IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER BAGS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Brown, of Handsworth, in the County of
Stafford, Commercial Traveller, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER BAGS."
Sealed the 1st February 1856, and dated the 25th August 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Brown at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
August 1855.
I, WILLIAM BROWN, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, Commercial
Traveller, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER BAGS " to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists, firstly, in pasting together the edges of a con-
tinuous web or sheet of paper, so as to form thereby a flattened paper tube,
which, by being cut transversely into suitable lengths, may be used for making
paper bags, as herein-after described. The continuous sheet of paper is fed
on to a table, where by external and internal guages the width of the fold is
determined, and the folding effected. One edge of the paper is covered with
paste supplied by a circular brush, and after the said pasted edge is folded
down upon the unpasted edge the folded paper passes under a roller, whereby
the two edges are pressed, and made to adhere to one another. The paper is
cut transversely into suitable lengths.

page_text: My Invention consists, secondly, in forming the lengths of paper tubes into
bags in the following manner; namely, I take a strip of pasted paper and lay
one end of the tube thereon, and fold the other half of the said strip down
upon the upper face of the said tube; one end of the said tube is thus closed,
and a bag thereby formed.
My Invention consists, thirdly, in making paper bags by closing the lengths
of paper tubes in the following manner:-I place one of the flattened tubes in
an upright support, enough of the said tube being left projecting to form the
bottom by folding. I then apply the thumbs to the opposite edges of the
flattened tube, forcing the said edges inwards, until the upper edges of the tube
meet and overlap, the overlapping edges having been previously pasted. The
said edges adhere, and the bottom of the bag now forms a square situated in
a horizontal plane. I now fold over those two corners of the said square
situated in a line perpendicular to the plane of the bag, the said corners being
made to touch or nearly touch each other. The said corners are pasted down
upon the bottom, and the bag is completed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd February 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BROWN, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, Commercial Traveller, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Brown, Her special licence that I, the said William Brown,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Brown, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF PAPER BAGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Brown, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and

page_text: 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 Brown, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My said Invention consists, firstly, in pasting together the edges of a con-
tinuous web or sheet of paper, so as to form thereby a flattened paper tube,
which, by being cut transversely into suitable lengths, may be used for making
paper bags, as herein-after described.
Figure 1 represents in plan, and Figure 2 in side elevation, the machine
a is a drum or roller
whereby I carry this part of my Invention into effect.
on which the paper is wound; the said paper on passing from the drum a is
drawn under the guide roller b and over the guide roller c. Between the
guide rollers b and c circular knives d, e, are situated, and between which the
sheet of paper passes, and is divided into five or other parallel strips or bands,
of a size suitable when folded and their edges pasted to be made into bags of
the required size. The several strips into which the sheet of paper is divided
are marked respectively 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 in Figure 1. The drum a, rollers
b, c, and knives d, e, are supported by and work in the frame f. In order to
bring the edges of the strips to overlap and form a continuous tube of paper,
the said strips are made to pass through a series of guides or guages, situated
upon the table g, and marked respectively h, i, k, l, m, in Figures 1 and 2.
The said guides or guages are shown on a larger scale in Figure 3, and are
severally marked with the same letters as in Figures 1 and 2. The said guides
or guages consist of pieces of wood or metal, in which grooves are made,
marked n in the several Figures. The paper on passing through the several
guides or guages in the order in which they stand in Figure 3, becomes at
last folded into the Figure represented by the groove n in the guage m,
Figure 3, and the opposed faces only require to be pasted and brought into
contact to complete the paper tube. The guides or guages h, i, k, may be
made in two pieces, as represented in Figure 4, and by sliding the two pieces
nearer to or further from each other they may be made to suit different widths
of paper. In order to make the paper pass easily into the first guage or guide,
a concave bed is placed under the paper at o, the said concave bed having a
Figure resembling that of the groove in the guide or guage h, Figure 8, the
paper being pressed into the concave bed by the loose rollers marked >> in

page_text: Figure 1.
Before being pasted, the folded paper may be passed through a
plain groove, such as is represented at q in Figure 3. The instruments whereby
the pasting is effected are marked r in Figure 1. One of these instruments
is represented on a larger scale, in plan, in Figure 5, and in vertical section in
Figure 6. It consists of two boards a, t, jointed together, and connected at
their edges by a flexible material like a pair of bellows; the interior is filled
with paste by the opening u, and by means of a weight attached to the upper
board the paste is forced out at the openings w, w. These openings are crossed
by three wires, which regulate the flow of the paste. The plate x is bent
round the end of the paster, and within the said plate the folded paper
passes. The upper edge of the paper passes over the end of the paster,
and the lower edge of the paper passes under the paster, and returns as shewn
in Figure 6. As it passes through the paster, the under side of the upper
edge of the paper becomes smeared with paste. In order to keep the paper
to its bearing on the paster, a piece of cloth passes round the said paper and
gently presses upon it. The said cloth is fastened to the table g, and also to
the guage next the paster.. After passing from the paster, the paper passes
under a series of pressers y, shown in plan and section in Figure 7. These
pressers consist of pieces of wood, having bands of leather z and narrow india-
rubber bands around them. The paper tube passes between the wooden part
of the presser and the band z. These pressers are hooked to the pasters, and
the leather band z is connected at its lower side with the table g, and the
upper side is kept in its place by cords connecting it to the said table. The
pasted paper finally passes under a series of metal pressers 7, 7, 7, the lower
edges of which are covered with cloth. The pressers 7 are connected to guages,
such as are represented at r, Figure 3. 8 is an axis on which the paper tubes
are wound, and by the rotation of which axis the paper is drawn through the
machine. Different velocities may be given to the axis 8 by means of the
pullies 9. The paper tubing may be passed through a drying apparatus
between the axis 8 and the table g, the said drying apparatus consisting of a
chamber or chambers heated by steam.
The paper tubing requires next to be cut into pieces of a suitable length
for bags; these pieces or short tubes are made into bags in two different
ways. The completion of the bag, or closing of one end of the short tube,
may be either effected by the folding and pasting of the end of the tube itself,
or a separate strip may be pasted upon and made to close up the end of the
short tube, which methods of closing one end of the paper tubes and forming
bags therefrom constitute the second part of my Invention.
When I form bags by closing the ends of the paper tubes themselves I

