IMPROVED MACHINERY, APPARATUS, AND PROCESSES FOR PREPARING AND TREATING VEGETABLE FIBRES TO BE USED AS 'HALF-STUFF' IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, PAPIER MACHÉ, AND SUCH LIKE MATERIALS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Simpson, of Ilford, in the County of Essex;
Paper Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY,
APPARATUS, AND PROCESSES FOR PREPARING AND TREATING VEGETABLE FIBRES
TO BE USED AS 'HALF-STUFF' IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, PAPIER MACHÉ,
AND SUCH LIKE MATERIALS."
Sealed the 16th April 1867, and dated the 18th October 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Simpson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
October 1866.
I, WILLIAM SIMPSON, of Ilford, in the County of Essex, Paper Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
MACHINERY, APPARATUS, AND PROCESSES FOR PREPARING AND TREATING VEGETABLE
FIBRES TO BE USED AS 'HALF-STUFF' IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, PAPIER
MACHE, AND SUCH LIKE MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
A
As regards the improved machinery above referred to, it consists of a
machine of the following construction for cutting and bruising the fibre :-A
suitable framing supports the following parts; a horizontal trough for feeding
the machine with fibre; this trough contains three pairs of rollers adjusted one
above the other, the three uppermost rollers being connected together by a

page_text: vibrating lever adjusted loosely upon the axis of the centre roller outside of
the aforesaid trough, and the axes of this centre roller are connected by slings
to a weighted lever below for exerting pressure upon the top set of feeding rollers.
The effect of thus arranging the said feeding rollers is as follows:-
Suppose the front pair of rollers to take hold of too large a quantity of the
fibre, by so doing the uppermost of the said rollers will be raised, as also the
end of the before-mentioned vibrating lever to which it is connected and
depress the roller connected to the opposite end of the said lever, thereby
bringing this roller into closer contact with the roller beneath it, and allowing
only a certain quantity of fibre to be fed into the machine. The fibre passes
from the rollers down an incline, over and across which a revolving drum is
mounted, having cutters arranged and disposed, helically about its periphery,
the use of the said cutters being to cut the fibre as it passes down the incline;
the fibre then passes over a sieve for separating dust and other extraneous
matters therefrom, and is afterwards caught hold of between rollers formed
with spiral grooves around their circumference in the direction of the length
of the said rollers; the purpose of. these rollers is to bruise the fibre without
breaking it; the fibre thus prepared passes into a receiver beneath, from
which it is taken, and then put into a revolving boiler capable of bearing a
pressure of from one to two hundred pounds to the square inch; hot alkaline
liquor of the necessary strength is then pumped into the boiler through its
hollow axis after the lids are closed, and when the pressure guage indicates
the pressure required, say, from one to two hundred pounds per square inch.
The boiler still goes on rotating until the fibre has been sufficiently acted upon,
which usually takes from two to three hours; it is also requisite to connect a
steam pipe with one or other of the ends of the boiler, so that the fibre may
be kept quite hot during the time it is in the boiler; after which I remove it,
and having washed it place it in another revolving boiler, into which I pump
chlorine liquor for bleaching the fibre, and I continue to pump in the said
liquor until the indicator of the pump registers a pressure of from 50 to 70
pounds per square inch.
The fibre treated by the foregoing processes is in the condition of "half-
stuff, ready to be reduced to pulp for manufacturing into paper or papier
mâché.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Simpson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th April 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SIMPSON, of Ilford, in the County of. Essex, Paper Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters'
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Simpson, Her special licence that I, the said William Simpson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Simpson, 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY, APPARATUS,
AND PROCESSES FOR PREPARING AND TREATING VEGETABLE FIBRES TO BE USED AS
'HALF-STUFF IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, PAPIER MACHÉ, AND SUCH LIKE
MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Simpson, my executors 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 immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Simpson, 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,
that is to say
As regards the improved machinery above referred to, it consists of a
machine of the following construction for cutting and bruising the fibre :-
A suitable framing supports the following parts; a horizontal trough for
feeding the machine with fibre; this trough contains three pairs of rollers
adjusted one above the other, the three uppermost rollers being connected
together by a vibrating lever adjusted loosely upon the axis of the centre roller

