IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Durham, of Loanhead, in the County of Mid
Lothian, North Britain, Paper Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
Sealed the 80th April 1861, and dated the 3rd November 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Durham, at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
November 1860.
I, WILLIAM DURHAM, of Loanhead, in the County of Mid Lothian, North
Britain, Paper Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," to
be as follows; that is to say:-
This Invention relates to an improved system or mode of boiling and pre-
paring rags and other materials suitable for the manufacture of paper
preparatory to the washing and bleaching processes. The rags or other
materials are first boiled in a solution of lime, in the proportion of from six to
twelve pounds of lime to each hundredweight of paper material. The lime is
added to a quantity of water sufficient to cover the rags or other materials
when placed in the boiling vessel. When the rags or other materials have been
boiled a sufficient time in the solution of lime the liquor is run off, and clean
water is run through the materials. The rags or other materials are next
boiled in an acidulous solution for one or two hours. The solution is prepared

page_text: by adding commercial vitriol or muriatic acid to water in the proportion of
from one to three pounds of acid to each hundredweight of the paper-making
material. A sufficient quantity of the solution is made to cover the contents
of the boiler. When the boiling is completed the acidulous liquor is run off,
and clear water is allowed to flow through the materials. At this stage some
qualities of rags are ready for washing, but it is advisable in most cases to
continue the operation to the next and last stage, which consists in boiling the
rags or other materials with an alkaline solution. This solution is made by
adding from half a pound to one pound and a half of soda ash to each hundred-
weight of the paper-making materials, and a sufficient quantity of water to
cover the materials. After boiling in this solution for three or four hours the
liquor is run off, and clean water is allowed to flow into the boiler. The
rags or other materials are then ready for the washing and bleaching processes.
The quantity of the chemicals, as well as the time required for boiling, must
be varied according to the quality of the rags or other materials.
By this mode of procedure in the preparation of paper-making materials a
saving of from fifty to seventy-five per cent.. is effected on the cost as compared
with the present system of boiling.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Durham in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd May 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL. COME, I, WILLIAM
DURHAM, of Loanhead, in the County. of Mid Lothian, North Britain, Paper
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Durham, Her special license that I, the said William Durham,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Durham, my executors, administrators, or 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
PREPARING MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that I, the said William Durham, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or
under the hand and seal of one of them, 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 William Durham, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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:-
My said Invention relates to an improved system or mode of boiling and
preparing rags and other materials suitable for the manufacture of paper pre-
paratory to the washing and bleaching processes. The rags or other materials
are first boiled in a solution of lime in the proportion of from six to twelve
pounds of lime to each hundredweight of paper material. The lime is added
to a quantity of water sufficient to cover the rags or other materials when
placed in the boiling vessel. When the rags or other materials have been
boiled a sufficient time in the solution of lime the liquor is run off, and clean
water is run through the materials. The rags or other materials are next
boiled in an acidulous solution for one or two hours. The solution is prepared
by adding commercial vitriol or muriatic acid to water in the proportion of
from one to three pounds of acid to each hundredweight of the paper-making
material. A sufficient quantity of the solution is made to cover the contents
of the boiler. When the boiling is completed the acidulous liquor is run off,
and clear water is allowed to flow through the materials. At this stage some
qualities of rags are ready for washing, but it is advisable in most cases to
continue the operation to the next and last stage, which consists in boiling the
rags or other materials with an alkaline solution. This solution is made by
adding from half a pound to one pound and a half of soda ash to each
hundredweight of the paper-making materials, and a sufficient quantity of
water to cover the materials. After boiling in this solution for three or four
hours the liquor is run off, and clean water is allowed to flow into the boiler.
The rags or other materials are then ready for the washing and bleaching
processes. The quantity of the chemicals, as well as the time required for
boiling, must be varied according to the quality of the rags or other materials.
By this mode of procedure in the preparation of paper-making materials a
saving of from fifty to seventy-five per cent. is effected on the cost as compared
with the present system of boiling.

page_text: And in order that my said Invention of improvements in preparing materials
for the manufacture of paper may be properly understood, I shall now proceed
to describe in detail certain modifications under which my improvements may
be judiciously carried out in practice, that is to say, the process I prefer to use
in the preparation of rags or other materials suitable for the manufacture, is
as follows:-
The first process is that of boiling the rags or other materials with lime.
In treating the finer qualities of rags a solution of caustic lime is prepared by
mixing from five to ten pounds of lime with water. This quantity of lime is
sufficient for one hundredweight of rags or other similar material; and the
proportion of lime ranges from five to ten pounds weight according to the
quality of the rags or other material, the finer and purer qualities requiring a
smaller proportion of lime. The proportion of lime requisite for the weight of
rags to be prepared having been weighed out, enough water is added thereto
to cover the rags when in the boiler. The solution of lime is run through a
strainer into the rag boiler, and the rags or other materials to be prepared are
then put in; the liquid is raised to the boiling temperature, and the boiling is
continued for seven or eight hours. But for the treatment of the common
qualities of rags the proportion of lime must be increased in the ratio of from
ten to fifteen pounds of caustic lime to each hundredweight of rags, and the
boiling is to be continued for from ten to twelve hours. After the boiling of
the rags or other materials, the next operation is to wash them in pure water
for about half an hour. This washing removes the loose lime, soap, or other
impurities with which they may be contaminated.
The next process is to steep the rags or other materials in an acidulous
solution, which is made by adding according to the quality of the rags or
other materials, from one to three pounds weight of commercial vitriol or
sulphuric acid for each hundredweight of rags or other material, is mixed
with a sufficient quantity of water to cover the material to be treated. The
steeping is continued for four or six hours according to the quality of the rags
or other material. The steeping operation is assisted if the acidulous solution
is raised in temperaturo by the application of heat; but it should not be con-
tinued to the boiling point. Clean water is then to be run through the rags
or other materials to free them from the acidulous solution. The final opera-
tion is to boil the paper materials in an alkaline solution prepared by adding
for each hundredweight of rags or other materials from half a pound to a
pound and a half of soda ash to a sufficient quantity of water to cover the
paper materials. The rags and the alkaline solution are transferred to the
rag boiler, and the boiling is continued for three or four hours. If the rags

page_text: are of fine and well-assorted quality, the last operation of boiling in the
alkaline solution may be omitted; but in that case the preliminery operation
of boiling with the lime solution must be continued for about two hours longer
than the time herein-before specified. In this way a very considerable saving
in the cost of preparing paper-making materials is effected as compared with
the ordinary mode.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the system or mode of preparing rags
or other similar paper-making materials by means of the process or series of
operations herein-before described, or any mere modification of the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Durham, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of May, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-one.
WILLIAM DURHAM. (L.S.)