Improvement in Machines for Moulding and Shaping Plastic Materials.
Year: 1893

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvement in Machines for Moulding and Shaping Plastic
Materials.
I, JOSEPH JONAS DENBEIGH, of 496 Humboldt Street, Brooklyn, in the County
of Kings, and State of New York, United States of America, Machinist, 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:-
The present invention has reference to machines for shaping and moulding plastic
materials and especially such substances as candies, crackers, soap, &c., for the
production of a continuous sheet of lozenge paste, or of rods, sticks, tubes and other
shapes.
In machines of this class where a screw is employed to compress and feed the
material, it is customary to provide a separate cylinder, feed opening, and discharge
opening for each screw. According to the present invention, a series of compression
chambers, or cylinders, are formed side by side, each communicating with the
chamber or chambers adjacent to it. The entire series of chambers may be
conveniently formed by a two-piece corrugated casing, as hereinafter described,
and may have a common feed opening. In each chamber is arranged a screw,
preferably without a central core, and the edge of each screw approaches very
closely to that or those adjacent to it. The screws are rotated by gearing so as to
turn in opposite directions, but are alternately right and left handed screws, so that
the feed of the material is in the same direction. The results accomplished by this
arrangement are a very thorough working and uniform treatment of the material,
which, by the co-operating action of contiguous screws is subjected to a kind of
braiding process, and an equalization of pressure and uniform distribution of the
material, in that any surplus or excess in one compartment would escape into the
next. These results are attained with great economy, both as to the construction
of the machine itself and as to its operation, the machine being capable of acting
upon a relatively large quantity of material. By the action of the screws the
plastic substance is fed to the exit or discharge end of the machine, which will be
constructed according to the particular object desired.
For producing tubular articles it is preferred to use a die-plate constructed as
described in United States Letters Patent No. 478,279, granted July 5th 1892, to
C. E. Gardiner.
The invention, its objects and advantages will be more fully understood from the
following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which
illustrate one form of machine constructed in accordance with the invention.
In the drawings :
Figure 1, is a top plan view of my machine, with the compression chamber, die
orifice, and the upper half of the casing removed.
Fig. 2 is an end view from the left of Fig. 1, and
Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of my complete machine.

page_text: A represents the respective compression chambers of the series, in which rotate
the compression screws a. These compression chambers, which are approximately
cylindrical in shape, are formed by the upper and lower corrugated casings or
castings B and B respectively, each provided with horizontal flanges & and bat
the side edges thereof, which are clamped together by screw-bolts . The
compression chambers are formed by the inwardly projecting oppositely arranged
partitions 63 and on the respective casings B and B₁, a suitable communicating
opening being left between the ends of said partitions.
The casings B and B are provided at one end with the vertical flanges c and cl
respectively, to which are secured by bolts corresponding flanges c² and c³ of the
casting D, which forms the several separate and distinct compression tubes d of
the respective chambers. At the opposite ends of the casings are formed
bearings a¹ a for the ends of the several shafts a³ which carry the screws a.
Suitable housings a are also provided in each casing, between the bearings a¹
and a², in which are placed gear-wheels d³ carried by shafts a³, the gear wheels of
adjacent shafts being in engagement. Alternate shafts are provided each with a
projecting end e, which carries a bevel gear-wheel E, which is driven by a
corresponding gear wheel E' on the main drive shaft F.
The upper casing B is provided with a feed opening H, extending across the
machine over the rear ends of the compression screws a. Above the feed
opening H is placed a suitable hopper H¹, having a feed table H2 at one side
thereof.
To the vertical flanges d' of the outer end of the casting D are secured (around
the compression orifices or tubes d) the die-nozzles E', each of which may be of the
same or of different design, and which is preferably of the construction shown and
described in the Patent before referred to.
:
The several spiral compression screws a are formed without any central core, by
which construction no corners and recesses are formed in which the material could
lodge, and consequently the plastic substance being acted upon is kept continually
and uniformly in motion. These screws arc arranged at any suitable distance apart,
or in contact if desired, are alternately right and left hand, and are rotated in
opposite directions through the gearing heretofore referred to. In this manner all
tendency of the material to wedge between the several screws is obviated. The
connections between the adjacent cylinders allow a sort of braiding process to take
place when the edges of the screws touch or closely approach each other, and also
permit any surplus of material in one chamber to pass into the next, thus equalizing
the distribution of the material and producing uniformity of pressure in the
compression chambers and regular delivery from the die orifices.
The machine can be conveniently and thoroughly cleaned by removing the top
casing or casting B.
From the above description it will be seen that any convenient number of
cylinders and various forms and sizes of compression tubes and of die nozzles may
be employed, and that other modifications may be made, without departing from
the spirit of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and the manner in which same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
:-
1. In a machine for moulding and shaping plastic materials, the combination with
a series of parallel compression chambers communicating each from end to end
with its adjacent chamber or chambers, and each having a separate discharge
orifice, of compression screws one in each of said chambers, substantially as
described.
2. In a machine for moulding and shaping plastic materials, the combination with
a series of parallel compression chambers each communicating from end to end
with its adjacent chamber or chambers, throughout the entire series, and having
each a separate discharge orifice, said chambers being formed by a casing having

page_text: oppositely arranged inwardly projecting ribs or ridges, of compression screws in
said chambers, substantially as described.
3. The combination of a series of parallel compression chambers each provided
with a separate discharge orifice, said chambers communicating laterally one
with the other from end to end throughout the entire series, of a screw in each
chamber, the edges of adjacent screws being in close proximity, substantially as
described.
4. The combination with the casing having its interior subdivided into a series
of parallel chambers each communicating from end to end with its adjacent
chamber or chambers, all having a common feed opening and each having a
separate discharge orifice, of a series of screws one in each chamber, substantially
as described.
5. The combination with the casing having a series of parallel communicating
chambers, of a series of screws in said chambers, adjacent screws having oppositely
formed threads, and gearing for rotating alternate screws in one direction, and the
intermediate screws in the opposite direction, substantially as described.
6. The combination with a series of compression screws carried by shafts at one
end thereof, and operating in a series of communicating compression chambers, of a
gear wheel for each of said shafts, each of which engages the corresponding gear-
wheel on the adjacent shafts, compression tubes at the opposite ends of said
chambers, and means for communicating motion to said shafts, substantially as
described.
7. The combination with a series of communicating compression chambers, of
rotatable spiral compression screws formed without a central core operating in said
chambers, said screws being alternately right and left hand, and means for rotating
adjacent screws in opposite directions, substantially as described.
Dated this 25th day of August 1893.
F. W. BARKER,
Applicant's Agent.