IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CRUCIBLES AND OTHER HOLLOW ARTICLES FROM PLASTIC MATERIALS." PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Cooper, of Deptford, in the County of
Kent, Manager, and John Cotterill, of Shoreditch, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CRUCIBLES AND OTHER
HOLLOW ARTICLES FROM PLASTIC MATERIALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Cooper and
John Cotterill at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 8th December 1868.
We, GEORGE COOPER, of Deptford, in the County of Kent, Manager,
and JOHN COTTERILL, of Shoreditch, in the County of Middlesex,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CRUCIBLES AND
OTHER HOLLOW ARTICLES FROM PLASTIC MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to improve the manufacture of crucibles
and other hollow articles, and at the same time to facilitate the moulding

page_text: operation and to render unnecessary the use of skilled labour in the
manufacture. To this end we mount the mould on a table carried by a
vertical spindle, which is capable of receiving in addition to au axial
motion both a vertical and a lateral motion for the purpose of bringing
the mould up to a stationary rotating "former" which turns in bearings
on the cross bead of the machine. The mould spindle turns in bearings
on a vertical cross slide. This slide is carried by a saddle which
is made to slide vertically on guides formed by the standards of the
moulding machine. The slide carrying the mould spindle is free to be
moved horizontally by means of a traversing screw working in a bearing
fixed upon the saddle and taking into a nut fixed upon the cross slide;
this screw is fitted with a hand wheel or handle for turning it according
to the direction in which the slide is required to be moved. A vertical
motion is given to the saddle by uncans of pinions gearing into racks
fitted to the back of the slide. These pinions are keyed to a cross shaft
which also carries a hand wheel for rotating the shaft and a ratchet
wheel that engages with a click for preventing the running back of the
shaft and for sustaining the weight of the raised slide. The "former"
is intended to press the clay or other plastic material against the sides
and bottom of the mould, and to this end it is made with a profile
corresponding to the sectional line of the inner face of the article to be
moulded, but it is made of such diameter as to allow of its being readily
admitted into and withdrawn from the mould when the latter is
"centred" in the machine. Rotary motion is given to this former or
moulder (by a band passing over a pulley keyed on the spindle of the
moulder or other convenient arrangement) in order that as it presses
the clay or plastic compound against the sides of the excentrically set
mould it may not scrape the surface but act upon the material with a
rolling pressure and thereby produce a close smooth surface.
When a crucible or other hollow article is to be made the plastic
material in measured quantity is placed in the revolving mould, which
is then raised up to the revolving moulder till the said moulder has
entered the material to the required depth. In this raised position the
mould is retained by the click and ratchet wheel before mentioned
which will prevent the running back of the saddle with its load of slide
and mould. The slide is then shifted to draw the mould out of centre
and enable the moulder to press the plastic material around the inner
periphery of the mould. When this is effected the mould is again

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, filed by the said George
Cooper and John Cotterill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
Sth July 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, GEORGE
COOPER, of Deptford, in the County of Kent, Manager, and JOIN
COTTERILL, of Shoreditch, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-.
cessors, give and graut unto us, the said George Cooper and John
Cotterill, Her special licence that we, the said George Cooper and
Jolin Cotterill, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said George Cooper and John Cotterill, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF CRUCIBLES AND OTHER HOLLOW ARTICLES
FROM PLASTIC MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said George Cooper and John Cotterill, our exccutors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one
of their hands and scals, 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 seven calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Cooper, on behalf of myself:
and the said John Cotterill, do hereby declare the nature of our said.
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to ba

