Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Nov., 1886
Complete Left, 2nd Aug., 1887
Complete Accepted, 4th Oct., 1887
I, FREDERICK WALTON of Heatham House Twickenham in the County of Middlesex
Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
My improvements relate to the manufacture of moulded articles in hard compounds
consisting principally of solidified oils, fibres, wood dust resinous and colouring
matters, dryers &c. and which when moulded into form may be hardened. Such
moulded articles are capable of being employed for various useful purposes. The
materials which I employ are cheap and by the aid of machinery I mould the articles
quickly. I am thus able to compete favorably with many descriptions of goods
which are at present made of other materials such as boxes for pills, salves, cachous,
tooth powders, ladies puff powder, pin and needle boxes, chocolate, bon bon boxes and
boxes for containing jewellery. Also I make pipe cases, playing draughts, buttons
and knife handles, blocks for electric purposes, pushes for electric bells, and insulators
for electric telegraph poles reels for cotton and other threads and various descriptions
of tool handles for mechanical and surgical work and other useful forms.
The composition that I principally employ for this purpose is as follows:-

page_text: I change the composition as above according to the elasticity required in the
different articles, and I do not confine myself exactly to these porportions as various
degrees of hardness and resistance to heat are necessary to be obtained for various
purposes. I mix this composition in heated rollers, a process well known in the india
rubber and other manufactures. I then roll it out into sheets of varying thickness
according to the purpose required and by means of a punching machine I cut this
sheet into discs about the size of the object I propose to make. In most cases I prefer
to harden these discs by heat before moulding them, the degree of heat and the time
of exposure depending upon the composition employed and the amount of hardness I
seek to obtain in each finished article.
As the heat tends to remove the adhesiveness of the compound there is no trouble
in clearing the moulds which would otherwise be a serious difficulty to successful
moulding by machinery. The hardening enables me to make the objects of softer
and more flexible material better able to resist blows. If moulded without this
preliminary process the article would not properly leave the dies or retain its form
after moulding.
For moulding cork tops and like articles the blanks (prepared beforehand) are fed
into a tube from which they are pushed one at a time in a row over a hot plate which
softens them and from which they are taken by an arm on the rocking spindle and
dropped into a mould. The arm falls back and a cam presses a slide with the top die
down into the mould maintaining the pressure during one half of a revolution.
The cam now releases the slide which rises clear of the mould by the action of a
lever and weight, A piston or moveable bottom to the mould rises almost simul-
taneously and brings with it the article moulded. A finger passes below the piston
upon the latter arriving at the top of its stroke. The piston now drops halfway
leaving the article on the finger which is then moved or tilted to deliver the article
into a shoot from which it falls into a box. The same movement of the rocking
spindle brings a hot blank from the hot plate and drops it in the mould. The piston
falls and the above actions are repeated.
In moulding small articles instead of using the cam machine I profer to use frames
consisting of top and bottom plates containing any convenient number of dies according
to the size of the articles I wish moulded.
The top dies are fitted or screwed tight into one plate and the bottom dies are fitted
loosely into the other plate. The plates are kept perfectly true with each other by
steady pins. The plastic blanks (prepared beforehand) are heated and put into the
moulds, the top plates are then put on and the frames conveyed to a screw or hydraulic
press and put under considerable pressure, until the material is set. The pressure is
then relieved and the frames removed to a table and the top plates taken off the bottom
plates containing the piston dies and the moulded articles are then placed on a plate
provided with guiding ledges and pins and as the plates descend by gravity or pressure
the pins push up the piston dies and with them the moulded articles, clear of the
plate, thus allowing the moulded articles to be removed.
