CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO HYDRAULIC AND OTHER PRESSES, AND IN STEAM ENGINES AND PUMPS FOR WORKING THE HYDRAULIC PRESSES, OR FORCING OR RAISING FLUIDS, ALSO IN APPARATUS FOR HOOPING BALES OF COTTON AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Wilson, of Patricroft, near the City of Man-
chester, Engineer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN AND
APPLICABLE TO HYDRAULIC AND OTHER PRESSES, AND IN STEAM ENGINES AND
PUMPS FOR WORKING THE HYDRAULIC PRESSES, OR FORCING OR RAISING FLUIDS,
ALSO IN APPARATUS FOR HOOPING BALES OF COTTON AND OTHER SUBSTANCES."
Sealed, the 4th November 1864, and dated the 12th May 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Wilson at the
Office of the Cominissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
May 1864.
I, ROBERT WILSON, of Patricroft, near the City of Manchester, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE.
MENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO HYDRAULIC AND OTHER PRESSES, AND IN STEAM
ENGINES AND PUMPS FOR WORKING THE HYDRAULIC PRESSES, OR FORCING OR RAISING
FLUIDS, ALSO IN APPARATUS FOR HOOPING BALES OF COTTON, AND OTHER SUB-
STANCES," to be as follows:-
My improvements in hydraulic and other presses consist, first, in having
separate grooved lashing plates for the top and bottom sides of the bale
through which the ropes or metal bands are passed for binding the bale, that
for the top side of the bale to be so fixed on the under side of the top of the
press (and thus become the top of the well or trunk of the press) and the
other to be so fixed on the top side of the piston or travelling cross head (t)
which the ram or rams are attached), instead of being cast ou those parts as
Price 8d.1

page_text: formerly, that they may be easily removed and replaced with others with
any number of grooves the case may require and such grooves as are
suitable for ropes, or others suitable for metal bands."
Secondly, in an improved mode of constructing the glands of hydraulic
cylinders, and securing the cupped leathers. The gland I make in two parts,
the tubular part which is let into the cylinder to hold the cupped leather being
one part, and the flange the other part, both parts being held down by bolts
with-heads fitting in an annular groove, and kept in their places by the
tubular part of the gland, on the removal of which the bolts can be taken
out and replaced without difficulty: The tubular part inay be made of
brass, gun metal, cast iron, or other suitable material, and the flange part
of malleable iron where great strength is required.
Thirdly, my improvements in or applicable to the steam engines; consist in
regulating the motion of them by a governor or regulator, which is actuated
by the pressure of the water or other fluid in the pipes, or on the pumps
connected with the engines. The water in the pipes connecting the pumps
to the distribution valve box of boxes, or direct with the press or presses,
acts on a small piston of plunger connected by levers and fods to the
throttle or supply steam valve of the engine; thus admitting or shutting
off the steam in the proportion required for the constant and regular motion
of the engine with every degree of pressure (from the lowest to the
highest) in the pipes or on the pumps.
The
Fourthly, my improvements in the pumps consist in making the top joint
of the valve boxes metal and metal instead of using leather packings.
guards of the valves are made separate from the gland, and are provided with
a bearing or seat; on to which they are ground like the valves; and screwed
down by the gland nut, or otherwise; on the seat; and so kept water-tight
against the pressure underneath them without any packing whatever.
Fifthly; in relieving the pressure on the pumps and pipes when not required
to work the presses without requiring to stop the engines. The pipe or pipes
connecting the pumps to the distribution box or boxes is furnished with a
relieving valve which can be opened or shut by a connecting rod, wire,or cord
by the attendant at any of the presses connected with the same pumps and
pipes, and also kept shut while any of the presses are at work, and when
relieved the water passes off by a connecting pipe inot the return water pipe;
and goes back into the supply cistern to be used over again, and thus the
power is saved without requiring to stop the engines at every short interval.
Sixthly, in an improved mode of constructing and weighting the safety
valves. On the spindle of the valve rests a cross head with sharp steel centre,

