AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Walker, of Shoe Lane, in the City of
London, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
دو
Sealed the 4th September 1874, and dated the 2nd May 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Walker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd May 1874.
I, EDMUND WALKER, of Shoe Lane, in the City of London, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR DAMPING PAPER FOR PRINTING PURPOSES," to
be as follows:-
My said Invention relates to the damping of continuous paper to be
used for the printing of newspapers and periodicals, and for other like
purposes. The continuous paper is brought to the machine
upon a reel
or roller, from which it is wound or coiled upon another reel or roller,
the damping being effected during the passage of the paper from one
reel to the other, while a brake is applied to the first roller to keep the
paper properly tight between the reels,

page_text: S
Heretofore in the process of damping continuous paper it has been
damped between the reels or rollers, but this method of damping has
not been found practicable for the reason that if the paper is damped
or wetted sufficiently it cannot be kept properly tight by the application
of the aforesaid brake, as the paper is deprived of its strength by the
damping and will tear when drawn tight between the rollers. Therefore,
instead of damping the paper between the reels or rollers, I damp the
successive coils as they are received upon the second roller and after
they have passed partially around the same, so that each coil before it
is damped or wétted will have a dry or unwetted portion binding upon
the reel, and will therefore be capable of bearing the strain caused by
the application of the brake.
I prefer to employ a machine provided with a frame, which has at one
end suitable bearings for the first roller and is provided with a brake
of the usual construction. The said machine also has bearings at its
other end for the second recl or roller. In front of this second roller
I arrange. a pipe or tube provided with nozzles or jets and connected
with a cistern or pump for supplying water or with a steam boiler.
The water or steam issuing from the said nozzles or jets will damp or
wet the paper as it is coiled on the roller. It will not usually be
necessary to wet or damp the entire surface of the paper. I therefore
provide the supply pipe with a valve or cock, which is opened and
closed alternately by a cam or other device geared in connection with
the roller. I prefer to use a cam constructed and arranged to act upon
a rod attached to the said valve and by having a number of these cams,
which may be changed as desired, I can set or adjust the machine to
damp the paper at any desired intervals, that is to say, to damp every
second, third, or fourth coil, allowing the other coils of the paper to
pass without damping.
.
Instead of using jets or nozzles, as above described, I may use a
damping roller supplied with water by other rollers from a trough.
My Invention obviates the necessity for bars or rollers between the
aforesaid reels, which bars or rollers always cause the wandering of the
paper and its coiling unevenly at its edges upon the reel.
After the wetting or damping of the paper the same is left some time
before being used to allow it to thoroughly absorb the water.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edmund Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 31st October 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
WALKER, of Shoe Lane, in the City of London, Engineer, send
greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edmund Walker, Her special licence,
that I, the said Edmund Walker, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Edmund Walker, 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 "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR DAMPING PAPER FOR PRINTING PURPOSES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edmund Walker,
my exccutors 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 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edmund Walker, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by.
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification :-
My said Invention relates to the damping or wetting of continuous
paper to prepare it for the printing of newspapers and periodicals, and
for other like purposes. In ordinary practice this continuous paper is
brought from the paper mill upon a reel or roller and many attempts
have been made to effect a uniform damping or wetting of such paper
by reeling it or coiling it from the said reel upon another reel or roller,

page_text: the damping being effected during the passage of the paper from one
reel or roller to the other, while a brake is applied to the first roller to
keep the paper properly tight between the said reels or rollers and to
ensure its coiling smoothly upon the receiving roller.
In all cases where this has been attempted the damping or wetting has
been applied to the paper between these reels or rollers, but it has been
found impracticable in so doing to damp the paper sufficiently and at
the same time to keep the paper properly tight upon the said reels or
rollers for the reason that the paper is deprived of its strength by the
damping and will then be torn by a very slight tensile strain. Moreover
the damping of such paper as hitherto effected has not been uniform
or even throughout the web or sheet, but has made some parts of the
paper too wet while leaving other parts insufficiently wetted, and the
paper has not been smooth and free from creases or wrinkles, and con-
sequently the printed sheets have not presented such an appearance
as is desirable in newspapers and other printed matter. Therefore,
instead of damping the paper between the reels or rollers I damp the
successive coils of the said paper as they are received and wound upon
the second roller and after they have passed partially round the same,
so that each portion of paper before it is damped or wetted will occupy
a position in the coil in advance of a dry or unwetted portion of the
paper, which dry portion binds upon the reel and is fully capable of
bearing the strain caused by the application of the brake and prevents
any straining of the damp or wet portion, or drawing the paper up into
wrinkles before it arrives on the said reel.
For carrying my said Invention into practice I prefer to employ a
machine constructed as shewn in the accompanying Drawing, but I
wish it understood that I do not limit myself to this particular con-
struction, but may employ any other construction or form of machine
which will effect the object of my Invention as above set forth.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a plan or top view of the said machine; Figure 2 is a side
elevation of the same with a portion removed to show more clearly thic
essential parts of my Invention. Like letters indicate the same parts in
both of the Figures.
The said machine has a frame a of cast iron or other suitable material,
and which has at one end suitable bearings a¹ for the first reel or

page_text: :
roller b. To the shaft 6' I apply a brake of any suitable construction;
the brake shewn in the Drawing consists of a shoe c of wood or other
material, which bears on the wheel or roller and is secured to a
weighted lever c¹; the pressure of this brake is regulated by adjusting
the weight c² on the said lever. The said machine also carries near its
other end the second or receiving reel or roller d, whose journals are
fitted to turn freely in bearings a². In front of this roller d I arrange
a pipe or tube e provided with nozzles for jet pipes or apertures and
connected by a flexible pipe 9 with a cistern or pump for supplying it
with water, or with a steam boiler for supplying it with steam or
vapour. The water or steam issuing from the said nozzles or jets will
damp or wet the paper as it is coiled on the roller. The pipe e may be
fixed immovably to the frame, but I prefer that it should be movable,
and it is therefore attached by the arms or bars e¹ to a rod or bar e²,
which is fitted to slide endwise in bearings a³ in the sides of the frame a
and is moved to and fro therein by the lever h, which has its fulcrum
at ³, and is actuated by a cam i on the shaft j, which is geared in
connection with the roller journals by toothed wheels, as shewn in
Figure 2. By moving the pipe e to and fro while the water or vapour
is being discharged from its nozzles, or any required number of them,
upon the paper, the entire surface of the paper will be uniformly
damped or wetted. The said nozzles have cocks f¹, by which the dis-
charge of any of them is controlled or stopped, and a greater
.
:
.or lesser
number of them may be opened as may be found necessary or desirable..
The pipe e may also be moved upon the arms e¹ nearer to or farther
from the roller d, for the purpose of adjusting it to the exact distance
required from the roller, and it is made fast on the said arms by set
screws e. As it will sometimes not be necessary that the wetting or
damping should be continuous along the entire length of the paper, I
provide the supply pipe to which the flexible pipe g is attached with a
valve or cock k, which is opened and closed alternately by a rod k¹,
actuated by a cam or other device geared in connection with the
roller d. This cam is so formed and operated that the opening of the
said valve will be stopped intermittently during a number of revolutions
of the roller, so that the damping or wetting of the paper will be
intermittent, and by having a number of these cams, which may be
changed as desired, I may adapt the apparatus to damp or wet the
paper more or less, according to its class or quality, some classes of
paper requiring considerably more damping than others. l, m, are

page_text: adjustable smoothing rollers, which support and guide the paper n
between the reels b, d.
In using the machine represented in the Drawing a reel 6 with the
continuous paper coiled upon it is placed in the bearings a¹, and the
paper is conducted over the roller and under the roller m to the reel d,
its end being coiled upon the said reel. Then the machine is set in
motion by power applied to the driving pulley and the reel & turns
rapidly in the proper direction to coil the paper n upon it, as indicated
by the arrow. The cocks of the nozzles f being opened, the water in a
state of fine spray (or the steam or vapour) is ejected from the said nozzle
upon that portion of the paper which is the farthest from the part 1,
where it is received upon the said reel, as clearly shewn in Figure 2.
Therefore, as will be clearly understood by referring to this Figure and
by the above description, there will always be between this part 1, when
the paper is being received and coiled on the reel, and the part thereof
wetted by the spray of water, a large area, in proportion to the size of
the reel, of dry or unwetted paper, which binding closely and tightly
upon the preceding coil will at any moment during the process of reeling
take the whole or nearly the whole strain caused by the application of
the brake, and therefore the damped or wetted portion will be protected
from such strain, and consequently the reeling and damping for the
entire length of the paper may be accomplished with great rapidity,
and the paper will be uniformly damped or wetted, and as a great
pressure may be applied to the brake without tearing the paper it will
be free from creases or wrinkles and in the most favourable condition
for the printing. As the reels are emptied and filled they are removed
from the machine and others put in their place. The said reels may
be supplied with the continuous paper in any required length; for news-
paper printing it is preferable to use lengths of from three to four miles.
It is obvious that the position of the nozzles f is not necessarily that
shown in the Drawing. They may be placed opposite the circumference
of the reel dat any point which will leave between it and the part 1,
where the paper is received upon the said reel, a sufficient area of dry
or unwetted paper to keep the strain or pressure caused by the brake
from the damped or wetted portion. But I prefer to have these nozzles
in the position shewn, as when so arranged they are easily accessible
and in the most convenient position to be controlled by the operator or
attendant.

page_text: Having thus fully described my said Invention, and shown how the
same may be conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I
wish it understood that I claim,―
First. The damping or wetting of paper, as the same is being coiled
or wound upon a reel or roller, by the application of liquid or vapour
by any means whatsoever to such portions of the said paper as are
coiled or taken up by the said reel or roller, or carried so far around
and upon the same. that the portions of paper so damped or wetted will
not be strained or torn by the pressure applied to draw the paper tight
upon the said reel.
Second. The apparatus consisting of the stationary or sliding tube or
pipe provided with nozzles or jet pipes or apertures and supported by
adjustable arms, and arranged in combination with the receiving reel or
roller, and supplied with liquid or vapour, which is discharged through
the said nozzles upon the paper as it is coiled around the said reel or
roller, as herein set forth.
Third. The mechanism for producing the intermittent discharge of
liquid or vapour from the said nozzles or jet pipes or apertures, as
herein set forth.
paper
Fourth. A paper damping or wetting machine wherein continuous
is taken from one reel or roller and coiled upon another reel or
roller, and which is provided with nozzles or jet pipes for discharging
water or vapour upon the paper as it is coiled upon the receiving reel,
and with a brake arranged to apply pressure to the said paper in com-
bination with the other parts of the said machine, and operating as
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Walker, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
HENRY JAMES NOONE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
EDMUND WALKER. (L.S.)