Improvements in Presses for Producing Gunpowder Cake.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Oct., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 8th July, 1891-Accepted, 8th Aug., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Presses for Producing Gunpowder Cake.
We, JOSEPH SAMUEL TAYLOR and STEPHEN WILLIAM CHALLEN, both of
Derwent Foundry Constitution Hill, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention has reference principally to the manner in which we provide for
the manufacture of gunpowder cake in hydraulic presses, whereby a greater
uniformity of density is obtained in such cakes; and greater precision, and security
of manufacture is ensured, than is at present possible with the ordinary systems
employed for compressing such cakes of gunpowder.
In carrying our invention into effect we construct our hydraulic press with a
ram, cylinder, head and base arranged in the usual ordinary manner; but we employ
our special arrangement of former. or head cake compressor, for the purpose of
permitting the more ready manipulation and filling of the platten or ram cake
mould. We carry the head or top former within guides which we secure to the
underside of the head of the press, and we allow these guides to project beyond the
side of the press head: suitable supporting brackets being provided for this purpose.
Upon the top former which we place within the guides we place or secure one or
more nuts into which a fixed screw engages; the screw being carried upon the end
of the projecting guides, and upon brackets attached to the press head, and having
a handle, wheel, or ordinary cranked lever to make the screw, upon one or both of
its ends.
By this arrangement of sliding former we are enabled to have greater freedom of
access to the gunpowder, and to construct the press with a shorter stroke of ram
than would be required if the sliding former was not employed.
We form the slide bars either as V surfaces or plain flanged or other surfaces
working into corresponding surfaces provided upon the former. And we sometimes
attach the actuating screw to the former carriage, and secure the nut or nuts to the
manipulating handle or handles.
Another improvement we introduce upon the platten and press bars for the
purpose of giving a slight movement to the platten or powder cake box, at the
commencement of the stroke of the press. By this supplementary movement or
rise of the cake box, the top former is caused to enter the lower cake box before
the actual pressure from the ram is communicated to the powder within the box.
and thus no escape or loss of the powder from the box occurs during the process of
pressing, seeing that the upper surface of the powder is covered by the top former
which fits accurately within the lower box.
One arrangement which we employ for giving this supplementary movement to
the box or platen we will now describe :-
-
Upon the press bars or distance pillars we form or secure collars above and below
the guiding bosses or bearings of the platten frame which embrace the bars.
Within the bosses or guiding bearings we fix gun metal linings or ordinary brasses,
which we secure in the ordinary manner; and we place a cap or cover with studs
and nuts, over the bearings for convenience of attachment to the bars.
Upon the upper and lower surfaces of the portion of the bars, upon which the
platten frame slides, we sometimes attach gun metal faces or washers against which
the bearings of the guides may rest. To prevent too great a withdrawal and to
keep the former in correct central position, we sometimes attach adjustable stops,
to the frame slides, having lock nuts to keep them from working loose.
We do not limit the application of our invention to any peculiar form of
hydraulic press used for the purpose of pressing gunpowder into cake, but we adopt

page_text: the same system of a sliding top former and a supplementary movement of the
bottom frame or platten, to any peculiar or special form of hydraulic press employed
for the same purpose, with like advantageous results as herein before set forth when
employed upon an ordinary hydraulic press.
Dated this 8th day of October 1890.
MARKS & CLERK,
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents for Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Presses for Producing Gunpowder Cake.
We, JOSEPH SAMUEL TAYLOR, and STEPHEN WILLIAM CHALLEN, both of
Derwent Foundry, Constitution Hill, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
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:-
Our invention has reference principally to the manner in which we provide for
the manufacture of gunpowder cake in hydraulic presses, whereby a greater uniformity
of density is obtained in such cakes; and greater precision and security of
manufacture is ensured, than is at present possible with the ordinary systems
employed for compressing such cakes of gunpowder.
In carrying our invention into effect we construct our hydraulic press as illus-
trated in the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 is a front elevation,
Figure 2 a side elevation, and
Figure 3 a plan.
