IMPROVEMENTS IN. MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING RAGS AND OTHER MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Petrie, junior, of Rochdale, in the County. of
Lancaster, Machinist, and Thomas Wrigley, of Heap Bridge, in the said.
County, Paper Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN.
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING RAGS AND OTHER MATERIALS FOR
THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER."
Scaled the 2nd August 1859, and dated the 3rd February 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Petrie and Thomas
Wrigley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 3rd February 1859.
We, JOHN PETRIE, junior, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster,
Machinist, and THOMAS WRIGLEY, of Heap Bridge, in the said County,
Paper Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING BAGS AND OTHER
MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," to be as follows:-
In our improved apparatus, the rags or other materials are delivered to the
machine by a travelling apron, and are submerged by a revolving. or recipro-
cating plunger, they are then agitated in the fluid, and caused to move onward
by rakes, after which they are lifted by a revolving drum furnished with arms
or teeth, and delivered on to a travelling apron, which conveys them to
squeezing rollers. The vessel in which these operations are performed is
furnished with a perforated false bottom, through which dirt and other foreign
matters pass. The lifting drum we construct with cams or other apparatus,
whereby the arms or teeth are drawn inward, so as to leave the material free
to fall upon the apron.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
•
by the said John Petrie, junior, and Thomas Wrigley, in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 3rd August 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
PETRIE, junior, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, and
THOMAS WRIGLEY, of Heap Bridge, in the said County, Paper Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said John Petrie and Thomas Wrigley, Her special license that wc,
the said John Petrie and Thomas Wrigley, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Petrie, and Thomas
Wrigley, our 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 MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR WASHING BAGS AND OTHER MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF
PAPER," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Petrio
and Thomas Wrigley, or one of us, by an instrument in writing under our
hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, should parti-
cularly 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 John Petrie, do hereby declare the
nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed;
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
Fig. 1 represents the machine in longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 is a top
view thereof. The vessel in which the rags or other materials are washed, is
shewn at a, provided with a false perforated bottom b. Upon this trough are
mounted bearings which carry a driving pulley c, on the axis of which is a
toothed pinion d, communicating motion by means of the train of wheels and
pinions shown to an endless feeding apron e; the pinion d also communicates
rotatory motion to a drum f, the periphery of which is of wire gauze, and pro-

page_text: vided inside with a cone and curved arms 9, for conveying water from the
trough through the aperture h, the arrangement being similar to that now
commonly employed in washing machines used in the manufacture of paper;
or in place of a revolving drum, a reciprocating plunger may be employed for
submerging the material. Upon the axis of the driving pulley c is a bevil
pinion i, driving another k upon a line shaft . This shaft, by means of pinions
m, n, drives cross shafts o, on which are fixed cranks p, the pins of which are
connected to rods q, capable of sliding at their upper ends in swivel sockets r,
and carrying at their other ends a series of teeth s', s³, s³, constituting rakes;
between these rakes are stationary gratings t¹, t, the bars thereof being so situate
that the teeth of the rakes may pass between them. At the end of the trough
is a drum u, receiving rotatory motion from a pulley v, and to which drum are
hinged a series of arms w, carrying at their other ends bars x, in which are
fixed rows of teeth y. These bars at either end carry rollers, which are
situated within fixed grooved cams z. As the drum is caused to revolve, the
rollers are therefore carried round in the grooves of the cam, by which means
the arms w are turned upon their centres, so as to thrust the teeth y outward
through apertures formed in the drum, and to withdraw them therein. Upon
the axis of the pulley is another pulley 1, which communicates motion to an
endless apron 2. The operation of the machine is as follows:-The trough
having been furnished with water, a constant supply thereof is kept through it
by the falling of a stream from a cistern or perforated pipe at 3, and by its
removal, through the aperture h. The position of the cistern or pipe is so
arranged, as to allow a stream to fall upon the rags as they are lifted out of
the machine. The rags or other materials to be used in the manufacture of
paper, are placed upon the apron l, which carries them forward and delivers
them into the vessel a; here they are met by the revolving drum f, which
forces them downward through the water, which operation is assisted by ribs
or projections 4 adapted to the periphery thereof. The first rake s', carried
downward by the crank p, now passes the materials onward, but their too
rapid transference is checked by the grating t, through which, however, the
rake s draws them, as it is caused to dip by its crank p, and the like operation
takes place at the grating by the action of the rake s³. The revolution of
the drum u now lifts the materials from the water by means of its projecting
teeth, which, as they rise, are drawn inward by the cams z, so as to allow the
said material to be carried forward by the endless apron, and to fall into any
convenient receptacle, or to be conveyed to squeezing rollers. During the
above described operations, the dirt or other extraneous-matter will fall through
the perforations in the false bottom biuto the chamber 5 below, from whence

page_text: it may be removed through apertures 6 furnished at other times with water-
tight doors. Within the chamber 5 is an aperture 7 leading to a pipe 8, this
pipe is so mounted as to be capable of being turned into a horizontal position.
as at 8¹, when the water will be free to flow out, so as to empty the machine.
Figs. 3 and 4 represent a modification of the lifting apparatus, which may be
used in place of the drum u. In this instance the teeth y are mounted on
bars carried by pieces w, which slide in parallel guides attached to the
revolving drum u. The pieces w are furnished with rollers situate within
stationary grooved cams z, as, therefore, the drum revolves, the teeth are forced
through the apertures formed therein, and withdrawn as before described.
Fig. 5 shews another form of lifting apparatus, which may be employed in
place of the revolving drum. In this instance the teeth y are fixed upon an
endless band 11, which passes over a drum 12, partly immersed in the water,
the axle being above the water line, and over smaller drums 13, 14, the latter
of which is formed with annular spaces, to allow the passage of the teeth.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to be
understood that we claim as secured to us under the above in part recited
Letters Patent.
Firstly, the general arrangement and combination above described for the
aforesaid purpose, and especially the use of a revolving or reciprocating
apparatus for submerging the materials delivered by a travelling apron.
Also, the use of the rakes for agitating the material and transferring it
through the water.
Also, the use of a revolving drum, or other such apparatus, armed with teeth
for lifting the material from the fluid, and causing such lifting teeth to be
drawn inward by cams, or other suitable apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Petrie, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Second day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JOHN PETRIE. Jr. (L.S.)