FORM 2
THE PATENT ACT, (19)70
(39 of (19)70)
& THE PATENT RULES, (20)03
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See section 10 and rule (13))
1. TITLE OF INVENTION: Low-cost Hand-driven Bamboo-cored Incense-Stick Making Machine
2. APPLICANT(S)
a. IIT Gandhinagar, an Indian University, VGEC Complex, New CG Road, Chandkheda, Ahmedabad 38(24)(24)
3. PREAMBLE
The following specification describes the nature of the invention and manner which is to be performed.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a low-cost method for making incense-sticks of desired diameter and length using a semi-automated, hand-driven mechanical system which is useful for the poor having nil or erratic electricity connection.
Background of the Invention
Prior-art used manual methods for smearing the incense-dough onto the stick to make incense-stick which is arduous and time consuming. The sticks that were produced were of poor quality finish and cylindricity. The prior art design is such that there is high level of skin contact with the dough and rough wooden board causing skin-wear and associated health problems.
C202016212U — 2011-10-26, relates to an extrusion type electricity-driven automatic incense maker which comprises a bamboo stick conveying device, an incense powder extruding device and a collection device. The invention extrudes the dough as well as coats it on the bamboo sticks.
CN201208798, relates to an extrusion forming device of a joss stick preparing electric machine, comprising a barrel body and a joss stick discharger. The invention extrudes the dough as well as coats it on the bamboo sticks.
279/MUM/2013 , the operation starts with feeding the wet mixture of incense from feeder, then by rotating the spiral screw incense is conveyed through the pressure chamber in to the front nozzle then it get compressed inside the nozzle creating the increased pressure in the chamber .Then next step is to feed the small bamboo stick from stick feeding hole inside the spiral screw, let the stick come out from the front side up to 3 cm to 4 cm then again rotate the spiral screw creating the pressure on incense inside outer nozzle, now in small gap between outside & inside nozzle the stick will be present and the incense will wrap up the stick. As we continue to rotate the spiral screw, the pressurized incense will push the stick out. This process will continue till the complete stick gets wrapped by incense & come out as the agarbatti (incense stick). The invention extrudes the dough as well as coats it on the bamboo sticks.
The aforementioned prior-arts are electricity driven and cost-prohibitive for the poor workers in India. Therefore there is a need to provide a low-cost method for making incense-sticks of desired diameter and length using a semi-

automated, hand-driven mechanical system which is useful for the poor having nil or erratic electricity connection.
Objectives of the Invention
The main objective of the present invention is to produce cored incense-sticks having a central core of bamboo stick such that manual process of smearing the incense -dough onto the stick to make incense-sticks is eliminated. The incense-sticks are made of desired thickness and length and of different shapes.
Another objective of the present invention is to eliminate the labour involved in smearing the paste onto the bamboo stick which also has occupational hazards ranging from skin tear to spinal pain.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide the facility of making incense-sticks of desired thickness and length. Incense-sticks of various diameters can be made by changing the die having hole of corresponding size. Stick of various lengths can be made by feeding stick of required size and pressuring the paste until the whole stick gets extruded out.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to make incense-sticks having various cross-sectional shapes which can be achieved by using the die having the hole of desired shape. Thus, an incense-stick having triangular cross-section can be made by using die of triangular opening.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to improve the surface quality and cylindricity of the incense-sticks which is very poor if and when made manually.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to eliminate the efforts and time involved in the process of drying the manually-made incense-sticks. This is accomplished by using very small amount of water to mix the charcoal and wood powder.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide easy means for feeding the bamboo sticks into the extruder which effectively increases the feeding-rate and hence the increase in productivity.