When I require a very hard material such as for buttons or goods where exposure
to a certain amount of heat in use is probable and when the surface requires to be polished
after moulding I bake or vulcanize the material until it is no longer soft under
considerable heat, and in moulding these articles I heat the discs by steam and some-
times I have provision for alternate heating and cooling as in cases where the objects
are large-as for example in the manufacture of powder boxes. Where I desire to
vulcanize the material for the manufacture of small objects such as buttons the mould
containing say a gross of buttons is prepared in two halves each gross having its
counterpart dies to form the back and front. A sheet of material is placed between
these dies and the two surfaces are brought closely into contact by screw or
hydraulic pressure, a dozen or more of these pairs of moulds can be piled up
together under pressure in a stove and steam admitted to vulcanize them in the
ordinary way. In the compositions to be used in this process a large amount of
dryers is used such as oxide of zinc or lime. Sometimes I combine with the other
ingredients a fourth or a fifth of india rubber where greater toughness is necessary. To

page_text: prevent the adhesion to the material to the moulds a thin sheet of tin foil can be
placed upon the metal surface as is commonly employed in the manufacture of
articles of vulcanized india rubber.
Boxes and other articles manufactured according to these processes may be
advantageously ornamented by the insertion of embossed metallic or other discs on
the top or ornamental part of the articles. These discs previously embossed having
been first dressed with an adhesive varnish inside are dropped into the dies so that
the composition becomes.moulded thereon.
When I wish to obtain a more effective appearance on the face of a button a box
or other article I make the sheets from which the discs are cut of two layers of
material, the surface being a mere veneer of finer and more costly material-(for
instance colored with expensive vermilion) and the other of coarser and cheaper
composition.
Layers of tinfoil and imitation gold leaf treated with colored lacquers may be
similarly employed with advantage to veneer the sheets.
It is advantageous sometimes to have a metal lining to boxes-say either of tinned
iron or tin--these linings can be formed first and then inserted in the dies and the
composition moulded upon them. Sometimes the boxes or other articles are
ornamented after moulding as follows-gold, silver, bronze or other powders are
applied to the surface of the boxes, which must previously have received a thin coat
of gold size or the powders can be made into a paint with some suitable varnish and
applied with a brush or other means. I propose to do this in large quantities as
follows. A considerable quantity of boxes or other articles are put into a revolving
barrel or vessel of a hemi-spherical form and a certain quantity of varnish or gold
size is put in and the whole revolved until the articles become well coated and at a
given moment of tackiness the silver or gold powder is added and the revolution
continued until the whole surfaces are silvered as required.
Where the boxes or other articles are required to have a polished surface I treat
them as follows-after moulding and when cooled they are put into a revolving
cylinder and the friction of one against the other will soon remove the arridges or
loose material which will sometimes be left in moulding-brushes revolving in this
cylinder will assist the action.
After a certain amount of polish has been given a small quantity of composition of
made as follows may be poured into the barrel in the heated state-

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Moulded Articles in Oxidized
Oil Compounds.
1, FREDERICK WALTON of Heatham House Twickenham in the County of Middlesex
Manufacturer 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 :-
My improvements relate to the manufacture of moulded articles in hard compounds
consisting principally of solidified oils, fibres wood dust resinous and colouring matters
dryers &c. and which when moulded into form may be hardened. Such moulded
articles are capable of being employed for various useful purposes. The materials
which I employ are cheap and by the aid of machinery I mould the articles quickly.
I am thus able to compete favorably with many descriptions of goods which are at
present made of other materials such as boxes for pills, salves, cachous, tooth powders,
ladies puff powder, pin and needle boxes, chocolate, bon bon boxes and boxes for
containing jewellery. Also I make pipe cases, playing draughts, buttons and knife
handles, blocks for electric purposes, pushes for electric bells and insulators for electric
telegraph poles, reels for cotton and other threads and various descriptions of tool
handles for mechanical and surgical work and other useful forms.
The composition that I principally employ for this purpose is as follows :—
200
I change the composition as above according to the elasticity required in the
different articles, and I do not confine myself exactly to these proportions as various
degrees of hardness and resistance to heat are necessary to be obtained for various
purposes. I mix this composition in heated rollers a process well known in the india 3
rubber and other manufactures. I then roll it out into sheets of varying thickness

page_text: according to the purpose required and by means of a punching machine I cut this
sheet into discs about the size of the object I propose to make. In most cases I prefer
to harden these discs by heat before moulding them, the degree of heat and the time
of exposure depending upon the composition employed and the amount of hardness I
seek to obtain in each finished article.