page_text: from which depends a rod at each end, each rod being furnished with a strong
spiral or other spring at the bottom end, and is regulated to the required
pressure by a nut and sharp centre washer, thus avoiding joints and levers
which are s. objectionable where delicate action is required.
Seventhly, my improvements in hooping or securing bales are as follows:
The thin iron bands usually employed for hooping bales instead of being
riveted together at their ends as usual, are bent over with a single loop at
each end; these hoops or bands are then all bent to fit three sides of the
bale, and may then be inserted by hand into the grooves of the top and bottom
lashing plates provided for them, or they may be placed in a portable frame.
with suitable guides to keep them in their proper place corresponding with
the grooves in the top and bottom lashing plates, and this frame placed on
wheels torun on guide. rails brought forward to the press, and all thehoops
entered and pushed through the grooves simultaneously while the bale is
receiving or immediately after it has received the final compression. The
ends of the bands will then project beyond the bale on the opposite side, and
may be bent by hand or otherwise down and up against the side of the bale,
and being of such a length as not to lap over each other, or may not even
come close end to end, a flat strip of iron of a stronger section than the hoops,
by the way of skewer is then placed in the loops of the top end of the hoops,
the loop ends being next to the bale, a short connecting link of the same or
similar section as the hoops with a loop at each end is then hooked on the
skewer between each pair of hoops, with the bottom end hanging down as far
as to allow another skewer to be put through the loop of it and the loop of
the bottom end of the hoop, and thus all the hoops will be secured, and will be
drawn tight on the bale by its expansion when the pressure is relieved.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th November 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WILSON, of Patricroft, near the City of Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Robert Wilson, Her special license that I, the said Robert
,

page_text: Wilson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Robert Wilson, 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 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 "CER-
TAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPLICABLE TO HYDRAULIC AND OTHER PRESSES, AND IN
STEAM ENGINES AND PUMPS FOR WORKING THE HYDRAULIC PRESSES, OR FORCING OR
RAISING FLUIDS, ALSO IN APPARATUS FOR HOOPING BALES OF COTTON AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I the said Robert
Wilson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their bands 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 Robert Wilson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say)
Myimprovements in hydraulic and other presses consist, first, in making the
grooved lashing plates separate from the top of the press and from the piston
follower or travelling cross head.
Secondly, in an improved mode of and apparatus for hooping bales of
cotton and other substances.
Thirdly, in an improved mode of constructing the glands of hydraulic
cylinders and securing the cupped leathers.
Fourthly,in regulating the motion of steam engines and pumps for working
hydraulic presses, or for raising and forcing fluids bythe pressure of the water
or other fluid in the pipes or pumps connected with the steam engine or
engines.
Fifthly, in an improved mode of constructing and weighting safety
valves.
Sixthly, in an improved mode of constructing pumps whereby leather or
other packings are dispensed with.
And seventhly, in relieving the pressure on the pumps and pipes when the
presses are not work, without stopping the engines.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the three accompanying

page_text: Sheets of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
The various Figures on Sheet 1 illustrate the first and second parts of
iny Invention.
Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a hydraulic press to which my
improvements may be applied. Figure 2 is a front view,and Figure 3 a plan
of the same.
"
a is the foundation plate supporting the three cylinders, a', in which work
the three rams a² connected to the follower or travelling cross head a³; 6 is
the top of the press; c, c, the pillars, and d, d, the doors; all these parts are
made in any approved manner, or in the manner described in the Specifica-
tions of former Letters Patent granted to me.
The first part of my Invention which consists in having separate grooved
lashing plates for the top and bottom sides of the bale, through which grooves
the ropes or metal bands are passed for binding the bale, is shewn best in
Figures 4, 5, and 6, which represent an end elevation, front elevation, and
plan of part of one of the detached lashing plates.
The lashing plate, marked b', for the top side of the bale, is fixed by screws
or otherwise to the underside of the top b, and thus becomes the top of the
well or trunk of the press; and the other marked a is fixed on the top side of
the piston follower or travelling cross head a³, to which the ram or rams a² are
attached. By making the grooves in detached plates as described, instead of
casting them in the top of the press and in the follower or travelling cross
head as formerly, they may be easily removed and replaced with others
having any number of grooves suitable for ropes or for metal bands as may
be required.
:
The second part of my Invention consists of improvements in hooping or
securing bales. The thin iron bands usually employed for hopping bales
instead of being riveted together at their ends, as usual, are bent over with
a single loop at each end. Figures 7, 8, and 9, are three views of an
apparatus for bending the hoop iron to the proper form; e, is a table
supported on a suitable stand,,to the underside of this table are fixed the
fulcrum studs for the levers e¹, to these levers are jointed flat studs of which
pass through and project slightly.above the level of the table, the upper ends
of the studs:fare of the shape of.the loops required on the hoops. To the
table e is also jointed the lever e² having a flat stud f2 of the shape of the
connecting links k, hereafter to be described. The mode of operation is as
¡follows:-
The hoop iron having been cut to the proper length, each length is laid

