CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
EDWARDS AMOS, of Great Guildford Street, in the Borough of Southwark,
Millwright and Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Tenth day of November, in the fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Edwards Amos, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Charles Edwards Amos, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Charles
Edwards Amos, my executors, admors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Charles Edwards
Amos, by an instrument in writing under my hand seal, particularly to
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be in rolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
Price 8d1

page_text: and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Edwards Amos, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letter and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):―
My improvements in the manufacture of paper consist of the following
particulars, which, for the sake of perspicuity, I shall describe under six
distinct heads:-
.
Firstly, a means of gradually lowering the roll of the engine in which the
rags are prepared and converted into pulp.
Secondly, a mode of regulating the supply of pulp to the paper-making
machine, in order to produce papers of any required thickness.
Thirdly, an improved sifter or strainer, through which the pulp is passed for
the purpose of arresting the knots and lumps.
Fourthly, certain novelties in the construction, arrangement, and action of
parts of the machine in which the pull is deposited that is moulded or made
into continuous lengths of paper.
Fifthly, an improved method of heating the cylinders of the apparatus
whereby the new made paper is dried. And,
Sixthly, improvements in the machinery by which thecontinuous lengths of
paper is cut up into sheets of any required dimensions.
These several improvements are further set out in the Drawings hereto
annexed and in the following description thereof (that is to say):-In order
that the rags of which the paper is to be made may be beaten or ground into
stuff or pulp of an equal degree of firmness or texture, I employ machinery
with a self-acting apparatus to lower the engine roll gradually nearer to the
plate as the beating operation goes on, instead of regulating the roll entirely
by hand, as hitherto has been the practice. The machinery I use (represented
in three views at Figs. 1, 2, and 3, in Sheet I.) is of the following descrip-
tion: Fig. 1 is an elevation or side view of the machine; Fig. 2, an end
view; and Fig. 3, a horizontal view, as seen from above. In the end of the
water wheel shaft shewn at 2, I insert an excentric pin, which acts as a crank
and transmits motion through the rods a, a, a, and the bell crank levers b,b,to
the lever c, which hangs upon a pin fixed in the side of the engine. On the
lever ca pall dis mounted, which takes into the teeth of a ratchet wheel c,
fixed upon an axle or spindle turning in a bracket attached to the side of the

page_text: engine. On this spindle there is a worm or endless screw 9 working into a
worm wheel h upon the upright shaft i. On this shaft i a screw thread i is
cut, which works in a box or nuty, and the consequence of turning the shaft i
will be to raise or lower the box or nut j. A long lever is attached by a
pivot at one end to the side of the engine, and at its other end is supported by
the box or nut j. Near the middle of the lever k the sliding plummer box /
has its bearing, in which the axle m of the engine roll n is supported, and
a corresponding motion may be transmitted in any convenient manner to a
similar lever k on the opposite side of the engine, if thought desirable. The
roll being at the commencement of the work placed in its highest position in
order to perform light work, the rotation of the water wheel shaft, or other
first mover, through the cranks and rods a, a, and b, b, gives a continuous
vibratory action to the lever c, and hence causes the click d to produce an
intermitted 1otary movementof the ratchet wheel and its worm shaft g, whichby
turning the worm wheel and its vertical shaft i, gradually lowers the screw
box j, and thereby allows the lever k and plummer block / to descend and let
down the rolln nearer to the plate. Machinery for lowering any number of
rolls in this way might be worked from the same first mover, by attaching extra
.counecting rods and bell cranks. By throwing back the pall d the self-acting
apparatus will be put out of operation, when the machinery may be worked
by hand through a handle on the shaft g. As all kinds of rags cannot be beat
off in the same time, it becomes necessary that the means of altering the speed
at which the roll is lowered should be perfectly under controul; this is effected
in the following manner :-The lever cat the bottom of its stroke rests upon
a stop 1, fastened to the engine side. On the rod a an adjusting box 2 is
fitted, having a right-hand screw cut on the one end and a left-hand screw on
the other. By turning the handle 3, the rod a is shortened orlengthened at
pleasure; if shortened, the stud 4 of the rod amore quickly catches the leverc,
and gives a greater extent of motion to the pall d, which will cause the roll n to
be sooner depressed; if the rod is lengthened the effect will be the reverse.
Although I describe the above machinery as being perfectly applicable to the
purpose for which it is intended, yet I do not limit myself entirely to this
arrangement, as other modifications of machinery may be used for the same
purpose; but I claim the Invention of gradually lowering the roll in the vessel
known to paper makers by the name of engine (whether used for the purpose
of washing, breaking, or beating rags), by means of self-acting machinery
worked by the same rotary power as the engine itself, and which self-acting
machinery can be regulated as to the velocity with which it acts upon the
engine roll. It has long been a cause of complaint that the slightest deviation