Summary of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for making incense-sticks of desired diameter and length using a semi-automated, hand-driven machine. The said device/apparatus consists of a cylindrical container for containing the incense dough, a piston system comprising compound gear-train, an extruder comprising a nozzle and a die, a hopper for bamboo sticks and an adjustable feeder assembly for feeding the bamboo stick into the nozzle.
According to the present invention, wet mixture of finely ground charcoal, wood powder and binding agent is prepared and loaded into the cylindrical container. Straight bamboo sticks of desired length are loaded into the hopper such that the stick is in touch with the hopper's wall .The sticks drips one at a time through the slit of the hopper into a feeding platform. The feeder assembly is adjusted on the hopper's guide according to the length of the stick. The spring-loaded feeder is pulled away from its resting position and later released such that while returning it strikes a stick into the extruder. The stick is so fed into the extruder that a part-length of the stick surpasses through a die opening. Now that the stick is fed. force is applied on a ratchet hand-crank in downward direction. A toothed-rack pushes the mixture into the extruder and compresses it. A small gap is maintained between the nozzle and die so that a small area of stick is exposed to the wet mixture. The vertical component of pressure created assists in coating of mixture upon the bare area of stick while the horizontal component of pressure pushes the stick outside the die. Thus a cored-stick is co-extruded through the die opening.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Fig. 1 illustrates perspective view of the proposed invention depicting various
elements and interrelationship between them.
Fig. 2 illustrates schematic representation of the front view of the proposed
invention.
Fig. 3 illustrates left side view of the proposed invention shown with hidden
elements.
Fig. 4 illustrates perspective view of the hopper, feeding assembly as well as the
extruder of the proposed invention.
Fig. 5 illustrates enlarged left-side cut-section view of hopper.
Fig. 6 illustrates front cut-section view of the extruder and its associated
elements depicting the assembly.
Fig. 7 illustrates perspective cut-section view of the extruder and its associated

assembled elements.
Working of the Invention
As illustrated in Fig. 1-7, the present invention relates to a device/apparatus useful for making incense-sticks of desired shape and length. The major components of the present invention are a cylindrical container (18), a toothed-rack (16) with its associated gear-train and hand-crank, an extruder (19), a hopper (23) and a feeder assembly (27).
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a toothed-rack (16) is driven by a gear-train having five gears and a ratcheted hand-crank (6). The five gears together make a compound gear-train system which amplifies the input force tremendously. The ratcheted hand-crank (6) is coupled to a shaft-1 (7) through a ratchet socket. A gear-l(l) is mounted on shaft-1 (7), drives a gear-2 (2) which further drives a gear-3 (3) which are mounted on a shaft-2 (8). The gear-3 (3) is mounted on the shaft-2(8), drives a gear-4 (4) which further drives a gear-5 (5)which are mounted on a shaft-3 (9). Gear-5 (5) is mounted on shaft-3 (9) which engages with the tooth of toothed-rack (16). The ratcheted hand-crank (6) is used to drive the toothed-rack (16) in upward and downward direction by setting the pin on ratchet accordingly. When the ratcheted-crank (6) is pushed down, the toothed-rack (16) translates down vertically and translates in upward direction when ratcheted-crank (6) is pulled up. The tooth of gear-5 (5) is in mesh with the tooth of toothed-rack (16). The toothed-rack (16) is mounted vertically through the rack-holes (13) such that toothed-rack (16) remains perfectly vertical.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a T shaped extruder
(19) is mounted on a platform (14) by fasteners. The T-extruder (19) has an inlet (19a) and an outlet (19b).A cylindrical-container (18) is assembled on the T-extruder (19) such that the cylinder-container (18) is concentric with respect to the toothed-rack (16), thereby the toothed-rack (16) can translate in and out of cylindrical container (18). A nozzle (21) is inserted at the inlet (19a) and a die (20) is inserted at the outlet (19b) such that both the nozzle (21) and the die
(20) are co-axial. The nozzle (21) has conical surface (21a) at the inlet for guiding the bamboo stick (26) into the nozzle-hole (21b). The die (20) has conical-surface (20a) and an opening (20b). A tiny gap is maintained between the die-opening (20b) and nozzle-opening (21c) so that sticks (26) come in contact with the dough present in the T-extruder (19).

