IMPROVED APPA- RATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER PULP
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Easton, junior, of The Grove, Southwark,
in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPA-
RATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER PULP."-l'artly a communication
from abroad by François Thiry, of Huy, in the Kingdom of Belgium.
Sealed the 28th March, 1865, and dated the 19th November, 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Easton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th November, 1864.
1, JAMES EASTON, junior, of The Grove, Southwark, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER PULP," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of apparatus for reducing
straw to half stuff for the manufacture of paper. The straw having been cut
up into short lengths; is immersed in an alkaline solution, and subjected to
steam pressure in a steam boiler of peculiar construction after which it is
washed and discharged from the boiler by the aid of a copious stream of water
supplied 'thereto.
-
It is for the purpose of effecting these operations in an efficient and
economical manner that the apparatus which I will now describe has been
designed.
I mount in brickwork, by preference, three steam boilers of like construction
and size, side by side, so that they may be used in succession, and heated by
traversing fires. The boilers are horizontal cylinders fitted at their lower
Price 6d 1

page_text: halves with a false bottom (segment-shaped in cross section) pierced with
holes to allow of the free circulation of liquor through them. The hinder
ends of the boilers project beyond the brickwork which carries them to permit
of a discharge opening closed by a valve overlying an open trough which is
intended to receive and convey away the contents of the boilers when the
operation is completed. A safety valve is provided at about the middle of each
boiler, and at either end there is a manhole throughwhich the boiler is charged
with cut straw and liquor. A horizontal rotating shaft carrying radial arms
is provided in each boiler, and from the arms chains are pendent for the pur-
pose of turning over the stuff so as to present every portion to the action of
the alkaline liquor, and at the same time to scrape or clear the perforated
bottom. Below the boilers, near the front ends thereof, and running trans-
versely thereto, is a passage in which a railway is laid to receive say two fire-
boxes which are mounted on wheels. These boxes are fitted at bottom with
fire-bars of the usual construction and linedwith fire-brick to protect the metal
sides and back 'end from the injurious action of the fire.
furnished with a door and hearth like an ordinary furnace.
are intended to transport the fire from one boiler to another as soon as the
operation in one boiler is completed, and another is charged and ready for
getting up steam, and it is for this purpose that the transverse passage is made
under the boiler flues, and connecting therewith. The fire-boxes when brought
under the boilers to be heated fit closely against the flues to which they are
respectively applied, and in which the boilers to be heated are mounted so that
little or no cold air is allowed to enter the flues.
The front end is
These fire-boxes
Bythis arrangement it will be understood that the fire acts directly
upon the
boiler, but by reason of the clearing action of the chains, and the use of the
perforated false bottomwhich sustains the material under treatment, and allows
of the circulation of the liquor below it, the bottom of the boiler will be covered
with liquor, and thus the material will not be liable to be burned nor the
boiler injured. Instead of having a transverse passage for the traverse of the
fire-box from boiler to boiler, the box may be drawn out endwise, and shifted
into a line with the next boiler to be fired and then pushed under that boiler.
For supplying the boilers with the alkaline liquor a horizontal main pipe
leads from the vessel in which the mixture is made. From this main extend
branch pipes which lead respectively to the several manholes of the group of
boilers. The supply to these branch pipes is governed by cocks so that either
set is at pleasure brought into communication with the main supply pipe.
The steam chambers of the several boilers are connected together by a system
of steam pipes which also connect together the bottoms of the several boilers,

