IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Harry Saunders, of Phoenix Mills, Dartford,
in the County of Kent, Paper Manufacturer, and Joseph Millbourn, of
the same Place, Manager, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF PAPER."
Sealed the 13th January 1863, and dated the 19th July 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Harry Saunders
and Joseph Millbourn at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 19th July 1862.
We, THOMAS HARRY SAUNDERS, of Phoenix Mills, Dartford, in the County
of Kent, Paper Manufacturer, and JOSEPH MILLBOURN, of the same Place,
Manager, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," to be as follows:-
Our Invention of improvements in the manufacture of paper relates, first,
to an improved mode of drying paper as it comes from the machine, and
previous to its being introduced to the sizing vat. The operation of drying
paper as it comes from the machine has heretofore been effected by causing
the continuous sheet to pass over or in contact with heated rollers or cylinders
which will drive off the moisture from the paper and prepare it for the sub-
sequent process of sizing. We have found that by the paper being carried
along in contact with heated rollers or cylinders, its texture or strength is
somewhat impaired, and to remedy this inconvenience we cause the paper to
pass over or round a series of skeleton drums or frames, rotating or otherwise,
and during its passage we submit it to currents of air which will carry off the
moisture without impairing the solidity or strength of the paper. This mode

page_text: of drying paper is also applicable to engine-sized paper, and we thereby
dispense altogether with the ordinary heated metal drying cylinders.
Our second improvement relates to a novel mode of regulating the supply of
pulp to the machine, and consists in adapting to the bottom of the pulp vat a
series of valves which are capable of being adjusted to a great nicety, so that 5
the attendant can with great facility regulate the quantity of pulp supplied to
the machine, and consequently the thickness of the paper.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Harry Saunders and Joseph Millbourn in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 19th January 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
HARRY SAUNDERS, of Phoenix Mills, Dartford, in the County of Kent, Paper
Manufacturer, and JOSEPH MILLBOURN, of the same Place, Manager, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, givo and grant unto us, the said
Thomas Harry Saunders and Joseph Millbourn, Her special licenso that we,
the said Thomas Harry Saunders and Joseph Millbourn, our executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Harry Saunders
and Joseph Milbourn, our 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Thomas Harry Saunders and Joseph Milbourn, by
an instrument in writing under our bands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us, 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 Joseph Millbourn, on behalf of myself
and of tho said Thomas Harry Saunders, do hereby declare the nature of
our Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-

page_text: ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference
being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
Our Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture of Paper," relates,
first, to an improved mode of drying paper as it comes from the machine, and.
previous to its being introduced to the sizing vat. The operation of drying
machine-made paper as it comes from the machine has heretofore been effected
by causing the continuous sheet of paper to pass over or in contact with heated
rollers or cylinders, which by heating the paper will drive off the moisture
therefrom, and prepare the paper for the subsequent process of sizing. We
have found that by the paper being carried along in contact with heated rollers
or cylinders, its texture or strength is somewhat impaired, and for this reason.
machine-made paper is always inferior in quality to hand-made, which is what is
termed air dried, the sheets being hung up on lines to dry by contact with the
air. In order to air-dry machine-made paper, instead of drying the paper by
bringing it into contact with heated rollers, as heretofore, wo cause the paper.
to pass from the machine over or round a series of skeleton drums or frames,
rotating or otherwise; and during its passage we submit the paper to currents
of air which will carry off the moisture without impairing the solidity or strength
of the paper, as is the case when the paper is dried by heated cylinders. The
improved mode of drying paper which constitutes the first part of the present
Invention, is applicable to engine-sized paper, as well as to paper which is
sized in the machine at a subsequent stage. It will therefore be understood
that by means of the Invention we can altogether dispense with the ordinary
heated metal, drying cylinders, and that by air drying the paper we are enabled
to produce machine-made paper of as good quality as hand-made.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a Diagram representing a series of
skeleton cylinders, which are to be placed at the end of the paper-making
machine. The blue line represents the sheet of paper, which as it is delivered
from the wet pressing rollers a, a, at the exit end of the machine, passes under
a guide roller b', and from thence over and under the skeleton drums or
cylinders b, b, which are open at both ends, and are, by preference, constructed
of rings or hoops with longitudinal wooden ribs or laths to support the paper.
Or these skeleton drums may be covered externally with open wirework, and
inside of the skeleton drums are placed rotary fans to which motion may be
communicated for the purpose of creating a current of air, as described in the
Specification of Letters Patent granted to Ranson and Millbourn, on the
Thirteenth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine,
Number 8310; these rotary fans may, however, be dispensed with, and steam

page_text: pipes or flues may be placed beneath the skeleton drums for the purpose of
heating the air, which as it rises up will dry and toughen the paper.
Figures 2 and 3 represent the mode we employ for regulating the supply of
pulp to the paper-making machine by adapting to the bottom or lower part of
the pulp vat a series of valves, which are capable of being adjusted to a great
nicety, so that the attendant can with great facility regulate the quantity of
pulp supplied to the machine, and consequently the thickness of the paper
when made.
Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3, a transverse vertical section of a pulp vat,
with our valve arrangements adapted thereto. c, c, c, represent the sides and
bottom of the vat, in which is mounted the rotating stirrer d, whereby the pulp
is kept in motion, A chamber e is placed beneath the pulp vat, and is pro-
vided with a series of openings f,f, which are closed by conical valves or
plugs 9, 9, at the lower end of the suspension rods h, h, which are jointed to
the end of a series of levers i, i, mounted on the horizontal shaft j, which
'extends from end to end of the vat. A hand lever may be adapted to any
convenient part of this shaft j for the purpose of rocking the same and thereby
opening or closing all the valves simultaneously; this hand lever is provided
with a pin, and by inserting this pin into any of the holes made in the
curved bar l, the valves may be kept open to any desired extent, and thereby
render the supply of pulp uniform whatever the regulated quantity may be.
Having now described our Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture
of Paper," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
we claim as our Invention the improvements herein set forth in the manufacture
of paper; we claim particularly drying machine-made paper before it is con-
ducted to the sizing vat, in the manner herein set forth, whereby the heated
cylinders heretoforo employed for this purpose are dispensed with, and tho
quality of the paper thereby materially improved.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Millbourn, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
JOSEPH MILLBOURN. (L.S.)