AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING PAPER BAGS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John Gedge
and Son, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR
MANUFACTURING PAPER BAGS."-A communication from abroad by Theodore
Marie Rabatté. of 39. Faubourg Saint Martin Paris France
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Edward Gedge at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 25th June 1864, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of No. 11, Wellington
Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE
FOR MANUFACTURING PAPER BAGS," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant
unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent
for the same, and have made solemn declaration that the same is a com-
munication to me from abroad by Theodore Marie Rabatté, of 39, Faubourg
Saint Martin, Paris, France.)
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Gedge, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
which the same is to be performed:-
The machine the subject of this Invention is intended to cut, fold, and

page_text: paste paper bags, and by its combination permits the manufacture of a large
number of bags in very little time, for when the first bag is cut out it
advances on to the machine while a second is being cut out in its turn, during
which time the first one pastes, folds, and piles, always followed in its journey
by those which have been cut after it.
This machine and its combination will be best understood by reference to
the Sheet of Drawing hereunto annexed, and forming part of this Complete
Specification, Figure 1 being a longitudinal section through the centre of the
machine, Figure 2 a plan view, Figure 3 shewing the manner in which is
effected the folding of the edges to be pasted, and Figure 4 a section of the
guide serving to fold the sides one on the other. The general operation is
effected by the difference of adherences which exists between the caoutchouc
forming the endless cloths and the metallic plates which cover the paper
during its journey.
The apparatus is mounted on a cast-iron framing a, hollowed out in the
middle to receive the mechanism. At one of the ends and outside this framing
is placed a carriage b, carrying the roller d, intended to furnish paper to the
distributor c. This carriage may slide on a railway so as to permit the easy
replacing of the rollers during the working. The band of paper leaving the
roller d, and previously cut according to the breadth of bag required, passes
on to the distributor c. This latter is placed on a frame f, which lets down
and is hinged to the framing a. In front of the distributor is a stretching
roller f¹, which brings the paper in the direction of the blades. Between the
blades h and the roller f¹ is another roller e, the movement of which is inter-
mittent. This intermittent motion is produced by a discj fixed on the axle
of the roller e, and furnished with pins on its circumference. These pins come
butting on a slide-bar piece p, sliding on the axle of the roller e; the piece p
is jointed at its other end to the balance lever q, which is actuated by a rod o, o¹,
and follows the movement of this latter. The result is that the slide bar p
at a certain moment, by means of a plate p¹ fitted to it, stops one of the pins
of the discj, and thereby causes the stoppage of this latter. The roller e, on
the axle of which is mounted the disc j, finding itself thus
rotation, the paper undergoes a tension between the bits of the knife h and
the roller, which facilitates the cutting of the paper by the toothed blade.
The stoppage of the paper at the moment of division is very important as
regards regularity of cut. The paper, after having passed over the roller e,
then passes between the knife h, forming shears in the matrix i, where (the
matrix) is notched. The toothed shape given to the blades offers a great
advantage, inasmuch that this blade presents a consecutive series of angular
arrested in its

page_text: cutters which cut the paper in a straight line with great facility and without
any roughness. To keep the paper stretched during its journey on the
rollers e, f, to the frameƒ is fixed a counterweight, which thus exercises a
constant pressure on the paper. The cut paper, as shewn Figure 5 of the
Drawing, engages itself, the part a, b, being forward between an endless
band g and a fixed plate or form of steel plate K, perfectly polished and
strengthened by a longitudinal rib. The endless band g is of caoutchouc, so
as to obtain a perfect adhesion to the band of paper. The lower edges c and d
(Figure 5) on each side the bag already slit are seized by the two first folding
pallets m, m¹, under which they pass. A come-and-go motion, which I
will now describe, regulates the function of all the folding parts. Motion is
communicated to the apparatus by the shaft A, carrying, firstly, the transmission
pulley P, the fly V, and the cams B, B'. These latter in their rotation act
on the balance levers Q, Q', jointed to the framing a. These balance levers
are united to two rods o, o', held by guides r, r¹, in which they slide with
gentle friction. The opposite end of the rods o, o¹, is jointed to two other
balance levers q, q', which work the knife h. Spiral springs placed on the
rods o, o¹, at x, y, recall them forwards as soon as the bossage or projection of
the cams B, B', is passed, which gives an intermittent come-and-go motion of
the rods for each revolution of the driving shaft. (The springs marked A", B",
do not exist in this improved machine and should not exist, being indicated
on the Drawing in error.) This established, I will now resume the journey
of the paper.
I have said that the edges of each side of the bag had been
seized beneath the two folding plates m, m'. The plunging movement of the
plates m, m', which is necessary to the folding, is obtained by a lever 8, s',
the extremity of which is notched as shewn on the Drawing. A small friction
roller g, fixed on the rod o, o¹, slides during the come-and-go motion of this
latter on the beveled part of the lever s, 8, and causes this lever, which
commands the pieces D, D¹, mounted on the same shaft, to rise or fall.
These pieces D, D¹, have the great advantage of permitting the regulation of
the motion. This, joined to the advance and recoil motion of the said plates
m, m', effects the folding of the ends intended to be pasted or gummed to
form the bag. The paper thus folded continues its journey, passing under
the folders m, m³, and the brush L, which receives the paste from the roller G,
which dips in a vat or trough H, filled with paste. This brush L deposits the
paste on one of the lateral edges of the band of paper. As the weight of the
pasted part would force the fold of the paper to fall on the bag itself, a small
blade is arranged so as to uphold the folds of the paper during its passage in
the hollowed part of the forming plates. After the pasting or gumming the

