IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILLS AND MEDICATED LOZENGES, AND IN PREPARING OR TREATING BLACK LEAD
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BROCKEDON, of Devonshire Street, Queen Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eighth day of December, in the seventh year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Brockedon, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Brockedon, my exors, admors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Brockedon, my exors, admors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PILLS AND MEDICATED
LOZENGES, AND IN PREPARING OR TREATING BLACK LEAD;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said William Brockedon, shall cause
a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited, Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
No text detected.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Brockedon, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention relates, first, to a mode of manufacturing pills and medicated
lozenges by causing the proper materials, when in a state of granulation, dust,
or powder, to be made into form and solidified by pressure in dies; and,
secondly, my Invention relates to the preparing or treating black lead when
in a state of granulation, dust, or powder, by pressure in dies so as to solidify
the same into a mass. And in order that my Invention may be most fully
understood and readily carried into effect, I will describe the means and also
the apparatus employed by me.
It is well known that in making pills, and also medicated lozenges, as here-
tofore practised, the proper materials are mixed with a suitable liquid into a
state of stiff paste, which is divided and shaped and allowed to dry, and it is
well known that in some cases the gum and other materials used as adhesive
matter for keeping pills and lozenges in form, when the same are mixed by
means of fluids, interfere with and prejudice the desired action of the matters
employed in making up or preparing pills and lozenges, and these gums and
adhesive matters are rendered necessary by the use of fluids for getting the
matters into a condition to be shaped. Now, by the first part of my Invention,
only such matters will be required to be used in making pills and medicated
lozenges as offer the desired medical requirements, as the getting the matters
into form will be effected by pressure in dies when the matters are in the state
of powder or dust.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews the section of suitable dies for making pills, and similar dies
will be used when making medicated lozenges, but the same would be formed
into suitable figures to produce lozenges of the shapes and sizes desired. a is
the punch of the dies, the lower end being concave; this punch is to be worked
by means of a fly press, or by other convenient means. b and c form the two
parts of the lower die. The parts a, b, and c, are of steel; and it will be seen
that the part c¹ of the lower part c of the lower die rises into the part b of the
lower die, and the part c¹ is sunk to correspond with the punch a.
It is

page_text: the same weight, and in order to save the trouble of weighing, I have devised
a measuring instrument, which being forced into the prepared powder or dust
will take up at each time a regulated measure thereof, and then deposit the
same into the lower die. Figures 2 and 3 show two sections of this instru-
ment; in one case the instrument is shewn as having just been filled, and in
the other Figure the instrument is shown as having been emptied. d is the
handle, which is fixed into the tube e by means of a set screw d', or by other
convenient means, and according as the handle d is less or more into the tube e,
so will the quantity measured by the instrument be more or less. f is another
tube, which is closed at its lower end: this tube slides freely within the tube e;
and g is another tube which slides over the outer surface of the tube e; and
the tubes and g are fixed together by the screw h, which passes through a
slot formed in the tube e, which slot allows the tube f, g, to slide up and down,
the end of the handle d determining the extent of such sliding. When the
tube e projects beyond the tubes fand g, as is shewn in Figure 2, it is pressed
into the powder or dust, by which the end becomes full, taking care that in
repeatedly filling the same that the dust or powder from which the successive
quantities are taken is not beaten down or compressed so as to cause the
measure to take a materially greater quantity at one time than another.
The measure of powder or dust being thus taken up is to be deposited into
the lower die b, c, by moving the handle upwards whilst holding the outer
tube q; the pill is then to be finished by causing the punch or upper died to
descend into the die, and thus, by one or more blows, to consolidate the powder
or dust. The upper die a, and also the part 6 of the lower die, is then to be
raised up, when the pill may be removed.
I have not thought it necessary to
show dies for making different shaped medicated lozenges, as a workman
acquainted with the making of similar dies for other purposes will readily
make the proper punch and lower die to produce the proper size and shape of
lozenges desired. It will be proper here to remark that this Invention, when
making pills, is particularly applicable when using matters readily soluble in
the stomach, such as deliquescent salts used medicinally, the carbonates,
tartrates, and nitrates of soda and potash, and other matters, according to the
judgment of the medical man, and the invention is also applicable when less
soluble matters are used combined with others readily soluble in the stomach.
I will now proceed to describe the second part of my Invention, and in
doing so I would state that it is well known that in cutting black lead and
otherwise shaping black lead, much powder or dust thereof is produced, a
given weight of which is of small value when compared with a like weight of
black lead of equal quality; hence, it is desirable to cause the powder or dust

