IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OP AND MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING PULP PROM WOOD AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Julien Denis, of Great Dover Street, in the
County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS
OP AND MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING PULP PROM WOOD AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER."
.
Sealed the 24th May 1870, and dated the 26th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Julien Denis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th November 1869.
I, JULIEN DENIS, of Great Dover Street, in the County of Surrey,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MEANS OF AND MACHINERY POR PRODUCING PULP FROM WOOD AND OTHER
FIBROUS SUBSTANCES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the means of
treating wood and other fibres, and in machinery for producing filaments,
cuttings, or shavings from wood or other material to be used in the
manufacture of pulp for paper or for other purposes; and in breaking,
grinding, and pulping such materials. The Invention consisting of

page_text: improvements on a former Patent granted to me, dated 17th May 1867,
No. 1455.
I propose to employ an economical method of treating the poplar and
other white wood fibres which I find quite as effective, if not more so,
than boiling these fibres in an alkaline solution. The fibres are to be 5
boiled in water in which there is placed among them in the boiler on
being filled about 2 cwt. of floury potatoes to cach ton of raw fibres,
such potatoes having been previously steamed in a separato vessel fit for
the purpose, and passed through a strainer, sieve, or colander to remove
the peel, which is injurous in some cases, but the potatoes can also be 1
used raw with the fibres after being well washed. The gummy matters
are thoroughly extracted from the fibres by these means, and by boiling
for two, four, or six hours, according to circumstances, the process will
be found quite sufficient to prepare this class of fibres for bleaching to a
pulp in every way fit for manufacturing a good white quality of printing
or similar description of paper. The solvent property of the potatoes is
too well known to require any detail. Or a certain quantity of alkali
may be used in some cases in addition to the potatoes.
To produce cuttings or shavings from wood or other material I
- propose
to construct a circular table or frame set on standards or otherwise
supported above the level of the ground or floor, such table or frame
being provided with grooves, channels, or rails forming circular, sunken,
or other tramways on the inner and outer periphery of the frame on
which a series of two, three, four, or other number of waggons or
carriers are made to travel. These waggons are constructed as detached
segmental chambers, coinciding with radial lines drawn from the centre
of the machine, and being mounted on small rollers or wheels running
in the grooves or on the rails, they are easily capable of motion. A
central vertical driving shaft is set in a bearing in the foundation, and
derives motion by means of a horizontal mitre wheel worked by a bevel
pinion from steam or other power, and from this shaft stays or struts arc
connected to the waggons by the intervention of one or more concentric
rings to strengthen the structure. The waggons or chambers contain
the logs or baulks of wood or other material, (to be reduced to fibres,
shavings, or cuttings), which are consequently caused to traverse the
circular table by a continuous motion. When the waggons are first
charged with the baulks or other material the weight of the mass is
sufficient to force the lowermost surfaces in contact with the knives and

page_text: planes, but as the supply becomes exhausted by the withdrawal of the
shavings or filaments it is necessary to give pressure to the top of the
mass, so as to cause the remainder to be truly cut; this is to be effected
by weights or springs adjusted in the machine on the carriers or waggons
so as to exercise the necessary force on the load. The table is also
divided into segments or divisions containing respectively a scries of
rollers for the wood to travel on (the waggons having no floors), also
circular cutters for indenting the bottom of the logs or baulks so as to
divide them into filaments, and planes for shaving the wood so cut into
divisions by the circular knives. The rollers should each be made with
two grooves running from end to end at opposite points of their circum-
ference, so that when required a knife may be inserted in one or both
grooves, the object being that cach revolution of any roller on which the
knife or knives may be set shall make a transverso cut across the wood
of the length required to form filaments of short lengths instead of the
full length of wood in the waggons.
The arrangement of these parts is as follows:-Assuming one of the
waggens laden with wood or other material to be cut to enter on a series
of rollers, it is evident that in order to cause the true motion of the load
over the rollers, they must be made of a tapering or conical form,
according to the circumference of the circle, so as to carry the wood
equally in all positions. The tramways being openwork, consisting
nearly of the two circular ways and their bearings, permit the inter-.
vention of all the other necessary appliances for the production of the
fibrous shavings. Consequently advantage is taken to apply between
the rollers a series of cross stays or ties between the outer and inner
tramways to strengthen them, and as the rollers extend nearly to the
edges of the cutting knives the wood is brought with very little friction
directly into contact with them. The cutters are formed as semicircular
or circular blades set on a shaft, and reaching from end to end across the
tramway, so as to correspond with the width of the load, so that as tho
wood traverses the cutters a depth is cut ready for the planes to take off,
the depth and width of the cuts being regulated to any extent required.
The shafts of the cutters are provided with cogged pinion wheels set in
bearings and extending just within the inner tramway, and the base of
the ring being provided throughout with travelling teeth gearing with
the pinions, it follows that the cutters will revolve in a contrary
direction, thus meeting the load and cutting the wood as necessary.

