IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN MANUFACTURING, COLOURING, CLEANING, POLISHING, AND FINISHING PAPER
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Leonard Cooke, of Horwich, in the County of
Lancaster, Paper Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY USED IN MANUFACTURING, COLOURING, CLEANING, POLISHING,
AND FINISHING PAPER.”
Sealed the 21st August 1875, and dated the 12th June 1875.

page_text: water from the pulp in the knotter vat, or before it goes on to the
machine wire, and after it has passed through once, and mixing the
same with the pulp before it flows into the knotter vat to assist the pulp
to pass through the strainers or knotter. The water from the pulp in
the knotter vat is strained intermittently by alternately intercepting the
flow, or by the use of an intermittent air blast; also in applying movable
or ordinary revolving strainers or bellows acting intermittently or con-
tinuously for the same purpose.
Secondly. In conveying the paper after it has been dried or partially
dried over or under a revolving cylinder or cylinders covered with
straight or spiral blades, or flat combs, or cards, or sand paper, or loose
rags or strings, or gauze wire; the rags or strings may have been
previously dipped in elastic glue, and sprinkled with pounded glass or
sand to remove or loosen any impurities or lumps that may adhere to the
paper or be fixed on either sido thereof.
Thirdly. In conveying the paper after it has been dried or partly
dried over or under a revolving brush or brushes or combs to remove
impurities and polish the surfaces; and loose sand, French chalk, or
colouring matter may be used with the brushes or rag rollers.
Fourthly. In subjecting the paper when dried or partially dried to the
action of a series of hammers or other instruments, by which blows aro
given to produce what may be called a beetling finish. Theso hammers
or instruments may be connected by springs, chains, bands, or flexible
links to a revolving or stationary cylinder; or they may be fixed at one
end and actuated by cranks or otherwise, and they act on the surfaces
of the paper when it is distended or supported on a roller or other
equivalent; or washers placed on rods of less diameter than the holes in
the washers may be used, the said rods being placed on the circumference
of a revolving cylinder. An end motion is or may be given to the
cylinders or hammers.
The above improvements are particularly beneficial when applied to
the manufacture of homogeneous, duplex, and compound papers, but
they may be applied either wholly or in part to other papers.
The improvements in machinery for cleaning and polishing can bo
applied in front of glazing or rolling callenders separate and away from
the paper-making machine.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Leonard Cooke in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LEONARD
COOKE, of Horwich, in the County of Lancaster, Paper Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Leonard Cooke, Her special
licence, that I, the said Leonard Cooke, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Leonard Cooke, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN MANUFACTURING, COLOURING, POLISHING, AND
FINISHING PAPER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Leonard Cooke, 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 Leonard Cooke, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 nature of my Invention consists,―
First. In certain improvements in or applicable to the knotter vat or
knotter of ordinary paper-making machines by circulating a portion of
L lematton not thanahu atmining the nuln mara

page_text: effectually, and without the addition of more fresh water than heretoforo
employed.
And, Secondly. In certain improved combinations of machinery for
colouring, cleaning, polishing, and finishing paper during or after the
process of drying. These operations are performed consecutively or
separately.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed. to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
3
Fig. 1 represents an ordinary knotter vat to which my improvements"
are applied. a is the mixing vat; b, the trough; 6, the delivering
spout; c, the knotter vat (which is made deeper than usual); d, the
knotter or strainer; c', the spout; c³, the tray for delivering the pulp
by the apron c to the endless wire c'. All these parts are made in the
usual manner. e is a perforated plate or sheet of woven wire or fabric
placed in the knotter vat c, either horizontally or diagonally. This plate,
or the frame of the plate or fabric, may be connected all round by india-
rubber to the vat e to make an-clastic water-tight joint, and a vibrating
motion may be communicated to the plate e by an apparatus similar to
those employed for vibrating the ordinary knotter. To the under side
of the knotter vat c are connected the taps f and g; the tap f is for
the water strained from the pulp, and the tap 5 for the admission of
compressed air. The plugs of the taps are connected by the levers f¹
and g', and the rod 9², in which are holes for varying the relative amount
of opening of the two taps. The tap f is in communication by pipes
with the ordinary back water pump, or with a pump to deliver it into
the mixing vat a.
The mode of operatlon is as follows:-On starting the machine the
pulp flows through the knotter on to the endless wire c' in the usual
manner; in the meantime the space under the plate e is being filled
with pulp water passing through the plate e, and during the filling the
valve is opened and closed slightly, or both the valves fand 9 may
each be alternately opened and closed more or less, and when about full
the rod g is moved to and fro to open and close the valves fand g
alternately. One valve is shewn shut when the other is open, the
relative positions of the valves being adjusted as the work requires ;

