IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM OR APPARATUS FOR DESICATING AND REDUCING WOOD OR OTHER SIMILAR FIBROUS SUBSTANCES TO PULP FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND "
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Julien Denis, of 3, Adelaide Place, London
Bridge, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MECHANISM OR APPARATUS FOR DESICATING AND REDUCING WOOD OR OTHER
SIMILAR FIBROUS SUBSTANCES TO PULP FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Julien Denis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th December 1872.
I, JULIEN DENIS, of 3, Adelaide Place, London Bridge, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM OR APPARATUS FOR DESICATING AND REDUCING WOOD
OR OTHER SIMILAR FIBROUS SUBSTANCES TO PULP FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER,
AND IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR," to be as follows:-
The present Invention relates to a further improvement upon Letters
Patent granted to me on two several occasions, viz., the 17th day of May,
1867, No. 1455, and on the 26th day of November 1869, No. 3418, both

page_text: of which relate to "Improvements in the Means of and Machinery for
Producing Pulp from Wood, and other Fibrous Substances for the
Manufacture of Paper," and is designed for the purpose of treating and
also subjecting wood or other similar fibrous substances to the action of
an improved arrangement and construction of mechanism herein-after
described that will economize, facilitate, and expidite the process of
reducing the same to pulp.
=
The novel process the wood undergoes whilst being reduced to pulp
and the mechanism employed therein may be thus described. The wood-
whether in dry, fresh, or green state is first prepared for the subsequent
operation of being reduced to pulp by cutting it into small pieces or
filaments in the manner following:-I support above the bevel of the
ground a circular table provided with grooves, channels, or rails which
I form a tramway upon which segmental carriages or boxes without
bottoms containing the wood to be cut are caused to traverse. Between:
the circular rails of the tramways over which the segmental carriages
pass alternate rollers, circular knives, and transverse blades are fixed,
and in such a position that as the wood in the segmental traversing
carriages is carried over them the circular knives first cut or indent
them, and then the transverse knives cut shavings or pieces therefrom, the
sizes and thicknesses of which will correspond with the setting of such
transverse knives; the shavings or pieces when so cut fall to the ground,
from whence they are collected and subjected to the desicating action of
a serated, indented, or roughened roll or cylinder which is supported in
adjustable bearings that will admit of its distance from the table or
trough over which it works, and along which the wood operated upon
passes, being regulated according to the size or quality of material it is
required to desicate.
During the operation of desicating the wood is moistened with either
hot or cold water.
A few of the many vegetable fibrous substances suitable for being
converted into pulp by this process may be enumerated as follows:-
:-The
bamboo, bananara plant, in sugar cane, New Zealand and other flax,
the cotton and other soft white woods, also all such fibrous vegetable
substances as straw and rushes. The former and more hardy vegetable
substances when cut into small pieces or filaments and passed under the
desicating roll or cylinder as before described become thoroughly sepa-
-rated and opened, and the latter have during the same operation their

page_text: nuts, roots, and buckland destroyed.
The
fibres of each substance
The fibres thus prepared
are effectually desicated and left in full length.
are placed in a suitable boiler in which the water therein contained,
potatoes previously steamed and strained so as to remove the peel, are
placed in the proportion of about two cwt. of potatoes to each ton of raw
fibre.
In some cases the potatoes after being well washed can be used raw.
The gummy or resinous matter during process of boiling, say from two
to six hours, according to circumstances, are thoroughly extracted from
the fibres, and which in that time are prepared for bleaching to.a pulp
suitable for being manufactured into a good white quality of paper.
The solvent quality of the potatoe is too well known to require any
detail. A certain quantity of alkali in some cases may be used in
addition to the potatoes.
Another method or process of extracting the gummy, resinous, or
other extraneous matters from the vegetable fibres may be accomplished
by the use of an alkaline ley extracted from wood ash in the manner
following:-The wood ash previous to being put in a tank (the form and
construction of which is herein-after described), is placed in a heap, and
in which at the top a hollow or recess is formed for the reception of a
quantity of good fresh quicklime, the proportion being about one-fourth
to one-sixth of lime to that of the ashes. The lime is then slacked
(care being taken not to use too much water), and thoroughly mixed
with the ash in order that the extract subsequently obtained may be
sufficiently caustic for the purpose required. The tank into which the
ash thus prepared is then placed should by preference be made of brick
and Portland cement, and in size about 12 feet long by 6 feet wide, and
4 feet deep, having at a distance of about 6 inches from the bottom a
strong perforated false bottom which must be covered with a coarse
strong sacking previous to the ash being placed in the tank; the said
sacking prevents the wood ash when in the tank filling up or clogging
the holes of the false bottom, and also acts as a strainer or filter to the
extract or liquor.
The wood ash as filled into the tank is constantly kept level, and
pressed down into a tolerable firm mass until it is within a few inches
of the top, these few inches, say from 4 to 6, are filled up with water
which gradually perculates through the ashes into the space underneath
the false bottom of the tank, from whence it is drawn through taps pro-
•

page_text: vided for the purpose in the form of an alkaline ley into a tank that has
a capacity capable of holding from four to five hundred gallons in order
that the ley when extracted may become thoroughly mixed, and of one
uniform quality or strength.
The ley when first drawn from the ash will be of great strength,
therefore it should be passed through the ash again.
The whole of the extract passing through the ash will take from five
to six days, the weaker extract at the last drawing, before entering the
receiving tank, can if desired be pumped up and caused to pass through
the ash again before entering the receiving tank.
After the wood fibre has been thus boiled and the gummy or resinous
matters thoroughly extracted, it is subjected to the action of the pulping
engine which consists of an oblong vessel having by preference circular
ends. This vessel should be capable of containing from a minimum of
five to a maximum of twenty cwt. of fibre, and is provided about midway
between its extremities with suitable supports for a revolving cylinder
and a platform somewhat above the bottom of the said vessel. Both the
surfaces of the cylinder and the platform underneath are provided with
grinders and cutters (that is, the periphery and side surfaces of the
cylinder is composed of knives or cutters placed at a position diagonal to
its parallel axis, and which are both of a straight and curvilinear shape,
these cutters are also provided with sharp corners or tearing joints.
The platform beneath this cylinder is also provided with knives and
grinders set at an angle crossing those of the revolving cylinder. Thus
the combined action of the cylinder and its friction plate or platform
upon the material as it is continuously forced between them by a dash
wheel independently driven and adjustably supported is such that the
fibres of the wood become separated and ground into "half stuff" or pulp.
Steam pipes are provided that inject a supply of steam into the
solution when required in order that the necessary heat or atmosphere of
the same may be maintained.
The purifying plate, dashing wheel drainer, drum, inlet and outlet
valves, plugs, and pipes being arranged and employed in the manner and
for the purposes as hitherto.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Julien Denis in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th June 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULLEN
DENIS, of Adelaide Place, London Bridge, in the City of London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Julien Denis, Her special
license that I, the said Julien Denis, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Julien Denis, 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 Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM
OR APPARATUS FOR DESICATING AND REDUCING WOOD OR OTHER SIMILAR FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES TO PULP FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND IN THE MEANS
EMPLOYED THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Julien Denis, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or, their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Julien Denis, 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, that is to say :-
-
The present Invention relates to a further improvement upon Letters
Patent granted to me on two several occasions viz. the 17th day of May
1867, No. 1455, and on the 26th day of November 1869, No. 3418, both
of which relate to "Improvements in the Means and Machinery for

page_text: bottomless carriages c, that such blocks are during their reduction being
first constantly indented or cut longitudinally by the circular knives e,
and then cut into shavings or filaments by the transverse plane or
blades ff, the size and thickness of which will correspond with the
setting of such transverse knives, planes, or blades. The shavings or
pieces fall to the ground and are collected and subjected to the desicating
action of a serrated, indented, or roughened roll or cylinder, supported in
adjustable bearings that will admit of its distance from the table or
trough over which it works, and along which the wood operated upon
passes, being regulated according to the size or quality of material it is
required to desicate. This desicating of the filaments of wood or other
material may be previous or subsequent to the boiling process herein-
after described. During the operation of desicating the wood is
moistened with either hot or cold water.
The fibre before or after being desicated is placed in a boiler contain-
ing an alkaline solution or ley herein-after described for the purpose
of having extracted from it all gummy or resinous substances. The
said alkaline ley is extracted from wood ash in the following manner :—
The wood ash previous to being put in a tank shewn at Fig. 3 is placed
in a heap having a hollow or recess formed in the top for the reception
of a quantity of good fresh quicklime, the proportion being about one-
fourth to one-sixth of lime to that of the ashes; the lime is then slaked
(care being taken not to use too much water) and thoroughly mixed
with the ash in order that the extract subsequently obtained may be
sufficiently caustic for the purpose required. The tank into which the
wood ash thus prepared is placed is shewn at Fig. 3 of the Drawings,
the outer walls a¹ of which are composed of bricks and Portland cement
or other suitable material having at a distance of about six inches from
the bottom a strong perforated false bottom 6², which must be covered
with a coarse strong sacking c³ previous to the ash being placed in the
tank. The said sacking prevents the wood ash when in the tank filling
up or clogging the holes of the false bottom b', and also acts as a strainer
or filter to the extract or liquor.
The wood ash as filled into the tank is constantly kept level and
pressed down into a tolerably firm mass until it is within a few inches of
the top. These few inches (say from four to six) are filled up with
water which gradually perculates through the ashes into the space bª

page_text: shape. These cutters are also provided with sharp corners or tearing
points. The cylinder c³ is composed of a series of grooves, in which
knives are placed in alternate diagonal directions to the axes of the
cylinder. The two cylinders revolve over platforms d³, d³, and between
adjustable side plates e³, e³. These plates are roughened, indented, or
serrated on their surfaces nearest to the ends of the revolving cylinders,
and through the medium of the set screws f³,ƒ³, can be adjusted to lie
nearer to or further from such cylinders, for instance, when the wood or
other fibre is first subject to the macerating action of the revolving
cylinders c³ and c³ the side plates are at their greatest distance from the
ends of the cylinders, and as the process of maceration and reduction of
the fibre into pulp proceeds the plates are caused gradually to contract.
their distance until the process is complete. The platforms d³, ď³,
beneath these cylinders are also provided with knives and grinders set
at an angle, crossing those of the revolving cylinders. Thus the combined
action of the cylinders and the side friction plates and platforms upon
the material as it is continuously forced between their grinding and
cutting surfaces by the dash wheel g³, which is independently driven
and adjustably supported is such that the fibres of the wood become
separated and ground into "half stuff" or pulp. i is a chamber or
receptacle placed underneath the platform, the top of which is composed
of a grid through which sand, grit, or other extraneous matter is passed,
as the same becomes separated from the fibre before passing under the
action of the grinding cylinder c², c³. This grit chamber is provided
with an outlet tap through which the accumulation of extraneous
matter can be passed off. Steam pipes are provided that inject a supply
of steam into the solution when required, in order that the necessary
heat or atmosphere of the same may be maintained.
The unifoing plate dashing whool drainer duum inlet and outlet

page_text: herein-before substantially described, set forth, and fully illustrated in
the Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julien Denis, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Office for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross,
London.
JULIEN DENIS. (L.s.)