A METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING, BY MEANS OF MACHINERY, PAPER FOR COPPER PLATE PRINTING; ALSO PAPERS FOR WRITING, DRAWING, LETTER PRESS PRINTING, AND OF A THICKER SORT FOR BOARDS, SIMILAR IN TEXTURE AND SUBSTANCE TO CARD BOARDS OR PASTE BOARDS; AND CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MY PATENT MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING AND CUTTING PAPER
Year: 1817

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
DICKINSON, of Nash Mill, in the Parish of Abbotts Langley, in the County
Hertford, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty did, by His Letters Patent under
the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing
date at Westminster, the Fifth day of Angust, in the fifty-seventh year of His
reign, give and grant unto me, the said John Dickinson, my executors.
administrators, and assigns, His special licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said John Dickinson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING, BY
MEANS OF MACHINERY, PAPER FOR COPPER PLATE PRINTING; ALSO PAPERS FOR
WRITING, DRAWING, LETTER PRESS PRINTING, AND OF A THICKER SORT FOR BOARDS,
SIMILAR IN TEXTURE AND SUBSTANCE TO CARD BOARDS OR PASTE BOARDS; AND
CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MY PATENT MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING AND
CUTTING PAPER;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso
that if I, the said John Dickinson, should not particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in which manner the same is
to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and
cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advan-

page_text: tages whatsoever thereby granted, should utterly cease, deterinine, and become
void, any thing therein-before contained to the contrary thereof in anywise
notwithstanding.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Dickinson, do hereby declare that the following written description and
Drawings hereunto annexed contain a particular description of my said
discovery or Invention (that is to say) :-
:-
The first part of my Invention consists of a process similar to veneering in
cabinet makers' work. For this purpose there is first made a reel full of very
thin paper, which requires to be reeled as wet as possible from the machine at
which the paper is niade. This reel of paper is suspended over a machine
employed in making thicker paper, and while the latter is in a wet and pulpy
state, the end of the thin paper is laid upon it and conducted with it to the press
rolls which press the two papers together and unite them as one body. The
movement of the press rolis draws the thin paper with the other, and unwinds
the suspended reel, so that the process continues the same till the reel of thin
paper is exhausted, and then the empty reel is removed and a full one sub-
stituted in its place, and the end of the paper, on that being conducted to
.press rolls as above described, the process is renewed. In order to the thin
paper being drawn off smooth and laid without wrinkling on the paper which it
is intended to cover, the recl of thin paper should be suspended in a horizontal
position and parallel with the axes of the press rolls. If it be intended to cover
the whole surface of the subjacent paper, then the thinner sort should be of
the same width, and while on the reel should be suspended perpendicular over
that which is making at the machine below.
"
the
Feb
The outline elevation, Fig. 1, is a representation of one of my patent
machines for making paper employed in this process. A is the vat; B, the
copper back; and C, the cylinder supposed to be at work making paper; "D is
the couching cylinder; there is a long and less felt, represented by a red line,
which goes round the couching. cylinder, and the paper when detached from the
making cylinder C, adheres to the felt, and travels in connection with it to the
first pair of press rolls. F, F. The reel of thin paper is marked G, and is seen
suspended above this felt, and the end of the paper is shewn descending from
it to the press rolls; and it may readily be understood that the pressure o
thesc rolls must cause the two papers to adhere, and also that when the pres
rolls have hold of the paper from the suspended reels, they must unwind i
according to their own rate of movement. I have found two other precaution
necessary to prevent the paper wrinkling: one is to have a small and very
light guide roll H, near the upper press roll, the axes of which must be paralle

page_text: with the axis of the press rolls, and so fixed that the paper in.unwinding from
'the suspended wheel may draw over and turn round the guide roll; the
other is to have a means of holding back the suspended.reel, so as to produce
a considerable degree of tension on the thin paper. This may be performed
by a variety of simple methods, and the drag must be regulated according to
the strength of the thin paper.
In the Drawing I have shewn for this purpose a cord attached to the frame
and drawn over that part of the reel not covered with paper, and a weight
suspended on the other side for producing the requisite friction. After the
pressure at the first press rolls F, F, the two papers, then united as one, are
drawn off the first felt, and the end being conducted upon a second endless felt,
distinguished by a blue line, and through a second pair of press rolls I, I, there
is by means of them another and a stronger pressure applied to the double
paper; and it may then be reeled, cut, and forwarded through.the subsequent
stages of the manufacture in the same manner as other papers; but while in
the wet state, it requires to be handled with the greatest care. For placing
the reels of thin paper it is most convenient to have a crane. The empty reel,
as soon as the paper is drawn off, can be removed by hand, and by having
another reel of thin paper ready suspended in the crane, so that it may be
immediately let down in the place of that taken away, the change may be
performed in the space of a minute. It is not convenient: to have the paper
above three feet wide, but of course the sheets may be cut to any length; and,
by my former Specification it will be seen how much the width of the machine
exceeds the width of the paper. By the process above described, in papers
where only one side is required for use; such as principally drawing and plate
papers, that side may be produced of finer colour or of different colour, and of
finer and closer texture, and at less expence than would be possible if the
whole mass were the same. The pulp for the thin superficial paper may be
prepared wholly from 'linen rags, selected with peculiar attention to their
colour, fineness, and uniform strength; and the limited quantity required of
hese will admit of their being converted into pulp by a much more gradual
process in the engines, that is to say, the rags may be beat or crushed. rather
han cut. Where this process is to be carried on it is most convenient to have
ne machine for making the thin paper, and another for making the paper
which is to be covered by it, and also two different beating engines for
reparing the pulp. If these conveniences do not exist, a certain number of
eels of thin paper must be made first, and then the same machine which has
ade that must be employed for making the paper upon which it is to be
id. It is adviseable to have the carriage for suspending the reels so con-

page_text: structed that they may be removed from the main frame of the machine at
times when ordinary descriptions of paper are to be manufactured. I have
only adopted this process with my Patent machines for making paper; it
might be applicable to other machines in use for the same purpose, but as
with them the superficial paper must be laid on in a stage of manufacture
when the paper it is to cover could not be so wet, the adhesion would be less
perfect.
My next Invention is in that branch of the manufacture denominated
sizing. Hitherto, in all machines that have been in use for making paper
after the reeling, as shewn in the elevation, Fig. 1, the operation of the
machinery terminated. The paper has been then cut into sheets of the
required dimensions, pressed in screw presses, hung upon lines to dry, afterwards
sized by immersion in hot liquid size, the superfluous size pressed out by screw
presses, and the sheets, after being separated and laid afresh, dried by hanging
on the lines a second time. In lieu of this, I have added to my Patent
machines the apparatus shewn in Fig. 2. The machine is the same as in
Fig. 1, except that the carriages and reels for the superficial thiu paper are
omitted, because this process is applicable to paper made in the ordinary
method, as well as to that made as above described. The second pair of press
rolls I, I, press the paper very hard, so as to squeeze as much water out as
possible; the paper is then led round the cylinder K, which is heated by steam,
and the construction of which will be explained hereafter; and from that it is to
conducted between a third pair of press rolls L, L, and upon a third endless
felt, shewn by a yellow line. It is to be observed that the steam cylinder
which goes round in the same direction as the paper, and keeps pace with the
press rolls, is for evaporating the water left in the paper after the pressure by
means of the press
rolls I, I; and at the time of its arrival at the third pair of
press rolls L, L, the paper ought to be nearly dry, so dry that no humidity is
perceptible to the touch. From these press rolls, the movement of which
must be adjustable by means of an expanding rigger or otherwise, so as to
keep pace with the press rolls I, I, the paper is led round the small light
guide roll M, and then up between the two sizing rolls O and N, after which
it is to be reeled on the reel P, to which motion must be communicated by the
well-known method at present in use of a slipping or friction box. The
process of sizing can be more casily explained after describing the sizing roll
O and N, and the apparatus belonging to them. In the section, Fig. 2
they are shewn with the lower side of each roll below the surface of a troug
Q, Q. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of one of these troughs, and the pipes
pump, and size boiler necessary to the use of them. The size boiler R con