page_text: paper continues its journey under the metal plate, which conducts it into the
helicoidal wooden guide I. This latter, by its shape, lifts the two sides of the
bag, which in its journey forward thus closes itself completely (see Figure 4).
One of the sides of the guide is less inclined, to permit one side of the bag to
pass under the other. The bag thus formed slides in the guide I and arrives
at the pressing plate M, and at this point ends the steel plate K. The com-
pressive action which flattens the bag is obtained simply by the plate M and
the endless band g. There now remains to make the last fold, the bottom
one, and to paste it on to the bag itself. For this purpose the bag, on leaving
the plate M, meets a new folding plate N, which works in the same manner
as those m, m¹. The paper, by reason of the pressure of the folding plates,
licks with its edge the wheel T placed under the vat or trough R, full of paste,
and this wheel T thus deposits its paste on this edge. This paste, in the
come-and-go motion of the rods o, o, deposits itself on the last edge of the
bag which is to be pasted. The edge which forms the bottom of the bag
being thus prepared is folded on to the bag by the folder N, and the bag is
finished. In consequence of the great rapidity with which the bags are
manufactured the apparatus is completed by a horizontal board of the breadth
of the bags, but of any suitable length; this board is furnished with lateral
ledges about the of an inch in height. An endless cloth passing over two
rollers r, placed at the two ends of this board, completely envelopes it, and
receives a continuous motion by the end of a ratchet wheel X, governed, as
indicated in the Drawing, by the balance lever Q, and consequently by the
rod o, o¹. The finished bags, as they leave the machine, partially superpose
or pile above each other (a1, Fig. 2) upon the endless cloth of which mention
has just been made, and are drawn by it to the end of the board, where they
are removed by a child. Inside each trough is a sheet-iron plate, which a
press screw applies more or less against the paste-distributing roller, in order
to increase or lessen the quantity of paste taken by this latter. The endless
band intended to carry on the bags will be in preference of materials com-
bined with an intermediary fabric, in order to prevent too great a stretching
of the said band. Near the middle of the framing is a cast-iron upright with
slide Y, the object of which is to permit the height of the cylinder G¹ to be
regulated, and consequently the keeping at a sufficient degree of tension the
endless caoutchouc band which carry forward the paper which is to pass
through all the manipulations necessary to its formation into a
cylinders act as roller to the endless band of caoutchouc.
bag. The
To sum up, this Invention consists in a machine for cutting, folding, and
pasting or gumming paper bags, the main characteristics of which are,-

page_text: Firstly, continuity in the manufacture and simultaneous performance of its
various functions.
Secondly, adhesion of the paper on the endless band of caoutchouc, to
facilitate its being drawn under the form, made of steel plate or other polished
and non-adherent material.
Thirdly, separation of the sheet of paper during its journey and its cutting
according to the width of bag.
Fourthly, the combination of parts for the folding and pasting the whole
simultaneously and according to the position which each bag occupies on the
machine.
Fifthly, the form under which travels the bag, and without which the
cohesion of the endless band cannot act with any efficiency.
Sixthly, the paper bags, by superposing or piling at their exit with the
pasted parts upwards, have the advantage of drying nearly instantaneously in
their passage to the stove. The movement of the endless cloth which carries
away the piled bags is simply a powerful agent in facilitating the drying.
Seventhly, the general arrangement of the several parts of the apparatus.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the means by
which the same is carried into practical effect, I would here observe that I do
not confine myself to the precise arrangement, shape, materials, and dimensions
of the several parts constituting this improved machine, as modifications may
be made therein without departure from the characteristics above set forth,
and that I claim the exclusive use of the improved machine for manu-
facturing paper bags above described and illustrated on the annexed Sheet of
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
W. E. GEDGE. (LS.)