IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING THE FIBRES OF STRAW, WOOD, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, AND EXTRACTING THE GUMMY AND COLORING MATTERS THEREPROM, TO RENDER THEM FIT FOR PAPER STOCK OR FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1863

page_text: of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING THE FIBRES OF
STRAW, WOOD, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, AND EXTRACTING THE
GUMMY AND COLORING MATTERS THEREPROM, TO RENDER THEM FIT FOR PAPER
STOCK OR FOR OTHER PURPOSES."-A communication from abroad by Azel
Storrs Lyman, of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 14th July 1863, and dated the 14th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th February 1863.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING
THE FIBRES OF STRAW, WOOD, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, AND EXTRACTING
THE GUMMY AND COLORING MATTERS THEREFROM, TO RENDER THEM FIT FOR PAPER
STOCK OR FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the separation of the fibres of vegetable substances,
and the extraction of their gummy and coloring matters' by subjecting them

page_text: to the action of water brought to a temperature at which it boils under a
pressure greater than that of the atmosphere, either with or without the use of
alkalies, or of rubbing, grinding, or beating devices as an aid to maceration.
In such method of separation as heretofore practised the boiler or macerating
apparatus has been charged while at a temperature below 212° Fahrenheit, and
after closing it the charge has been heated to a temperature of from 300° to
350° Fahrenheit, at which it has been kept for a sufficient time to effect
complete maceration, and then the apparatus has been completely discharged
and recharged for a new operation. The process conducted in this way
involves the loss of all the time occupied in discharging and recharging, and in
heating up again from below 212° Fahrenheit to the much higher temperature
required, and the waste of all the heat contained in the matter at the time of
its discharge, which takes place at the high temperature above mentioned.
The object of this Invention is to obviate this loss of time and waste of heat.
The Invention consists in effecting the macerating process without inter-
ruption by supplying and discharging the material and the water necessary to
effect maceration in a continuous manner by means of a forced circulation
through the boiler or macerating apparatus, effected by a pump or other
equivalent forcing apparatus.
It also consists in saving the heat of the discharging pulp or macerated
material by retaining it under pressure after it has left the boiler or macerating
apparatus, and passing the incoming fibrous material and water in a contrary
direction to the discharge through a suitable system of pipes or passages
properly arranged in contact with or in relation to the discharge pipes or
passages.
It also consists in forcing the fibrous material through a mill or other
grinding, rubbing, or beating apparatus employed in connection with the boiler,
as an aid to maceration by the combined or simultaneous action of the pump
or forcing apparatus, by which the forced circulation through the boiler is
produced, and of the pressure due to the heat of the steam or water in the
boiler.
It also consists in the construction of the forcing pump which the forced
circulation through the boiler or macerating apparatus is produced with sharp
edged valves, so applied and operated as to cut any straw or other material
which may be left in the valve passages when the valves close, and thus ensure
the perfect closing of the valves, and prevent leakage.
It further consists in the employment for the purpose of transferring the
heat from the discharging pulp or macerated material to the incoming material
and water of double or twin pipes, or in other words pipes containing two

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said
William Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Clark, my 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING
THE FIBRES OF STRAW, WOOD, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, AND EXTRACTING
THE GUMMY AND COLORING MATTERS THEREFROM, TO RENDER THEM FIT FOR PAPER
STOCK, OR FOR OTHER PURPOSES," a com". to me from abroad by Azel Storrs
Lyman, of New York, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Clark, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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 six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Clark, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to the separation of the fibres of vegetable substances

page_text: and the extraction of their gummy and coloring matters, by subjecting them
to the action of water brought to a temperature at which it boils under a
pressure greater than that of the atmosphere, either with or without the use of
alkalies, or of rubbing, grinding, or beating devices as an aid to maceration.
In such method of separation, as heretofore practised the boiler or macerating
apparatus has been charged while at a temperature below 212° Fahrenheit
and after closing it the charge has been heated to a temperature of from 300°
to 850° Fahrenheit, at which it has been kept for a sufficient time to effect
complete maceration, and then the apparatus has been completely discharged
and recharged for a new operation. The process conducted in this way
involves the loss of all the time occupied in discharging and recharging
and in heating up again from below 212° Fahrenheit to the much higher
temperature required, and the waste of all the heat contained in the matter
at the time of its discharge which takes place at the high temperature above
mentioned.
The object of this Invention is to obviate this loss of time and waste of
heat.
The Invention consists in effecting the macerating process without
interruption by supplying and discharging the material and the water necessary
to effect maceration in a continuous manner by means of a forced circulation
through the boiler or macerating apparatus effected by a pump or other
equivalent forcing apparatus.
It also consists in saving the heat of the discharging pulp or macerated
material by retaining it under pressure after it has left the boiler or macerating
apparatus, and passing the incoming fibrous material and water in a
contrary direction to the discharge through a suitable system of pipes or
passages properly arranged in contact with or in relation to the discharge pipes
or passages.
It also consists in forcing the fibrous material through a mill or other
grinding, rubbing, or beating apparatus employed in connection with the
boiler as an aid to maceration by the combined or simultaneous action of
the pump or forcing apparatus by which the forced circulation through the
boiler is produced, and of the pressure due to the heat of the steam or water
in the boiler.
It also consists in the construction of the forcing pump by which the forced
circulation through the boiler or macerating apparatus is produced with sharp
edged valves so applied and operated as to cut any straw or other material
which may be left in the valve passages when the valves close, and thus ensure
the perfect closing of the valves and prevent leakage.

