IMPROVED HYDRAULIC PRESSES USED FOR SEED CRUSHING, OIL EXPRESSING, AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Downs, of Kingston-upon-Hull, in the
County of York, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED HYDRAULIC
PRESSES USED FOR SEED CRUSHING, OIL EXPRESSING, AND OTHER SIMILAR
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 11th February 1870, and dated the 24th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Downs at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th November 1869.
I, JAMES DOWNS, of Kingston-upon-Hull, in the County of York,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " Ix-
PROVED HYDRAULIC PRESSES USED FOR SEED CRUSHING, OIL EXPRESSING, AND OTHER
SIMILAR PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
I make a bottom for the whole press to rest on, and a cylinder ram
and columns of the usual construction. The press head is made in the
usual way with a projection beneath formed so as to suit the size and
shape of cake required. On one end of this projection or cake box I
place a moveable bar which may be either forced into its place or

page_text: loosened by being driven either backwards or forwards in the same
manner as a common cotter, a grove or slot hole being provided to
receive it, or it may be arranged to work on a pin joint on one end and
may drop into a slot or catch at the other end, and may open either
upwards or downwards, or it may be constructed with a joint or ordinary
hinge so arranged as to allow it to open horizontally. At the loose
end a joint catch may be fixed to the press head in such a manner
that when the bar is closed the catch will keep it firmly in its position.
A corrugated or other plate of metal will be fixed on the under side of
the head, or the under part of the head may be cast in such a manner
as to form the required impression on the cake. This box is to be fitted
with wrought iron or steel side and end plates, planed or otherwise
made perfectly true, and smooth inside. The under side of the pro-
jections on press head is planed and grooved longitudinally so as to
allow a loose seed box (as hereafter described) to be pushed along it
and suspended therefrom. This loose box may be made of wood, wrought
iron, steel, or suitable material, and will be placed immediately beneath
the head. The inside of the box is to be of sufficient depth to hold
the quantity of material to be acted upon. The top longitudinal edges
are to be slightly flanged outwards to work in the grooves in the press
head, the bottom edges may be made in the same way, and a groove run
through them close to the under side, into which a moveable bottom
or slide will be inserted; immediately beneath this box there will be.
placed another moveable vertically only. The top of the box is of the
same size as the inside of the loose box, and the projection on the head
into which it is to be accurately fitted will be furnished with a loose
plate corresponding in pattern with the under side of the press head (or
the plate on under side of head), this plate will in some cases be solid,
in other cases perforated, and in other cases it may have very fine slits
cut through it. That part of the box whercon these plates are fixed
will be furnished with grooves immediately beneath the perforations or.
slits through which the oil or other liquid will flow. A part of the box"
will project beyond the part that fits into the loose box, and will have
a flange on its outer edge projecting up about two inches to form a
receptacle into which the liquid may flow, and out of which the liquid
will be conveyed by a pipe. The under part of this box will be con-
structed in the same manner, as the under part of the press head,
therefore need not be further described. Each press may contain
three, four, five, or moro of such boxes, and each box may be double,

page_text: and each box is to be provided with what I have described as a loose
box.
The mode of working the press is as follows:-When the ram is at the
bottom of the cylinder the whole of the boxes that move vertically are
supported from the columns at equal distances from each other, the
distance between each is a little more than the width of the loose
boxes at one end but not quite so much as the width at the sides, thus
it will be seen when the vertical boxes are at rest the loose boxes are in
such a position that they can be withdrawn when the press is so placed.
This is done (that is to say the loose boxes are removed) and the moveable.'
bottom or slide is pushed into each loose box, a piece of cloth is then
placed on the moveable bottom, the box filled with seed or other material,
and another cloth placed on the top. The loose boxes are then pushed
into the press and the slides withdrawn, the pumps are now set to
work, the boxes rise and carry the seed with them through the loose
boxes into the part of the head and boxes furnished with the moveable.
bar wherein the cakes are formed. As soon as the material is sufficiently
pressed the pumps are turned off, the boxes descend, the bars are:
opened, the cakes removed, and the bars closed, when the loose boxes
are again ready to be withdrawn.
The objects of my Invention are to dispense with cake parers and
the very expensive "hairs" now in use, to use less bagging, extract more
oil and improve the appearance of the cake.
:1
And my Invention may readily be adapted to the presses now in use"
for seed crushing and oil expressing purposes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Downs in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 24th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
DOWNS, of Kingston-upon-Hull, in the County of York, Engineer,"
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in
the thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,

