IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND FOR SECURING BALES, PART OF WHICH INVENTION IS APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINERY.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Daniel Kemp West and Walter West, both of
Crown Place, Kentish Town Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND FOR SECURING BALES, PART
OF WHICH INVENTION IS APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINERY.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Daniel Kemp West
and Walter West at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 15th November 1872.
----
2.11
We, DANIEL KEMP WEST-and- WALTER WEST, both of Crown Place,
Kentish Town Road, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineers, do
hereby declare the nature of the said, Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND FOR SECURING BALES,
PART OF WHICH INVENTION IS APPLICABLE. TO- OTHER MACHINERY," to be as
follows:-
The first part of this Invention consists in apparatus for regulating
engines working hydraulic presses and other machinery, and is as

page_text: follows:-
-We control the throttle valve or other steam admission cock
or valve by the joint action of the steam or other motor fluid before
entering the motor cylinder, and that of the water or other fluid under
pressure used in actuating the hydraulic press or presses. For this
purpose a piston or plunger exposed to the pressure of the steam, and a
small ram or plunger exposed to the pressure of the water are connected
so as to act in opposite directions; as the pressure on the one or the other
gets in excess their joint action is made to work the throttle valve, and
thereby to admit or cut off the steam as required.
We prefer to connect the aforesaid hydraulic ram direct with the
throttle valve, and the aforesaid steam piston or plunger to the
hydraulic ram by lever arrangement in connection with a weight or
spring, so as to shut off the steam entirely in case of any sudden excess
of pressure. Apparatus constructed according to this part of our
Invention may also be applied to the regulating of other hydraulic or
other machinery.
In order to relieve the pressure without reducing the water way
in working valves for hydraulic presses acting under considerable
pressure, we pass a spindle connected thereto through a stuffing box
in the cap of the valve casing.
Another mode of accomplishing the same object is by connecting a
plunger or ram to the opposite end of a lever to which the valve spindle
is attached, thereby balancing the pressure. These valves may be made
with a spindle and stuffing box below as well as above the valve
seating.
Our improvements relating to hydraulic and other presses proper are
as follows:-They consist, firstly, in the mode and means for filling the
boxes of presses with the loose material to be compressed. For this
purpose we employ a traversing box divided into compartments or
divisions, each compartment containing a portion only of the whole
charge. As each successive compartment comes into position its
contents are forced down into the press box or body of the press.
In order to reduce the weight of the head and base of hydraulic
presses, while at the same time ensuring the requisite strength to these
parts, we make those portions of them which are exposed to tensile
strain of wrought iron or steel. For this purpose we carry the shaft of

page_text: the retaining irons over the body of the casting, and secure the ends
together.
In order to avoid undue pressure upon the doors and other side parts
of press boxes, we make use of springs which allow the linings of said
boxes to yield, and we thereby reduce the strain that ordinarily comes
on them.
In securing the ends of the bale ties, we make the fastenings on the
top or bottom surface of the bale where the tension is less than on the
sides, by which means we are enabled to materially reduce the size or
sectional area of tie.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Daniel Kemp West and Walter West in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 15th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, DANIEL
KEMP WEST and WALTER WEST, both of Orown Place, Kentish Town
Road, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto us, the said Daniel Kemp West and Walter
West, Her special licence that we, the said Daniel Kemp West and
Walter West, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Daniel Kemp West and Walter West, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR PRESSING COTTON AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND FOR SECURING
BALES, PART OF WHICH INVENTION IS APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINERY," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Daniel Kemp West
and Walter West, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, or one of our, or their, or one of their hands and seals,

page_text: should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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.
5
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Daniel Kemp. West and Walter
West, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked 1
thereon, that is to say :—
The first part of this Invention consists in apparatus for regulating
engines working hydraulic presses and other machinery, and is as
follows: We control the throttle valve or other steam admission cock
or valve by the joint action of the steam or other motor fluid before
entering the motor cylinder, and that of the water or other fluid under
pressure used in actuating the hydraulic press or presses. For this
purpose a piston or plunger exposed to the pressure of the steam, and a
small ram or plunger exposed to the pressure of the water, are connected
so as to act in opposite directions; as the pressure on the one or the
other gets in excess their joint action is made to work the throttle valve,
and thereby to admit or cut off the steam as required.
We prefer to connect the aforesaid hydraulic ram direct with the
throttle valve, and the aforesaid steam piston or plunger to the hydraulic
ram by lever arrangement in connection with a weight or spring, so as to
shut off the steam entirely in case of any sudden excess of pressure.
Apparatus, constructed according to this part of our Invention may
also be applied to the regulating of other hydraulic or other machinery.
In order to relieve the pressure without reducing the water way in
working valves for hydraulic presses acting under considerable pressure
we pass a spindle connected thereto through a stuffing box in the cap of
the valve casing.
"
Another mode of accomplishing the same object is by connecting a
plunger or ram to the opposite end of a lever to which the valve spindle
is attached, thereby balancing the pressure. These valves may be made
with a spindle and stuffing box below as
secting
well as above the valve