As the heat tends to remove the adhesiveness of the compound there is no trouble in
clearing the moulds which would otherwise be a serious difficulty to successful moulding
by machinery. The hardening enables me to make the objects of softer and more
flexible material better able to resist blows. If moulded without this preliminary
process the article would not properly leave the dies or retain its form after moulding.
For moulding cork tops and like articles the blanks (prepared beforehand) are fed
into a tube from which they are pushed one at a time in a row over a hot plate which
softens them and from which they are taken by an arm on the rocking spindle and
dropped into a mould. The arm falls back and a cam presses a slide with the top die
down into the mould maintaining the pressure during one half of a revolution.
The cam now releases the slide which rises clear of the mould by the action of a
lever and weight. A piston or moveable bottom to the mould rises almost simulta-
neously and brings with it the article moulded. A finger passes below the piston upon
the latter arriving at the top of its stroke. The piston now drops half way leaving the
article on the finger which is then moved or tilted to deliver the article into a shoot
from which it falls into a box. The same movement of the rocking spindle brings a
hot blank from the hot plate and drops it in the mould. The piston falls and the
above actions are repeated.
Figure 1 of the drawings annexed is a front elevation of this machine with some of
the parts removed. Figure 2 is a side elevation partly in section. Figure 3 is a plan
of the feeding and delivering mechanism. Figures 4 show a detail.
The body of the machine consists principally of a massive cast iron forked bracket A
with sole plate attached and mounted on a suitable cast iron frame B. The sole of the
bracket A is provided with a receptacle to receive the bottom dies screwed into a cast
iron block C, and adjusted by the screws D. The top dies are held by the square
sliding bar E working in V guides F and acted upon alternately by the cam G revolving
with the shaft H provided with suitable bearings in the forked end of the main
bracket A, and by the lever I provided with a weight J with its fulcrum at K and
affixed to the sliding bar E by the bracket and joint L, producing an intermittent
perpendicular motion of the bar E. The top of the bar E is provided with a steel
knob M to reduce the wear to a minimum, and cushioned to allow of a slight elasticity
while the pressure is on during one half of a revolution of the shaft H. The bottom
of the bar E is provided with a screw and lock nut adjustment to regulate the pressure
and adjust for wear.
The dies are fed with specially prepared blanks by a hopper and shaking board N
actuated by the crank shaft O or tubes previously filled may be attached to the tube P.
The blanks are taken from the tube P by the lever Q which receives its motion from a
cam on the revolving shaft X. The lever Q is provided with adjusting centre to give
the necessary stroke to the slide R for the various sizes of blanks. This slide pushes
the blanks in a row between guides on the top of a pivotted steam heated plate $ from
whence they are taken by an arm attached to the rocking spindle T and delivered into
the mould. When the material is moulded and the pressure removed, the article is
lifted out of the mould by the piston U attached to the rod V which receives its motion
from the cam W keyed on to the revolving shaft X. The piston U is kept in position
by the guide bracket Y the exact length of the red required being adjusted by the
screw and lock nut as shown. The article is then removed by an arm Z provided with
suitable fingers, attached to the rocking spindle T and delivered or tipped into the
shoot A from which it falls into the box 6', supported on light cast iron brackets.
The rocking spindle T receives its motion from a disc C¹ keyed on the revolving
shaft d¹ having an eccentric groove fitted with a stud and roller attached to a sliding
bar e. The bar e' is connected with the axis T by a lever and rod f¹.
The arm Z has two fingers Z¹ and Z. Z' is fixed to the arm and its office is simply

page_text: to sweep the blank thrust forward by the pusher R into the cavity of the lower die.
Z can slide along the arm and also rock or turn upon it. Z* Z* are two parallel
holes in Z they serve as guides for two rods which are fixed in a cross bar beneath Z
and this cross bar carries the stud Z³. Coiled springs on the rods press the stud
downwards and keep it in the guide slot in the fixed plate g¹. Figure 3 shows the
parts in the position they occupy whilst the article is pressed between the dies. The
arm Z with its fingers will next move to the right and then the finger Z³, as soon as
the guide slot permits, will be thrust forward along the arm by the reaction of the
spring coiled around its rearwardly projecting stem, which spring is now compressed
against a slotted abutment upon the arm Z. The forked end of the finger Z will pass
beneath the head of the piston U and the piston will next drop down leaving the article
resting on the finger. This done, the arm Z moves to the left and the finger Z¹ sweeps
into the lower die a blank which has now been thrust forward in front of this finger.
