IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR Apparatus eMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BISCUITS."
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Mitchell, of the Town and County of
Aberdeen, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR Apparatus eMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BISCUITS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Mitchell at
the Office of the Commissionērs of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th July 1875.
I, James MITCHELL, of the Town and County of Aberdeen, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACture of
BISCUITS," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to improvements in machinery or apparatus
employed in cutting out or shaping biscuits from the dough of which
they are made, and whilst applicable to the cutting or shaping of biscuits
generally, the Invention is more especially adapted to the making of

page_text: "soft
that class of biscuits known amongst biscuit manufacturers as
goods," such, for example, as "ginger nuts," "bon bons," fancy dessert,
and other similar biscuits.
In machines as hitherto constructed for this purpose the biscuit is cut
or shaped from the dough by a frame operating vertically and provided
with cutters or shapes of the desired form, which when the frame is
moved downwards cut out the biscuits against a stationary table or plat-
form Under this arrangement it is found, when the cutters or shapes
are applied to soft dough, that they are apt to clag or become choked up,
thereby causing considerable delay in manufacture.
Under this Invention the frame carrying the cutters or shapes is sta-
tionary, and the table or platform is caused to move upwards against the
under side thercof, and so cut out or shape the biscuit. The table or
platform is provided-with-two-screws, which move a series of cjector
plates when the table is on its downward motion, and the ejectors force
out the biscuits from the cutters or shapes, by which means clagging or
choking of the said cutters or shapes is prevented.
The machine constructed with a movable table, as herein-before
described, is also provided with apparatus for separating scraps or super-
fluous picces from the biscuit, and for placing the biscuits on pans, which
apparatus may be of the ordinary construction; and an indicator is used
for pointing out the thickness of the layer of dough passing through or
between the gauging rollers of the machine, and consequently the
thickness of the biscuit to be cut.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 2
filed by the said James Mitchell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th January 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MITCHELL, of the Town and County of Aberdeen, North Britain, send
greeting.
3

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the 39th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said James Mitchell, Her special license, that I,
the said James Mitchell, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Mitchell, my executors, admini-
strators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE Manufacture of BiscuITS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Mitchell, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 James Mitchell, 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 reference home had to the accompanying

page_text: are applied to soft dough, that they are apt to clag or become choked up,
thereby causing considerable delay in manufacture
Under my said Invention the frame carrying the cutters or shapes is
stationary, and the table or platform, hitherto stationary, is caused to
move upwards against the under side thereof, and so cut out or shape
the biscuit. The said movable table or platform is provided with
two screws, which when the table is on its downward motion move a
frame carrying a series of ejector discs or plates, which force out the
biscuits from the cutters or shapes, and by this means clagging or
choking of the said cutters or shapes is prevented.
Apparatus for indicating the thickness of the layer of dough to be cut
into biscuits, for separating scraps or superfluous pieces from the biscuits
when cut or shaped, and for placing the said biscuits on pans is also
provided in the improved machine.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly-understood I
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried
into effect, reference being had to the annexed Shoct of Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended Figure 1 is an elevation
of the driving side of the improved machine or apparatus as constructed
in accordance with my said Invention; Figure 2 is a plan thereof, and
Figure 3, a transverse section of the same on the line a, b, looking
towards the end marked X, Figures 1 and 2.
Figures 4 and 5 are respectively detailed views of portions of the
apparatus, and are herein-after more particularly referred to.
As shewn by Figures 1, 2, and 3 the mechanism consists of a
framing A, at the centre of which the vertically moving table and frame
carrying the cutters or shapes are supported; the table B and frame C
are more particularly seen in transverse section at Figure 3, and as a
shewn thereon the said table rests or is supported upon eccentrics D
fixed on a shaft F, whereon is also placed a spur wheel E by which
vertical motion is communicated to the table B through the eccentrics D
the spur wheel E being geared with a corresponding spur pinion a fixed
upon the main or driving shaft G of the machine. The movable table B

