Improvements in Machines for Compressing Powdered Materials into Tablets.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Sept., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 24th June, 1898-Accepted, 10th Sept.,
1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Compressing Powdered Materials
into Tablets.
I, JAMES YATE JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of London,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has been com-
municated to me from abroad by Henry Kendall Mulford, of 412, South. 13th Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Manufacturing Chemist)
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to machines for compressing powdered material into
tablets, and consists of improvements as hereinafter described.
On the frame of the machine are bearings for the driving shaft, and on this shaft
Also on the
is a fly wheel and two belt pulleys, one of which is loose to the shaft.
shaft are two cams and an eccentric, which impart movement to the several parts
of the machine.
The machine has an upper, plunger adapted to a split bearing, which can be
adjusted by clamp screws; this plunger has an adjustable section connected to an
eccentric strap adapted to the eccentric on the driving shaft. The plunger is made
adjustable so as to bring it nearer to, or further from, the compressing point, and
has at its lower end a chuck for holding the punch which compresses the tablet.
Adapted to a split table is a suitable die: in the lower portion of the table works
a lower plunger, which carries a punch adapted to slide in the die, this punch is
secured to the plunger by means of a set screw, which extends through the slot in
the table so that the punch can be removed and replaced without dismantling
the machine. The table is split, and the two parts are drawn together by a clamp
screw in order to hold the die in position.
The lower plunger is made in three parts, a head, a stem, and a sleeve. The
head is split and has an internal and an external screw thread, and the stem has a
threaded end adapted to the internal screw thread of the head, and has at the
opposite end a block. The split sleeve is adapted to the external screw thread
of the head and carries a screw threaded collar adapted to a screw thread on the
sleeve, this collar is adjustable on the sleeve so as to take up lost motion when
necessary and can be set in position after adjustment by a suitable screw.
The rod which is actuated by one of the cams on the driving shaft has at its
lower end an arm forked at the end, which extends between the sleeve and the
block on the stem of the lower plunger, so that as the rod is actuated by the cam
movement will be imparted to the lower plunger. The connection between the
rod and the arm is made adjustable.
The rod has a screw thread, to which is adapted a nut resting in a recess in the
arm, so that by turning the nut in one or the other direction, the arm can be
raised or lowered, on the rod so as to adjust it in respect to the sleeve and block
of the lower plunger, and thus compensate for wear. The arm can be set in the
adjusted position by a screw.
In order to feed the material to the die and to discharge the tablet, a feed plate

page_text: is pivoted to the table and this plate has a passage for the material, and is connected
by a flexible tube to the hopper, fixed at one side of the machine, and this feed
plate is operated by means of a lever having two arms, one arm engaging with one
of the cams on the driving shaft; the other arm has an adjustable extension which
rests in a slot in the plate. As the lever is moved by the cam, the plate is moved
forward to discharge the compressed tablet and to charge the die with material
the plate is then moved back clear of the die, so that the plunger will be free to
compress the tablet. The plate is agitated by the cam which has a series of eleva-
tions for the purpose.
By the above operation a tablet is first discharged, new material is allowed to pass
into the die, the plate is moved to one side, and the plungers compress the material
in the die after which the plate is moved the full movement forward, sweeping
the finished tablet off the lower plunger and die 'and' into the spout.
The device is preferably made so that the material will be agitated and will
readily flow into the lower die, dispensing with other agitating means, and' the
movement of the lower punch is so timed that it will recede as the die is charged,
tending to draw the material into the die.
The several parts of the machine are adjusted as follows-The upper "plunger
is adjusted by means of a screw threaded section which enters a screw threaded
opening in the plunger, and by turning the plunger it can be raised and lowered.
and set in the adjusted position by a lock nut. This adjustment is for the purpose
of regulating the thickness of the tablet to be formed.
-- ..
I
There are two adjustments of the lower plunger, one for the amount of material to
be compressed, and the other to bring the lower punch up flush with the surface.
of the table, so that the tablet can be discharged without breaking.
The stem is adjusted in the head for different quantities of material, and is.
locked in the adjusted position by a sleeve, which is released prior to turning, the
stem and is again fastened after the stem is turned. The sleeve is raised, or
lowered, so as to bring the top of the lower punch flush with the top of the table,
or die, when it is at its highest point, and after adjustment this sleeve is locked as
herein before described so that it will be seen that the several parts can be adjusted.
to make a tablet having the proper quantity of powdered material, and can be made.
of a given size by simply adjusting the several parts..
The die in this instance is simply a hard metal cylinder, having an opening of
the same diameter throughout and it can be readily set in the opening in the table,
and when one face is worn off it can be reversed, thus increasing the life of the die.