page_text: or the pulp water under the plate e may be made to pulsate mechanically
or by an air blast, and flow off at the syphon pipe c³ to be again taken to
the mixing vat a, or to the back water pump.
In some cases the air valve g need not be used, as by opening and
closing the valve fintermittently a flow of pulp water can be secured.
It is evident that a plunger working through the knotter vat into the
space under the plate e, or an elastic web actuated by a plunger may be
used to obtain or to assist in obtaining an intermittent action; also a
revolving or movable strainer immersed in the pulp in the knotter vat c
may be used in lieu of the plate e.
By means of these improvements the air forced through the per-
forations in the plate e, or its equivalent, clears the holes in the plato
and agititates the pulp without the liability to form strings, which are
produced by mechanical agitators. This mode of agitating the pulp
may be advantageously applied to an intermediate mixing vat, or under
the tray c³, or to the mixing vat, or to the stuff chest.
Another advantage of the apparatus above described is that it permits
the use of long fibre pulp or other pulp that requires more water, being
knotted or strained more effectually than heretofore without a continuous
addition of water, because the strained water or pulp water is only
circulated through the knotter, and does not increase the quantity of
water flowing along with the pulp on to the wire.
Fig. 2 represents my improved machinery for colouring, cleaning,
polishing, and finishing paper. h is one of the drying cylinders of an
ordinary paper-making machine. The paper on leaving this cylinder is
partially dried, and is carried over the guide roller i and under the guide
rollers and, between which is the revolving scraper j, which is
covered with metal or other blades for removing the projecting and
other impurities and grit from the under side of the paper. The paper
is kept in a state of tension by the adjustable roller ³, and the amount
of contact can be varied by regulating the position of the rollers ¿¹ and i².
The bars are for supporting the paper and preventing undue vibration
when the web is damp or fragile, and these bars can be applied to the
other scrapers and rollers herein-after described.
When the paper is damp or fragile in addition to the bars kit is
desirable to turn up the selvages to protect them from the action of the

page_text: scrapers and brushes.
On leaving the tension roller & the paper passes
under the regulating roller to a second scraper j¹; each of these
scrapers may revolve either with or against the paper.
The blades on the scrapers are placed longitudinally, diagonally, or by
preference more or less spirally, as shewn in Fig. 3, with the spirals
running in contrary directions from the middle.
The revolving brush is for removing the impurities loosened by the
scrapers j and j', or other impurities, from the under side of the paper,
which is pressed down against the brush by the adjustable roller m.
When the paper is operated upon by scrapers and brushes before it
arrives at the drying cylinder it is particularly advantageous to use the
bars, and to turn up the selvages as before described. The paper is
then taken round the return roller i, and the face of the paper is then
subjected to the action of the scrapers j and j and brush ", which arc
similar to those before described.
I wish to remark here that the under side of the paper may be beetled
in passing around the return roller n, or against any roll, bowl, or drying
cylinder to consolidate the paper without imparting any particular
finish.
In homogeneous, duplex, or compound papers, where the face is
coloured, colouring powder may be applied by a revolving brush placed
between the scraper and brush so as to rub similar colour into any
small holes left in the face by the scrapers. The paper is then taken
round the two drying cylinders and ², or more if required, to dry
or partly dry it in the usual manner. It is then subjected to the action
of the scraper j', which revolves by preference in the contrary direction
to the motion of the paper, and at such a velocity as to secure a con-
siderable vibration in the paper, which when the paper is dry enough is
of great advantage in working out the impurities. The paper then
passes to the scraper, which revolves with the paper and tends to relay
any fibres that may have been disturbed or raised by the scraper j*.
When the paper is sufficiently dry the scrapers have a polishing effect on
its surface.
Instead of the scraper ja roller covered with card fillet may be used.
The paper when operated upon by these scrapers may be distended in a
straight line, as shown at j', or made to curve, as shown at j³. The
naper then passes under the roller o, where it is subjected to the action

