IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR PRESSING INDIGO OR OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Olpherts, of Ardee, in the County of Louth,,
Ireland, Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR
PRESSING INDIGO OR OTHER SUBSTANCES."
aled the 15th July 1879, and dated the 3rd April 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Olpherts at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd April 1879.
RICHARD OLPHERTS, of Ardee, in the County of Louth, Ireland, Esquire.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR PRESSING INDIGO OR OTHER SUBSTANCES."
One part of my Invention has reference to those presses which have a right and
left handed or double screw shaft and toggle arms arranged so that by rotating the
said shaft the inner ends of the toggle arms are by means of nuts on the shaft
worked gradually along it until they attain a position at right angles thereto. The
outer ends of one pair of the toggle arms bear against the press follower, and the
outer arms of another pair bear against the press head, or in a double press against
the other follower. These presses have been known for many years.
The first part of the Invention consists of special means of adjusting the press so
that the distance (sometimes called "daylight") between the follower when "home"
and the base or bed plate of the press may be regulated as required (80 as to vary
the thickness of cakes of pressed indigo, for example), while the toggle arms can
always be moved into position at right angles to the screw shaft so as to exert their
greatest thrust.
- The press head generally bears at its underside against shoulders on the press
pillars or columns, while nuts are screwed down upon the head to hold it in place.
I make the portion of the pillars between the shoulders and the nuts sufficiently
long to contain between them not only the press head but also a number of
distance pieces of varying thickness, say one inch, half inch, quarter inch, and so
on. These distance pieces may conveniently be in the form of flanged half rings
or collars fitted round the pillars, and fastened by pins and nuts."
When the press is arranged for the minimum amount of daylight the distance
pieces will all be above the press head, that is to say, between it and the holding
down nuts. When it is desired to increase the amount of "day light" one or more

page_text: of the distance pieces on each pillar (according to the increase required) are shifted
from above the press head to below the same, that is, between it and the shoulders
on the pillars. The press head requires to be lifted to enable the distance pieces to
be inserted below it, and this lifting may conveniently be effected by having star
or other nuts above the shoulders on the pillars, and by turning these nuts so as to
lift the press head; the distance pieces are then inserted between the shoulders and
the nuts; or these nuts without the distance pieces may be used to keep the head
at the required height, and in this case the shoulders on the pillars are unnecessary,
but it is preferred to employ the distance pieces to prevent strain on the nuts; or
the lifting may be effected by providing the top nuts with flanges to take under
corresponding flanges on the head, so that by turning the nuts the head is raised;
or nuts may be more or less encased in the head, so that by turning them on the
pillars the head is raised or lowered as required.
Instead of making the adjustment by raising and lowering the press head, as
before described, it can be made by raising or lowering the base plate or bottom
girder of the press in a similar manner; or both the press head and the base plate
or bottom girder may be made adjustable.
Another way of making the adjustment is to construct the pillars in two or more
lengths, the adjoining ends of the several lengths having respectively a right handed
and a left handed screw thread.. On these screw threads is fitted a strong right
and left handed nut, so that by turning the nut in the one direction or the other
the adjoining lengths are brought closer together, or moved apart as required. Or
the pillars may have right and left handed screws at one or both ends to correspond
with female screws or nuts in the press head, or in the base plate or bottom girder,
or in both, so that by turning the pillars in the one direction or the other the
press head and the base plate or bottom girder are moved nearer to or further from
each other as required.
My means of adjustment permit of giving a double pressing, that is to say, after
the toggle arms have exerted their full thrust they may be run back a little, and
the press head and the base plate be then brought nearer together, after which the
toggle arms may be again made to act; this may be repeated a third time or oftener
if desired.
When the distance between the head and the base plate or bottom girder is
regulated or adjusted by means of screws and nuts, as before described, the substance
to be pressed may receive a primary pressing by bringing the head and base plate
nearer together by screws and nuts, and then the final pressure may be given by
means of the toggle arms and double screw. If the press be worked in this manner
distance pieces should be placed between the press head and the follower to prevent
their coming sufficiently near together to injure the toggle joints and other parts.
By this arrangement I have a direct action screw press and a toggle arm screw
press combined, either of which can be used separately if desired. While the change
from the direct action press to the toggle arm press is being made the substance
under pressure should be held down; this may be effected by having a double
follower with nuts between its two parts, these nuts being on any suitable supports.
