IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN HOT PRESSING, AND IN THE MEANS OF MANUFACTURING PARTS OF SUCH APPARATUS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Charles Pearce, of Bowling, near Bradford, in
the County of York, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS USED IN HOT PRESSING, AND IN THE MEANS OF MANUFACTURING
PARTS OF SUCH APPARATUS."
Sealed the 1st January 1858, and dated the 29th September 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Charles Pearce
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th September 1857.
I, JOHN CHARLES PEARCE, of Bowling, near Bradford, in the County of
York, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN HOT PRESSING, AND IN THE MEANS OF
MANUFACTURING PARTS OF SUCH APPARATUS," to be as follows:-
The improvements relate to hot pressing by means of press plates, to be
heated by steam or other heating media conveyed through them, and consist
in forming such press plates of two sheets of wrought iron, with grooves or
channels formed in one or both sheets, so that when the sheets are rivetted,'
welded, or otherwise fixed together, steam or other heating media employed
for heating, and water or other cooling media employed for cooling, may be
circulated through them. Also, in forming the grooves or channels in one or
both sheets by means of revolving cutters, or by planing, or turning, or other
suitable process. Also, in forming the grooves or channels by placing between

page_text: a pair of sheets, while they are red hot, a bent rod or combination of rods, or a
perforated plate of any suitable material, by preference, wrought iron or steel,
and then passing the sheets between a pair of rolls, or submitting them to the
action of a steam hammer or other suitable pressure, so as to impress the
intervening rods or perforated plate into the surfaces of the sheets. Also, in
forming the grooves or channels in the sheets while they are red hot, by the
ordinary process of rolling or by stamping, for which purpose one of the rolls
or stamping tools is provided with a series of ribs or projections suitable for
the purpose.
Also, the improvements relate to constructing the pipes or tubes employed
to convey heating or cooling media to and from press plates with folding
joints, or a combination of folding and sliding joints furnished with screw
collars, conical faces, and stuffing boxes to reduce the friction and prevent
escape of the heating or cooling media, and at the same time allow the
pipes to accomodate themselves to the necessary movement of the press
plates, without obstructing the internal passages of the pipes through which
the heating and cooling media are conveyed.
The improvements also consist in supporting or suspending press plates at
the required distances asunder, when they are relieved from the pressure of
the press, by means of bolts or hooks provided with adjustable or fixed collars
or shoulders, and fitted loosely into suitable holes or slots near the edges of
the plates, so as to admit of the required movement of such plates.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Charles Pearce, in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CHARLES PEARCE, of Bowling, near Bradford, in the County of York, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Charles Pearce, Her special licence that I, the said John
Charles Pearce, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Charles Pearce, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all

page_text: 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN HOT PRESSING, AND IN THE MEANS OF MANU-
FACTURING PARTS OF SUCH APPARATUS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said John Charles Pearce, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Charles Pearce, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The improvements relate to hot pressing by means of press plates, to be
heated by steam or other heating media conveyed through them, and consists
in forming such press plates of two sheets of wrought iron or steel, with
grooves or channels formed in one or both sheets, so that when the sheets are
rivetted, welded, or otherwise fixed together, steam or other heating media,
and water or other cooling media, may be circulated through them. Also,
in forming the grooves or channels in the sheets by means of revolving
cutters, or by planing, turning, or other suitable cutting process. Also, in
forming. the grooves or channels, by placing between a pair of sheets, while
they are red hot, a bent rod or frame of any suitable material, (by preference,
wrought iron or steel,) and then passing them between a pair of rolls, or
submitting them to the action of a steam hammer or other suitable pressure,
so as to impress the intervening rod or frame into the surfaces of the sheets.
Also, in forming the grooves or channels in the sheets by the .ordinary process
or by stamping, for which purpose one of the rolls or stamping tools is provided:
with a series of ribs or projections suitable for the purpose.
The improvements also relate to the construction of the pipes or tubes-
employed to convey heating and cooling media to and from press plates, with
folding joints or a combination of folding and sliding joints furnished with
screw collars and stuffing boxes to reduce friction and prevent the escape of
the heating and cooling media, and at the same time allow the pipes to
accomodate themselves to the necessary movement of the press plates, without
obstructing the internal passages of the pipes.
The improvements also consist in supporting or suspending press plates at