page_text: It further consists in the employment for the purpose of transferring the
heat from the discharging pulp or macerated material to the incoming material
and water of double or twin pipes, or in other words, pipes containing two
passages through which the macerated material and the incoming material
and water can flow side by side in opposite directions.
In the accompanying Drawing, forming part of this Specification, Fig. 1 is a
plan of an apparatus which embraces or illustrates the several features of this
Invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same on a somewhat
larger scale in the plane indicated by the line x, x, in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a
longitudinal vertical section of the boiler in the plane indicated by the line y, y,
in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is a central vertical section of the forcing pump and
its appendages for feeding and producing a continuous circulation through the
macerating apparatus.
Similar letters and numbers of reference indicate
corresponding parts in the several Figures. The boiler represented is composed
of a train of pipes A, A, A, arranged in three tiers, one above another, in a
suitable furnace B, B, the lower tier being arranged partly over the fire-place
C and partly in a Blue D running directly back from the fire-place, and the
two upper tiers being arranged within a return flue E above, and the connections
between the said pipes are such that there may be a circulation through the
whole series, first through one after another of the lower tier, next through one
after another of the second tier, and finally, through one after another of the
highest tier. The first pipe of the lower tier, which is the one at the extreme
left of the tier, and numbered 16 in Fig. 2, is connected by a pipe G with one
end of the train of twin or double pipes F, F, in which the incoming fibrous
material and water are heated by the outgoing pulp or macerated material
before entering the boiler, and the last pipe of the highest tier, which is the
one at the extreme right of the tier, and numbered 29 in Fig. 2, is connected
with the mill H, Fig. 1, by which the fibrous substances after having been boiled
for a sufficient length of time are ground, and from which they pass through a
pipe I to the same end of the train of twin pipes F, F, with which the pipe G
is connected, but G connects with the upper and I with the lower compartment
of the pipe F, which forms this end of the train, as shown in Fig. 2. The
other end of the train of twin or double pipes F, F, has connected with it the
feed pipe J, and the discharge pipe K, the feed pipe being connected with the
upper and the discharge pipe with the lower compartment of the pipe F, which
forms that end of the train. The train of pipes F, F, is enclosed within a
casing W of brickwork or other non-conducting material to prevent loss of
heat by radiation. The construction of these pipes is shown in Fig. 2, where
it may be seen that each has two compartments or passages. The two com-

page_text: partments have no communication at all with each other, but the several lower
compartments or passages are connected throughout the whole train, and so
are the upper compartments or passages, the upper ones being for the passage
of the incoming fibrous substances and water, and the lower ones for the
discharging pulp. The upper passages are severally numbered in Fig. 2 from
1 to 15 in the order in which the material and water passes through them,
that numbered 1 being connected with the feed pipe, and that numbered 15
with the first pipe A of the boiler train, which is numbered 16. The pipes of
the boiler train are severally numbered in Fig. 2 from 16 to 29, in the order
in which the circulation through them takes place, the last pipe numbered 29
being connected with the mill to deliver the boiled material. thereinto. The
lower passages of the twin pipes F, F, are numbered from 30 to 44, in the order
in which the pulp or macerated material circulates through them on its way to
the discharge pipe K, the pipe I coming from the mill connecting with the
passage numbered 30 and the discharge pipe K connecting with the passage
numbered 44. L, Figs. 1 and 4, is the barrel of the force pump for feeding the
straw or other fibrous material and the necessary quantity of water for producing
its circulation through the trains of pipes F, F, and A, A; M is the piston of
the said pump; N and P are the induction and eduction valves made of steel
plate fitted to slide in suitable guides against steel-faced seats a, a, and having
their lower edges bevilled to sharp edges to enable them to cut with a shear-
like action against the lower edges of the openings in the valve seats, and thus
sever any pieces of straw or other fibrous material that may be in their way as
they move downward to close. The valves pass through suitable stuffing
boxes b, b, and are connected with eccentrics or other suitable devices which
derive motion from the steam engine or other motor by which the piston
of the pump is worked. The induction pipe Q of the pump is connected with
a mixing chest in which the straw or other fibrous material, cut into pieces
of about one or two inches in length is mixed as thoroughly as possible with
water by means of suitable agitators. The eduction pipe R has applied
to it a safety valve S to prevent any injurious strain in case of any part of
the apparatus becoming choked or clogged, and beyond this safety valve
it is connected with one end of a pipe T, which is either composed of
several thicknesses of wire gauze or finely and closely perforated all over, the
said pipe being encased with a strong cylinder U, on the top of which there is an
air vessel V, and at the bottom of which there is an escape cock d; the other end
of the pipe T is connected with the feed pipe J. The pipe T serves as a strainer
to permit the escape of any excess of water that may pass through the pump
beyond what is necessary to carry the fibrous material through the macerating

