AN IMPROVED PACKING MACHINE, CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR MEASURING GRANULAR, POWDERED, OR OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES AND SMALL ARTICLES, AND FOR PUTTING UP THE SAME IN BOXES, BAGS, AND OTHER RECEPTACLES
Year: 1879

page_text: "
LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
'AN IMPROVED PACKING MACHINE, CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR MEASURING
GRANULAR, POWDERED, OR OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES AND SMALL ARTICLES,
AND FOR PUTTING UP THE SAME IN BOXES, BAGS, AND OTHER RECEPTACLES."
A communication from abroad by the Cleveland Paper Box Machine Company
(Incorporated), of Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lako at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th January 1879.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. AN IMPROVED PACKING MACHINE, CHIEFLY
DESIGNED FOR MEASURING GRANULAR, POWDERED, OR OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES
AND SMALL ARTICLES, AND FOR PUTTING UP THE SAME IN BOXES, BAGS, AND
OTHER RECEPTACLES." [A communication from abroad by the Cleveland Paper
Box Machine Company (Incorporated), of Cleveland, Ohio, United States of
America.]
"
This Invention relates to an improved machine by means of which seeds, starch,
sugar, tea, coffee, cocoa, rice, salt, dried yeast, oatmeal, or any similar materials or
substances, and small articles may be expeditiously measured and neatly "put up
or packed in any desirable quantities into boxes, bags, or other receptacles or
coverings in which such materials, substances, or articles are intended to be sold to
the public.
In carrying the said Invention into practice, I construct a machine as follows,
that is to say -I provide a table which supports the operative parts of the said
machine. Upon this table I place and securely fasten a case which extends upward,
the upper portion thereof being made to form a hopper within which the material
or substance to be packed is first received. The said case may be made of wood,
metal, or other suitable material, and either square, rectangular, or of any other
shape in transverse section. Within this case, and about midway of its length, I
place a frame in which there are one or more partitions which form spaces, all the
Paine fid 1

page_text: Raid spaces being of equal capacity. Below this divided frame there is another
frame which is also provided with partitions forming spaces exactly corresponding
at their upper surface with those in the upper frame, but the partitions in the
lower frame are inclined so as to form spouts or shoots to convey the material
passing through them into boxes or other receptacles as hereinafter described.
Immediately above the said upper frame I provide a sliding or cut-off plate which
is furnished with a handle projecting outside the said upright case, and by means of
which the said plate may be caused to cover up the said spaces, thus proventing the
entry therein of any materials which may be in the hopper, or to uncover the same,
and thus allow the said materials to enter freely. A similar sliding plate is pro-
vided above the lower frame, that is to say, it lios between the bottom of the upper
frame and the top of the lower frame, and this plate is operated to cover and
uncover the spaces or divisions in the lower frame in precisely the same manner as
above described in regard to the upper frame. Each space or division in the said
upper frame is provided with a moveable partition which is operated by set scrows
or otherwise, so that the capacity of the said spaces or divisions may be conveniently
altered so as to pack smaller or larger quantities as desired. The said frames may
have a single row of divisions or spaces, or any convenient number of the same side
by side. An opening is made in the aforesaid table immediately beneath and
communicating with the said case; a rod or bar passes through this opening, and
has attached to its upper end a plate or piece designed to support a tray containing
the boxes, bags, or other receptacles, into which the materials or substances are to
be packed. The lower end of this rod is attached to a lever which is operated by
the foot of the attendant for the purpose of raising the plate and the tray upon the
same at the moment when the boxes or other receptacles are to receive the substance
or materials to be packed therein.
A shaft or spindle is provided under the table in suitable bearings, and upon this
shaft there are two wheels having teeth or projections upon their periphery, which
teeth or projections are designed to come in contact with the lower part of rods or
bars provided to slide up and down beneath the aforesaid plate and the tray
thereon. As the shaft rotates the said wheels revolve, and the projections thereon
raise the said rods or bars, the latter falling by gravity into the spaces between the
projections when the latter are not in contact with them. A rapid vibratory
motion is thus given to the said tray, which motion serves to shake down and pack
tightly the materials or substance in the boxes, bags, or other receptacles. If found
desirable, the said vibratory motion may be obtained by means of cranks or other
devices, instead of the particular mechanism above described.
The said shaft is provided with a pulley whereby it may be driven by any
suitable or convenient power, or it may be furnished with a crank and be driven
by hand or otherwise.
The said tray is constructed in a peculiar manner in order to facilitate the
operation, that is to say, it is made with hinged sides which fold up or down in
order that the boxes, bags, or other receptacles may be securely held theroby when
they are being filled, and may be removed therefrom readily and expeditiously
when packed. The operation of the machine is as follows, that is to say :-Tho
material or substance to be packed is placed in the hopper, the aforesaid sliding
plates covering the said frames; then the upper sliding plate being drawn out, the
material immediately fills the spaces in the upper frame; the upper sliding plate is
thon caused to cover the upper frame, and no more of the material can enter; the
lower slide is now withdrawn, and the material in the upper frame passes through
the spaces or shoots in the lower frame into the boxes, bags, or other receptacles in
the tray beneath the same, the latter having been previously brought up by pressure
on the lever into such a position, that a portion of each spout or shoot enters one of
the boxes, bags, or other receptacles. It will be seen that the quantity of material
is measured, and that an equal quantity passes into each box, bag, or other re-
ceptacle. During the operation of filling, the aforesaid rods or bars work rapidly

