Improvements relating to Pulp-moulding Presses.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Sept., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 6th Nov., 1889-Accepted, 21st Dec., 1889
L
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by FRANK EUGENE KEYES, of Lockport, New York,
United States, of America.]
Improvements relating to Pulp-moulding Presses.
I WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co. Patent Agents.
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows :-
This invention relates to pulp-moulding presses and comprises various improve-
ments hereinafter mentioned.
In the improved machine, there is a perforated former and a cylinder and piston
above the end of the said former. A flexible partition or diaphragm surrounds the
said former, and suitable means are provided for forcing the said diaphragm and
piston towards the said former to compress the pulp thereon. Suitable means are
also provided for producing snction inside of the said former during the compression
of the pulp, to draw out the water and properly lay the fibre.
T
0011 1...
Cunhan 1.000
HASELTINE, LAKE, & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Pulp-moulding Presses.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 :-
My invention relating to a machine for molding pulp is shown embodied in a
machine for making pails from wood-pulp; but it is obvious that the invention may
be embodied in machines for making other articles.
The invention is intended as an improvement on the machine shown in Letters
Patent of the United States, No. 354,708, granted December 21, 1886, which it
closely resembles in construction in many parts, being the same in the means for
introducing the pulp material between the mold and former and for operating the
former to facilitate the removal of the molded article.
The present improvement relates mainly to the construction of the mold by which
the pulp is compressed to the desired shape.
In my patent before referred to the mold was composed of a substantially
cylindrical flexible partition or diaphragmn that was forced laterally toward the sides
of the former to mold and compress the sides of the pail or tub, and a rigid head
connected with the said partition or diaphragm, which head acted upon and com-
pressed the bottom of the pail or article to be molded. The rigid head and flexib:e
diaphragm in that construction practically constituted a single tight chamber, and in
the movement of the head away from the former the flexible side portion of the
nold, or, in other words, the diaphragm, was stretched, and it had a corresponding
contraction when the mold was being closed in upon or compressing the material to
be molded. This stretching and contraction of the sides of the mold produce a
drawing or rubbing action along the surface of the material being molded, instead of
direct compression only; and the object of the present invention is to avoid such
drawing or rubbing action and provide a mold in which the sides and end approach
077

page_text: the former with a direct movement and act with direct pressure only upon the
material to be molded.
The present invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination
of parts, substantially as will be hereinafter pointed out in the description and then
claimed.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a machine for molding articles from pulp
embodying this invention; Fig. 2, an enlarged sectional detail showing a portion of
the former and co-operating parts; Figs. 3 and 4, details showing the construction of
the end portion of the mold. Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views showing on an enlarged
scale the relation and connection of the plunger, the head, and the tubes.
The main portion of the machine comprises a chamber embraced within the
wall A, a supporting-base B therefor, the legs or uprights B', sustaining said base,
and the movable platform or base H, supporting the former G, and itself supported on
a plunger I, moving in a cylinder K, and the fastening devices n!, for the said former-
support. All may he and are shown substantially the same as in my patent before
referred to.
The former G is of usual construction, being a thick hollow shell, having a flange g,
(best shown in Fig. 2) by which it is bolted upon the supporting-base H, a gasket or
washer g being fastened between the said former and base, and extending out toward
the edge of the latter, so as to make a tight joint between the part H and the base B
when the former is locked in operative position, as will be understood from Fig. 2.
The outer surface of the former G is scored or provided with numerous intersecting
grooves g², (see Fig. 2), which communicate with perforations g, that incline down-
ward from the outer to the inner surface of the former, and afford drainage for the
water. that is removed from the pulp when being compressed against the former,
which constitutes the support for the pulp while being molded or compressed by the
contraction of the mold. The said former is provided with a covering g', (see Fig. 2),
preferably composed of finely-perforated metal plate made in the form of a hood or
bonnet that fits over the entire outer surface of the former and rests at its lower edge
within the retracting-ring, which is operated by rods and stops m² to detach the
molded article from the former G after the latter has been lowered from the mold, all
the foregoing parts being substantially as described in my said former patent.