page_text: apparatus and effect its maceration, and this excess of water passing into the
cylinder U is allowed to run off through the cock d which is opened whenever
it is found by the state of the pulp that an unnecessary quantity of water is
passing through the macerating apparatus. The air vessel V operates in the
same manner as the air vessel of an ordinary force pump. The mill to
which the fibrous material is delivered from the boiler may be of any kind that
may be found suitable for reducing the material to a pulpy state without
destroying its fibres, and therefore needs no particular description. The kind
of mill which I propose to use, and of which an outside view is given in Fig. 2
marked H, consists of a cylinder through which runs a central rotating shaft
to which are secured a series of discs having grooved faces operating in com-
bination with a series of stationary grooved discs secured within and to the
cylinder, the material entering the cylinder at or near one end and leaving
it at or near the other. I propose to use two or more of these mills and to
pass the material through one after another in succession, the first one having
coarser grooves in its discs, the next not so coarse, and so on to the last, whose
grooves are much finer, and which brings the pulp to the state of fineness
required. The discharge pipe R should be fitted with a loaded valve, which
may be substantially like an ordinary safety valve, by which to regulate the
discharge of the pulp and at the same time to preserve the necessary pressure
in the macerating apparatus; X represents a box containing such a valve. To
set the apparatus in operation it is first filled with water only, and after the
fire has been lighted the pump L, M, is worked very slowly, still pumping
nothing but water, until the temperature in the boiler is near 300°, when the
suction pipe is brought into communicating with the mixing chest herein-
before mentioned to pump in the mixture of water and fibrous material, and
its velocity increased to feed the mixture in a desirable quantity through the
upper passages of the pipes F, F, to the boiler, and produce a continuous and
sufficiently rapid circulation through the latter and a continuous delivery to
the mill. The pressure produced by the pump and the pressure of the steam
or hot water due to the heat in the boiler are both instrumental in forcing the
material through the mill and from the mill through the lower passages of the
several pipes F, F, to the discharge pipes, and the macerating process is per-
fectly continuous. The fire should be so regulated as to keep the contents
of the upper pipes A, A, at a temperature of about 330° Fahrenheit, and the
circulation should be so regulated by the capacity and speed of the pump and
by the area of the opening of the discharge pipe and load on the valve in the
box X, that the time occupied in passing from one end to the other of the
train of pipes A, A, constituting the boiler, will be sufficient to enable the

page_text: perfect maceration to be completed by the subsequent operation of the mill or
to be completed in the boiler itself if for any material it should not be requisite
to use a mill. The macerated material or pulp in its further transit through
the lower passages of the pipes F, F, imparts its heat both through the
partitions of the said pipes, and through the external portions of said pipes to
the incoming material and water which are passing in the opposite direction
through the upper passages of the said pipes, and in this way becomes cooler
and cooler as it approaches the discharge pipe, while the incoming material
and water become hotter and hotter. By this system of twin pipes the tempe-
rature of the discharging pulp may be reduced far below 212°, and the
temperature of the incoming material and water be raised before arriving at
the boiler to a temperature not very far below that in the first pipe A of the
train which constitutes the boiler. The discharge pulp may be further cooled
and its heat further utilized by constructing the said pipe in the form of a coil
and placing the said coil in a suitable vessel through which the water for
mixing with the straw before its advent to the suction pipe of the pump is
allowed to circulate, and in that way the waste of heat may be obviated in the
greatest practicable degree.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the
particular form of construction of the boiler herein described or to the particular
form and construction of any of the details of the apparatus, as such may be
varied or modified without departing from the principle of the Invention, but
what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the mode of making the macerating process continuous by supplying
and discharging the material and the water necessary to effect maceration by
means of a continuous forced circulation through the boiler or macerating
apparatus effected by a pump or its equivalent, substantially as herein
specified.
Secondly, saving the heat of the discharging pulp or macerated material by
retaining it under pressure after it has left the boiler or macerating apparatus
and passing the incoming fibrous material and water in a contrary direction to
the discharge through a suitable system of pipes or passages properly
arranged in relation to the discharge pipes or passages, substantially as herein
described.
Thirdly, forcing the boiled material from the boiler through a mill or other
grinding or rubbing apparatus by the combined or simultaneous action of the
pump or its equivalent through which the circulation through the boiler is

page_text: produced, and of the pressure due to the heat of the steam or water in the
boiler, substantially as herein specified.
Fourthly, the employment in the pump by which the circulation through
the boiler is produced of cutting valves, operating substantially as and for the
purpose herein set forth.
Fifthly, the employment for transferring the heat from the discharging to
the incoming material of twin or double pipes F, F, substantially as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
JAMES DAISH,
58, Chancery Lane,
London.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)