IMPROVEMENTS IN Apparatus FOR CUTTING WOOD AND FOR RED MA D
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Ronald Martin, of Deptford, in the County
of Kent, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN Apparatus
FOR CUTTING WOOD AND FOR RED
MA D"
Sealed the 6th February 1872, and dated the 29th November 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Ronald Martin
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th November 1871.
I, JAMES RONALD MARTIN, of Deptford, in the County of Kent,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CUTTING WOOD AND FOR REDUCING THE
SAME TO PULP," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to manufacture pulp for
paper from
wood, and the Invention relates to apparatus for cutting up the wood
and separating the fibres thereof, and for reducing these cut up and
separated fibres to pulp ready for being manufactured into paper.

page_text: For cutting up and separating the fibres of the wood I employ four or
other desirable number of cutters set horizontally in a disc or plate
The wood or timber to
which is made to rotate on a vertical axis.
be cut is fed by any ordinary mechanism to these cutters, which are
of such form as to cut off thin films or shavings from the timber
as it travels past and under them, and to separate the fibres of the
shavings thus cut off. I prefer the shanks of the cutters to be bent or
swan-necked to enable them to be more readily secured to the rotating
disc; they may, however, be straight. The cutters gradually increase in
thickness from the cutting edge, and they are twisted at their end so
that the shavings or films of wood which are cut off from the timber
may by coming against the elevated portion of the cutters have their
fibres separated.
The rotating disc which carries the cutters is adjustable as to height
by means of any ordinary mechanism so as to accommodate itself to the
thickness of timber to be operated upon, and it will be found advan-
tageous to arrange two or more cutter heads, one behind another, so as
to act successively upon the timber as it travels beneath them.
From the cutters the separated fibres fall into a long cradle or per-
forated frame of semi-cylindrical form, which when filled is introduced
by means of chains or otherwise into a horizontal cylindrical boiler. One
end of the boiler is made removable as usual. The boiler is supplied
with water, caustic soda, or other necessary chemicals, and after the
requisite lapse of time the mass is worked up or agitated so as to reduce
it to pulp. In order to agitate it I employ an agitator, which can when
required be lifted clear of the cradle, when the same has to be inserted
or withdrawn. For this purpose I make the agitator shaft take at one
end into a socket on the end of a rotating shaft, while its other end is
provided with screw or other mechanism for moving it longitudinally
when desired. The agitator is also capable of being raised and lowered
by means of jointed hooks, the spindles of which pass through stuffing
boxes in the top of the boiler. Thus when it is required to lift the
agitator clear of the cradle, it is first moved longitudinally by the screw
so as to be released from its socket, and it is then raised by the hooks.
I also make the arms of the agitator each of several pieces, jointed
together so that they will fold in one direction only; thus, when the
agitator shaft is driven in one direction the arms work in the mass of
fibres, but one or more turns in the opposite direction causes the arms to

page_text: roll
up round their shaft so as to be out of the way. The outer ends of
the several arms may be connected by chains, as is usual in apparatus of
this description.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Ronald Martin in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th May 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
RONALD MARTIN, of Deptford, in the County of Kent, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in
the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Ronald Martin, Her
special licence that I, the said James Ronald Martin, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Ronald
Martin, 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 APPARATUS FOR CUTTING WOOD AND FOR REDUCING THE
SAME TO PULP," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Ronald Martin, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.

page_text: by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say :--
The object of my Invention is to manufacture pulp for paper from
wood, and the Invention relates, firstly, to apparatus for cutting up the
wood and separating the fibres thereof; and, secondly, to apparatus for
reducing these cut up and separated fibres to pulp ready for being
manufactured into paper.
For cutting up and separating the fibres of the wood I employ six or
other desirable number of cutters set horizontally in a disc or plate,
which is made to rotate on a vertical axis. The wood or timber to be
cut is fed by any ordinary mechanism to these cutters, which are of such
form as to cut off thin films or shavings from the timber as it travels
past and under them, and to separate the fibres of the shavings thus cut
off. I prefer the shanks of the cutters to be bent or swan-necked to
enable them to be more readily secured to the rotating disc, they may
however be straight. The cutters gradually increase in thickness from
the cutting edge so that the shavings or films of wood which are cut off
from the timber may by coming against the elevated or thicker portion
of the cutters have their fibres separated; and the under side of the
cutters is twisted or inclined so as with the exception of the cutting
edge to be clear of the timber.
The rotating disc which carries the cutters is adjustable as to height
by means of any ordinary mechanism so as to accommodate itself to the
thickness of timber to be operated upon, and it will be found advan-
tageous to arrange two or more cutter heads one behind another so as
to act successively upon the timber as it travels beneath them.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation; Figure 2,
an end elevation; and Figure 3 a plan of a machine or apparatus for
cutting wood constructed according to my Invention.
A, A, is a strong bed or frame, to which are firmly bolted or secured
two upright brackets B, B, strengthened by stays C, C, at the upper
part. Each of these brackets carries standards D, D, for the bearings of
shafts, on which fast and loose pulleys E, E, are mounted. The pulleys
on one of these shafts are driven by a belt F from a driving pulley G,
and the motion is transmitted to the pulleys E, E, on the other shaft by
a belt H. On each of these pulley shafts a bevel wheel I is mounted,
gearing into another wheel K, which is feathered upon a shaft L. This

