CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MY PATENT MACHINERY FOR MAKING, CUTTING, AND PLACING PAPER
Year: 1811

page_text: TO ALL
WHOM
THESE PI
SHALL COME, I, JOHN
DICKINSON, late of Ludgate Street, in the City of London, but now of Apsley
Mills, in the Parish of King's Langley, in the County of Hertford, Stationer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-first day of May, in the
fifty-first year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said John Dickinson,
my exors, adñiors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said John Dickenson, my exors, adññiors, and
assigns, during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MY PATENT
MACHINERY FOR MAKING, CUTTING, AND PLACING PAPER;" in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso that if I, the said John Dickinson, shall
not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
which manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, and cause the same to be enrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all
liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, deter-
mine, and become void, anything therein-before contained to the contrary
thereof in any wise notwithstanding.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said provisoe, I, the said
John Dickenson, do hereby declare that the following within written descrip-
tion and Drawings hereunto annexed contain a particular description of my
said discovery or Invention, that is to say:―
My first improvement consists in a more easy method of constructing a
hollow cylinder with a pervious surface, possessing the requisites mentioned in
my former Specification, inrolled in the Chappel of the Rolls of the High
Court of Chancery, the Nineteenth day of July, in the forty-ninth year of
His Majesty King George the Third. I take a hollow brass cylinder perfectly
smooth inside and outside, and except a small portion at each end, which is
left solid, but shap'd with a bevil, as shown in Figures 3 and 6. I turn the
outside so as to resemble a screw, the threads of which are about the twelfth
part of an inch apart, and about the twenty-fourth part of an inch in depth,
having the bottom part of the threads round. After this being done, I cut
notches through the cylinder in a direction parallel with the axis, of the shape
exhibited in the longitudinal section of part of the cylinder, Figure 6. When-
ever the part of the cylinder that is left solid is shaded, and the part cut away
in making the notches is left plain, the opening form'd by the notches must be
about the tenth part of an inch wide, with a bar left between of about the
same width, and they should be cut in such manner as to leave an opening
all along the outer surface of the cylinder, while the appertures to the inner
surface are only about an inch long, as is shown in Figure 6. Figure 4 is a
transverse section of a part of the cylinder, wherein the shaded parts are
intended to represent the notches, and the plain parts the bars between them,
the notches and the bars being each continued in straight lines the whole
length of the cylinder, and the external edge of the bars is rounded, as shewn
in Figure 4. By this construction a free passage is left for the water from the
outside to the inside of the cylinder, and the bars form a support for the
external wove wire with which it is covered, while the solid parts A, A, being
connected with the bars at each end if the notches, form as it were a series of
hoops, by means of which the cylinder is made strong and capable of being
turned and prest upon without giving way. In the next place a wire of
about the twenty-fourth part of an inch diameter is let into the screw cut
round the cylinder, in the first instance, and fastened at the ends by soldering
or otherwise, so that the outer surface of the wire may stand level with
the outer edge of the bars B, B, B, B, which being rounded as above men-
tioned, the external surface of the cylinder will resemble net work, having the
surface of all the interstices rounded, so that when the cylinder is covered with
an endless webb of wove wire there will be no impediment whatever to the

