Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Sept., 1886.
Complete Left, 4th July, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 9th Aug., 1887.
I JAMES WATSON, of 8 Pembridge Villas, Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention consists of improvements in presses for pressing cotton, jute or other
materials and has special reference to presses of the kind in which one or more elbow
or toggle levers or thrust rods pivoted to the follower are actuated from a screw
threaded shaft in such manner that when this shaft is turned in the one direction the
levers or thrust rods force the follower inwards so as to compress the material in the
press, and that when the shaft is turned in the other direction the levers or thrust rods
withdraw the follower into position for the next pressing operation.
My invention consists in the construction of a compound or double press in which
the respective followers of two separate press boxes are so worked by means of elbow
or toggle levers or thrust rods and by the screw threaded shaft which actuates these
levers and rods that the follower of the one press is caused to descend while the
follower of the other press is caused to ascend and vice versa. By this arrangement
one box can be filled with the material to be pressed while the material in the other
box is being pressed.
In carrying out my invention, if the compound press is constructed with elbow or
toggle levers, I employ one lever for each of the two presses. The upper end of the
lever is pivoted to the head or top beam of the press and the lower end to the follower
while the middle joint of the lever is connected by a link to a cross-head which is
formed with a nut that works on the screw threaded shaft. The two levers and links
with the nut are so placed relatively to each other in connection with the screw
shaft that as this shaft is rotated the nut in travelling along it in the same direction
respectively pulls the one link and pushes the other so that the one lever is gradually
moved into a straight position which forces the corresponding follower home in its
box, while the other lever gradually folds on its middle joint and lifts the corresponding
follower out of its box.

page_text: If the compound press is constructed with thrust rods, I preferably employ two
for each follower; they are pivoted at their lower ends to the followers and are hinged
at their upper ends to the upper centres of corresponding vibrating columns or bars.
These columns or bars are hinged at their lower ends to the bottom piece or bed of
the press. They carry crossheads at the top, and each crosshead has a nut that
works on a screw threaded shaft which is cut right and left handed. The thrust rods
and the respective nuts are so arranged relatively to each other that as the screw shaft
is rotated the nuts in travelling respectively move the thrust rods of one follower
gradually towards a vertical position so as to force the follower home, and the thrust
rods of the other follower gradually towards a horizontal position so as to lift the
follower out of its box. There is a stay bar or beam carried by the crossheads and
having at its ends bearings for the screw shaft. The screw shaft carrying its nuts
has to ride up and down a distance equal to the versed sine of the arc described by
the upper ends of the vibrating bars and any possible side motion is prevented by
means of fixed guiding brackets.
Instead of the screw riding up and down on the top centres of the vibrating bars I
sometimes construct the press with its screw revolving in fixed bearings. In this
arrangement I allow the crosshead which is carried by the upper ends of the vibrating
bars to slide up and down in or against the nut as the latter is propelled by the screw;
and in connection with a screw revolving in fixed bearings I sometimes use links to
connect the nut with the upper ends of the vibrating bars.
In any of the arrangements described the followers may be fitted with counter-
weights to aid or ensure the lifting of the same.
When the material to be pressed is of so light a nature that sufficient unpressed
material for one bale cannot be placed in the box at one time a bale of the desired
weight cannot be produced except at two fillings. To enable this to be effected I
make that part of the box which will contain the final or pressed bale a little wider,
say about an inch, than the remainder or upper part of the box, so that there is a
shoulder of half an inch at each side. When the follower rises after pressing the first
filling, the pressed material expands but is prevented by the shoulders from passing
into the upper part of the box which can therefore receive the second filling.
In order to work the screw shafts I sometimes employ in lieu of hand wheels or
pulleys, wheels to be worked by the feet; these wheels are made conical or stepped,
that is to say, of gradually increasing diameter and they have boards or plates at their
periphery to serve as treads. According as the power required is more or less the
pressure will be applied to a greater or a smaller diameter of the wheel.
Dated this 4th day of September 1886.

page_text: 1 JAMES WATSON of 8 Pembridge Villas, Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex,
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 :-
My invention consists of improvements in presses for pressing cotton, jute or other
materials and has special reference to presses of the kind in which one or more elbow
or toggle levers or thrust rods pivoted to the follower are actuated from a screw
threaded shaft in such manner that when this shaft is turned in the one direction the
levers or thrust rods force the follower inwards so as to compress the material in the
press and that when the shaft is turned in the other direction the levers or thrust rods
withdraw the follower into position for the next pressing operation.
