AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING THE FIBRES OF WOOD, FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, AND EXTRACTING THE COLORING MATTERS THEREFROM
Year: 1862

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
.66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Drughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR
SEPARATING THE FIBRES OF WOOD, FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER VEGETABLE
SUBSTANCES, AND EXTRACTING THE COLORING MATTERS THEREFROM."-A com-
munication from abroad by Azel Storrs Lyman, of New York City,
United States of America.
Sealed the 5th September 1862, and dated the 27th March 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton'
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the'
27th March 1862.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS
POR SEPARATING THE FIBRES OF WOOD, FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER VEGETABLE
SUBSTANCES, AND EXTRACTING THE COLORING MATTERS THEREFROM," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to the separation of the fibres of wood, flax, and
other vegetable substances by whipping, beating, rubbing, grinding, or picking
them while they are exposed to the action of water at such temperature and
under such pressure as herein-after mentioned. It also further relates, to
the washing out of the coloring, matters and gums and other. soluble parts

page_text: from such substances by changing the water while the said substances are
being whipped, beaten, rubbed, ground, or picked, and while they are at the
same time subjected to the action of water at such temperature and under
such pressure as herein-after specified. The separated and bleached fibre thus
obtained is applicable as paper stock or in the manufacture of textile fabrics
according to its nature.
The construction of apparatus suitable for carrying out the above-mentioned
operations may be thus described:-A water-tight horizontal channel capable
of resisting great internal pressure is provided; this channel is made of four
straight cylindrical tubes connected together by elbows so as to form an
endless race. In one side of this channel is fitted a grinding apparatus
consisting of a series of stationary pierced discs through which a horizontal
shaft passes. This shaft carries a series of beaters which work over the face
of the discs. The discs are channelled somewhat like millstones and the.
beaters are formed of radial arms set obliquely on their bosses. One end of
the shaft is made hollow for a short distance and pierced with holes to allow
of the escape (through the shaft) of gummy or impure water, but to prevent
the discharge of fibres therewith the pierced portion of the shaft is covered
with a cylinder of wire gauze. A. pipe for supplying fresh water to the
apparatus is connected with the lower side of the endless channel...The
apparatus is supplied with the material to be treated (which if wood should be
cut into small pieces) through a suitable door, and when thus charged water is
to be let into the channel until it is nearly full. Steam is next to be turned
in and the temperature raised to from three hundred degrees to four hundred
degrees Fahrenheit. Rotary motion being now given to the beaters the mass.
of fibrous material will be forced into circulation and will be rapidly deprived
of its gummy and coloring matters.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send. greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,

page_text: did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent
"Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, 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" AN IMPROVED PROCESS
OP AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING THE FIBRES OF WOOD, FLAX, HEMP, AND
OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, AND EXTRACTING THE COLORING MATTERS THERE-
FROM," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 per-
formed, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
:-
This Invention as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent is
based upon
the known fact that when wood, hemp, flax, and other vegetable
substances are heated in water at a temperature at which it boils under a
pressure of several atmospheres, the gummy and coloring matters by. which
the fibres are held together are dissolved or at least so much softened that they
hold the fibres but loosely together.
The Invention consists in effecting the separation of the fibres of such
substances by whipping, beating, rubbing, grinding, or picking them while
they are exposed to the action of water at such temperature and under such
pressure as above mentioned. It also consists in the washing out of the
coloring matters and gums and other soluble parts from such substances by
changing the water while the said substances are being whipped, beaten,
rubbed, ground, or picked, and while they are at the same time subjected to the
action of water at such temperature and under such pressure as above specified.
The separated and bleached fibre thus obtained is applicable as paper.stock or
in the manufacture of textile fabrics, according to its nature:
The apparatus in and by which the Invention is performed may vary in

page_text: construction, but the accompanying Drawing represents that which the
Inventor considers best adapted for the purpose.
Fig. 1 is a horizontal section of the apparatus; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of
the same; Fig. 3 is a top view of that portion of the apparatus into which the
-substances to be treated are introduced; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical
section corresponding with Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the portion of
the apparatus where the clean water enters and the impure water is dis-
charged; Figures 6 and 7 are face views of the rubbing or grinding surfaces
Fig. 8 is a side view corresponding with Fig. 7.. Similar letters of reference
.indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
A is a horizontal cylinder having its ends connected by a pipe b, of a calibre
nearly as large as itself, the pipe being constructed and arranged to form with
the cylinder a four-sided figure with rounded corners, as shewn in Fig. 1, such
form providing for a continuous and thorough circulation of the substance to
be treated through the cylinder and pipe. The cylinder A and pipe B are
cast with suitable feet A¹, A¹, and B', B', to support them upon a suitable base
or foundation. The cylinder is fitted at one end with a moveable head A³, in
the centre of which is a stuffing box a for the passage of a rotating shaft C
which passes centrally through the cylinder. A stuffing box a¹ is also
provided for the said shaft at the opposite end of the cylinder. The shaft C is
supported in bearings in brackets B2, B2, cast on or otherwise secured to the
pipe B. The cylinder has fitted tightly into it, at equal or suitable distances
apart, a number of circular plates D, D, (Figures 1 and 6) in which there
are holes d, d, of considerable size, and the front side of each of which has a
surface resembling the dress of a millstone, as shewn in Fig. 6, or otherwise
grooved or toothed, and in front of each of these plates D, D, there is secured
to the shaft a hub E (Figures 1, 7, and 8,) having numerous arms E¹, E¹,
which present toward the front surfaces of the plates D, D, surfaces of a
similar character, as shewn at 6 in Figures 7 and 8, but which present at
their sides oblique, surfaces of such character that the several arms may be
considered as sections of screw threads. These arms constitute beaters for
beating up the fibrous substance in the cylinder A, and their roughened
surfaces b, b, act in combination with the front surfaces of the plates D, D, to
produce at the same time a rubbing or grinding operation, while those of
their oblique surfaces which are toward the plates D, D, operate with a
screw-like action to force the water and the fibres through the holes d, d, in
the plates D, D, and thus to produce in the cylinder A and pipe a continuous
circulation in the direction of the arrows shewn in Fig. 1.. Outside of the
cylinder head A the shaft C is fitted with a pulley: C' for the
reception of a

