IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF ESPARTO GRASS, Straw, ' DISS,' OR OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Young, of Bonnyrigg, in the County of
Mid Lothian, North Britain, Consulting Engineer, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF ESPARTO GRASS, Straw,
' DISS,' OR OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER,
Sealed the 23rd December 1873, and dated the 27th September 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Young at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th September 1878..
I, JOHN YOUNG, of Bonnyrigg, in the County of Mid Lothian, North
Britain, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF ESPARTO Grass, Straw,
DISS,' OR OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND IN
THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-

page_text: process consists in passing the material through between two or more
rollers covered with an elastic material, such as worsted, folt, hair, hemp,
jute, manilla, cotton, cocoa, india-rubber, or other similar material or
fibre, so as to provide a compressible cushioned surface capable of taking
hold of and adapting itself to the irregularities in the thickness of the
fed esparto or other material. These cushioned rollers are kept together
under a heavy pressure communicated by a system of levers or other
means capable of being so adjusted that the space between the rollers
will be adapted to the quantity of material passing between them.
The action of the rollers upon the esparto, straw, diss, or other 1
material serves to split it up by compression without breaking it, and
squeezing out the dissolved matter or liquid leaves the fibres compari-
tively clean and open for the free access of the bleaching liquor.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Young in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th March 1874.
•
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
YOUNG, of Bonnyrigg, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Young, Her special license that I,
the said John Young, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Young, 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 PREPARATION
OF ESPARTO GRASS, STRAW, DISS,' OR OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS FOR
MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Young, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
THE

page_text: should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 John Young, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to the treatment of esparto grass, straw,
"diss," jute, and other similar materials employed in the manufacture
of paper subsequent to the usual boiling of these materials in a strong
solution of caustic soda, by which boiling the gums and resins natural to
them are dissolved, and their cellular tissues are acted upon so as to
render them soluble in water, and capable of being washed out in the
ordinary "breaking-in" engine.
In the process of "breaking in" the material as hitherto practised a
constant stream of water flows into the engine, which is removed at
another point, carrying with it the contained soda and all the matters
rendered soluble by its action aided by the boiling. The washing water
therefore as it issues from the "breaking-in "engine contains a large
proportion of soda in combination with the dissolved organic matters
washed from the materials being treated together with a portion of the
fibre of the said materials.
My said Invention has for its object to squeeze or press out the
soda and the dissolved organic matters from the esparto grass, straw,
"diss," jute, or other similar material after it has been boiled, and
previous to the process of washing the said materials,. whereby the
caustic soda, liquor, or lye, and the portions of the fibre which mingle
with the water, and are therewith discharged from the breaking-in
engine (in the process of washing as hitherto practised) are saved, and
at the same time the period of washing is materially abbreviated. For
this purpose an arrangement of apparatus consisting of two or more
rollers covered with an elastic material, such as worsted, felt, hair, hemp,
jute, manilla, cotton, cocoa, coir, india-rubber, or other material by
which a cushioned surface can be obtained capable of taking hold of and

page_text: adapting itself to the irregularities in the thickness of the fed esparto.
grass or other material is employed. These cushioned rollers are kept
together under a heavy pressure communicated by a system of levers,
capable of being so adjusted that the space between the rollers will be
adapted to the quantity of material passing between them.
The action of the rollers upon the esparto grass or other material
splits it up by compression without breaking it, and squeezing out the
dissolved matter, and the caustic soda liquor or lye leaves the fibre
comparatively clean and open for the free access of the bleaching liquor
in the subsequent process of washing.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner
in or under which the same is or may be used or carried out in practice,
reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended Figure 1 is a side
elevation; Figure 2 is an elevation of the end marked X, Figure 1; and
Figure 3 is a plan of the apparatus constructed in accordance with
my said Invention.
As shewn by these Figures the mechanism consists of a framing, in
which are supported two pressure or squeezing rollers A and B, placed
one above the other, and geared together by spur wheels c, d, placed on
corresponding ends of their respective shafts or axes.
The upper
roller A, which is the pressure roller, is pressed downwards upon the
roller B by the action of the compound weighted levers C and D, placed
at each side of the apparatus. The levers O have their fulcra at the
position marked H, Figure 1, and they are connected by the rods E,
provided with adjustable links F, to points approximate to the fulcra K
of the levers D. Weights W are placed on the levers D, and which may
be so adjusted as to exert any required degree of pressure. The levers C
communicate pressure to the roller A by resting on blocks O, which
slide vertically in the side frames of the apparatus, and rest upon the
axis of the said roller. The levers D act in slots e formed in the side
frames, as shewn at Figure 2, to allow of the rise and fall of the weighted
ends of the levers, so as to maintain an uniform pressure on the upper
roller A as it rises and falls to accommodate the variations in thickness
of the fed material. The rollers A and B may be of the same diameter,

