This hand press is used for pressing cotton, waste paper and other material into a baling form to be tied for handling. The motion given through the hand crank is transmitted to the press by means of the toothed sector and rod connected with it at a greatly multiplied power.
[Virginia Downward & William M. Clark, 1930]

[Editor’s Note: This device is a compound mechanism comprising a gear and pinion pair constrained to drive a slider-crank mechanism. The pinion with low torque, drives the quarter circle spur gear that forms a crank arm of the slider-crank. The vertical motion of the sliding piston can be used to compress many different materials including cotton or paper for baling. The slider-crank mechanism can be found in the Reuleaux-Voigt models, for example C-2, C-4, or D-1. This model was designed by Clark after the drawing in the 1868 mechanical movements catalog of Henry T. Brown, Figure 133. FCM]

Francis Moon 2005-00-00