IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR REDUCING VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES TO A FINELY DIVIDED STATE, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE EMPLOYED FOR .. SIFTING OR SEPARATING THE FINE FROM THE COARSE PARTICLES OF OTHER SUBSTANCES."
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT. to William Henry Tooth, of Rhodeswell Road, in the
County of Middlesex,. Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR REDUCING VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES TO A FINELY
DIVIDED STATE, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE EMPLOYED FOR
.. SIFTING OR SEPARATING THE FINE FROM THE COARSE PARTICLES OF OTHER
SUBSTANCES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Tooth at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th May 1861..
I, WILLIAM HENRY TOOTH, of Rhodeswell Road, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN, MACHINERY OR. APPARATUS. FOR REDUCING VEGETABLE. SUB-
STANCES TO A FINELY DIVIDED STATE, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS MAY. ALSO. BE
EMPLOYED FOR SIFTING OR SEPARATING THE FINE FROM. THE COARSE PARTICLES OF
OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in machinery or apparatus. for-reducing
vegetable substances. to a finely-divided state is intended.to be applied more
particularly to the reduction of linen, cotton, or other rags, old ropes, cordage,

page_text: and other vegetable substances used in the manufacture of paper. By the
"reduction" of these substances, I mean the disintegration of the fibres, and
bringing them into a state to be converted into pulp suitable for being manu-
factured into paper. The first machine into which the rags or vegetable
substances are introduced consists principally of a metal roller composed of a
number of serrated discs or circular saws strung upon a spindle, with thin
washers between them to keep them a certain distance apart. This cylinder
is mounted in horizontal bearings, and rotates opposite to a pair of adjustable
feeding or holding rollers, which may be constructed in the same manner as
the serrated roller above mentioned. This pair of feeding or holding rollers is
mounted in bearings in a moveable 'block, which is provided with adjusting
screws or other analogous contrivances, whereby the feeding rollers may be
moved forward to or backward from the acting roller, as may be required.
The rags or other materials are fed in between the holding rollers which carry
them forward to the acting or reducing roller, the surface speed of which is
greater than that of the holding rollers, and the effect will therefore be, that
the rags will be torn up by the teeth of the acting roller while held by the
holding or feeding rollers. This preliminary disintegrating operation may be
carried on either as a dry or as a wet process, and the fibres having been thus
disintegrated, are carried forward to the pulping engine, which forms the
second in the series of machines.
Instead of the ordinary spiked roller usually employed in pulping engines,
I employ a roller formed as in the preparing machine of any convenient
number of serrated discs like circular saws, which are secured on a spindle
with thin metal washers between them so as to keep them a proper distance
apart. An adjustable breast block, also composed of a number of serrated
discs of suitable form to correspond to the circumference of the roller, is
mounted on ways or guides in the pulp vat, and is provided with adjusting
screws for the purpose of regulating with nicety the distance between the roller
and the block. These parts are so arranged respectively that the teeth or
serrated edges of the roller are made to enter between the serrated discs or
plates of the adjustable breast block, so that the coarse fibres from the former
machine will be reduced to a state of pulp in a much shorter time than is
usually required in pulping engines of the ordinary construction. The reduced
vegetable fibres are then passed into a grinding mill, in which, by preference,
the lower stone or grinding surface rotates while the upper one is stationary.
By this arrangement the fibres when ground will be thrown off by centrifugal
force, and the grinding surfaces will be kept free. The fibres or pulp and

page_text: water, as they are driven off from the grinding'surface, will rise up in the vit,
and pass or be drawn down through the eye of the top stone or fixed grinding
surface, and, a continuous circulation of the pulp will be kept up until it is
brought to a state fit to be made into paper. The grinding surfaces may be
made either of stone or of metal, and they must be grooved, roughened, or
toothed in a suitable manner.
T
If the preparing, process is carried on with the assistance of water, it will
sometimes be found practicable to dispense with the second operation, and to
carry the disintegrated fibres direct to the grinding mill, or sometimes, as in
the manufacture of the coarser kind of papers, the grinding operation may
not be considered necessary. The use in succession of these machines and
processes may therefore be left to the discretion of the paper manufacturers,
and must in some measure depend upon the quality of paper that is to be
made.
Previous to supplying the pulp to the paper making machine, it should be
strained for the purpose of separating the knots and unreduced fibres. This
straining apparatus consists of any conveniently shaped vessel provided with
layers of wire cloth or gauze, or perforated metal plates of gradually
increasing, fineness. The part of this vessel which is beneath the wire cloth
communicates by means of a pipe provided with a cock with a close vessel,
from which the air is exhausted by means of a pump or other suitablo'
exhausting apparatus.
The pulp to be strained is placed in the straining vessel on the perforated
metal plates or wire gauze, and upon exhausting the air from the close vessel,
and opening the communication between the latter and the straining vessel;
the pressure of the atmosphere will force the fine pulp through the strainer
with great rapidity, leaving the knots and large particles above; these may be
removed and passed a second time through the grinding mill..
The reducing machine may also be employed for cutting up or reducing
waste vulcanized india-rubber in order to facilitate the removal therefrom of
the sulphur that has been used in the vulcanizing process. The straining
apparatus may also be used for straining clay or other mineral substances
when mixed with water or while in a plastic state.
.
The serrated edges of the metal discs are sharpened by means of an
apparatus consisting of a rotating edge grinding wheel, which is mounted on a
spindle, and has a rapid rotary motion communicated to it by means of a
band passing over a pulley on the same shaft. The disc to be operated upon
is placed on a spindle, and is secured to the table of the machine by clamps
14

