Improvements relating to the Washing and Pressing of the Felt Bands or Blankets of Paper Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Feb., 1897-Accepted, 3rd Apr., 1897
Improvements relating to the Washing and Pressing of the Felt
Bands or Blankets of Paper Machines.
A communication by the Firm of H. FÜLLNER, of 169, Herischdorf, Warmbrunn,
Silesia, in the Empire of Germany, Manufacturer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of The Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, 118 New Street, Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick and 322, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
This invention has for its object an improved wet pressing device for paper
machines, for expressing the water from the felt band or blanket.
In the accompanying drawings, Figure I is a general diagrammatic view of the
arrangement, whilst Figure II is a plan view of a detail.
A wet pressing arrangement for paper machines together with the under frames
and foundation belonging thereto is shown in Figure I, also the means for guiding
the felt, which has constantly to be washed during the work, and the necessary
carrying, guiding and stretching rollers, A A' are the ordinary press rollers,
whilst B is the actual washing roller.
The felt is pressed between the latter and the pressure roller A, and for this
purpose the washing roller B is pressed with a suitable pressure on the roller A.
The pressing is effected in the machines at present employed by means of long
weighted levers which must always be arranged in the machine pit, so that they
are only accessible with difficulty, and during the working are not accessible at all,
so that any regulation of the necessary pressure on the washing roller is entirely
prevented. The lever moreover easily assumes an oscillating movement, which
greatly affects the certainty of sudden yielding on meeting folds in the felt, and
often becomes dangerous, the felt being compressed because the lever does not
yield instantaneously.
The above drawbacks are entirely removed by the arrangement which forms the
object of the present invention. In place of the long levers hitherto employed,
only a very short lever h with a set screw comes into play. This lever rests with
its free end on a cast-iron press piston k, which is hollow below and stands with its
open end downwards in a press cylinder & and is washered by leather or india-
rubber sleeves or washers against the exit of the pressure water. On the water
being pressed into this cylinder z, the air contained therein is forced into the
hollow part of the piston forming an air cushion between the piston and the water,
which imparts to the bearings of the washing roller the necessary yielding or
elasticity. In order to enable the amount of air contained in the cylinder z to be
diminished or increased an air screw / is provided in each case.
On the front side of the machine frame or on another suitable part of the frame,
a short cross pipe r with two shut off valves v' and two safety valves v³ ³,
Figure 2, is arranged. Each of the latter valves has a copper pipe 6 and o leading
to the front and rear press cylinders respectively.

page_text: The water under pressure is supplied either by means of natural pressure from a
reservoir standing at a sufficient elevation, or by means of a compressed water
supply, or by means of a small pump, and conveyed to the press cylinders by
means of the pipes 6 and c. Any excess of water is carried off by the safety
valves The latter may according to requirements be more or less loaded
during the working, and thus the pressure exerted on the pressure pistons / may
also be regulated. The lever & shown may also be entirely omitted, and the press
cylinders with their piston may be placed directly under the bed or support of the
washing roller.
In order to wash the felt, it. is thoroughly sprinkled from two sprinkling
pipes p p lying in front of the spiral roller w. It is then suitably wrung out by
the action of the spiral roller, again sprinkled by the following sprinkling pipe p*
and finally thoroughly pressed dry between the rollers A and B.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is -
1. A wet pressing device for paper machines for expressing the water from the
felt band or blanket, characterised by the arrangement of a roller (B) resting with
its bearings or supports either directly or by the intermediary of a lever (h) on
pressure pistons (4) which may each be raised and lowered by water under control
and having an intervening air cushion, whereby there is obtained an elastic
yielding and convenient means of regulating the pressure, even during the working,
substantially as herein before described.
2. The general construction and combination of parts taken as a whole forming
the improved wet pressing device for paper machines substantially as described and
illustrated.
"