IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MOULDING BOTTLES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR MOULDING BOTTLES." A communication from abroad by
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd September 1881.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MOULDING BOTTLES." [A com-
munication from abroad by the Firm of H. Aupècle and Company, of Chalon sur
Saône, France.]
This Invention relates to improvements in bottle inoulds, whereby a greater
degree of perfection is attained at a lower cost than has hitherto been possible.
The mould is rotary and has a metal bottom turning in the opposite direction to
the body of the mould, and it is also provided with a special arrangement of treadle
adapted for use with a mould rotated by steam or other power; it also includes an
automatic arrangement for moulding the bottom of the bottle.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 of which
shows an elevation of the entire apparatus, and Figure 2 a section; Figures 3 and
10 show details of the treadle and bottle moulding mechanism. Referring to
Figure 1, the body of the mould A is a cast iron cylinder, and the upper part
corresponding to the neck and shoulder of the bottle is made in two parts hinged
upon the cylindrical part, so as to be capable of being closed together and of being
separated by means of connecting rods jointed thereto and passing down alongside
the mould, and connected at their lower ends to a plate resting upon a lever which
is operated by a treadle worked by the glass blower to raise said plate and rods
and close the upper part of the mould. The action of the treadle, which is very
simple, is as follows:-It is so arranged as to first put the mechanism for rotating
the mould into gear, and when the mould has made a few turns, and not until then,

page_text: to effect the closing of the upper part of the mould. The two actions of treadle are
separated by an interval for the following reason-If the mould were to be closed
at the same moment as it received rotary motion the effect of the sudden closing at
the commencement of blowing would be to hammer the glass, and the bottle would
be defective. When the mould is rotated by hand the workman is careful not to
close the mould until the proper moment, but when the mould is rotated by power
it is necessary to have in effect two independent means of control, one for throwing
the driving pulley into gear, and the other for closing the mould, which would
make bottle moulding impossible, or at least very difficult, for a single operator;
this is avoided by arranging the treadle to act at two distinct times, so that the
operator has only to depress it when the glass is placed into the mould in order to
effect at the proper times, first, the putting in gear of the band pulley F, Figure 1,
and afterwards the closing of the mould. For this purpose the treadle C is provided
at a certain point (see Figure 10) with a cam or swell T, which on the descent of
the treadle presses against a rod U jointed to clutch lever Q of clutch R. The
movement of rod U to the right throws pulley F into gear, and the treadle con-
tinuing its downward movement (the cam surface T still bearing against bar U),
its lower end bears against the bottom of a socket S', in which it slides, thereby
depressing said socket and causing it to raise the plate, to which are jointed the
connecting rods attached to the two halves of the upper part of the mould, which
are thereby closed together. When the operator releases the trendle the upper part
of the mould is opened by the weight of the connecting rods, the socket S¹ raises
the treadle, and its cam or swell no longer acting on rod U, the latter is returned
to its normal position by, a counterweight S of a lever V pivoted upon a separate
frame P, and provided with an arm which bears against a lug on rod U. The
mould being thus thrown out of gear, the operator can remove the bottle. The
mould is provided with a metal bottom revolved in a contrary direction to
the mould, said bottom replacing the bottom of refractory clay hitherto employed,
which being formed by agglomerating a dry with an unctuous material is soon
destroyed by the heat of the bulb of glass placed in the mould, leaving only the
gritty material, which adheres to the bottle. A metal bottom revolving in the
same direction as the mould is also objectionable, as the points of contact with
the glass are too numerous, and it is liable to adhere to the mould. The metal
bottom is placed within the mould, and to its lower end is fixed a toothed wheel J,
driven in the contrary-direction-to-the-mould. The upper part of the mould
bottom has a cavity ribbed for the purpose of reducing the number of points of
contact of the bottom of the bottle with that of the mould, to prevent the glass
adhering thereto. Figure 4 shows a top view of the mould bottom, which has a
circular central opening for the passage of the plunger M, which when raised forms
the bottom of the bottle, said plunger being guided in a cylindrical sheath, which
occupies the space between the revolving bottom and the plunger. The plunger
has ribs at top which fit in the recesses in the mould bottom when the plunger is
raised, so that it rotates therewith. The plunger is made of iron hollowed out
conically at top, and provided with two longitudinal channels for the escape of
the hot air confined between the bottom of the bottle and that of the mould, which
escapes at the bottom of the mould. The lower part of the barrel of the mould is
connected to the upper part by ears provided with screw nuts, so that the entire
mould barrel revolves in one direction, while the mould bottom placed within it
revolves in the other direction. The plunger M is operated automatically in the
following manner :-The plunger M is elevated by the action of a lever D, Figures
1 and 3, pivoted to an arm on a rock shaft and counterbalanced at one end, and
engaging at the other end with the thread of a screw E on the vertical shaft, which
rotates the mould bottom. The said lever in descending by the action of the screw
raises the plunger M, and when it arrives at the bottom of the screw thread it is
moved away from the screw by a rod C¹ jointed to the lever for closing the mould;
the lever D is then raised by its counterbalance weight, thus lowering the plunger;
and the same rod C puts the lever again in gear with the screw when the mould

page_text: commences to revolve. This automatic moulding of the bottoms is rapid and perfect,
the plunger being always raised at the same moinent and to exactly the same height.