page_text: particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and fixures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to an improved arrangement of moulding
machine whereby the manufacture of crucibles and other hollow articles
will be materially improved, while at the same time the use of skilled
labor in the manufacture will be rendered unnecessary.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shows in front elevation our
improved moulding machine, the modd, and the mould carrier or table
being in section; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, and Fig. 3 is a plan view
of the same.
A, A, are standards of cast iron connected together at top by a cross
head A'. To this cross head a bracket bearing A is made fast for tho
purpose of receiving a moulding tool B. The standards A, A, are cast
with flanges on their outer sides to form guides a, a, and they are faced
up to receive a saddle C, which is made to slide up and down the frout
face of the standards. The ends of the saddle arc related to receive tho
flanges a, a, Fig. 3, over which they slide, and by which the saddle is
steadied while the machine is in operation. This saddle O serves to
carry on its face a slide D, to which a horizontal motion is given. In
front of this slide is mounted in bracket bearings a vertical spindle E
which receives an axial motion from a belt pulley e fitted loosely on
its shaft, but secured thereto by a feather. The pulley e is embraced
by a fixed pendent bracket F (through which the spindle E passes),
and by its means is prevented from shifting vertically with the spindle.
In addition to receiving an axial motion this spindle, by reason of its
being mounted on the slide D carried by the saddle C, is capable of
being moved both vertically and laterally for the purpose to be presently
explained. On the top of the spindle E is mounted the mould carrier
or table E for receiving the plaster mould, in which the plumbago
crucible or other article required to be made is formed. The slide D
carrying the mould spindle is free to be moved horizontally in guides
formed on the face of the saddle, as shewn at Fig. 2. This motion it
receives from a traversing screw D' mounted loosely in a bearing fixed
upon the saddle C and taking into a tapped lug cast on the cross slide.
The screw D is fitted with a hand wheel or handle D' for turning it
according to the direction in which the slide is required to be moved.
A vertical motion is given to the saddle C by means of a pair of pinions

page_text: C¹ which gear into racks fitted to the back of or cast with the saddle;
these pinions are keyed to a cross shaft C which has its bearings in the
standards A, and which is fitted with a hand wheel c for rotating it.
The shaft is also provided with a ratchet wheel c¹ that engages with a
click pendent from a pin projecting from one of the standards. This
click serves to prevent the running back of the shaft, and also to sustain
the weight of the raised slide. The moulding tool or "former" B is
intended to press the clay or other plastic material against the sides
and bottom of the rotating mould, and to this end it is made with a
profile corresponding to the sectional line of the inner face of the article
to be moulded, but it is made of such diameter as to allow of its being
readily admitted into and withdrawn from the mould when the latter is
"centred" in the machine. Rotary motion may be given to this former
or moulder by a band passing over a pulley & keyed on the spindle of
the moulder or other convenient arrangement, or it may receive axial
motion by friction of contact with the clay or plastic compound in
order that as it presses against the sides of the excentrically set
mould it may not scrape the surface, but act upon the material
with a rolling pressure, and thereby produce a close smooth surface.
When a crucible or other hollow article is to be made the plastic
material in measured quantity is placed in the mould, which is then
raised up to the revolving moulder till the said moulder has entered the
material to the required depth. In this raised position the mould is
retained by the click and ratchet wheel c¹ before mentioned, which
will prevent the running back of the saddle with its load of slide and
mould. The slide D is then shifted to draw the mould out of centre and
enable the moulding tool or former to press the plastic material around
the inner periphery of the mould. When this has been effected the
mould is again "centred" and lowered clear of the former; it is then
to be removed from the machine with the moulded article contained
therein, and set aside for the article to dry preparatory to its being fired
or burnt in the usual way; another mould being fitted into the mould
carrier the moulding operation may then be repeated. It will be under-
stood that sets of moulds will require to be prepared to suit the various
shapes and capacities of the pots or crucibles intended to be made, and
corresponding moulding tools or formers must also be provided. These
formers may conveniently be constructed of wood.
From the foregoing explanation it will be readily understood that the

page_text: main difficulties hitherto attendant on pot moulding by machinery, viz.,
the vibration of the moulding tool or former, and the great friction of
the tool in or upon the rotating plastic compound are removed, first, by
making the moulding tool stationary instead of movable as heretofore,
and giving a vertical and horizontal motion to the rotating mould in
order to bring it under the action of the tool or former; and, secondly,
by making the tool or former free to rotate in its bearings.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements
in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Crucibles and other lollow Articles
from Plastic Materials," and explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, we wish it to be understood that under the plove in part
recited Letters Patent we claim, the arrangement of moulding apparatus
constructed and operating as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Cooper, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Eighth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine,