IMPROVED FLEETING HYDROSTATIC MACHINERY ADAPTED TO PRESSES, DRY DOCKS, SLIPS4 OR THE MOVING OR LIFTING OF HEAVY MASSES, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO THE EXPRESSING OF OIL OR OTHER FLUIDS."
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Paul Rapsey Hodge, of No. 25, Cannon Street, E.C.,
in the City of London, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
FLEETING HYDROSTATIC MACHINERY ADAPTED TO PRESSES, DRY DOCKS, SLIPS4
OR THE MOVING OR LIFTING OF HEAVY MASSES, PARTS OF WHICH ARE
APPLICABLE TO THE EXPRESSING OF OIL OR OTHER FLUIDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Paul Rapsey Hodge
at the Office, of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th June 1863.
I, PAUL RAPSEY HODGE, of No. 25, Cannon Street, E.C., in the City of
London, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention..for
"IMPROVED FLEETING HYDROSTATIC MACHINERY ADAPTED TO PRESSES, DRY DOCKS
SLIPS, OR THE MOVING OR LIFTING OF HEAVY MASSES, PARTS OF WHICH ARE
APPLICABLE TO THE EXPRESSING OF OIL OR OTHER FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
My improvements relate principally to an arrangement of hydrostatic
machinery to accomplish a long range of traverse with a short cylinder and
ram in connection with a follower "and spuds," so that the water acting on
both sides of the piston attached to the ram, and being let in under and above
the said piston, actuates, on the cross head and spuds in ascending and
descending through a long length of stroke, so that a short-stroke cylinder
(say, two feet) can be made to work any length of traverse.
An arrange-

page_text: ment is made to hold the spuds and follower at the terminal point of the
stroke while the water is reversed to the under side of the piston of the
ram, sending it up with the cross head to its original position; the spuds are
then attached to the cross head by means of a catch and rack or cotters, and
again the water is reversed to the top side of the piston, depressing another
two feet downwards, and so on to any definite length required, so that by
fleeting back every stroke the necessary amount of traverse is accomplished
without the use of a long-stroke hydrostatic cylinder and ram.
Another improvement in presses adapted to the pressing of any matter con-
taining fluid is shewn in Sheet 2, which is to arrange a platform press
containing one or more platforms sliding on the columns of the machine, each
platform projecting beyond the range of the columns. On the upper face of
these platforms are rails for the oil keg or tub to slide on, and on the back
end is a lip for the oil to drop from, while on the opposite end is a hole to
correspond with the internal diameter of the keg or tub through which the oil
cake is discharged after being pressed. The keg or tub is then sent back
half-way of the platform, is again refilled with oil meal, and then slid back to
the centre of the press, and is there stopped by a stop piece on the platform
immediately under its follower, which is suspended on the under side of the
upper sliding platform, on to which is another sliding tub or keg, which, when
sent back to the centre of the press, corresponds with the follower suspended
on the under side of the head of the press, or it may be again on the under
side of another sliding platform or any number of platforms. In the inside of
cach keg or tub I have a volutional strainer, coiled up, of thin hoop iron,
and rivetted, which is dropped in before filling, on the top of which is a cloth
strainer. The keg or tub is constructed of fluted metallic staves, each pair of
staves, when put together in section, being fluted from top to bottom, allows
the oil during the process of pressing to flow down through such flutes or
grooves. The advantages of the keg followers and platforms in connection
being to facilitate the working of the press by the most simple management,
and doing away with the necessity of lifting the keg or tub to discharge the
cake after it has been pressed.
The whole operations of these contrivances will be easily seen by reference
to the accompanying Drawings; but I wish it to be distinctly understood that
I do not confine myself to the exact details shewn thereon, as I may alter in
some measure these details, which will be more fully shewn and explained in
my Complete Specification.
Sheet 1, Figs. 1 and 2 represent a front sectional view and an end view of
my press for long-stroke traverse with short-stroke cylinder and ram, and

