CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES
Year: 1860

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Marc Antoine François Mennons
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th March 1860.-A communication from Léopold Autran, residing
at Milan, in the Kingdom of Piedmont.
I, MARC ANTOINE FRANÇOIS MENNONS, of the British and Foreign Patent
Offices, 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES," to be as follows:-
The main object of the Invention is to replace by a simple and com-
paratively inexpensive cutting process the moulding and dipping operations at
present adopted in the manufacture of candles. On a wooden or metallic
frame of suitable form and dimensions is fixed horizontally a square plate of
cast iron, the thickness of which may vary from one-half to two inches. Near
and parallel to each edge of this plate is formed a groove or channel, the depth
of which is proportioned to the thickness of the metal. In the centre space
between the four channels are formed, in equal ranges, and touching each
other, a number of conical cells corresponding with the heads of the candles,
and tapering downwards till their openings below the plate are just sufficient
to admit the wicks. The lozenged spaces left between each range of these
cells are also pierced through, the apertures thus formed serving as sockets to
an equal number of square upright tubes of thin tinned metal, secured in
position by wedges from below. A sheet of metal pierced with holes corres-
ponding with those of the plate above described is mounted horizontally under
the latter, and slides in a set of grooves or brackets. The object of this slide

page_text: piece is to close up the apertures of the sole plate after the passage of the
wicks, so as to prevent the leakage of the melted matter when poured in from
above, as hereafter described. On a set of cross bars underneath are mounted
a number of bobbins carrying the wicks, the tension of which is regulated by
counterpoises or other suitable means. In the four channels of the pierced
plate are placed four upright squares of thin tinned metal, secured at the
corners by pins or brackets, so as to form an open case, the depth of which is
about equal to the length of the candles to be produced. The whole being
secured, the free ends of the wicks wound on the bobbins below the framing are
passed through the cellular apertures of the sole plate, and being drawn upwards
are secured to a metallic trellis or series of jointed rods placed on the top of the
case, care being taken to have the points of connection exactly opposite the
entry apertures below, so as to maintain the perpendicularity of the wicks.
The latter are then fixed underneath, and the entry apertures of the sole plate
closed up by a slight forward movement of the pierced slide piece, after which
the case is filled with the fused fatty matter, and covered with a moveable lid.
When the mass is sufficiently set the slide piece is withdrawn, so as again to
free the wicks, and the cube of solidified matter is taken up with the four
sides of the case, to which it adheres (by means of a windlass or other suitable,
mechanism), leaving behind it the pierced sole plate with the upright tubes,
and unrolling from the bobbins, in its upward movement, a new supply of wick.
When raised to a sufficient height a second case is formed below by the
addition of a second series of four metallic squares, each provided with
brackets, on which is lowered the suspended mass with its casing.. The wicks
are then stretched in the under case by reversing the bobbins, and are fixed by
the slide piece. The fused matter is then poured in. To prevent the admission
of air a set of wooden or metallic bands are fitted on the intervals between the
superposed cases, and the mass is left to cool as before, after which the cubes
are separated by cutting the wicks. The upper one is then laid aside, while
the second is in its turn raised sufficiently to allow a new case to be formed
below, and so on as long as required.
The apparatus by means of which the cubes of fatty matter thus prepared
are cut into candles is composed of a set of tinned metallic tubes equal in
number to the cells of the sole plate before described, and varying in length and
calibre according to the size of candles required. These tubes are arranged
in a square sheaf bound by iron bands. Their cutting edges are slightly curved
inwards, so that the inner diameters may be somewhat superior to those of the
entry, and consequently to that of the candles produced. The sheaf thus
formed, which, as is well understood, corresponds in dimensions and in the

page_text: position of the tubes with the dimensions of the cube of fatty matter, and the
position of the wicks with which it is provided, as above, is placed on the false
bottom of an open iron coffer, into which it fits exactly. A cube of the fatty
matter is then taken from its casing and placed in the upper section of this
coffer on a sliding tray, by which it is separated for the moment from the
tubular cutters below. The doors of the coffer are then closed, and the whole
is passed into a press formed of a plunger mounted between four standards,
and worked by a rack and set of bevel wheels, the lower surface of the plunger
fitting exactly in the open top of the coffer, and consequently in contact with
the cube of fatty matter. The sliding tray being withdrawn, and the bevel
wheels set in motion, the plunger in its descent presses the fatty matter on the
cutting edges of the tubes below (the centre of each of which, as will be
remembered, corresponds exactly with the position of each wick), so that at
the end of the course of the plunger a complete candle is left in each tube.
The false bottom of the coffer being then withdrawn, the candles fall into a
box placed below, leaving the apparatus ready for a second opération.
It is scarcely necessary to observe that the mechanical arrangements above
described may be considerably modified according to the requirements of the
different branches of candle manufacture. The upright tubes, for instance,
fixed between the cells of the sole plate, and serving to displace the excess of
fatty matter which would otherwise offer resistance to the cutting apparatus
may be replaced by other arrangements producing the same effect, and may,
even in some cases, be entirely suppressed. The cutting tubes instead of being
equal in length to the candles may be reduced to a simple section of trifling
depth, or may be replaced by a series of cylinders with spiral grooves on the
outer surface, and each headed by a horizontal cog wheel receiving a circular
movement from any suitable mechanism. In the rotation of these cylinders
the waste shreds of fatty matter are carried to the surface of the mass by the
spiral grooves while the candle is formed within, as in the arrangement above
described.
In short, the substitution of a cutting process to the moulding and dipping
operations at present in general use forms, as before stated, the principal
feature of the Invention, independent of all question of mechanical details.