page_text: sists of a copper about eighteen inches deep, and three feet diameter at the
top, and having a flanch which lays on the top of the wooden tub S. This
wooden tub should be about two fect decp, and sufficiently large to receive the
copper vessel which is for containing the size. The wooden tub is for boiling
water, and the water, being continued in a boiling state by the introduction of
steam from a steam boiler or otherwise, will communicate heat to the size,
so as to keep it in a sufficient fluid state. The size or gelatine for this method
of sizing requires to be much stronger than for the ordinary mode, and also to-
be used hotter. The size copper requires three outlets, viz, one at the bottom-
T, for emptying it, which should consist in a copper pipe, rivetted on, with a
cock below the bottom of the wooden tub, and the hole in the bottom through
which the pipe passes should of course be water-tight. This outlet is not
merely necessary for cleaning the copper vessel, but whenever the quantity of
paper to be sized at any particular time is finished, the copper vessel should be
emptied, and the size, in running out, should be received in another vessel, and
at the same time be strained through a flannel bag; when the sizing operation
is to be repeated it is expedient to put a very small quantity of water in the
bottom of the copper, and after that is hot to introduce the gelatine gradually
as fast as it will melt, till the copper is full, and to keep stirring it till the
whole quantity is sufficiently hot. The other two outlets should be by copper
pipes from the side of the copper, about six inches below the flanch. These
pipes also pass through the wooden tub, and the holes are to be made water-
tight. Each pipe has a stopcock V, as near as possible to the tub, for the
purpose of regulating or suspending the delivery of size to the troughs Q, Q, in
which the size rolls O and N respectively work. Where the pipe from the
boiler leads into each trough, and also at the other end where they join on to
the stopcocks V, V, I have joining screws for the purpose of removing either
pipe occasionally. The troughs Q are longer than the sizing rolls O and N,
under which they are to be fixed as shewn in the section Fig. 2, so that when
filled with hot size up to a certain level the under sides of the rolls will lay in
it, and when the rolis are put in motion in the direction shewn in the section
Fig. 2, that side of cach of them rising out of the hot size will be completely
wet with it. The troughs have each a false bottom, and a hole at that bottom
at the end opposite to where the hot size enters from the boiler, so that it may
first run along the trough and then descend by that hole and run back along
the passage underneath, and at the same end where the hot size enters there
is an outlet pipe W, communicating exclusively with the underneath passage,
and this outlet pipe is for the purpose of conveying that size which has passed
along the trough and back again to a small cistern X, whence, by means of the

page_text: pump
Y, it is to be pumped up again into the size copper. For determining
the level of the size in the troughs, I pen it, by placing a bit of lead Z to dam
the size up, previous to its running down the hole by which it passes into the
passage under the false bottom. This piece of lead is shaped to fit the inside of
the trough, and is more particularly shewn in the section of the trough Fig. 4,
where the piece of lead is coloured blue; it is placed very near the hole, as
shewn in the longitudinal section, Fig. 3, and it is necessary to have at hand
pieces of various depths, but all fitted to the inside of the troughs, so as to
pen up the size to that level that may make the roll carry up size enough to
wet the paper sufficiently. A pump of metal that will not rust, about three
inches diameter, and adapted for a ten-inch stroke, will do for one, two, or
three machines by fitting it up so that it may be driven faster or slower
according to the various quantities of size it may be required to lift, but the
size copper should be larger if required to supply more than one machine. The
pump should be fitted up without leather either about the piston or valves, and
it should be worked constantly during the continuance of the process, in order
to preserve uniformity in the temperature of the size. I consider about one
hundred and eighty degrees Farbenheit the most suitable temperature. This
apparatus being prepared and fixed as in the Drawing, preparatory to setting
to work it is expedient to warm the two sizing rolls O and N, by laying on
bars of hot metal; after that the size is to be let down into the troughs, by
opening the stopcocks V, and allowed to circulate through them, and the
sizing rolls to go round at the same time, so as to bring every thing to the
due degree of heat previous to sizing the paper; that being accomplished, and
the paper machine being set to work to make paper, the end of the paper is
drawn from the press rolls L, L, Fig. 2, round the guide roll M, and then led
up between the sizing rolls O and N, which are to be in motion in the direction
shewn by the arrows. By this means one side of the paper is led into contact
with the side of the roll O, which has just risen wet out of the size in the
trough, and the paper absorbs a certain portion of this hot size. In the pro-
gress of the paper towards the reel the other side of it is brought into contact
with the surface of the other size roll N, which has just risen wet out of its
size trough, and the paper will absorb a certain portion of size from that
also and thereby acquire a sufficiency, after which it is to be reeled on to the
reel P. In this method the quantity of size necessary for sizing the paper
and no more, must be introduced at once. That quantity varies considerably
according to the nature and substance of the paper that the paper machine
may be employed in manufacturing, and I shall proceed to point out the
In making thick papers the sizing process migh
means of regulating it.

page_text: keep pace with the making machine, but not so in making thin. I therefore.
recommend with a paper machine, destined for general purposes, to have the
sizing apparatus detached, and to have two different frames adapted for.
suspending the reels of wet paper as they come from the machines, with steam
cylinders, sizing rolls and troughs, press rolls, and reels to each; nearly as, in
Fig. 5, wherein the end of the wet paper from the reel is conducted over:
the steam cylinder K, and led to the press rolls L, L, which carry it on and
unwind the paper according to their own rate of movement. In order to the.
paper drying flat it is necessary to lay a drag or friction of some sort upon
the reel P, so that the paper may draw tight over the steam cylinder, and a
motion must be given to the steam cylinder, so that the surface may move at
the same rate as the surface of the press rolls L, L. The motion of both must
be regulated according to the thickness of the paper, the thicker papers
requiring of course longer time to dry; but I think it expedient for the rate of
the papers travelling not to exceed fifteen feet per minute, even when very
thin, and therefore in some cases the supply of steam to the drying cylinder
must be diminished, so that that part of the process may not go on too rapidly,
otherwise it cockles the paper. The movement to the sizing rolls O and N
may be communicated by any convenient power, but provision should be made
for their rate of going to be adjustable. For the most part the surface of each
must move at the same rate as the surface of the press rolls, but not always.
I have before described how the level of the size in the size troughs is to be
regulated. According as the sizing rolls O and N dip more or less into the
size in the troughs, which will depend upon the level at which it is maintained,
they will have more or less size clinging to them, but as in very thick papers
the rate of going must be very slow (perhaps in some instances not even
exceeding six feet per minute), the size will then have time to drain down the
surface of the sizing rolls into the troughs, so that, notwithstanding the level of
the size being high, the quantity brought into contact with the paper will be
but small, and that too when most is wanted. Therefore, when that is the case
the sizing roll O, with which the paper first comes in contact, may be moved
at a quicker rate, so as to supply as much size as the paper will absorb. The
most easy adjustment will result from having a rigger, with six narrow grooves
in the spindle of the sizing roll, and a corresponding rigger on the shaft from
whence it is driven, so that by shifting the band twelve different rates of
movement may be produced. With thinner papers the level of the size in the
troughs may be made lower, and the movement of the sizing roll O may be
retarded instead of being accelerated, so that it may deliver very little size on
that side of the sheet; and, finally, with thin papers, the roll O, and the trough
belonging to it, with its pipe, may be taken away entirely, for if the paper be

