AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Victor Armand Roquencourt, of Rue de Tracy,
No. 9, at Paris, Manufacturer, for the Invention of “AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Victor Armand
Roquencourt at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 22nd February 1872.
I, VICTOR ARMAND ROQUENCOURT, of Rue de Tracy, No. 9, at Paris,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS," to be
as follows:-

page_text: According to the method heretofore employed for making these
chalices a thick paste composed of gum, water, and coloring matter
was spread by hand upon a mandril having the required configuration
of the chalice, and when dried sufficiently the chalices so formed were
removed by hand. This mode of operating is very slow and imperfect,
and a great number of defective chalices are produced thereby.
The essential feature of the present Invention consists in the employ-
ment of a moulding frame consisting of two plates combined together
in such a manner that the lower plate can be moved somewhat to and
from the upper one by means of a screw. The upper plate carries a
number of fixed mandrils, the lower ends of which have a configuration
corresponding to that of the chalices to be formed; these mandrils pass
through short tubes fixed in the lower plate, the portions having the
configuration of the chalices projecting below such tubes. The lower
plate has projecting guides passing into corresponding slots in the upper
plate, which has a handle at one end and a pivot at the other end for
manipulating the frame. This combined frame is first greased with a
brush, and is then 'introduced into a machine for coating the mandrils
with the composition for the chalices of the following arrangement :-At
the upper part of the machine are supports upon which the frame is
made to rest with its upper plate. The framing of the machine carries
above the moulding frame two screws which are connected to the lower
plate of the latter, and which can be turned by means of gearing
actuated by a crank handle so as to raise or lower such lower plate.
Below the moulding frame is a trough containing the paste or com-
position for forming the chalices. This trough is placed upon a table
fixed to a vertical slide working in a fixed guide. The lower end of the
slide has a stem resting in the loop of a pitch chain hanging down
between two pitch pullies over which the chain is passed, the ends of
the chain being connected to a counterweight. The pitch pullies are
geared together by toothed wheels, one of which has firstly a ratchet
wheel into which a fixed pawl takes, and secondly a winch handle by
which the pitch pullies can be turned so as to raise or lower the loop of
the chain, whereby the guide, and with it the table carrying the trough
of composition, is also raised or lowered. This moulding frame being in
position as above described, the trough with the composition is raised so
as to immerse the projecting ends of the before-described mandrils of the
moulding frame in the composition, and the trough is worked up and

page_text: down slightly so as to insure that all the mandrils shall be perfectly
coated with the composition. The trough is then lowered again, leaving
the mandrils coated with the composition, and the lower plate of the
moulding frame is lowered slightly so as to cause the tubes thereof to
press slightly upon the upper edges of the composition on the mandrils,
and thus to render such edges smooth. The moulding frame is then
removed, and is brought in an inverted position beneath a revolving
oylinder in such manner that the cylinder takes off the points of the
composition projecting beyond the points of the mandrils, whereby the
requisite small hole is formed in the end of the chalice. The frame is
then placed in a drying room for drying the composition, after which it
is placed in a second compartment of the before-described machine
where the frame is again suspended as before described and brought
under the action of two screws which depress the lower plate of the
frame so as to cause the tubes thereof to push the formed chalices off
the mandrils. The chalices fall on to a plate, from which they are
pushed by a rake into a hopper below, and whence they are removed
from time to time ready for use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Victor Armand Roquencourt in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 8th August 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, VICTOR
ARMAND ROQUENCOURT, of Rue de Tracy, No. 9, at Paris, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Victor Armand Roquencourt,
Her special licence that I, the said Victor Armand Roquencourt, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Victor Armand Roquencourt, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and

page_text: lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING
ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Victor Armand Roquencourt, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Victor Armand Roquencourt, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to an improved apparatus for manufacturing
the chalices of artificial flowers, more particularly the chalice of the
rose.
According to the method heretofore employed for making these
chalices a thick paste composed of gum, water, and coloring matter
was spread by hand upon a mandril having the required configuration
of the chalice, and when dried sufficiently the chalices so formed were
removed by hand. This mode of operating is very slow and imperfect,
and a great number of defective chalices are produced thereby.
The essential feature of the present Invention consists in the employ-
ment of a moulding frame consisting of two plates combined together
in such a manner that the lower plate can be moved somewhat to and
from the upper one by means of a screw. The upper plate carries a
number of fixed mandrils, the lower ends of which have a configuration
corresponding to that of the chalices to be formed; these mandrils pass
through short tubes fixed in the lower plate, the portions having the
configuration of the chalices projecting below such tubes. The lower
plate has projecting guides passing into corresponding slots in the upper
plate, which has a handle at one end and a pivot at the other end for
manipulating the frame. This combined frame is first greased with a

