THE METHOD OF MAKING A MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING PAPER.OF. AN INDEFINITE LENGTH, LAID AND WOVE, WITH BEPARATED MOULDS
Year: 1806

page_text: FOURDRINIER'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
FOURDBINIER, of Sherborne Lane, in the City of London, Stationer and Paper
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day of
July, in the forty-sixth year of His reign, give and grant: unto me,, the said
Henry Fourdrinier, my exors, admors, and assigns, His especial: licence that
I, the said Henry. Fourdrinier, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, during the
term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully.. might...make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and also in all the Colonies and Plantations abroad, my-Invention of
"THE METHOD OF MAKING A MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING PAPER.OF. AN
INDEFINITE LENGTH, LAID AND WOVE, WITH BEPARATED MOULDS;" in which.said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Henry
Fourdrinier, by an instrument in writing under my hand. and seal, to
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months after; the date of the
said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, (relation being thereunto
had) may more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Fourdrinier, do hereby declare that my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be carried into effect and practice, are described in
manner following, that is to say :-
My said machine, and the parts thereof or therewith to be used, do consist
of the following particulars, namely―
First The moulds, which are similar to those commonly used, excepting
that the same are so constructed as that by the thinness of the framing or
extreme part on each of two opposite sides any determinate number of the said
moulds are capable of being applied with the said sides successively in contact,
so as to form one long mould, upon which paper can and may be made in like
manner as if the whole length or series had consisted of one single mould,
and likewise that instead of the deckle being-applied to each mould, as is
usually practised, there is an edge bar joined by hinges to each of those sides
of the said moulds which are not intended to be so applied to each other, and
the said bar is capable of being raised so as to stand perpendicularly with
regard to the surface of the mould to which it belongs, and to perform the
office of the deckle by preventing the paper stuff or material from flowing
beyond the side edges, and the said edge bar is by weights, springs, or other
fit and sufficiently obvious means made to assume the perpendicular position,
excepting when in the course of work it is needful that it should be depressed
or turned back.
Secondly. A principal part of my said engine is by me called the platform,
and doth consist of a well-framed piece of workmanship of metal or other fit
material, upon which the moulds are to be supported during the time of work,
in such a manner as that the said moulds shall be at liberty to slide along in
one direction backwards or forwards in successive contact with each other, as
before described, but shall not be allowed to deviate in any other direction,
and for those purposes the principal parts of the said platform are two straight
or right-lined parallel ways or slides or rails, by which the outer edges or
slides of the said moulds are supported; or otherwise, I do make the said
ways to consist of a number of friction rollers, the upper surfaces of which are
all disposed in the same plane, and their axis are all at right angles to the line
of direction; and in any or every case I do, either by a raised part along the
outside of the said ways, or a flanch part at the outer end of each roller, or
certain projecting parts beneath each mould, prevent any side deviation in the
course of the said moulds along the platform; and I do support the said platform
in such a position as that the said moulds shall be and continue horizontal or
'nearly so while resting or moving thereon. The said platform is supported at