page_text: well dried, the roll N will furnish enough size to strike quite through the
sheet. For printing papers, and such as require only a moderate degree of size,
one roll will be sufficient, and the size may also be considerably diluted. After
this process of sizing, the paper may either be cut off the reel and hung up
in sheets to dry, according to the ancient method, or it may be dried by draw-
ing over another steam cylinder. In the latter case the cylinder should be thick
in order for the heat to be moderate and the rate of drying gradual, and the size
is required not only to be strong, but that the gelatine should be of the best
nature. That which is extracted from bones is preferable to any other. Where
the sized paper is dried by steam two steam cylinders of the dimensions K, Fig. 2,
should be provided to keep pace with one set of sizing apparatus. The principle
of sizing here developed, that is to say, bringing the surface of dry paper in con-
tact with a smooth surfaco wetted with hot size, will admit of many modifica-
tions; but the method of applying it above specified being nearly as simple as
any, and quite perfect and comprehensive, I consider it unnecessary to detail
any other. The shape and fixation of the carriages for the sizing rolls and
troughs, the width of the machine, and the mode of applying motion to the
different parts must be arranged according to circumstances in each case of
setting up the apparatus; but it is very desireable to have the boiler and pipes
and all the wheel work on the same side of the machine, leaving the other side
clear for the purpose of getting at paper to conduct it with facility. I shall
now proceed to describe the construction of the steam cylinders, which I use
for drying the paper in the processes above described, and also in the machine
for making card boards, which I shall describe hereafter. I procure a hollow
cylinder of cast iron or other metal, having a rabbet (or fillet) in the inside at
each end, as shewn in Fig. 6; previous to fixing in the ends, I fit ou tempo-
rary crosses put in a spindle, and turn it in a rough manner, in order to ascer-
tain whether it can be rendered of an equal thickness, for unless it be very
nearly so, when finished, it will dry the paper unequally, and cause it to cockle;
it is therefore adviscable to condemn at once any that appear defective in that
particular, or unsound. Equality of thickness may be attained by boring out
the cylinders, but that is expensive, and would alter the mode of construction;
besides, if the internal surface of them be sound when cast, there is great
danger of opening out some porous place by taking the skin off the metal. I
next procure cast metal ends, nearly as shewn in the view, Fig. 7, and the
section of the cylinder Fig. 6, and the outer diameter of them should be about
half an inch less than the internal diameter of the cylinder; these are to be
screwed hard down upon the rabbets, with a quantity of iron cement in the
joint, and small flanches of lead and iron, with hard putty, under the screw
heads, to prevent the steam getting out there. The cylinder is then to

page_text: be turned quite smooth on the surface, and while in the lathe the scocket
in the centre of each end is to be turned and faced for the purpose of re-
ceiving at one end the stuffing box a, which also forms a gudgeon, and
at the other end the spindle or gudgeon b, both of which are shewn in
the section, Fig. 6; these are turned to fit into the sockets at either end,
and are fixed firmly upon them by strong screws, and the surfaces that come
together being all turned, the surface of the cylinder will be true with that of
the gudgeons.
Fig. 6 is a section of the cylinder in a complete state, and it is to be observed
that, after the workmanship upon it is completed, the grooves c, c, formed
between the ends and the internal surface of the cylinder are to be filled with
iron cement driven very hard in, and this should be properly set before steam
be let into the cylinder. The stuffing box a is for a plug Y, which is also a
double tube of cast iron, the external end of which is made rather taper, and
has fitted and ground upon it a metal ring Z, which has two joining screws
cast and turned upon it. It is to be observed that the holes in the tube do not
open out at the external end, but branch off to the surface, and one aperture is
immediately under the upper joining screw, and the other is immediately over
the other joining screw in the metal ring Z. The upper joining screw is for
attaching to the ring a pipe for bringing steam from a steam boiler; the under
joining screw is for attaching a pipe for conveying away the condensed water;
and it is to be observed that there is a pipe let into the lower tube at the
end of the plug inside the cylinder, the orifico of which is nearly at the bottom
of the cylinder, in consequence of which, if the pressure of the steam exceed
that of the atmosphere, which in most cases it ought to do, the cylinder may be
nearly emptied of the condensed water; whereas without this internal descend-
ing pipe the water could not run out till it nearly half filled the the cylinder, and
that body of water lying in it during its rotation would diminish the tempera-
ture of a large cylinder very considerably. There is a ring with a set screw
on the extreme external end of the plug, for the purpose of keeping the metal
ring Zin its place, and it is also intended, by means of the tail from it being
fastened to the frame, or some fixture near, to prevent the plug turning round
with the cylinder when at work. The pipe that conveys the steam from the boiler,
and that which lets away the condensed water, should each be provided with
a stopcock. It will be necessary, on various occasions, to regulate the supply
of steam, and when that is low the cock in the pipe outside, which conveys
away the condensed water, should be quite shut while the paper is passing over
the cylinder, and at the time of changing the reels the whole quantity of steam
may be let on, and the cock in the condensed water pipe opened, and by that
means the water accumulated in the inside of the cylinder will be blown out of

page_text: it in a very short space of time, and then the cock in the water pipe should be
shut again, and the supply of steam for the cylinder adjusted according to what
may be required by the steam cock; but it is to be observed that these pre-
cautions are only requisite when the supply of steam is reduced, because in
that case the atmospheric pressure may exceed the force of the steam in the
cylinder. When the full heat can be applied to the paper, the cock in the
condensing water pipe is to be set so as to allow space for the condensed water
to be forced out without wasting steam. The size of the cylinders is almost
matter of choice; if small it will require a greater number of them to dry a
given quantity of paper. In practice I find it preferable to have them large,
and apply a moderate heat to the
paper.
My Invention of making a thicker sort of paper, similar in texture to
pasteboards or cardboards, consists in drawing off together two or more reels
or lengths of paper of twelve feet and upwards, drying the papers, and after
covering all the surfaces, except those intended to be ultimately the
outside of the cardboard, with glue, or some other strongly adhesive sub-
stance, bringing them into contact and pressing them together. As the
paper, which is to be laid together for making these boards, requires to be
particularly free from knots or grit, or any substance that might cause
unevenness of surface in the finished boards, I add the apparatus, shewn in
Fig. 8, to the machine, at which the paper is made; R is a vat of the usual
kind, with agitators; the stuff or pulp is first delivered from the chests or reser-
voirs into this vat, and there is supplied at the same time with it a considerable
quantity of water for the purpose of diluting it. In the usual course of work-
ing, the water for this purpose should be the same which has passsed through
the machine, and by having two agitators, or as they are commonly called hogs,,
in the vat, which I drive rather faster than the common speed, and also a
middle partition nearly to the bottom, the stuff is thoroughly mixed by the
time of its going out at an opening S, by which it passes through a very short
trough into a vessel T, about three feet six inches wide inside, with another
vessel or boat V inside of it, just fitting against the sides, and of the shape
shewn in the.Drawing. The purpose of this internal vessel is to direct the.
course of the diluted pulp in its progress from the vat R to the vat A, and the
arrows shew how the pulp descends, travels along under the bottom of the
vessel V, and ascends at the other end, whence it flows into the vat A, where
it is again agitated previous to its arrival at the making cylinder. The bottom
of the vessel T is an inclined plane; and at the end furthest from where the
stuff enters there is a recess, with a cock at the bottom of it, for the purpose of
emptying it from time to time. The use of this apparatus is as follows, viz* :-
Any piece of wood, cork, or other substance floating, when the pulp enters the