We arrange the ram A, cylinder B, head C, and base B', in the usual ordinary
manner, but we employ our special arrangement of former, or head cake com-
pressor D. for the purpose of permitting the more ready manipulation and filling
of the platten or ram cake mould E. We carry the head or top former within
guides F, F which we secure to the underside of the head of the press, and we
allow these guides to project beyond the side of the press head; suitable supporting
brackets F, F being provided for this purpose. Upon the top former D which we
place within the guides we place or secure one or more nuts G into which a screw H
engages; the screw being carried upon the end of the projecting guides, and upon
brackets attached to the press head, and having a handle K, wheel K', or ordinary
cranked lever to rotate the screw, upon one or both of its ends.
By this arrangement of sliding former we are enabled to have greater freedom of
access to the gunpowder and to construct the press with a shorter stroke of ram
than would be required if the sliding former was not employed.
We form the slide bars F2, F³ either as V surfaces or plain flanged or other
surfaces working into corresponding surfaces provided upon the former. And we
sometimes attach the actuating screw to the former carriage, and secure the nut or
nuts to the manipulating handle or handles.
Another improvement we introduce upon the platten bosses or bearings e, e¹, e², e
and the press bars L, L¹, L², 13 for the purpose of permitting a slight movement
to be given the platten or powder cake box at the commencement of the stroke of
the press ram. By this supplementary movement or rise of the cake box, or
platten mould, the top former is caused to enter the lower cake box before the
actual pressure from the ram is communicated to the powder within the box, and
thus no escape or loss of the powder from the box occurs during the process of
pressing, seeing that the upper surface of the powder is covered by the top former
which fits accurately within the lower box.
One arrangement which we employ for giving this supplementary movement to the
box or platten we will now describe
:-
Upon the press bars or distance pillars L, L, L, L³ we form or secure collars 1.

page_text: above and below the guiding bosses or bearings e of the platten franc E which
embrace the bars. Within the bosses or guiding bearings e we fix gun metal linings
or ordinary brasses, which we secure in the ordinary manner, and we place a cap or
cover with studs and nuts, over the bearings for convenience of attachment to
the bars. Upon the upper and lower surfaces of the portion of the bars upon which
the platten frame slides, we sometimes attach gun metal faces or washers against
which the bearings of the guides may rest.
To prevent too great a withdrawal and to keep the former in correct central
position we sometimes attach adjustable stops to the frame slides, having lock nuts
to keep them from working loose.
When fixing our improved press in building; where mechanical power is already
working or shafting fitted, we sometimes arrange pulleys upon the end of the
withdrawal screw spindle H so that the former D may be more expeditiously moved
in and out as the open or crossed belts are shifted on to the fast or driving pulley,
or as the clutch for the same is operated. Similarly where large press boxes and
heavy presses are employed we apply to our drawback or movable formers, hydraulic
cylinders with chains to draw the former in and out, arranged in any ordinary
manner so that the hydraulic pressure may cause a ram to force out the former
from the one side and a similar ram force it back from the opposite side. Or we
arrange a short stroke ram with ordinary multiple pulleys and chain or with a rack
and pinion to give motion to a chain winding drum for pulling the former in one
direction, while a similar arrangement of cylinder rack and pinion pulls it back in
the opposite direction.
We do not limit the application of our invention to any peculiar form of hydraulic
press used for the purpose of pressing gunpowder into cake, but we adopt the same
system of a sliding top former and a supplementary movement of the bottom frame
or platten, to any peculiar or special forin of hydraulic press employed for the same
purpose with like advantageous results as hereinbefore set forth when employed
upon an ordinary hydraulic press.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
(1) The construction of hydraulic presses for compressing gunpowder, having
formers or compressing tools or blocks, capable of being moved in and out upon a
slide or slides away from the centre of the press die or box substantially as and for
the purposes hereinbefore set forth.
(2) The construction of hydraulic presses for compressing gunpowder having
the pillars or guide bars such as L arranged with collars or rings for permitting
the platten or table such as E to rise slightly between them, substantially as and
for the purposes hereinbefore described and as illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
(3) The combination and arrangement of hydraulic presses for producing gun-
powder cake whereby the powder box platten or frame has given to it a supple-
mentary movement and whereby the top former or compressor is capable of sliding
in and out, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described and as set
forth in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 7th day of July 1891.
MARKS & CLERK,
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents for Applicants.