page_text: shaft is attached to a slide in plummer blocks M, and carries at its lower
end a plate or disc a, to which six (more or less) cutters 6 are secured, as
shewn. From one of the shafts of the pulleys E the motion is trans-
mitted by a belt N to pulleys O, the shaft of which carries one or more
bevel wheels P in gear with a corresponding wheel Q on a longitudinal
shaft R. This shaft R has worms S, S, in gear with worm wheels T, T,
on transverse shafts U, U, each of which carries a toothed wheel V for
taking into a rack on the under side of the table W. This table is for
bolding and feeding the timber to be cut, and travels along guides X on
the bed or frame A. The height of the cutter plates a, a, is adjusted by
means of threaded rods c, c, which work through nuts on the slides
which carry the shafts L and plummer blocks M, these rods being
rotated as required by bevel gearing d in connection through the rods e
with crank handles f.f. 9, 9, are ratchet wheels on the rods e, e, into
which pauls or catches take to prevent the rods turning when the cutters
have been adjusted to the required height.
The operation will be readily understood. The wood or timber having
been secured to the table W, and the cutter plates a, a, having been
properly adjusted, the second one a little (say th of an inch) below the
first, as seen in Figure 1, motion is communicated to the machine. The
table W with the wood is thus caused to travel along the bed A owing
to the rotating wheels V taking into the rack below the table, and the
wood is thereby carried under and past the cutters, which are rotating at
a speed of, say, 250 to 500 revolutions a minute. The first set of cutters
cuts off thin shavings or films from the top of the wood, and the second
set at a little lower level also cuts off thin shavings or films; these
shavings, in coming against or rising up the elevated or thicker portions
of the cutters, have their fibres separated, as before stated. h, h, are
guards fixed to the cutter plates to clear the shavings from the cutter
heads. In Figure 1 one of the cutter plates and one of these guards are
seen partly in section to show how the cutters b, b, are secured; they
are adjustable so as to project more or less from the plates, as required.
When the timber has entirely passed the cutters, it is run back with
the table, the cutters are lowered, say one quarter of an inch, and the
operation then recommences.

page_text: about from 1 to 3% of an inch from the point 1, and as the shavings are
cut they rise up or come against the thicker or elevated portions 3, 3, so
that the fibres become separated. The dotted lines 4 represent the
bottom edges of the backs of the cutters; these back edges are higher
than the cutting edges, the bottom of the cutters being slightly 5
inclined so as to be clear of the wood which is being operated upon.
The front edge 2 behind the cutting portion is also slightly higher
than the cutting portion. The back edges terminate at 5.
Although I have shown the cutters arranged to work horizontally,
they may if preferred be vertical or inclined, the other portions of the 1
apparatus being modified accordingly, as will be readily understood, and
instead of the wood being made to travel it may be fixed and the cutters
be made to travel.
I now proceed to describe the second part of my Invention, which
relates to apparatus for reducing fibres of wood, and more particularly 1
those which have been cut and separated, as herein-before described, to
pulp ready for being manufactured into paper.
The cut and separated fibres are allowed to fall from the cutting
machine into or they may be placed in a long cradle or openwork
frame of semi-cylindrical form, which when filled is introduced by 2
means of chains or otherwise into a horizontal cylindrical boiler. One
end of the boiler is made removable as usual. The boiler is supplied
with water, caustic soda, or other necessary chemicals, and after the
requisite lapse of time the mass is worked up or agitated so as to reduce
it to pulp. In order to agitate it I make the agitator shaft take at one
end into a socket on the end of a rotating shaft. The agitator is also
capable of being raised and lowered by means of hooks, the spindles of
which pass through stuffing boxes in the top of the boiler. Thus when
it is required to lift the agitator clear of the cradle it is first moved
longitudinally by screw or other mechanism so as to be released from its;
socket, and it is then raised by the hooks, or this socket and the socket
at the other end of the agitator shaft are slotted at the top, and are
provided with arrangements to keep the shaft in place, and for releasing
it when required. I also make the arms of the agitator each of several
pieces jointed together, so that they will fold in one direction only;
thus, when the agitator shaft is driven in one direction the arms work
in the mass of fibres, but one or more turns in the opposite direction

