Improvements in Apparatus for Compressing Drugs and other Substances.
Year: 1887

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Compressing Drugs and other
Substances.
We, JAMES TINLIN of 21 Kamballa Road Clapham Junction in the County of
Surrey, Engineer, JULIAN JOSEPH PIATKOWSKI of 44 Spencer Street Goswell Road
in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, SILAS MAINEVILLE BURROUGHS and HENRY
SOLOMON WELLCOME of Snow Hill Buildings Holborn Viaduct in the City of London,
Manufacturing Importing and Exporting Chemists, 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 that class of apparatus which is employed for compressing
drugs or other substances, the compression taking place in holes or recesses formed in
a disc which is intermittently rotated in a horizontal plane. The invention consists in
an improved construction and arrangement of parts whereby the rate of production
of the compressed goods is materially increased over that of similar machines
previously known.
In order that the invention may be clearly understood reference is made to the
accompanying drawings which form part of this Specification and in which :-
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of the improved machine.
Fig. 2 represents a rear end elevation.
Fig. 3 represents a front end elevation.
Fig. 4 represents a plan view of Fig. 1.
Fig. 5 represents a plan view of the parts beneath the bed plate.
Fig. 6 represents on a slightly larger scale a plan view of the intermittently rotated
lisc, some of the surrounding parts being in section.
Fig. 7 represents on a slightly larger scale a side elevation partly in section of the
ower lever and excentric which operates the compressing plungers or dies.
Fig. 8 represents in side elevation the filler through which the goods to be
compressed are fed to the holes in the disc.
Fig. 9 is a plan view thereof, and―
Fig. 10 is an elevation partly in section of the guide for the top plunger or die.
In all the figures like letters of reference are used to indicate like parts of the
pparatus.

page_text: The substances to be compressed are placed in the hopper A, from whence they
pass to the filler A¹, and from there through the hole a to the holes a¹ in the
intermittently rotating disc B, the face of said disc being practically in contact with
the bottom of filler A', so as to prevent the substance from the filler flowing out
except when the hole a coincides with one of those a' in the disc, while beneath the
disc is a fixed ring or plate which prevents the substance falling through, said ring
only being perforated for the plungers hereinafter mentioned. The filler case is
loosely mounted in the supporting piece A2, which also carries a feed screw a² adapted
to engage with the toothed edge of A¹ and thereby adjust the filler so as to bring
hole a into or out of line or partially in or partially out of line with the travel of
holes a¹, depending upon whether it is desired to feed the substance rapidly, slowly, or
not at all.
When the filler has been set as desired it is held in position by set screw a³. The
stirrers are preferably mounted on separate shafts b, b₁, driven from shaft 2 which in
turn is operated through pulley B' mounted thereon and band 63 which is driven from
a step pulley B2 on the main driving shaft ( As both pulleys B1 B2, are stepped, the
speed of rotation of the stirrers may be varied as desired and the band ³ be adjusted
by setting movable plate which carries the pulleys 16, 1, over which the band runs.
A lever D. pivoted at d, is given a horizontal reciprocating motion from eccentrically
grooved drum E, with which the projecting end or pin d of lever D. engages. The
other end of said lever is connected by rod with slide F, which carries pivoted
pawl which is held against the periphery of disc B by the spring f. As the slide
plate F. moves forward pawl fengages with the notched edge of the disc and partially
rotates it while at the end of the stroke one end of pivoted "catch lever G. falls into a
notch and prevents further movement until slide F. has returned to the end of its
stroke and pawlf is ready to again partially rotate the disc by which time, pin f² has
come into contact with the outer end of lever G and having overcome the action of
spring g has withdrawn the catch. An additional catch formed by spring g² may be
used if desired. The compressing plungers or dies H. H' are operated by levers H
pivoted on H³, the outer ends being actuated by eccentrics on main driving shaft (.
The top lever H2 is represented as being operated by connecting rod H terminating
in two rings h, h, surrounding the two eccentrics. The lower lever H2 is operated by a
cam I, in which a stud on said lever engages. By placing cam 1 between the
eccentrics the top and bottom levers H2 are kept in the same plane and are practically
pivoted on the same post H³ which for convenience of construction may be made in
two parts screwed into the bed plate and together and held in position by lock nuts as
most clearly shown in Fig. 7, in which the levers H2 are represented as having a
stroke or leverage of two to one, while in the rest of the figures it is indicated as
being even. The apparatus can of course be constructed with any given amount of
leverage depending upon the pressure and length of stroke it is desired to obtain.
The plungers H. H₁ are attached to the levers by toggle joints and set
screws by which the distance apart of the plunger ends may be regulated. The
plungers travel, in guides H³ in which they are kept from rotating by feathers or
screws and are capable of slight adjustment by means of set screws h* * which
carry the packing ring . Eccentric operates upon one end of lever J¹ pivoted
at j, the other end of said lever being connected through rod J2, with plate J³, all side
motion of which is prevented by guide rod j. Plate J³ carries plungers j² j³ ³, all
being set in the line of travel of holes a¹ in the disc. It being understood that all the
parts are driven from the main shaft C, the operation of the machine may be described
as follows:-
The substance to be compressed passes from the hopper A to filler A¹, thence
through hole a into the hole a' on the disc immediately beneath. The plungers all
being up clear of the disc, slide plate F begins its forward movement, the pawl
carrying the disc around until the catch on lever G falls into one of the notches by
which time the hole just filled has come over plunger H' and under plunger H, which
are then closing and between the ends of which the substance is compressed and left
in the hole, the hole a' next in order at the same time being filled. As the plungers

page_text: withdraw, the slide F again advances and the operation is repeated until the
compressed substance comes under plunger which forces it from the hole into a
suitable box or receptacle placed beneath the disc and bed plate. At the next
downward stroke of plate J³, the plunger passes into the hole just emptied and
cleanses it and at the next stroke plunger greases or polishes the hole previous to
its being again filled. The top of disc B being also cleaned by passing under wiper K,
which may be made of any suitable material.
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
1st. In an apparatus for compressing drugs and other substances, a main actuating
shaft carrying eccentrics and an eccentrically grooved drum combined with the
pivoted levers for actuating the plungers and partially rotating the disc substantially
as set forth.
2nd. In an apparatus for compressing drugs and other substances, the arrangement
of the top and bottom plungers connected to levers pivoted on practically the same
rod and actuated from the same driving shaft substantially as described and illustrated
in the accompanying drawings.
3rd. In apparatus for compressing drugs and other substances, a filler consisting of
an adjustably mounted vessel containing rotating arms preferably mounted on separate
shafts and adapted to rotate in opposite directions substantially as set forth.
Dated this 25th day of November 1887.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London,
Agent for the Applicants.