page_text: is what I call my fleeting press, and is a further improvement on my patent
press patented by me on the 25th day of March 1861, and numbered No. 741.
A, A, the hydrostatic cylinder; B, B, the ram; C the top, D the bottom
covers of the cylinder, which are packed inside by cup collars so that the
piston ram can traverse or fleet up or down by means of the water being
admitted above and below the ram. The cubic contents of the annular
space between the diameter of the ram and the internal diameter of the
cylinder can be made to any proportion, so that the fleeting back the ram can
be accomplished in less time. E, E, the head of the press, on which the
cylinder A is fastened, passing up through a hole in the centre; F, F, the
columns of the press which connects the head and foot together; G is a cross
head fastened on to the bottom of the ram B by the bolt H. I, I, are two spuds,
which are fastened into the follower J, J, by means of the two bolts K, K,
so that when the cotters L, L, or a rack or catch instead of these cotters,
are passed through the spuds, or the catch into a rack on the face of
the spuds, the connection of the cross head G and follower J, J, is
complete. When the water is admitted on to the top of the ram through
the pipe M, and the follower and ram is passed down. equal to the length
of stroke, the cotters L, L, is withdrawn (or is, as before stated, the
catch on the cross head, and rack on the spuds disconnected), at the same
time the two catches N and O are released from the racks P and Q on the
outer edges of the spuds, and the ram in the cylinder is again brought up to
its original position and ready for another down stroke by the water being
admitted through the pipe M', when the cotters, rack, or catch, as before
described, takes another position at the cotter holes R and S, and is again
passed down another two feet, and so on to any definite length of traverse,
so that a stroke of any given length of cylinder may be made to fit any length
of traverse to be used for the purposes of pressing or lifting or conveying of
heavy weights.
My second improvement in presses is shewn in Sheet 2, Fig. 1 and 2, and
relates to the platforms in connection with sliding kegs and followers and
discharging holes. A, the head of the press; B, the bottom; C, C, the columns
on which slide the platforms D and E; F, the hydrostatic cylinder; G, the
ram; H and H, the keg or tubs to hold the material to be pressed; H2 and
H³ are the positions of the kegs when the operation of discharging the pressed
cake is to be dropped through the hole; J is the platform. The keg is slid
back on the rails half-way, and is there filled again with meal, and is then slid
back to the centre of the press, stopping directly under each follower K and K,
and as the ram raises the followers enter the kegs and again presses the cake.

page_text: Fig. 2 represents the method of putting the
are the staves with joints radiating from the
hoop shrunk on to hold the staves together.
keg or tubs together. A, A, A,
centre of the vessel; B is the
The slots C¹, C¹, C³, are planed
off the staves before they are put together; it makes (when the cylinder is
bored out) a complete series of slots and grooves for the oil.or liquid to run
down to the bottom and pass off.
SPECIFICATION
in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Paul Rapsey Hodge in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th December 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PAUL
RAPSEY HODGE, of 25, Cannon Street, E.C., in the City of London, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Hor reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
mc, the said Paul Rapsey Hodge, Her special licence that I, the said
Paul Rapsey Hodge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Paul Rapsey Hodge, 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 "IMPROVED FLEETING HYDROSTATIC MACHINERY ADAPTED TO PRESSES,
DRY DOCKS, SLIPS, OR THE MOVING OR LIFTING OF HEAVY MASSES, PARTS OF
WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO THE EXPRESSING OF OIL OR OTHER FLUIDS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Paul Rapsey Hodge, 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 T the said Poul Ponsen

