IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WAX PAPER OR CLOTH, AND IN COMPOSITIONS AND MACHINERY THEREFOR, PART OF WHICH MACHINERY IS APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William ert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WAX PAPER OR CLOTH, AND
IN COMPOSITIONS AND MACHINERY THEREFOR, PART OF WHICH MACHINERY
IS APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by
William Bradford Homer Dowse, of Sherborn, Massachusetts, United States
of America, Gentleman.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th October 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURre
OF WAX PAPER OR CLOTH, AND IN COMPOSITIONS AND MACHINERY THEREFOR,
PART OF WHICH MACHINERY IS APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES." [A com-
munication from abroad by William Bradford Homer Dowse, of Sherborn,
Massachusetts, United States of America, Gentleman.]
This Invention has for its chief object the manufacture of wax paper or cloth.
that is to say, paper or cloth saturated with paraffin or a mixture of paraffin and
rosin, as hereinafter described, and to machinery therefor.
This wax paper can be put to many uses, among which are the wrapping up and
protecting of confectionery, medical preparations, wax, butter, soap, tobacco, and
all articles which are affected by atmospheric changes. I prefer to use a thin
coarse paper, like tissue paper, but may employ paper of a thicker and firmer
quality than tissue paper without departing from the spirit of this Invention; for
ordinary purposes the thin paper is superior.
In carrying the said Invention into practice, I provide a feeding roll, from which
the paper before waxing is fed; devices for obtaining the tension upon the paper
located between the feed roll and a pan containing the waxing solution; equalizing

page_text: and compressing rolls, the lower one of which is arranged to revolve in the heated
wax; a steam coil for heating the waxing preparation in the pan and keeping it
heated; smoothing and polishing irons about which the paper is passed after it has
been saturated with the waxing preparation, and a receiving reel upon which the
wax paper is wound.
There is a tension rack which has bars (fixed or stationary), and other bars of
some flexible material firmly held at the ends and adapted to be pressed down at the
centres by adjusting screws, so that these bars assume a bow-like shape, being lowest
at the centre. This form of tension device is found to act very well in smoothing out
wrinkles from the paper as it is being fed through it, the bow-shaped bars acting in
connection with the straight lower bars tending to throw the wrinkles from the
centre of the paper to its edges. The lower of the compressing and equalising rolls
may be steam heated if desired, but I do not deem that to be essential; and the
upper roll preferably should have a somewhat clastic surface. It may be covered
with india rubber to secure this result, or it may be made of washers, or sections
of felt cut to the desired form, strung upon a shaft and compressed thereon by any
suitable means, and held by nuts and washers, the surface being finished to
a uniform size if necessary.
This felt roll I consider to be the best for the
purpose.
The lower roll should have a smooth surface. The paper after passing through
the tension rack feeds between the compressing rolls, and_as_one_roll.is.adjustable-
by screw power in relation to the other, the extent of pressure may be regulated to
suit the kind of paper being worked, and the nature of the waxing composition
and the quality of paper desired. The lower roll revolving in the wax lifts enough
to thoroughly saturate the web of the paper with it, the pressure spreading the
wax upon the surface of the paper and evenly distributing it thereon, and also
removing the surplus. From the pressure rolls the paper feeds over one and under
another ironing bar by which it is polished, and then it passes to the receiving
roll.
According to a slight modification in construction I provide means for lifting the
compressing rolls from the tank, and heating and keeping heated the waxing
preparation by employing a steam pipe which passes through the pan, and under
which the web of the paper runs to the compressing rolls. In this event the
wax is applied to the paper by passing the paper through it instead of by the
lower roll.
In lieu of the polishing device described, I may use a flat steam-heated table,
over which the paper may be run after it leaves the compressing roll; or I may in
some instances do without it if desired.
For the thicker qualities of paper it generally is better to use a pipe or an
equivalent device for submerging the paper in the wax and to lower the roll so
that the paper shall have a little longer distance to travel in the wax in order that
it may become thoroughly saturated. In manufacturing the felt roll I prefer to
use the following process, that is to say:-
Each disc or section of felt is thoroughly saturated in melted rosin and then
solidified by hydraulic pressure or other extreme power. Then holes for the shaft
are cut, and the discs or sections are placed on the shaft and held thereon by a
nut and screw at each end, and compressed thereby together as tightly as possible.
Then the entire roll is immersed in boiling rosin or wax long enough to have the
wax or rosin heat the rosin already compressed in the discs or sections. Then the
roller is removed, and the sections will contract as it cools. They are then
tightened by the nuts, and the operation of immersion, the cooling, and tightening,
is continued until the roll is as solid as needed.
For other purposes in lieu of soaking and solidifying by the use of rosin and
wax, water or any other suitable composition can be used.
For the waxing composition paraffin will answer admirably, but as it is
somewhat expensive I prefer generally to add to a certain amount of it, say three