page_text: This arrangement is for the purpose of discharging the stean out of one
boiler (after the completion of the operation) into another boiler and for dis-
charging the spent alkaline liquor. A slow rotary motion is given to the shafts
carrying the radial arms and chains by means of a worm shaft driving worm
wheels mounted on the ends of the shafts carrying the radial arms. When
the silicious matter is dissolved out of the straw with which the boiler, say,
No. 1 is charged, the fire-box under that boiler is shifted to the boiler next to
be set at work, say No. 2, and the alkaline liquor is blown from No. 1 boiler
into boiler No. 2. A free supply of water is admitted into boiler No. 1 througli
one of the manholes which is opened for the purpose. The discharge valve
is then raised, and the rotary motion of the arms being continued, the contents
of the boiler are discharged into the transverse trough already mentioned in
the form of half stuff, and conveyed away to undergo the further treatment
common to that material before being converted into paper. The boiler No. 1
is then recharged, and when this operation is completed the boiler No. 3
being ready to be discharged, steam is blown from that boiler into No. 1 boiler,
the spent liquor discharged, and the half stuff run into the trough as before
described. The fire-box is then shifted under boiler No. 1 and the operation
is repeated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Easton, junior, in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th May, 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, JAMES
EASTON, junior, of The Grove, Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Easton, junior, Her special licence that I, the said
James Easton, junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others, as. I, the said James Easton, junior, 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

page_text: Man, an Invention for
'IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER
PULP," being partly a communication from abroad upon the condition (amongst
others) that 1, the said James Easton, junior, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
shouldparticularlydescribe and ascertain thenature 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Easton, junior, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly 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):-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of apparatus for reducing
straw to half stuff for the manufacture of paper. The straw having been cut
up into short lengths is immersed in an alkaline solution, such as has been
heretofore used for the like purpose, contained in steam boilers of peculiar
construction where the straw is subjected to steam pressure, after which it is
washed and discharged from the boilers by the aid of a copious stream of
water supplied thereto.
It is for the purpose of effecting these operations in an efficient and
economical manner that the novel apparatus, shewn in the accompanying
Drawings, was designed.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of the improved apparatus; Fig. 2
is a plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is a partial transverse section, taken in
the line 1, 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a front view, partly in section; and Fig. 5
is a back elevation. In these views three steam boilers of like construction,
and mounted in brickwork side by side are shown, that number being
preferred, as they economize time in the working by being used in succession.
These boilers are shewn at A, A1, A2, and they are heated by means of
traversing fires contained in fire-boxes or carriages B. The boilers are hori-
zontal cylinders, fitted at their lower halves with a false bottom a (segment-
shaped in cross section), pierced with holes to allow of the free circulation of
liquor through them. The hinder ends of the boilers project beyond the
brickwork, which carries them to permit of a discharge opening closed by a
valve overlying an open trough C, which is intended to receive and convey
away the contents of the boilers when the operation is completed. Safety
valves are provided in the steam chambers a', which are situate at about the
middle of the length of the boilers, and at either end there are man-holes a²,

page_text: through which the boilers are charged with cut straw and liquor. A hori-
zontal rotating shaft D, carrying radial arms d, is provided in each boiler, and
from these arms chains d' are pendent for the purpose of turning over the
stuff or cut straw contained in the boiler, and thus presenting every portion
thereof to the action of the alkaline liquor; at the same time these chains
scrape or clear the perforated bottom a. Below the boilers A, A', A², near
the front ends thereof, a passage E is formed in the brickwork running trans-
versely thereto, and in this passage a railway is laid to receive, say, two
fire-boxes B, which are mounted on wheels. This passage E communicates
with the flues F that run under the boilers in the direction of their length, as
shewn at Fig. 1. The fire-boxes B are fitted at bottom with fire-bars of the
usual construction, and they are lined with fire-brick to protect the metal
sides and back end from the injurious action of the fire; the front end is
furnished with a door and hearth, like an ordinary furnace. These fire-boxes
are intended to transport the fire from one boiler to another as soon as the
operation in one boiler is completed, and another has been charged and made
ready for getting up steam, and thus removing the necessity for drawing the
fire to cool down a boiler, and relighting when the operation is to be repeated.
It is to allow of this transfer of the fire that the transverse passage E is made
under the boiler flues and brought into connection therewith. The fire-boxes
when brought under the boilers to be heated fit closely against the flues F to
which they are respectively applied, and in which the boilers to be heated are
mounted, so that little or no cold air is allowed to enter the flues. By this
arrangement it will be understood that the fire acts directly upon the boiler,
but by reason of the clearing action of the chains, and the use of the per-
forated false bottom, which sustains the material under treatment, and allows
of the circulation of the liquor below it, the bottom of the boiler will be
covered with liquor, and thus the material will not be liable to be burned,
nor the boiled injured by the direct action of the fire. Instead of having a
transverse passage for the traverse of the fire-box from boiler to boiler, the
box may be drawn out endwise and shifted into a line with the next boiler to
be fired, and then pushed under that boiler. The supply of alkaline liquor is
brought to the boilers by a horizontal main pipe C, which leads, from the
vessel in which the mixture is prepared. From this main extend branch
pipes g, g,Fig. 2, which lead respectively to the several man-holes a², a,of the
group of foilers. The supply to these branch pipes may be governed by
cocks, so that either set is at pleasure brought into communication with the
main supply pipe. The steam chambers a' of the several boilers are con-
nected together by a horizontal steam pipe H, from which branch pipes h, h,