page_text: or irregularity in the speed of the paper machine causes a corresponding
difference in the weight or thickness of the paper. No method that I am
aware of has hitherto been employed to deliver the pulp and back water in
quantities exactly corresponding with the speed of the paper machine; this, I
believe, has always been regulated by hand. The consequence is, that though
a ream of paper be found to be of the required weight, yet on dividing the
ream, and weighing the sheets separately, they are found to be of various
.weights and thicknesses. To obviate this inconvenience I employ machinery
or apparatus that will always deliver a proper proportionate quantity of pulp
and back water, whether the paper machine be working fust or slow.
In the accompanying Drawings, Sheet II., Fig. 1 is a transverse section
taken in the line Y, Z, of Fig. 6, through the machine which supplies the
pulp; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section;
Fig. 4, a similar section to Fig. 1, but taken in the line W, X, Fig. 6;
Fig. 5 is an elevation of the reverse end to Fig. 2; and Fig. 6 is a horizontal
section of the machine. This machin eor apparatus (and to which I give the
name of "Pulp Regulator") is made to work in the following manzer :-The
stuff or pulp is to be let out of the stuff chest through the shoot A (see Fig. 1)
into the weigh box B; when a sufficient quantity of pulp is admitted to over-
balance the power of the weighted lever C, the box B will then descend and
close a slider or valve a in the shoot, and prevent for a time any further flow of
pulp through the shoot A. The box B is fastened to the scoop case B¹ by
loose leather or caoutchouc cloth joints 6 to admit of motion in the arc of a
circle. The back water is collected in the usual way by the dripping pan, and
flows from thence through the shoot E (see Figures 4 and 6) into the scoop
case B; the quantity so discharged is regulated by a sliding shutter G, which
can be raised or lowered at pleasure. When the shutter D is down to the
line c, c, Fig. 4, the back water will run off through the opening, the quantity
so discharged being according to the depth to which the shutter G is lowered,
and a pendant valve F will prevent the pulp from running off to waste with the
.back water. A copper or iron spindle passes through both the scoop boxes or
cases B' and D, and on this spindle is keyed arms with two sets of scoops,
which are made to revolve in the cases B¹ and D by the cog wheel H, upon
the end of the shaft, which is driven by the pinion I on the shaft J of the
rigger K. This rigger carries a strap which receives motion from the shafting
of the mill. By the rotation of the scoops the pulp from the case B' is de-
.livered into a sliding shoot L, which discharges it through M into the case D.
In order that the paper may be made of any certain required weight or thick-
ness, the machine must be adjusted thus: if we require the paper to be made

page_text: thinner, the receiving shoot L must be moved towards M by the racks m, the
pinion N, the shaft n, and the handle O. Then a portion of the pulp from the
scoops working in the case B¹ will fall down into the scoop case, and the pulp
and back water may thus always be delivered into the case D in quantities
equal to the speed or going of the paper-making machine.
I do not confine myself to the particular kind of machinery here described,
neither do I claim the use of the scoops and case D, known in the paper trade
by the name of lifters, but I claim the combination of machinery herein
described, or any modification of the same machinery which will regulate
the quantities of pulp and back water according to the speed at which the
paper machine may be working, being what is termed "self-acting" sifter or
pulp strainer. In sifters made on the usual plan, it is customary for the
pulp to flow upon the sieve plates, and by giving up and down motion tothem,
the pulp is made to pass through the sieve plates downwards by the pressure
of the atmosphere, aided by a head of a few inches difference in the level of
the flow of pulp. There is, however, always a quantity of grit or sand in
pulp however carefully prepared, which chokes the sieve plates, and after they
have been working a short time, the knots that have prèviously been strained
and kept back begin to flow over the top of the sieves, and thereby spoil all
the stuff in the vat (placed immediately before the paper machine). The
consequence of this is, that the paper machine must be immediately stopped,
and the vat cleaned, or else the paper will be foul for a considerable time.
To remedy this defect I employ a pulp strainer, shewn in the Drawings, at
Sheet III., the construction and action of which I will now describe. Fig. 1
is a horizontal view of the sifter; Fig. 2 an end elevation of the same; Fig. 3
is a side elevation; Fig. 4 is a section taken in the line E, F, of Fig. 1;
Figs. 5 and 6 are also vertical sections taken in the lines A, B, and C, D, of
Fig. 1. The pulp is discharged from the lifters or from the stuff chest into a
compartment of the box marked A. Motion is then given to a wooden flap or
clapper C, which is made air-tight to the box at its edges by leather or by a
caoutchouc cloth; this flap being raised and depressed causes an undulating
movement of the water and pulp in the box passing through the plates, by the
pressure of the atmosphere and the head of pulps and water in the box A;
the knots, grit, &c. is thus left behind in the box under the plates B. On the
ends of the shaft E are keyed the crank plates F, the rigger G, of different
diameters, and the fly wheel H; by means of these crank plates, when they
revolve, motion is given to the clapper C, which is united to the crank plates by
the connecting rods F. J is a copper or brass plate, perforated to prevent the
pulp settling or subsiding at the bottom of the box D, which is effected by the