page_text: !
the required distances asunder, when they are relieved from the pressure of
the press by means of bolts, hooks, or loops, provided with adjustable or fixed
collars or shoulders, and fitted loosely into suitable holes, slots, or projections
near the edges of the plates, so as to admit of the required movement of such
plates.
And in order that my said Invention may be more readily understood, I will
proceed to describe the Drawings annexed:-
Figure 1 is a plan, and Figure 2 a longitudinal section, of one of my
It is composed
improved press plates suitable for hot pressing textile fabrics.
of two parts or sheets, a and b, which having a series of corresponding grooves
or channels c formed in their adjoining surfaces, are carefully rivetted, welded,
or otherwise fastened together at the edges, so as to be perfectly steam and
water tight all round the plate. Figure 3 is a section of a plate with the
grooves or thoroughfares formed in one of the sheets only, in which case the
adjoining sheet is thiner. The area of these thoroughfares can be varied
according to the thickness of the plates, but I have found them to answer well
when made half an inoh broad and a quarter of an inch deep. The disposition
of the thoroughfares can also be varied to suit the required distribution of
heat throughout the plate, but that represented by the dotted lines c in Figure 1
answers well in most cases. The inlet and outlet are screwed into or otherwise
fixed to the edges of the plate, as at d and e, but it is sometimes convenient to
make use of two of the handles or guides for the inlet and outlet, as at f and g.
Figures 4 and 5 shew one of my improved methods of forming the grooves
or in the sheets. a is a sliding plate or table working upon a suitable bed b;
s is a spindle working in bearings at each end; c, c, are circular cutters
fixed upon the spindle at suitable distances asunder. The sheet to be grooved
is fixed on the table beneath the spindle as shewn at e, the spindle is then
gradually screwed down until the edges of the cutters have penetrated the
surface of the sheet to the required depth, the table is then made to traverse
the necessary distance, and thus the whole of the grooves are cut at once.
The end connections of the grooves are formed in a somewhat similar manner
by a single cutter. Figures 6, 7, and 8 shew another method of grooving the
sheets; Figure 6 is a bent rod or frame of iron or steel, which is placed
between a pair of red hot sheets, as shewn in Figure 7; all three are then
passed between a pair of ordinary plate rolls, or submitted to the action of a
steam hammer or hydraulic press, so as to imbed the intervening rod or frame
into the surfaces of the sheets, as shewn in Figure 8, the bent rod is then
removed, and the sheets being welded or rivetted together as before described,
assume the section of Figure 2, or if used separately in conjunction with plain

page_text: sheets, they assume the section of Figure 3. Another method of forming the
grooves is shewn in Figures 9 and 10; in this case the sheets after being
rolled to nearly the required thickness, are passed through a pair of finishing
rolls, upon one of which a series of rils or projections are formed, corre-
sponding with the grooves to be formed in the sheets as shewn at a; a, a.
Figure 11 shews an improved arrangement of connecting pipe for conveying
the steam and water or other heating and cooling media to and from press
plates. a and b are stuffing boxes, one of which is attached to the press plate
and the other to the main supply or discharge pipe. Within these stuffing
boxes the elbow pieces c, c, are at liberty to viberate to suit the rising and
falling of the press plates. A third stuffing box e allows the pipe f to slide
inside the larger pipe g, so as to vary the distance between the fixed stuffing
boxes a and b, suitable to the movement of the press plates. In some cases
I dispense with the sliding joint e, by the employment of a third viberating
joint similar to a and b. In these joints it will be observed that the screwing
of the elbow pieces c into the ends of the stuffing boxes as shewn at s answers
all the purposes of an ordinary collar, while it materially diminishes the
frictional wear of the stuffing.
Figures 12 and 13 shew a method of suspending the press plates at the
required distances asunder, when relieved from the pressure of the press. a, a,
are two holes formed near each corner of the press plates (shewn also in
Figure 1) in each of which is a bolt, shewn at b, Figure 13, of sufficient
length to embrace two plates when separated to the greatest required distance,
as shewn at c, c, but offering no impediment to the plates being brought
nearer together, as indicated by the dotted lines at d. Instead of the screw
bolts, I sometimes employ hooks or loops shewn at a, b, c, Figure 14; these
loops may be placed upon the handles or guides shewn in Figure 1, or upon
other suitable projections provided for the purpose.
Having now 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 by
virtue of the said Letters Patent is,-
First, the construction of press plates of two parts or sheets of wrought iron
or steel, with grooves or channels cut or otherwise formed in one or both
sheets or parts, as before described.
Second, the processes of cutting, impressing, rolling, and stamping the.
grooves or channels into the sheets or parts of press plates, as before described.
Third, the combination of folding and sliding joints for the connecting pipes
of press plates, as before described.

page_text: Fourth, the construction of folding joints with screw collars and stuffing
.boxes, as before described.
And fifth, the methods of supporting or suspending press plates by means of
bolts, hooks, or loops, as before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Charles Pearce, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight.
JOHN CHARLES PEARCE. (L.S.)