for each bottle with the bottom of which it comes in contact, and raises it without
concussion. Figure 2 shows a vertical section of the mould, but the letters of
reference do not correspond with those in Figure 1. The barrel c of the mould is
revolved in one direction by bevel wheel K being fixed upon the flange or top of
the hollow spindled by the lugs and bolts of the part e; f is the mould bottom
revolved in the reverse direction to the barrel c by the wheel J, said wheel serving
as a bearing for the hollow spindle d. The bearing j of hollow spindle g is sup-
ported upon studs k provided with nuts for the adjustment of the mould. is a
gun metal guide for spindle d, supported upon the top plate m, which is supported by
pillars o upon the bed plate n. Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 are detail views of the various
parts of the apparatus, hereinbefore referred to. Figure 9 shows a side and top view
of the forked lever C¹.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd March 1882.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MOULDING BOTTLES." A com-
munication from abroad by the Firm of H. Aupècle and Company, of Chalon sur
Saône, France.
:
This Invention relates to improvements in bottle moulds, whereby a greater
degree of perfection in the manufacture of bottles is attained at a lower cost than
has hitherto been possible.
The mould is rotary and has a metal bottom turning in the opposite direction to
the body of the mould, and it is also provided with a special arrangement of treadle
adapted for use with a mould rotated by steam or other power; it also includes an
automatic arrangement for moulding the bottom of the bottle.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 of which
shows an elevation of the entire apparatus, and Figure 2 a section; Figure (which
is a section on line A, B, Fig. 1) 3 and Figure 10 show details of the treadle and
bottom moulding mechanism; Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 show details of parts of
the mould.
The body of the mould A is a cast iron cylinder, and the upper part corresponding
to the neck and shoulder of the bottle is made in two parts a hinged upon the
cylindrical part, so as to be capable of being closed together and of being separated
by means of connecting rods a' jointed thereto and passing down alongside the
mould, and connected at their lower ends to a collar a resting upon a lever C',
which is operated by a treadle C worked by the glass blower to raise said collar
and rods, and close the upper part a of the mould. The action of the treadle C,
which is very simple, is as follows:-It is so arranged as to first put the mechanism
for rotating the mould A into gear, and when_the_mould-has-made-a-few turns, and
not-until-then, to effect the closing of the upper part a of the mould. The two
actions of the treadle are separated by an interval for the following reason:-If the
mould were to be closed at the same moment as it received rotary motion the effect
of the sudden closing at the commencement of blowing would be to hammer the
glass, and the bottle would be defective. When the mould is rotated by hand the
workman is careful not to close the mould until the proper moment, but when the
mould is rotated by power it is necessary to have in effect two independent means
of control, one for throwing the driving pulley into gear, and the other for closing
the mould, which would make bottle moulding impossible, or at least very difficult,
for a single workman; this difficulty is avoided by arranging the treadle to act at
two perfectly distinct times, so that the workman has only to depress it when the
glass is placed in the mould in order to effect at the proper times, first, the putting
in gear the clutch of the band pulley F, Figure 1; and, secondly, the closing of the
mould. For this purpose the treadle C is provided at a certain point (see Figure 10)
with a cam or swell T, which on the descent of the treadle presses against a rod U
jointed to lever Q of clutch R. The movement of rod U to the right throws
pulley F into gear with its shaft, and the treadle continuing its downward move-
ment (the cam surface T still bearing against bar U), its lower end, which slides in
a socket S, bears against the bottom of said socket, which is jointed upon lever C¹,
thereby depressing said socket and oscillating the lever C, and causing it to raise
the collar a, to which are jointed the connecting rods a¹, whereby the upper part a
of the mould is closed. When the workman releases the treadle the parts a of the

page_text: mould are opened by the weight of the connecting rods a¹, the socket S raises the
treadle, and its cam or swell T no longer acting on rod U, the latter is returned to
its normal position by a counterweight W of a lever V pivoted upon a separate
frame R, and provided with an arm which bears against a lug on rod U, thus
disengaging the clutch. The mould being thus thrown out of gear, the operator
can remove the bottle.
