NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR COMPRESSING AND MOULDING POWDERS AND PASTES."
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Baker, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, and John Edward Baker, of Birmingham, afore-
said, Manufacturer, for. the Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR COMPRESSING AND MOULDING POWDERS AND PASTES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Baker and John
Edward Baker at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 17th February 1858.
We, GEORGE BAKER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, and JOHN EDWARD BAKER, of Birmingham; aforesaid, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "NEW OR IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR COMPRESSING AND MOULDING POWDERS AND PASTES," to be, as
follows:-
Our said Invention consists of machinery constructed as herein-after ex-
plained, to be used for compressing and moulding powders and pastes into
cakes of various forms and sizes, the said powders being made to cohere into
cakes for the convenience of wrapping up or packing the same, and the said
paste being moulded into such forms as may be required. Our machinery is
particularly applicable to the compression of plumbago or black lead into
coherent cakes, which may be afterwards conveniently wrapped in paper, and
for moulding the pasty composition of which fire-lighters are made into the
said fire-lighters. The said machinery consists of a wheel in the periphery of
which a series of moulds or dies are made, in which the powder or paste is to
be compressed or moulded. These dies are provided with moveable bottoms
or plungers, which during the rotation of the wheel are made to rise and fall

page_text: so as to permit the moulds to be filled, and afterwards to compress the matter
in the mould against a fixed break or bearing. After the compressed cake
has been carried from under the break or bearing, the plunger pushes it out
of the mould and deposits it on an endless band, by which it is carried away.
The rising of the plungers is effected by a cam situated within the wheel,
against which cam the plungers are carried by the rotation of the said wheel.
The said cam is of a figure proper to raise the plungers at the required posi-
tions of the moulds. The return motion of the plungers is effected by a band
or springs, or otherwise. The powder or paste is supplied to the moulds from
a hopper situated over the wheel. The mould filled from the hopper passes
immediately to the fixed break or bearing against which the powder or paste
is pressed by the rising of the moveable bottom or plunger. As the com-
pressed cake passes from under the break, the rising motion of the plunger is
arrested. As the cake approaches the lowest point in the wheel's motion, the
plunger is made to force the cake out of the mould. The said cake is received
by a travelling endless band by which it is carried away. The machine may
be driven by steam or other power.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by
the said George Baker and John Edward Baker in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th August 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
BAKER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, and JOHN
EDWARD BAKER of Birmingham aforesaid, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said George Baker and John Edward Baker, Her special licence that
we, the said George Baker and John Edward Baker, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as, we, the said George Baker and John
Edward Baker, our executors, administrators, 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 "NEW OR IMPROVED MACHI-
NERY FOR COMPRESSING AND MOULDING POWDERS AND PASTES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said George Baker and John Edward Baker,

page_text: our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or
their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them,
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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Edward Baker, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
Our said Invention consists of the machinery herein-after particularly
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, for compressing and
moulding powders or pastes into cakes of various forms and sizes, the said
powders being made to cohere into cakes for the convenience of wrapping up
or packing the same, and the said pastes being moulded. into such forms as
be require.
may
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in side elevation; and
Figure 2 in end elevation, a machine constructed according to our Invention..
The same letters indicate the same parts in both Figures. a is a wheel or
drum turning upon the axis b. A series of moulds or dies c is formed in the
periphery of the said wheel a, and in the said moulds or dies c.
The powder
or paste to be compressed or moulded is introduced in the manner herein-after
described. Each of the dics or moulds c is provided with a plunger d, tho
said plungers d sliding radially in the dies or moulds c. The tops of the
plungers & constitute the bottoms of the moulds c. Each of the plungers. d
carries a roller e at its bottom. f is a hopper in which the powder or paste
to be operated upon is introduced, and from which the several moulds or dies
care filled as they pass under the open bottom of the said hopper. The
filling of the moulds or dies c from the hopper f inay be superintended by a
workman or attendant, who may direct or force the powder or paste into the
moulds c. The wheel or drum a rotates in the direction indicated by the.
arrow in Figure 1, and the filled moulds c after passing from under the hopper.
f, are brought against the fixed break or bearing g, and it is against the said
fixed break or bearing 9 that the powder or paste is compressed. or moulded
by the rising of the plungers or moveable bottoms of the moulds or dies.
g
The rising of the plungers or pistons d is effected in the following manner :-
h is a fixed cam or excentric situated upon the axis b, but having no rotation.
The outer surface of the said cam h is nearly-but-not-quite concentric with the
wheel or drum a. The figure of the fixed cam will be understood by an