page_text: one end or extremity thereof by chains, or in any other fit manner that shall
allow the same to be agitated horizontally or in its own plane; and the other
end thereof is supported upon a pivot or upright cylindrical piece or pin which
is inserted in an hole in the platform, and is made to describe a small
horizontal circle during the time of work, and does by that means give the
requisite agitation to the platform and to the moulds which may be placed
thereon. The nature and structure of the said support may be easily appre-
hended, from the consideration that it operates like an handle or crank piece
proceeding from an upright axis, and having its arm adjustable as to its
length, and the same may be made in a variety of forms, which are so well
known to mechanical operators' that it is altogether needless to describe the
same; or otherwise I do produce the said agitation in a circle, or if need be
in a back and forward or any other horizontal directions by eccentric pieces or
grooves, of that kind or description which is known by the name of snail work,
or by means of any of the other well-known methods of producing the effect
here pointed out or described.
Thirdly. I do fix, place, or dispose above the said platform, and near the
end last described; a vessel containing the paper stuff or material in a state fit
and ready to be made into sheets of paper, and the situation of the said vessel
is such as to allow the moulds to be successively introduced in their. places
upon the platform behind each other. On one side of the said vessel there is
a trough which receives the paper stuff therefrom through holes, each provided
with one or more registers or shuts of any form or kind adapted to admit or
regulate or limit or stop the supply of the said stuff, which is kept agitated
in the said trough by the revolution of a small polygonal piece called a hog, or
by any other fit means, while it passes or flows to the outer edge of the said
trough, over which the said stuff flows and falls in due quantity upon the
moulds beneath.
'
Fourthly. Upon and near the other extremity of the platform which is
most remote from the place of agitation, I place and support a cylinder, having
its axis parallel to the surface of the moulds, and in a plane at right angles
to their course, but the said axis is at liberty, by the nature of its support, to
approach to or recede from the platform through a. limitted space, and also
to. tilt a little at either end, and both which conditions are easily obtained
by causing the extremities of the said axis to pass through long holes in its
supporters, or by other well-known. means.. The said. cylinder is supported
by and connected with the platform, so that the agitation does not alter tho
.relative situations of the cylinder and the platform and the moulds which shall
or may be placed thereon, and the said cylinder hath a tendency downwards

page_text: by virtue of its own weight and likewise of the action of weights or springs
which may be applied to the extremities of its axis. An endless web of felting
is passed in the manner of a jack towel round the said cylinder, and also
round another cylinder not supported by the platform, but so placed as that the
tension of the said web shall not prevent or impede the requisite motion or
adaptation of the said first-mentioned cylinder, as herein-before described.
A third cylinder is applied in close contact with the second, so as to press
tho web of felt between them; and the said third cylinder communicates by
means of another, web, of felt to and with an additional pair of pressing
cylinders. The relative situations of the cylinders here described will be more
perfectly apprehended and understood from the description herein-after given
of the manner-of-working and the uses of the parts of my said machine;
and I,do, declaro that the two last-described cylinders are not essentially
-necessary, though tho same are advisable and convenient, and also that other
cylinders as leaders or guides for the manufactured paper may be applied and
adapted to my said machinery, in case the same should be in any particular
instances thought adviseable or advantageous.
Lastly. In order that the method of making and using my said machine
may be more clearly apprehended and understood, I do here recapitulate that
the same consists of-first, a number of moulds of the description called laid
or wove, any number of which (being of the same size or denomination) are
capable of forming one long mould, in which situation the said moulds are
hooked or otherwise fastened together; secondly, of a platform to receive
the said series of moulds; and, thirdly, of a vessel and trough from which the
paper stuff or material is caused to flow upon the said moulds; and, fourthly, of
a set of cylinders which take off and receive the paper. The action of or
process to be performed by and with the said machine is as follows:-
A series of moulds is duly placed and connected upon the platform, so as to
occupy the same. The machinery is then thrown into gear with the first
mover, which causes the first-mentioned cylinder and also agitating axis to
revolve at the same time that the paper stuff or material is permitted to
flow from the trough and fall upon the moulds. The first-mentioned cylinder,
which is connected with the platform, rests upon the moulds, and by means of
its felt takes hold of that mould which may be immediately beneath it, and
causes the whole series to advance by an uniform motion, the edge bars of
each mould being thrown and kept back by an obstacle or projecting piece on
each side of the platform previous to its arrival at the cylinder (or otherwise
the said cylinder may take hold of the moulds by means of teeth, or the said
motion of the moulds may be produced by various well-known means of direct

page_text: or indirect connexion with the first mover). As the moulds advance, a
workman who stands near the agitated end supplies and connects other moulds
in succession, and so likewise the moulds are disengaged and taken away in
succession by a workman who stands at the other end of the platform.
By the continuance of this process, the moulds which have received the paper
stuff or material, which is duly distributed upon their surfaces, do arrive
beneath the first cylinder, of which the felt webb takes off the paper and
conveys it to the first pair of pressing cylinders, whence it proceeds to the
second pair and afterwards to any fit place of reception; and by continuing the
said process, the said paper, whether laid or wove, may be manufactured of an
indefinite length with separate moulds, as in the said Letters Patent is
declared and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Fourdrinier, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seven.
HENRY FOURDRINIER. (L.B.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-third day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1807, the aforesaid Henry Fourdrinier came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
.aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seven.