page_text: or otherwise, and the edge is kept steady while under operation by means of
a hook or catch, which takes into one of the teeth, and prevents the disc or
plate from moving. The spindle of the cutting wheel is mounted in a sliding
block, which admits of being lifted up when it is required to turn round or
move the disc or plate that is being operated upon so as to bring a fresh tooth
under the grinding wheel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Tooth in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th November 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY TOOTH, of Rhodeswell Road, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Henry Tooth, Her special license that I, the said William Henry
Tooth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Henry Tooth, 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 MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR REDUCING VEGETABLE
SUBSTANCES TO A FINELY DIVIDED STATE, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO
BE EMPLOYED FOR SIFTING OR SEPARATING THE FINE FROM THE COARSE PARTICLES
OF OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Henry Tooth, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Henry Tooth, 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

page_text: .
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:
My Invention of improvements. in machinery or apparatus for reducing
vegetable substances to a finely divided state is intended to be applied more
particularly to the reduction of linen, cotton, or other rags, old ropes, cordage,
and other vegetable substances used in the manufacture of paper. By the
"reduction" of these substances, I mean the disintegration of the fibres, and
bringing them into a state to be converted into pulp suitable for being manu-
factured into paper.
The first machine into which the rags or vegetable substances are. intro-
duced for the purpose of being reduced is shewn in Sheet I. of the accom-
panying Drawings.
=
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine; Fig. 2, a plan or bird's-eye view
of the same; and Fig. 3, a side elevation.
The machine consists principally of a metal roller a, composed of a number
of serrated discs.or circular saws strung upon a spindle with thin washers
between them to keep them a certain distance apart, as shewn in the detached
plan view, Fig. 4, which represents a portion of the roller a, drawn full size,
the line 1, 2, representing the central axis of the circular discs; a³, a¹, are the
serrated discs or circular saws, which are the eighth of an inch thick. These
saws are separated by the washers a³, a³, which are one-sixteenth of an inch
thick. The discs a¹ and washers a³ are firmly secured together by means of
the transverse bolts a³. This serrated roller a is mounted in horizontal bearings
b, b, and rotates opposite to a pair of adjustable feeding or holding rollers c, c;
which are constructed in the same manner as the serrated roller a, above men-
tioned (that is to say), they are composed of alternate serrated discs and plain
washers. This pair of feeding or holding rollers is mounted in bearings in the
standards d', d, of a moveable block d, which is provided with adjusting
screws e, or other.analogous contrivances, whereby the feeding roller's c, c, may
be moved forward to or backward from the acting roller a, as may be required.
The rags or other materials to be 'operated upon are placed upon a table by
an attendant, and are fed in between the holding rollers c, c, which revolve
slowly and carry them forward to the acting or reducing roller a, the surface
speed of which is greater than that of, the holding rollers c, c." The effect will
therefore be that the rags.will be torn up by the teeth of the acting roller a,
while held by the holding or feeding rollers c, c. The axle of the serrated
acting roller a carries at one end the fast and loose pullies g; g, which are
rotated by means of a strap coming from a rigger, actuated by any prime

