IM- PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HYDRAULIC PRESSES AND OTHER HYDRAULIC MACHINERY
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Wilson, of Patricroft, near Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HYDRAULIC PRESSES AND OTHER
HYDRAULIC MACHINERY."
Scaled the 3rd May 1870, and dated the 22nd November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Wilson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd November 1869.
I, ROBERT WILSON, of Patricroft, near Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF HYDRAULIC PRESSES AND OTHER
HYDRAULIC MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to reduce the weight of certain parts
of hydraulic presses, to facilitate the removal of the cylinder or cylinders,
to increase the strength of the cylinders, and to prevent the loss of power

page_text: C
caused by the friction of the water in the conducting pipes while the
proper pressure is being obtained in the press. The top and bottom of
hydraulic presses have heretofore been made each of a solid piece of
metal, these parts are necessarily of great weight and consequently very
inconvenient to transport. Now my Invention consists in making them
in two or more pieces bolted or otherwise connected together, so that
when separated they may be more casily transported. When the press
bottom is solid as usual it is very inconvenient to remove the cylinder or
cylinders for repairs or otherwise, but by making it in two or more parts
on removing one of the parts the cylinder or cylinders can be drawn out
sideways without disturbing the other parts of the press.
My improvements in the construction of cylinders for hydraulic presses
and other hydraulic machinery consists in making them entirely or
partially of wrought iron or steel. When the cylinders are made partly
of cast iron and partly of wrought iron or steel I place hoops of wrought
iron or steel on an inside cylinder or tube, and these hoops when made
of wrought iron are composed of several rings each made of a bar, the
ends of which are scarfed or bevelled to make the joint, and in piling
these rings together the joints are placed to break each other, the whole
is then heated and welded together, or the entire cylinder may be made
of wrought iron piled together of rings in the manner above described,
and in some cases when the cylinders are of extra length, such as cotton
press cylinders, I make them in two or more lengths, and screw or bolt
them together, so that they may be easy of transport when separated.
The same plan may be adopted in constructing hydraulic rams of extra
length.
In order to prevent the loss of power caused by the friction of the water
in the conducting pipes while the proper pressure is being obtained in the
press I apply a safety or escape valve on the distributor box, or on the
pressure pipes near the hydraulic press; this valve not only limits the
pressure but acts as an indicator of the pressure obtained in the press,
thereby saving the power which would otherwise be lost by the water
'escaping near the pumps from safety valves in the conducting pipes or
on the pumns.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WILSON, of Patricroft, near Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second 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, give
and grant unto me, the said Robert Wilson, Her special licence that I,
the said Robert Wilson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Robert Wilson, my 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
Or HYDRAULIC PRESSES AND OTHER HYDRAULIC MACHINERY," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Wilson, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Wilson, 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 (that is to say):-
The nature of my Invention consists in reducing the weight of certain
parts of hydraulic presses, to facilitate the transport thereof, and, the
removal of the cylinder or cylinders, to increase the strength of the.
cylinders, and to prevent the loss of power caused. by. the friction of the
water in the conducting pipes while the proper pressure is being obtained
in the press..

page_text: And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
The top and bottom of hydraulic presses have heretofore been made
each of a solid piece of metal, these parts are necessarily of great weight
and consequently very inconvenient to transport. Now my Invention
consists in making them in two or more pieces bolted or otherwise con-
nected together, so that when separated they may be more easily trans-
ported.
Fig. 1 is an elevation; Fig. 2 a plan; and Fig. 3 a section of a press
top constructed according to my improvements. In this instance the top
is made of two parts, marked a and b, jointed together longitudinally,
the part a having a projecting piece which fits into a groove in the
part b, the parts a and b are secured together by the bolts c; the plate d
with grooves for the cords or bands which surround the bale is screwed
to the under side of the press top, and assists in securing the parts a and b
together.
་
Fig. 4 represents another mode of securing the parts a and b together.
In this case projections e are cast on the upper and lower sides of the
top, and wrought-iron hoops or bridles fare shrunk on the projections,
these hoops are shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and one of them in Fig. 2:
Fig. 5 is a section of another mode of constructing the tops of presses;
in this case the top is made of three pieces, marked a, a', and b, which
are bolted together as shewn in Fig. 1; in this top the grooved plate a
is screwed to the centre part b.
When the press bottom is solid as usual it is very inconvenient to
remove the cylinder or cylinders for repairs or otherwise, but by making
it in two or more parts on removing one of the parts the cylinder or
cylinders can be drawn out sideways without disturbing the other parts
of the press. By making the bottom in two or more parts it is also
more casy for transport.
Fig. 6 is an clevation, Fig. 7 a plan, and Fig. 8 a section of a press
bottom suitable for a three cylinder press, constructed according to my
improvements; I wish however to remark that my improvements are
equally applicable to presses with one cylinder or any other number of
cylinders. The press bottom consists of the two parts y and h, the part g
is a fixture being secured to the beams i or other foundation, and the
I

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part is movable or capable of being moved to one side when a cylinder
has to be taken out. The parts 9 and are secured together by the bolts j
and by the keys k. The end view, Fig. 9, represents a press with the
part h removed and with one of the cylinders and its ram taken out, the
other parts of the press being left undisturbed, it is evident that the ram
may be taken out of the cylinder before the cylinder is removed.
My improvements in the construction of cylinders for hydraulic presses
and other hydraulic machinery consists in making them entirely or
partially of wrought iron or steel.
Fig. 10 is a section of a cylinder made entirely of wrought iron or
steel according to my improvements; is the inner portion of the
cylinder, consisting of a tube of wrought iron or steel surrounded by
wrought iron or steel hoops m, which are shrunk on when hot. The
ring forming the top of the cylinder bearing on the press bottom, may
be cast iron, and Fig. 11 is a section of a cylinder made partly of cast
iron and partly of wrought iron or steel, the inner portion being of cast
iron surrounded by the hoops m, these hoops when made of wrought
iron are composed of several rings each made of a bar, the ends of which
are scarfed or bevelled to make the joint, and in piling these rings
together the joints are placed opposite or to break each other as shewn
in Figs. 12 and 13, the whole is then heated and welded together; or the
entire cylinder may be made of wrought iron piled together of rings, in
the manner above described, and in some cases where the cylinders are
of extra length, such as cotton press cylinders, I propose to make them
in two or three lengths and bolt or screw them together as shewn in
Fig. 14, so that they may be casy of transport when separated. The same
plan may be adopted in constructing hydraulic rams of extra length, as
shewn in Fig. 15.
As it has been found objectionable to support hydraulic cylinders
from the shoulder at the top as heretofore customary, I propose to place
their lower ends on a bottom plate pas shewn applied to one of my
improved cotton presses in Fig. 16, the top of the cylinders pass through
the intermediate plate q, and the columns or pillars reach from the
bottom to the top plates and secure the whole together.
In order to prevent the loss of power caused by the friction of the
water in the conducting pipes while the proper pressure is being obtained
in the press I apply a safety or escape valve u, see Figs. 6, 7, and 8 on
the distribution box v, or on the pressure pipes near the hydraulic press,

page_text: this valve not only limits the pressure but acts also as an indicator of
the pressure obtained in the press, thereby saving the power which would
otherwise be lost by the water escaping near the pumps when the safety
valve is placed in the conducting pipes or on the pumps as heretoforc
customary.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the
manner of performing the same, I wish to observe that I do not intend to
confine myself to the exact modes in carrying out these improvements as
considerable deviation may be made without departing from the pcculiar
character of the Invention, I claim,-
First. Making the top and bottom of hydraulic presses in two or more
parts for the purposes described.
Secondly. The improved modes of constructing the cylinders of
hydraulic presses and other hydraulic machinery entirely of wrought
iron, or steel, or partly of cast iron and wrought iron or steel as
'described.
Thirdly. Making the cylinders and rams of hydraulic machinery
in two or more parts for the purposes described.
Fourthly. The mode of supporting hydraulic cylinders as shewn and
described in reference to Fig. 16.
And, lastly. The application of a safety or escape valve on the dis-
tribution box, or on the pressure pipes near the cylinder as shewn and
described in reference to Figs. 6, 7, and 8.
In witness whercof, I, the said Robert Wilson, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of May One thousand
eight hundred and seventy.