The lever for operating the feed plate is preferably made in two sections, the
lower section being made in one piece with the pivot shaft, and the upper section
is coupled to this shaft by a suitable extension, so that one arm can be adjusted
with respect to the other, and the extension on the lower arm.is made adjustable
and removable so that it can be replaced when necessary, and can be adjusted when
worl.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-If the punches be set so that the
die will receive a given amount of material, the punches, will compress this material
into a tablet, and the lower punch will raise sufficiently to enable the tablet to be
discharged; the hopper is filled with dry material which will flow through the
flexible tube into the opening in the plate and when the plate reaches a position
over the die, the lower punch will recede and the material will flow into the die,
the receding of the punch also tending to draw the material into the dię.
When the plate moves to one side of the opening in the die the lower punch is in
its lowest position, with its head resting upon the base of the machine.
The upper
punch will be forced down into the die, and will compress the material therein to the
proper degree, making a tablet of a given thickness and density.
The cam for lifting the lower punch and eccentric are so timed that the lower
punch will follow the upper punch shortly after it commences to withdraw from
the die, and the lower punch will continue its motion, until it is flush with the
table, and when it has reached this point the plate moves forward across the die

page_text: removing the formed tablet from the punch and die and discharging it into the
spout at the side and the die will be again charged with fresh material.
The sliding plate, which is above the die, is agitated so that the material will
feed regularly from the hopper thus dispensing with any entirely separate agitators.
in the hopper, or in the passage from the hopper to the die.
The lower plunger has a loose working fit in the table, and the stem has a very
loose fit in the opening in the base of the machine, but the punch is a tight working
fit in the die, so that the plunger accommodates itself to the punch and die.
By this means the punch is not strained and the machine will run much easier
than where the plunger, or carrier, for the lower punch has a snug working fit.
The lower plunger is operated by a double faced cam having two operating
surfaces so that the movements are obtained as by two independent cams.
The parts can be readily adjusted, without dismantling the machine. The die
can be removed by simply unscrewing the clamp screw of the table and another
die substituted therefor; and, by turning the sleeve on the head, the lower punch
can be adjusted, and, by turning the upper plunger on the screw threaded section,
the upper punch can be adjusted.
Dated this 25th day of September 1807
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents...
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Compressing Powdered Materials
into Tablets.
I, JAMES YATE JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of London,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has been com-
municated to me from abroad by Henry Kendall Mulford, of 412, South 13th Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Manufacturing Chemist)
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:—
F
The object of this invention is to provide an improved machine for compressing
powdered material into tablets, which machine is easy running, not liable to get out
of order, and easily adjusted. The invention will be clearly understood from the
following description with reference to the accompanying drawings of which-
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a tablet compressing machine made in accordance
with this invention; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same; Figure 3 a sectional
elevation; and Figure 4 a horizontal section on the line 4-4, Figure 3; Figure 5
is a side elevation of the table looking in the direction of the arrow, Figure 1.
Figure 6 is a perspective view of the table drawn to an enlarged scale; Figure 7
is a perspective view of the feed plate; Figure S is a detached perspective view of
the lower plunger; and Figures 9 and 10 are face!views of the cams for actuating
parts of the machine.
A is the frame of the machine; B is a driven shaft mounted in bearings a a¹ in
the frame A and in a bearing a² in a bracket A¹ projecting from the rear of the
machine. On the shaft B is a fly wheel B', and fast and loose belt pulleys bb¹ to
which is adapted the driving belt. Also, on the shaft B are two cams C1 C2 and an
eccentric C, which impart movement to the several parts of the machine....
Dis an upper plunger working in a split bearing a³, which can be adjusted by
lamp screws a; the plunger has an adjustable part D' connected at d¹ to the

page_text: strap d of an eccentric C. The plunger D is capable of adjustment so as to bring
it nearer to or further from the compressing point, and has at its lower end a
chuck d³ see Fig. 3 for holding a punch d² for compressing the tablets.
A2 is a table which is split or slotted at f1 at one side, and has an opening, in
I which rests a die f, in which opening works the lower plunger E; the die f is held
in position by a clamp screw k which draws the split or slotted part of the table
tightly onto the said die.
The lower plunger E carries a punch e adapted to slide in the die f, the said
punch being secured in the plunger by means of a set screw e which extends
through the slot f¹ in the table, so that the punch can be removed and replaced
without dismantling the machine.
The lower plunger E is made in three parts, namely, a head el, a stem e² and a
sleeve e. The head e¹ is split and has an internal screw thread and an external
screw thread, and the stem es has a threaded end to screw into the internal screw
thread of the head, and at the opposite end a block e. The split sleeve is
internally screwed to screw onto the external screw thread of the head and it carries
a screw threaded collar e screwing onto an external screw thread on the sleeve;
this collar is adjustable on the sleeve so as to take up lost motion when necessary,
and can be fixed in position after adjustment by a screw e6.
