IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER PAPER MACHINES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Moses Poole, of Avenue Road, Regent's Park, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER
PAPER MACHINES."-A communication.
Sealed the 21st November 1854, and dated the 28th September 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Moses Poole at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th September
1854.
I, MOSES POOLE, of Avenue Road, Regent's Park, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CYLINDER PAPER MACHINES" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in improvements on those descriptions of paper
machines in which a cylinder or drum, covered with wire cloth and revolving
partially immersed in a vat of pulp, is employed; and the improvements consist
in communicating to the cylinders of such machines a vibratory as well as a
rotatory motion, by which the quality of the paper manufactured is improved.
Or, in place of giving a vibratory motion to the cylinder, the same effect or
nearly so may be obtained by establishing currents in the pulp vat, at right
angles or nearly so to the direction in which the surface of the cylinder travels,.
and this I do by means of revolving instruments in the form of screws.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Moses Poole in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MOSES
POOLE, of Avenue Road, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reigu, did, for Horself, Hér heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Moses Poole, Her special licence that I, said Poole, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said. Moses
Poole, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and-no-others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER PAPER-
MACHINES," (communicated to me from abroad,) upon the condition (amongst
others) that I; the said Moses Poole, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be 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 Moses Poole, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
The Invention consists in improvements on those descriptions of paper
machines in which a cylinder or drum, covered with wire cloth and revolving
partially immersed in a vat of pulp, is employed; and the improvements consist
in communicating to the cylinders of such machines a vibratory as well as a
rotatory motion, by which the quality of the paper manufactured is improved.
Or, in place of giving a vibratory motion to the cylinder, the same effect or
nearly so may be obtained by establishing currents in the pulp vat, at right
angles or nearly so to the direction in which the surface of the cylinder travels,
and this I do by means of revolving instruments in the form of screws.
And in order that the Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the manner of performing the

page_text: same, the object being that the successive coatings or layers of the fibers of
the pulp, as they attach themselves to the wire cloth on which the web of the
paper is formed, shall be laid in opposite or nearly opposite directions, and
thus render the paper stronger, more equal in thickness, more homogenous
in structure, and of better integrity than paper made on the common
machines.
From careful observation I have found that the pulp on the wire cloth
of the Fourdrinier machines is not shaken enough before parting with its
water to spread the fibers of the pulp horizontally, in the manner most
desirable to form a good even firm paper; and when the water has left it, the
pulp is so set or fixed in an agglomerated lumpy condition, that the "shake"
applied to the wire cloth cannot sprend or equalize it. It is known that the
slight movement given to the "shake" of the Fourdrinier machine is not
sufficient to equally distribute the fibres of the pulp, and that if the "shake
motion is materially increased, the effect of such augmented "shake" is to pile
up the pulp in the central part of the wire cloth, and make the paper thicker
in the middle than at the sides.
"
With the ordinary cylinder machine it is known that the fibres of the pulp
are all laid in one direction, which makes a paper with many objectionable
features. I remedy these defects by vibrating horizontally a revolving cylinder
mould while it is immersed in the pulp, thus obtaining two distinct motions at
the same moment of time. one motion being nearly at right angles with the other.
An important consideration in this Invention and arrangement is, that while
one end of the fibre fastens itself to the wire cloth on the immersed portion of
the cylinder mould, the other part of the fibre is floating free in the surround-
ing water, and may consequently be moved with great ease in any direction,
and will readily take a position opposite to the movement of the cylinder
mould. I also obtain similar results by surrounding that part of the surface
of the cylinder mould which is immersed in the pulp with any convenient or
desired number of small screw propellers or conveyers, from two to three inches
in diameter, and separated from each other by partitions. These propellers
and the edges of their dividing partitions are placed very near to the surface of
the immersed portion of the cylinder mould, and the propellers when put in
motion produce as many currents of the pulp across the immersed surface of
the cylinder mould as there are propellers so placed. With either one or the
other of these devices I am enabled to completely weave the different layers of
the fibre of the pulp across each other in nearly opposite directions at the
moment they attach themselves to the wire cloth, in a very even, equal, and
perfect manner, thus producing a paper of great strength (relatively to the