The mould is provided with a metal bottom revolved in a contrary direction to
the mould, said bottom replacing the bottom of refractory clay hitherto employed
which being formed by agglomerating a dry with an unctuous material is soon
destroyed by the heat of the bulb of glass placed in the mould, leaving only the
gritty material, which adheres to the bottle. A metal bottom revolving in the
same direction as the mould is also objectionable, as the points of contact with the
glass are too numerous, and it is liable to adhere to the mould. To avoid this
objection the metal bottom fis placed within the mould, and is fixed upon the top
flange g of a hollow spindle g', to whose end is keyed a toothed wheel J, driven
in the contrary direction to the mould A by a spur wheel I on a shaft I, driven by
bevel gear G, H, from shaft F. The upper part of the mould bottom has a cavity
ribbed for the purpose of reducing the number of points of contact of the bottom
of the bottle with that of the mould to prevent the glass adhering thereto.
Figure 4 shows a top view of the mould bottom, which has a circular central
opening for the passage of the plunger M, which when raised forms the bottom of
the bottle, said plunger being guided as shown. The plunger has ribs at top which
fit in the recesses in the mould bottom when the plunger is raised, so that it rotates
therewith. The plunger is made of iron hollowed out conically at top, and provided
with two longitudinal channels for the escape of the hot air confined between the
bottom of the bottle and that of the mould, which escapes at the bottom of the
mould. The barrel A of the mould is connected by the lugs and screw bolts of
the part e to the flange or top d of a hollow spindle d, and is revolved in one
direction by bevel wheel K, keyed on spindle d', and driven by bevel wheel L on
shaft F, while the mould bottom is revolved in the other direction, as before
described. The lower end of hollow spindle has a bearing in wheel J. The
bearing of hollow spindle g' is supported upon studs provided with nuts for the
adjustment of the mould. is a gun metal guide for spindle d, supported upon the
top plate m, which is supported by pillars o upon the bed plate n.
The plunger M is operated automatically in the following manner:-The
plunger M is elevated by a lever D, Figures 1 and 3, pressing on a lever Z, which
takes under the bottom of the plunger, said lever D being pivoted to an arm D² on
a rock shaft D³, and counterbalanced at one end D¹, and engaging at the other end
with the thread of a screw E on the shaft I. The said lever D in descending by
the action of the screw E presses on lever Z and raises the plunger M, and when it
arrives at the bottom of the screwthread E it is moved away from the screw by
the motion of its rock shaft produced by a rod C2 jointed to the lever C'; the
lever D is then raised by its counterbalance weight D', thus relieving lever Z and
lowering the plunger; and the same rod C2 puts the lever again in gear with the
screw when the mould commences to revolve. This automatic moulding of the
bottoms is rapid and perfect, the plunger being always raised at the same moment
and to exactly the same height for each bottle with the bottom of which it comes
in contact, and raises it without concussion.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by
the herein before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1st. In a rotary bottle mould, the employment of a ribbed metal rotary bottom
turning in the opposite direction to the body of the mould, substantially as herein
specified.
2nd. The combination with a rotary bottle mould of treadle operated mechanism
acting at two distinct times, substantially as herein specified, whereby the mechanism
by which the mould and mould bottom are rotated in opposite directions is, first,

page_text: put into gear; and, secondly, whereby the mould is closed after it has made a few
revolutions, as described.
3rd. In a rotary bottle mould, the construction of the mould, as herein described,
to prevent seizing or adhesion of the glass to the mould.
4th. In a rotary bottle mould, the combination of the plunger and the rotary
mould bottom in such manner as to permit an up and down motion of the plunger
in the rotary bottom.
5th. The combination with the mechanism which gives the double movement of
rotation to the mould and closes it, of the screw and lever mechanism for auto-
matically operating the plunger by the action of the treadle, which throws the
rotating mechanism into gear, substantially as described.
6th. The rotary bottle mould, constructed as herein described, and combined with
mechanism rotating the mould and mould bottom in opposite directions, and with
mechanism for closing the mould and operating the plunger, the whole combined
to operate substantially as herein shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Third day of March, A.D. 1882.
A M ALDIZ