IMPROVEMENTS IN THE 'RAG ROLLS' OR 'BEATERS' OF 'RAG ENGINES," 'BEATING ENGINES,' OR OTHER SIMILAR MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF PAPER
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jonathan Edge, of the Tipping Iron Works, Bolton-
le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE 'RAG ROLLS' OR 'BEATERS' OF 'RAG ENGINES,"
'BEATING ENGINES,' OR OTHER SIMILAR MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF PAPER "
Sealed the 23rd June 1868, and dated the 27th December 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jonathan Edge at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th December 1867.
I, JONATHAN EDGE, of the Tipping Iron Works, Bolton-le-Moors, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE RAG ROLLS' OR BEATERS' OF 'RAG
ENGINES, BEATING ENGINES,' OR OTHER SIMILAR MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the beaters or "rag rolls" of rag engines and
beating engines employed to reduce rags and other paper materials to a pulp
suitable for the manufacture of paper, and consists in an improved method of
mounting the knives on the circumference of the beater, by which I am

page_text: enabled to greatly increase the number of the knives in or upon each beater
without necessarily increasing the diameter of the beater, and thereby
obtain an increased effect when the said beater is in use. The foundation
of the improved beater consists of a plain cylinder or drum, or of two metal
discs firmly keyed upon the shaft as usual, the metal ribs or bars which
are ordinarily cast or formed upon or attached to the circumference of the
said cylinder or discs, and between which the knives are usually fixed, being
dispensed with. The whole of the circumference of the said cylinder, or of
the two discs which are fixed at a suitable distance apart to answer the
purpose of a cylinder, is covered with knives of a similar form to those
ordinarily employed, and with wedge-shaped leaves or strips of wood, the
knives and the leaves of wood being applied alternately around the whole
circumference, and when in position are retained by shrinking or otherwise
fixing rings of metal into annular grooves formed by the coincidence of
suitably formed notches or slots in the ends of the knives and leaves of wood.
To prevent the ring of knives thus formed from turning upon the cylinder or
discs when in use, a portion of the knives may be suitably formed to enter
grooves in the circumference of the dises or keys, or other equivalent may be
used for the purpose if the employment of any such means be found
necessary.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jonathan Edge in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th
June 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JONATHAN
EDGE, of the Tipping Iron Works, Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Jonathan Edge, Her special license that I, the said Jonathan
Edge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Jonathan Edge, my 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

page_text: Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE BEATERS OR RAG ROLLS OF RAG ENGINES, BEATING
ENGINES, OR OTHER SIMILAR MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
PAPER," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said Jonathan Edge,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manuer 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 Jonathan Edge, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to the "beaters" or " rag rolls " of rag engines and
beating engines employed to reduce rags and other paper materials to a pulp
suitable for the manufacture of paper, and consists in an improved method of
mounting the knives on the circumferance of the beater, by which I am
enabled to greatly increase the number of the knives without necessarily
increasing the diameter of the beater, and thereby obtain an increased effect
when the said beater is in use.
The foundation of the improved beater consists of a plain cylinder or drum,
or of two metal discs firmly keyed upon the shaft as usual, the metal ribs or
bars which are ordinarily cast or formed upon or attached to the circumference
of the said cylinder or discs, and between which the knives are usually fixed
being dispensed with. The whole of the circumference of the said cylinder, or
of the two discs which are fixed at a suitable distance apart to answer the
purpose of a cylinder, is covered with knives of a similar form to those
ordinarily employed, and with wedge-shaped leaves or strips of wood, the
knives and the leaves of wood being applied alternately around the whole
circumference, and when in position are retained by shrinking or otherwise
fixing rings of metal into annular grooves formed by the coincidence of
suitably formed notches or slots in the ends of the knives and leaves of wood.
To prevent the ring of knives thus formed from turning upon the cylinder or
dises when in use, a portion of the knives may be suitably formed to enter
grooves in the circumference of the discs or keys or other equivalent may be
used for the purpose, if the employment of any such means be found
necessary.
In order that the said Invention may be more readily described, and that
the method of carrying the same into practical effect may be fully understood,

page_text: I have supplied to accompany this present a Sheet of Drawings made to a
scale of about one-fifth of the full size, and having similar letters of reference
marked upon corresponding parts in the various Figures.
Referring now to the said Drawings, Fig. 1 is a side or end view of the
improved beater as when put together complete; Fig. 2 is a vertical section
representing the said beater as having been divided longitudinally, and Fig. 3
is an outside view taken at right angles to Fig. 1.
In the various Figures a is the beater shaft; b, b, are the discs of metal
upon which the knives c, c, c, are mounted; d, d, d, are the wood packings
employed to keep the knives at a suitable distance apart and to assist in
securing the said knives to the discs b, b, and e, e, are the rings of metal which
are employed to retain the knives and the wood packings in place. It will be
seen that the ribs, bars, or projections usually cast or formed on the discs b, b,
or on the metal cylinder or drum, which may be used in lieu thereof, are dis-
pensed with, the discs b, b, being by preference turned or otherwise formed
with a true and even surface without projections, as shewn in the Drawings.
The said discs are firmly keyed or fastened to the beater shaft in the usual or
any suitable manner, or in place of the two discs a metal cylinder or drum
may be employed, the knives being fixed thereupon in the following or in any
other suitable manner :-The knives c, c, c, are arranged alternately with the
wood packings d, d, d, around the whole of the circumference of the drum or
of the discs b, b, and when all the said knives and packings are in position
temporary clips are secured around the partly formed beater, and the packings
are tightened or "driven home." The knives and packings are firmly secured
in position on the discs by means of the hoops or rings e, e, which are shrunk
into annular grooves formed by the coincidence of the slots or notches cut or
otherwise formed in the ends of the knives and wood packings, as shewn at
Figs. 1 and 2 in the Drawings.
In the example illustrated, four of the knives are made broader or deeper
than the rest, and enter grooves formed in the discs, as shewn at f, f, in Fig. 1,
the object of this arrangement being to guard against the slipping of the mass
of knives and packings on the discs, and likewise to facilitate the arranging
of the knives and packings in position, but the employment of the said grooves
and of the corresponding knives of increased breadth may be dispensed with
without materially effecting the efficiency of the beater.
Having berein-above described the nature of my improvements, and the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I claim as of my own Invention the construction or formation
of rag rolls or beaters employed for the purposes herein-before described by

page_text: arranging knives and wood packings entirely around the circumference of the
drum or around the circumferences of metal discs at equal or nearly equal
distances apart, in the manner as herein-before described and illustrated in
the attached Drawings, or in any suitable manner, the same being a mere
modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jonathan Edge, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
JONATHAN EDGE. (L.B.)
Signed and sealed by the said
Jonathan Edge in the presence
of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent,
Manchester.