page_text: is bound to the eccentrics D by means of straps or hollow brackets b,
which extend downwards on both sides and also under each eccentric, as
shown At its lower part each strap b is formed with a box or well, as
more particularly seen in detailed end elevation of the table at Figure 4
of the Drawings, whereinto oil is placed to prevent heating of the
mechanism in working Slide guides II, seen at Figures 4 and 5, are
fixed to the framing A opposite each end of the table B to guide and
steady it whilst ascending and descending to and from the cutting or
shaping frame C, wherein shapes d corresponding to the configuration
of biscuit to be produced arc disposed, as shown at Figure 3. The frame
or plate C carrying the cutters is preferably formed with strengthening
flanches along the upper side thereof, and it is fixed stationary in
position on the framing A. by screw bolts c whercon nuts are placed
both below and above the plate or frame, the under nuts affording means
of adjusting the cutters or shapes d to a higher or lower lovel as may bo
desired. Above the frame or plate C another plate I is situate and
supported on spiral plate or other springs placed between it and the
plate or frame C, and to the plate I the spindles or stems of a series of
ejector discs or plates situate in hollows or cavities in the cutters or
shapes d, as shown at h, Figure 3, are fixed. Rods or bars J screwed at
their upper ends are attached to each end of the movable table B, from
whence they extend upwards through the plates C and I, nuts being
placed on the portion of cach rod projecting above the plate I, as shewn
at on the Drawings, screwed bolts are preferably passed through the
plate I and into or through the plate C to prevent the springs y from
acting on the plate I after it has reached a certain limit upwards from
the place C, by which means strain upon the ejector discs or plates / is
prevented, but these bolts may, if desired, be dispensed with and their
function performed by the nuts &
In operating with the machine the dough delivered to the movable
table Bin a layer of requisite thickness by apparatus herein-after referred
to is, by the action of the eccentrics D on the table, raised upwards to
and gently pressed into the shapes d, which cut out from it a number of
biscuits corresponding to the number of shapes employed in the machine
This being effected the table B recedes, and by causing the nuts 2 on
the rods J to act against the plate I and compress the springs g, the
cjectors are forced downwards, thereby expelling the biscuits from

page_text: they are delivered from the machine. Simultaneously with the rise of
the table B to perform the next cutting or shaping operation, the
springs are released and the plate I, together with the ejectors h, is
returned to the position shewn on Figure 3 of the Drawings
By means of this arrangement clagging or choking of the cutters or
shapes is prevented, and the delay in manufacture incidental thereto
in biscuit-making machines as hitherto constructed is obviated, or in
great measure reduced.
The biscuit making machine constructed in accordance with said
my
Invention is provided with the usual travelling webs or bands employed
in such machines to conduct the dough from the gauging rollers to the
cutting or shaping apparatus and to pan and deliver the biscuits
from the machine when cut out or shaped; also with a web or band to
remove or separate scraps or superfluous pieces of dough from the
biscuits before such panning and delivery takes place.
On the Drawings the web or band which conducts the dough to the
cutting or shaping table or platform B, and thereafter leads the biscuits
therefrom is marked k The delivery web or band is maiked l, and
that by which scraps of dough, that is to say, the portions inter-
vening between the shapes or cutters d is separated from the biscuits is
marked m, Figure 1. These webs or bands are traversed by an improved
arrangement of mechanism, which, together with the other driving gear
of the machine, is all situated at that side of the framing A, shewn by
Figure 1 of the Drawings, the other side of the frame being that at which
the operators stand is thus free of moving or rotating parts, and acci-
dents to the attendants are thereby prevented. The apparatus for driving
the webs or bands k, l, and m, and also that for rotating the gauging
rollers M and N, consists of a lever or beam O centred on a pin or stud
fixed in the frame A, and which receives rocking motion from the main
shaft G through the spur whool E and an eccentric P situate on the same
shaft F therewith, and coupled to the lower end of the lever or beam O,
as shown On one end of the axis of the roller or drum around which
the delivery web or band passes (at the rearward end of the machine)
a lever is placed loosely and attached to the rocking lever or beam O