page_text: edgewise on the table e,and bent over the studsf,f,the attendant then depresses
the right hand lever e¹ to liberate one end of the hoop, which is then bent
around the fixed studs g, as shewn by dotted lines, by this means these hoops
or bands are all bent to fit three sides of the bale,and they may then beinserted
by hand into the grooves of the top and bottom lashing plates 6 and a², or
they may be placed in the portable frame h, which slides to and fro on the
carriage i, this frame is provided with suitable guides to keep the hoops in
their proper places corresponding with the grooves in the top and bottom
lashing plates of the press, and the carriage i is placed on wheels to run on
guide rails fixed in the floor of the apartment in which the baling is performed.
The guides for the hoops are made in the following manner, as shewn best in
Figure 10 is a grooved plate connecting both sides of the carriage i, and
12 are two bridles supporting a rod passing under the upper ends of the hoops,
these bridles are fixed to the under side of the grooved top plate 23. The
hoops are placed in the grooves of the plates i¹ and 23, and between the studs /"
passing through the upright side of the frame h, and fixed in the flat bars h²
which are acted upon by springs at the back. When the hoops are all secured
in their places, the carriage i is brought forward to the press, as shewn in
section in Figure 1, and by pushing forward the portable frame hall the hoops
are entered and passed simultaneously through the grooves in the lashing
plates and a; this action takes place while the bale is receiving or
immediately after it has received the final compression. The ends of the bands
will then project beyond the bale on the opposite side to the carriage 2, and
they are then bent by hand or otherwise down and up against the side of the
bale.
The hoops are of such a length as not to lap over each other, or they may be
a little apart as shewn in Figures 11 and 14, a flat strip of iron, marked j, of a
stronger section than the hoops by way of skewer, is then placed in the loops of
the top ends of the hoops, as shewn best in Figure 12, which shews the joint
partly made, the loop ends being next to the bale; a short connecting link k,
of the same or similar section as the hoops, with a loop at each end is then
hooked on the skewer between each pair of hoops with the bottom end
hanging down as far as to allow another skewer j¹ to be put through the loops
of them and the loops of the bottom ends of the hoops, and thus all the hoops
will be secured and will be drawn tight (as shewn in Figure 13,) on the bale
by its expansion when the pressure is relieved.
Figure 14 represents a bale which has been hooped in the manner above
described. In unfastening a bale that has been secured by my improved hoops
it will be necessary either to apply such pressure as will allow one of the

page_text: skewers jorj to be withdrawn, or else the links / must be cut; the hoops and
skewers may in all cases be used over again.
The third
Invention which consists of an improved mode of
part of my
constructing the glands of hydrauliccylinders and securingthecupped leathers,
is shewn in Figures 15 and 16 of Sheet 2; a' is the hydraulic cylinder; the
gland of which is made in two parts, the tubular part a', which is let into the
cylinder to hold the cupped leather being one part,and the flange as the other
part, both parts are held down by bolts with heads fitting in an annular
groove, and they are kept in their places by the tubular part of the gland; on
the renioval of which the bolts can be taken out and replaced without difficulty.
The tubular part may be made of brass,gun metal, cast iron, or other suitable
material, and the flangé part of malleable iron where great strength is
required.
pumps
The fourth partof my Invention is shewn in Figures 17 and 18, and it consists
in regulating the motion of the steam engines by a governor or regulator
which is actuated by the pressure of the water or other fluid in the pipes or
on-the
connected with the engine or engines:. The water in the pipes
connecting the pumps to the distribution valve box or boxes, or direct with the
press or presses,act on the small piston or plunger m, the upper end of which
passes through the cross head m³, connected by side rods m² to the cross head
m3, from which projectsthe studm4 connected by levers and rods to the throttle,
or supply steam valve of the engine, thus admitting or shutting off the steam
in the proportion required for the constant and regular motion of the engine
with every degree of pressure (from the lowest to the highest); in the pipes or
on the pumps...
The fifth part of my Invention is also illustrated by Figures 17 and 18,
and it consists of an improved mode of constructing and weighting the
safety valves. n, n, are,
the safety valves, the under sides of which are
in communication with the fluid in the pipe connected to the plunger m.
On the spindle of each valve n rests a cross head n¹ with sharp steel
centre, from which cross head depends a rod n² at each end, each rod being
furnished with a strong spiral or other spring at the bottom end, as shewn
in section the spring for the plunger m; the teusion of these springs is
regulated to the required pressure by a nut and sharp centre washer,
thus avoiding joints and levers which are so objectionable where delicate
action is required.
My improvement in puinps or valve boxes, forming the sixth part of
my Invention, consists in making the top joiut of the valve boxes metal
and metal instead of using leather packings as now customary. In Figure 19

