AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING WOOD, 'STRAW, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES TO PULP FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING WOOD,
'STRAW, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES TO PULP FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF
PAPER." A communication from abroad by John Reynolds Knox, of tho
City and State of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 13th May 1862, and dated the 5th March 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th March 1862.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD, NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING
WOOD, STRAW, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES TO PULP FOR THE MANUFACTURE
OF PAPER," to be as follows:-
Many processes have been devised and essayed for reducing wood, straw,
and other vegetable substances to the condition of pulp for the manufacture
of paper, but for various causes they have, so far as can be ascertained, failed
to produce results which would justify the substitution of these substances for
rags in the manufacture of good paper.
By the present process pulp can be obtained at a comparatively small cost,

page_text: and of a quality suitable for making good paper from wood of various kinds,
from straw, leaves, and other fibre-yielding plants.
The Invention consists in disintegrating wood and other fibre-yielding
vegetable substances for the production of paper stock by subjecting such
substances to the mechanical operation of breaking, beating, or grinding, while
it is immersed in and under the chemical influence of highly heated water, and
under the pressure due to such high temperature. The water at a high
temperature has the effect of so softening and dissolving the cementing and
other foreign substances which unite and adhere to the fibres, while the
mechanical action to which the substances are subjected readily effects the
separation of the fibres from each other and from all other substances, so that
they can be readily reduced to paper stock of a good quality.
The fragments of wood, straw, or other fibre-yielding vegetable substances
to be treated are placed in a close vessel capable of sustaining a pressure of
about from 60 to 80 pounds to the square inch. This vessel is provided with
a nozzle which is to connect it with a boiler, so that the water within the
vessel may be maintained at about the range of temperature due to the
required pressure. The said vessel is also provided with another nozzle to
which is to be attached a suitable pipe provided with a stop-cock, and leading
to a suitable receptacle for receiving the pulp after it has been prepared. The
vessel is provided with a third nozzle for the discharge of the dissolved
cementing and other foreign matter. This nozzle is to be provided on the
inside with a diaphragm of wire gauze of meshes sufficiently fine to prevent
the passage of the fibres when separated and reduced, and this wire gauze or
other otherwise formed pervious diaphragm must be of sufficient strength or
so braced as to sustain a pressure equivalent to the pressure employed in the
process. The material to be treated is introduced through a large aperture
at or near the top, and provided with a cap plate well secured when in place.
At one side of this vessel there is a shaft which passes through a stuffing box
to the outside, where it is provided with a belt wheel to receive a belt from
any suitable motor. This shaft is sustained within the vessel by a cross bar,
and it is provided with oblique vanes, which by their rotation impart the
required circulation to the water and substances under treatment in the vessel.
On the other side of the vessel there is another shaft provided with a wheel to
receive a belt from some suitable motor. This shaft passes through and
carries two sleeves each passing out through stuffing boxes. For the adjust-
ment of the grinding and beating surfaces to be presently described, each
sleeve is connected with its appropriate end of the shaft by a screw coupling,
nut, and screw, so that by turning the said coupling nuts, the sleeves or either

page_text: admit, of the free circulation of the material under treatment. At b. this
vessel is provided with a nozzle, whereby it may be connected with a boiler
suitable for heating water to a temperature corresponding with a steam
pressure ranging from about sixty to eighty pounds (more or less) to the
square inch, so that the water within this vessel may be maintained at about
the range of temperature due to such pressure. c is another nozzlo near or
at the bottom of the vessel, and to which a suitable pipe with a stop-cock is
to be attached; this pipe leads to a suitable receptacle for receiving the stock
after it has been prepared. The vessel is provided at d with another nozzle
for the discharge of the dissolved cementing and other foreign matter; this,
like the other nozzles, is to bo provided with a suitable stop-cock or valve,
under the control of the attendant. This nozzle is to be provided on the
inside with a diaphragm of wire gauze of meshes sufficiently fine to prevent
the passage of the fibres when separated and reduced, and this wire gauze; or
other pervious diaphragm must be of sufficient strength, or so braced as to.
sustain a pressure of from sixty to eighty pounds or the pressure employed in.
the process to the square inch. The material to be treated is introduced;
through a large aperture at or near the top covered with a cap plate e, (Fig. 1.);
and which must be well secured when in place.
In one part of the circuit of this vessel there is a shaft f, which passes
through a stuffing box g to the outside, where it is provided with a pulley or
belt wheel h to receive a belt from any suitable motor. This shaft is sus
tained within the vessel by a cross bar i, in which it has a bearing, and on
each side of this cross bar it carries oblique vanes j, j, which by their rotation.
impart the required circulation to the water and substances under treatment
in the vessel. On the other side of the vessel there is another shaft k, both
ends of which pass through stuffing boxes m and m², one end beyond the
stuffing box m being provided with a wheel o to receive a belt from some
suitable motor. This shaft passes through and carries two sleeves p, p, each
passing out through one of the stuffing boxes, as represented, and both being
feathered to the shaft k, so as to turn with it. And for the adjustment of the
grinding and beating surfaces, to be presently described, each sleeve is con-
nected with its appropriate end of the shaft k by what is known as a screw,
coupling nut q, q', and screw, so that by turning these coupling nuts the
sleeves, or either of them, can be adjusted longitudinally on the shaft k. On
the sleeve p there are secured arms r, with teeth on their edges, which cor-
respond with teeth on the surface of stationary arms s secured to and within
the vessel. As the water and substances under treatment circulate in the
vessel in the direction of the arrow, they are acted upon and broken between.