In the present machine the chamber. inclosed in the wall A, which contains the
mold and former, is surmounted by a top piece A¹, provided with an internal.
cylinder a of about the diameter desired for the end of the article to be molded.
The mold by which the material is compressed consists in part of a flexible side
portion F; which may be a tubular piece of rubber having its lower edge confined
between the lower edge of the chamber-wall A and its base B, while the upper edge
of the side portion of the mold F is confined between the upper part of the chamber-
wall A and its top or cover A. The lower edge of the flexible side portion of the
mold draws over an annular foot-piece or ring, (best shown in Fig. 2) so that the
said side piece F normally stands between the wall A of the chamber and the outer
surface of the former G, as shown in Fig. 1, thus forming a flexible partition or
diaphragin that divides the space between the chamber-wall and former, and may be
moved either toward or from the latter, according as external or internal pressure is
applied.
The end portion of the mold is composed of a perforated plate f¹, connected with a
head, attached to the lower end of a tube E, extending up through a suitable
stuffing-box in the end portion a¹ of the cylinder a, and acted upon at its upper end
by a spring k, the force of which is controlled by an adjustable follower 1. The said
tube E is connected with a cord in, passing over a pulley and connected with a
slotted lever M, all constructed and operated substantially as in my patent before
referred to.
The under surface of the end piece of the mold is shaped to correspond with the
shape desired for the end of the molded article, and the said surface is channeled or
scored, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, like the outer surface of the former G, the said
channels being connected by perforations with the upper side of the piece/'; the under

page_text: surface of which has applied to it a covering ƒ, composed of a perforated plate, so
that by this construction drainage outward is afforded through the end piece of the
mold, the same as through the former G.
Above the piece is placed a head or piston 3, provided with suitable packing/**
working tight in the cylinder a, said piston being connected with the tube E at a
point some distance above the piece, and being recessed at its under side to form a
chamber between it and the end piece of the mold, the tube E being provided
with small perforations e, communicating with the said space between the parts f³
The tube E contains within it a second tube N, the lower end of which is closed
by a plug, and is provided with lateral openings.
The said tube N is movable
lengthwise in the tube E, being operated by a handle D³, and connected devices,
which may be substantially the same as in my former patent. When the tube N is in
its highest position in the tube E, the plug t is even with the surface of the end
piece of the mold, forming part of the same; but by operating the tube N by the
handle D said tube N may be lowered, so as to bring the outlet opening or ports
below the end piece of the mold, and thus permit the introduction of the pulp
material through the said pipe N and ports s into the mold, the said pulp material
being forced in so as to entirely fill the said space, expanding the side portion & of
the mold outward toward or against the inner wall A of the chamber.
The arrangement of the pipes E and N, and means for operating them so as to
introduce the pulp in the mold and to raise the end portion of the mold after the
material has been shaped, are the same as in my former patent, before referred to,
and are not herein clained, but are merely shown as illustrating a convenient means
for effecting these operations.
The space between the tubes N and E, which communicates through the openings e
with the space above the end piece of the mold, is connected with a pipe i, and the
base H for the former G is provided with an outlet-opening ', connected with a
pipe e, which communicates with the pipe i, both being connected with a pipe /,
which may communicate with an air-pump or other exhausting device; and it is
intended that the pipes e and i shall be placed in communication with the pipe by
opening a stop-cock g during the time that the pulp is being introduced through
the pipe N, this suction tending to draw the water out from the pulp, and to thus
partially condense the pulp material, and also acting to lay the fibre on the perforated
surface and in such a manner as to make a stronger and more perfect material
when the pulp is subsequently compressed, the molded articles, when the pulp is laid
on in connection with an exhaust or suction, as just described, being of superior
quality to those produced when the pulp is merely poured into the hollow of the
mold.