G is a rod carrying a yoke G¹ through which the shaft B passes, the said yoke
having a bowl or pin which enters the groove in the cam C¹, and on the lower end
of the rod G is an arm g, having a forked end extending between the sleeve e³ and
the block e, on the stem e² of the lower plunger, so that as the rod is actuated by the
movement will be imparted to the lower plunger E. The connection between'
the rod G and the arm g is made adjustable.
cam,
For this purpose the rod has a screw thread g¹ to which is adapted a nut g²,
which rests in a recess in the arm g, so that by turning the nut in one direction
or the other, the arm can be raised or lowered on the rod so as to adjust it with
respect to the sleeve and block of the plunger E, and thus take up for wear.
arm can be fixed in the adjusted position by a set screw g³.
The
In order to feed the material to the die f and to discharge the tablet, the feed
plate I is pivoted at i to the table A2; the feed plate has a passage for the
material and is connected by a flexible tube to the hopper I', fixed at one side of
the machine, and this feed plate is operated by means of a two armed lever J one
arm of which engages in the groove of the cam C2, Figure 10, and the other arm
has an adjustable extension resting in a slot 3 in the plate I, Figure 4. As
the lever is moved by the cam C2, which is of the form clearly shewn in Figure 10,
the plate I is moved forward into the position shewn in Figure 3, to discharge the
compressed tablet, and to charge the die with material, and is then moved back
clear of the die so that the plungers will be free to compress the tablet; the plate I
is agitated in its movements by the cam which has a series of elevations j³, as
shewn in Figure 10.
By the above operation a tablet is first discharged; new material allowed to pass
into the die; the plate is moved to one side; and the plungers compress the material
in the die, after which the plate is moved the full movement forward sweeping
the finished tablet off of the lower plunger and die into the spout or chute K.
The apparatus is preferably made as shewn, so that the material will be agitated
and will readily flow into the lower die, dispensing with other agitating means,
and the movement of the lower punch is so timed that it will recede, as the die
is charged and tend to draw the material into the die.
The several parts of the machine are adjusted as follows:-The plunger D is
adjusted by means of the screw threaded section D¹ which enters a screw threaded
opening in the plunger D, and by turning the plunger it can be raised and lowered
and set in the adjusted position by a lock nut. This adjustment is for the purpose
of regulating the thickness of the tablet to be formed.
There are two adjustments of the lower plunger E, one for the amount of

page_text: material to be compressed, and the other to bring the lower punch up flush with the
surface of the table A3, so that the tablet can be discharged without breaking.
The stem is adjusted in the head e¹ for different quantities of material, and
is locked in the adjusted position by the sleeve e3 which is released prior to turning
the stem, and is again fastened after the stem is turned. The sleeve e³ is raised or
lowered so as to bring the top of the lower punch flush with the top of the table
or die when it is at its highest point, and after adjustment the sleeve is locked as
hereinbefore described.
It will thus be seen that the several parts can be adjusted to make a tablet having
the proper quantity of powdered material, and can make it of a given size by simply
adjusting the several parts.
The die in this instance, is simply a hard metal cylinder, having an opening
of the same diameter throughout, and it can be readily set in the opening in the
table, and when one face is worn, it can be reversed thus increasing the durability
of the die.
The lever J for operating the plate I is preferably made in two sections, as clearly
illustrated in Figure 2, the lower section j¹ being made in one piece with the pivot
shaft, and the section is coupled to this pivoted shaft by a suitable set screw, so
that one arm of the lever can be adjusted with respect to the other; and the exten-
sion on the arm is made adjustable and removable, so that it can be replaced
when necessary, and can be adjusted when worn.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-
--
If the punches are set so that the die will receive the given amount of material,
the punches will compress this material into a tablet, and the lower punch will rise
sufficiently to permit of the tablet being discharged; the hopper is then filled with
dry material which will flow through the flexible tube into the opening in the
plate I, and when the plate reaches a position over the die, the lower punch will
recede and the material will flow into the die, the receding of the punch also
tending to draw the material into the die.
When the plate moves to one side of the opening in the die, the lower punch is
in its lowest position, so that its head will rest upon the base of the machine.
The upper punch will be forced down into the die, and will compress the material
therein to the proper degree, making a tablet of a given thickness and density.