page_text: proceed as follows:-I place the short paper tubes in a frame, represented
in Figure 8; it consists of a series of strips of metal 10 hung upon the
rods 11. The tubes marked 12 are supported upon the strips of metal 10,
the distance between the said tubes being regulated by the guides 13.
Before the flat tubes are put into the frame, Figure 8', they are pasted at the
corners 121, Figure 8; this pasting is effected by means of a paste vessel,
represented in Figure 9. The said vessel is somewhat of the shape of a
syphon, on the upper side of the bend of which is a slit 14. The corner of
the tube is pressed down and lifted from this slit, and becomes pasted at its
corner 121 on both sides. The sides of the nick 14 may be covered with wire
gauze to regulate the flow of the paste. The frame, Figure 8, charged with
the bags is placed in the machine, shown in elevation in Figure 10, and in
plan in Figure 11, and in section in Figure 12. The part 15 slides on the part
16, so as to grasp the upper part of the tube. After the frame, Figure 8, has
been dropped through the opening 17, Figure 12, the sliding of the part 15
is effected by means of the handle 18, which slides in slots in 15, parallel
to the edge of the table, and in slots in the table 16, inclined to the edge of
the said table. By the sliding of the part 15 the tops of the tubes are grasped
between the strips 20, 26, and by hand the upper projecting part of the tube
is folded into the form represented at 21 in Figure 11, the pasted part 12',
Figure 8, being folded underneath the part constituting the opposite corner.
The pasted part is indicated by 12¹ in Figure 11. The corners 22, 23, next
require to be folded over and pasted down. The pasting of the corners is
effected by a series of pasters fixed on a rod, as represented in Figure 12 A.
These pasters are placed upon the bags 21 in the manner which will be under-
stood by an inspection of Figure 12. The strip 24 is now raised up, and
presses the angle of the tube against one side of the paster. The pasters are
now depressed into the position indicated in dotted lines at 25, Figure 12,
whereby another portion of paste is deposited from the paster upon the tube.
The pasters are now removed, and the strip 24 being folded flat down upon 26,
paste and press the corner 22 down upon the bottom of the bag. The corners
23 are similarly folded, and the bag is complete; the bags are then removed
to a drying apparatus.
•
..
When I close the ends of the tubes by means of strips pasted thereon, I
proceed as follows:-1 place the pieces of tubing in the machine représented
in plan in Figure 13, in elevation in Figure 14, and in section in Figure 15.
The narrow strip to close the bottom of the tubes is uncoiled from the drum 27,
and extended along the edge of the table 28, as indicated by dotted lines, and

page_text: its end fixed upon the points 29.
pasted in any convenient manner.
and 31 the lower blade. A pair of such shears is situated at the points 32
in Figure 13. The moveable blade of each shears is fixed to the rod 33,
Figure 14. The blades 30 are brought into the position indicated in dotted
lines in Figure 15, whereby the strip of paper 34 is cut half way through,
and the paper tubes are now placed upon the bed 35; one of the tubes is
represented at 36, Figure 13. The lower end of the paper tube covers one
half of the strip of paper 34. The shears are now closed, and the strips of
paper intended to close the tubes are detached from one another. A series of
metal plates 37, carried by the bar 38, descend immediately before the closing
of the shears by the rotation of the axis 39. The lower edges of the plates
37 press upon the bottom edge of the tube, and the middle of the strip 34,
situated at the point 40, Figure 15. The lap or half of the pasted strip is
turned, over. upon the end of the tube, and the bag is completė. The said bags
are carried away on the frame they rest upon to a drying apparatus, and the
ends being placed under a lap kept hot by steam, they are pressed and dried
at the same time. The pasting of. the strip 34 may be effected by placing a
perforated paster, similar to those represented in Figure 5, over the strip 34 at
34. In order to tighten the strip 34, a ratchet wheel is placed upon the axis
of the drum 27, and a cord. 41 passing under the machine is connected at one
end to the heavy lever or flap 42, and at the other to a pall or click engaging
in the said ratchet wheel. When the flap 42 is in the position represented,
the pall engages in the ratchet wheel, but when the lever or flap 42 is in the
position indicated by dotted lines, the pall is raised from the ratchet wheel.
By being able to lock the drum 27 at pleasure, the strip 34 may be tightened
to any desirable degree.
The upper surface of the strip of paper is
30 is the upper blade of a pair of shears,
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim as my
Invention,―
Firstly, manufacturing continuous paper tubing for the manufacture of
paper bags in the manner herein-before described, and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing.
Secondly, the machinery herein described, and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing, for making paper bags by folding, pasting, and closing one
end of a paper tube.

page_text: Lastly, the machinery herein-before described, and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing, for making paper bags by pasting a strip of paper over one
end of a paper tube.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brown, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
WILLIAM BROWN. (L.B.)
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.