page_text: give and grant unto me, the said James Downs, Her special licence
that I, the said James Downs, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Downs, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED HYDRAULIC PRESSES
USED FOR SEED CRUSHING, OIL EXPRESSING, AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Downs, my executors,
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
upon
"NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Downs, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
The objects of my Invention are to dispense, with cake parers and
the very expensive "hairs" now in use, to use less bagging, extract more
oil, and improve the appearance of the cake.
The
And
my Invention may
be readily adapted to the presses now in use
for sced crushing and oil expressing purposes, which objects I effectuate
by the construction of improved hydraulic presses, which possess the
following peculiarities, namely, a moveable bar for closing the end of the
projection or box beneath the press head and beneath each of the press
boxes (which move vertically) wherein the cakes are formed.
under side of the press head and press boxes wherein the cakes are formed
and the top side of the boxes which give the impression to the under sido
of the cake I form of the exact shape and pattern wanted, or I make
plates to the required pattern, and fix them to the under side of the
press head and on both sides of the boxes. The plates on the top of the
boxes (are fitted accurately into the projection on the under side of press
head and press boxes) which are perforated or have slits cut through
them and the surface of the press boxes that the top plates are fitted on
are grooved as shown on the Drawings. The moveable box or moveable

page_text: boxes which when constructed as illustrated by the Drawings are free to
be drawn out and pushed into the press at pleasure, each box being of
sufficient depth to hold the quantity of material to be acted upon, and
working in grooves in the press head and press boxes. The entire con-
struction of the boxes (which move vertically and the loose boxes which
work in connection with them are suitable for making, tapered, round, or
octagonal cakes.
In constructing my improved presses, I proceed as follows:-I make
a sole plate or bottom for the whole press to rest on, and a cylinder, ram
and columns of the usual construction. The press head is made in the
usual way with a projection beneath formed so as to suit the size and
shape of cake required. On one end of this projection or cake box I
place a moveable bar which may be either forced into its place or
loosened by being driven either backwards or forwards in the same
manner as a common cotter, a groove or slot hole being provided to
receive it, or it may be arranged to work on a pin joint on one end and
may drop into a slot or catch at the other end, and may open either
upwards or downwards, or it may be constructed with a joint or ordinary
hinge so arranged as to allow it to open horizontally. At the loose end a
joint catch may be fixed to the press head in sucli a manner that when
the bar is closed the catch will keep it firmly in its position. A corru-
gated or other plate of metal will be fixed on the under side of the head;
or the under part of the head may be cast in such a manner as to form
the required impression on the cake. This box is to be fitted with wrought
iron or steel side and end plates, planed or otherwise mado perfectly truc
and smooth inside. The under side of the projections on press bead it;
planed and grooved longitudinally (or the lower edge of the side plates) so
as to allow a loose seed box (as hereafter described) to be pushed along
it and suspended therefrom, or the loose boxes may be suspended from
the box above by studs fixed in them which shall pass into corresponding
holes made in brackets which will be fixed to the under side of each box
and head. This loose box may be made of wood, wrought iron, steel, or
other suitable material, and will be placed immediately beneath the lead.
The inside of the box is to be of sufficient depth to hold the quantity
of material to be acted upon. The top longitudinal edges are to ba
slightly flanged outwards to work in the grooves in the press head, thes
bottom edges may be made in the same way, and a groove run through
them close to the under side, into which a moveable bottom or slide will