page_text: outside of the aforesaid trough, and the axes of this centre roller are connected
by slings to a weighted lever below for exerting pressure upon the top set of
feeding rollers.
.
The effect of thus arranging the said feeding rollers is as follows:-
Suppose the front pair of rollers to take hold of too large a quantity of the
fibre, by so doing the uppermost of the said rollers will be raised, as also the
end of the before-mentioned vibrating lever to which it is connected, and
depress the roller connected to the opposite end of the said lever, thereby
bringing this roller into closer contact with the roller beneath it, and allowing
only a certain quantity of fibre to be fed into the machine. The fibre passes
from the rollers down an incline over and across which a revolving drum is
mounted having cutters arranged and disposed helically about its periphery,
the use of the said cutters being to cut the fibre as it passes down the incline;
the fibre then passes over a sieve for separating dust and other extraneous
matters therefrom, and is afterwards caught hold of between rollers formed
with spiral grooves around their circumference in the direction of the length.
of the said rollers; the purpose of these rollers is to bruise the fibre without
breaking it; the fibre thus prepared passes into a receiver beneath, from.
which it is taken and then put into a revolving boiler capable of bearing a
pressure of from one to two hundred pounds to the square inch.; hot alkaline
liquor of the necessary strength is then pumped into the boiler through its
hollow axis after the lids are closed, and when the pressure guage indicatès
the pressure required, say from one to two hundred pounds per square inch.
The boiler still goes on rotating until the fibre has been sufficiently acted
upop, which usually takes from two to three hours; it is also requisite to
connect a steam pipe with one or other of the ends of the boiler, so that the
fibre may be kept quite hot during the time it is in the boiler; after which
I remove it, and having washed it place it in another revolving boiler, into
which I
pump chlorine liquor for bleaching the fibre, and I continue to pump
in the said liquor until the indicator of the pump registers a pressure of from
50 to 70 pounds per square inch.
The fibre treated by the foregoing processes is in the condition of "half stuff,"
ready to be reduced to pulp for manufacturing into paper or papier mâché.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of
Drawings accompanying these Presents, and to the numeral figures and
letters of reference marked thereon respectively, as follows:-

page_text: Figure 1 represents a side elevation, and Figure 2 a top plan view of my
improved machinery for preparing vegetable fibres to be used as "half-stuff".
in the manufacture of paper, papier mâché, and such like materials. At each
of the foregoing Figures I employ similar letters of reference to denote
corresponding parts in so far as such parts appear or can be-seen at each of
such said Figures respectively.
:
A, A, marks the side framings of the machine supporting: the following.
parts; B, a trough to contain the material to be operated upon; this trough
contains three pairs of cylindrical rollers marked C, D, E; those marked C
and E are of similar diameters, and those marked D are formed smaller but
cach of the same diameter. The axes a, a, of all of the. rollers work in
suitable bearings formed in the side framings A, A, and the three uppermost
rollers are connected together by weighted levers G and slings and bars H
and I, placed at each side of the machine; as shewn by the Drawing, for the
purpose of exerting pressure upon the top rollers as they rotate for .advansing,
the material. into the machine and to allow the rollers to yield or give way,
slightly according to the inequality of the mass as it is passed between the
said rollers, thereby regulating the quantity of fibre passed into the machine
and ensuring the feeding of a certain quantity into the machine as before
stated; K is a framing of wood placed in an inclined position, to which is
affixed a coarse sieve L; M is a roller formed with spiral cutters N of steel
arranged and fixed about its circumference; 0; 01, 0³, are cylindrical rollers
having spiral grooves formed about their circumferences, the fibre after it has
been operated upon thereby passes into the receiver P. The axis of the
roller O' revolves in a fixed bearing b, and the axes of the rollers 0, 0³,
and M work in bearings partly fixed and partly movable, the movable parts
being kept in close contact with the journals of the axis. by strong helical
springs Q, which may be adjusted by the set screws c, the ends whereof press
against sliding plates d. The bearings of the rollers 0, 0, are also fitted with
set screws e, and screw into holes at f for adjusting the said rollers in proper
position with the roller O'; R is an endless strap or band passing over rollers,
fixed upon one end of the axes of the rollers M, 0, 0, 0,.and guide roller S,.
fixed to the framing A for imparting rotary motion to the several rollers; T is.
a cover for enclosing the several rollers.
.
.:
The operations of this machine are as follows:-Supposing the machine.
to be set in motion and the fibre in the trough to be placed between the
rollers C, D, E, as the roller M rotates. The fibre as it passes down the

page_text: incline K will be cut by the spiral cutters on the roller M, after which the
cut fibre passes over the sieve L, by which the dust and other extraneous
matters falling by their gravity will be separated from the fibre. The fibre
is then caught hold of by the grooved rollers O, O', by which the fibre will
be bruised and drawn out or stretched but not broken; and finally the bruised
fibre passes between the rollers O' and Os into the receiver P beneath; the
fibre thus prepared is next subjected to the process of boiling, for which
purpose it is placed in a revolving boiler capable of bearing a pressure of
from one hundred to two-hundred pounds upon every square inch of its
surface, and having securely closed and filled the boiler, I then proceed to.
pump thereinto hot alkaline liquor, the liquor passing through the hollow
axes of the boiler; and when the pressure guage indicates the required
degree of pressure, say from 1 to 200 pounds per square inch, according to
the nature and quality of the fibre, I allow the boiler to continue to rotate
until the fibre has been sufficiently operated upon to soften it. I have found
from two to three hours answer well in practise. I heat the boiler by means
of a steam pipe connected to one or both ends thereof, taking care to keep
the fibre quite hot during the time it is in the boiler. The fibre thus
prepared I next subject to any known process for bleaching it; fibre thus
prepared and treated is in the condition of "half-stuff," ready to be manu- s
factured into paper, papier mâché, and such like materials.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of my said
Invention for "Improved Machinery, Apparatus, and Processes for Pre-
paring and Treating Vegetable Fibres to be used as 'Half-stuff in the
Manufacture of Paper, Papier Mâché, and such like Materials," together
with the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into practical
effect, I hereby declare my Invention to consist in and I claim,―
. First, the mechanical arrangements and combinations above described with
reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings as constituting improved
machinery or apparatus for preparing vegetable fibres to be used in the
manufacture of paper, papier mâché, and such like materials.
Secondly, I claim the process above described of preparing vegetable fibres
to be used as "half-stuff" in the manufacture of paper, papier mâché, and
such like materials; and especially I claim subjecting the fibre during such
process to hydraulic pressure in a boiler for softening the same, as above s
stated, preparatory to subjecting the fibre to the process of bleaching, and I
desire it to be distinctly understood that although I have referred in my
Provisional Specification above recited to the bleaching of vegetable fibres
under bydraulic-pressure, I do not claim such process as my Invention, as I

page_text: have discovered since my application for the above in part recited Letters
Patent that this process of bleaching formed the subject of Letters Patent
granted to George Haseltine, bearing date the 22nd August 1866, num-
bered 2156, a communication from abroad by Henry Jones and Duncan
Farquharson, both of Rochester, and Isaac Cowles Cotton, of Buffalo, all in
the States of New York, United States of America; I propose, therefore, to
employ any of the processes in known and common use for bleaching vege-
table fibres prepared and treated as above stated, and I wish it to be clearly
understood that the bleaching of vegetable fibres forms no part of my said
Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Simpson, have hereunto set my.
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.