IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BEARINGS, SLIDES, AND PACKINGS FOR STEAM ENGINES AND OTHER MACHINERY
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BEARINGS, SLIDES, AND PACKINGS
FOR STEAM ENGINES AND OTHER MACHINERY."-A communication from
abroad by Eliza Dexter Murfey, of the City, County, and State
of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 25th October 1870, and dated the 16th May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the. Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th May 1870.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BEARINGS, SLIDES, AND
PACKINGS FOR STEAM ENGINES AND OTHER MACHINERY," a communication to me
from abroad by Eliza Dexter Murfey, of the City, County, and State of
New York, United States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the manufacture of bearings, steps, or
packings of paper or other pulp so condensed (either alone or combined

page_text: or mixed with other material as to form a dense, hard, tough block, which
may be cut or otherwise formed of any desired shape, and polished if
desired.
And the Invention further consists in applying hard blocks or bodies
of the said material to packing, stuffing, or journal boxes, to slides and
bearings, and in employing the same in the form of footstep bearings
for spindles, and further in a mode described hercafter of condensing the
pulp. Paper, rags, or other material which can be reduced to a pulpy
condition is finely cut, ground, or otherwise divided, macerated, and
passed through a sieve, so as to obtain a pulp in which only the finest
particles of the material are contained. After a pressure between cloths,
or after being heated in any other suitable manner to remove the greater
part of the water, the pulp is placed in a mould of any suitable form,
and is there subjected to a pressure of six or more tons, this pressure
being continued until the pulp is perfectly dry. On removing the
moulded block it will be found to be dense, tough, and, if the pressure
has been sufficient, so hard that it can be cut or turned to any suitable
form, and highly polished, in which state it is suitable for bearings for
journals, spindles, axles, slides, and packings, and for use in place of the
ordinary metallic and other packings. The material may be used with
.or without oil and plumbago, asbestos, or other material may be mixed
with the pulp before condensing the same.
In some instances the pulp is thoroughly saturated before or after
.its introduction into the mould with paraffine, and is then sub-
jected to a pressure, the moulds if necessary being heated so that the
lubricant is preserved in a liquid state until thoroughly absorbed. In
many cases it is best to add a solution or mixture of rubber, caoutchouc,
or other soluble material to the pulp, or to add both rubber and
paraffine, the product being thereby rendered more serviceable as a
bearing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th November 1870.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license
that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my
executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BEARINGS, SLIDES, AND PACKINGS FOR STEAM ENGINES AND.
OTHER MACHINERY," a communication from abroad by Eliza Dexter
Murfey, of the City, County, and State of New York, United States
of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, 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
Patcut Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry. Johnson, 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, that is to say :-
..
The said Invention consists in the manufacture of bearings, steps, or
packings of paper or other pulp so condensed (either alone or combined
or mixed with other material as to form a dense hard tough block which
may be cut or otherwise formed of any desired shape and polished if
desired.
And the Invention further consists in applying hard blocks or bodies
of the said condensed material to packing, stuffing, or journal boxes. to
slides and bearings, and in employing the same in the form of footstep
bearings for spindles, and further in a mode described hereafter of con-
densing or consolidating the pulp. Paper, rags, or other material which
can be reduced to a pulpy condition is finely cut, ground,.
,.or otherwise
divided, macerated, and passed through a sieve, so as to obtain a pulp in

page_text: which only the finest particles of the material are contained. After a
prèssure between cloths or after being treated in any other suitable manner
to remove the greater part of the water the pulp is placed in a mould of
any suitable form, and is there subjected to a pressure of six or more
tons, this pressure being continued until the pulp is perfectly dry and
condensed or consolidated to a perfectly hard state. On removing the
moulded block it will be found to be dense, tough, and if the pressure
has been sufficient, so hard that it can be cut or turned to any suitable
form and highly polished, in which state it is suitable for bearings for
journals, spindles, axles, slides, and packings, and for use in place of the
ordinary metallic and other packings for packing boxes, pistons, and
the like. The material may be used with or without oil and plumbago;
asbestos or other material may be mixed with the pulp before condensing
the same.
In some instances the pulp is thoroughly saturated before or after its
introduction into the mould with paraffine, and is then condensed or
subjected to a pressure, the moulds if necessary being heated, so that the
lubricant is preserved in a liquid state until thoroughly absorbed. In
many cases it is best to add a solution or mixture of rubber caoutchouc,
or other soluble material, to the pulp, or to add both rubber and
paraffine, the product being thereby rendered more serviceable as a
`bearing.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that I make no claim to
the application of pulp to bearings, packings, and other like purposes,
when such pulp has not been consolidated or compressed, so as to form a
hard block, but what I claim is,―
First. The construction and use of a packing or bearing consisting of
paper or other like material reduced to a pulpy condition and condensed
or consolidated in dies under such a pressure as to form a dense solid hard
block, as herein-before set forth.
Second. The construction and use of a packing consisting of pulp
combined with rubber and condensed under pressure to form a hard solid
block as herein-before set forth.
Third. The construction and use of a packing consisting of pulp con-
densed under pressure to form a hard solid block and saturated with
paraffine as herein-before described.

page_text: Fourth. The condensing of pulp combined with rubber paraffine or
other material or materials under pressure in heated moulds so as to form
a hard solid block as herein-before described.
Fifth. The application of a body of condensed and hardened
pulp, or of condensed and hardened pulp combined or mixed with
other materials to stuffing boxes, journal boxes, slides, or bearings.
Sixth. The application of a hard solid block of condensed pulp either
alone or combined with other materials, moulded or otherwise formed, as
a footstep or bearing for spindles, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to
this my Specification set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth
day of November, One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)