page_text: of the metallic scraping and cleaning brush o' made of tempered crinoline
steel wire, or other wire or metal strips. The paper then passes under
the roller p, and it is operated upon by the roller q, which is covered or
composed of woven fabrics, as shewn in Fig. 4*, or strings, leather, or
other yielding materials, or flexible chain or links, the action of which
is both cleaning and polishing; or instead of the roller q shewn I also
propose to employ the roller shown in Fig. 4, in which strips of woven
fabric, leather, or other yielding material are secured longitudinally or
spirally to a drum; in this case the strips can be sanded or covered with
powdered glass or emery. These rollers q, when used as polishing rollers,
may be used in any part of the process when the paper is sufficiently
dry, or the paper may be taken over the roller p covered with sand or
emery or powdered glass, as shewn by dotted lines, the action of which
smooths and levels the surface. The paper may then be operated upon
by the revolving brush F. The brushes 1, 1, and may be covered.
with bristles, whalebone, kitool, cane, or other suitable materials.
After brushing the paper passes around the cylinder", under which is
the centrifugal beetle 8, see Figs. 5 and 6, consisting of a circular series
of longitudinal or diagonal rods, on which are washers or cylinders with
holes of a larger diameter that the rods, so that as the beetle revolves
each longitudinal series of washers or cylinders imparts a succession of
blows to the paper. The paper may then be operated upon by a beetle 8',
the drum of which is covered with india-rubber. The rods of the washers
may be covered with india-rubber tubes to fill or partially fill the holes
of the washers.
In order to facilitate the revolving of the washers on the rods when
the india-rubber on the drum is not of sufficient thickness to interfere
with the revolving of the washers or cylinders, the india-rubber insido
the washer may be lined with ebonite or other suitable material. The
paper may then pass around the cylinder t, and be subjected to the action
of the beetles, constructed in the same way as the beetle in this
caso the beetle revolves slowly enough to allow the washers to act by
gravitation, or the beetling finish may be produced by series of stampers
that are raised and allowed to fall as the paper passes under them, but I
prefer the revolving beetles described. The paper is then taken to the
batch roller ut, or to other drying cylinders or to calender rollers. The
doctors and are used when the circumferences of the cylinders »
and are plain or smooth, or without jacket or wrapping.

page_text: When what may be called an embossed finish is required the cylinder »
or t is engraved or raised; in the latter case no doctor is required. The
endless band ³, shewn applied to the beetle 8, is for the purpose of
cleaning the washers or cylinders, and to cause them to revolve either
faster or slower, according to the amount of tension and speed of the
band.
When a finish at one side in imitation of cloth is required an endless
woven fabric, as shewn in dotted lines, is taken around the cylinder & or
other cylinder and the distending roller t.
When a dead clean finish on one side is required the cylinder & or 1
other cylinder may be made of paper, wood, or other suitable material,
or any of the cylinders may be wrapped with paper, woven fabric, or
covered with india-rubber, leather, or other suitablo material, by which
various finishes are imparted.
The above improvements are particularly beneficial when applied to 1
the manufacture of homogeneous, duplex, and compound papers, or
paper or webs of paper of two or more colours or qualities, but they may
be applied either wholly or in part to other papers.
The improvements in machinery for cleaning, polishing, beetling, and
finishing may be applied in front of glazing or calender rollers separate 2
and away from the paper-making machine or paper mill, or at any stage
before the web is cut into sheets.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described a con-
venient mode of performing the same, I wish to remark that I do not
limit myself to the details given, as the number and order of succession 2
in which the operations are performed may be varied, and for some
descriptions of paper some of the operations may be omitted, or the
various operations, except the colouring, may be performed after the
paper has passed through one or more calenders of the ordinary paper-
making machine.
I claim,―
First. The perforated plate e, or its equivalent, when placed under
the knotter or in any other convenient position between the knotter and
the endless wire of paper-making machines, as shewn and described in
reference to Fig. 1.
Secondly. Imparting an intermittent motion to the pulp water under
the knotter, and the various modes of effecting the same in the manner
3
3

page_text: Thirdly. The revolving scrapers marked ÿ when applied to the surface
of paper in a dry or partially dry state for the purposes described.
of
Thirdly. The revolving scrapers marked ; when applied to the surface
paper in a dry or partially dry state for the purposes described.
Fourthly. The revolving brushes 1, 1, and P, as shewn and described.
Fifthly. The metallic brush o' for cleaning and smoothing the paper,
as shewn and described.
Sixthly. The application of powdered colouring matter to the paper
after the operation of scraping, as described.
Seventhly. The cleaning or polishing rollers q, as shewn and described.
Eighthly. The revolving beetles 8, 81, and 82, or their equivalents,
for beetling the paper and finishing the surfaces, as shewn and
described.
And, Ninthly. The roller p, when covered with sand, emery, or
powdered glass, for smoothing and levelling the surface of the paper, as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Leonard Cooke, have hereto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of December One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-five.