page_text: pulp passing and repassing through the holes formed therein. The sieves B
and the plate J also may, if required, be fastened to the box by joints, for the
purpose of allowing them to turn up for cleaning.
I do not claim the invention of the plates B, or the driving movements,
shewn by the letters E, F, G, H, I, but the combination and the manner of
working the pulp through the sieves by the action of the clapper C, the sieves
remaining quiescent. I also claim the method of working the pulp through
the sieve plates by pneumatical action, the sieve or plates remaining quiescent
whether the pulp is passing through upwards or downwards. The paper-making
machine is intended to produce as nearly as possible that particular kind of
shake or movement of the web and table given to the mould by the vatman
when making paper by handon theold principle, which movement affords greater
facility in closing or felting the pulp in a more efficient manner than any of
the machines heretofore in use.
Sheet 1V. Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal elevation of my improved'
machine for making paper; Fig. 2 is an elevation taken at the right-hand
end, and Fig. 3 at the left-hand end of the same. A shaft A, working upon the
bearings B, B,affixed to the side standard frames Q, Q, supports the rocking
arms or bent levers C. A similar shaft, D, working in the bearings E,
also affixed to the standard frame, supports the arms or levers F, F, at the
upper ends of each of the bent levers C, and also of the levers F; there is a
recess G and H in which pivots or gudgeons I, I, extending from the ends
of the table J, J, are supported, and hence by the vibratory action given
to the levers C and F the tube receives its required shaking or rocking
movements. To this rocking part of the machine are attached the breast
roller K, the couch rollers L, L, the guide rollers M, M, M, which carry
the endless wire web, the stretch roller N for tightening the wire web, the
dandy roller O, and the deckle straps and frames P, P, all of which are
well understood, and therefore need no further description. On the axle
of the lower couch roller cast iron rigger S is placed for the purpose of
drivng the deckles by the strap R. On the side of the rigger S there
are two cheeks forming part of the universal joint T; motion is given to the
shaft U by a strap passed round the rigger V, which strap is led off from
the driving motion of the press rolls in the usual way, and carries the wire
onward from the breast roll K to the couch rolls L, L. The shaking
movement of the table is produced by a crank W on the shaft X, on which
is fixed the fly-wheel Y and the rigger Z, driven by a strap from the driving
shaft of the mill. The rocking movements of the machine are balanced
by the weight W₁ affixed to a tail lever extending from the shaft D. As