page_text: free passage of water. Figure 5 is a plan of a small portion of the external
surface of the cylinder, shewing it in the different stages of construction, in
which plan the cross bars are maked B, B, B, B, and the small notches made
in them by the screw being cut round the cylinder are shaded. The longi-
tudinal notches are marked C, C, C, C, and the wire which fills up the screw
cut round the cylinder is coloured red and marked D, D, D, D. In the same
Figure the wove wire is shewn covering part of the cylinder prepared as
above, and the space at the end which is left solid, but bevil'd off, has holes
through it marked E, for the purpose of sewing down the external wove wire
to the ends of the cylinder, and it must be stretch'd and drawn tight down in
sewing it to the cylinder. The external webb may be either of laid or wove
wire. The shape and dimensions of the various parts hitherto described may
be varied; the object of the improvement is to substitute notches for holes, as
formerly described, and to make a cylinder affording more complete support
to the outer webb of wove or laid wire.
My second improvement relates to the passage of the water through and out
of the cylinder. Figures 3 and 6 shew the form of the caps, which are coloured
red and marked F.
They are intended to close the ends of the cylinder, and
have a hole in the middle through which the tube G passes, which is fixed
and formis an axis for the cylinder to turn upon. This tube has an arm
or quadrant at each end within the cylinder marked H, H, to which the
trough I is fixed by screws or otherwise at each end, and the tube arms and
trough being all firmly fixed, the cylinder in turning round will rub on the top
of the trough, which should be provided with a packing of leather or soft
substance. There is an opening in the upper part of the tube G, through
which the small pipe K, which opens a communication from the exhausted
trough I to a pair of double-acting air pumps, or an exhausted air vessel, and
the apertures, when the pipe K communicates with the exhausted trough I
and passes through the tube G, should be made air-tight by joining screws, as
shewn in the Drawing, or otherwise the aperture where the pipe K passes
out at the end of the tube G should also be made air-tight. The tube G is
intended for letting out the water from the inside of the cylinder instead of its
running out at the ends, as described in my former Specification. The pipes
L, L. L, L, are open at their lower ends, and soldered or otherwise fixed into
the tube G, which has no opening except through the cocks J, J, the orifices
of which are below the mouths of the pipes L, L, L, L, and consequently
the whole together will act as a syphon and empty the cylinder as low as the
mouths of the pipes L, I, I, I, or when the cocks J, J, are shut, the water
which is admitted into the inside of the cylinder through the surface cannot

page_text: pass out thro' any channel. The intent of this part of the apparatus is that the
water inside the cylinder may be kept to any level between the bottom of the
pipes L, L, L, L, and the height of the pulp on the outside of the cylinder by
.the cocks J, J, being more or less turned, and the pressure of the head of pulp
on the cylinder, and the quantity of water forced through it, may be adjusted
accordingly; and as the thickness of the paper depends on the quantity of
fibers of rag left on the surface of the cylinder by the water flowing thro' it,
this principle affords the means of regulating it with great precision. The
exact shape of this part of the apparatus is not material, but the tube and
cocks must be of large diameter, as the quantity of water that flows thro' in
making paper by this method is very considerable.
propose
My third improvement relates to the construction of the back or vessel
intended to contain the pulp for the supply of the cylinder. This vessel is
represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 7, with the cylinder in the inside of it;
and instead of the cylinder rubbing against it as formerly described, I
now for the cylinder to turn round in it without touching it, a motion being
communicated to the cylinder by means of the toothed wheel N, Figure 2
and 3, which works on the tube G for an axis, and has a clutch attached to
the boss which connects it with the cylinder in the longitudinal section, Figure 3.
The back is coloured blue, and it is to be observed that it hangs on one
side on the boss of the toothed wheel N, and on the other side on the tube G;
and between the joints, I put rings of leather to prevent the pulp or water
escaping, or any other well known method of packing may be used for that
purpose. There is a piece on each side of the back shewn in Figure 1, and
marked O, which pieces are fixed by screws, and are intended to take off for
the purpose of getting out the cylinder, &c. when the machine is required to
be taken to pieces. The direction in which the cylinder works is shewn in
Figures 1 and 7 by arrows, and as the water is running thro' the cylinder and
out by the cocks J, J, constantly while the machine is going, the fibres of rag
are accumulating on any given part of the surface during that period of its
revolution while it is passing from the point Q to the point R, and at the
point S, after the paper collected on the cylinder has part over the trough
and been sucked nearly dry, it is led of the cylinder by the couching roller T,
to which it will adhere. The exact shape of the back is not material, and the
method of giving motion to the cylinder may be varied, but I think that which
described in the Drawing will be found most eligible in use. The back may be
of wood or metal; I have made use of copper for the purpose. The object of
this improvement is to remove the friction between the back and the cylinder,
and to employ as large a proportion of the surface of the cylinder as possible