page_text: brush, and is then introduced into a machine for coating the mandrils
with the composition for the chalices of the following arrangement:-At
the upper part of the machine are supports upon which the frame is
made to rest with its upper plate. The framing of the machine carries
above the moulding frame two screws which are connected to the lower
plate of the latter, and which can be turned by means of gearing
actuated by a crank handle so as to raise or lower such lower plate.
Below the moulding frame is a trough containing the paste or composition
for forming the chalices. This trough is placed upon a table fixed to a
vertical slide working on a fixed guide. The lower end of the slide has
a stem resting in the loop of a pitch chain hanging down between two
pitch pullies over which the chain is passed, the ends of the chain being
connected to a counterweight. The pitch pullies are geared together
by toothed wheels, one of which has firstly a ratchet wheel, into which a
fixed pawl takes, and secondly a winch handle by which the pitch
pullies can be turned so as to raise or lower the loop of the chain,
whereby the guide and with it the table carrying the trough of com-
position is also raised or lowered. This moulding frame being in position
as above described, the trough with the composition is raised so as to
immerse the projecting ends of the before-described mandrils of the
moulding frame in the composition, and the trough is worked up and
down slightly so as to ensure that all the mandrils shall be perfectly
coated with the composition. The trough is then lowered again, leaving
the mandrils coated with the composition, and the lower plate of the
moulding frame is lowered slightly so as to cause the tubes thereof to
press slightly upon the upper edges of the composition on the mandrils,
and thus to render such edges smooth. The moulding frame is then
removed, and is brought in an inverted position beneath a revolving
cylinder in such manner that the cylinder takes off the points of the
composition projecting beyond the points of the mandrils, whereby the
requisite small hole is formed in the end of the chalice. The frame is
then placed in a drying room for drying the composition, after which it
is placed in a second compartment of the before-described machine,
where the frame is again suspended as before described, and brought
under the action of two screws which depress the lower plate of the
frame so as to cause the tubes thereof to push the formed chalices off
the mandrils. The chalices fall on to a plate from which they are
pushed by a rake into a hopper below, and whence they are removed
from time to time ready for use.

page_text: Fig. 1 represents a side view; Fig. 2, a plan looking from below; and
Fig. 3, a plan looking from above of one of the moulding frames con-
structed and operating according to my Invention.
It consists of two plates a and b adjusted to each other by guide pins
so that they may be moved a little nearer to or farther from each other.
The upper plate a has attached to it a number of mandrils c, c, shaped
to the form of the interior of the chalices that are desired to be pro-
duced. The lower plate 6 has a number of short tubes corresponding to
the mandrils of a, so that each mandril passes through one of these
tubes. There is a handle f at one end of the plate a, and at the other
end a short spindle or pin g, by which the frame can be rested and
rocked on any convenient support. Studs x, x, fixed to the lower
plate 6, pass through grooves A in the upper plate a, and extend a little
above the upper surface of that plate. This moulding frame having its
two plates a and b pressed closely together is greased on the under side by
a brush, and is then applied to the moulding machine, which I will now
describe, referring to Fig. 4, which represents a front view, and Fig. 5
which represents a plan thereof. This machine has three compartments,
the two side compartments M, M³, similar to one another, being
employed for the moulding operation, and the middle compartment N
for finishing the chalices. In each of the compartments M, M', a
shallow tank h is mounted on a column j fitted to slide vertically in a
guide k. The lower part of the column j projects downwards in the
shape of a tongue ", which is embraced by a chain passing over two
pullies 1, 2, to a counterweight Q. The pullies 1, 1, are connected by
gearing m, m, and can be turned by a winch handle B. One of them
has a ratchet wheel D with fine teeth, into which engages a pawl F to
prevent the column and tank h from descending unless the pawl be lifted
out of gear.
The moulding frame a, b, is placed in slides above the tank h, and
two screws n³, n¹, are mounted in nuts fixed on the framing above.
These screws have on them pinions which gear with a wheel n, which
can be turned by a handle G, so that by means of the screws the lower
plate 6 can be lowered or raised a little. The tank ŉ being charged
with a paste of gum, water, and colouring matter, green, black, or
brown, as may be desired, is raised up to the moulding frame (the two

page_text: plates of which a and b are in the first place close together) till the
mandrils c are immersed in the paste up to the ends of the tubes d
through which they project. The tank is lowered and raised several
times successively so as to get a uniform deposit of paste on the
mandrils, and is then lowered away. The handle G is then moved so as
to turn the screws n³, n', a little, and thereby to depress the plate b, so
that its tubes d'equalize the upper lips of the gum deposits on the
mandrils. The frame a, b, is then withdrawn from the slides and passed
in an inverted position under a roller R, as shewn in the transverse
section Fig. 6. This roller being made to revolve while the moulding
frame is passed under it scrapes off the points of the moulded chalices
so as to leave neat holes in them. The frame with the gum on its
mandrils is then placed in a drying chamber, and when the gum deposit
is sufficiently dry it is placed in the upper part of the compartment N.
In the framing over this compartment are mounted screws z, z', with
pinions connected by gearing 9, p, o, with a handle P, and below the
frame a, b, there is a receptacle T with a sliding rake S. By a move-
ment of the handle P the screws z, z¹, are made to depress the lower
plate b, the tubes of which d sliding over the mandrils c push off the
moulded chalices which are gathered by the rack S into the receptacle T.
Fig. 7 represents a section, Fig. 8 a side view, and Fig. 9 a plan of
one of the chalices formed as above described, and Fig. 10 represents a
rose of which such a chalice forms the part joining the flower to the

page_text: Third. The use of a roller for squaring the points of the moulded
chalices, substantially as described with reference to Fig. 6.
In witness whereof, I, the said Victor Armand Roquencourt, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this First day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy- 5
two.
V. A. ROQUENCOURT. (L.S.)
J. ARMENGAUd, Jr.,
Civil Engineer,
23, B. de Strasbourg, à Paris.