page_text: quality of the materials used), and of great uniformity in thickness. Some-
times I couch from a vibrating and revolving couch roll, and sometimes from a
couch roll that revolves only without vibrating.
I will now proceed to describe more particularly the construction and opera-
tion of the Invention, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, with
the letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is a plan of a cylinder machine with my improvements attached;
Fig. 2, a longitudinal elevation of the same; Fig. 8, a transverse vertical
section upon the line A', A', of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a longitudinal vertical section
through the centre of the machine; Figs. 5 & 6 are modified plans of couch-
ing, which will be referred to hereafter; Fig. 7 is a plan of a cylinder
machine with the spiral conveyors attached, the felt cloth and couch roll
being removed to show the parts beneath; Fig. 8, a plan of the same, with
certain other parts removed; Fig. 9, a longitudinal-section through the
machine; Fig. 10, a view of one of the spiral conveyors detached."
the
In the accompanying Drawings, A is the vat, which is elevated a short-
distance above the floor; B is a strong iron franie, the horizontal rods c, c, of
which are carried by the standards d, d, and hangers e, e. The cylinder mould
C is about 3 inches longer than the width of the vat A, in and across which it
is placed, the cylinder being immersed to the proper depth in the pulp. The
ends of the cylinder at 6 are metallic, and adapted to slide easily upon t
sides of the box, or rather upon the packing f, which is interposed between it
and the box, to prevent the escape of the pulp. The journals g of the cylinder,
which run in the A-shaped standards D, support its whole weight, and are
prolonged, as seen in Fig. 3, and bear upon the inner surface of the beads of
the frame B, there being no space or play between the ends of the arbor
and the frame heads. The couch roll F has its bearings in the frame B, the
pressure of this roll upon the cylinder mould C being innde adjustable by
springs and screws, as seen in Fig. 2, the spring giving ease to the motions of
the couch roll upon the cylinder mould. The heads G of the cylinder mould are
capable of a longitudinal motion upon the shaft g, independent of the cylinder
mould itself, and are clamped in the desired position by means of the screws h.
When the machine is in operation these heads are run back upon the shaft
g, so as to leave a slight opening all round the cylinder mould at i, for the
escape of the water from the cylinder mould. Whenever it is necessary to
stop temporarily the working of the machine, the heads G are run up against
the ends of the cylinder, as seen in Fig. 3. If found necessary, an india-
rubber or other packing may be introduced between the heads and the cylinder
mould, for the purpose of more effectually closing the joint between them. The

page_text: cylinder mould C is caused to revolve by means of the felt cloth H, which
passes over the felt roll I, beneath the felt stretcher 1, round the felt spreader,
and carrying rolls m; thence it touches the cylinder mould at n, and passes
round the couch roll back to the felt rolls I & M, between which and the
couch roll it is supported by a felt bed L, one end of which rests upon the rod
p, and is allowed to vibrate with the cylinder mould and couch roll, the other
being supported upon brackets and pivoted at the point 9 to one of the trans-
verse bars of the machine.
The object of the felt bed is to prevent any flapping up and down motion of
the felt cloth, and to steady it as it moves along. Under certain circumstances
small friction rollers may be placed 10 or 12 inches apart across the felt bed
to ease the motion of the felt across it. The journals of the felt spreader and
carrying rolls m run in boxes in the branching arms of the vibrating iron
framo B, with which they vibrate; the former is wound spirally midway from
its ends with felt or list to keep the felt cloth well spread.
The iron frame B, the cylinder mould, the couch roll, the felt spreader and
carrying rolls, and one end of the felt bed L, are vibrated in the following
manner:-N is a pulley on the shaft K, which communicates motion through
the band O to the pulley P upon the short shaft Q. This shaft carries a miter
gear r, which engages with the gear & upon the vertical post R within the
shake monument T. U is the fly wheel upon the top of this shaft, which
carries the wrist pin t, from which, through the connecting rod W, the vibratory
motion is communicated to the frame B and the parts connected therewith.
The ends of the arbors that bear against the inside surfaces of the iron frame B
are tipped with hardened steel or chilled iron, the points of the iron frame
against which these arbors bear being similarly protected, the pieces of steel
inserted within the frame for this purpose being made adjustable by means of
a set screw to keep the bearings close and firm. These details, however, are
simply referred to, as they form no part of my present Invention.
Upon the above described apparatus the paper is couched at the point n on
to the felt cloth, from which it is taken in the customary manner after passing
the rolls I, M.
In Figs. 5 & 6 are represented modified methods of couching, which
may be adopted when the vibrating cylinder mould is employed. In Fig. 5
an endless web of wire cloth a' passes round the vibrating cylinder mould C,
and over one of the vibrating couch rolls b'. The paper leaves the wire
cloth at c', and passes off, as before, upon the endless felt cloth d. The deckel
straps pass over appropriate carrying rolls and beneath the vat, which is
elevated for the purpose.