page_text: 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say):-
Chapter 1. My Invention consists in certain arrangements of hydrostatic
machinery to accomplish a long range of traverse with a short cylinder and
ram in connection with a "follower" and "spuds," and also in connection
with either racks or screws to accomplish any portion of a stroke of the
follower, and the final to be completed by hydrostatic pressure; also in the
peculiar combination of the fleeting piston and ram, the water acting on
both sides of the piston attached to the ram being let in under or above
the piston, actuating on the cross head and spuds in ascending and descend-
ing through a long length of stroke, so that a short-stroke cylinder (say
two fect stroke) can be made to work any length of traverse; or a por-
tion of the stroke can be accomplished by racks and pinions with suitable
gearing attached to obtain power, or with a screw or screws combined with
gearing to effect any given portion of the stroke, when the final part of the
stroke is accomplished by hydrostatic pressure. This being necessary where
any bulky material wants pressing or compressing, such as cotton, wool, hay or
straw, flax, jute, grass, or hemp.
Arrangements are also made to hold the "spuds" and follower at the
terminal point of each stroke. When the water is reversed to the under
side of the piston of the ram, sending it up with the cross head to its
original position ready again for another downward stroke. The spuds are
then attached to the cross head by means of catches and racks or cotters,
and cotter holes in the spuds, and is there held. The water is again
reversed to the top. side of the piston, when another two feet stroke is
accomplished downwards, and so on to any number of strokes until the
distance to be traversed is effected, so that by fleeting back every stroke
(say four strokes of 2 feet = 8 feet transverse) or four strokes of 3 feet = 12 feet
traverse, the necessary amount of stroke being accomplished without the
use of a long-stroke hydrostatic cylinder and ram: This press can be made
either with the cylinder and ram inverted, as shewn in the Drawings annexed,
or the cylinder, follower, and spuds may be placed at the bottom and work
upwards, or it may be horizontal.
Chapter 2.-Another adaptation of the same machinery is applicable to
the raising or lowering of heavy weights by this fleeting combination,
such as the lifting of ships either by vertical or horizontal cylinders, rams,

page_text: and spuds, with their arrangement of racks and catches for holding on of the
previous stroke.
Chapter 3. Another improvement in hydrostatic presses adapted to the
pressing of any matters containing a fluid is shewn in Sheet 2, which is
termed a platform press, containing one or more platforms sliding on the
columns of the machine, each platform projecting beyond the range of the
columns. On the upper face of these platforms are rails or sliding pieces
for the oil kegs or tubs to slide on, and on the back end is a lip or
spout for the oil to drop from; while on the opposite end is a hole cor-
responding with the internal diameter of the keg or tub, through which
the oil cake is discharged after being pressed. The keg or tub is then
sent back half-way on the platform, is again filled with oil meal, seed,
or any material to be pressed, and then sent back on the rails or sliding
pieces to the centre of the press; it is there stopped by a stop piece on
the platform, and immediately under its follower, which is suspended on
the under side of the upper platform. On this is another sliding tub
or keg, which when sent back to the centre of the press corresponds with
the follower suspended on the under side of the head of the press; or
it may be again on the under side of another platform or any number
of platforms (as a series of platforms), kegs, or tubs. These kegs or tubs are
constructed of slotted metallic staves, each pair of staves when put together
in section, being fluted from top to bottom, allows the fluid during the
process of pressing to flow down through such flutes or grooves. The
advantages of the kegs or tubs, followers, and sliding platforms in con-
nection being to facilitate the easy working of the press and doing away
with the use of bags for colonial use, and also the necessity of lifting the
keg or tub to discharge the material after being pressed, which is discharged
through the holes in the platforms. The kegs or tubs are then passed on half-
way on the platform, are again refilled, and slid again to their proper places.
The whole operation of these contrivances will be easily seen by reference to
the accompanying Drawings. I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do
not confine myself to the exact details shewn thereon, as I may alter such
details as circumstances or convenience require.
Sheet 1, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent a part sectional view and end view plans
of follower and the head of my hydraulic apparatus for long-stroke traverse
with a short-stroke cylinder and ram, and is what I term my "fleeting press," and
is a further improvement on a press patented by me on the Twenty-fifth day of
March One thousand eight-.hundred and sixty-one, and numbered 741.