page_text: mover. By this means the roller a will be driven in, the direction of the arrow
in Fig. 3, at a speed of about one, hundred and fifty revolutions per minute,
while the feeding and holding; rollers will; rotate at a much lower speed. On
the opposite end of the axle of the roller a is a snail or worm h, which gears
'into and drives a worm, wheel on the sile shaft i, which rotates in bearings
'secured to the side framing of the machine, and carries a snail or worm **;
which drives a worm wheel c' on the axle of one of the holding rollers c. These
latter are also provided with a pair of wheels, having an equal number of teeth
and gearing into each other, for the purpose of causing both rollers to revolve
at the same speed. The axle of the upper roller c is kept down by the weighted
levers.d², d², but it is capable of a slight vertical motion in the standards d³,
to enable the roller to accommodate itself to an unequal feed, the depth of the
teeth of the toothed gear being sufficient to admit of this slight rise of the
upper roller.
The preliminary disintegrating operation, when effected in this machine,
may be carried on either as a dry or as a wet process, that is, either with or
without water, and the fibres having been disintegrated by the operation of the
roller a, on the rough material, the fibres may be transferred to the pulp-
ing engine, which is the second in the series of machines which forms the
subject of the present improvements, and is shewn in Sheet II. of the accom-
panying Drawings.
Fig. 5 is a side elevation of my improved pulping engine; Fig. 6 is a plan
view of the same; Fig. 7 is a longitudinal vertical section; and Fig. 8, a
transverse vertical section,
It will be seen that instead of the ordinary spiked roller usually employed
in pulping engines, I employ a roller a, formed as in the preparing machine of
any convenient number of serrated discs like circular saws, which are. secured
on a spindle with thin metal washers between them, so as to keep them a
proper distance apart, precisely as shewn in the enlarged view Fig. 4, Sheet I.
An adjustable breast block 1, also composed of a number of serrated discs or
plates of suitable form to correspond to the circumference of the roller is
placed in the pulping vat below the roller a.
•
This serrated block may be mounted on ways or guides in the pulp vať and
provided with adjusting screws for the purpose of regulating with. nicety the
distance between the roller a-and the block 2; or, this adjustment may be a
effected by making the bearings of the serrated roller a adjustable, as shewn in
the Drawing.
It will be seen, on referring to Fig. 6, that the bearings 6 of the roller a are

page_text: secured to a moveable plate 6, which works in guides 6s, 6. An adjusting
screw. works in a liole tapped in a projecting piece 6 on. the moveable plate
or block 6'; so that the plate 6, with the bearings band roller a; may be raised
or lowered as desired. The roller à and the block l are so arranged respec=
tively, that the teeth or serrated edges of the discs of the roller are made to
enter between the serrated discs or plates of the breast block, as seen in
Figures 7 and 8; so that the coarse fibres from the machine shewn in: Sheet I:
will be reduced to a state of pulp in a much shorter time than is usually
required in pulping engines of the ordinary construction. It will be seen that
the roller a and breast block are placed in a pulping vessel of the ordinary.
construction, in which the pulp or disintegrated fibre is made to circulate; and
pass several times between the teeth of the roller a and breast block ; until it
is properly reduced...
.
The reduced vegetable fibres are then passed into a grinding mill in, which;
by preference, the lower stone or grinding surface rotates while: the upper
one is stationary.. This grinding mill is shewn in Sheet III., in which Fig: 9
is a plan view, and Fig. 10 a vertical section, of the mill. The bottom
stone m, m, is the runner, and is secured in a frame mi; m³, which is keyed
on to the shaft n, and rotates therewith when the latter is actuated by the
toothed gearing o, o, below. The shaft n rests in an adjustable step p, and
carries at its upper end 'a bracket or cross piece q', in which the top stone q
is secured. The top stone 9 is properly balanced on the, end of the vertical
shaft n; and a tube or funnel r is fixed thereon to receive the fibres.or
pulp from the last machine, and conduct it down through the runner to the
grinding surfaces. The step p is provided with an adjusting screw p'; whereby
the vertical shaft n, and with it the top stone, may be lifted so that the
grinding surfaces may be .accurately adjusted. By this arrangement the
fibres. when ground will be thrown off by centrifugal force from the
grinding surfaces, and the latter will therefore be kept free and always in
a condition to operate on fresh fibres. The fibres. or pulp.and.. water,. as
they are driven off from the grinding surface will rise up in the vat and
pass or be drawn down through the eye of the top stone or fixed grinding
surface; and a. continuous circulation of the pulp will be kept up until it is
brought to a state fit to be made into paper. The .grinding surfaces may
be made either of stone or of metal, and they may be grooved, roughened, or
toothed in: a suitable manner according to the material on which they are
intended to operate.
If the preparing process, be carried on with the assistance: of...water,..it will

page_text: sometimes. be found practicable to dispense with the second operation, and
to carry the disintegrated fibres direct from the first machine to the grinding
mill, or sometimes, as in the manufacture of the coarser kinds of papers, tho
machine. shewn in Sheet II. may be made to reduce the fibres sufficiently;
and render the grinding operation unnecessary; the use in succession of these
machines and processes may therefore be left to the discretion of the paper
manufacturer, and must in some measure depend upon the quality of paper
that is to be made, and the materials it is required to operate upon.
Before supplying the pulp to the paper-making machine, it should be
strained for the purpose of separating the knots and unreduced fibres from
the finer particles. The straining apparatus which I employ for this purpose
is shewn. in Sheet IV. in which Fig. 11 is a plan view, and Fig. 12 a longi-
tudinal vertical section. The apparatus consists of any conveniently shaped
véssel's, provided as shown at t, t, with layers of wire cloth or gauze or
perforated metal plates. of gradually increasing fineness. The part of this
vessel' which is beneath the wire cloth communicates by means of a pipe u
(provided with a cock u¹) with a close vessel, from which the air is
exhausted by means of a pump w, w, or other suitable exhausting apparatus;
The pulp to be strained is placed in the straining vessel s; on the perforated
metal plates or wire gauze t," and upon exhausting the air from the close
vessel v, and opening the communication between the latter and the straining
vessel by means of the cock u', the pressure of the atmosphere will force
the fine pulp through the strainer t with great rapidity, leaving the. knots
and larger particles above. These latter may be removed, and passed a
second time through the 'grinding' mill shewn in Sheet III. This straining
apparatus may also be used for straining clay or other mineral substances
when mixed with water. or. while in a plastic state.
The reducing machine shewn in Sheet I. may also be employed for cutting
up or reducing waste vulcanized india-rubber, in order to facilitate the
removal therefrom of the sulphur that has been used in the vulcanizing
process.
The serrated edges of the 'metal discs a¹ used in some of the machines above
described; are sharpened by means of an apparatus which is shewn in Sheet V.
Fig: 13 is a plan view, Fig. 14 an end elevation, and Fig. 15 a longitudinal
vertical section of the machine, which consists of a rotating edge-grinding
wheel, (Figures 18 and 15,) which is mounted on a spindle a³, and has a
rapid rotary motion communicated to it by means of a band a passing over a
pulley' on the same.shaft. The disc a 'to be operated upon is placed on

page_text: a spindle a, and is secured to the table a' of the machine by clamps a', or
otherwise.. The serrated edge of, the disc a'may be kept steady-while under
operation by means of any suitable contrivance, such as a hook or câtch block;
which may be made to take into one of the teeth of the disc or plate a,
and
prevent it from moving. The contrivance shewn in the Drawing is, however,
preferable. It will be seen that the serrated dise is secured by the clamps a
on the boss of a worm wheel as, which is itself secured to the table a³, but in
such a manner that it may be rotated on its axis. In the teeth of the wheel
a works a snail or worm a, whereby the wheel a", and consequently the
serrated disc a secured thereon may be rotated any portion of a circle to the
greatest nicety. The table a³, on which the wheel and serrated disc is
mounted, works in guides a, a', and is capable of being moved therein by
means of a screw shaft as by turning which, by means of the winch 9,
(Fig. 15) the table and serrated disc may be moved up to or withdrawn from
the cutting tool or wheel. The spindle the cutting wheel w is mounted
in a sliding block at, which works in guides a, a, and admits of being lifted
up when it is required to move or turn round the serrated disc or plate a, that
is being operated upon so as to bring a fresh tooth under the grinding wheel.
The sliding block is suspended from a strong coiled spring, which is
capable of supporting the weight of the block with the cutting wheel a and its
appendages. The lower end of the sliding block is connected by a rod or
link 7 to a treadle lever y below, and when this treadle lever is depressed by
the foot of the attendant, and brought into the position shewn in the Drawing,
the rotating cutting wheel a will be brought down against the teeth of the
5 serrated disc a, and being set in rapid rotation by the band a³ over the
pulley, the teeth of the serrated dise will be quickly sharpened. Imme-
diately the attendant lifts his foot from the treadle y, the force of the spring as
will be sufficient to raise the sliding block at, and lift the cutter wheel & away
from its work; then upon turning the winch handle 9; the disc a 'will be
O rotated on its centre, and a fresh tooth will be brought under the cutter
wheel.x, which may then be brought down again, and so on until all the teeth
of the disc a have been sharpened.
Having now described my Invention of improvements in machinery or
apparatus for reducing vegetable substances to a finely divided state, and
having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, and in what
way a part of the said improvements may also be employed for sifting or
separating the fine from the coarse particles of other substances, I claim as the
Invention secured to me by Lotters Patent as aforesaid,-

page_text: First, the use for the purposes herein set forth of serrated rollers and blocks
composed of serrated or toothed discs or plates combined with plain discs,
plates, or washers as above described.
Second, the use of the apparatus shewn in Sheet III., or any mere modifi-
cation thereof, for grinding or reducing vegetable fibres to a state of pulp for
the manufacture of paper.
Third, I claim the use of the straining apparatus shewn in Sheet IV., for
the purposes herein set forth.
Fourth, I claim the apparatus shewn in Sheet V., or any mere modification
thereof, for sharpening the teeth of the serrated discs or plates.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Tooth, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of November, in the year, of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.