At the same time the finger Z2 carries away the article last moulded and as the arm
travels so far that the stud /³ is checked by arriving at the end of the guide slot in g¹
the finger Z turns partially around the arm Z and the article is tilted off with certainty
into the trough a¹. The arm Z finally returns to the position in which the drawing
represents it but the stud Z³ does not now follow the course by which it came for
having risen up an incline in the guide course (clearly indicated in Figures 4) and
having passed over the end of this incline and dropped into the deeper groove beyond,
the stud remains in this latter groove and the finger as the arm returns is driven back
along it and the spring behind the finger is compressed until the position represented
in Figure 3 is arrived at.
I sometimes prepare the blanks and feed them hot direct into the mould by the
following process. After sheeting the material as previously described, and allowing
it to cool and seasoning it according to my requirements, I grind the sheets into a fine
granulated powder, which I feed into a hot steam jacketted screw mixer and expressing
machine.
This machine with parts in connection therewith is shown in elevation and partly in
section by Figure 5 of the annexed drawings. A is the chamber of the mixer.
The purpose of this machine is to form the powder into a plastic mass, which is then
forced up a conducting tube or nozzle B, into suitable receptacles or moulds C placed
in a rotating disc D having an intermittent motion.
I put any convenient number of moulds in this disc, using preferably 4, 6 and 8,
and by adjusting the depth of the moulds by the screw E acting upon the piston F
I obtain the exact quantity of material to form the blank which, when moulded, will
produce the article I wish to make. By the intermittent rotary motion of the disc,
the moulds containing the hot blanks are brought beneath the tappet G; this is
actuated by a cam and lever not shown and it presses the blanks out of the moulds.on
to a plate H, from whence they are taken by the arm attached to the rocking spindle
previously described and dropped into the finishing mould.
In moulding small articles instead of using the cam machine, I prefer to use frames
consisting of top and bottom plates containing any convenient number of dies according
to the size of the articles I wish moulded.
The top dies are fitted or screwed tight into one plate and the bottom dies are fitted
loosely into the other plate. The plates are kept perfectly true with each other by
steady pins. The plastic blanks (prepared beforehand) are heated and put into the
moulds, the top plates are then put on and the frames conveyed to a screw or hydraulic
press and put under considerable pressure until the material is set. The pressure is
then relieved and the frames removed to a table and the top plates taken off the bottom
plates containing the piston dies and the moulded articles are then placed on a plate
provided with guiding ledges and pins and as the plates descend by gravity or pressure
the pins push up the piston dies and with them the moulded articles, clear of the
plate, thus allowing the moulded articles to be removed.
Figure 6 is a plan of the frames as described above. Figure 7 is a cross section.
I is the top plate and J is the bottom plate. G G are the top dies and H H are the
bottom dies, m m mark the steady pins and the holes to receive them.

page_text: Figure 8 is a plan of the discharging plate and Figure 9 is a transverse
section thereof.
KK are its guiding ledges and LL the pins which operate to raise the lower
dies H H.
When 1 require a very hard material such as for buttons or goods where exposure
to a certain amount of heat in use is probable and when the surface requires to
be polished after moulding I bake or vulcanize the material until it is no longer soft
under considerable heat, and in moulding these articles I heat the discs by steam and
sometimes I have provision for alternate heating and cooling as in cases where
the objects are large as for example in the manufacture of powder boxes.
Where I desire to vulcanize the material for the manufacture of small objects such
as buttons the mould containing say a gross of buttons is prepared in two halves each
gross having its counterpart dies to form the back and front. A sheet of material
is placed between these dies and the two surfaces are brought closely into contact by
screw or hydraulic pressure, a dozen or more of these pairs of moulds can be piled up
together under pressure in a stove and steam admitted to vulcanize them in the
ordinary way. In the compositions to be used in this process a large amount of
dryers is used such as oxide of zinc or lime. Sometimes I combine with the other
ingredients a fourth or a fifth of india rubber where greater toughness is necessary.
