Improvements in Hydraulic Presses.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Aug., 1899
Complete Sponification Loft 10th Move 1000
Acounted 17th 1Aud
1000
Improvements in Hydraulic Presses.
I, HENRI RUPERTI, of 37, Kaiser Wilhelm Strasse, Düsseldorf, in the Empire
of Germany, Technical Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
In hydraulic presses as hitherto constructed the supply and subsequent removal
of the material to be treated is not readily effected and occupies a very consider-
able amount of time, for this reason such presses are not adapted for use in freeing
from large quantities of raw materials such as peat, beetroot parings, brewery
refuse and the like, the moisture which they contain.
The hydraulic press for freeing such substances from water which forms the
subject of this invention is especially adapted for freeing peat from the water
which it contains for the manufacture of peat briquettes and entirely obviates
the defects above referred to. With this press the charging and discharging
and also the adjustment of the pressing plates is effected automatically, the
pieces of peat are conveyed to the apparatus in a waggon packed in sacks or
bales from which they fall, through the compartments of a charging shaft
arranged above the press, between the pressing plates.
A special feature of the press consists in the fact that, for the
purpose of
enabling the pressing plates to be automatically adjusted in accordance with
the thickness of the pieces of peat which they are required to treat, these plates
are connected by means of cables or the like with supports which fall upon the
forward travel of the press ram, so that the cables remain slack during the
continuance of the pressure, whilst upon the backward travel of the press ram
the supports are raised so that the pressing plates are suspended freely, and,
adapting themselves to the pieces of peat coming between them, are capable of
moving freely between the rods connecting the pressure cylinder with the head
of the press.
The pressure cylinder is connected with the head by means of four rods in the
known manner. "Between the pressing plates, which are separately guided upon
beneath the press on rails and prevent the material which is to be freed from
rods engage bars which project upon the platform of a carriage adapted to run
moisture from falling through. Above the press is arranged a charging shaft
provided with vertical passages parallel one with the other and open above and
below, and which correspond to the pressing spaces between the plates; into these
passages the peat is allowed to fall from a waggon adapted to run upon rails
arranged above the press and which is provided with corresponding openings,
by which means the pieces of peat enter the pressing spaces and rest upon the
bars.
A frame supported upon four pillars and which surrounds the charging shaft
is capable of vertical adjustment by means of screw shafts and carries parallel
with the sides of the shaft movable supports upon which are suspended the
pressing plates by means of thin wire ropes. In order to permit the ropes to

page_text: pass freely the lateral members of the frame are provided with longitudinal
slots.
The screw shafts are caused to rotate by means of bevel wheels one of which is
fixed upon a shaft intended to be driven by the transmission gear whilst a second
wheel carried by this same shaft turns a longitudinal shaft which by means
of a bevel wheel transmits the motion to the shaft of the second bevel wheel in
order to drive the second screw spindle.
The material to be freed from moisture, peat for example, is compressed in a
fibrous condition and separated into pieces which are placed in sacks or packed
in pieces of coarse fabric and arranged in the separate divisions of the charging
waggon. When these divisions in the waggon have been arranged over the
vertical passages in the charging shaft, pivotally mounted doors or flaps in the
waggon, are opened and the cakes of the material which is to be freed from
water fall down between the pressing plates.
The pressure piston is now caused to move forward in the cylinder by means
of a pressure pump and in the meantime the carriage is removed and the screw
spindles rotated in such a manner as to cause the frame with the supports to
descend and the cords to which the pressing plates are attached, to hang loose
whilst the pressure piston is operative.
When the requisite pressure has been applied, the pump is reversed and the
pressure piston drawn back into its original position by means of weights which
are attached to it by means of cords passing over rollers. Whilst this is taking
place the frame with the supports will have been so far raised that the pressure
plates again are suspended and move freely between the bars with their projec-
tions in order to automatically adapt themselves to the fresh material with which
the press is supplied, the compressed blocks having in the meanwhile fallen out
of the press, being replaced by a supply of fresh material.
In order that it may not be necessary to construct the press of too great a
length, the supports running upon the frame are attached to weights by means of
cords passing over rollers by means of which they are caused to resume their
initial position.
By means of this arrangement the time occupied in charging the press, assum-
ing it to contain say 20 chambers, will not exceed two minutes at the most,
whilst the discharge can be effected in one minute. With the greatest ease
two men are able to attend to fifteen presses each consisting of forty chambers
as it is only necessary for them to push the carriage from one press under another
and to manipulate the transmission gear for moving the frame upwards and
downwards the upper wagon being of course attended to separately.
Dated this 17th day of August 1899.
I, HENRI RUPERTI, of 37, Kaiser Wilhelm Strasse, Düsseldorf, in the Empire
of Germany, Technical Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this invention 4
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
In hydraulic presses as hitherto constructed the supply and subsequent removal
of the material to be treated is not readily effected and occupies a very consider-

