IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND SIMILAR PUR- POSES, PART OF THE INVENTION BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER OPERATIONS IN WHICH MATERIALS ARE SUBJECTED TO THE ACTION OF HOT AGENTS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Hanham Collyer, of Beta House, 8, Alpha
Road, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex, M.D., F.C.S., for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR
PREPARING MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND SIMILAR PUR-
POSES, PART OF THE INVENTION BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER OPERATIONS
IN WHICH MATERIALS ARE SUBJECTED TO THE ACTION OF HOT AGENTS."
Scaled the 26th June 1863, and dated the 1st January 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Hanham Collyer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st January 1863.
I, ROBERT HANHAM COLLYER, of Beta House, 8, Alpha Road, Regent's
Park, in the County of Middlesex, M.D., F.C.S., do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND
APPARATUS FOR PREPARING MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND
SIMILAR PURPOSES, PART OF THE INVENTION BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER
OPERATIONS IN WHICH MATERIALS ARE SUBJECTED TO THE ACTION OF HOT AGENTS,"
to be as follows:-
The principal object of my Invention is the preparation of materials for
the manufacture of paper and similar uses. For this purpose I subject the
materials to showers of hot water and showers of alkaline liquor used alter-
nately, and combined with superheated steam, that is to say, I treat the
materials at intervals with showers of water at or near boiling point, at the
same time acting on the materials with superheated steam, and between the
showers of water I treat the materials with showers of alkaline solution or
liquor, continuing to inject superheated steam. Instead of the superheated

page_text: steam above used I sometimes use hot air, or both superheated steam and
hot air.
An improved apparatus in which the foregoing operation may be performed
consists of a close horizontal or longitudinal receiver, herein-after called main
receiver, and communicating with two tanks or vessels, one for containing hot
water and the other alkaline solution. Through the main receiver passes a
hollow or tubular horizontal axis, to which rotary motion may be communi-
cated; this axis turns in the ends of stationary pipes, which lead from the
hot water and alkaline liquor tanks, and communicate with the interior of the
axis, one at each end. The axis carries perforated hollow arms opening at
one end into the interior of the axis and closed at the opposite end, where
they are forked or otherwise conveniently shaped for agitating the materials.
The main receiver has a perforated false bottom, under which is a perforated
steam pipe or pipes. Steam pipes communicate from the main receiver to the
alkaline liquor and hot water tanks, from which tanks the showers of alkaline
liquor and of hot water are alternately ejected through the axis and its arms
on the materials in the main receiver. This apparatus is also applicable for
other operations, in which materials are subjected to the action of hot agents.
The shaft may sometimes be solid, and serve merely for carrying agitators, the
hot water and alkaline liquors being showered through pipes arranged at the
top of the main receiver, but on the inside thereof. For bleaching the
materials I generally place them with chlorine liquor in a close vessel, into
which I convey carbonic acid gas, preferring a stationary vessel fitted with
internal revolving agitators.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Hanham Collyer in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st July 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
HANHAM COLLYER, of Beta House, 8, Alpha Road, Regent's Park, in the
County of Middlesex, M.D., F.C.S., send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight. hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Robert Hanham Collyer, Her special licence that I, the said
Robert Hanham Collyer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Robert Hanham Collyer, my executors, administrators,

page_text: 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 THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING
MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND SIMILAR PURPOSES, PART OF THE
INVENTION BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER OPERATIONS IN WHICH MATERIALS ARE
SUBJECTED TO THE ACTION OF HOT AGENTS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Robert Hanham Collyer, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the sanie 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 Robert Hanham Collyer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention has, first, for its object the preparation of materials for the
manufacture of paper and similar uses. For this purpose I subject the
materials to showers of hot water and showers of alkaline liquor used alter-
nately, and to superheated steam, that is to say, I treat the materials at
intervals with showers of hot water, and at the same time act on the materials
with superheated steam, and between the showers of water I treat the
materials with showers of alkaline solution or liquor, still continuing to inject
superheated steam. Instead of superheated steam, as above, I sometimes use
hot air, or superheated steam and hot air together.
My improved apparatus is represented in side elevation, partly in section,
in Figure 1, and in transverse vertical section in Figure 2, of the accompanying
Drawings.
A is a vessel or receiver, supported in a frame B by hollow axes or trun-
nions a, whereby the vessel, which is kept stationary while the process is going
on, may be turned top downward to discharge its contents. The vessel has
an opening at top extending its entire length, and closed by a hinged cover C;
b is a perforated concave false bottom; D is a shaft passing through the
vessel A, and caused to rotate by worm and wheel d, or other ordinary
arrangement; E are short arms or separators on the shaft D; F is a cylin-
drical cage of wirework or perforated metal attached at it ends of to the