page_text: vessel T, will not descend to travel under the bottom of the vessel V; therefore
these go no further, and cannot enter into the substance of the paper. Any sand,
or grit, or other substance, much heavier than water, of course sinks to the
bottom, and there it will remain. Rag knots are not much heavier than water,
but in the course of the passage along the bottom they gradually settle, and
the greater part of them will not rise again, but sink into the recess, and, by
drawing off two or three pails of stuff about every eight hours' work of the
machine from the cock at the bottom of the recess, these knots will be removed.
The utility of having a separate inner vessel instead of merely a false bottom
or partition is, that by raising it the passage below it may be enlarged, and by
that means the rapidity of the steam be retarded, and by lowering it the pas-
sage underneath may be diminished, and consequently the steam be accelerated;
and this means of adjustment is highly necessary, because, under different cir-
cumstances, the steam of pulp varies in magnitude, and the area of the space
through which it travels ought to be varied also, to produce a suitable rate
of flowing, for if it flow too slowly, not only the knots but the fibres of
rag also will settle, and if it flow too rapidly a very small number of the
knots will settle. For fixing the inside vessel to the outside, I have
two grooves or slits cut perpendicularly about four inches long in both
sides of each, so that when the inside vessel is in its place the holes in that
answer to the holes in the outer vessel, and a bolt to each pair of bolts with
a very large flanch lined with leather for the outside, by which the inner
vessel is fixed at the depth required, and no water can leak out. The width
specified of this apparatus is adapted for papers about two feet four inches
wide. If the the machine for making the paper be wider, then this should
be wider also, but it does not require to vary in length. In addition to this
apparatus I apply at the other end of the machine three picking rolls X, X, X,
same as described in the Specification of John and George Dickinson, inrolled
in the High Court of Chancery the Twenty-third day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and fifteen. These picking rolls brush the under side
of the paper, moving in the direction shewn in the Drawing by arrows, at the
rate of about two hundred and fifty revolutions per minute, and strike off
anything projecting from the surface of the paper. In this case there are
required cushions and straight edges, as stated in the Specification above
referred to; but, as the operation here is previous to reeling, and as with my
patent machines the knots that may be left in are found to project from the
under side of the sheet, the position of the prickers and cushions is reversed.
These additions are useful for manufacturing all kinds of paper, but they
are particularly requisite in the paper for making card boards; and the

page_text: paper machines, in manufacturing paper for this purpose, should travel slowly,
in order to give the fullest effect possible to the apparatus for sinking the
knots. The usual and the best way of making cards is to unite four thick-
nesses of paper; the two destined for the inside are usually of ordinary
quality, the two for the outside are very fine. For the present mode I make
the inside papers about two inches narrower than the outside. The best mode
of drying the paper is to do it as it comes from the inaking machine. It may
be done by fitting four steam cylinders to the card machine for the paper
from the four reels respectively to run over previous to its being wetted with
size, but the rate of drying is not so conveniently adjustable in that case, and
the steam cylinders render the leading of the four different papers more diffi-
cult. In the outline clevation of the machine last referred to, Fig. 8, there
are shown three steam cylinders, K, K, K, to which the paper is led after
passing over the picking rolls, the first is four fect diameter, the two others
three feet each. It is expedient to have the first steam cylinder not exceeding
one inch in thickness, the next about one and a half inch, and the third two
inches, and the surface of each will thereby transmit heat in different pro-
portions. The reason for this is, that as the drying of the paper advances,
the tendency of it to cockle increases, and the application of a moderate heat
guards against this. Each of these cylinders is fitted up and constructed as
before described; and if the drying appear in any case to be carried too far,
the supply of steam must be adjusted accordingly, or perhaps entirely shut off
from one of the cylinders. The paper is to be previously pressed as dry as
possible at the making machine, and particular care must be taken to have the
press rolls parallel, that one side may not be pressed harder than the other,
for in that case the paper will not only be wetter but thicker on that side
which is least pressed. It is easy to ascertain whether this is the case by
measuring the thickness of the paper as it accumulates on the reel, and the
pressure must be regulated accordingly. In the card making machine, Fig. 9,
the two reels a, a, are covered with the paper intended for the inside of the
card boards, and the two reels b, b, are covered with the paper for the outside;
the direction of the reels unwinding is shewn by arrows, and it is easy to
trace the paper from each to the point between the press rolls c, c, where all
the four papers are brought into contact; d, d, are guide rolls, made as light
as possible, because turned merely by the friction of the paper; e, c, e, e, e, e,
are sizing rolls, and f,f,f,f, are four size troughs, rather differing in shape,
but adapted to answer the same purposes as the troughs Q, Q, particularly
described as part of the apparatus for sizing paper, that is to say, they are to
receive the hot size at one end, maintaining it at the height found necessary

page_text: for the proper effect of the machine, and return the greater part to be pumped
up again into a size boiler similar to that before described; and I shall here
observe that the size or glue for making boards must be as strong as possible.
The paper for the outside of the cards is seen ascending from the the recls
b, b, and one side of the paper from each reel comes in contact with a size
roll working in the lower troughs, and moving in the same direction as the
paper, but rather faster, and by this means each of these papers has the size
spread on one side of it, namely, that side which does not come in contact
with the press rolls C, C, the other side of each being intended for the
outside of the boards, is left clean, but it is necessary that the side of the
paper which is sized be not covered completely, but that the space of about an
inch from each edge be left clean, and for this purpose the size rolls in the
two lower troughs should be about two inches short of the width of the paper.
The paper for the inside of the card boards from the two upper reels a, a,
is led under the size rolls and through the size in the two upper troughs so
as to be completely soaked by it, but where the paper ascends out of the size
troughs, there is, for each side, a small metal straight edge 9, g, just brought
into contact with the upper surface of it, for the purpose of scraping off the
superfluous size, which, of course, flows back again into the trough. These
straight edges should be made to raise up and lower by screws, so that what
quantity of size is requisite may be left on the paper. The two middle papers
thus soaked with size are laid over the two other sheets, and the ends
conducted between them down through the press rolls c, c. It is necessary, as
before observed, to have these papers narrower than those for the outside, and
in consequence of that, and also of the outside papers not being covered with
size quite to the edges, there will be no size forced out at each side so as to
smear the surface of the rolls. In the subsequent pressures the contiguity of
the press rolls c, c, must be adjustable by screws acting on the bearings of one
of them to afford a means of regulating the pressure with great nicety. In
fact the whole use of these rolls is to bring the four papers into contact, and
they must be set so as not to pinch them at all; after passing these press rolls
the four papers are united into one sheet, and this is conducted to another
pair of press rolls h, h, of large diameter. They are exhibited in Fig. 9, four
feet diameter, and though it is not perhaps essential to have them so large,
5 yet they are preferable so, or even much larger, with a view to the pressure
being more gradual, and to its enduring for a greater length of time. This
pressure should also be adjustable and ought to be rather hard, and the
cardboard thus formed may be reeled from these press rolls and cut into
sheets of the required size, after which it is beneficial to press them in a screw