My invention consists in the construction of a compound or double press in which
the respective followers of two separate press boxes are so worked by means of elbow
or toggle levers or thrust rods and by the screw threaded shaft which actuates these
levers or rods that the follower of the one press is caused to descend while the follower of
the other press is caused to ascend and vice versa. By this arrangement one box can
be filled with the material to be pressed while the material in the other box is
being pressed.
In carrying out my invention, if the compound press is constructed with elbow or
toggle levers, I employ one lever for each of the two press boxes. The upper end of
the lever is pivoted to the head or top beam of the press and the lower end to the
follower while the middle joint of the lever is connected by a link to a cross-head
which is formed with a nut that works on the screw threaded shaft. The two levers
and links with the nut are so placed relatively to each other in connection with the

page_text: screw shaft that as this shaft is rotated the nut in travelling along it respectively pulls
the one link and pushes the other so that the one lever is gradually moved into a
straight position which forces the corresponding follower home in its box, while the
other lever gradually folds on its middle joint and lifts the corresponding follower out
of its box.
If the compound press is constructed with thrust rods, I preferably employ two for
each follower; they are pivoted at their lower ends to the followers and are hinged at
their upper ends to the upper centres of corresponding vibrating columns or bars.
These columns or bars are hinged at their lower ends to the bottom piece or bed of
the press. They carry crossheads at the top, and each crosshead has a nut that works
on a screw-threaded shaft which is cut right and left handed. The thrust rods and
the respective nuts are so arranged relatively to each other that as the screw shaft is
rotated the nuts in travelling respectively move the thrust rods of one follower
gradually towards a vertical position so as to force the follower home, and the thrust
rods of the other follower gradually towards a horizontal position so as to lift the
follower out of its box. There is a stay bar or beam carried by the crossheads and
having at its ends bearings for the screw shaft. The screw shaft carrying its nuts
has to ride up and down a distance equal to the versed sine of the arc described by the
upper ends of the vibrating bars and any possible side motion is prevented by means
of fixed guiding brackets.
Instead of the screw riding up and down on the top centres of the vibrating bars, I
sometimes construct the press with its screw revolving in fixed bearings. In this arrange-
ment I allow the crosshead which is carried by the upper ends of the vibrating bars to
slide and down in or against the nut as the latter is propelled by the screw
up
and in
connection with a screw revolving in fixed bearings I sometimes use links to connect
the nut with the upper ends of the vibrating bars.
;
In order that my invention and the means of carrying it into effect may be fully
understood I annex hereto drawings illustrating three modifications which I will now
proceed to describe.
Figure 1 is a front elevation and Figure 2 a side elevation both partly sectional
of a compound press of my invention constructed with elbow or toggle levers. Figure 3
is a front elevation partly sectional of a compound press constructed with thrust rods
provision being made for the screw shaft to ride up and down on the top centres of
the vibrating bars as hereinbefore described. Figure is a front elevation and
Figure 5 a plan of a modification in which a compound press with thrust rods has its
screw shaft arranged to revolve in fixed bearings.
Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, A and B are the two press boxes supported by a
bottom piece C and provided with ordinary main doors and end easing doors. D, D, D
are fixed columns supporting the press head or top beam E. F is a beam forming a
support and guide to the cross-head G. H is the follower of the box B seen at the
bottom of its stroke in the position it occupies after having finished the com-
pression of a bale. The follower of the box A is on the other hand at the top of its
stroke; it is not seen in the figures but its position is indicated by the position of the
lower end of the corresponding toggle lever. I, I are the toggle levers there being
one for each of the two boxes A, B. The upper end of each lever I is pivoted to the
head or top beam E and the lower end to the corresponding follower as shown while
the middle joint K of each lever is connected by a link L to one and the same cross-
head G; this cross-head is formed with a nut M that works on the screw-shaft N. The
shaft N works in a bearing at P and is fitted with a wheel or other device by which it
can be rotated by hand or other power. Q, Q are stay rods. The two levers I, I and
link sL, L with the nut M are so placed, as is seen in Figure 1, relatively to each other
in connection with the screw-shaft N that as this shaft is rotated the nut in travelling
along it respectively pulls the one link and pushes the other so that the lever which is
folded is gradually moved into a straight position and forces the corresponding
follower home in its box while the other lever which is straight gradually folds on its
middle joint and lifts the corresponding follower out of its box.