page_text: parts, one part of clear rosin. They are generally well incorporated together by
the act of melting, but if they should not be, the mixture can be stirred until they
are thoroughly mingled. I can depart slightly from the proportions given without
materially varying or altering the nature of the solution. And as a substitute for
paraffin wax, bees wax or any suitable vegetable wax may be used; but I prefer
paraffin wax.
The paper I use is a continuous web of paper and is waxed in one piece, that is,
the web is passed from the feed roll to the receiving reel in a continuous sheet,
and the product is a roll of waxed paper; and by the term wax I include the
various compositions mentioned.
Cloth may be treated in the same manner as paper.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th April
1882.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF WAX PAPER OR CLOTII, AND IN COMPOSITIONS AND MACHINERY THEREfor,
PART OF WHICH MACHINERY IS APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
A com-
munication from abroad by William Bradford Homer Dowse, of Sherborn,
Massachusetts, United States of America, Gentleman.
This Invention has for its chief object the manufacture of wax paper or cloth, that
is to say, paper or cloth saturated with paraflin or a mixture of paraffin and rosin,
as hereinafter described, and to machinery therefor. This wax paper can be put to
many uses, among which are the wrapping up and protecting of confectionery,
medical preparations, wax, butter, soap, and tobacco, and all articles which are
affected by atmospheric changes. I prefer to use thin paper with a coarse
texture, like tissue paper, but may employ paper of a thicker and firmer quality.
than tissue paper without departing from the nature of this Invention; for ordinary
purposes the thin paper is superior.
In the accompanying Drawing,
Figure-1-is-a-vertical-section-of-a-machine-for-waxing and otherwise treating
paper.
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of a portion of the said machine.
Figure 3 is a vertical section of a modification in the construction of the
machine.
The machine shewn in the Drawing comprises the feeding roll A from which the
paper before waxing is fed; the devices B for obtaining the tension upon the
paper located between the feed roll and the pan C containing the waxing solution;
the equalizing and compressing rolls D, D₁, the lower of which is arranged to
revolve in the heated wax; the steam coil C' for heating the waxing preparation
in the pan and keeping it heated; the smoothing and polishing irons E, E', about
which the paper is passed after it has been saturated with the waxing preparation
and the receiving reel F upon which the wax paper is wound.
The tension rack shown in Figure 1 has the bars b fixed or stationary, and the
bars b' of some material firmly held at the ends and adapted to be pressed down
at the centres by the adjusting screws b², so that the bars assume a bow-like shape,
being lowest at the centre. This form of tension device is found to act very well
in smoothing out wrinkles from the paper, as it is being fed through it, the bow-
shaped bars acting in connection with the straight lower bars tending to throw
the wrinkles from the centre of the paper to its edges. The lower of the compressing
and equalizing rolls D, D¹, may be steam-heated if desired, but I do not deem that
to be essential; and the upper roll preferably should have a somewhat clastic surface.
It may be covered with india rubber to secure this result, or it may be made of
washers or sections of felt cut to the desired form strung upon a shaft and
compressed thereon by any suitable means, and held by nuts and washers, the
surface being finished to a uniform size if necessary. This felt roll I consider to
be the best for the purpose. The lower roll should have a smooth surface. The
paper after passing through the tension rack feeds between the compressing rolls,
and as one roll is adjustable by means of screws in relation to the other, the extent

page_text: of pressure may be regulated to suit the kind of paper being worked, the nature
of the waxing composition, and the quality of wax paper desired; the lower roll
revolving in the wax lifts enough to thoroughly saturate the web of the paper
with it, the pressure spreading the wax upon the surface of the paper and evenly
distributing it thereon and also removing the surplus. From the pressure rolls the
paper feeds over one and under another ironing bar by which it is polished, and
then it passes to the receiving roll F. In Figure 3 is shown a slight modification
in construction, which consists essentially in lifting the compressing rolls from the
tank, and heating and keeping heated the waxing preparation by employing a
steam pipe g which passes through the pan, and under which the web of the paper
runs to the compressing rolls. In this case the wax is applied to the paper by
passing the paper through it instead of by means of the lower roll D'.
In lieu of the polishing device described I may use a flat steam-heated table,
over which the paper may be run after it leaves the compressing roll; or I may in
some instances do without it if desired.
For the thicker qualities of paper it generally is better to use the pipe shewn in
Figure 3, or an equivalent device for submerging the paper in the wax and to
lower the rolls to the position shewn in Figure 1, so that the paper shall have a
little longer distance to travel in the wax in order that it may become thoroughly
saturated. In manufacturing the felt roll I prefer to use the following process,
that is to say, each disc or section of felt is thoroughly saturated in melted rosin
and then solidified by hydraulic pressure or other extreme power.
These holes for
the shaft are cut, and the discs or sections are placed on the shafts and held thereon
by a nut and screw thread at each end and compressed thereby together as tightly
as possible. Then the entire-roll-is-immersed-in-boiling-rosin-or-wax-long-enough-
for the wax or rosin to heat the rosin already compressed in the discs or sections.
Then the roller is removed, and the sections will contract as they cool. They are
then tightened by the nuts, and the operations of immersion, cooling, and tightening
are continued until the roll is as solid as desired.
For other purposes in lieu of soaking and solidifying by the use of rosin and
wax, water or any other suitable composition may be used.
For the waxing composition paraffin will answer admirably, but as it is
somewhat expensive I prefer generally to add to a certain amount of it, say, three
parts, one part of clear rosin. These ingredients are generally well incorporated
together by the act of melting, but if they should not be the mixture can be stirred
until they are thoroughly mingled. I can depart slightly from the proportions
given without materially varying or altering the nature of the solution.
And as
a substitute for paraffine wax, bees wax or any suitable vegetable wax may be used;
but I prefer paraffin wax.
The paper 1 use is a continuous web of paper and is waxed in one piece, that is,
the web is passed from the feed roll to the receiving reel in a continuous sheet,
and the product is a roll of wax paper, and by the term wax I include the various
compositions mentioned. Cloth as well as paper may be treated in the manner
herein before set forth.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,―
First. The machine for manufacturing wax paper or cloth, substantially as above
described.
Second. The method of manufacturing wax paper or cloth, substantially as set
forth.
Third. The waxing composition of paraffin or other like wax and rosin,
substantially as specified.
Fourth. The paper or cloth saturated with a composition of wax, or wax and
rosin, which is uniformly distributed therein and incorporated therewith by
pressure, substantially as specified.

page_text: Fifth. A roll consisting of washers or discs of felt, saturated with rosin or wax,
and solidified upon a shaft by pressure, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.