IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEETS OF PAPIER MACHE OR SUBSTANCES IN THE NATURE THEREOF
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
FREDERICK BIELEFELD, of Wellington Street North, Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, Papier Maché Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty, by Her Royal Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster the Twenty-fourth day of February,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fourteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Frederick Bielefeld, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Charles Frederick Bielefeld, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Charles Frederick Bielefeld, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF SHEETS OF PAPIER MACHE OR SUBSTANCES IN THE NATURE THEREOF;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Charles Frederick
Bielefeld, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Frederick Bielefeld, do hereby declare that the nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is
to say:-
In the manufacture of sheets of papier maché, as heretoforo practised, it
has been the practice, particularly when a considerable thickness of sheet has
been desired, to cause numerous sheets of paper to be successively pasted and
dried till the desired thickness has been obtained. Another mode which has
been practised consists of piling numerous sheets of paper, whilst still wet, as
they are delivered from the paper mould or sieve one on to the other until
the desired thickness is obtained, and then by a powerful press the water or
fluid has been pressed out, and the sheet thus obtained has been usually
dried whilst held compressed between metal plates. And when sheets of less
thickness have been desired, the required substance has been obtained at once
from pulp run on to a sieve or mould having a frame thereon of a depth
depending on the thickness of sheet desired; the sheets thus obtained being
pressed between felts to extract the fluid and afterwards dried. And when
making moulded ornaments and other articles of papier maché it has been the
practice to grind fibrous with other matters in a suitable machine, so as to
produce the same to the condition of a stiff dough or putty, and then the
same is moulded and dried, all which are well understood, and I mention the
the same in order to point out more clearly the nature and extent of my
Invention, which consists of rolling or pressing fibrous and other matters,
ground as above mentioned into the state of stiff putty or dough, into sheets,
and the treating such sheets with oil and heat, in like manner to that in which
sheets and moulded articles of papier maché made according to the means
above mentioned have heretofore been treated with oil and heat. In carry-
ing out my Invention either plat or roller presses may be employed; I prefer
to use the construction of press and apparatus which I will now proceed to
describe, but I do not confine myself thereto. I construct a rectangular table
with a toothed rack on each of its two sides; this table may be supported in
any suitable manner, so that it may be moved to-and-fro freely at the surface
speed of the pressing roller, on the axis of which are to be fixed two cog
wheels which are to take into the toothed racks at either side of the table,
and the pressing roller is to be kept pressed towards the table by weighted
levers. On to the table I place a platform of wood of a size somewhat larger
than the intended sheet of papier maché to be made thereon. Over which
platform I spread a sheet of moistened canvass or other suitable fabric, on
which I place a rectangular or other open frame of wood, so as to produce in
the open space within the frame the thickness of green or moist sheet desired.

page_text: I then place the dough or putty composition of papier maché, or substances
in the nature thereof, into the frame, taking care to fill the frame to such an
extent as to require considerable pressure to reduce it to the thickness of the sur-
rounding frame, and I place over the same another sheet of moistened canvass
or other suitable fabric, and then put the pressing roller and the table in
motion, by which the wood platform with the plastic papier maché thereon
will pass under the pressing roller; and I find it desirable to pass the same
several times under the roller. When well pressed I remove the upper
moistened fabric, and place on the upper surface of the sheet of papier
maché a flat frame or rack of wood composed of numerous bars, and I turn
the rack and sheet of papier maché and platform (on which it has been
made) over, and remove the platform and the sheet of canvass or fabric, and
in this state I leave the sheet of papier maché to dry, turning it from time to
time; and I prefer where time and season will allow of so doing, to dry by the
ordinary atmosphere in sheds, otherwise in suitably heated rooms, avoiding
applying the heat too quickly, the longer the time allowed for drying the
better, using little additional heat beyond summer heat, particularly in the
early stages of drying. When the sheets have been thus well dried, I place
them in a stove heated to about 180° Fahrenheit, till I consider that they are
heated throughout, I then remove them from the stove and place them in
boiled oil, which is kept heated to about 150° to 180° of Fahrenheit in a
suitable vessel, and I have found that about half an hour is sufficient for
sheets of one inch thick to be immersed in the oil, but this may be varied, and
they may be kept in for a longer time if the sheets are desired to take up
more oil. Sheets of a greater or less thickness will respectively be kept in
for a longer or a shorter time, and according to the degree of saturation
desired. The above is the practice pursued by me where the sheets are to be
used for the forming partitions in steam and other vessels, and for pannelling
and other works of the cabins of such vessels, or for rooms, or the parts of
railway and other carriages, and for the construction of furniture and other
structures where it is desirable that the material used should be little affected by
high or low temperatures. Having saturated the sheets with oil, I again allow
the same to dry on racks, such as above mentioned; and I prefer the drying to
take place, subject to the ordinary atmosphere, in sheds, where the season and
time will allow; or, in place thereof, I cause such sheets to be dried in rooms
heated in any suitable manner, and when they appear to be dry, in order to
ensure a perfect result, I place the sheets again into a stove heated to about
one hundred and eighty degrees of Fahrenheit, and keep them therein till they
are thoroughly dried.

page_text: I would, however, remark that in both the above processes of drying, the
time may be shortened by artificial heat gradually increased, in those cases
where time is an object in accomplishing the desired result.
The sheets thus produced may then be sawn or cut into the forms desired,
and framed together in pannels and parts, or otherwise, according to the use to
which the same is to be applied; and the surfaces may be planed and smoothed
and polished, as when working other papier maché; and may be varnished
without painting, in which case varied effects may be obtained by mixing
colors with the fibrous materials employed; or the papier maché may be
painted and ornamented in like manner to carriage painting, or otherwise.
Various compositions of fibrous with other matters may be employed in
carrying out my Invention, to which separately I make no claim. I will
however state the composition I prefer for the purpose, at the same time I
would remark that I do not confine myself thereto.
I make a paste by
boiling together eighty pounds of water, thirty-two pounds of flour, nine
pounds of alum, and one pound of copperass; with which paste I mix fifteen
pounds of rosin dissolved by heat in ten pounds of boiled oil, adding one
pound of litharge, and with these I mix and grind together about fifty-five to
sixty pounds of rag dust, which I believe to be the cheapest material, or other
suitable fibre may be employed; and I have found that papermakers half
stuff or pulp, when deprived of fluidity to the extent of its being in a stiff,
doughy, or putty like condition, may be employed. I would, however, remark
that when size is used in making the composition of fibrous with other matters,
it is better to use a hollow pressing roller, and to heat the same with steam.
If desired, these sheets of papier maché may be made as herein described,
but by leaving one or both fabrics used, when pressing, adhering to the
surface or surfaces, in place of removing them before drying, for I have found
that they continue to adhere when the sheets are finished, and become part
thereof.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
mode herein described of manufacturing sheets of papier maché, or substances
in the nature thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Frederick Bielefeld, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
CHARLES F. BIELEFELD. (L.S.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of August, in
the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Charles Frederick Bielefeld came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose..
Enrolled the Twenty-second day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.