page_text: The planes are arranged in blocks and screwed or fastened down by pins
and nuts between the tramways just beyond the cutters, so that imme-
diately the load has passed tho knives it rushes along over the plane,
and the desired thickness of step is removed. The waggon then travels
to the next series of rollers, and the operation is repeated, so that one
complete revolution of the machine effects a series of distinct sets of cuts
and planing operations, the filaments or shaves of wood falling down
into receptacles beneath the tram. In order to sharpen the cutters
while in operation a series of steel discs are set on a plate or shaft and
kept in contact with the knives by means of springs, whereby during
the revolution of the knives they are constantly kept sharp. Or a circular
stone may be made to revolve beneath the planes and to come in
contact therewith by a rising and falling motion at suitable intervals;
but other means of sharpening the planes can be adopted as experience
may suggest,
That part of the Invention relating to improvements in the pulping or
breaking engine consists of a vessel of suitable form and dimensions to
contain 5, 10, or 20 cwt., more or less, and is made of iron or other
metal or material. A rising platform is placed under the cylinder, the
purifying plate, dashing wheel, drainer, drum, inlet and outlot valves,
plugs, and pipes being arranged in their respective positions; the
revolution of the cylinder however is caused to eut and grind the
material in addition to breaking it, and this result is accomplished by
providing the circumference of the cylinder with any number of knives
breakers, or grinders, which are formed of hardened iron or steel, or other
metal, in short curvilinear pieces, the arcs of which agree with the form
of the cylinder. These grinders present square edges, and may be fixed
by wedges or otherwise in recesses in the face of the cylinder, or may be
cut in ono therewith; they are made with cutting or tearing points by
cutting out a step or shoulder and leaving a triangular edge, which first
meets the material, and they then present the face of tho step or
shoulder so as to drag the material in their revolution. The efficiency of
this method depends chiefly on the angle at which these breakers are
placed on the cylinder. I propose to set them at an oblique angle to the
line of rotation, that is to say, diagonally in regard to the machine.
Now beneath this cylinder on the rising platform a friction plate is
placed, also consisting of hardened iron, steel, or other metal, and a
similar series of knives or grinders set across or diagonally, but crossing

page_text: those of the cylinder, the consequence being that the materials after
separation are ground into half stuff or pulp by the action of the cylinder
on the serrated plate. The ends or sides of the cylinder are also provided
or not with similar small knives, teeth, or grinders, which work against
circular plates on the side and division of the machine, so that the
grinding action occurs in all places where a passage of material can be
effected in contact with the cylinder, and thus the obstruction of the
roll by the material is obviated. The cylinder is set on a shaft perfectly
independent of the dash wheel, which latter I propose to mount on a
second short shaft, and to support it on the side centre of the engine,
and by chains, straps, or bands not only to give it the requisite rotary
motion to dash and push forward the materials in the pulping machine,
but also to permit of its being elevated or lowered as required, so that no
obstruction shall arise to the passage or flow of material, which has
hitherto been the case where the cylinder and dash revolve on the same
shaft. One or more steam pipes are brought into connection with the
engine for the purpose of injecting a supply of steam when required to
heat or maintain the heat of the solution, valves or taps being provided
to the steam pipes to open or close the outlet of the steam to the
engine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Julien Denis in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULIEN
DENIS, of 188, Great Dover Street, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Julien Denis, Her 'special
licence that I, the said Julien Denis, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Julien Denis, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the

