AN IMPROVED METHOD OF EFFECTING THE SEPARATION OF THE FIBRES OF WOOD FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER THEREPROM, WHICH IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE SEPARATION OF THE FIBRES OF FLAX OR OTHER SUBSTANCES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE FABRICS, AND ALSO TO THE SEPARATION OF OTHER SUBSTANCES FOR SIMILAR OR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF EFFECTING THE SEPARATION OF THE
FIBRES OF WOOD FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER THEREPROM, WHICH IS ALSO
APPLICABLE TO THE SEPARATION OF THE FIBRES OF FLAX OR OTHER SUBSTANCES
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE FABRICS, AND ALSO TO THE SEPARATION OF
OTHER SUBSTANCES FOR SIMILAR OR OTHER PURPOSES."-A communication.
Sealed the 25th November 1858, and dated the 21st June 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st June 1858.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF EFFECTING THE SEPARATION OF
THE FIBRES OF WOOD FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER THEREFROM, WHICH IS ALSO
APPLICABLE TO THE SEPARATION OF THE FIBRES OF FLAX OR OTHER SUBSTANCES FOR
THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE FABRICS, AND ALSO TO THE SEPARATION OF OTHER
SUBSTANCES POR SIMILAR OR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
. It is well known that the fibres in most kinds of wood are arranged in the
form of very minute tubes, in which the sap circulates. Now, the improved

page_text: method of separating these fibres, which forms the subject of the present
Invention, consists in placing the wood in a strong cylinder or box, in which it
is subjected to the action of steam, air, gas, hot water, or other fluid, under a
high pressure, for the purpose of charging its tubes, as well as the spaces
between them, and then causing it to be suddenly projected from said cylinder
or box into the atmosphere, or into a partial vacuum, where each of the tubes
is, by the expansive force acting within and upon it, burst open and separated
from those adjoining it, and the whole of the wood is converted into fibre.
The same process is or may be applicable to the separation and opening of
flax and other similar or analogous materials of a fibrous character or tubular
structure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF EFFECTING THE SEPARATION OF THE FIBRES OF WOOD FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF PAPER THEREFROM, WHICH IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO THE SEPARATION
OF THE FIBRES OF FLAX OR OTHER SUBSTANCES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE
FABRICS, AND ALSO TO THE SEPARATION OF OTHER SUBSTANCES FOR SIMILAR OR
OTHER PURPOSES," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instru-
ment 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

page_text: 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 Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
It is well known that the fibres of most kinds of wood are arranged in the,
form of very minute tubes, in which the sap circulates. Now, the improved
method of separating these fibres constituting the Invention of my foreign
correspondent, consists in subjecting the wood in a strong cylinder or box to
the action of steam, air, gas, hot water, or other fluid, under a high pressure,.
for the purpose of charging its tubes, as well as the spaces between them, and
then causing it to be suddenly projected from the cylinder or box into the
atmosphere or into a partial vacuum, where; by the expansive force acting.
within and upon the tubes, they will burst open and cause the complete sepa-
ration of the fibres. The same process applies to the separation and opening
of flax and other analogous fibrous materials.
The accompanying Drawing, which forms part of this Specification, and is
intended to illustrate the Invention, exhibits a longitudinal central section of a
cylinder, or as from its operation it may be termed a gun, for effecting the
separation of the fibres of wood preparatory to their conversion into paper
pulp. This gun may be of any suitable length and calibre, but for practical,
purposes it will be very convenient to have it of about seven inches diameter
internally, and of about from twenty to twenty-five feet in length, as it may
then be made by taking a piece or pieces of lap welded iron tubing A, and
permanently closing one end with a stopper B, the other end is fitted with a
movable head or cap C, which is fitted to it after the fashion of a valve, or
with a suitable packing to be capable of making a steam-tight joint. In order
to secure this cap C firmly in place, and thereby close the. gun, a bracket
arm H is bolted to one side of the gun, for the purpose of carrying by a hinge
joint a a strong lever D, which is capable of being brought to a position across
the cap C, and secured in that position by a hook bat one end of a lever E,
which is attached to the gun on the opposite side to that of the hinge joint a
. of the first lever by a fulcrum pin c. The other end of the lever E has hinged
to it a prop piece d, which, when resting upon the side of the gun, secures the
hook upon the lever D. F is a screw working in the lever D, for the
purpose of securing the cap closely to the mouth or muzzle of the gun; and e, e,
are screw bolts, which attach the cap loosely to the lever D. G is a steam