Standards may be cast or fixed to the back of the follower for the purpose of
staying or supporting the double screw shaft; these standards need not extend to
the press head when the follower is made close fitting to the sides of the box
or frame in which it works, as hereinafter described; or instead of having standards
at the back of the follower I have a stationary boss for the double screw shaft to
work in. This boss may be suspended by a bracket from the press head, and bo
stayed by arms extending from it to the pillars, the said arms having collars
or sleeves to embrace the pillars. When the head is adjustable the boss must be
adjustable likewise. I guide the follower by arins extending from the same to the
press pillars, which they embrace by means of collars or sleeves thereon; or in some
cases the pillars may pass through holes in the follower itself. The ends of the
toggle arms may take into dovetails in the follower, so as to raise the same when
the action of the screw shaft is reversed.

page_text: In some cases I have nuts on the pillars with catches or wings to hold down the
press box or frame upon the base plate after the pressing operation, if desired, and
these or similar catch nuts may also be used to raise the press box or frame from
the pressed substance, the catches taking under ribs on the frame.
The right and left handed screw which carries the toggle arms generally has a
ratchet wheel thereon to enable the final pressure to be given by means of a ratchet
lever applied to such wheel I make the ratchet lever a compensating lever by
extending it beyond the wheel, and weighting this extension. In this way every
time the lever handle is let go, after having been pulled down to act on the wheel,
the compensating weight returns it to position ready to be again acted upon.
Another part of my Invention has reference to the follower and press box. When
presses are intended for pressing liquid or semi liquid substances, such for example
as indigo, I make an opening in the follower, through which opening the substance
to be pressed is supplied to the press box, and I close this opening by means of a
bung held down by bolts or otherwise. This bung is formed with perforations
when the liquid expressed has to escape from the box; the face of the bung may
then have a strainer fitted to it. This bung may be withdrawn to allow of the
state of the substance in the press to be examined; or if the bung be large a
smaller bung or trial plug may be fitted in it. The follower is also formed with
the usual perforations to allow the expressed liquid to escape, and I recess the face
of the follower to receive wire nettings and a cloth or other strainer. The strainer
may be secured in place at the edges by means of a hoop or band, or strips round
the periphery of the follower, or by forming a groove in the face of the follower
near its rim to receive a ring for holding the strainer. This ring may be forced
out of its groove when required by means of pins or screws passed through the
body of the follower so as to press against the back of the ring. If screws are
employed they may also be used to draw the ring into the groove. When the
substance to be pressed is supplied through the bung hole before described an
opening must be cut in the strainer to allow the substance to pass; the edges of
the strainer round this opening may be secured to the face of the follower in the
same way as the outer edges of the strainer.
In order to avoid the necessity of raising the follower quite out of the box except
when the strainer has to be changed, I fit the sides of the press box so that they
may be lifted up the piston and away from the bottom, leaving the block of pressed
material on the bottom, or on a grid iron or other suitable frame which rests on
the bottom; the block can then be run out upon this frame. The sides of the box
are slightly bell mouthed to enable them to readily free the block.
For the purpose of ensuring a tight joint between the follower and the press box,
especially when they are cylindrical, I fit a ring upon a guide at the back of the
follower. This ring is of the same diameter as the follower, and its height can be
adjusted by means of screw bolts and nuts. The packing is placed between the
ring and follower, and the nuts are screwed up so as to cause the ring to press out
the packing sufficiently to make a tight joint. When the follower has to be raised
the packing may be eased by slightly unscrewing the screws; these screws have
flanges to take under flanges on the ring, so that when slacked they free the packing
from the weight of the ring.
The presses may be arranged vertically or otherwise, and if desired two of them
can be combined so as to act simultaneously or consecutively against opposite sides
of the substance to be pressed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Richard Olpherts in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st October
1879.
RICHARD OLPHERTS, of Ardee, in the County of Louth, Ireland, Esquire.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR PRESSING INDIGO OR OTHER SUBSTANCES."
One part of my Invention has reference to those presses which have a right and left
handed or double screw shaft and toggle arms, arranged so that by rotating the said
shaft the inner ends of the toggle arms are by means of nuts on the shaft, worked
gradually along it until they attain a position at right angles thereto. The outer
ends of one pair of the toggle arms bear against the press follower, and the outer
arms of another pair bear against the press head, or in a double press against the
other follower. These presses have been known for many years.