page_text: term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENT3
IN THE MEANS OF AND MACHINERY POR PRODUCING PULP FROM WOOD AND OTHER
FIBROUS SUBSTANCES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Julien Denis, my executors or adminis
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Julien Denis, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
My Invention relates to certain improvements in the means of treating
wood and other fibres, and in machinery for producing filaments, cuttings,
or shavings from wood or other materials to be used in the manufacture
of pulp for paper or for other purposes; and in pulping, breaking, and
grinding such materials. The Invention consisting of improvements on
a former Patent granted to me dated May 17th, 1867, No. 1455.
I propose to employ an economical method of treating the poplar and
other white wood fibres, which I find quite as effective, if not more so,
than boiling these fibres in an alkaline solution. The fibres are to be
boiled in water in which there is placed among them in the boiler on
being filled, about 2 cwt. of floury potatoes to cach ton of raw fibres,
such potatoes having been previously steamed in a separate vessel fit for
the purpose, and passed through a strainer, sieve, or colander to remove
the peel, which is injurious in some cases, but the potatoes can also be
used raw with the fibres, after being well washed. The gummy matters
are thoroughly extracted from the fibres by these means, and by boiling
for two, four, or six hours, according to circumstances, the process will
be found quite sufficient to prepare this class of fibres for bleaching to a
pulp, in every way fit for manufacturing a good white quality of printing
or similar description of paper. Or a certain quantity of alkali may be
used in some cases in addition to the potatoes.
To produce cuttings or shavings from wood or other material I
propose

page_text: to construct a circular table or frame set on standards or otherwise
supported above the level of the ground or floor, such table or
frame being provided with grooves, channels, or rails, forming circular
sunken or other tramways on the inner and outer periphery of the
frame, on which a series of two, three, four, or other number of wagons
or carriers are made to travel. These wagons are constructed as detached
segmental chambers, coinciding with radial lines drawn from the centre
of the machine, and being mounted on small rollers or wheels running
in the grooves or on the rails they are easily capable of motion. A
central vertical driving shaft is set in a bearing in the foundation, and
derives motion by means of a horizontal mitre wheel, worked by a
bevel pinion from steam or other power, and from this shaft stays or
struts are connected to the wagons by the intervention of one or more
concentric rings to strengthen the structure. The wagons or chambers
contain the logs or baulks of wood or other material, (to be reduced to
fibres, shavings, or cuttings,) which are consequently caused to traversé
the circular table by a continuous motion. When the wagons are first
charged with the baulks or other material the weight of the mass is
sufficient to force the lowermost surfaces in contact with the knives and
planes, but as the supply becomes exhausted by the withdrawal of
the shavings or filaments it is necessary to give pressure to the top of
the mass, so as to cause the remainder to be truly cut; this is to be
effected by weights or springs or other suitable equivalents adjusted in
the machine on the carriers or wagons so as to exercise the necessary
force on the load. The table is also divided into segments or divisions
containing respectively a series of rollers for the wood to travel on (the
wagons having no floors), also circular cutters for indenting the bottom
of the logs or baulks so as to divide them into filaments, and planes for
shaving the wood so cut into divisions by the circular knives. The
planes are to be kept cool by suitable jets of water flowing against their
under surfaces. The rollers should each be made with two grooves
running from end to end at opposite points of their circumference, so
that when required a knife may be inserted in one or both grooves, the
object being that each revolution of any roller on which the knife or
knives may be set shall make a transverse cut across the wood of the
length required to form filaments of short lengths instead of the full
length of wood in the wagons.
The arrangement of these parts is as follows:-Assuming one of the
wagons laden with wood or other material to be cut to enter on a series

