Machine for Packing Tea, Coffee, Spice, or other Analogous Articles.
Year: 1891

page_text: Machine for Packing Tea, Coffee, Spice, or other Analogous Articles.
I, RODERICK MCLEOD, Junior, of 7, Royal Exchange, Edinburgh, in the
County of Midlothian, North Britain, Tea Merchant, 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 :-
My invention relates to a machine for packing tea, coffee, spice, or other
analogous articles, and has for its object to save time, labour and expense, as well
as to pack the tea or other article more closely together.
In order that my invention may be properly understood and readily carried into
effect I have hereunto appended an explanatory sheet of drawings, in the several
figures of which corresponding parts are marked with the same letters of reference.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine.
Figure 2 is a plan.
Figure 3 is an end view of part of the machine.
Figure 4 is a plan of the hopper and shoe.
A is a frame of iron or other suitable metal or material, on which there is carried
a revolving shaft B, operated by steam or other power. At the top of one end of
this frame there is fixed a hopper C, the lower end of which lies inside of a hopper
and shoe E, which is suspended partly by the shaft B and partly by a flexible rod F,
one end of the rod being jointed to the shoe at G, while the other end is fixed to
the frame at H. At the opposite end of the lower part of the frame there is also
fixed another hopper D, into which one end of the shoe E lies. Passing through
the casing and between the two ways of the shoe (which will be hereinafter more
fully described) into the hopper D there is a rod I working between two anti-
friction rollers i, i, which keep it in a vertical position. At the lower end of this
rod I there is a weight J, having holes or perforations to allow the tea or other
article to pass through it, (as will be hereinafter explained,) and at the upper end
another weight K. The rod I passes loosely through a hole in a bar L, working in
a slot M in the bracket m, the action of which will hereinafter be fully described.
On referring to Figure 4, the construction of the hopper and shoe E will be
more fully understood. The shoe has two ways R and S, and shoots T, U, so that
the flow of the tea or other article into the packet will be more uniform.
The modus operandi is as follows:-The quantity of tea or other article to be
packed into each packet is weighed and placed in the hopper C, when it passes into
the hopper and shoe E. This hopper and shoe E is then agitated, that is to say, it
is made to move backwards and forwards; backwards by means of a triangular-
shaped cam O on each side of the shaft B, coming in contact with a roller P fixed
on each side of the shoe E; and forwards by means of the flexible rod F, so that
the tea or other article gradually passes down the two ways R and S of the shoe E
until it reaches the end of it, when it falls down the shoots T, U, into the hopper D,
through the holes or perforations in the weight J, and into the packet to receive it,
which is placed in a casing Q underneath the hopper D. In case any of the tea or
other article may have a tendency to fall over the sides of the casing Q, or get
between the paper and the lead, I may fix to the bottom end of the hopper Da
shallow filler. While the tea or other article is passing into the packet, the rod I
is constantly working up and down, so that the weight J is at regular intervals
pressing on the tea or other article which is gradually falling into the packet, thus
packing it more closely together, and, in the case of tea, without in any way
breaking it, which is a great advantage. The upward motion of the rod I is effected
by means of a cam N keyed to the shaft B, acting on the bar L at each revolution
of the shaft, which bar getting jammed against the rod, they are both lifted up
[PS21

page_text: simultaneously, and when the cam releases itself from the bar 1 the jamming action
ceases, and the bar falls, and the rod I also falls by its own weight ready to be
lifted again, as more particularly seen in Figure 5. When the tea or other article
has all passed into the packet the rod I is lifted up, and a pin passed through it to
keep it from falling until the charged packet has been removed and an empty one
replaced ready to be filled, when the same operation is continued as long as may be
desired.
In order to ensure the cams 0 always coming in contact with the rollers P,
I provide an adjusting screw T, and a spring S, to act as a sort of cushion for the
motion of the shoe.
Although I have only shown a single machine, it is to be understood that I may
have a series of them, all operated by the same shaft.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The general arrangement and combination of the several parts constituting the
machine for packing tea, coffee, spice, or other analogous articles, operating in
the manner substantially as described and shown on the accompanying drawings.
2. The method of packing tea, coffee, spice, or other analogous articles by the
use of the said machine, as and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
Dated this 20th day of March 1891:
BOTTOMLEY & LIDDLE,
154, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Applicant's Agents.