page_text: by a rod or link
p. A ratchet wheel R is fixed on the same end of the
axis of the said roller or drum, into which a pawl o carried on the upper
end of the lever n gears, as shewn more particularly at Figure 1 of the
Drawings.
On the same axis
and geared with a
The pinion is also
By means of this arrangement the lever or beam O is rocked in the
direction of the arrow at every revolution of the eccentric P, whereby
the ratchet or pawl o is caused to move the web forwards a distance
corresponding to one tooth of the ratchet wheel R.
with the ratchet wheel R a spur wheel S is fixed
pinion S¹ centred on a stud fixed in the frame A.
geared with a corresponding spur wheel T on the axis of the roller or
drum T', around which the web or band / passes, and thus when the
lever or beam O is rocked the said band is caused to conduct the dough
from the gauging rollers M, N, forwards towards the movable table B
with an intermittent motion, cach movement being equal to the distance
between two teeth of the ratchet wheel V, and corresponds to the size or
breadth of the kind of biscuit being manufactured. The samo motion
also conducts the biscuits when cut or shaped down the inclined portion
of the web or band k, and on to the. delivery web or band l. The web
or band m, over which the part of the dough not acted upon by the
cutters or shapes d is conducted, is similarly driven by a connecting rod
from the lever or beam O actuating a lover and pawl in connexion with
the ratchet wheel U, and by sımılar means rotary motion is communi-
cated to the gauging rollers M, N, through a ratchet wheel V situate on
the axis of the lower roller M and a pawl V'.
The upper gauging roller N is driven from the under one by a train of
spur geaning 8 A screw or equivalent means is provided in con-
junction with the rocking lever or beam O to adjust the throw of the
levers on the respective rotating shafts herein-before referred to by
moving the ends of the connecting rods nearer to or further from the
fulcrum of the lever or beam O.
An arrangement of mechanism for indicating exactly the distance
between the peripheries of the gauging rollers M, N, and consequently
the thickness of the biscuits being manufactured is also provided in con-
junction with the improved machine
The indicator consists of a dial or plate t, on which the various thick-
nesses of biscuits manufactured are represented by the vertical lines

page_text: or divisions, and a pointer or finger u is caused to indicate by these
divisions the width or space between the gauging rollers. This is effected
by forming the rod or shaft W, on which the pinions for raising and
lowering the upper roller N are fixed with a screw thread at its centre
part, the pitch of which corresponds to the pitch of thread on the ver-
tical screws acting on the bearings of the roller, and on whose upper
ends the pinions w are situated.
The pointer or finger u is placed on the screwed portion of the
shaft W, and travels along the said portion in a direction according to
that in which the shaft is turned, so that by reading the Figure on the
indicator t, opposite to the pointer u, the space between the rollers M, N,
is at once ascertained. A pinching screw or pin to maintain the rollers
at the required distance apart by preventing rotation of the shaft W is
or may also be provided in conjunction with the indicator.
Instead of driving the travelling webs or bands and gauging rollers by
means of the mechanism heroin-before- described and shown -such
mechanism as is usually employed in biscuit-making machines may be
substituted therefor, it being explained that I do not confine myself to
construct the improved machine precisely in the manner illustrated on
the appended Sheet of Drawings, as the same may in parts be modified
without departing from the essential features of the said Invention.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the system, mode, or manner in or under which
the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, I would
observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original, and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The arrangement and construction of machine or apparatus
herein-before described and shewn on the appended Sheet of Drawings,
or any mere modification thereof, and the employment of the same in
the manufacture of biscuits, substantially as set forth.
Second. The movable table or platform B and apparatus in connexion
therewith, that is to say, the fixed or stationary frame O carrying the
cutters or shapes d and the plate I with ejectors h, each operating
in manner substantially as herein-before described with reference to the
Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended

page_text: Third The apparatus herein-before described for indicating the dis-
tance between the gauging rollers of biscuit-making machines, and
consequently the thickness of biscuit being manufactured, substantially
as shown on the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whercof, I, the said James Mitchell, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Twenty-first day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.