page_text: and cause the tray to vibrate, so that the material being packed is well shaken
down in each package.
I may also provide a frame made to slide under the tray when the latter is
elevated upon the aforesaid plate, the said frame being for the purpose of keeping
the tray and boxes or other receptacles thereon in the proper position with regard
to the spouts, and for communicating the vibratory motion to the tray at such
times as the plate may be dropped for a moment; the vibratory motion given to
the tray thus supported will facilitate the passage through the spouts of the
materials or substances to be packed, this arrangement being especially advan-
tageous if the said materials should be at all damp.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
July 1879.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED PACKING MACHINE, CHIEFLY
DESIGNED FOR MEASURING GRANULAR, POWDERED, OR OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES
AND SMALL ARTICLES, AND FOR PUTTING UP THE SAME IN BOXES, BAGS, AND
OTHER RECEPTACLES." A communication from abroad by the Cleveland Paper Box
Machine Company (Incorporated), of Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America.
This Invention relates to an improved machine, by means of which seed, starch,
sugar, tea, coffee, cocoa, rice, salt, dried yeast, oatmeal, and any similar materials or
substances may be expeditiously measured, and neatly put up or packed in any
desirable quantities into boxes, bags, or other receptacles or coverings in which such
materials or substances are intended to be sold.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I construct a machine as shown in
the accompanying Drawing, in which,
Figure 1 is a plan, and Figure 2 a front elevation of a machino embodying this
Invention.
Figure 3 is a section in a horizontal plane taken between two levers hereinafter
described.
Figure 4 is a central section in a vertical ṛ..ane, and representing boxes resting
upon stays, hereinafter described, in position to be filled.
Figure 5 is a partial sectional view, representing the said stays withdrawn from
beneath the boxes, and the boxes ready to be lowered from their position to be
subsequently withdrawn.
Figure 6 represents one of the cut-off plates hereinafter described.
Figure 7 shews a tray hereinafter described, and explains the manner in which
the tray may be readily opened at both sides for the removal of tho filled boxes or
packages.
A is a suitable frame, and B a drawer, which is fitted to slide into the frame, and
which serves to hold the measuring mechanism; C is a hopper, within which the
material to be packed into boxes or packages is placed.
D, D, are spaces or measures formed preferably in a separate removable frame D¹;
E is the upper and E¹ the lower cut off plates; they are each provided with a
central opening e, as shown in Figure 6, for a purpose hereinafter explained; G, G,
are the boxes or packages held in the tray G; this tray is provided preferably
with dropping doors G³ at both sides so that the boxes may be readily introduced
or removed.
His a platform beneath the tray for supporting the same; H¹ is a standard pro-
jecting below, and connected with a foot-lever H, by which the platform H may
be lifted; I, I, are stays, which may be drawn out or thrust in at pleasure; these
stays are for the purpose of supporting the boxes or packages after they have been
lifted to the position shown in Figures 4 and 5. These stays I, I, when in position
beneath the tray G₁ rest on the loose bearings J, which in turn rest upon the
agitating shaft or wheels J¹, driven by any suitable mechanism, as, for instance, the
pulley J E, E, aro levers for operating the cut-offs E, E¹.
The operation of this apparatus is as follows, that is to say-The material is
introduced into the hopper C; the upper cut-off plate E is pushed in so that its
opening e will rest in the division between the measures or spaces D, and so as to
close the passago-way from above into these incasures, the lower cut-off plato E'
being in a similar position. The operator then withdraws the upper cut-off plate E,