page_text: of black lead to be again rendered solid, so as to allow of its being again cu
for the making of black lead pencils. And this part of my Invention consist
of causing powder or dust of black lead to be subjected to pressure in dies, i
order to solidify such dust or powder into masses or blocks, and I have foun
that dies capable of making blocks about two and a quarter inches long by on
and a quarter inches wide, and three quarters of an inch thick, are convenien
for pencil makers, though the size and shapes or forms of blocks produced may
be varied by having other forms of dies. And I have found that the powde
or dust of black lead may be rendered solid with more certainty by means o
pressure in dies by withdrawing the air from the dies, and from the powder o
dust of black lead therein, before operating by pressure, and such is the case in
respect to making pills and medicated lozenges, but owing to the small quan
tities of matter operated on when making pills and lozenges, I have not in
practice found it necessary to exhaust the air in these latter cases. Figure 4
shows a vertical section of the die a, the bed of which b, b, and c, c, are con
tinued, and solid portions seen in Figure 5, a horizontal section as b,b,c,c, and
raised above the bed, as in Figure 6, where the shady parts shew the portions
cut away to an equal depth, except the dark rim, round which is cut a little
lower for the receiver connected with the air pump, so that it shall rest
below the die for the lead, as shewn in the dotted line across a, Figure 4.
d, d, e, e, seen in Figure 5, and endways in Figure 4, are wedges of a width
equal to the depth of the cutting, shaded in Figure 6. When the wedges d, d
are placed in the die their sides form a hollow parellelopiped; the other
wedges e, e, are then driven firmly, but so that their ends shall be within the
dotted circle of Figure 5, and allow the receiver f, f, Figure 4, to rest freely
on the flange or edge g, g, of Figures 4 and 5. This reservoir has a stuffing-
box h, h, through which the condensing plunger i passes when depressed on
the black lead, previously placed in the cavity formed by the space between
the solid bearing c, c, in the bed or die and the lateral faces of the wedges d,d;
k is a nozzle, to which a pipe communicating with an air pump is attached
when in operation. The powder or dust is placed in the cavity 1, Figure 5,
the dome or reservoir is placed over, there being a stud a affixed to the dome
f, which enters a groove formed in one of the solid parts 6 of the die, which
ensures the plunger i coming correctly opposite the cavity 7. The air is then
pumped out. The plunger i is driven down by a powerful fly press or stamper
and the condensation effected. Air is let in by the usual cock connected with
the air pump through the nozzle k; the plunger and domef, f, are raised, the
wedges e, e, struck out, and d, d, displaced, and the block of lead condensed in
the cavity is released by pressing on the narrowest side of the block. For to

page_text: effect this the sides of the solid pieces c, c, are not quite parallel, and will
readily deliver on the widest side. The apparatus is now ready for a repetition
of the operation.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I
am acquainted with for performing the same, I would wish it to be understood
that I make no claim to the dies here shewn, nor do I confine myself to the
details thereof, so long as the peculiar character of either part of my Invention
be retained.
And I would state that I am aware that clay or brick earth has been
formed into bricks, tiles, and other articles, by pressure in dies when in a state
of dust or powder, and then burned in kilns, and patents have been granted
for such means of making bricks, tiles, and other articles from brick earth or
clay, and burning; and I mention these manufactures in order to state that I
do not claim the rendering powder generally into solid forms by pressure, and
then subjecting the same to burning. But I do strictly confine my Invention
to the following improvements:
First, I claim the mode of manufacturing pills and medicated lozenges by
causing the materials, when in a state of granulation, dust, or powder, to be
made into form and solidified by pressure in dies.
Secondly, I claim the mode of preparing or treating black lead when in a
state of powder, granulation, or dust, by pressure in dies, so as to solidify the
same.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brockedon, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.
WILLIAM (L.S.) BROCKEDON.