page_text: press, and dry them in the usual manner; or they may from the large press
rolls above described be conducted over and round a series of steam cylinders
till dry, and be cut into sheets in that state; in the latter case the steam
cylinders should be near two inches thick, in order to apply a moderate heat
for the purpose of this drying. It is requisite to give a motion to the press
rolls, and the smaller pair require pinions. The large press rolls require to
overrun the sinall ones in a trifling degree in order to stretch the boards a
little, without which they would not lead straight and flat. I have found it
most convenient to apply the first movement to the large press rolls, and to
communicate it to the upper press rolls c, c, by an expanding rigger, the nature
and use of which are well known, as they are employed for a similar object to
the above in most paper machines. The reels are unwound by the movement
of the press rolls dragging the paper, and each reel requires a friction upon
it to preserve a tension on the paper. The guide rolls d, l, do not require
a motion, but all the sizing rolls do. The surface of the four sizing rolls in
the two upper troughs ought to move at the same rate as the surface of the
press rolls c, c. The surface of the sizing rolls in the lower trough ought
to move rather faster, according to my experience, in the proportion of about
three to two. In the section Fig. 10 and plan Fig. 11, I shew a very con-
venient way of giving these motions by means of chain wheels on the press roll
spindles, and the spindles of the sizing rolls and two endless chains, so that
motion being communicated to the press rolls c, c, as before specified, they
will set in motion the sizing rolls by means of the two endless chains; and it
will be observed that the three sizing rolls on each side tako their movement
from the press roll which is farthest from them, otherwise they would move in
the wrong direction: In the plan and section the rolls are niarked with the
same letters as in Fig. 9, and the chain wheels are shewn by black, and the
chains by double lines. a, a, are merely guide pullies which run alive on the
round spindles of the press rolls C; C, and are confined in their places by a fixed
collar on each side of them. It is important to give the motions to all these
from one side of the machine, and to have the sizo copper, the pump,, and
the pipes from the size troughs on that 'side' also, in order to leave the
other side quite clear for getting at the reels, and conducting the paper. The
most suitablé rate of movement for the machine is from six to seven feet
per minute. The width of the machine must of course depend on the width
required for the card board; four réels of paper being drawn off at once to form
the card board, the length of paper wound on to each should be as nearly as
possible the same. This equality in point of length may be attained by taking
a movement from the paper making machine during the making of the paper,

page_text: to some simple apparatus that will cause a bell to ring on the completion of a
certain number of revolutions of the making cylinder, and on that signal the
reels should be shifted and the full ones set by in readiness for shifting at the
card-making machine. It is needfull to have a considerable number of reels
and a rack to set by those that are full of paper, because the paper-muking
machine and the card-making machine may not precisely keep pace with each
other. For making boards of three sheets instead of four; one of the two
upper reels must be left out, and for making boards of two sheets, both of
them; but in either of these cases I have found it necessary to lay on a thin
coat of paste, in addition to the glue, upon one of the surfaces of paper exposed
on the press rolls C, C, during the working of the machine. This paste may
be laid on by a cylinder the same length as the lower sizing roils, placed over
one of the press rolls and parallel with it, and having a motion in the same
direction and at the same rate as the paper, but so fixed that it may be raised
lowered by screws. It may be fed or furnished with paste in a manner
similar to some of the processes in use with calico printers of laying colour on
their rolls, or as the ink is furnished in printing machines.
or
The first improvement in my patent machinery for manufacturing paper
consists in the addition of the second felt and second pair of press rolls, shewn
in all the different Figures of the paper-making machines in the Drawing
hereunto annexed. Previous to the introduction of these the paper was
finished for recling at the first pair of press rolls, but that mode of getting rid
of the water at one pressure was in a degree detrimental to the paper.
In the improved plan there is a separate motion given to each different pair
of press rolls, which may be communicated by any convenient power, and each
pair of press rolls turns the felt which passes between them with the paper.
The exact size of the rolls is of no importance, but the action of the machine
depends materially upon timing them properly: the surface of the second' pair
of rolls ought to move about one thirty-sixth part faster than the surface of
the first pair; before this alteration, the sharp' pressure on the paper while
upon the first felt, and in a very pulpy state, caused all the threads of the felt
to appear in the paper. In the present mode mode the pressure is more
gradual, and partly from that and partly from the use of two felts no marks
are produced in the paper, and at the same time it is made drier.
My second improvement consists of an alteration of the internal apparatus
of the paper-making cylinder.
>
In the Specification of John and George Dickinson, inrolled in the Court of
Chancery the Twenty-third day of February, One thousand eight hundred and
fifteen, there is described a segment of a cylinder which is added to the internal

page_text: apparatus for the purpose of regulating the rate of the water flowing through
the cylinder on which the paper is made. I propose for the mode of fixing
this to remain the same, but the shape to vary in these two particulars, viz.:-
First. That it be made so long that the ends just touch the inside of each
end of the making cylinder, so that the two surfaces being turned smooth there
may not be any friction, and yet very little water may pass into the interior of
the cylinder by that joint.
Secondly. That the surface of the internal segment be not concentric with
the surface of the paper-making cylinder, but that it be the segment of a
spiral instead of the segment of a cylinder, as shewn in the section Fig. 12,
wherein A represents the making cylinder, B the segment which is intended
to touch the inside of the making cylinder at about the point C, and to recede
gradually from it to about the point D, and to be distant from it at the latter
point about the quarter part of an inch. By this construction the whole of
the water which enters through the surface of the making cylinder, (except a
small quantity which will get through between the ends of the segment and
inside of the ends of the cylinder,) must travel to the opening at the point D to
get into the interior of the cylinder, and thus the flow of water through its
surface, and consequently the making of paper upon it is rendered gradual.
The next improvement in my patent machinery for making paper consists
in the adoption of an intermediate air vessel between the paper-making
cylinder and the air pumps, fitted up so as to exhibit and regulate the
degree of suction. For this purpose I make use of a large air-tight vessel,
Fig. 13, contents equal to about thirty feet cube, in fact the larger the better,
and I cause the air-pumps to pump the air from this instead of the paper-
making machine cylinder, and I produce the exhaustion from the latter by
leading the pipe called the suction pipe in my former Specification into this
air vessel. I have to observe here, that it is expedient to have the air-pumps
of such a capacity or moved at such a rate as to be equal to about three times
the exhaustion usually required, at the same time a pair of double acting air-
pumps with four inch barrels and one foot stroke will serve for three paper
machines about the size referred to in my former Specifications, and when the
air vessel is in use for more than one making machine there is required a stop-
cock in each of the suction pipes between the making cylinders and the air
vessel. To this air vessel I apply a stopcock B, for the occasional introduction
of air. C is a glass tube about an inch and a half diameter inside, the upper
end of which is let into the copper elbow, screwed against the side of the air
vessel, and both joints are made air tight. The length of the glass tube should
be not less than two feet, and the lower end of it dips into a small circular pot

page_text: about five and a quarter inches diameter inside, so that the area of the pot
inay be the area of the cylinder, about in the proportion of twelve to one.
This pot is not to be a fixture, but merely to stand on a pedestal, so that it
may be easily raised or lowered. Care must be taken to have this pot full of
water every time the air pumps are going to work, and as the lower end of the
glass tube descends below the top of the pot, the water will, as the exhaustion
of the air vessel takes place, rise up in the glass tube till the surface of the
water in the pot be below the bottom of the tube and then air will be drawn
up, and the exhaustion will proceed no further, therefore the degree of suction
will depend upon the depth to which the glass tube descends in the pot. The
degree requisite varies from about eigteen inches head of water for very thick
papers down to six inches or even less for very thin. For the least degree, the
lower end of the glass tube must descend half an inch into the pot, for the highest
an inch and a half, and the pot must be set higher or lower accordingly or
according to any intermediate degree required, I have before mentioned that
the air pumps ought to draw much more air than what is sufficient for the
exhaustion of the cylinder or cylinders, and by that means, and having a large
air vessel, and working with the stopcock B more or less open, the
cylinders may be exhausted, and the rarefaction of the air vessel be maintained
uniformily, even if one of the valves should get out of order, or any other
accident impair the action of the pumps. It is important to have the pipe
that conveys the air from the making cylinder (or cylinders if the, air vessel
be in use for two or more machines) laid and introduced into the air vessel in
such a way that there can be no lodgment of water in it, for a little water
frequently gets into this pipe from the making cylinder, and this, if the
pipe be carried downwards and then up again, would accumulate and prevent
any suction from the cylinder taking place. When one air vessel is in use
for two or three making machines, the respective cylinders may be employed
on different kinds of paper, and require different degrees of suction; in that
case the degree of exhaustion in the air vessel must be that which will
produce the strongest suction required; and by shutting more or less
the stop cocks which I have before mentioned as being necessary in the
suction pipes from the making cylinders to the air vessel, the draft of air
from the other cylinders may be diminished so as to reduce the suction in
each to the required degree. It is useful to have on the glass tube a scale of
inches; a smaller tube with mercury might answer the same purpose; but I
prefer the larger tube with water, because the variations in height are more
considerable and consequently more apparent. A sort of inverted safety valve
as D, would also answer the. purpose of regulating the exhaustion by the