page_text: A third method of couching which may be adopted with the vibrating
cylinder mould is represented in Fig. 6. In this case a much longer wire
cloth g¹ is made use of, which passes round the vibrating cylinder mould, as
before, and over the non-vibrating couch roll h', the paper leaving the wire
cloth at 3, and the deckel straps passing beneath the vat, as before. In lieu
of vibrating the cylinder mould, as above described, I sometimes make use of
the following device for the purpose of interweaving and interlacing the fibres
of the pulp as they are laid upon the surface of the cylinder mould; this I
accomplish by creating currents and counter currents within the vat by means
of spiral revolving conveyors, in a manner which will now be described.
In Figs. 7, 8, 9, & 10, A is the vat; B', the cylinder mould, which is con-
structed and operated as in ordinary cylinder paper machines; D' is the couch
roll; E', the felt cloth, which passes over the roll C', beneath the felt stretcher
F, and over the carrier roll G'. The paper leaves the cylinder at the point a².
H' is a metallic shell which surrounds the cylinder mould within the vat; this
shell is divided into a number of compartments by the longitudinal partitions c².
These compartments are open at each end, and also communicate with the vat,
through numerous holes d², made through the exterior of the shell. In cach
of the compartments of the shell H' is a spiral conveyor m³, seen detached in
Fig. 10; these conveyors are revolved alternately in one direction, and the
other, for the purpose of producing currents and counter currents of the pulp,
along the surface of the cylinder. The shafts of these conveyors pass through
stuffing boxes in the sides of the vat, and carry at their extremities the pulleys
f2, round which passes a cord from the driving pulley K', the cord passing
above one pulley and beneath the next through the series, by which means the
conveyors are rotated alternately in opposite directions, as already explained.
It is well known that the fibres of the pulp in an ordinary cylinder paper
machine, or a great majority of them, are laid longitudinally and parallel to
each other, by the uniform and uninterrupted motion of the cylinder, in onc
direction. This disposition of the fibres causes the paper, though strong in one
direction, to be quite weak longitudinally. It is evident, however, that where
this method is employed, the fibres first laid upon the cylinder will be inclined
in one direction by the first revolving conveyor. This layer is immediately
succeeded by another, the fibres of which form a certain angle with the first,
this angle being dependent upon the relative velocities of the surface of the
revolving cylinder mould, and of the current produced in the pulp by the
revolving conveyors. These layers are again covered by others, the fibres of
each layer crossing those of the layer beneath it. An exceedingly firm
texture is thus produced, and I am enabled to secure all the advantages

page_text: attendant upon the use of both cylinder and Fourdrinier machines without
their disadvantages.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
carrying it out, I would have it understood that 1 make no claim to the
mechanical parts separately, nor do I confine myself to the details; but what I
do claim in a cylinder paper machine in which the cylinder mould revolves
within the vat and is partially immersed in the pulp is,―
1st, vibrating the revolving cylinder mould and the parts immediately
connected therewith, as set forth for the purpose described.
2d, producing within the vat of a cylinder paper machine currents and
counter currents of the pulp, parallel or nearly so to the axis of the cylinder,
by the use of spiral conveyors operating within the partitioned shell H', or
by means of the mechanical equivalents, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Moses Poole, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventeenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
CHRISTOPHER WOOLLACOTT,
4, Compton St. East,
Brunswick Square.
M. POOLE.