page_text: the guards o of the valves o¹ are made separate from the gland o², and they
are provided with a bearing or seat on to which they are ground like
the valves, and screwed down by the gland-nut, or otherwise, on the seat, and
so kept water-tight against the pressure underneath them without any packing
whatever.
The seventh and last part of my Invention, which consists in relieving the
pressure on the pumps and pipes when not required to work the presses. with-
out requiring to stop the engines, is illustrated in Figures 20, 21 and 22 of
Sheet 3.
Figure 20 is a front elevation of part of a hydraulic press, and of my
improved apparatus applied thereto; Figure 21 is a plan of the same, and
Figure 22 a transverse section of the improved apparatus.
a is the bottom plate of the press, and at the cylinders; p is a set of pipes,
which are in communication with the force pumps for working one or more
hydraulic presses; q, are the return pipes connected to the cistern; r is a
relieving valve, which is weighted by the lever r¹, the extremity of the lever pl
takes into the slotted link s, which is jointed to the lever s¹, from this lever
depends the spindle t of the cataract piston and valve contained in the
cylinder t¹; the extremity of the lever s' is weighted by the weight s², and
it is connected by a link to the elbow lever u; this lever is in communication
by the rods and chains u¹ with all the hydraulic presses that are worked by
the same engine and pumps. The other extremities of the rods and chains u¹
are connected to the levers v, one of which is placed near each press. The
levers may have retaining catches taking in rack segments. The levers v
are shewn in the positions they occupy when the pumps are at work for
compressing the bale. As soon as the final compression is given, the
attendant at any of the presses connected with the same set of pumps and
pipes by liberating the catch allows the lever v to assume the position
indicated by the dotted line, the elbow lever u is thus released, and the
lever s¹ is allowed to descend gradually, the velocity being governed by a
regulating tap connecting the top and bottom of the cylinder t' as in "cataracts"
of the usual construction, the descent of the lever s¹ raises the end of the
weighted lever r', thus releasing the valve r, and allowing the water from'
the pipes p to flow into the pipes q, through the branch pipe pl. By this
arrangement the valve r is kept shut while any of the presses are at work,
and when relieved, in the manner above described, the water passes off by
the branch pipe p' into the return water pipe 7, and goes back into the
supply cistern to be used over again, and thus the power is saved without
requiring to stop the engines at frequent short intervals.
"

page_text: Having now stated the nature of my Invention and describedthe manner of
performing the same I declare that I claim,-
First, the application of detached grooved lashing plates to hydraulic
presses, in the manner and for the purposes described.
Secondly, the improved mode of hooping bales of cotton or other sub-
stances, and the apparatus for preparing the hoops, applying them to
the bales, and securing them as shewn and described..
Thirdly, the improved mode of constructing the glands of hydraulic
cylinders, and securing the cupped leathers as shewn and described.
Fourthly, regulating the motion of steam engines and pumps by the pressure
of the water or other fluid in the pipes, or acting on the pumps, as shewn and
described.
Fifthly, the improved mode of constructing and weighting safety valves as
shewn and described.
Sixthly, the improved mode of constructing pumps or valve boxes for dis-
pensing with the usual packing as shewn and described.
And, seventhly, relieving the pressure on the pumps and pipes when
the pressure is not required without stopping the engine or engines, and
the combination of machinery shewn and described for effecting this
object, or any other combination of machinery by which the same result
is obtained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Wilson, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Third day of November; One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four.
ROBERT WILSON. (L.B.)