The space in the cylinder above the piston 3 is provided with an inlet-opening
communicating with a pressure-pipe 2, provided with a branch 3, entering an inlet-
recess (best shown in Fig. 2) around the lower inner surface of the chamber-
wall A, the said recess being covered by a strip. 5 of perforated plate, as in my
former patent. The said pipe 2 communicates with any suitable source of fluid under
pressure such, for example, as compressed air, water, or steam-and after the space
around the former G and within the diaphragm H and in the cylinder a below the
end piece of the mold has been filled with pulp through the pipe N, and the said
pipe lifted back to its normal position, pressure is admitted through the pipe 2, acting
above the piston 3, to force it and the end piece of the mold downward toward
the former and through the branch 3 into the chamber A outside the portion F of the
mold, which is thereby at the same time forced laterally toward and compresses the
pulp against the sides of the former, the said parts of the mold being at the end of
the operation in the position shown in dotted lines, and having compressed the pulp
to the shape desired for the article. Before the pressure is admitted through the
pipe 2 the lever M will be raised, so as to permit the downward movement of the end
piece of the mold, and after the compression has been completed, as just stated, the
compressing-fluid may be drawn off through the pipes 2, 3, preferably by the

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employment of a three-way cock, which opens an outlet at the same time that it cuts
off the pressure from the pipes 2, 3. The suction or exhaust from the pipes el and i
which is continued during the compression of the pulp, is also cut off after the
compression and molding of the article has been completed. When the pressure is.
thus removed, the end piece f¹ of the mold may be raised to the position shown in
Fig. 1 by turning down the lever M, and the side portion of the mold will draw
back by its own elasticity from the outer surface of the molded article, and then the
base-piece. H, for the former G, may be unlocked and lowered, carrying the molded
article down with it, and at the end of the downward movement the molded article
will be raised off from the former by the ring ', pins i, and stops m', so that the said
molded article may be easily removed from the apparatus, after which the former is
gain raised by admitting pressure to the cylinder K, and then locked in its highest.
position by the device n, and the operations for molding another article repeated, as
already described.
While the apparatus has been described as if the article to be molded and
consequently the former and mold were circular in horizontal section, it is obvious
that this is not necessarily the case, and that the invention is equally applicable to
produce articles of various other shapes.
I have found it desirable to enlarge the chamber A at the upper part, as represented
at A so as to receive a larger quantity of pulp at this point, so that when the entire
mass is compressed the chime, and lower portion of the pail adjacent thereto, is of
fully equal if not somewhat greater thickness and density than the remainder of the
pail, it being understood that when the pulp is introduced the flexible former expands
outward, so as to lie along the inner surface of the chamber A.
The said chamber may be provided with a small vent-passage controlled. by a
suitable stop-cock, as is also the cylinder A above the head or follower that works
in it.
This invention is not limited to the specific machine herein shown and described,
which is adapted for molding hollow articles upon a former that supports the pulp
while being compressed or inolded to form said articles; but it is obvious that the
flexible diaphragm and the movable end piece may co-operate with other supports for
the pulp while it is being molded, and this will be the equivalent of the former G.
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 ine
by my foreign Correspondent I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The combination of the former, the chamber inclosing the same and provided
with a cylinder located above the former, the flexible partition or diaphragm
surrounding the former and connected at the ends with said chamber, the indepen-
dently-movable end piece operated in said cylinder, and means for operating said end
piece and diaphragm, substantially as described.
2. The combination of the former, the chamber inclosing the same and provided
with a cylinder located above the former, the flexible partition or diaphragm
surrounding the former, and the piston having a working fit in said cylinder, and a
perforated piece fitted in said cylinder and connected with said piston, a chamber or
recess between said piston and perforated piece and means for producing suction in
the said chamber, substantially as described.
3. In a pulp-inolding machine, the combination of a former to support the material
while being acted upon, a flexible partition surrounding the former, an outer
chamber A. provided at its upper end with an enlargement A to admit of an increased
deposit of material on the former opposite the same, and means for forcing fluid in
said chamber, to apply pressure to the material on the former through the flexible
partitions, substantially as described.
4. The art or method of molding pulp which consists in introducing pulp under
pressure between the mold and the former, applying suction through the former to the
pulp, and thereafter. compressing the pulp that has been introduced into the mold.

page_text: 5. The art or method of molding pulp which consists in forcing the pulp between
the mold and the former, then compressing the pulp and applying suction through the
former to the pulp during the time that it is being forced into the mold and
compressed therein."
Dated this 6th day of November 1889.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.