page_text: in the accumulation of pulp, so that the quantity necessary for the formation
of a sheet of paper may be collected upon it in a shorter space of time than
by the original method, and consequently the machine enabled to go at a
greater rate.
My fourth improvement relates to the process of couching or taking the paper
of the cylinder. In lieu of the brass roller used for that purpose, as described
in
my before-mentioned Specification, dated the Nineteenth day of July, in the
forty-ninth year of His Majesty King George the. Third, I substitute a roller
covered with several folds of woollen cloth, or constructed so that the surface is
moderately soft and elastic. It is to be observed that the caps are made so as
to fit on to the bevil at the ends of the cylinder, in such manner that their
outer surface stands exactly flush with the outer surface or periphery of the
cylinder, as shewn in Figures 3 and 6, and the couching roller T should be
made rather longer than the cylinder, and the ends of the spindle worked in a
grooved bearing, so that the roller may only be confined down upon the
cylinder by its own weight, or by suspending equal weights at each end of it
in case its own weight should not be sufficient.
My fifth improvement consists merely in the application of a well known
method of using an endless felt, which is shewn in the longitudinal elevation
of the machine, Figure 1, marked M. This felt is made to run round the
couching roller T, by the pressure of which the paper is caused to adhere to it
at the point S, and the paper is carried round with the felt, and receives two
subsequent pressures between the pressing rollers V, V, and W, W, Figures !
and 2, after which it is reeled off for cutting. I make use of two pair of press-
ing rollers, the first pair of which takes only a part of the water out, as if the
whole quantity were squeezed out at once it would require the machine to
move at a slow rate. I find it expedient to adjust the pressure if the first pair
of rollers by weights hung at each end of the spindle of the top roller, and that
of the second pair by screws.
It is to be observed that it is necessary to use a
second endless felt in order to prevent the paper sticking to the top roller V,
as is shewn by a red line in Figure 1, and marked X; both these felts may be
guided by any of the well known methods at present in use.
My sixth improvement relates to the method of feeding. The stuff properly
prepared, and diluted with water, is delivered by one or more feed pipes c, Fig. 1
and 7, into the back, in such manner that the orifice of the feed pipes is below
the surface of the stuff in the back. The vat should be furnished with a sluice
or some well known method of regulating the supply of stuff through the feed
pipes e, so as to cause as little stuff as possible to run over the waste pipes f.
In the longitudinal elevation, Figure 1, Y represents a roller, which works in

page_text: a grooved bearing in a pit under the machine, and the weight of this hanging
on the felt which goes round it answers the purpose of stretching it, or that
may be done by any common well known method. The felts should be washed
while the machine is at work, by any common well known method. The way I
have used for the bottom felt M has been to pour water upon it as it passess
round the roller Y, and press it out by the rollers Z, Z, Figure 1, before it
again comes in contact with the paper at the point S. There is no precise
standard for the dimensions of the cylinder and other parts of the machine.
I have conformed to the scale of the annexed Drawing, and I find it practi-
cable to work a machine so constructed at the rate of forty-eight feet per
minute and upwards. The motion may be applied to the machine by any con-
venient power, and by any method that causes the pressing rollers, the couch-
ing roller, and the cylinder, to move at the same rate. The way I have used
has been to communicate a motion to the spindle of the bottom pressing
roller W, Figure 1 and 2, in the direction described in the Drawing by arrows,
and upon that spindle is fixed a chain rigger a, which, by means of the
endless chain b, gives motion to the other chain rigger c, the spindle of which
turns the toothed d, and that works into the toothed wheel N, and, by means
of the clutch formerly mentioned that connects the wheel N with the cylinder,"
turns the cylinder round in the direction shewn in the Drawing; the endless
felt M being put in motion by the pressing rollers W, W, will, by its friction,
give motion to the other rollers and the upper felt X. It is to be observed
that the suction from the trough I must be continued while the machine is
at work by the action of air pumps, the construction of which is well under-
stood, and has been long practiced, but they must be worked in such manner
as not to suck too much air nor too little, and the motion adjusted accordingly.
The letters of reference to the different parts of the machine are the same in
the different Figures. The pressing rollers V, V, should be fixed in bearings,
and have an assistance in turning by some common well known method of a
slipping motion.
My seventh and last improvement consists in certain attnations of the back,
so as to enable the machine to make paper having two or more different
colours in the same sheet; for this purpose the back must be partitioned off
according to the description of the paper it is required to make; that is to
say, supposing it is intended to make paper having various stripes of different
colours down the sheet, to accomplish this it would be necessary to have
different vats or feeding vessels for each different colour of the stuff, and to
make partitions, as shewn in Figure 8, which is a section of the back. The
partitions must be contrived to divide the back into two or more parts. The
.