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
FOURDRINIER, of Sherborne Lane, in the City of London, Stationer and Paper
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day of
July, in the forty-sixth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Fourdrinier, my exors, adîiors, and assigns, His especial licence that
I, the said Henry Fourdrinier, my exors, admiors, and assigns, during the
term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and also in all the Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of
"THE METHOD OF MAKING A MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING PAPER OF AX
INDEFINITE LENGTH, LAID AND WOVE, WITH EEPARATED MOULDS;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Henry
Fourdrinier, by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal, to
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months after the date of the
said recited Letters l'atent, as in and by the same, (relation being thereunto
had) may more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Fourdrinier, do hereby declare that my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be carried into effect and practice, are described in
manner following, that is to say:-
My said machine, and the parts thereof or therewith to be used, do consist
of the following particulars, namely―
First The moulds, which are similar to those commonly used, excepting
that the same are so constructed as that by the thinness of the framing or
extreme part on each of two opposite sides any determinate number of the said
moulds are capable of being applied with the said sides successively in contact,
so as to form one long mould, upon which paper can and may be made in like
manner as if the whole length or series had consisted of one single mould,
and likewise that instead of the deckle being applied to each mould, as is
usually practised, there is an edge bar joined by hinges to each of those sides
of the said moulds which are not intended to be so applied to each other, and
the said bar is capable of being raised so as to stand perpendicularly with
regard to the surface of the mould to which it belongs, and to perform the
office of the deckle by preventing the paper stuff or material from flowing
beyond the side edges, and the said edge bar is by weights, springs, or other
fit and sufficiently obvious means made to assume the perpendicular position,
excepting when in the course of work it is needful that it should be depressed
or turned back.
Secondly. A principal part of my said engine is by me called the platform,
and doth consist of a well-framed piece of workmanship of metal or other filt
material, upon which the moulds are to be supported during the time of work,
in such a manner as that the said moulds shall be at liberty to slide along in
one direction backwards or forwards in successive contact with each other, 'as
before described, but shall not be allowed to deviate in any other direction,
and for these purposes the principal parts of the said platform are two straight
or right-lined parallel ways or slides or rails, by which the outer edges or
slides of the said moulds are supported; or otherwise, I do make the said
ways to consist of a number of friction rollers, the upper surfaces of which are
all disposed in the same plane, and their axis are all at right angles to the line
of direction; and in any or every case I do, either by a raised part along the
outside of the said ways, or a flanch part at the outer end of each roller, or
certain projecting parts beneath each mould, prevent any side deviation in the
course of the said moulds along the platform; and I do support the said platform
in such a position as that the said moulds shall be and continue horizontal o
nearly so while resting or moving thereon. The said platform is supported a

page_text: one end or extremity thereof by chains, or in any other fit manner that shall
allow the same to be agitated horizontally or in its own plane, and the other
end thereof is supported upon a pivot or upright cylindrical piece or pin which
is inserted in an hole in the platform, and is made to describe a small
horizontal circle during the time of work, and does by that means give the
requisite agitation to the platform and to the moulds which may be placed
thereon. The nature and structure of the said support may be easily appro-
hended, from the consideration that it operates like an handle or crank piece
proceeding from an upright axis, and having its arm adjustable as to its
length, and the same may be made in a variety of forms, which are so well
known to mechanical operators that it is altogether needless to describe the
same; or otherwise I do produce the said agitation in a circle, or if need bo
in a back and forward or any other horizontal directions by eccentric pieces or
grooves, of that kind or description which is known by the name of snail work,
or by means of any of the other well-known methods of producing the effect
here pointed out or described.
Thirdly. I do fix, place, or dispose above the said platform, and near the
end last described, a vessel containing the paper stuff or material in a state fit
and ready to be made into sheets of paper, and the situation of the said vessel
is such as to allow the moulds to be successively introduced in their places
upon the platform behind each other. On one side of the said vessel there is
a trough which receives the paper stuff therefrom through holes, each provided
with one or moro registers or shuts of any form or kind adapted to admit or
regulate or limit or stop the supply of the said stuff, which is kept agitated
5 in the said trough by the revolution of a small polygonal piece called a hog, or
by any other fit means, while it passes or flows to the outer edge of the said
trough, over which the said stuff flows and falls in duc quantity upon the
moulds beneath.
Fourthly. Upon and near the other extremity of the platform which is
O most remote from the place of agitation, I place and support a cylinder, having
its axis parallel to the surface of the moulds, and in a plane at right angles
to their course, but the said axis is at liberty, by the naturo of its support, to
approach to or recede from the platform through a limitted space, and also
to tilt a little at either end, and both which conditions are easily obtained
5 by causing the extremities of the said axis to pass through long holes in its
supporters, or by other well-known means. Tho said cylinder is supported
by and connected with the platform, so that the agitation does not alter tho
relative situations of the cylinder and the platform and the moulds which shall
or may be placed thereon, and the said cylinder hath a tendency downwards