page_text: Our improvements relating to hydraulic and other presses proper are
as follows:-They consist, firstly, in the mode and means for filling the
boxes of presses with loose material to be compressed. For this
purpose we employ a traversing box divided into compartments or
divisions, each compartment containing a portion only of the whole
charge. As each successive compartment comes into position its con-
tents are forced down into the press box or body of the press.
In order to reduce the weight of the head and base of hydraulic
presses, while at the same time ensuring the requisite strength to these
parts, we make those portions of them which are exposed to tensile
strain of wrought iron or steel. For this purpose we carry the shaft of
the retaining irons over the body of the casting, and secure the ends
together.
In order to avoid undue pressure upon the doors and other side parts
of press boxes, we make use of springs which allow the linings of said
boxes to yield, and we thereby reduce the strain that ordinarily comes
on them.
In securing the ends of the bale ties we make the fastenings on the
top or bottom surface of the bale where the tension is less than on the .
sides, by which means we are enabled to materially reduce the size or
sectional area of tie.
And in order that our said Invention may be more fully understood,
we now proceed to describe the same with reference to the accompanying
Drawings.
-
Fig. 1 shews one arrangement of our apparatus for regulating engines
working hydraulic presses and other machinery. A is the steam
admission pipe from the boiler; O is a sliding valve which can partially
or entirely shut off the passage of the steam from the boiler to the
engine, and thereby check er stop the engine as required. The motion
of this valve is regulated by means of the joint action of the steam and
fluid under pressure, and is effected as follows:-The rod D which works
the valve C is carried down and connected with the plunger E which is
exposed to the pressure of the fluid, and which we will here call for
brevity's sake the "water plunger." F is another plunger or piston
working in a chamber in or in connection with the steam pipe between
the valve C and the engine, and is therefore exposed to the action of the
steam after it has passed the valve. These two plungers E and F are

page_text: .
connected by means of the lever G, being attached to it at the points H, I,
and this lever G is in turn loosely centred upon the pin L, so that any
motion of the one plunger necessitates a proportionate motion of the
other. The fulcrum pin L is attached to the pair of levers K (one of
which only is shewn in the Drawing), which are in turn centred upon
the fixed pin M, and are connected at their other end to the weighted
crank lever O, O, by means of the rods or ties N. The lever K is capable
of an upward motion about the centre M to the position shewn by the
dotted lines, carrying with it the crank lever O and the pin L, which is
guided up the slot shewn in the standard P. The full lines shew the
valve closed and the engine out of action.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-To start the engine the
starting lever G is raised, by which means the port of the valve C is
opened, and the steam is admitted to the cylinders. When this is done,
the steam plunger F is exposed to the action of the steam which tends
to force it out, and by pressing down the lever to close the valve again.
This, however, is counteracted by the upward pressure of the water
plunger E, due to the action of the engine on the fluid being pumped.
If from any cause this pressure is reduced, the steam plunger F forces
the water plunger E down until the steam is so throttled by the closing
of the valve that only a small quantity passes, and the apparatus is
brought into equilibrium. If on the other hand the resistance is great
'the water plunger E overbalances the steam plunger F, and the valve is
opened until equilibrium is again obtained. By this means the action
of the engine is regulated to varying resistances. If from any cause an
obstruction should occur which would give a greater resistance than the
engine is intended to bear the other part of the apparatus comes into
action. The lever O, O; is so weighted that the lever K will in this
case rise under the excess pressure due to this resistance, and the valve C
will be forced further up, so as to close the.port and shut off the steam
entirely, the weight being thrown up beyond the vertical, where it will
remain and keep the valve closed.
Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 shew our method of relieving the pressure without
reducing the water way in valves for hydraulic presses working under
considerable pressure, which is also applicable to other purposes.
In Figs. 2 and 3 the arrows shew the direction in which the fluid is
endeavouring to escape. The pressure in pressure pipes, arranged with