The cam C¹ for lifting the lower punch, and the eccentric C are so timed that
the lower punch will follow the upper punch shortly after it commences to with-
draw from the die, and the lower punch will continue its motion until it is flush
with the surface of the table, and when it has reached this point, the plate I moves
forward across the die removing the formed tablet from the punch and die and
discharging it into the spout or chute K at the side and the die will be again
charged with fresh material.
As shewn by the form of the cam Figure 10, the sliding plate I is agitated
when the discharge opening therein is over the die, so that the material will feed
regularly from the hopper, and by this means separate agitators in the hopper or
in the passage from the hopper to the die are entirely dispensed with.
In constructing the machine the lower plunger is made a loose working fit in
the table A2, and the stem e² a very loose fit in the opening in the base of the
machine, but the punch is a tight working fit in the die, so that the plunger
accommodates itself to the punch and 'die. By this means the punch is not
strained and the machine is enabled to run much easier than heretofore, where the
0 plunger or carrier for the lower punch had always a close working fit.
The lower plunger is operated by a cam having a single groove with two operat-
ing surfaces, one at c and the other at c. By this construction movements are
obtained that are usually accomplished by two independent cams.
The parts can be readily adjusted without dismantling the machine. The die can
be removed by simply unscrewing the clamp screw k and another die substituted
therefor, and by turning the sleeve e³ on the head e¹, the lower punch can be

page_text: adjusted, and by turning the upper plunger D on the screw threaded section D¹,
the upper punch can be adjusted.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
---
1. In a machine for compressing powdered material into tablets the combination
of parts substantially as herein before described and illustrated by the acompany-
ing drawings.
2. In a machine for compressing powdered material into tablets, the combination
of a frame, a die, a lower plunger, an upper compressing..plunger, a vertically
movable rod mounted in the frame of the machine, an arm carried by said rod and
adjustable thereon, a cam for actuating the rod to raise the lower plunger to dis-
charge the compressed tablets and to depress the lower plunger so that the die can
receive material to be compressed, substantially as described.
3. In a machine for the purpose herein before described the combination of a lower
punch and an upper punch, a die, a cam having a single groove, with two cam faces,
means for connecting the cam to the lower punch, one face of the cam adapted to
retract the punch, and the other face adapted to move the punch forward to dis-
charge the tablet, substantially as herein before described.
4. In a machine for the purpose herein before described, the combination of a die,
an upper plunger, and a lower plunger made in three sections, consisting of a
head, stem, and a sleeve, the stem and sleeve being adjustable on the head, sub-
stantially as herein before described.
5. In a machine for the purpose herein before described the combination of a
die, a lower plunger having a head with an inner screw thread and an outer screw
thread, a retracting stem adapted to the inner screw thread, a split sleeve adapted
to the outer screw thread, and an adjustable collar against which the elevating
mechanism strikes, substantially as herein before described.
6. In a machine, for the purpose hereinbefore described the combination of a
split table, a die mounted therein, means for contracting the said table so as to hold
the die, a plunger adapted to slide in the table and having a punch extending into
the die, and a binding screw projecting through the split in the table, substantially
as herein before described.
7. In a machine for the purpose herein before described the combination of the
table, a die therein, a plunger having a loose working fit in its bearings, a punch
secured to the plunger and having a tight working fit in the die, substantially as
hereinbefore described.
8. In a machine for the purpose herein before described the combination of the
die, the lower plunger consisting of a split head having inner and outer screw
threads, a split sleeve adapted to the outer screw thread, a stem adapted to the
inner screw thread so that on tightening the sleeve it will tighten the head onto the
stem so that the stem and sleeve will be fixed to the head, substantially as herein-
before described.
9. In a machine for the purpose herein before described the combination of a die,
a feed plate, a grooved cani, a lever connecting the cam and feed plate so that the
feed plate will be either moved clear of the die or over the die, and projections in
the cam for agitating the feed plate when above the die, substantially as herein-
before described.
10. In a machine for the purpose hereinbefore described the combination of a
die, a lower plunger, a punch therein, a cam, a rod adapted to the cam, an arm on
the rod adapted to actuate the plunger, the said arm being adjustable on the rod,
and the plunger adjustable in respect to the arm, so as to take up for wear, sub-
stantially as hereinbefore described.
11. In a machine for the purpose hereinbefore described the combination of a
driving shaft, a fixed die, a movable upper plunger and a movable lower plunger,
a vertically movable operating rod for the plunger, a frame having bearings for

page_text: the shaft, the upper and lower plungers, and the operating rod, and a table in which
the die is clamped, an eccentric on the shaft connected to the upper compressing
plunger, a can on the shaft operating the vertically movable rod, means for adjust-
ing the upper plunger and means for adjusting the lower plunger, the whole
combined and operated substantially as herein before described.
Dated this 24th day of June 1898
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.