page_text: lead down to horizontal pipes 1 below the boilers (see Fig. 5). These pipes
connect with pendent pipes l' leading from the bottoms of the several boilers
and stop-cocks are fitted to these pendent pipes below their junction with the
horizontal pipes I.. Above this junction a branch pipe 12 is connected with
each pendent pipe 1'; and these branch pipes are connected with a horizontal
discharge pipe 3 sunk in the ground. They are also provided with stop-cocks
for cutting off connection with the discharge pipe. This arrangement is for
the purpose of discharging the steam out of one boiler (after the completion
of the operation) into another boiler, and for discharging the spent alkaline
liquor from the apparatus. A slow rotary motion is given to the shafts D
carrying the radial arms d and chains d' by means of a worm shaft D¹. This
shaft it will be seen is supported in bearings on a transverse girder carried by
cast-iron pillars a little in the rear of the boilers. The worms on this shaft
gear into and drive worm wheels K mounted on the ends of the shafts D, and
thereby impart. a slow rotary motion to the radial arms.
Supposing now the apparatus to be in working order, the first boiler of the
series A having been properly charged with cut straw and alkaline liquor and
the man-holes closed, the fire is lighted in the fire-box below the boiler, and a
suitable internal pressure of steam is maintained until the siliceous matter is
dissolved out of the straw with which the boiler was charged. The fire-box
under the boiler is now shifted to the boiler next to be set at work, say, A¹ or
No. 2, and the steam is blown from No. 1 boiler into boiler No. 2; the
alkaline liquor is then discharged from boiler No. 1, and replaced by a supply
of water; the agitation is now continued for a short time, after which the
liquor is run off, and this is repeated once or twice to wash out the dissolved
siliceous matters. A free supply of water is then to be admitted into boiler
No. 1 through one of the man-holes (which is kept open for the purpose),
while the discharge valve L, Fig. 1, is raised to open a passage to the trough C
below. The continuous rotary motion of the arms will cause the contents of
the boiler to be discharged into the transverse trough in the form of half
stuff, whence the half stuff will be conveyed away to undergo the further
treatment common to that material before being converted into paper. The
boiler No. 1 thus emptied is then ready to be recharged, and when this
operation is completed the boiler A2 (the third of the series) being by this
time ready to be discharged, steam is blown from that boiler into No. 1 boiler,
the spent liquor is then run off, and the half stuff is run into the trough, as
before described. The fire-box is then shifted from under the boiler No. 3 to
boiler No. 1, and the operation is repeated.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of
Improved Apparatus

page_text: for the Manufacture of Paper Pulp," and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim, the arrangement of apparatus above described,
whereby I am enabled with the aid of a fire acting directly on the boilers to
produce half stuff for paper makers and in a cheap and expeditious manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Easton, junior, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
JAMES EASTON, JR. (L.S.)