page_text: most convenient way of doing this will be by soldering or otherwise fixing a
thin piece of metal to the back, like the piece g, and it is made to fit nearly,
but not quite close, to the surface of the cylinder. The two pieces h, i, must be
made to take out, and be fixed after the cylinder in its place, unless the con-
struction of the back is different, so that the cylinder can be slipt in endways,
and the joints should be made as near water-tight as possible. The mode of
fixing these pieces may be either by clamps and screws or any more convenient
method. When the back has one partition in it put together in this manner,
it will be divided into two parts, and the waste pipes should be contrived so as
to keep the stuff in each part to one exact level, consequently, when the
machine is set to work, supposing the stuff' which is delivered into the back
from one vat be of one colour, and that delivered from the other vat he of a
different colour, the paper made on the two different parts of the cylinder, on
either side of the partition, will be of different colours, and in fact the same as
the stuff' which comes in contact with the surface of the cylinder; and the par-
tition must not touch the cylinder nor prevent the stuff running thro' the
surface, or there would be a division in the paper. Provided it is required to
make the paper of more than two different colours, there must be a corre-
sponding number of partitions, vats, and feed pipes, with a waste pipe between
cach partition to keep the stuff' between each to the same level, and thereby
prevent the stuff from one running into the other. Provided it is required to
to make paper having layers or strata of different colours throughout the
extent of it, the back must be provided with one or more partitions the reverse
way of the above, according to the number of different colours required. Thus,
suppose for instance it be required to make paper white externally on both
sides, with a stratum of blue in the middle, the back, Fig. 9, should be pro-
vided with a partition of four sides, soldered or otherwise fastened to the back
in such manner as to form a box or pan, open on one side only, and that the
side next the cylinder, and that there is no inlet for the supply of stuff to this
except by one or more feed pipes k, which are to let stuff into into it from a
vat contrived so that the stuff in the said vat may stand level with the stuff let
into the back from another vat. Now, supposing the machine to be supplied
with stuff and set to work, and that the stuff let into the back at large by the
feed pipes e is all white, and that let in by the feed pipes k is blue, the conse-
quence would be that, during the revolution of the cylinder, the paper formed
upon any given part of its surface during its progress from the point m to the
point n would be white, the paper subsequently formed on the same part of
its surface, and over the white paper, during its progress from the point n to
the point o, would be blue, and finally the paper formed on the same part of

page_text: its surface from the point o to the point p, where it emerges from the pulp,
would be white. It is material to adjust the levels of the different coloured
stuffs with precision, in order to prevent mixture taking place in consequence
of the small space necessarily left open between the partition and the cylinder
allowing of communication, but if the levels are exactly uniform the quick
draught of the stuff towards the cylinder will prevent mixture arising to any
extent. It would be possible to point out a great variety of methods of con-
structing partitions in the back so as to vary the method of applying this
principle, but they would be quite obvious in practice to a competent
'workman.
In witness whereof, I, the John Dickinson, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twenty-first day of November, in the year of our Lord