page_text: admission of air; but I find the water tube for shewing the degree of pressure,
and the cock for regulating the admission of air to the air vessel, sufficient for
working two machines with perfect facility and with all the precision that
could be desired. The references to Figures hitherto made in this Specifica-
tion relate to the Drawing hereunto annexed, numbered (1). Those in the
succeeding part of the Specification will relate to the Drawing numbered (2).
The Drawing No. 2 is entirely explanatory of the improvements in my Patent
Cutting Machine, which render it more efficacious for the purposes proposed in
my former Specifications, and also applicable to the further use of cutting into
smaller pieces of the size of cards the thick paper similar to card boards, the
mode of making which I have described in the former part of this Specification.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section; Fig. 2, a transverse section; and Fig. 3, a
plan of a machine for cutting paper into large sheets. The whole of the parts
are not visible in cach Figure, but every part that could be shewn has the
same letter of reference in each. A is the main shaft of the machine, which
may be driven by a drum and strap, as shewn in the Drawing, or by any other
convenient power in the direction shewn by the arrows. B is an eccentric
fixed upon this shaft, which, in the course of it's revolution, pushes out the
swinging bar C, and that being connected to the waggon D, draws it out
towards that end of the frame. The adoption of this eccentric and upright bar I
consider my first improvement. By the shape of this eccentric it will be seen
that its effect must be as follows, viz, during that period of it's revolution when
the part of it's periphery between the points a and b, which is the eccentric
part, is acting against the brass roll d, fixed in the upright bar C, it is forcing
the bar off from the shaft A, and it should be so shaped as to complete this
movement of the bar in about half of it's revolution. For the next fourth part
of it's revolution the periphery is concentric, and therefore does not force the bar
out any further, but keeps it there, except that there is a small portion cut
away near the point z, so as to admit of the bar C, which is acted upon by the
spring E, in an opposite direction to the push of the eccentric approaching to
a certain extent the shaft A. When in the progress of the revolution of the
eccentric, the point z rises above the brass roll d, the swinging bar is thrown,
forward by the pressure of the spring, and pushes the waggon D before it;
and the spring should be so adjusted as to force the swinging bar home in the
space of one fourth of the revolution of the eccentric, by which means the
brass roll will be brought in contact with the eccentric at the point a, and
the process of pushing it out again will proceed as before, conformably
to the revolution of the eccentric. The movement out and the return of
this bar must correspond with every separation of the paper, and the shape

page_text: of the eccentric shewn in the Drawing, which allows twice as long for the
movement out (during which it is drawing the paper preparatory to it's
being cut), as it does for the return (during which it is merely pushing the
waggon back), and further, which keeps the bar and the waggon stationary
during the time of the paper being cut, is what I find the most convenient in
practice, though it would admit of variation without absolute hindrance to the
operation of the machine. The use of what I call the waggon D is the same
as in my machinery formerly specified, namely, to draw out the paper destined
to be cut that distance that may be required for a sheet's length; but the
construction of this part of the apparatus is now materially different, and
therein consists my second improvement. The frame of it consists of a piece
of wood that stretches across the machine with a piece set on at each end
square to the long piece and angle pieces to strengthen it. There are four (or
a greater or less number according to the width of the machine and paper,)
pieces of brass e, c, c, e, firmly fixed to the bottom side of the waggon frame, and
projecting from it about an inch and a quarter, shaped as shewn in the full
size section, Fig. 4. There are two pieces of wood or metal f, and which I
shall call flaps that hang below the waggon to which they are each attached by
two hinges, one at each end of the flap. Upon each of these there are two
pieces of brass g. 9, which, when the flaps are shut up, are intended to close
against the projecting pieces of brass e, e, e, e, and to confine the
paper between
them. In the centre of each flap there is a spring h; of the shape shewn in
the section Fig. 4, firmly screwed on. From the top of the frame there are
two small iron carriages i, i, projecting like a crane on the opposite side to the
brasses e, c, e, e, and small swinging bars of iron j, descending from each. From
the joints, there are short connecting rods 7, to the bell cranks m, and there
are links or forks n, from the same bell cranks to the wood frame o, particularly
shown in the section Fig. 1, and by means of which the waggon D is connected
to the swinging bar C, by the movement of which the waggon is alternately
drawn out and pushed back again. Now the pull derived from the outward
movement of the bar C first acts upon the bell cranks m, and moves them so
as to force out the small swinging bar j with considerable power before it draws
the waggon; and for further security it is useful to have two springs to act against
the sides of the waggon, to confine it and make it difficult to start, so that the
pull may inevitably force out the small swinging bars to the full extent before
the waggon itself be moved. By this forcing out of the swinging bars it will be
seen that the bottom links p and the swinging brasses q, to which they are
connected are necessarily drawn out also; and in this movement of the
swinging brasses they act against the springs and shut up the flaps. In the

page_text: section Fig. 1, the waggon is shewn in this state. In the full size section,
Fig. 4, the flaps are down. The latter state results from the swinging bar C
being in the act of pushing the waggon back, and the former state always
exists while the bar is in the act of pulling the waggon out. The purpose of
this waggon is to lay hold of the ends of paper and draw them out preparatory
to cutting, and then to let the sheets cut off, drop, and move forward to take
hold of the ends from whence these sheets have been cut off, for the purpose of
repeating the operation. And by the construction of this apparatus, the
opening and shutting of the flap and the consequent seizure and release of the
paper precedes each movement of the waggon. The application in this case
of the inclined plane and power of a crank in passing it's centre, by means of
which the paper is held so firmly between the flaps and the projecting
brasses e, e, e, e, of this waggon constitute my improvement. Different modes
of carrying these principles into operation might be pointed out; but, as I
have, according to my experience, specified the best, 1 consider any further
detail unnecessary. I have before said that the length of the sheets of paper
will depend on the extent of the waggon drawing out. This is adjustable by
the following means:-The swinging bar C has four or more holes at the
bottom; and the carriage of it, which consists of a platform and two standards
by which the motion of the bar is guided, has corresponding holes, and by
putting the steel pin into one or other, the throw of the bar may be altered
considerably. For greater exactness there is also at the top of the bar a screw
which raises or lowers the brass nut s, from whence the pull is communicated
to the waggon; and as that is raised or lowered, there is a corresponding
alteration in the extent of movement. As the connecting frame between the
waggon and the bar requires to vary in length, there is a long screw with two
nuts, by means of which it is joined to the nuts, and that affords the adjust-
ment required. The cutting of the paper by means of a circular knife being
drawn across the machine at the time of the ends of paper being drawn out
the required distance is performed in nearly the same part of the machine
where it is exhibited in my former Specification, but I have made an
alteration in the mode of cutting. There is still a circular knife made use of,
but now in lieu of a rapid rotatory motion being given to it, to the end that it
might cut through the paper by it's velocity, the knife F is made much
stronger, and no rotary motion is given to it, but it cuts in the course of being
drawn across the machine in consequence of it's edge passing a steel straight edge
G, which is at that time hard pressed down on the paper; and the movement
of the knife carriage H being precisely parrallel with this straight edge, and the
knife revolving round in consequence of it's friction against it the paper