page_text: of rollers, it is evident that in order to cause the true motion of the
load over the rollers they must be made of a tapering or conical form,
according to the circumference of the circle, so as to carry the wood
equally in all directions or positions. The tramways being openwork,
consisting merely of the two circular ways and their bearings, permit
the intervention of all the other necessary appliances for the production
of the fibrous shavings. Consequently advantage is taken to apply
between the rollers a series of cross stays or ties between the outer and
inner tramways to strengthen them, and as the rollers extend nearly to
the edges of the cutting knives, the wood is brought with very little
friction directly into contact with them. The cutters are formed as
semicircular or circular blades set on a shaft, and reaching from end to
end across the tramway, so as to correspond with the width of the load,
so that as the wood traverses the cutters a depth is cut ready for the
planes to take off, the depth and width of the cuts being regulated to
any extent required. The shafts of the cutters are provided with cogged
pinion wheels set in bearings and extending just within the inner
tramway, and the base of the ring being furnished throughout with
travelling teeth gearing with the pinions, it follows that the cutters will
revolve in a contrary direction, thus meeting the load and cutting the
wood as necessary. The planes are arranged in blocks and screwed or
fastened down by pins and nuts between the tramways just beyond the
cutters, so that immediately the load has passed the knives it rushes
along over the plane and the desired thickness of strip is removed.
The wagon then travels to the next series of rollers, and the operation is
repeated, so that one complete revolution of the machine effects a series
of distinct cuts or sets of cuts and planing operations, the filaments or
shaves of wood falling down into receptacles beneath the tram. In
order to sharpen the cutters while in operation a series of steel discs arc
set on a plate or shaft and kept into contact with the knives by means of
springs, whereby during the revolution of the knives they are constantly
kept sharp. Or a circular stone may be made to revolve beneath the
planes and to come in contact therewith by a rising and falling motion
at suitable intervals; but other means of sharpening the planes can be
adopted as experience may suggest.
That part of the Invention relating to improvements in the pulping
or breaking engine consists of a vessel of suitable form and dimensions
to contain 5, 10, or 20 cwt., more or less, and is made of iron or other
metal or material. A rising platform is placed under the cylinder, the

page_text: purifying plate, dashing wheel drainer, drum, inlet and outlet valves,
plugs and pipes being arranged in their respective positions; the
revolution of the cylinder however is caused to cut and grind the
material in addition to breaking it, and this result is accomplished by
providing the circumference of the cylinder with any number of knives,
breakers, or grinders, which are formed of hardened iron or steel, or
other metal, in short curvilinear picces, the arcs of which agree with
the form of the cylinder. These grinders present square edges, and
may be fixed by wedges or otherwise in recesses in the face of the
cylinder, or may be cast in one therewith; they are made with cutting
or tearing points by cutting out a step or shoulder and leaving a
triangular edge which first meets the material, and they then present
the face of the step or shoulder so as to drag the material in their
revolution. The efficiency of this method depends chiefly on the angle
at which these breakers are placed on the cylinder. I propose to set
them at an oblique angle to the line of rotation, that is to say, diagonally
in regard to the machine. Now beneath this cylinder on the rising
platform a friction plate is placed, also consisting of hardened iron or
steel, or other metal, and a similar series of knives or grinders set across
or diagonally, but crossing those of the cylinder, the consequence being
that the materials after separation are ground into half stuff or pulp
by the action of the cylinder on the serrated plate. The ends or sides
of the cylinder are also provided or not with similar small knives, teeth,
or grinders, which work against circular plates, or the side and division
of the machine, so that the grinding action occurs in all places where a
passage of material can be effected in contact with the cylinder, and
thus the obstruction of the rolling motion by the material is obviated.
The cylinder is set on a shaft perfectly independent of the dash wheel,
which latter I propose to mount on a second short shaft, and to support
it on the side centre of the engine, and by chains, straps, or bands not
only to give it the requisite rotary motion to dash and push forward
the materials in the pulping machine, but also to permit of its being
elevated or lowered as required, so that no obstruction shall arise to the
passage of material, which has hitherto been the case where the cylinder
and dash revolve on the same shaft. One or more steam pipes are
brought into connection with the engine for the purpose of injecting a
supply of steam, when required to heat or to maintain the heat of the
solution, valves or taps being provided to the steam pipes to open or
close the outlet of the steam-to the engine.