page_text: so that the material can fall through the opening e into one set of measures D, and at
the same time through the passage-way into the other row of measures D. As this
material falls into these measures any air that may be contained therein escapos
readily through the openings K into the chambers K', and out at the sides through
the orifices K. The measures having been thus filled the upper plate E is pushed
back to cut off the passage of the material from the hopper; the lower cut off or
slide is then drawn out, and the material is permitted to fall down through the
passages F into the boxes G, which have been previously put within the tray G¹,
and lifted up into position beneath the spouts F by the lever H2. If it is necessary
to shake the packages to settle the material the stays I are drawn in beneath it by
means of the rod 1'; the tray then rests indirectly upon the loose supports J, the
agitators J' being then set in motion, as indicated by the arrow in Figures 4 and 5 ;
the packages are thus well shaken to any desired extent. The stays I may then be
withdrawn, and the tray lowered by removing the foot. from the lever H.
This
operation brings the tray directly upon the bearings J, and if necessary they may
be again shaken by the agitators J. The said tray is then removed, the box or
package taken from it, and the operation repeated.
In billing the measures D it is generally the case that some of them will fill from
the hopper more rapidly than others, so that in the same length of time one measure
will receive more material than others. To obviate this difficulty the measures D
are limited at one side by the plates d, which are made adjustable in or out by
means of set screws or other devices; thus by decreasing the area of the top of the
measure the device can be so regulated that the same quantity of material will drop
into the different measures in the same length of time, so that the boxes beneath
may have the same amount of material in each of them.
As herein before stated, it is preferable that the measures D should be located in
a removable drawer D', so that they may be readily moved out from the machine
to be cleaned and repaired, or may be regulated by the set-screws d¹ and the plate d.
The spouts or chutes F are likewise preferably set in a frame that may be drawn
out, so that they may be readily accessible for the purpose of cleaning or otherwise.
A suitable door A¹ is provided to permit ready access to the regulating mechanism
when desired.
It is not absolutely necessary that the measuring device, hopper, chutes, and other
parts should be made removable. The machine may be made with these parts fixed
thereon.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I claim in a machine or apparatus for filling boxes, packages, or other
like receptacles,―
First. The combination of parts comprising the hopper, the series of measures and
intermediato cut-off for regulating the supply to the measures, the chutes, placed
below the measures, and the air-passage located between the two series of measures,
substantially as and for the purposes herein before set forth.
Second. The shaking or agitating device for settling the material in the boxes or
packages, substantially as set forth.
Third. The tray provided with dropping doors, substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
Fourth. The combination of parts comprising the measuring device, the spouts,
the platform, and the foot-lever for lifting the boxes up to the said spouts, substan-
tially as set forth.
Fifth. The combination with the tray of the stays and agitating device, substan-
tially as and for the purposes set forth.
Sixth. The combination with the hopper, cut off plates, and passage F of the
adjustable measures, the platform and tray, the loose bearings, the agitating device
and the adjustable stays, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Seventh. Two or more measures adapted to be individually or collectively adjusted

page_text: in such a manner as to regulate the weight or amount of material to be placed in
the boxes or packages, substantially in the manner set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
IDM DANT T