page_text: valves of this construction is between the spindle a and the valve b
(which are connected together either rigidly or loosely), and its effective
force on the valve is therefore proportionate to the difference of areas of
the valve seat and the spindle where the latter passes through the
stuffing box. By this means the pressure is reduced without obstructing
the water way.
According to the purpose for which the valve is required the spindle
may be larger, equal to, or smaller than the valve seat, and its action may
be assisted by springs or other suitable contrivance in the usual way.
Fig. 4 shews a discharge or safety valve 6 in which the pressure on
the lever c is relieved by the action of the plunger or spindle d, which is
exposed to the pressure of the fluid in the pipes or passages in the
direction of the arrows. By this arrangement a larger safety valve may.
be used and greater reliability obtained without increase in weight or
leverage.
Fig. 5 shews another arrangement of relief or safety valve, the
plunger d in this case being held down by a spring or other suitable
contrivance, not shewn in the Drawing, to a desired definite pressure,
whereby it is prevented from acting on the lever until required to relieve
the pressure on the valve when the aforesaid pressure is reached.
Figs. 6 and 7 are a side view and plan of our arrangement for filling
the boxes of presses with the loose material to be compressed. A is the
box of the press shewn in section in Fig. 6. This box may be either
attached to the press or movable. B is a traversing box divided into
compartments or divisions, each compartment containing a portion of
the material to be compressed. This traversing box B is moved forward
the length of one compartment at a time by any suitable gearing or
mechanical devices. The Drawing shews one mode of accomplishing the
desired object. As each compartment comes into position over the box
of the press the material is allowed to descend into the box or is forced
down. The traversing box is then moved forward another division, and
so on until all the compartments are emptied into the box. O is a shaft
connected with the engine or other motive power. A crank K fixed
to this shaft moves the travelling box D, and through the levers
E, E, gives a reciprocating motion to the hooks or pawls F, f, F¹, f¹.
The pawlf pushes against a projection on the under side of the traversing
box B, and its motion is so. adjusted that it moves the traversing box.

page_text: forward the length of one compartment with each revolution of the
crank K. This action continues until the hook F¹ comes into gear with
the same or similar projections on the traversing box, whereupon tho
said hook F¹ carries on the operation until the traversing box arrives at
the end of its motion.
To move the traversing box B back or in the reverse direction the
lever G is thrown over by hand, and moves the cam levers H, H³, which
force the pawl ƒ and the hook F" downwards out of gear, and allow the
hook F and pawl f¹ to rise into gear. These act similarly to the others
and traverse the box in the opposite direction. As each compartment
of the traversing box comes into position over the press box the material
contained in that compartment is if necessary forced out of the com-
partment into the press box by means of the plate I which is actuated
in the following manner:-Attached to the shaft C are two arms or
cranks K, K³, one of which K also serves for the moving of the
traversing box as above-mentioned. The cam frame L can be moved
into gear with either of these arms by means of the cams M, M, each of
which is actuated by a stud on the traversing box B. As the arms K, K,
revolve, one of them, whichever is in gear with the cam frame L, gives it
a vertical motion, drawing down by this means the plate I which rises
again by means of a weight not shewn in the Drawing. As soon as the
plate I is in its lowest position, having forced in its passage the material
from one compartment of the traversing box into the press box A, the
gridiron O, O, is drawn forward,under the traversing box, its projecting
ends passing through slots or grooves left in the plate I over the
material in the press box. Motion is given to this gridiron by means of
the rod P, the hook on which is struck by whichever of the arms K
or K¹ is in gear. This rod is retained by the pawl R catching into the
pawl tooth W, and prevents the return of the gridiron until the weighted
lever S is struck by the revolving arm K or K¹ and releases the pawl R,
when the gridiron is drawn back by a weight or other suitable means not
shewn in the Drawing.
When the traversing box commences its motion it releases the hook T,
and allows the weighted lever U, U, to raise the gridiron, and a corres-
ponding part of the floor on the opposite side of the press box, the
rollers X, X, supporting the bottom of the same. Only the framework
of the floor and gridiron is shewn in the Drawing. A corresponding
hook at the other end again lowers the gridiron to its original position.

page_text: To remove the tensile strain from the castings to the wrought iron in
the heads and bases of presses we carry the ends of the retaining frons
over the body of these castings and connect them together.
Fig. 8 shews one method of connecting the ends together when passed
over the head and base of the machine. The casting are carefully fitted
to the curved surface of the retaining irons (for which purpose filling-in
keys or wedges may be used).
In Figs. 9 and 10 two methods are shewn of our application of springs
to allow the linings of the boxes of presses to yield, and thereby avoid
undue pressure on them. The springs may be of any form or
material.
In Fig. 9 a shews an end door so fitted in the position it assumes
before being subjected to pressure; 6 is a similar door under pressure;
c, c, are quoit springs which we find answer the purpose, but other
springs may be employed as aforesaid.
Fig. 10 shew another arrangement which allows the entire face of the
box to yield equally.
Fig. 11 shews a bale tie in which the fastening is made at the top or
bottom of the bale. We prefer making the fastening at about the
position shewn in the Fig., so as not to project beyond the crown of the
bale, and thereby injure the measurement.
And having thus fully described the nature of our improvements in
apparatus for pressing cotton and other materials, and for securing bales,
part of which is applicable to other machinery, we declare that we
claim,―
Firstly. The combination of a piston or ram actuated by the motor
fluid itself, and a piston or ram actuated by the water or other fluid
under pressure, so that the pressure on the latter is a measure of the
varying resistance to the motor, for the purpose of thereby regulating
the valve which admits the fluid to the motor, all substantially as herein-
before set forth.
Secondly. The herein-described modes and means for relieving the
pressure without reducing the area of the valve passages for fluids under
high pressure, all substantially as herein-before set forth.
Thirdly. The employment of traversing boxes divided into compart-
ments which are filled, and their contents successively discharged into