Improvements in or appertaining to Fingers or Retaining Devices for Presses for Baling Cotton or other Material.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 19th July., 1894-Accepted, 1st Sept., 1894
Improvements in or appertaining to Fingers or Retaining Devices
for Presses for Baling Cotton or other Material.
A communication by JOHN FRANCIS ELSWORTH, of Alexandria, Egypt,
Engineer.
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 :-
In the working of baling presses it is sometimes desired to compress the material
being baled from one or more sliding or revolving boxes, into one strong box,
usually called the bale chamber in which it receives a further or final compression.
When working in this manner it is necessary to support the material when forced
into the bale chamber, to prevent its expanding upon the withdrawal of the com-
pressor; so that other boxes containing the material may be presented to the bale
chamber to have their contents added to that already in; or so that the bale
chamber itself may be moved over another compressor to receive further
compression of its contents.
The usual means at present adopted for attaining this, are bars, bolts or quadrant
plates, projecting into the interior of the bale chamber and are usually known as
fingers."
These fingers are actuated by more or less complicated mechanism to
cause them to recede at the proper time to permit the passage of material into the
chamber and to project under the, material when the compressor is being with-
drawn.
Now my invention relates more particularly to these fingers and has for its object
certain improvements to be hereinafter described.
The invention will be best understood by referring to the accompanying drawing,
in which,
Figure 1 is a cross section partly in elevation of a bale chamber showing my
improvements, and
Figure 2 part sectional plan of the same.
In these, A is the bale chamber and B a series of plates or fingers set edgewise
to the direction of motion of the material being pressed and preferably inclined
towards the compressor. The top and bottom edges are parallel but the inner ends
are formed at an angle. These plates slide in slots C formed in the lower part of
the bale chamber A and upon their lower edges they have a notch which engages
a suitable projection in the slot C when the fingers or plates are projecting into the
interior of the bale chamber, in the drawing the shafts D are shown utilised to form
this projection. The plates B are allowed a slight vertical movement in their
slots C sufficient to permit the notches 6 to disengage with the projecting shaft D,
so that they may slide outwards and leave the inside of the bale chamber free.
As it is desirable that all the plates B should move simultaneously, they are
connected by means of rods E passing through holes near their outer edges and
each end of these bars is coupled to its opposite neighbour by a system of levers
and links, so that they approach or recede from each other in an approximately
uniform manner, a convenient method of doing which is shown on the drawing and
is as follows-
The shafts D which pass from end to end of the bale chamber have levers F
keyed to their outer ends and these levers are attached by links G to the ends of

page_text: the rods E. One of the levers F has a downwardly extended arm E' which is
connected to the opposite system of levers by the link H so that when one shaft is
revolved through an arc of a circle the opposite shaft moves through a similar arc
but in the opposite direction and the levers F acting through the links G move the
rods E carrying the plates B inwards or outwards simultaneously. A hand lever I
is provided to bring about this movement at will and springs or weights are arranged
to keep the fingers normally pressing inwards, on the drawing a tension spring J is
shown for the purpose..
The mode of action is as follows-
The material being pressed is forced by the compressor against the oblique edges
of the plates B causing them to be lifted off the projections D and to slide back as
shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, thus allowing the material to pass. When the
follower (not shown in the drawing) arrives at the level of the fingers they,
the fingers, are drawn (under the influence of the spring) inwards and under
the material, slots being formed in the follower to allow of this. The follower
then retires leaving the material resting upon the fingers. Another batch of
material may then be presented and forced under the first into the bale chamber.
This second batch accumulates against the oblique faces until the pressure is
sufficient to overcome the resistance of the material already in, when the plates
are lifted off the projections and are forced outwards by the incoming material;
the plates again (actuated by the spring 1) enter the slots in the follower under
the material and the operation may be repeated as often as desired.
In the foregoing descriptions it has been assumed that the bale chamber is at
the upper part of the press and the compressor in the lower part, but these
positions may be reversed or both laid horizontally without affecting the working
of the invention.
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 improvements in or appertaining to fingers or retaining devices for
presses for baling cotton or other material, consisting of a series of plates set
edge-wise and sliding in slots formed in the sides or ends of the bale chamber
substantially as described and shown on the accompanying drawing.
2. A series of plates set edge-wise with oblique faces and inclined towards
the compresser substantially as and for the purposes described.
3. A series of plates having a notch in their bottom edges adapted to engage
projections preferably arranged in the slots of the bale chamber substantially as
and for the purposes set forth.
4. The arrangement of the mechanism whereby the fingers or plates referred
to in the preceding claims are simultaneously operated substantially as described
and shown on the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 18th day of July 1894.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents.