Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 19th June, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 14th Mar., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 11th May, 1889
I ROBERT MULLARD of 46 Drakefell Road St. Catherine's Park Hatcham, London
S.E. Chemist do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is the production of a machine by which pills can be
rounded much more rapidly than by the well known hand method; which is performed
by rotating the irregular shaped Pills between a disc of Iron or wood having a rim
corresponding to the diameter of the Pills, and a slab of marble, wood or other
suitable substance, in such a manner that while the pills are carried over a considerable
surface they revolve on an ever changing axis.
In carrying out my Invention I obtain the necessary motion for rounding the Pills
in the following manner.
I provide a screw having a cylindrical barrel and a round thread the groove of
which corresponds in size to that of the pill to be rounded and the thread of such
depth that a segment of the Pill projects above it.
This screw, which may be made of brass copper, wood, Gutta Percha, India rubber
or any suitable substance and of any length or diameter and may be coarse or fine in
pitch, is made to revolve in a tube made of glass, brass, wood, india rubber, Gutta
Percha or any or all of these combined, or any other suitable substance and of such
diameter that the segment of Pill projecting above the thread of the screw, as above
described, comes in contact with the surface of the tube so that when the screw is
revolved the pills are propelled along the groove of the screw from one end to
the other, according to the direction in which the screw is revolved, at
the same time they revolve on
I feed the pills
ever changing axis.
into the screw by means of a suitable hopper connected with the tube while the other
end of the tube contains a suitable opening for conveying the finished Pills away.
I also provide an arrangement by which the tube may be revolved at the same time
as the screw, or alone, in a direction with, or opposite to that of the screw. The screw
& tube being worked by any suitable gearing.
an

page_text: It is not necessary, in carrying out my invention, to have a seperate tube and gearing
for each Screw as the Screws may be all made of the same length and diameter, the
only difference being in the size of the grooves and the depth of the thread, so that pills
of different size may be rounded in the same tube by merely changing the screw,
provision being made to effect this.
I also provide an arrangement by which the pills after they have passed through the
machine, as above described, fall into the hopper of another similar machine the screw
of which revolves in the opposite direction to that of the first one this second machine
being worked by suitable gearing in connection with the first one.
The whole of the above described mechanism is mounted on a suitable base so as to
be worked by hand or power.

page_text: An Improved Pill Rounding Machine.
I ROBERT MULLARD of 46 Drakefell Road St. Catherine's Park Hatcham London
S.E. Chemist 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 :-
The object of my Invention is the production of a machine by which Pills can be
rounded much more rapidly than by the well known hand_method, which is performed
by rotating the irregular shaped Pills between a disk of Iron or wood, having a rim
corresponding to the size of the Pills to be rounded, and a slab of marble, wood or
other suitable substance in such a manner that while the pills are carried over a con-
siderable surface they revolve on an ever changing axis.
In carrying out my Invention I obtain the necessary motion for rounding the Pills
in the following manner, and in order that my Invention & the manner in which it is
put into practice may be understood reference must be made to the accompanying
drawings, which are to be taken as part of this Specification and read therewith, and
in which like parts are marked with the same reference letter.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through the centre of the machine shewing the
screw D.-Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the hopper J. with the screw D.
removed.
A is a light frame of Iron or suitable construction carrying at a suitable height the
bearings B. B.-C is a tube of brass or other suitable substance of any length or
diameter, the inside of which is made as smooth as possible and is supported by the
bearings B. B. and kept in position by the screws P. P.-D is a screw made of brass
or other suitable material as before described having a straight barrel and rounded
thread of any diameter and pitch, the grooves of this screw are made quite round and
of a width corresponding to the diameter of the pills to be rounded and of such depth
that a segment of the pill projects above the thread of the screw.
This screw D, which may be either a left hand or a right hand screw, fits easily into
the tube C and is attached to one end of a screwed spindle E the other end of the
spindle carries the pulley H-The cap G having an internal thread screws upon the
end of the tube C, keeps the screw D from moving endways and forms a boaring for
the spindle E.
Motion is given to the screw D by means of a band connecting the pulley H
with the hand wheel I.-The Pills are fed into the grooves of the screw D
by means of the hopper J. at the bottom of which is a slot K in the tube (-
The Pills are discharged at the open end of the tube C into any suitable vessel O,
the discharge being accelerated by inclining the tube C from the feeding end,
this is effected by having one of bearings B. B higher than the other.
To prevent the Pills from becoming jammed & cut between the edge of the
slot K and the thread of the screw D the tube C, at the edge of the slot K, is curved
upwards as shewn at L. A slide M is fitted to the hopper J. (see fig. 2) for regulating

page_text: the flow of Pills into the slot K. Another slide N is put in one side of the hopper for
cleaning purposes-in the drawing the Hopper J. and Slot K are shewn at the top of
the tube C.
I do not confine myself to this position as they may be placed on any part of the
circumference of the tube C, the shape of the hopper J. being altered to suit the
different positions. The screw D as shewn at fig. 1 bears upon the tube C so
that the pills take the weight of the screw I) as they pass beneath it but where no
weight is required 1 connect the free end of the screw D. with a spindle & cap similar
to E and G, the pills being discharged through a suitable opening at the bottom of
the tube C.
In practising this Invention a screw D having grooves corresponding to the size of
Pills to be rounded is screwed upon E the screw D is then placed in the tube C, the
cap G is screwed on to end of tube C the hand wheel and pulley are connected by
a band, the unrounded pills are placed in the hopper J, the slide M regulated, motion
is given to the screw by means of the hand wheel I, the pills are carried round in
the grooves of the screw. The segment of the pill projecting above the thread of the
screw comes in contact with the surface of the tube so that the pill is constantly
revolved in the groove at the same time that it is carried from one end of the screw to
the other, where it is discharged rounded having taken the shape of the groove of the
screw.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is a machine for rounding Pills.
1. The combination of a screw having round grooves of various demensions capable
of being revolved by any suitable motor gearing in a tube substantially as described
and for the purposes set forth.
2. A tube having a hopper and slot for feeding the pills into the grooves of the
screw and an opening for the discharge of the same substantially as described and for
the purposes set forth.
Dated this 14th day of March 1889.