CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING SHIP'S BREAD OR BISCUITS
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
OVERTON, of No. 19, Shovel Alley, in the Parish of Saint George in the East,
and County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
...WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Third day of April, in the second year of Her reign, and
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Overton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said William Overton; my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said William Overton, my executors, administrators,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING SHIP'S BREAD OR BISCUITS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said William Overton,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's

page_text: High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Overton, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and' to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
These improvements in machinery or apparatus for making ship's bread or
biscuits, consist, firstly, in a machine for kneading the dough; and, secondly,
in a machine or machinery for rolling out the dough to its required thickness,
and cutting or stamping it into the forms of biscuits. In the accompanying
Drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation of the kneading machine; Fig. 2, a section
taken longitudinally through the same. When flour and water has been pro-
perly mixed together in the usual way of making dough, I introduce the
dough into the hopper a, a, a, for the purpose of kneading it between the
two fluted rollers b, b, which are placed under the lower aperture of the
hopper. The journals of these rollers b, b, turn in bearings in the side
frames, and upon their front ends are fixed a pair of toothed wheels c, c,
of similar diameters, taking into each other. On the axle of one of the rollers
is fixed a toothed wheel d, which takes into a pinion fixed on a shaft
mounted in the frame of the machine. To this shaft is attached a winch or
handle f, and by this winch the machine is put in operation, manual power
being applied to a winch at f, the pinion i causes the wheel d to revolve, and
with it the wheel c and roller b on the axle of which it is fixed, and the teeth
of the two wheels c being in gear with each other, they are by these means
both made to revolve simultaneously, and with them the two fluted rollers b, b.
Thus by the rotary motion of the rollers the dough is gradually drawn down
through the hopper, and kneaded in its passage between the fluted rollers, and
deposited in the box below. But as the complete process of kneading may
not have been effected by once passing the dough between the rollers, it may be,
removed from the boxg, and again introduced into the hopper and passed between
the rollers again and again several times until the kneading is complete. Before
the last time of passing the dough between the rollers I introduce the shoot h
for the purpose of bringing the dough out in a flat sheet, and conducting it
in that form away to the second machine, where it is to be rolled out to its.
proper thickness and cut into biscuits. The shoot h may, if desired, be perma-
nently fixed in the box g, and then the dough may pass over on to a suitable

page_text: receptacle as it proceeds from the rollers; Fig. 3 represents an elevation of
the machine for rolling and cutting the dough into biscuits; Fig. 4 is a section
of the same taken longitudinally through the machine; and Fig. 5 is a hori
zontal view of the machine looking down upon its upper surface. a, a, a, are
the side frames; b, c, d, a horizontal bed inclined at the end, upon which the
sheet of dough is to be spread out at b, passed under the rollers at c, and dis-
charged at d. A pair of cylindrical rollers e, e, protruded through the
horizontal part of the bed c, operate as bed rollers to conduct the sheet of
dough forward. A similar pair of rollers f, f, are the pressers by which the
sheet of dough is formed to the required thickness. A cylindrical roller ghas
thin ribs of metal placed round its periphery in hexagonal shapes for the
purpose of cutting or marking out the sheet of dough into forms suited for
biscuits, and another cylindrical roller his furnished with spikes or pins set
round its periphery for the purpose of pricking or piercing the required holes in
the biscuit as they pass under it. The manner in which I put these rollers
in simultaneous rotary motion will be perceived by the arrangement of wheels
attached to the axles of the several rollers represented in Fig. 3 and 5, and the
pinions by which they are connected, which are driven by a winch on the axle
of a pinion at k. The dough, as before said, is to be spread out upon the flat
bed at b, and pushed forward so as to come within the bite of the first pair of
rollers e, f. On rotary motion being then given to the rollers, the sheet of
dough will be conducted forward between the second pair, and thereby brought
to the desired thickness for being cut into biscuits. The dough thus prepared
will then pass on upon the bed c under the roller g, and by so passing will be cut
or marked out into hexagonal or other forms corresponding with the arrange-
ment of the cutting edges fixed round the periphery of the cylinder. The
sheet of dough so marked out will proceed onward and pass under the roller h,
where it will be pricked or pierced by the spikes set round its periphery, and
in order that the sheet of dough may not adhere to the roller h, a scraper
(shewn attached at Fig. 6) is placed behind it at i, having openings for the
spikes to pass through as the roller revolves, which effectually removes the
sheet of dough and allows it to proceed down the inclined plain of the bed at d,
from whence it is taken in portions by a peel and introduced into the oven.
As it may be necessary to make batches of biscuits of different, thicknesses, a.
provision is made for raising and lowering the pressing rollers f, f,.so that the
space for the passage of the dough between them and the bed rollers e, e, may
be adjusted as shall under circumstances be required. This is effected by nuts.
and screws shewn at 1, 1, 1, in Fig. 3, which are connected to sliding plummer

page_text: blocks carrying the journals.or axles of the rollers f, f, g, and h. A modifica-
tion of the last described machine is shewn in longitudinal section at Fig. 7
and 8, in which only the pressing rollers e, 'e, and f, f, are adapted. The sheet
of dough so prepared and delivered on to the inclined part of the bed may
then be cut out into biscuits and pricked by hand. In these Figures, however,
I have introduced an apparatus for cutting and pricking by means of a screw
press. A wooden frame m, m, carries a cutter for separating the dough into
hexagonal pieces. The form of this cutter is shewn at Fig. 9, which repre
sents its face. It is made of thin ribs standing out like those upon the roller 'g
before described, but in this case is flat. The wooden frame m'is attached to
a screw n mounted in a stretcher or bracket. By. turning. the screw n, the
frame with the cutter will be brought down upon the sheet of dough being upon
the inclined plane, and will cut or..mark out the hexagonal forms of the
biscuits, and at the same time the biscuits will be pricked by the points
inserted into the under part of the frame. In order to prevent the portions
of the dough so cut and pricked from rising and adhering to the points or
cutters, a series of moveable plates are made to act within the hexagonal
frame of the cutters, which plates, as the frame descends, are allowed to recede
or be pressed back by the surface of the sheet of dough, while the cutters and
prickers penetrate it, but where the frame is raised these plates and the rails
to which they are attached, fall again by their own gravity and force the dough
out of the cutters, leaving it flat upon the inclined plane as before. The
portion of dough thus operated upon may now be drawn off the inclined plane,
and by means of a peel introduced into. the oven as before.
Lastly, I wish it to be understood, that I do not intend to claim as new all
the parts of the machinery exhibited in the Drawings, but as respects the
kneading machine, I claim the employment of indented rollers placed below
the hopper for squeezing and kneading, the dough as it is passed between
them; and as respects the machinery for rolling out the dough and cutting.it
into biscuits, I claim the arrangements of the several parts, as shewn in the
Drawings, and particularly the construction of the cutting and pricking
apparatus there exhibited.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Overton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine.
WILLIAM (L.S.) OVERTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of October, in the
third year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said William
Overton came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained
5 and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument aforesaid
was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year
of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Third day of October, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-nine.