Improvements in Presses or Apparatus for Manufacturing Boxes out of Paper Pulp.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 31st May, 1893—Accepted, 1st July, 1893
עעם VVT
Improvements in Presses or Apparatus for Manufacturing Boxes
out of Paper Pulp.
I, JAMES YATE JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has been com-
municated to me from abroad by Paul Sohége of 58b Chassée d'Antin, Paris, in
the Republic of France Engineer) and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in presses or apparatus employed for
manufacturing boxes out of paper pulp. In manufacturing these boxes by means
of this improved press wet sheets of paper pulp are wrapped round an expanding
mandril of a shape corresponding to that of the interior of the box.
This
mandril is introduced into a matrix divided into a number of sections and which
is caused to contract automatically upon the mandril by the ascent of a hydraulic
piston or plunger in such a manner as to enclose the said mandril and the pulp
which it carries in a chamber or mould of a shape corresponding to that of the
exterior of the box. The sides of this moulding chamber may be engraved or
provided with recesses or hollows capable of producing corresponding marks or
designs in relief upon the external surfaces of the moulded box. The mandril
is afterwards expanded by hydraulic pressure of sufficient power to cause the
pulp to penetrate into all the recesses in the matrix.
The latter is constructed in such a manner as to admit of the escape of the
water forced out of the pulp by the pressure. The boxes thus manufactured are
subsequently automatically removed from the mould by the descent of the
hydraulic piston and are placed upon drying mandrils heated by steam or otherwise
on which the hardening of the pulp is completed.
And in order that the said invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer
to the several figures on the annexed sheet of drawings, the same numerals of
reference indicating corresponding parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in side elevation and partly
in vertical section an example of a press or apparatus constructed according to this
invention.
Figure 2 drawn to a larger scale illustrates the hydraulic piston or plunger and
the mandril employed in the said press the left hand part of the figure being
represented in elevation and the right hand part in vertical section the section
being taken on the line A. B. Figure 3.
Figure 3 represents the mandril in plan the right hand part of the figure being
in section this section being taken on the line C. D Figure 2.
Figure 4 represents the matrix in vertical section the section being taken on the
line EF Figure 5.
Figure 5 represents the matrix and parts connected therewith in plan and partly
in horizontal section.
Figure 6 illustrates in detail a wedging device employed in connection with the
matrix as hereinafter explained.
The machine is constructed with a hydraulic press 1 Figure 1 supplied with
water through a pipe 2 and containing a piston or plunger 3 attached to the
underside of a plate 4 connected to a pipe 5 through which water is supplied to a
passage leading to an orifice at the centre of the plate. Upon the plate 4 is fixed
a mandril 6 the external shape and dimensions of which correspond with those of
the interior of the box to be produced being somewhat smaller than the latter in
all directions. A rubber cap or cover 7 is placed upon the mandril 6, the edges of
D7

page_text: this cover are secured to the plate 4 by a ring 20 and screws 21 Figures 2 and 3.
When water is supplied under pressure through the pipe 5 it is caused to enter the
space between the mandril 6 and the rubber cover 7 and causes the said cover to
expand.
In order to mould a box the exterior of the cover 7 is first covered with a layer
of paper pulp of suitable thickness. The moulding operation is performed as
hereinbefore stated by forcing the external surface of the pulp against the rigid
sides of a matrix 8 which is of a shape corresponding with that of the exterior of
the box and by expanding the rubber cover 7 by means of hydraulic pressure.
Owing to the small amount of elasticity possessed by paper pulp it is necessary
to limit its extension at the time of moulding The improved press complies with
this condition by means of the peculiar arrangement of the matrix 8 which as
indicated in Figure 5 is made in sections divided radially so as to be capable of
separating or opening at the time when the matrix is being placed over the pulp
upon the mandril but which can be moved towards one another or inwardly so as
to press or bear upon the said pulp in all directions before the rubber is expanded.
The parts or sections composing the matrix 8 are suspended from the head 10 of
the press by bolts or rods 9, and are provided externally with inclined bearing
surfaces 11 which slide over wedges 12 and force the sections inwards so as to
produce the pressure when the sections ascend the said sections being moved
apart or separated when they descend by the action of inclines 17 provided on
blocks 18 acting on projections 16 attached to the sections as represented in
Figures 5 and 6.
Figure 4 illustrates in section the arrangement of the matrix 8 with one of the
supporting rods 9 provided with a head 13 which limits the downward movement of
the matrix. The wedges 12 are supported by a hoop or ring 14 surrounding the
sections of the matrix and forming a bearing or support for retaining the wedges 12
in position when they are acted upon by the hydraulic pressure causing the
expansion of the cover 7 of the mandril.
When the piston or plunger 3 ascends the rubber cover 7 covered with the layer
of pulp is introduced between the separated segments or sections of the matrix 8 as
represented in Figure 2 until the lower edge of the matrix presses upon the edge
or flange of the rubber cover 7 fixed upon the plate 4. As the piston or plunger 3
continues to ascend the sections of the matrix are now elevated and forced inwards
by the wedges 12 until their upper edges bear against the head 10 of the press.
When the parts are in this position the paper pulp is completely enclosed and
supported in all directions. The end of the matrix is closed by a plate 15 Figure 4
and this plate as well as the sides of the matrix is perforated with orifices and
passages not shewn in the drawing for the escape of the water exuding from the
pulp the surfaces in contact with the latter being covered with a finely perforated
sheet of metal.
The hydraulic pressure exerted underneath the piston or plunger 3 being
maintained the lower edges of the matrix are forcibly pressed against the rubber
and make a tight joint with the plate 4. The hydraulic pressure is then caused to
act at the back of or in the interior of the rubber cover 7 the water being supplied
through the pipe 5. This cover then expands and drives out a portion of the water
contained in the pulp and moulds or forms the card or paper box which is pressed
against the contracted sides of the matrix. The water in the interior of the rubber
cover 7 is then drawn off through the pipe 5, this cover then contracts and bears
upon the mandril 6. A space or interval is thus formed between the external
surface of this cover and the internal surface of the moulded box. The plunger of
the press being now allowed to descend the matrix is lowered along with the
plate 4 until its movement is arrested by the heads 13 on the rods 9 Figure 4 and at
the same time the sections are separated and moved outwards by the action of the
projections 16 attached by screws to the exterior of the sections of the matrix and
engaging with the guides or iuclines 17 provided upon the blocks or wedges 18
Figure 5 as herein before explained.

page_text: The expansion of the matrix frees the moulded box so that it remains suspended
in an inverted position upon the rubber cover and descends with the latter until the
piston has completed its descent as represented in Figure 1. The box can then be
removed as its internal dimensions are greater than the external dimensions of the
cover 7 which is now in the contracted position. The shapes, dimensions, pro-
portions and materials mentioned in the foregoing description or illustrated by way
of example in the annexed drawings may evidently be modified without affecting
the principle of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :-
The improved press or apparatus for moulding boxes composed of paper pulp
substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
n
1
M
1000
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
Agents.