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a hopper (23) is essentially a triangular shaped container fastened to the I-beam flange (10) by hopper-fasteners (25). The hopper (23) is long enough to accommodate various standard lengths of the bamboo sticks (26). At the bottom of the hopper (23) a slit (23a) is provided so that the sticks drop one by one into the feeding-platform (23b). Walls (23c) are provided to contain the sticks (26) within the feeding-platform (23b). The end of the feeding-platform (23b) is such that first stick is co-axial to the nozzle (21).
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a feeder-assembly
(27) consisting of a U-shaped bracket (27a) is mounted on the hopper (23).The bracket (27a) can slide along the hopper (23) according to the length of the sticks. When shorter sticks are used the bracket (27a) is fitted nearer to the I-beam flange (10) and when longer sticks are used the bracket (27a) is fitted nearer to the other extreme end of the flange (10). Feeder-fasteners (27b) are provided to lock the bracket (27a) on the hopper (23). Pivot (27c) and Spring-holder (27d) is provided on the brackets which are normal to the surface of bracket (27a). Feeder (24) is mounted on the pivot (27c) and locked. An extension spring (28) is provided which connects the pivot (27c) and spring-holder (27d). The feeder (24) can turn about the pivot (27c) such that spring
(28) gets extended. The lower part of the feeder (24) is slender such that it is in contact with only one stick. When the feeder (24) is turned about the pivot (27c) in anti-clockwise direction and released , the feeder (24) returns back with great speed and strikes a stick into the nozzle-hole (21b). The stick is fed into the nozzle-hole (21b) such that a part-length surpasses the die-opening (20b). This portion of the stick remains uncoated by the dough.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the diameter of toothed-rack (16) is equal to the inner diameter of the cylinder-container (18) such that it acts as piston to push the dough into the T-extruder (19) without any leakage. Frustum (17) is mounted at the top end of the cylinder-container (18) so that the dough can be easily fed into cylinder-container (18). The die (20) can be replaced with another die having desired opening to obtain sticks of desired cross-sectional shape.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method for making incense-sticks of desired diameter and length steps comprises certain steps.

Firstly a user feeds the dough which is a wet mixture of finely ground charcoal powder, saw dust and binding agent into the cylindrical-container (18) with the help of a frustum (17). The gear-5 (5) pushes down the toothed-rack (16) into the cylindrical-container (18) which further pushes the dough.
Secondly bunches of bamboo stick (26) are placed into the hopper (23), such that the sticks (26) are in contact with the hopper (23) surface nearer to the I-beam flange (10). The sticks (26) will trickle down the narrow slit (23a) and slide into the feeding-platform (23b).
Thirdly, the feeding assembly (27) is adjusted on the hopper (23) such that resting position of slender part of feeder (24) is at certain distance from the end of the stick (26).The distance is equal to the length of the part of the stick which surpasses the die-opening (20b), that is, the length of stick which is not coated with the dough. The feeder (24) is turned anti-clockwise direction about the pivot (27c) extending the spring (28) and creating a load. The feeder (24) is turned till the point when the slender part is just in contact with the end of the stick (26).
Fourthly, the feeder (24) is released which turns back to its resting position while pushing the stick (26) into the nozzle-hole (21b). A part length of the stick (26) will surpasses the die-opening (20b) while the rest remain inside the nozzle (21) and partly outside the T-extruder(19). The dough fills up the space around a nozzle (21) and conical space of a die (20) eventually comes in contact with the bamboo-stick (26) at the tiny gap between nozzle (21) opening and die (19) opening. The vertical component of the pressure developed helps in coating of dough upon the stick (26). The horizontal component of pressure developed pushes the stick out of the die opening. As the coated sticks come out of die the bare stick comes in contact with the dough and gets coated at the gap. Eventually, the stick is coated and is extruded outside the extruder which is received on the plate placed below the outlet.
Lastly, stick slides down the feeding platform and rests behind the slender part.
In another embodiment the number of gears maybe between 3-7 while the number of shafts maybe between 2-4.The pressure ranges between 4.5-lOMpa.The incense sticks maybe made of other materials apart from bamboo.