page_text: between is cut in a manner similar to the effect of a pair of shears. And
herein consists my third improvement, whereby the edges of the paper are
rendered smoother than by the old method, and the necessity of a separate
rotatory motion to the circular knife is avoided. In the present Drawing the
movement of the knife carriage is upon a slide fixed across the machine
parallel with the straight edge G, which keeps the knife more firmly
bearing against the straight edge than if it run upon rollers, as in my
former Specification. The knife may be thrown across the machine at the
required time by many methods; but I consider the adoption of an eccentric
for this purpose, as shown in the, Drawing, or of a different shape, as a
fourth improvement. Upon the end of the shaft A, opposite to where
the motion is applied to the machine, there is a bevele'd wheel J, which
works into another beveled wheel K having double the number of cogs,
and thereby gives motion to the shaft L; at the other end of which
is fixed the eccentric M, which in going round works between the link N
that has a small brass roll in it at each end to prevent friction. This link
link is so placed that in the course of the revolution of the eccentric it comes in
contact with the upper side of one of these rolls, and thereby forces the link off
in that direction till it can pass clear, and there the link rests; but in the pro-
gress of the revolution of the eccentric it comes afterwards in contact with the
under side of the brass roll at the other end of the link, and thereby forces the
link off in that direction the same distance that it had previously forced it the
contrary way. And this operation is constantly repeated as the shaft revolves,
that is to say, the link is forced alternately five inches one way and then, after
a pause, five inches the other way, and the eccentric is of that shape that each
movement of the link is effected in about one sixth part of the revolution of
the shaft L. The link is supported on pedestals with joints at the bottom and
top of each, and there is a strong connecting rod O from it to the joint in the
swinging bar P, which is alternately moved backwards and forwards conform-
ably to every movement of the link. From the top of this bar there is a
connecting rod which attaches it to the carriage of the knife, so that it's
movement draws the carriage along the slide one way and pushes it back again
the reverse way, and each way that the knife crosses the machine it cuts the
paper. For wider machines and paper the shape or rather the size of the
eccentric and the length of the swinging bar P will require corresponding
alterations in order to throw the knife carriage across a longer slide. In
putting the machine together the two bevelled wheels J and K should be so
set in gear that the movement of the link may commence at the moment the
waggon is drawn out to the extent of its movement, because then the cut is

page_text: to take place, and the knife carriage will be carried across and the cut
completed a short space of time before the waggon arives back again to
take fresh hold of the paper. I have before mentioned that the paper is held
by means of the straight edge G being pressed firmly down upon it during the
time of its being cut. The paper is drawn over a flat plate of iron fixed
across the machine by being screwed to the four upright standards R, R, R, R.
And the edge of this plate, on the side next where the waggon works, is
shaped as an inclined plane, as shewn in the Section Fig. 1, and has four
notches precisely over which the projecting brasses of the waggon e, e, e, e,
stand, when the waggon is forced up for taking hold of the ends of the paper,
and the waggon slides on the top of the frame and is guided between two
fillets. Two of the upright standards, viz, R 1, R 1, are of wrought iron,
and are forged with a round pin projecting from them towards the inside of the
machine, and these pins being turned are each adapted to form a joint for
two frames, both of which are used in holding the paper. The two outer
arms, that is, one on each pin, are attached to the steel straight edge and
bar G, so that the pins form the fulcrum of its movement. The two inner
arms attach to a flat bar T; the shape of which, and the four notches in
it, are more particularly shown in the Plan Fig. 3, in which the straight edge
is left out. There are two connecting rods V attached to levers W, which
levers are acted upon by the eccentrics X that are fixed upon a shaft made to
revolve in the same time on the shaft A, and the other ends of the connecting
rods V attach to the ends of the straight edge G, so that the weights hanging
to one end of the levers W may lift the straight edge and the eccentrics may
draw it down. In the small section, Fig. 5, the straight edge G and the
flat bar T are shewn in the state in which they are during the time of
drawing out the paper. In the longitudinal section, Fig. 1, they are shewn
pressed down upon the paper, and the upper edge of the circular knife
thereby standing higher than the bottom of the straight edge. According to
the state of the other parts of the machine, shewn in Fig. 1, the straight
edge and the bar ought to be up; but by this mode of drawing them the
nature of the cut is thought to be better illustrated. The eccentrics X, X,
have three degrees of extension, so that in one stage of their revolution, equal
to about a third part, they keep the straight edge down at its lowest depres-
sion; and the wheels of their shaft must be so set in gear that this state
of the straight edge may be contemporaneous with the cutting of the paper;
and in the succeeding stage of the revolution they may admit of the weights
elevating it about five sixteenths of an inch; and in the third stage, which
is equal to one half of the revolution, they may admit of the weights elevating

page_text: the straight edge to that level shewn in the small section, Fig. 5. The
flat bar T is lifted by two catches or hooks Y, Y, fastened to its arms, which
project over the arms of the straight edge, and by means of these catches
the lifting of the straight edge also lifts this bar; but the catches are so
formed that the lifting of the bar T only takes place at the time of the
second lift of the straight edge G, and for the following reason:-At the
time of the paper being cut it lays upon the flat plate Q, and the bar and
the straight edge are closed upon it; at the time of the cut being completed
the waggon is in the course of it's return to lay hold of the end of the
paper, and it is requisite for the steel straight edge to lift instantly so as
to be clear out of the way of the brasses e, e, e, e, which project from the
under side of the waggon. But it is also requisite for the paper to be held
down, and for this purpose it is intended that the flat bar T remain with
it's weight upon it to keep it from at all shifting. In consequence of the
bevel of the edge of the plate Q next the waggon, the points of these pro-
jecting brasses e, e, e, e, enter over the paper and between the notches in the
bar T, and the brasses on the flaps of the waggon, when they are lifted up,
close up against the under side of the paper by reason of the notches in
the plate Q; and the second lift of the straight edge should be timed so as
to lift the bar T precisely at the moment of the paper being seized, and the
eccentrics must be shaped so as to adapt them for exactly producing this
effect. In the construction of the machine they must be gradually fitted up
and filed away to the precise shape, which cannot be shewn by any Drawing
nearer than it is in Fig. 1, but they require no subsequent adjustment. This
mode of holding the paper I consider my fifth improvement. The rate
of movement should be about four cuts per minute, but the machine should
be fitted up with a great length of frame for the purpose of unwinding and
cutting six or eight reels at once.
My sixth improvement consists in a different mode of longitudinal cutting,
from the description in my first Specification of a cutting machine. A, A,
Fig. 6, are two spindles, having circular knives upon them B, B, B, B, and
intermediate metal rings c, c, c, c, which work in contact, except for the
substance of the thick paper between them, and the edges of the knives
passing each other cut the paper, which is at the same time drawn on by
the revolution of the spindles, into long strips. This process is adapted more
particularly for the thick paper, the mode of manufacturing which is described
in this Specification, and is preparatory to a mode of transverse cutting,
by means of which the paper is cut into small pieces of the required size.
The width of the strips of paper may be adjustable by having several knives