page_text: A, A, the hydrostatic cylinder; B, the ram; C the top and D the bottom
covers of the hydrostatic cylinder, which are packed inside with cup collars,
keeping them perfectly water-tight. The cubic contents of the annular space
between the diameter of the ram and the internal diameter of the cylinder can
be made to any proportion, so that the fleeting back of the ram can be accom-
plished at any required velocity. E, E, the head of the press, on which the
cylinder A is fastened, passing up through a hole in the centre. F, F, are the
columns which connect the head and foot of the press together (the foot not
shown). G is a cross head fastened on to the bottom of the ram B by means
of the bolt H. I and I are two "spuds," which are fastened into recesses in
the follower J, J, by means of the two bolts K, K. When the cotters L, L, are
passed through the spuds, the connection of the cross head G and follower J is
complete; or another method of forming another connection between the cross
head and follower is shewn in Fig. 2*, where the spuds have a "ratchet tooth "
on their sides, marked a', a', a¹, and "polls" or "ratchet catches," b', b¹, on
each side of the spuds, which play or radiate on a pin fastened into the
sockets c', cast on to the cross head, so that when the points of the polls ΟΙ
"rachet" "catches" are in gear, the connection will be as complete as with
the cotters before described. Either of these methods will do equally well, the
latter having the advantage of the former as the disconnection takes place
naturally by the drawing up. of the cross head and ram, and the "catches" or
"polls" slipping past each notch; and when, on the return stroke of the ram,
they catch into their notches again, the water being admitted into the cylinder
through the pipe M, the follower and ram is passed down equal to the whole
stroke of the cylinder. The two catches N and O are released from the racks
P and Q on the outer edges of the spuds, and the ram in the cylinder, with its
cross head, is brought up to its original position by reversing the water through
the pipe M¹ from the top side to the bottom side of the piston, and is ready
for another down stroke, effecting, by repeated strokes in this way, any length
of traverse for the purposes of pressing, compressing, or the lifting, lowering,
or conveying of heavy weights.
"
My second improvement in presses is shewn in Sheet 2, Figs. 1 and 2,
and relates to the platforms in connection with the sliding kegs or tubs and
followers, with their discharging holes. A, the head of the press; B, the
bottom; C, C, the columns on which the platforms D and E slide; F, the
hydrostatic cylinder; G, the ram; H and H¹, the kegs or tubs to hold the
material to be pressed; H and H³ are the positions of the kegs or tubs for
discharging the pressed cake through the holes J, J', in the platforms. When
the kegs are discharged they are passed half-way on the platform and there

page_text: filled, when they are passed back under the followers K and K¹, and as the
ram raises the platforın raises also, the followers enter the kegs or tubs, and
the liquid is pressed from the feculent-matter.
Fig. 2 Sheet 2, represent the method of putting the kegs or tubs together
by staves and hoops.. A, A,. are staves with joints between each radiating
from a common centre; B, the hoop-shrunk on to hold the staves together.
The slots C, C, C, are planed off the staves before they are put together,
which makes (when the cylinder is bored out) a complete series of slots and
grooves for the liquid to pass down to the bottom, and run off the platform
through the lips or spouts D, the great feature being to work the kegs in filling
and discharging them without lifting, superseding the bag press, especially for
colonial use.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I would remark that 1 do not confine myself to
the precise details so long as the main features of the machinery. herein
described are maintained; what I claim as of my Invention is,―
Firstly, the arrangements and combinations of hydrostatic cylinder, ram,
cross head, and spuds, with racks and catches or cotters, to effect the objects
herein specified in Chapters 1 and 2, and shewn in the Drawings annexed,
Sheet 1, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Secondly, the adaptation of racks and gearing, or screws and gearing, in
connection with the spuds and cylinder, as fully described in Chapter 1.
Thirdly, the apparatus described in Chapter 3, and shewn in Sheet 2, Figs.
1 and 2, for expressing feculent matter containing liquids, and in discharging
the same without lifting the tubs or kegs.
In witness whereof, I, the said Paul Rapsey Hodge, háve hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
PAUL R. HODGE. (L.S.)