page_text: the shaft X goes round the crank W raises and depresses the tail lever
and weight W, and causes the lever F and studs I in the bearings H to
work in the dotted arc shewn at 1, 2, whilst the other studs I in the bearings
G work in a similar manner in the arc 3, 4. The arm F is shorter than
the arm C, consequently it will pass through an arc subtending a larger
angle or a greater number of degrees of the circle than the arm C, and
the combined motions of these arms will produce an undulating move-
ment of the table (the centres of the curves of which undulations will be
on the upper side), and thereby give the motions required to close or
felt the fibres of the pulp, and produce fine papers with the greatest
degree of equality by the steadiness of the machine. The table tubes a,
over which the wire web passes, may be fixed in the usual way on the
side frames of the table, or on an improved principle, which I will presently
.describe.
I claim the general arrangement by which I gain the particular kind
of curvilinear or undulating motion of the table from the combined action
of the vibrating levers C and F, as described. In order to facilitate the
discharge of the water from the pulp as it passes over the table, and to
enable what is called wet stuff to be used with convenience, I fasten to the
side frames of the table the small brass or copper tubes constituting the
support of the wire web instead of allowing those tubes to turn in the ordinary
way. In this case I leave one end of each tube open and ground into
the side frame of the machine, and perforate a series of small countersunk
holes on the upper sides of each. In Sheet IV., Fig. 4 represents in
section, drawn at its full size, one of these tubes mounted in the side frames
of the table, and Fig. 5 is a horizontal representation of parts of several
of these tubes as they would be arranged to form the table. The tubes are
cylindrical and hollow, each having a row of countersunk or other holes
extending along the upper part of its periphery. One end of each tube is
closed at b, the other end open at c for the purpose of discharging the water.
These open ends of the tubes are made conical, and are inserted into
corresponding apertures in the side frame J of the tube, along which side
frame there extends a tubular passage j for the flow of the water. The
manner of fastening these tubes into the side frames of the table is shewn
in the Drawing, and it will be seen that there is opposite the open end of
each tube a screw plug d, which may be advanced if required to close the
water passage of any or all of the tubes. In order to promote the rapid
discharge of the water from the travelling wire web, I employ an air pump,
and through the flexible tube b, Fig. 1, exhaust the air from the passage.j,

page_text: which causes the water to run with great facility through the countersunk
holes into the hollow tubes, and thence through the passage j'into the
air pump by the joint action of the atmosphere and the friction of the wire
passing over the tubes. The friction of the wire web in passing over the
hollow tubes is highly beneficial, as it destroys the capillary attraction formed
by the fine meshes of the wire. I claim the use of small tubes perforated
with holes or with slots cut longitudinally, the tubes forming the table over
which the wire passes; also the means by which the flow of water through
the tubes can be stopped at pleasure.
Paper made on the ordinary Fourdrinier's machine has a disadvantage
arising from the lower side of the pulp being formed first into paper
while the upper side is in a fluid state, the water having to pass through
the paper previously made, thereby disturbing the fibre and not producing
so even a surface as might be wished. To obviate this I employ a modifi-
cation of the foregoing machine shewn in Sheet V., Fig. 1 being a side eleva-
tion, and Figure 2 a horizontal view. That portion of this machine on which
the paper is formed for the pulp consists of the usual parts. viz, breast,
couching, guide, and stretch rollers, deckles and slices employed in ordinary
machines, but in this instance the shake of the table is given in the same
'direction as the wire travels, instead of having a side shake as in Fourdrinier's
machines, and I place the end next to the breast roll lower than the couch
roll end of the machine. The table of the wire will form an inclined plane rising
from the point B, at which the pulpflows on the wire to the end near the couch
rolls A. The water will thereby have a tendency to run towards the lower
end, while the pulp is carried up by the progressive motion of the wire web,
and hence the paper will be formed much quicker than in the usual way. The
machine will be fully understood by the plan and elevation, Figures 1 and 2,
in which C,C,are the centres of motion of the vibrating levers; A, B, the side
frames carrrying all the rolls and other parts used in paper machines of the
.ordinary construction. The shaking movement is given by a crank D to the
connecting rod E, and one of the arms F, which arms are made fast to the
spindles C. In order to alter the angle of elevation the end of the side frame
Band.the bearings G are adjusted by the handles H. The same effect of
rocking movement may be gained by supporting the side frame A, B, as shewn
by lines in the diagrams, Figure 3 and Figure 4. The supports or centres of
motion are shewn by the letter C in all cases, while A, B, are the side frames
for carrying all the rolls, tubes, deckles, &c., B being the breast roll end or the
point at which the stuff flows on the wire; A, the couch roll end or the point
at which the paper leaves the wire, the wire travelling on the upper side from