page_text: and circular blocks of different widths as may be required, all fitted to the
same spindle, and the whole may be held together by having a collar at
one end of the spindle and a nut at the other. Fig. 7 is a section of
the same apparatus, leading the paper on to the frame Fig. 8, which carries
the apparatus for the transverse cutting. This frame consists of two forks or
sides D fixed upon the strong shaft E, and these two sides are bolted together
with stretching rails so as to prevent any twist of the machine. From the
centre of the shaft E to the top of the circular cutters ought to be about
ten feet, as shewn in the Drawing. The shaft E must work upon two
plummer blocks or bearings set upon some very secure platform, and it is
most convenient to have them inside of the sides of the frame D. The shaft E
should project about nine inches clear of these sides at one end, and upon
this projecting end a drum is intended to run alive, which, being turned
by a strap from some convenient power, is to give motion to the machine
by means of a chan rigger fixed to it, and therefore turning with it, which
is shewn by a red line F. This chain rigger, by means of an endless chain,
turns another chain rigger G, and thereby gives motion to the shaft or
spindle H. runs through from one side of the frame to the other, and has a
projecting end on the other side of the frame, on which is fixed an eccentric,
which in the revolution of the spindle acts alternately against two brass rolls
attached to standards not connected with this machine, but fixtures, except as
to the power of the brass rolls revolving so as to relieve the friction. The
eccentric is shewn in black Z, and is of such shape that in the course of a half
revolution it moves the whole machine over in one direction the distance that
may be required, and in the succeeding half revolution moves it back again,
and thus the machine is kept in constant oscillation like an inverted pen-
dulum, and it must have a spring to maintain it on each side to prevent its
swinging by its own gravity, because it should derive it's whole movement from
the action of the eccentric; and I shall remark here that the throw of the
machine. may be varied by having different eccentrics all fitted to the same pro-
jecting end of the spindle H, and a means of varying the situation of the brass
rolls, against which the eccentric is to act; or the movement may be given by
such an eccentric fixed on a shaft not connected with the frame, but made to
revole between and act against two rollers attached to it in the proper
situation. At the top of the machine are seen four or more straight
edges I, I, I, I, having cach a front plate of steel for the cutters to act
against, and the spindle and carriage of the cutters are nearly similar to the
cutter and carriage of the machine last described; the mode of cutting is the
same, and the cut is effected by drawing the carriage, which works upon the

page_text: slides J, J, across the machine. The drawing across is here differently per-
formed. There are two racks screwed on to the bottom of the knife carriage,
one on each side, and just under the slides J, J, and there are three spindles K
placed across the machine, which carry a pinion at each end, but within the
frame, and these spindles and pinions, being all set in motion at once, and
made all to work into the racks, which are about fourteen inches long, pro-
duce the effect of moving the knife carriage from one end of the slide to the
other, and then their action ceases, and after a pause they are set in motion in
an opposite direction, and moves the knife carriage back again. In this
machine the steel edges, against which the circular cutters act, do not rise or
fall; but the paper is confined by a set of bars framed into two bars 1, 1,
being fitted up and pressed against the steel edges at the time of the cutting,
and when the cut is finished they are allowed to drop about the eighth part of
an inch. The cutters are drawn across during the time of the machine moving
out, and during the space of time the under set of bars are pressed up by four
connecting rods, one at each corner of the machine, and the mode in which
they are elevated by cranks fixed on the two spindles m, m, to which move-
ment is given by the small eccentric on the spindle H, may be easily under-
stood from the Drawing, which shews that during half its revolution it presses
the bars up, and during the other half it allows of their dropping by their own
weight, but there must be a stop set somewhere to prevent their dropping more
than an eighth of an inch. It is observed that the thick paper to be cut in
this manner requires drying first, and after it passes the steam rolls to be led
through a pair of very smooth press rolls to give it a good surface, and then to be
led between the pair of rolls for cutting it into strips, as above specified; and this
pair of cutting rolls must be timed to keep pace with the rolls for smoothing the
paper. As the cutting rolls revolve they will deliver out the paper beyond them,
and their rate of movement should be about six feet per minute. Now, with this
transverse cutting machine there is nothing to lay hold of the paper, but it is
in the first instance guided between the steel bars and the set of bars under-
neath. It being understood that the knife is at that time at one side of the
machine, and then the machine being set in motion, the bars close on the
paper, the cutting commences, and the machine moves out from the cutting
rolls, keeping pace with the rate of the paper travelling. The eccentric in the
present Drawing is adapted for cutting eighteen inches of paper, and the
machine moves from the rollers in that process nine inches, but the motion of
the cutting rolls continues during the movement of the machine back again;
and therefore supposing, when it is. at the extent of its oscillation, there. are
nine inches of paper delivered out to it, by the time it arrives at the point

page_text: whence it begins to travel with the paper again there will be eighteen inches,
because the rate of movement at the point between the bars and the straight
edges must be made to coincide precisely with the rate of the paper travelling,
and it is to be observed that with this machine there is no pause, but the
movement is uniform, and commences in one direction the moment it ceases
in the other direction. The stiffness of the paper will cause it to lead in
between the inclined planes on the under side of the steel straight edges and the
upper side of the bars which rise up and press against them. Supposing the
quantity of paper cut to be eighteen inches each movement of the machine,
and the rate of delivery of the paper to be six feet per minute, then there will
require to be four cuts per minute; and, in order for the rate of movement of
the machine to keep pace with the rate of the cutting rolls with perfect pre-
cision, which is indispensible, 1 propose to communicate motion to the drum
from an expanding drum, similar to those at present in use with the paper
machines, by which the effect may be produced with respect to this part of the
process. I have only to observe, further, that on the dropping of the under-
neath bars, the pieces of paper cut immediately drop on to the inclined plane
below, from whence they may be taken off, or they may be allowed to slide off
into a bin for receiving them.
I shall now proceed to describe the mode of giving the alternate motion to
the pinions, which, by acting in the racks of the knife carriage, move it across
the machine and cut the paper. The spindle H has a twelve-inch toothed
wheel fixed upon it inside of the frame, and this works into a two-feet wheel
fixed upon the spindle S, and thereby turns it. Upon this spindle I propose
to fix two bevelled wheels Y, as shewn in the plan, Fig. 9, but these wheels
have each the cogs taken off three fourths of their circumference, and the
fourth part left of each should be just suflicient to turn the pinion Tone com-
plete revolution, but each wheel turns the pinion a fourth part of the revolution
of the spindle S, subsequent to the other, and therefore the part of each where
the cogs are left standing must be opposite. In order to secure the movement,
I have a strong iron tooth from each of the large wheels, and one from each
side of the pinion marked g, g. 9, 9, for giving the first impulse, and the cogs
of the large wheel next following into gear must be cut and shaped as requi-
site in cases of interrupted motion. The bevelled pinion T is on a small shaft,
which must work in a tube bearing, firmly fixed to the frame, and on the end
of it projecting beyond the frame there must be fixed the chain wheel V,
which, by means of an endless chain, is intended to turn two chain wheels W
on the ends of two of the three spindles K, that is to say, the middle one and
one of the outside oues. To give a simultaneous motion to the third spindle K

page_text: I make use of three toothed wheels X, which are upon the ends of the spindles
on the other side of the machine, and of such diameter as to be all in gear, and
the middle one of these runs alive on its spindle; the outer ones are fixed to
theirs, so that motion being given to one of the outer spindles, by means of the
chain wheel W, that will give motion in the right direction to the other outer
spindle by its wheel X acting through the intermediate wheel upon the
wheel X of the other outer spindle. Or this alternate movement of the knife
carriage may be given by an eccentric and link with the apparatus employed
for the same purpose in the machine last described, but having the eccentric
shaped and timed to adapt it for this, and the connecting rods of such length
and so jointed that the motion of the machine itself may not impede their
action. By having a greater number of straight edges and circular cutters,
the number of pieces cut out of a given length of paper may be increased; and
this
process I call the last improvement in my machinery for cutting paper.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and scal, this Fifth
day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred