical position, etcetera.
Figure 2, a plan view of the cases in which the matches are inserted.
Figure 3 shows a vertical section of the paraffin dipping apparatus; and
Figure 4, the same apparatus in front elevation.
Figure 5 shows a vertical section of the apparatus for dipping in chemical
paste.
Figure 6, the same in front elevation.
Figures 7 and 8 show, in an inclined and level position, the table for releasing
the matches from the frames; and
Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12 show sections of parts of the apparatus for boxing the
matches in their different positions.
On its main lines, the system consists, therefore, in employing the green match
shafts just as they come from the cutting machines and introducing them without
preparation direct into the frames. The frame is then transferred direct to a
drying apparatus, on emerging from which the matches, while still hot, are dipped
in paraffin, and immediately afterwards in the chemical paste. The matches thus
finished, without being removed from the frames and by means of a single drying,
are released from the frames in order to be classified and boxed.
Although, on the one hand, the operations are rapidly and easily carried out, yet,
on the other hand, the apparatus is simple and inexpensive, such as is suitable for a
manufacture in which the expenses of plant must not influence the very small profit
on the selling price.
The frame employed consists of a simple square of suitable timber, either in one
piece, or in several parts connected by means of an external frame which prevents
the flat surfaces of the frame from warping. The area of this wood square is
perforated with numerous small circular holes very close together, and having
sufficient diameter to allow a green match or shank to easily pass into them. In
this manner, when the frame is filled with matches, all the ends are separated from
one another at a suitable distance, and may thus be subjected to all the successive
operations quite insulated one from another for the purpose of obtaining a good
manufacture. It may also be remarked that the quantity of matches to be treated
at one time in a frame is directly proportionate to the surface of the frame, the
dimensions of which may be increased without causing loss of time when refilling,
which is done mechanically and in the manner hereinafter described and shown in
Figures 1 and 2.
The empty frame is pushed horizontally beneath a series of little square sheet
metal pigeon holes E, in which the green shafts are placed.
The frame C rests on a support or stand F, which may be raised and folded back
at will to one of its sides; this stand supporting the frame is further exposed to
the action of some suitable mechanical source of power in order to impart a shaking
to the frame and thus to cause the matches A, placed in the pigeon holes E, to
enter into the holes in the frame, an operation which is performed in very little
time because the matches drop vertically by the lower openings of the pigeon holes
directly on to the frame, the continuous shaking of which directs the matches into
the holes. As the matches are loaded pell mell into the pigeon holes, and this may
even be done with a shovel, whilst the shaking of the stand acts over any extent of
surface, the dimensions of the frame do not affect the duration of the operation.

page_text: The matches, which pass easily into the holes, rest on the bed F of the stand and
are thus prevented from falling out of the frame whilst in a horizontal position.
In order that the same shall not happen during the transfer of the frames, these
latter must be simply held in a vertical position when they are removed from the
machine, so that the matches then rest horizontally in the holes on the width of the
wood of the frame and have no longer a tendency to leave it, once the frame is
raised into a vertical position, but this tendency exists during the intermediate
period of the raising of the frame from the horizontal position to a vertical one,
which is done following an arc of a circle, and during which the inclined positions
might still allow matches to fall out were this not prevented by the bottom F of
the stand, which rises with the frame in such a way as to retain the matches until
it is folded back.
The frame is then removed and is very easily handled during its transfer for the
final operations; the next of which is drying in some suitable drying apparatus,
which receives the frames in a vertical position, and from whence they come out in
the same position in order to be passed on for the dipping operations.
As the frames must still be laid down twice into a horizontal position for the two
dippings, and be twice raised before being passed on to the classifying, it must be
noted that all the apparatus of this methodical system of match making must have
a folding frame with a bottom plate holding the matches in the frame when the
latter is in a horizontal position or in the intermediate ones. This folding frame
with a retaining plate is therefore the characteristic of the apparatus of a system
of manufacture as a means of transport where the frames do not grip the matches.
But, in addition to the general supporting action of the bottom plates, these latter
yield according to their nature other results of great importance in the dipping
apparatus, in which their particular nature varies according to the effect which it
is desired to produce.
In fact, it is easily understood that if, in order to dip the matches placed on a
bottom plate, it is desired to fold back the whole apparatus into a paraffin bath, the
liquid first displaced by this bottom plate would then penetrate strongly the ends
of the matches in such a way as to soak them, if not along their entire length, at
least far too much of it, without mentioning the dipping in the chemical paste
which it would be simply impossible to do in this manner by reason of the thick nature
of the paste, which would coat at the most the matches placed at the sides, and
those much too heavily.