page_text: pipe for admitting steam from a boiler to the gun next the cap C. This pipe
should be furnished with a stop-cock or valve. f is a pipe at the other end
of the gun for the escape of air when the steam is admitted; j is a pipe
for allowing any water to run back from the gun to the boiler when desired.
This gun is to be placed in a slightly inclined position; so that a small
quantity of water may settle near the breech, and it should either be mounted
in a very strong frame, which is capable of sustaining it against recoil, or be
otherwise supported at its breech for that purpose. The wood may be put in
either in the form of a log, as large as can be conveniently inserted, as repre-
sented in red outline, or in smaller pieces, and in any case the gun may be
nearly filled with it, provided that a space be left near the breech for the
collection of a small quantity of water. It is better that the wood should be
cut while green, and before being put in the gun it should be soaked in
water for several days, or till the sap is displaced by the water. When the
wood has been put in, the lever D is brought up and secured by bringing down
the hook of the lever E upon it, and by setting up the prop piece d-of the
latter lever, and after that the screw F is screwed up to close the cap C
tightly. The next thing to be done is to expel the air from the gun, which is
done by opening the stop-cock in the pipe f, and admitting steam slowly from
the boiler by the pipe G till it issues copiously from the air escape pipe f, when
the latter may be closed entirely, and steam admitted freely by the steam
pipe. The temperature in the boiler should be about three hundred and ninety
degrees Fahrenheit, which will give a pressure of above two hundred pounds
per square inch. After steam has been admitted to the gun for a few minutes
the temperature of all the water that remains in the wood not displaced by the
steam, or converted into steam, will be the same as that in the boiler, and a
quantity of water that will have been collected in the lowest part of the gun
by reason of the condensation of the steam in contact with the interior surface
of the gun, and by the expulsion from the wood, will be of the same tempera-
ture also. The cap may then be set free by an attendant standing some
distance behind the muzzle, tripping up the prop piece d by pulling a string h
attached thereto, and depressing the rear end of the lever E. The hook 6 will
thus be raised from the lever D, and the pressure of the confined steam will
force off the cap C. The steam, which is instantly generated from the water
in the rear portion of the gun by the reduction of the pressure, will force the
wood out of the gun, and as it emerges, the expansion of the steam in and
among its tubes, and the instantaneous flashing into steam of a portion of
water remaining in it, will effect a perfect separation of its fibres, leaving them
in a state in which they may either at once or after bleaching be introduced to

page_text: the pulp mill or other machinery for their reduction into pulp, or into a
suitable state for conversion into paper. The fibres, it may be stated, though
scattered about, are nearly all left within seventy or eighty feet from the
muzzle of the gun, and may be collected without difficulty.
It is evident that the apparatus and means employed in carrying out the
object of the Invention may be modified considerably without departing from
the principle thereof; for instance, instead of using a separate boiler to supply
steam to the gun, the steam may be generated or the water heated in the gun
itself, by placing a quantity of water therein, and applying the necessary beat
to the exterior of the gun, either through the agency of a fire below, or by
other means. Again, before subjecting the wood to the action of water or
steam, the air may be extracted from it by means of an air pump or other
agency. It is also evident, that instead of using hot water or steam, compressed
air or some other gaseous body under a high pressure may be employed. The
Invention may be applicable to the separation of the fibres of other than
vegetable substances, and for a variety of purposes.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, 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, separating the fibres of wood and other fibrous sub-
stance by charging the same with steam, air, or other gaseous body, or hot
water in a cylinder, or other suitable receptacle, substantially similar to that
herein described, and afterwards suddenly subjecting the substance under
operation to a sufficiently diminished atmospheric pressure to cause its dis-
ruption by the expansion of the fluid or gaseous body within it, substantially
as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)