page_text: inspection of Figure 1. As the drum or wheel a rotates, the rollers e on the
bottoms of the plungers or pistons & are carried over the surface of the fixed
cam h, and when the moulds or dies c, after having been filled, are brought
over that part of the cam marked h³, the plunger d having to pass over the
raised part h2, the said plunger ascends in the mould and compresses the
powder or paste between its upper end and the brake or bearing 9. The
under side of the brake or bearing g is provided with a nearly flat steel plate g²,
indicated by dotted lines in Figure 1, which said plate 92 may be removed
when worn, and replaced by a new one.
When the moulds containing the compressed powder or paste pass from
under the brake 9, the plungers or pistons passing off the raised part h² of the
cam no longer press upon the powder or paste, and the cam i being con-
centric with the surface of the drum or wheel a from the raised part to the
part h, the moulds containing the compressed powder or paste pass from h² to
h³ without any motion of the plungers d. On arriving at the raised part h³ of
the cam h, the plungers d are again made to move from the axis b, and the
compressed cake is thereby pushed out of its mould. The said compressed
cake is received upon an endless band by which it is carried from the
machine.
The plungers d, before being withdrawn again into the moulds, pass the
brush k, which said brush renioves any adhering particles from the said pistons
or plungers. The plungers dafterwards retire into their moulds ready to
perform the series of motions described.
The return motion of the plungers d is effected and the said plungers d kept
to their bearings upon the cam h by means of an endless chain l, which chain
passes round the rollers e of the plungers d in the manner which will be
understood by an inspection of Figure 1. The rollers e may be kept to their
bearings upon the cam h by means of springs instead of by the chain 7, the
said springs being fixed to the plungers d near the axes of the rollers e, and
bearing against the inner side of the wheel or drum a. Each of the rollers e
has to pass under a fixed stop at 8, which said stop effects the return motion of
the plungers in case the said return motion, in consequence of the sticking of
the plunger, or otherwise, had not been effected by the endless chain l.
Although we have only represented in the accompanying Drawing moulds c
and plungers & having a rectangular figure, yet moulds and plungers of any
other form may be employed.
The endless band i and brush k are driven by the main shaft b, by means of
gearing, the nature of which will be understood by an inspection of the
Drawing.

page_text: The main shaft b may be driven by steam or other power, by means of bands
passing over the pullies m, n, or otherwise. The cam h is supported by the
axis 6, but is prevented from being carried round with the said axis by the rod o,
jointed to the base of the machine. The hopper f is supported upon the axis b
by the rods p, and the break or bearing 9 is supported from the axis b by the
rods 2.9. The break 9 and hopper fare supported laterally, and their motion
about the axis b prevented by means of the stay r.
Although we prefer to make the drum or wheel a rotate in a vertical plane,
yet it may be made to rotate in a horizontal plane if thought desirable.
Our new or improved machinery is particularly applicable to the compression
of plumbago, or black lead, cocoa, and mustard, and the formation of coherent
cakes of these substances, which cakes may in their coherent state be con-
veniently wrapped in paper or other wrapper. Our machinery is also appli-
cable to the moulding of the pasty composition of which fire-lighters are
made into the said fire-lighters. Our machinery may also be used for the
compressing and moulding of powders and pastes in general.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner
of carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not
limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and represented, as
the same may be varied without departing from the nature of our Invention;
but we claim as our Invention, the new or improved machinery for compressing
and moulding powders and pastes herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing, that is to say, machinery in which the powder or
paste to be compressed or moulded is operated upon by means of a plunger
rising in the die or mould containing the powder or paste, and compressing
the said powder or paste between the said plunger and a fixed break or
bearing, the said dies and plungers being carried by a drum or wheel per-
forming a continuous rotatory motion.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Edward Baker, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOHN EDWARD BAKER. (L.S.)