Under these circumstances, there is only one way of obtaining homogeneous and
clean dippings, and that is to employ porous retaining plates allowing the liquids
to penetrate them by capillary attraction, and the light pastes to rise over the
bottom plate in a layer of absolutely uniform thickness in which the ends of the
matches then dip and are thus always coated with the same quantity of liquid or
paste. The porous material forming the retaining plate may be of any suitable
kind, but felt is preferably employed for the paraffin dipping and fine meshed wire
gauze for the chemical paste dipping. The apparatus for dipping the shafts in the
paraffin, Figures 3 and 4, is constructed as follows:-
The folding down frame has a bottom plate of wire net F, and this latter is
covered on the inside with a sheet of white or yellow felt. The whole is
mounted by trunnions in bearings having inclined planes P which are fixed on
the sides of the trough B which contains the paraffin; this trough is of cast
metal and has a double bottom heated by steam in order to keep the paraffin
suitably liquid. When the frame is placed in a vertical position in the stand, as
shown in dotted lines, Figure 3, it rests by its truunions in the hollow of the
bearings P; it is then folded down, and, when it has reached a horizontal
position, it is slid along the inclined planes in order to dip all the shafts in
the paraffin, which then rises through the felt, passing through the wire net
bottom plate which serves as support for it and which rests on the bottom of
the trough. The lower ends of the matches then rest on the felt, are embedded

page_text: therein and absorb the paraffin by capillary attraction by reason of pressure
applied to the upper ends, a pressure which may be produced by any suitable
means, either by hand or by means of a flap T, or even by means of a roller
mechanism passing over the plank covering the matches.
When the first dipping is completed, which is only the work of an instant,
during which all the ends of the shanks absorb exactly the same quantity of
paraffin as the felt affords them, the porous frame plate covered with felt G is
withdrawn from the paraffin, raising it on the bearings P in order to allow the
paraffin to drain off; then the whole is raised into a vertical position with a view
to withdrawing the frame from the stand and transferring it to the apparatus
for the chemical paste dipping, Figures 5 and 6.
This apparatus differs from the preceding one in the felt being removed, and
the frame being solely provided with a single porous bottom of wire net F.
The bottom of the trough B, which is double cased and heated by steam, is
provided with a raised floor, and the chemical paste is contained in the furrows
thus formed, and surrounding the floor, which the chemical paste, which is always
maintained at the same level in the furrows, exceeds by a given amount, that is to
say, that the surface of the floor is always covered with a thin layer of very fluid
chemical paste. The frame, having a porous bottom F, is mounted on hinges in
such a way that, when it is in a horizontal position, its bottom plate F fits exactly
on the surface of the floor of the trough coated with paste which penetrates the
meshes of the bottom plate F, above which there is then formed a thin and uniform
layer in which the ends of the matches of the frame C, placed on the stand, dip. All
the matches are then immersed to an equal depth in the above named layer of
paste by means of the pressing down plate T, which bears on their upper ends.
This dipping is strictly uniform, each match thus receiving a nice small head of
inflammable material. The stand is then folded back, and the frame containing
the finished matches is transferred to the classifying and boxing apparatus.
It is easily seen that all the movements of the apparatus, the working of which
has been hereinbefore described, as well as all the movements for transferring the
frames, may be effected mechanically by subjecting them to the action of a driving
mechanism suitable for this purpose and suitably combined with the apparatus
herein before described.
In order to remove the matches, when finished, from the frames, these latter are
placed on a frame composed of pigeon holes of tinned iron E, similar to those
which are employed for placing the matches in the frames, and this pigeon hole
frame is placed on a trough B having an india rubber bottom, thus preventing the
ignition of the matches when phosphoric matches are being made. The whole, that
is to say, the frame, stand and trough, Figures 7 and 8, is placed on a tilting table,
which is almost vertically inclined to receive the frame, which is just leaving the
manufacturing part of the operation, and which is then to be raised into a horizontal
position. The matches then drop into the pigeon holes E and are thus received in
a vertical position in the trough B, in order to be sorted into rows for boxing.
This operation is effected very rapidly, by means of the very simple apparatus
shown in Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12.
The essential part of the apparatus consists of a trough B¹, the bottom of which
is hollowed out into a certain number of adjacent grooves of semicircular section,
each being as long as the width of a box. These grooves are filled with layers of
matches in rows of a suitable height, so that the surface of the rows is quite level at
the top. On this surface, a sheet metal plate O is placed, which holds, in a suitable
frame C¹, the boxes or drawers lying open below, intended to receive the matches
which pass into the drawers as soon as the sheet metal plate is withdrawn from
between the two parts of the apparatus, which is generally arranged for 75 boxes
at a time. It is then only necessary to insert the drawers in their cases, to render
the boxes ready.
This arrangement allows the matches to be boxed with great rapidity, and is
performed without any loss or waste.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The improved methodical process of match making which consists in the
match splints from the cutting machines, inserted directly into frames, being
submitted, whilst in such frames, to a drying and then to dipping operations, without
being submitted to further drying, after which they are ready for being directly
boxed, all substantially as described.
2. In match making apparatus, a frame for receiving the match splints provided
with holes or openings suitably distant from one another, whereby each match will
be independent of its neighbours, substantially as described.
3. In match making apparatus and in combination with a frame or frames having
holes or openings, a hinged stand for receiving such frame having one of its sides
covered in so that the matches cannot, at that side, drop out of the frame in the
course of its being brought into a vertical position, substantially as described.
4. In a stand for receiving and dipping a frame of matches, substantially as herein-
before described, a bottom plate for such stand consisting of a porous material
through which the dipping liquids or pastes can penetrate to the match ends,
substantially as described.
5. A dipping table for use in match manufacture, consisting of a double bottomed
trough B suitably heated and supported, having a hinged flap T and inclined
planes P', on which latter is mounted a stand having a porous bottom, substantially
as herein before described.
6. The devices for boxing matches consisting of a trough having a number of
semicircular grooves, corresponding to the number of boxes to be filled, an
intermediate metal plate on which the empty boxes turned upside down rest, and a
cover or tray for the boxes corresponding to the grooved trough, substantially
as described.
Dated this 24th day of October 1893.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.