New or Improved Machinery or Apparatus for Crushing and Blocking or Moulding Toilet Soap.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Mar., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 13th Oct., 1890-Accepted, 20th Dec., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Machinery or Apparatus for Crushing and Blocking
or Moulding Toilet Soap.
We, AUGUSTE and ADOLPHE BEYER, of 16 and 18, Rue de Lorraine, Paris,
in the Republic of France, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to new or improved machinery or apparatus for crushing,
and blocking or moulding, toilet soap.
Its chief features are:-
1. Combining in one machine both the crushing, and blocking or moulding
apparatus, in such manner that they can be worked independently of one another,
or simultaneously, as desired.
2. An improved method of mounting the crushing rollers or cylinders upon their
axes.
3. An improved arrangement and construction of adjustable scraper, for trans-
ferring the soap from the rollers of the crushing apparatus to the blocking or
moulding apparatus, or back to the crushing apparatus.
4. An improved arrangement for regulating the distance between the crushing
rollers.
The crushing apparatus consists of four rollers or cylinders of granite, slipped
onto steel spindles having screwed ends, and held in place upon such spindles,
(which have been previously lengthened by heating,) by means of elastic discs,
screwed onto the said screwed ends of the spindles. As the spindles cool and con-
tract, these elastic discs will grip the granite cylinders tightly. The cylinders are
disposed parallel to one another, two horizontally, and two ascending obliquely,
their dimensions are progressive, and their velocities differential. A sliding hopper
surmounts the horizontal cylinders, and the soap is fed through such hopper and.
carried forward by the differential velocities and progressive dimensions of the
cylinders, until it reaches the uppermost of the obliquely disposed cylinders, when
it either falls again into the same hopper, and again undergoes the crushing operation,
or is caused to fall into the hopper of the blocking or moulding apparatus.
The scrapers employed for detaching the soap from the uppermost cylinder, (at
the same time disintegrating it,) and causing it to fall into the hopper of the
blocking or moulding apparatus below, or back into the hopper of the crushing
apparatus, are constructed of tempered steel, and formed with small teeth, set
obliquely or at an angle to one another, which imparts flexibility thereto, and leaves
between them a little overlapping. The scrapers pivot on centres secured to the
framing of the machine, and are adjusted against their cylinder by regulating
screws.
The adjustment of the before mentioned oblique cylinders towards or from one
another, is effected by means of a single adjusting screw made in two parts, its
threaded portions engaging with the bearings of each cylinder. The spindle of
this screw takes its bearings at the top and bottom of the framing supporting the
oblique cylinders.
The blocking or moulding apparatus consists of an Archimedean screw, revolving
and fitting closely within a cylinder or chamber of parabolic form. This screw
carries the soap forwards to, and forces it through, a screen, thus extracting the
water from the soap, the soap then passes through a jacketted chamber, (the space
between the chamber and the jacket being filled with heated water,) and is blocked
or moulded by a cutting plate of the desired section, which is sharp on its inner
face, and can be removed and replaced as required.

page_text: The axis of the Archimedean screw revolves on a centre of tempered steel dipping
into oil; the driving shaft, which transmits motion to this screw by worm gear, also
revolves upon a centre.
The said driving shaft also transmits motion to the crushing cylinders by means
of gearing, and carries three driving pulleys, to either of which the single driving
strap employed may be shifted by disengaging gear, one of these pulleys is an idler,
and of the remaining two, one governs the blocking or moulding apparatus only, and
the other both the blocking or moulding and crushing apparatus simultaneously, the
pulleys, shaft and driving gear being so arranged as to effect this result.
In the case of cleaning or changing the cutter, the cylinder or chamber of the
blocking machine, (which is mounted upon a pivotted ratcheted fork,) is swung
forwards by means of a hand wheel acting upon such fork, after unscrewing the
finger screws which maintain such cylinder in its place.
Dated this 29th day of March 1890.
AUGUSTE BEYER.
ADOLPHE BEYER.
By E. P. Alexander & Son, Fels. Inst. P.A.,
Filing Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Machinery or Apparatus for Crushing and Blocking
or Moulding Toilet Soap.
We, AUGUSTE and ADOLPHE BEYER, of 16 and 18, Rue de Lorraine, Paris,
in the Republic of France, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
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 machinery or apparatus for crushing, and compressing,
or blocking or moulding, toilet soap.
One of the improvements consists in combining together in one machine, a crushing
apparatus, and an apparatus for compressing or blocking or moulding the mass of
soap this combination either permitting each apparatus to be worked independently
of the other, or of their being made to work together as preferred, the two apparatus
thus connected forming a single machine.
Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings shew this machine in elevation and part longitudinal
transverse section. The crushing apparatus consists as usual of four granite
cylinders A, B, C and D, disposed in a suitable frame. The two horizontal
cylinders A and B are surmounted by a hopper of wood or metal having two com-
partments E El separated by a moveable bottom into which the soap is fed and
carried forward by the differential velocity and progressive dimensions of the
crushing cylinder A, B, C, D. The soap thus passes from one cylinder to the
other and finally reaches the top cylinder D, where it meets a small scraper situate
at S' or S2, which causes it either to fall back again into the compartment E of the
hopper of the crusher to undergo a fresh crushing operation, or to pass into the
hopper F of the blocking or moulding apparatus.
The blocking or moulding apparatus consists as usual of an Archimedean screw G
turning within a casing G¹ of parabolic form, as shewn in the drawings; the screw G
impels the mass of soap forwards towards a grating g, through which the mass is
compressed, the said mass thus abandoning the air which it contains, such air
passing backwards, whilst the soap enters an opening or mouth piece H, (consisting
of a double casing filled with water heated by gas or otherwise,) in order to be
blocked or moulded by means of a cutter I, of desired section, which is sharp upon
its inner face and can be changed as desired. The cock h permits the water con-
tained within the double casing to be drawn off. For cleaning purposes, or for
changing the tints of the soap, the casing G¹, which is carried by a ratcheted
fork N pivotted at N', is swung forwards; furthermore, to remove the soap which

page_text: remains within the opening or mouth piece H, an end piece I¹ is fitted to this mouth
piece, which receives a screw piston i, the pressure of which removes the mass from
the walls of the mouth piece H, (see Figure 7). The shaft J of the Archimedean
screw G turns and is supported upon a centre point of tempered steel, which con-
stantly dips into oil. The driving shaft K, which transmits movement to it by
means of the helicoidal wheels k k¹ with perpendicular motion, is also furnished with
a centre point.
According to another of the improvements, the entire crushing and blocking or
moulding machine is driven from the single shaft K, which carries a fixed pulley P,
and two loose pulleys P1 and P². A single driving belt is passed as desired, by
means of an ordinary fork, around any one of these three pulleys. The pulley P
does not transmit motion to either the crushing or blocking or moulding apparatus.
The fixed pulley P serves to work the blocking or moulding apparatus only. The
pulley P2 works the crushing apparatus only, by means of its pinion L which
engages with the wheel L' fixed on the axle of the crushing cylinder B. This
pulley P2 in addition serves to simultaneously work both the crushing and blocking
or moulding apparatus, that is to say the entire machine, by engaging with the
sleeve M so as to put in motion the shaft K at the same time as the cylinder B.
A further improvement consists in a new method of mounting the crushing
cylinders A, B, C, D, upon their respective axes. Fig. 2 of the drawings shows
this novel mounting by means of a longitudinal section of the uppermost cylinder D.
To effect this mounting, the two extremities of the steel axle which carries each
granite cylinder are provided with screw threads, and upon each of these threaded
extremities is secured a hollow and elastic disc D'. Having previously expanded
the axle longitudinally by heating, the elastic discs D¹ are firmly screwed against the
granite cylinder, as the axle cools again it contracts, draws the discs D₁ against
the granite cylinder, and greatly increases the solidity of the mounting.
A further improvement consists in a new method of regulating the separation and
approach towards one another of the obliquely disposed crushing cylinders B, C, D,
(see Figs. 1, 2 & 3). For this purpose, a rod or spindle made in two parts QQ is
disposed at each extremity of the said cylinders. The two lower spindles Q are
each provided with two screw threads, and each carry a wheel q, such wheels 9 being
actuated simultaneously by means of worms », carried by a horizontal spindle R.
The two upper spindles Q are prisoners in the plummer boxes D2 of the cylinder D,
they are terminated at their lower ends by internally threaded barrels gl, screwing
upon the threaded extremities of the lower spindles Q'. The spindles Q are
prisoners at their lower ends in the frame of the machine, they screw in the bearings C²
of the intermediate cylinder C, and in turning they cause the cylinders C and D
to mount or descend simultaneously, so as to vary the distance between the
cylinders B, C, without changing the distance between the said cylinders CD. In
fact the bearings C2 of the one part, and the spindles Q as well as the bearings D²
of the other part, undergo the same movement of ascent and descent, seeing that
the pitch of the two screw threads upon each spindle Q' is exactly the same, and
that the spindles Q are each prevented from turning by means of a ratchet wheel g³,
with which engages a spring pall 9. In order to vary the distance between the
cylinders C, D without changing the distance between the cylinders B, C, the spring
palls are disengaged from the ratchet wheels q³, and the upper spindles are
turned by means of hand wheels q² in the desired direction, so that their barrels q¹
will screw or unscrew upon the lower spindles Q' which remain immovable.
Another improvement consists in disposing upon each side of the cylinder D,
supports S', S, for receiving a scraper S. This scraper may thus be placed in such
a position as to cause the soap which it detaches from the cylinder D to fall either into
the hopper F, or into the hopper E, as before explained. The said scraper is further
constructed in a special manner; it is composed of a tempered steel blade S which
is toothed, as shewn in Figure 4, by means of oblique cuts, in such a manner as to
give flexibility to the teeth s of this blade, at the same time leaving between the teeth
a slight amount of overlapping. Fig. 5 shews in side view on a larger scale the

page_text: scraper S resting against the cylinder. The flexible teeth s of the blade S are as
shewn slightly longer than the rigid parts s', in order to effect the cutting away of
the soap in separate band or strips, in lieu of removing it in a single sheet as
usual.
The blade S is caused to bear against the cylinder D by means of the supports S¹
or S2, furnished with adjusting screws T, which have their bearing point upon the
supports of the framework. Fig. 6 shews in side view one of the supports S¹, S².
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I claim is
1. The combination in a single machine of a crushing apparatus with a blocking
or moulding apparatus working together or separately by means of a single driving
mechanism as hereinbefore described.
2. The novel method of mounting the crushing cylinders A, B, C, D, upon their
axles, (previously heated,) by means of elastic discs A, B, C, D', screwed upon
each extremity of these axles, and drawn towards one another by the recoiling of
the axles, as hereinbefore described.
3. The combination of the spindles Q Q¹ made in two superposed parts, with a
single horizontal driving shaft R, for the purpose of regulating the distance between
the crushing cylinders.
4. The new arrangement of scraper S, having flexible parts s, and more rigid
parts s¹, for dividing the soap into ribands, the said scraper being capable of being
placed upon different sides of the uppermost crushing cylinder D, according as it is
desired to submit the mass to a fresh crushing, or to direct it into the blocking or
moulding apparatus as hereinbefore described.
Dated the 19th love of Ostahau 1000
E. P. ALEXANDER & SON, Fels. Inst. P.A.,
19, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Filing Agents.