It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We Claim:
1. A method for preparing incense-sticks, comprising the steps of:
a) preparing and feeding a dough into a cylindrical container (18);
b) loading a plurality of sticks (26) associated with a hopper (23), wherein said plurality of sticks (26) falls through a slit (23a) of said hopper (23) one by one in a feeding platform (23b) wherein, a feeder assembly (27) is adjusted on said hopper (23) according to the length of said plurality of sticks (26);
c) moving a feeder (24) in a pre-determined direction, turning said feeder (24) to a point wherein, the lower portion of said feeder(24) is in connection with at least one stick;
d) releasing said feeder (24) to push said plurality of sticks (26) into a nozzle hole (21b), said plurality of sticks surpasses a die opening outside an extruder, while an appropriate gap is adjusted between said nozzle (21) and said die (20); and
e) coating of said dough on said plurality of sticks (26), wherein a vertical component of predetermined pressure is exerted during coating and a horizontal component of said predetermined pressure pushes said plurality of sticks (26) out of said die opening (20b).
2.A method for preparing incense sticks as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said dough is a mixture of saw dust, charcoal powder and a binding agent.
3.A method for preparing incense sticks as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said plurality of sticks (26) are made of wood and like materials, preferably bamboo (26).
4. A method for preparing incense sticks as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said feeder (24) is loaded using a spring (28).
5. A method for preparing incense sticks as claimed in Claims 1 and 4, wherein the length of said plurality of sticks (26) placed outside the die is equal to the distance of rotation of said feeder (24) from its resting position.
6. A method for preparing incense sticks as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said method is a semi-automated, hand-driven mechanism and a low-cost method.

7.A method for preparing incense sticks as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said predetermined pressure ranges between 4.5-10Mpa, preferably 5Mpa.
8.A machine for preparing incense sticks as claimed in any of the above preceding claims using a hand-driven mechanism comprises:
a) a toothed-rack (16) driven by a gear-train system having at least one gear,
wherein said gear system has a pre-calculated gear-ratio necessary to generate
sufficient force for co-extrusion of a dough and at least one stick, a ratcheted
hand-crank (6), wherein said ratcheted hand-crank (6) is coupled to at least one
shaft and moves said toothed-rack (16) in at least one direction;
b) a hollow cylindrical container (18), wherein said hollow cylindrical
container (18) performs the function of feeding appropriate amount of said
dough with the help of a frustum (17) mounted at a first end of said cylinder-
container (18);
c) an extruder (19), wherein said extruder (19) is assembled on said cylindrical-container (18) and further comprises a nozzle (21) and a die (20), wherein said nozzle (21) performs the function of guiding at least one said stick into a nozzle-hole (21b) and said die (20);and
d) a feeder assembly (27) associated with a hopper (23), wherein said feeder assembly comprises a bracket (27a) that slides along said hopper (23) according to length of at least one said stick, a feeder fastener (27b), a pivot (27c) and a feeder (24).
9. A machine for preparing incense sticks using a hand-driven mechanism as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the number of gears ranges from 3-7.
10.A machine for preparing incense sticks using a hand-driven mechanism as claimed in Claim 8, wherein said extruder (19) is T shaped.
11 .A machine for preparing incense sticks using a hand-driven mechanism as claimed in Claim 8 and Claim 9, wherein a first gear-1 (1) is mounted on a first shaft-1 (7),a second gear-2 (2) and a third gear-3 (3) mounted on a second shaft-2 (8) and a fourth gear-4 (4) and a fifth gear-5 (5) mounted on a third shaft-3 (9).

12.A machine for preparing incense sticks using a hand-driven mechanism as claimed in Claim 8, wherein said hopper (23) is coupled to said feeder assembly (27) and performs the function of accommodating at least one said stick of different length.
13.A machine for preparing incense sticks using a hand-driven mechanism as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the number of shafts ranges from 2-4.
14.A machine for preparing incense sticks using a hand-driven mechanism as claimed in Claim 8, wherein said gap (22) is maintained to allow said stick to come in contact with said dough present in said extruder (19).
15.A machine for preparing incense sticks using a hand-driven mechanism as claimed in Claim 8, wherein diameter of said die (20) can be varied to make incense-sticks of desired thickness.
16. A machine for preparing incense sticks using a hand-driven mechanism as claimed in Claims 8 and 15, wherein the cross-sectional shape of said die (20) can be varied to make incense-sticks of desired cross-sectional shapes.
17. A machine for preparing incense sticks using a hand-driven mechanism as claimed in Claim 8, wherein said extruder (19) can house a maximum of three pair of said nozzle (21) and said die (20), to produce three desired incense-stick simultaneously.
18. A machine for preparing incense sticks using a hand-driven mechanism as claimed in Claim 8, wherein said ratcheted hand-crank (6) can be replaced with an appropriate motor to make the machine motor-driven.