page_text: or the under roller B may be slightly greater in diameter than the
roller A, and the covering of these rollers may be composed, as shewn.
in detailed transverse section at Figure 4 of the Drawings. This covering
consists of a substratum h of cocoa coir placed around the cores of the
rollers A and B. Over the cocoa coir a layer i of indiar-ubber is lapped
either in a spiral band or in the form of a jacket, and over the india-
rubber a layer of canvas is or may be placed, and this again is covered
with another layer / of cocoa coir spun into a yarn, and either used as
such, or plaited, twisted, or woven into a web or fabric.. This layer k of
cocoa coir forms the outside covering of the rollers A and B, and the
rough bristly surface thereof enables the rollers to take hold of and
draw in the esparto grass or other material to be pressed or squeezed,
whilst the elastic cushioned stratums i, aided by the moveable compound
levers C and D allow the rollers A, B, to recede or approach further
from or nearer to each other, according to the variations in the thickness
of the feed, whereby an uniform pressure is obtained.
Instead of first covering the cores of the rollers A and B with a layer
of cocoa coir, as herein-before set forth, the india-rubber stratum may
be
placed directly over the said cores, and in lieu of any of the coverings
herein-before described the rollers may be covered to any required
thickness with worsted, felt, hair, hemp, jute, manilla, cotton, or india-
rubber, either alone or in combination with each other, or with any other
suitable material by which a cushioned surface can be obtained.
•
To obviate the wear incident to the grinding of the surfaces of the
rollers A and B when the roller B is of greater diameter than the roller A
the spur wheel c is placed loosely on the axis of the roller A, and it is
provided with three or other number of detents o, as shewn at Figures 2
and 3 of the Drawings.
The detents o gear into the spur wheel N firmly keyed on the axis of
the roller A, and by this arrangement the upper roller A may move or
slip by its friction on the lower roller B, but cannot remain stationary so
as to be choked by the feed.
An endless travelling web or band L is employed to carry the esparto
grass or other material to be operated upon to the rollers A, B, which
band is passed round rollers m, n, and is caused to move with a velocity
one-fourth or thereby less than the rollers A, B. The object of this
arrangement is to cause the rollers A, B, to draw the material towards.

page_text: them, and thus take it in endwise and split it up throughout its length.
This arrangement also prevents choking of the rollers by the entrance of
"lumpy "feeding.
On Figures 1 and 3 of the Drawings a stripper M is shewn in conjunc-
tion with the apparatus to convey the esparto grass or other material
from which the dissolved organic matter and the caustic soda liquor or
lye has been expressed by the rollers A, B, away from the apparatus,
but in lieu of employing a stripper a revolving beater with cross arms or
bars so arranged that in their revolution they shall beat or strike against
the esparto grass or other material as it leaves the rollers and throw it
back in a disintegrated state may be used.
A drip plate Q, Figure 2, is employed in conjunction with the
apparatus on to which the caustic soda liquor or lye falls as it is expressed.
from the esparto grass or other material by the rollers A, B, and by
which it is directed into a tank or receptacle not shewn on the
Drawings, but which communicates with the lyc tank by pipes. The
tank or receptacle is fitted with a moveable wire cloth tray, which
catches the small particles of fibre which may pass away with the
expressed lye.
The apparatus herein-before described is driven from a prime mover
by a belt passed over the fast pulley P, on the axis of which a tooth
pinion S is formed or placed, into which a spur wheel T, situate on one
end of the axis of the lower roller B gears the spur wheel d, on the
other end of whose axis gears with the spur wheel c on the corresponding
end of the axis of the upper roller A, and thereby communicates motion
to that roller..
The band or web L is traversed by the spur wheel and pinion u and v,
the latter of which is situate on the axis of the roller m, round which
the band or web L passes, and it is rotated from a spur wheel situate on
the axis of the roller B through the intervention of the wheel u.
The stripper M is rotated by a belt passed round the pulley won the
axis of the roller.a, round which and also round the roller y the said
stripper passes.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the system, mode, or manner in or under which the 3
same is or may be used or carried out in practice, I would observe in
conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original and therefore

page_text: described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Young, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of March, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-four.
JOHN YOUNG. (L.s.)