page_text: the teeth on the rotating arms r and the stationary arms s, and thence are
carried along into a stationary female nut t made in the form of a frustrum of
a cone, and secured to the inside of the vessel. The inner face of this nut is
formed with breakers or blades such as are used in paper engines; and within
this nut, and secured to and turning with the sleeve p, there is a male nut u
of corresponding form, whose periphery is armed with corresponding breakers
or blades. The breakers or blades on these two conical surfaces still further
reduce the substances under treatment, which then pass through the central eye
of the female nut t to the surface of a semi-spherical nut or grinder v attached
to and turning with the end of the sleeve p¹. This grinder works within
a corresponding cup-formed female nut w secured to and within the vessel,
the surfaces of the nut u and nut v being armed or formed with blades
somewhat like those on the cylinder of the well-known paper pulp machine.
As both sleeves are adjustable by turning the coupling nuts q and q', the
surfaces of the rotating nuts or grinders are caused gradually to approach the
surface of the stationary female nuts, so that the substances under treatment
are gradually reduced mechanically as the softening and dissolving effect of
the highly heated water on the cementing media progresses, until, finally, the
whole of the fibre can be reduced to a suitable condition for making paper.
As the process progresses the cock or valve at d is to be opened occasionally
to discharge the soluble matter which has been dissolved by the action of the
water at a high temperature, the pervious diaphragm preventing the escape of
fibres. The operator can readily judge by the escape of comparatively pure
water when all the foreign matter, separable by water, has been separated
from the fibres.
If desired, a small per-centage of alkalies or their carbonates may be
introduced principally with a view to facilitate the after process of bleaching.
If these be used, the best time for the introduction thereof will be after the
cementing matter has been mainly dissolved and discharged.
I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the use
of the arrangement or construction of apparatus above described, as the
process may be worked in any apparatus in which the substances to be treated
can be subjected to mechanical action for the separation and reduction of tho
fibres while they are under the chemical influence of highly heated water under
pressure, the above described apparatus being merely given as one which is
believed to be well suited for the purpose.
What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the mode
herein described of disintegrating wood and other fibre-yielding vegetable sub-
stances for the manufacture of paper stock.

page_text: of them can be adjusted longitudinally on the shaft. On the sleeve there are
secured arms with teeth on their lower edges which correspond with teeth on
the upper surface of stationary arms secured to and within the vessel. As the
water and substances under treatment circulate in the vessel, the substances
are acted upon and broken between the teeth on the rotating and stationary
arms, and thence are carried down into a stationary female nut in the form of
a frustrum. The inner face of this nut is formed with breakers or blades
such as are used in paper engines. And within this nut and secured to and
turning with the sleeve there is a male nut armed with corresponding breakers
or blades. The breakers or blades on these two conical surfaces still further
reduce the substances under treatment which then pass down through the
central eye of the female nut on to the upper surface of a semi-spherical put or
grinder attached to and turning with the upper end of the sleeve, and this
works within an inverted cup-formed female nut secured to and within the
vessel. The surfaces of the rotating nuts or grinders are adjustable and can
be made to gradually approach the surface of the stationary female nuts, so
that the substances under treatment will be gradually reduced mechanically as
the softening and dissolving effect of the highly heated water on the cementing
media progresses.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Edward Newton, 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 Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS
AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING WOOD, STRAW, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES

page_text: TO PULP, FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," being a communication from abroad,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Edward Newton, 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 Drawings hereunto annexed;
and to the letters and figures marked thercon (that is to say):-
Many processes have been devised and essayed for reducing wood, straw,
and other vegetable substances to a suitable condition for being converted into
paper stock or pulp for the manufacture of paper, but for various causes they
have, so far as can be ascertained, failed to produce results which would
justify the substitution of these substances for rags in the manufacture of good
paper.
By the present improved process, paper stock can be obtained at a com-
paratively small cost, and of a quality suitable for making good paper from
wood of various kinds from straw leaves and other fibre-yielding plants.
The Invention consists in disintegrating wood and other fibre-yielding
vegetable substances for the production of paper stock, by subjecting such
substances to the mechanical operation of breaking, beating, or grinding
while it is immersed in and under the chemical influence of bigbly beated
water, and under the pressure due to such high temperature. The water at a
high temperature has the effect of so softening and dissolving the cementing
and other foreign substances which unite and adhere to the fibres, that
the mechanical action to which the substances are subjected, while in that
condition, readily effects the separation of the fibres from each other and from
all other substances, so that they can be readily reduced to paper stock of a
good quality.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus
suitable for working the improved process; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of
the same taken in the line A, B, of Fig. 1. a is a vessel, in which the
fragments of wood, straw, or other fibre-yielding vegetable substances are.
to be operated upon. This vessel is capable of sustaining a pressure of from
sixty to eighty pounds, more or less to the square inch. It is made in the
form of an endless bent tube, the form not being material so long as it will

page_text: I claim particularly subjecting such substances to the mechanical operation
of breaking, beating, or grinding, or either, while it is under the chemical
influence of highly heated water under pressure, substantially as herein
described.
I also claim the apparatus herein shewn, or any mere modification thereof
for effecting the disintegration of the fibres in the process above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the First day of September, in the year of our
Lord, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)