page_text: B to A during the time the pulp is on it. I do not confine myself to the
specific arrangement of machinery I have here described and shewn in the
Drawings, but I claim any modification of levers, arms, rods, or chains for
bearing or supporting the frame of the table part of the paper machine
on which the pulp is formed, where more than two bearings or points of
support are used (exclusive of the joint of the connecting rod by which the
shaking movement is given), and also where the frames A, B, carry all the
rolls, tubes, &c., which belong to the wire table.
An improved method of heating drying cylinders.-I have found it preferable
to heat thedrying cylinders with hot air instead of using steam in the usual way.
I do this by the following method:-I employ a stove or furnace for the burning
of coke, Welch or other coals. The gaseous products or vapours arising from
combustion are received into a chest or chamber, the temperature of which is
regulated by an air or other thermometer, which opens a valve for the admis-
sion of atmospheric air when too hot. While the temperature is too low the
valve is shut. From this chamber or hot air chest the heated gasses or
vapours are conducted by a pipe which has other branches leading to each of
the drying cylinders, the necks of which are larger (than when steam is used)
for the purpose of allowing larger openings to and from the cylinders. The
remaining heat is collected in pipes after leaving the cylinders, and may then
be applied to any other purpose of drying. Circulation may be caused by a fan,
by exhaustion, or a chimney draught. The whole product of heat arising
from the combustion is thus beneficially used and the fuel thereby economised;
for if steam be employed a large portion of the heat escapes up the chimney.
The heat from a small coke oven might be used with the same means for regu-
lating the temperature, and a retort for the generating of gas might besetin
the coke oven, and the gas so made applied to the lighting of the mill, and the
coke burnt under the boiler of the steam engine employed for working, the
paper mill; thus an uniform heat may be obtained, and the nuisance arising
from smoke, blacks, &c., done away with, and the mill heated, lighted, and
worked with the greatest economy. My claim is for heating the drying and
other cylinders by turning the burnt air or vapour arising from combustion
through the cylinders; also the equalization of those.vapours by the admission
of common air when used for the purpose here described.
An improved method of drawing the paper towards the cross-cutting knives,
and regulating the length of the sheet in cutting machines used for cutting the
paper from the web into sheets.-In the machine at present used the paper is
conducted by rolls, one of which, and what is generally termed the gathering

page_text: rolls, has another working upon it after the manner of a pair of press rolls.
These gathering rolls are sometimes allowed to remain quiescent during the
time the knives are cutting the cross cut. In other cases the gathering roll is
going at the time the cross-cut knife is in action. The paper is then held in
a press, and a daucing roll takes up the slack occasioned by the stoppage of
the
paper at the
press. The difference in the length of the sheet in this last
case is regulated by a cargut band passing over a pair of expansive pullies, or
by a pair of conical pullies, the desideratum in the first case (where the
gathering roll is stopped) that the interior having so suddenly to be overcome,
and the point of contact between the gathering and the press roll being
so small, a slipping frequently occurs, consequently differences are made in the
lengths of the sheets of paper. In the other case (where the gathering roll is
kept in action during the cross cut), the catgut band, or the straps used,
frequently slip, and when this occurs a difference in the length of the sheet
always happens. I remedy these defects by a contrivance in the manner
following:-Instead of the gathering rolls regulating the length of the sheet,
I use a flat press or holder, the bottom clamp of which slides upon a guide on
the frame of the machine. This clamp is connected by a rod to a crank, the
shaft of which passes across the machine. This crank is formed by a sliding
plate in order that the radius or throw may be altered, the alteration of which
will regulate the length of the sheet of paper. An upper clamp is also fitted
to the sliding press in such a manner that it is in contact with the lower clamp
during the time the press is drawing the paper towards the cross-cut knife, or
during the time the crank is making one half revolution. When the sliding
press has made the stroke due to the radius of the crank in this direction, the
upper clamp is raised by means of a cam keyed on the crank shaft, while a
second press interposes and holds the paper fast in a similar way. During
the return or back stroke of the first press the upper clamp of the sliding press
remains up during the time this stroke is making. The second press is made
similar to the sliding press, only that one clamp remains at all times quiescent,
but the moveable clamp is raised by suitable cams on the crank shaft. When
the upper clamp of the sliding press is up the moveable clamp of the quiescent
pre s is down, or contra. The crank shaft also drives the cross-cut and
circular knives. The width of the clamps in the presses may be about four
inches (and may be covered with thin felt), and flat. It will be impossible
for the paper to slip, and the length of the sheet will be always uniform.
I do not claim any of the parts now in use to the cutting machines,
but confine myself to the flat sliding and quiescent presses here described;

page_text: so the right to such presses whether the moveable press works on guides or
ides or in the arc of a circle by a single or a combination of levers.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Edwards Amos, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Tenth day of May, in the
year above mentioned, the aforesaid Charles Edwards Amos came before our
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same lenth day of May, in the year above written.