page_text: by virtue of its own weight and likewise of the action of weights or springs
which may be applied to the extremities of its axis. An endless web of felting
is passed in the manner of a jack towel round the said cylinder, and also
round another cylinder not supported by the platform, but so placed as that the
tension of the said web shall not prevent or impede the requisite motion or
adaptation of tho said first-mentioned cylinder, as herein-beforo described.
A third cylinder is applied in close contact with the second, so as to press
the web of felt between them; and the said third cylinder communicates by
means of another web of felt to and with an additional pair of pressing
cylinders. The relative situations of the cylinders here described will be more
perfectly apprehended and understood from the description herein-after given
of the manner of working and the uses of the parts of my said machine;
and I do declare that the two last-described cylinders are not essentially
necessary, though the same are advisable and convenient, and also that other
cylinders as leaders or guides for the manufactured paper may be applied and
adapted to my said machinery, in case the same should be in any particular
instances thought adviseable or advantageous.
Lastly. In order that the method of making and using my said machine
may be more clearly apprehended and understood, I do here recapitulate that
the same consists of-first, a number of moulds of the description called laid
or wore, any number of which (being of the same size or denomination) are
capable of forming one long mould, in which situation the said moulds are
hooked or otherwise fastened together; secondly, of a platform to receive
the said series of moulds; and, thirdly, of a vessel and trough from which the
paper stuff or material is caused to flow upon the said moulds; and, fourthly, of
a set of cylinders which take off and receive the paper. The action of or
process to be performed by and with the said machine is as follows:-
A series of moulds is duly placed and connected upon the platform, so as to
occupy the same. The machinery is then thrown into gear with the first
mover, which causes the first-mentioned cylinder and also agitating axis to
revolve at the same time that the paper stuff or material is permitted to
flow from the trough and fall upon the moulds. The first-mentioned cylinder,
which is connected with the platform, rests upon the moulds, and by means of
its felt takes hold of that mould which may be immediately beneath it, and
causes the whole series to advance by an uniform motion, the edge bars of
cach mould being thrown and kept back by an obstacle or projecting picco on
each side of the platform previous to its arrival at tho cylinder (or otherwise
the said cylinder may take hold of the moulds by means of teeth, or the snid
motion of the moulds may be produced by various well-known means of direct

page_text: or indirect connexion with the first mover).
As the moulds advance, a
workman who stands near the agitated end supplies and connects other moulds
in succession, and so likewise the moulds are disengaged and taken away in
succession by a workman who stands at the other end of the platform.
By the continuance of this process, the moulds which have received the paper
stuff or material, which is duly distributed upon their surfaces, do arrive
beneath the first cylinder, of which the felt webb takes off the paper and
conveys it to the first pair of pressing cylinders, whence it proceeds to the
second pair and afterwards to any fit place of reception; and by continuing the
said process, the said paper, whether laid or wove, may be manufactured of an
indefinite length with separate moulds, as in the said Letters Patent is
declared and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Fourdrinier, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seven.
HENRY FOURDRINIER. (L.S.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-third day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1807, the aforesaid Henry Fourdrinier came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seven.