page_text: be inserted; immediately beneath this box there will be placed another
moveable vertically only. The top of this box is the same size as tho
inside of the loose box and the projection on the head into which it is
to be accurately fitted, and will be furnished with a loose plate corres-
ponding in pattern with the under side of the press head (or the plate
on under side of head); this plate will in some cases be solid, in other
cases perforated, and in other cases it may have very fine slits cut
through it. That part of the box whereon these plates are fixed will be
furnished with grooves immediately beneath the perforations or slits
through which the oil or other liquid will flow, a part of the box will
project beyond the part that fits into the loose box, and will have a flange
on its outer edge projecting up about 2 inches to form a receptacle into
which the liquid may flow, and out of which the liquid will be conveyed
by a pipe or other known means. The under part of this box will be
constructed in the same manner as the under part of the press head,
therefore need not be further described.
Each press may contain three,
four, five, or more such boxes, and each box may be double, and each
box is to be provided with what I have described as a loose box, and for
the purpose of filling the loose boxes with accuracy and dispatch I make
a steam kettle having a slide fitted into the bottom of it which nearly
divides it into halves, I make provision for the loose box being pushed
in beneath this slide, when this is done the slide is withdrawn, the seed
or other material falls into the loose box, the slide is then pushed home,
and the loose box withdrawn, filled with seed or other material when it
is pushed along the cake table up to a stop fixed on table. I place a plate
which works on hinges in front of the kettle. When the loose box is up
to this stop this plate is brought down on the seed or other material and
presses it beneath the edge of the loose box. This kettle may be placed
anywhere, but I prefer having it placed on the end of the cake table close
to the press, so that the loose box may be pushed along the press table into
the kettle; or I make a box the same shape as the loose boxes sufficiently
deep to hold as much material as is required to make several cakes. I
furnish it with a slide and other matters in the bottom in the same manner
as the kettle described above and fix it on the end of the cake table.
The mode of working the press is as follows:-When the ram is at
the bottom of the cylinder the whole of the boxes that move vertically
are supported from the columns at equal distances from each other, the
distance between each is a little more than the width of the loose boxes

page_text: :
Fig. 15 is plan of loose box suitable for tapered cakes; Fig. 16 is
a plan of slide for loose box, and Fig. 19 is a cross section of loose
box.
Fig. 20 is plan of the under side of a box suitable for making round
cakes, showing joint butts and so forth; Fig. 21 is a cross section of the
same box; Fig. 22, plan of the top of same; Fig. 23 is a longitudinal
section of same; Figs. 21 and 23 also show loose box in section; Fig. 24
is plan of loose box with slide in its place.
Fig. 27 is plan of the under side of box suitable for making octagon
cakes; Fig. 29 is plan of top of same; Figs. 25 and 28 are sections of
same and of loose boxes; Fig. 26 is plan of loose box with slide in its
placc.
Fig. 30 is plan of seed kettle and cake table; Fig. 31, sectional
elevation of same; Fig. 32, longitudinal sectional elevation of same;
Fig. 33, elevation of kettle showing condensed steam pipes, &c.; Fig. 34,
a plan of seed filling box and cake table; Fig. 35, longitudinal sectional
elevation of same; Fig. 30 is a transverse sectional elevation of same.
In the above Drawings A. is the foundation on which the whole rests;
B is the cylinder of press; C, the ram; E, the boxes that move vertically;
F, the press head, G, the loose boxes; II, the moveable bottoms or slides
for loose boxes; I, the moveable bars; K, the perforated plates for giving
the impression to the under side of the cakes; L, the plates for giving
the impression to top side of cakes; M, the steel or iron side and end
plates for boxes and press head; N, the press columns; O, caps for press
head; Q, receptacle into which oil falls; R, hole for conveying oil from
one box to another; S, pipe for conveying the oil from the press to the
oil cisterns; T grooves in vertical box for allowing the oil to escape into
receptacle (Q). The above letters of reference are marked on Figs. 1
and 2.
A is the shaft for driving the stirrer; B, the stirrer; C, body of
kettle; D, bracket for carrying kettle shaft; E, cake table; F, loose box;
G, pressing plate; H, slide; I, condensed steam pipe. These letters of
reference are marked on Figs. 30, 31, 32, and 33. K is body of filling
box; L, loose box; M, slide; N, cake table; O, pressing plate; P, steam
space; Q, stop for loose box; R, cover for fitting box. These letters of
reference are marked on Figs. 34, 35, and 36. The other Figures after
the above descriptions require no reference by letters.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed or put
in practice, I hereby declare that what I claim is, the Invention of
improved hydraulic presses used for seed crushing, oil expressing, and
other similar purposes, as herein-before described, in which improved
presses the following are important constituents, namely, the moveable
bar for closing the end of the projection beneath press head, and press
boxes wherein the cakes are formed, the plates, the loose boxes which are
fitted to work in grooves on the press head, and press boxes, the method
of removing them, and the manner in which they are suspended from
the press head and boxes; the whole construction of the press boxes, the
loose boxes, and the under side of the press head; the whole con-
struction of the press boxes for making tapered, round, or octagonal
cakes, and the loose boxes used in connection with them; the whole
construction of the filling box in bottom of kettle, and of the filling box
placed on end of cake table.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Downs, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
JACOB CHARLES HEWITT,
Clerk,
Old Foundry,
JAMES DOWNS. (L.B.)
Hull.