page_text: driving band for imparting to the shaft the necessary rotary motion. The
back portion of the shaft C near and outside of the stuffing box a' is made
hollow, as shewn in Fig. 5, and perforated at c, c, to communicate with the
interior of a cylindrical screen F which surrounds and is firmly secured to the
shaft. The cavity of the shaft is continued through its rear end, with which is
connected by a stuffing box joint e, a fixed pipe J for the escape of the
gummy and otherwise impure water from the apparatus. A portion of this
pipe is surrounded by a jacket pipe G, through which pure water is supplied
to the apparatus, the said jacket pipe having a pipe H leading from it into the
back part of the cylinder A. This pipe H has connected with it a steam
pipe I for the introduction to the apparatus of steam from a boiler suitably
arranged. In the portion of the pipe B that lies parallel to the cylinder A
there is a large opening f, Fig. 4, fitted with a steam-tight cover K, which,
when closed is secured in place by means of a lever L, a stirrup M, and a set
screw g. This opening f is for the introduction of the substance or substances
to be treated. At the bottom of the rear part of the cylinder A there is a
valve N (Fig. 2) for the discharge of the fibres after their separation.
The operation of the apparatus is conducted in the following manner. The
cover K is removed, and the pipe B and the cylinder A as far as permitted by
the plates D, D, are filled as nearly full as is convenient or desirable with the
substance to be treated, which, if it be wood, should be cut or split into small
sticks and free from knots. The apparatus is then filled up or nearly filled
with water through the pipes G, H, and the cover K put on and secured.
The water is then heated up to a temperature of from three hundred degrees
to four hundred degrees Fahrenheit by the introduction through the pipes I
and II of steam at a suitable pressure. After the water has stood at this
temperature for a few moments the gums will have been softened sufficiently,
and rotary motion is communicated to the shaft C to set the arms E¹, E', in
operation. These arms then by their screw-like construction cause a powerful
circulation of the water through the apparatus in the direction indicated by
the arrows shewn in Fig. 1, and this circulation of the water is soon accom-
panied by a circulation of the substances under treatment, which is subjected
to the beating operation of the rotating arms, rubbed, and ground between
them and the plates D, and forced by the oblique faces of the arms through
the holes d, d, of the plates. The circulation of the whole of the solid
substances as well as of the water causes all parts of such substances to be
repeatedly subjected to the beating and rubbing or grinding operations, and
effects the extraction of the gummy and coloring matters. As these operations
proceed the proper temperature is kept up in the apparatus by the continued

page_text: introduction of steam at the pipes I, H, and while pure water is allowed to
flow in continuously through the pipes G, H, the water charged with gums
and coloring matters is allowed to escape through the screen F, hollow part
of the shaft C, and pipe J, the screen being prevented from being choked up
with the fibre by the centrifugal force given to the latter by the rapid rotary
motion of the screw and beaters; this operation is continued until the water
escaping at e becomes nearly clear, when most of the gummy and coloring
matters will have been washed from the fibres. The valve N is then opened
and the whole of the contents of the apparatus are blown out by the pressure
of steam. The heat carried off in the operation by the escaping water
will be to a great extent saved by the introduction of the incoming pure
water through the jacket pipe G, and a further saving may be effected by
coiling the pipe J within a cylinder through which the fresh water is pumped
to the cylinder -A.
An apparatus operating in all respects similar to that described may be
heated to raise the temperature of the water to the desired degree by the
direct application of fire to its exterior.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved
Process of and Apparatus for Separating the Fibres of Wood, Flax, Hemp,
and other Vegetable Substances and Extracting the Coloring Matters there-
from,"
," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I
wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim, effecting the separation of the fibres of wood, hemp, flax, or other
vegetable substances by the means above described, the washing out of the
gummy and coloring matters or other soluble parts from the fibres being simul-
taneously effected by changing the water while the substances are being
subjected to the combined action above specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)