page_text: able amount of time, for this reason such presses are not adapted for use in freeing
from large quantities of raw materials such as peat, beetroot parings, brewery
refuse and the like the moisture which they contain.
The hydraulic press for freeing such substances from water which forms the
subject of this invention is especially adapted for freeing peat from the water
which it contains for the manufacture of peat briquettes and entirely obviates
the defects above referred to. With this press the charging and discharging
and also the adjustment of the pressing plates is effected automatically, the
pieces of peat are conveyed to the apparatus in a waggon, packed in sacks or
bales, from which they fall, through the compartments of a charging shaft
arranged above the press, between the pressing plates.
A special feature of the press consists in the fact that, for the purpose of
enabling the pressing plates to be automatically adjusted in accordance with
the thickness of the pieces of peat which they are required to treat, these plates
are connected by means of cables or the like with supports which fall upon the
forward travel of the press ram, so that the cables remain slack during the
continuance of the pressure, whilst upon the backward travel of the press ram
the supports are raised so that the pressing plates are suspended freely, and
adapting themselves to the pieces of peat coming between them, are capable of
moving freely between the rods connecting the pressure cylinder with the head
of the press.
In order that my invention may be readily understood and carried into effect I
will describe the same fully with reference to the accompanying drawings in
which:
Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in longitudinal section of my improved
apparatus.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same, partly in section, and
Figures 3 and 4 represent plan views of the same partly in section.
The pressure cylinder a is connected with the head c by means of four rods
in the usual manner. Between the pressing plates g, which are separately guided
upon the rods b, engage bars i which project upon the platform of a carriage h
adapted to run beneath the press on rails, and prevent the material which is to
be freed from moisture from falling through. Above the press is arranged a
charging shaft provided with vertical passages parallel one with the other and
open above and below, and which correspond to the pressing spaces between the
plates g into these passages the peat is allowed to fall from a waggon d adapted
to run upon rails arranged above the press and which is provided with correspond-
ing openings, by which means the pieces of peat enter the pressing spaces and
rest upon the bars i.
A frame supported upon four pillars and which surrounds the charging
shaft ƒ is capable of vertical adjustment by means of screw shafts r (Figure 2)
and carries parallel with the sides of the shaft f movable supports upon which
are suspended the pressing plates g by means of thin wire cables or ropes s.
In order to permit these ropes s to pass freely between each of the lateral
members of the frame p, a longitudinal slot is provided in each of said members,
(see Figure 3).
The screw shafts
is fixed upon a shaft
second bevel wheel
are caused to rotate by means of bevel wheels z one of which
intended to be driven by the transmission gear whilst a
carried by this same shaft turns a longitudinal shaft v
(Figure 2) which by means of a bevel wheel (Figure 1) transmits motion to
the shaft of the second bevel wheel in order to drive the second screw
spindle r.
The material to be freed from moisture, peat for example, is compressed in a
fibrous condition and separated into pieces, which are placed in sacks or packed
in pieces of coarse fabric and arranged in the separate divisions of the charging
waggon d. When these divisions in the waggon d have been arranged over the
vertical passages in the charging shaft ƒ, pivotally mounted doors or flaps in the

page_text: waggon, which are not shewn in the drawing, are opened and the cakes of the
material which is to be freed from water fall down between the pressing plates.
The pressure piston is now caused to move forward in the cylinder a by means
of a pressure pump and in the meantime the carriage his removed and the screw
spindles r rotated in such a manner as to cause the frame p with the supports
to descend, and the cords s, to which the pressing plates are attached, to hang
loose whilst the pressure piston is operative.
When the requisite pressure has been applied, the pump is reversed and the
pressure piston drawn back into its original position by means of the weights
represented in Figure 1 which are attached to it by means of cords passing over
rellers .
Whilst this is taking place the frame with the supports will have
been so far raised that the pressure plates 9 again are suspended and move freely
between the bars b with their projections in order to automatically adapt them-
selves to the fresh material with which the press is supplied, the compressed
blocks having in the meanwhile fallen out of the press, being replaced by a
supply of fresh material.
In order that it may not be necessary to construct the press of too great a
length, the supports q running upon the frame p are attached to weights w by
means of cords passing over rollers e (Figures 1 and 3) by means of which they
are caused to resume their initial position.
By means of this arrangement the time occupied in charging the press, assum-
ing it to contain say 20 chambers, will not exceed two minutes at the most,
whilst the discharge can be effected in one minute. With the greatest ease
two men are able to attend to fifteen presses each consisting of forty chambers
as it is only necessary for them to push the carriage from one press under
another and to manipulate the transmission gear for moving the frame upwards
and downwards, the upper waggon d being of course attended to separately.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is―
1. A press, for expressing water from peat and the like with automatic adjust-
ing arrangement for the press-plates, characterized by the fact that the press-
plates g, for the purpose of their automatic adjustment for the size or thickness
of the cakes are connected by ropes s or the like, to vertically reciprocating
supports g, which, at the forward motion of the press plunger u are lowered so
far as to allow the press-plates during the action of pressing to advance un-
hindered, while during the return of the press-plunger the said carriers are
raised so far as to cause the press-plates g to swing, and to automatically set
themselves at correct distances to each other for the introduction of new press-
cakes substantially as herein described and illustrated by the accompanying
drawings.
2. A constructional form of press as described in Claim 1. characterized by
the fact that above the press is provided a guide f with vertical parallel passages
open at top and bottom and corresponding to the press-chambers between the
plates and into which are dropped the press-cakes from a truck above.
having a corresponding number of vertical compartments, so that anyone of
the cakes falls between two press-plates g and then finds a rest upon bars i of a
lower truck for a time until the cakes are retained by pressure in the press-
chambers substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the accom-
panying drawings.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.