To prevent the adhesion of the material to the moulds a thin sheet of tin foil can be
placed upon the metal surface as is commonly employed in the manufacture of articles
of vulcanized india rubber.
Boxes and other articles manufactured according to these processes may be
advantageously ornamented by the insertion of embossed metallic or other discs on the
top or ornamental part of the articles. These discs previously embossed having been
first dressed with an adhesive varnish inside are dropped into the dies so that
the composition becomes moulded thereon.
When I wish to obtain a more effective appearance on the face of a button a box or
other article I make the sheets from which the discs are cut of two layers of material,
the surface being a mere veneer of finer and more costly material-(for instance
colored with expensive vermilion) and the other of coarser and cheaper composition.
Layers of tinfoil and imitation gold leaf treated with colored lacquers may be
similarly employed with advantage to veneer the sheets.
It is advantageous sometimes to have a metal lining to boxes-say either of tinned
iron or tin-these linings can be formed first and then inserted in the dies and
the composition moulded upon them. Sometimes the boxes or other articles are
ornamented after moulding as follows-gold, silver, bronze or other powders are
applied to the surface of the boxes, which must previously have received a thin coat of
gold size or the powders can be made into a paint with some suitable varnish
and applied with a brush or other means. propose to do this in large quantities as
follows. A considerable quantity of boxes or other articles are put into a revolving
barrel or vessel of a hemi-spherical form and a certain quantity of varnish or gold size
is put in and the whole revolved until the articles become well coated and at a given
moment of tackiness the silver or gold powder is added and the revolution continued
until the whole surfaces are silvered as required.
Where the boxes or other articles are required to have a polished surface I treat
them as follows-after moulding and when cooled they are put into a revolving
cylinder and the friction of one against the other will soon remove the arridges
or loose material which will sometimes be left in moulding-brushes revolving in this
cylinder will assist the action.
After a certain amount of polish has been given a small quantity of composition
made as follows may be poured into the barrel in the heated state.

page_text: will produce good result in some cases and sometimes if paraffin or other wax
is used in the composition its mere friction will produce a sufficiently good result.
In the manufacture of boxes for pills ointments and other drugs where contact with
the atmosphere is prejudicial to the integrity of the substances contained in them
it will be readily understood that the advantage I claim for these boxes is substantial
and where I wish to secure with still greater certainty the exclusion of the atmosphere
I cement a strip of waterproof paper around the line of junction of the top and bottom
covers so as to make them absolutely air tight.
Having now particularly 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 is
1. The manufacture of moulded articles from oxidised oil compounds substantially
as described by pressure between dies as herein set forth.
2. The manufacture of moulded articles from oxidised oil compounds substantially
as described by forming the compound into sheets hardening the same by
exposure to heat and moulding blanks cut from the sheet by pressure between
dies as herein set forth.
3. The apparatus substantially as described in respect to Figures 1 to 4 for
moulding articles from oxidised oil compounds as herein set forth.
4. The apparatus substantially as described in respect to Figures 6 and 7 for
moulding articles from oxidised oil compounds as herein set forth.
5. The method substantially as described of producing articles from oxidised
oil compound by pressing sheets of the compound between plates made in pairs with
counterpart dies and exposing the articles to heat whilst held compressed in the dies
as herein set forth.
6. The method substantially as described of producing and ornamenting articles
of oxidised oil compounds by moulding the same upon embossed metallic or other
discs as herein set forth.
7. The method substantially as described of producing and ornamenting articles of
oxidised oil compounds by preparing a sheet in two layers and moulding blanks cut
from such compound sheets by pressure between dies as herein set forth.
8. The method substantially as described of producing metal lined boxes of oxidised
oil compounds by moulding the compound in dies upon the metal lining as herein
set forth.
9. The method substantially as described of polishing articles moulded from oxidised
oil compounds by friction as herein set forth.
10. The method substantially as described of decorating articles moulded from
oxidised oil compounds by placing the same in a revolving barrel or vessel together
with varnish or cement and afterwards introducing metallic powder into the barrel
or vessel as herein set forth.
Dated this 2nd day of August 1887.