page_text: shaft D; its frame consists of bars f¹ fixed to the end plates f; these bars
carry arms or separators f². The cage has an opening extending from end to
end, closed by a cover f³;.G is the alkaline liquor tauk; H, the hot water
tank; I, I, pipes leading from these tanks through a furnace J into the
vessel A, where the pipe I¹ branches into a number of perforated branch
pipes I, extending over the upper part of the interior of the vessel A; 1, 2,
are cocks in the pipes I; K is a pipe for conveying superheated steam or hot
air into the vessel A. This pipe passes through the furnace J, and after
entering the vessel A divides into branch pipes K², which pass through the
false bottom 6; the portions of these pipes beneath the false bottom are per-
forated. The parts of the pipes I and K which pass through the furnace are
coiled. The pipes I', K', are fitted in a socket L, held by bolt and nut in a
socket M, into which the pipes I, K, lead, so that when the vessel A is turned
to discharge its contents, these pipes I', K', I, K, turn with it; N is a waste
pipe furnished with cocks r. The cage F may be geared to revolve at a
different speed from the shaft D.
Figure 3 shows a modification in which the arms E, and so much of the
shaft D as is within the cage F, are dispensed with; in this case the cage
revolves on short shafts D, passing through the axes a, and driven like the
shaft D, Figure 1. I prefer to construct the receiver A of materials which
are non-conductors of heat. The arms E, f, serve for separating or dividing
the materials under treatment. The alkaline liquor and hot water showers are
delivered through the pipes I', 12, and the steam or hot air through K, K', K*.
The false bottom 6 may be dispensed with, and steam or air introduced imme-
diately under the cage F, or through a bent hollow shaft within the cage,
carrying short perforated hollow arms. Hot air when used is forced in by a
blowing machine through heated pipes.
The mode in which I proceed is as follows: -I fill the cage F with
the materials, and communicate rotary motion to it, continuing such motion
throughout the process, the vessel A remaining stationary; the cocks r
are kept open during the entire process. After introducing the superheated
steam or hot air, which I admit continuously during the whole operation,
I inject a gentle shower of hot water to moisten the materials (for which
I mostly find about 40 to 60 minutes sufficient), and I then drench the
materials by showering in full head of hot water for about ten to fifteen
minutes. Before this shower, which I call the drenching shower, no excess
of liquor runs away, it being all evaporated. I next turn off the hot water,
and allow the superheated steam or hot air to act alone for about ten to
twenty minutes, meanwhile opening the cover to expedite evaporation. I then

page_text: close it and admit an alkaline shower to saturate the materials; this should
last about ten minutes, or at least until the alkaline liquor runs off through the
cocks r, when I shut off the alkaline supply, and allow steam or air to act
alone for ten to fifteen minutes; I then admit a gentle shower of hot water
for about half an hour to 40 or 50 minutes, and next a drenching shower of
hot water for about 15 or 20 minutes, after which the superheated steam or
hot air is allowed to act alone until a large quantity of the water has been
evaporated (which I facilitate by opening the cover). I next, after shutting
the cover, admit a second alkaline shower, and again proceed as before
described. I repeat the showers, as above explained, as frequently as desired;
but I find that three to four alternations of the hot water and hot alkaline
liquor, in a process conducted as described, will free the fibres of the most
obstinate substances from resinous, siliceous, and other extraneous matters.
Instead of using superheated steam or hot air, as above described, superheated
steam and hot air may be employed together, as either or both facilitate chemical
action by rapidly evaporating superfluous liquid and keeping up the heat.
Throughout my process the material is not subjected to the pressure of
confined steam. The alkaline liquor is showered in from an independent
supply of such liquor, instead of being forced up from the bottom of the vessel
containing the materials. The supply of alkaline. liquor is regulated, so that
no excess runs off, except during the drenching shower. The temperature of
superheated steam or hot air, which I recommend for my process, is 400°
Fahrenheit, or above that degree. By my process the fibre is wholly freed
from extraneous matters and is not destroyed, but retains its full strength and
the usual separate washing process is saved.
(Materials intended for paper pulp may before being treated by the above
process, be cut into short lengths, and cleansed from dust and dirt by screening
or passing over a wire band, then crushed or rubbed by rollers at different
speeds, again screened or cleansed, and then steeped in spent liquors collected
from a previous operation.)
The material, treated by my process, as described, is ready for being
bleached, preparatory to which I remove all traces of alkali by steeping the
material in cold water acidulated with sulphuric, nitric, or hydrochloric acid,
and afterwards washing it in cold water for 5 or 10 minutes to remove free
acid, as is well understood. The material and bleach liquor may be placed in
an apparatus similar to the one represented, but constructed of materials not
liable to be oxydized by chlorine or its educts, or in a cylinder revolving on a
fixed shaft carrying arms or agitators, whereby the material is divided and
thoroughly agitated and exposed to the action of the bleach liquor; this

page_text: agitation may be carried on for from two to four hours, during which I inject
A weak solution of
a current of carbonic acid gas for about 30 minutes.
sulphuric acid may be substituted for the gas. I generally admit a thin jet of
steam while bleaching to raise the temperature to about 100° Fahrenheit.
My process of preparing materials, though mainly applicable to the con-
version of rags and raw fibrous substances to be employed as paper material,
is also applicable to other manufacturing and useful purposes, for example, to
the extraction of the active principle of medicinal plants, malt, hops, and
others. For these and other purposes I act on materials by intermittent
showers of hot water or other hot liquids, at the same time keeping the
materials in a state of motion and separation, and acting on them continuously
by ascending currents of superheated steam or hot air, or both such steam
and air, whereby I rapidly separate the active principle and other portions of
plants. The showers of hot water may be alternated with showers of other
hot liquids.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First, preparing materials for the manufacture of paper by subjecting them
to alternate showers of hot water and alkaline solutions, and to the continuous
action of superheated steam or hot air, or both superheated steam and hot air,
as above described.
Second, treating materials for various manufacturing purposes by inter-
mittent showers of hot liquids used in combination with ascending currents of
superheated steam or hot air, or both such steam and air, the materials
being kept meanwhile in a state of motion and separation, as described.
Third, the apparatus for treating materials with liquid showers and aeriform
currents constructed, combined, and arranged, as herein-before described and
represented in the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Hanham Collyer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
M. HENRY,
Patent Agent,
84, Fleet Street, London.
ROB. H. COLLYER. (L.S.)