page_text: nererring now to Figure 5 which represents a compound press constructed with
thrust rods, A and B are the two press boxes supported by a bottom piece or bed C
and provided with ordinary main doors and end easing doors. H is the follower of
the box B. I, I, I, I are the thrust rods, two for each follower; they are pivoted at
their lower ends to the followers and are hinged at their upper ends to the upper
centres of corresponding vibrating columns or bars I, L, L. These columns are
hinged at their lower ends to the bottom piece or bed C. They carry crossheads G, G, G
at the top and each cross-head has a nut that works on a screw shaft N whose threads
are cut right and left handed. Three vibrating columns are shown and a corresponding
number of cross-heads and nuts, the middle column serving to operate one thrust rod I
of each press, but this although preferable, is optional, as each thrust rod may if
preferred be provided with its own column, crosshead and nut; and although only
three columns are seen there will preferably be three pairs, that is to say, that for oach
crosshead there will be one column at the front of the press and another at the back;
the thrust rods will also generally be double or in pairs back and front so as to
distribute the pressure upon the follower. As is seen in the figures the two outside
nuts work on portions of the screw shaft N which are threaded in the one direction
(say right handed) while the middle nut works on a portion which is threaded in the
other direction (say left handed). The thrust rods I and the respective nuts are so
arranged relatively to each other that as the shaft N is rotated the nuts in travelling
respectively move the thrust rods of one follower gradually towards a vertical position
so as to force the follower home and the thrust rods of the other follower gradually
towards a horizontal position so as to lift the follower out of its box. R is a stay bar or
beam carried by the cross-heads G and having at its ends bearings P, P for the shaft N.
This shaft with the nuts has to rise up and down a distance equal to the versed sine of
the arc described by the upper ends of the vibrating bars. S, S are fixed guiding
brackets which prevent side motion. This press has no head piece, or fixed columns,
the vibrating bars L acting as columns.
The modification represented in Figures 4 and 5, which is that which I prefer differs
from the modification shown in Figure 3 in that the screw shaft revolves in fixed
bearings carried by brackets X, X which are fixed on the top of the boxes. In this
case instead of the vibrating bars L being connected directly to the crossheads G, as
in Figure 3, two of them or two pairs of them are connected to their cross heads
through the intermediation of links T, T while the third vibrating bar (or pair of bars)
is connected with that at the opposite end by means of side bars U, U so as to move
synchronously therewith. The third cross-head and nut are in this case dispensed
with together with the corresponding part of the screw thread on the shaft N. The
third cross-head and nut and corresponding screw thread together with links such
as T, T between the crosshead and the vibrating bar may be used if preferred. Again,
instead of the links the same object, that is to say, the arranging for the shaft N to
revolve in fixed bearings can be attained by making the cross-heads free to slide up
and down without the nuts as the latter are propelled by the screw shaft; the cross-
head will thus move up or down as the upper ends of the vibrating bars approach or
recede from the highest point of the ares which they respectively describe.
In any of the arrangements described the followers may be fitted with counterweights
to aid or ensure the lifting of the same.
When the material to be pressed is of so light a nature that sufficient unpressed
material for one bale cannot be placed in the box at one time a bale of the desired
weight cannot be produced except at two fillings. To enable this to be effected I make
that part of the box which will contain the final or pressed bale a little wider, say
about an inch, than the remainder or upper part of the box, so that there is a shoulder
of half an inch at each side. This is seen in Figure 6 which is a transverse section
of one of the boxes of the press represented in Figures 4 and 5. a, a are the shoulders
just described. When the follower rises after pressing the first filling, the pressed
material expands but is prevented by the shoulders froin passing into the upper part of
the box which can therefore receive the second filling.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim, in respect
of presses for pressing cotton, jute or other material; is
1. A compound or double press in which the respective followers of two separate
press boxes are so worked by means of elbow or toggle levers or thrust rods and by a
screw threaded shaft which actuates these levers or rods that the follower of the one
press is caused to descend while the follower of the other press is caused to ascend,
and vice versa, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. The several arrangements or combinations of parts hereinbefore described forming
compound or double presses acting as set forth.
J. C. MEWBURN,
169, Fleet Street, London,
Agent.