page_text: causes the arms to roll up round their shaft so as to be out of the way.
The outer ends of the several arms may be connected by chains, as is
usual in apparatus of this description.
The Drawings on Sheet 2 represent apparatus constructed according
to this part of my Invention, Figure 1 being a longitudinal section of
the apparatus; Figure 2, a transverse section of the boiler; and
Figure 3, a longitudinal elevation of the cradle. a is the boiler, the
end 6 of which is made removable; c is the cradle or openwork frame
so constructed as to allow the liquid in the boiler to flow freely through
its sides. I prefer to accomplish this by making it of sheet iron plates,
which are not rivetted close together, but are kept about half an inch
apart more or less by means of distance pieces. This cradle is of semi-
cylindrical form, and may be entirely open at its front end while the
opposite end is partly closed, as seen at d, this end being shaped at its
upper part, as shewn in Figure 2, so as to pass under the agitator shaft
and arms when it is run in or out of the boiler. The cradle c is fur-
nished with grooved rollers e to run upon rails in the boiler and outside
the boiler, and with other rollers fto bear against the sides of the boiler.
g is the agitator shaft, and h, h, are the agitator arms. These arms are
jointed so as to roll up round the shaft g when it is rotated in one
direction, and to remain rigid or extended when the shaft is rotated in
the other direction. i, i, are chains connecting the outer ends of the
arms h, h, as is usual in apparatus of this description. The agitator
shaft takes at one end into a round or bored socket & fixed to the boiler
cover b, and at its other end into a square socket on the end of a
shaft m, which passes through the end of the boiler, and is provided with
toothed gearing or other mechanism for transmitting rotary motion
thereto.
The agitator shaft g when in its socket thus rotates with the
shaft m.
n, n, are hooks which take under the shaft g; these hooks are
on the ends of rods o, o, which pass through stuffing boxes at p, p, on
the top of the boiler, and are threaded at their upper ends. The threaded
portions work in nuts or female threads in bevel wheels q, q, which are
geared into by other wheels r, r, on a cranked shaft 8. The agitator
shaft can thus be raised or lowered as required, the upper portions of the
sockets k and being slotted to allow the shaft 9 to pass out and in.
The agitator shaft is retained in its sockets while rotating as follows:-
t is a sliding collar on the socket 7; this collar is grooved externally to
receive a fork on the end of a shank u, pivoted to the end of the

page_text: boiler, as shewn.
is a screw for working the fork and collar t
backwards or forwards as required to release or retain this end of the
shaft g. At the other end of the shaft g is a bolt w passing through the
socket k and embraced by a fork x, which is keyed to a spindle y, which
passes through a stuffing box, and is provided with a crank handle z.
By moving this handle partly round in one direction or the other the
fork x is caused to draw out or push in the bolt w so as to release or
retain this end of the shaft g.
The cradle is provided with a hook at each end, as shewn, the
front hook A being for drawing it out of the boiler, and the back
hook B for drawing it into the boiler by means of the chain C. The
boiler is provided with one or more man-holes (not shewn) and with cocks
for letting in and out the liquid or chemicals employed.
In employing this improved apparatus the operation is as follows:-
The cradle being on the rails outside the boiler is filled with the shavings
or fibre to be treated, and is then drawn into the boiler by means of the
chain C, the portion of the chain which extends out of the boiler being
then either detached or pushed in under the cradle. The agitator shaft g
is at this time in its raised position with the arms h folded round it.
The boiler cover b is now placed in position, and if desired more shavings
or fibre may be introduced through the man-holes so as to completely fill
the boiler. The water, caustic soda, or other chemicals are now let in
and the mass is allowed to boil. After a certain time the fibres will
have become softened so as to allow of the agitator being lowered into
position and put into action. After the requisite time the agitation
which may have been continuous or intermittent is stopped, and when
the treatment in the boiler is finished the agitator is made to rotate once
or twice in the reverse direction so as to roll up its arms; the agitator is
then raised clear of the cradle, the liquid is run off, the boiler cover is
removed, and the cradle is drawn out, together with the pulp therein.
Any pulp remaining in the boiler may be removed by scrapers or other-
wise. It will be found convenient to have a second cradle on another
set of rails ready filled with fibre so that the operation may be
commenced upon a fresh portion of fibre without unnecessary delay.
The hooks n may be jointed to their rods so as to allow of their
being released therefrom in case it is desired to take out the the agitator
shaft for repairs or otherwise.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in

page_text: what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my
Improvements in Apparatus for Cutting Wood and for Reducing the
same to Pulp,"—
First. Constructing apparatus for cutting up wood and separating
the fibres thereof, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before
described and represented in Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings.
Second. The construction and employment of cutters so shaped and
made to act upon the wood as to cut the same into thin films or
shavings, and to separate the fibres of the said shavings, substantially
as herein-before described and represented in Sheet 1 of the accompany-
ing Drawings.
Third. Constructing apparatus for reducing wood fibres to pulp, sub-
stantially as herein-before described and represented in Sheet 2 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Fourth. The construction and employment of a cradle, substantially
as and for the purpose herein-before described and represented in Sheet 2
of the accompanying Drawings.
Fifth. Constructing and fitting the agitator shaft and its arms so that
the arms may be rolled up and the shaft raised, substantially as and for
the
purpose herein-before described and represented in Sheet 2 of the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Ronald Martin, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of May, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.