The first part of the Invention consists of special means of adjusting the press
so that the distance (sometimes called " daylight") between the follower when
"home," and the base or bed plate of the press may be regulated as required (so as
to vary the thickness of cakes of pressed indigo, for example), while the toggle arms
can always be moved into position at right angles to the screw shaft so as to exert
their greatest thrust.
These
The press head generally bears at its underside against shoulders_on_the_press.
pillars or columns, while nuts are screwed down upon the head to hold it in place.
I make the portion of the pillars between the shoulders and the nuts sufficiently
long to contain between them not only the press head but also a number of distance
pieces of varying thickness, say one inch, half inch, quarter inch, and so on.
distance pieces may conveniently be in the form of flanged half rings or collars
fitted round the pillars and fastened by pins and nuts. When the press is arranged
for the minimum amount of day light the distance pieces will all be above the
press head, that is to say between it and the holding down nuts; when it is desired
to increase the amount of "day light," one or more of the distance pieces on each
pillar (according to the increase required) are shifted from above the press head to
below the same, that is, between it and the shoulders on the pillars.
The press head requires to be lifted to enable the distance pieces to be inserted
below it, and this lifting may conveniently be effected by having star or other nuts
above the shoulders on the pillars and by turning these nuts so as to lift the press
head; the distance pieces are then inserted between the shoulders and the nuts;
or these nuts without the distance pieces may be used to keep the head at the
required height, and in this case the shoulders on the pillars are unnecessary; or
(and this arrangement I prefer) the lifting may be effected by providing the top
nuts with flanges to take under corresponding flanges on the head, so that by turning
the nuts the head is raised; or nuts may be more or less encased in the head, so that
by turning them on the pillars the head is raised or lowered as required.
Instead of making the adjustment by raising and lowering the press head, as
before described, it can be made by raising or lowering the base plate or bottom
girder of the press in a similar manner; or both the press head and the base plate
or bottom girder may be made adjustable; or the press pillars may have right and
left handed screws at one or both ends to correspond with female screws or nuts in
or attached to the press head, or in or attached to the base plate or bottom girder,
or in both, so that by turning the pillars by worm wheels and a tangent shaft in
the one direction or the other the press head and the base plate or bottom girder
are moved nearer to or further from each other as required.
The manner which I prefer to employ for adjusting the distance between the
follower when home and the base or bed plate of the press is shewn in Figures 1 to
5, which represent a toggle press suitable for pressing indigo. Figure 1 is a front
elevation partly in section; Figure 2, a side elevation; Figure 3, a plan; and
Figure 4 a horizontal section of the press; Figure 5 is a vertical section of the press

page_text: follower taken at right angles to Figure 1. a is the base or bed plate of the press;
b, the head; c, c, the pillars or columns; d, the press box; e, the follower; f, the
screw shaft for the toggle arms; g, g, the nuts for the same; h, h,the toggle arms.
jointed at one end to the nuts g, g, and at the other end, some to the follower and
the others to the press head, as shewn; i is a tangent shaft having worms h, k, in
gear with worm wheels l, which also forin nuts and work on screws on the pillars
C, C. The shaft i may be rotated as required in any manner found most convenient,.
for example, by a ratchet wheel i' and lever i, as shewn. On the nuts are flanges
m, which take under corresponding flanges or clips n, n, on the head b, so that the
head is as it were suspended by the flanges; thus in accordance with the direction
in which the tangent shaft i is rotated, the worm nuts are raised or lowered on the
screws of the pillars c, c, together with the press head b. In this manner the
adjustment of the distance between the head and the follower e when home can be
adjusted to a nicety.
в
My means of adjustment permit of giving a double pressing, that is to say, after
the toggle arms have exerted their full thrust they may be run back a little and the
press head and the base plate be then brought nearer together, after which the
toggle arms may be again made to act; this may be repeated a third time or oftener
if desired.
When the distance between the head and the base plate or bottom girder is
regulated or adjusted by means of screws and nuts, as before described and shewn
in the Drawings, the substance to be pressed may receive a primary pressing by
bringing the head and the base plate nearer together by the screws and nuts, and
then the final pressure may be given by means of the toggle arms and double
screw. If the press be worked in this manner it may be desirable to place distance
pieces between the press head and the follower, to prevent their coming sufficiently.
near together to injure the toggle joints and other parts. By this arrangement, I
have a direct action screw press and a toggle arm screw press combined, either of
which can be used separately if desired.
In working the press as a combined press, that is to say, giving a primary
pressure by means of the screws and nuts 1, and then the final pressure by means
of the toggle arms h, h, the primary pressure may be transmitted from the press
head to the follower through the toggle arms, and I recommend that during this
operation these arms should be in a vertical position as seen in Figure 1; but in
this case after the primary pressure has been exerted the nuts g, g, must be run-
out, and this movement will have the effect of raising the follower a little ;* the
press head must then be further lowered to again lower the follower, after which
the nuts g, g, are again run in so that the toggle arms may give the final pressure."
It will be very desirable, if not absolutely necessary, to have some arrangement
for guiding the screw shaft f in its up and down. movement. I have not shown
any arrangement for this purpose as it does not form any part of my present
Invention, but any arrangement, such as those hitherto employed in toggle presses,
may be adopted.
The right and left handed screw f which carries the toggle arms generally has a
ratchet wheel o thereon; to enable a final pressure to be given by means of a
ratchet lever p applied to such wheel, I make the ratchet lever a compensating
lever by extending it beyond the wheel, as shewn at 9 (Figure 2) and weighting-
this extension; in this way every time the lever handle is let go after having been
pulled down to act on the wheel, the compensating weight returns it to position
ready to be again acted upon. I apply a similar compensating arrangement to the
ratchet lever is, as shewn when I work the tangent shaft i by means of a ratchet.
Another part of my Invention has reference to the follower and press box. When
presses are intended for pressing liquid or semi-liquid substances, such for example
as indigo, I make an opening in the follower as seen at r, in Figures 1 and 5,
which latter Figure is a section of the follower at right angles to Figure 1, through
which opening the substance to be pressed is supplied to the press box, and I close
this opening by means of a bung 8 held down by bolts or otherwise. This bung is

page_text: formed with perforations when the liquid expressed has to escape from the box; the
face of the bung may then havo a strainer fitted to it. This bung may be with-
drawn to allow the state of the substance in the press to be examined, or if the
bung be large a small bung or trail plug may be fitted in it. The follower is also
formed (as shewn) with the usual perforations to allow the expressed liquid to
escape, and I recess the face of the follower, as shewn at t, to receive wire nettings
and a cloth or other strainer. The strainer may be secured in place at the edges
by means of a hoop or band, or strips round the periphery of the follower, or by
forming a groove in the face of the follower near its rim to receive a ring u for
holding the strainer. This ring may be forced out of its groove when required by
means of pins or screws, one of which is seen at v, Figure 1, passed through the
body of the follower so as to press against the back of the ring; if screws are
employed they may also be used to draw the ring into the groove. When the
substance to be pressed is supplied through the bung hole before described, an
opening must be cut in the strainer to allow the substance to pass, the edges of
the strainer round this opening may be secured to the face of the follower in the
same way as the outer edges of the strainer, for instance by the ring seen at w.
For the purpose of ensuring a tight joint between the follower e and press
box d, especially when they are cylindrical, I fit a ring x upon a guide y at the
back of the follower. This ring is of the same diameter as the follower, and its
height can be adjusted by means of screw bolts and nuts z¹. The packing z² is
placed between the ring x and follower e, and the nuts z¹ are screwed up so as to
-cause-the ring to press-out-the-packing -sufficiently-to-make a tight joint; when
the follower has to be raised the packing may be eased by slightly unscrewing the
nuts; these nuts have flanges as shewn at 23 to take under flanges on the ring, so
that when slacked they free the packing from the weight of the ring.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my “Improvements
in Presses for Pressing Indigo or other Substances,'
"
First. The means of adjusting toggle presses so as to regulate the distance
between the follower when home and the base or bed plate, substantially as herein-
before described.
Second. Constructing a combined direct action screw press and toggle screw
press, substantially as hereinbefore described and represented in the annexed
Drawing.
Third. The employment in presses of compensating ratchet levers arranged and
working substantially as hereinbefore described and represented in the annexed
Drawings.
Fourth. Constructing press followers with a large bung hole or opening,
substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described and represented in the
annexed Drawings.
Fifth. The fitting in the follower of pins or screws to force out the ring or hoop
which confines the strainer to the follower, substantially as hereinbefore described
and represented in the annexed Drawings.
Sixth. The arrangement for making a close joint between the follower and the
press box, substantially as hereinbefore described and represented in the annexed
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Olpherts, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of September, One thousand eight hundred
and seventy nine.
RICHARD OLPHERTS. (L.S.)