page_text: same.
Fig. 1 of the annexed Drawings represents a plan view of the machine
for reducing the wood to shavings, Fig. 2 being a side elevation of the
a, a, is a circular frame, the upper surface being provided with a
rail or tramway on which the wagons b, b, revolve on the wheels c, c.
d is the central vertical driving shaft provided with a horizontal bevel
wheel e, in which a corresponding vertical wheel is made to gear, deriving
power from a steam engine, whereby motion is given to the four
wagons which are attached to the shaft by the arms f,f, and by the
intervention of the ring 7 holding all the wagons together. The bottom
of the ring is provided with a continuous scries of teeth which gear
into teeth of pinions set on the shafts of the circular knives h, h, whereby
they are turned in the same or contrary direction as the passage of the
wagons. In Fig. 2 at b', ', a space is shewn in front and rear of the
wagons to allow them to travel over the circular knives, and also over
the planes i, i. The wagons being made without floors, and being
laden with wood or other material to be cut, it follows that their passage
round the machine will cause the lower surface of their load to come in
contact with the knives, which will indent the wood, and that instantly
afterwards the load will be carried across the planes, whereby shavings
will be taken off, and thus by the combined action of the knives and
planes a series of thin and narrow slivers or shavings will fall down
beneath the planes into any suitable receptacles. k, k, are rollers made
conical, so as to travel with equal friction of surface beneath the load
so as to support the same throughout its course. As before stated a
series of steel sharpening surfaces may be applied to the circular knives,
and kept in position by means of a spring, in order to maintain an
uniform edge on the cutters. These knives merely indent the wood to a
slight depth just sufficient to correspond with the thickness of shaving
made by the planes, which may be removed and sharpened, or others
may be substituted as desired.
Fig. 3 shews an elevation, and Fig. 4 a plan of the breaking, grinding,
and pulping engine. a is the vessel containing the materials and
solution; b is the breaking and grinding cylinder sct on the shaft c,
which traverses completely across the vessel, and is set in bearings d, d,
and is operated by a driving strap on the pulley e. The cylinder is a
provided with a number of teeth or cutters f, f, which are let in sockets
or recesses formed in the surfaces of the cylinder; the sides or ends of
the cylinder are also similarly provided with teeth or cutters, and the

page_text: divisional plate g and internal side of the vessel being also furnished with
these tecth set at oblique angles, it follows that the materials will be
ground or triturated as well as broken and disintegrated, and con-
sequently will be reduced to a. perfect pulp. h is the platform placed
beneath the cylinder; the surface of this is made to correspond with the
circular, surface of the cylinder, and is supplied with teeth, so that the
revolution of the cylinder acts in all portions of its surface to make a
pulp from the materials in the vessel. As before stated steam pipes
may be connected to the vessel for the purpose of heating the solution
if cold, or of maintaining the primary degree of heat if necessary."
i shews the dash wheel set on a separate shaft K on the opposite side of
the vessel, such shaft taking a bearing in the divisional plate ý. This
dash is capable of rising and falling in slotted bearings 7, and may be
driven by a band and pulley when required, but when not required it
may be lifted out of the solution and set to any desired elevation in the
slotted guides. This dash serves to drive the contents of the vessel
through the space between the cylinder, the platform, and side plate.
Fig. 5 shows an under plan of one of the cutters set on the periphery
of the cylinder, Fig. 6 being a side view. The steps or notches m, m,
shew the distance to which the teeth are inserted in the sockets or
recesses. These teeth are also applied to the platform.
Fig. 7 shews the surface of one of the side teeth or cutters let in the
sockets of the ends of the cylinder and side plates of the vessel; and
Fig. 8 is an end view shewing steps m, m, as before.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I would remark that I
do not restrict myself to precise details or arrangements of parts which
I have expressed and shewn, as the same may obviously be varied or
modified without in any degree departing from the principles and
objects thereof; but what I claim, and desire to be secured to me by the
herein in part recited Letters Patent are,―
Firstly. The methods described of chemically treating the materials
to be used in the manufacture of pulp by the use of potatoes with or
without alkali, more especially with reference to the white wood fibres.
Secondly. The machinery whereby the wood or other material is
reduced to shreds, slivers, or shavings by the operation of a revolving
series of wagons containing the load, and passing over the circular

page_text: cutters, planes, and conical rollers, so as to prepare the material for the
pulping engine.
Thirdly. The machinery whereby the breaking, grinding, and pulping
is effected, consisting of a cylinder provided with teeth or cutters on its
periphery and sides acting relatively with similar cutters on the platform, t
divisional plate, and side of the machine, a dash capable of rising and
falling being applied on the other side of the machine for propelling the
materials through the breaker, all substantially as herein specified and
shewn by the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julien Denis, have hereunto set my 1
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Office for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross,
London.
J. DENIS. (L.S.)