IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THe Manufacture OF SATCHELL OR Rectangular BOTTOMED PAPER BAGS
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Elisha Smith Robinson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 10th September 1873.
I, ELISHA SMITH ROBINSON, of No. 2, Redcliffe Street, in the City of
5 Bristol, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THe Manufacture OF SATCHELL OR Rectangular
BOTTOMED PAPER BAGS," to be as follows:-
-

page_text: Paper bags are now frequently manufactured from a continuous roll
of paper by machinery, such as is described in the Specification of the
Patent granted to Lewis Henry Spence, and dated July 1st, 1861,
No. 1674.
Such machinery has heretofore been restricted to the production of
plain straight bottomed bags, and although the manufacture by such
machinery of "satchell" or square bottomed bags has been a great
desideratum it has not yet been accomplished.
According to this Invention "satchell" bags are made and in the fol-
lowing manner :-The paper, as it is drawn by the machine from the roll
as heretofore pasted on one edge by passing in contact with a wheel
rotating in a reservoir of paste, and it is caused to take a trough-like
form by a roller or rollers pressing on the centre of the sheet, whilst it
is turned up on either side by a fixed guide through which it is drawn.
In front of this guide a former is supported, and the paper passes
beneath it. The former consists of a plate at the top and bottom con-
nected together by a rib at the centre thus
Between the
plates wheels run, and these press the paper into the recesses on
either side of the central rib, whilst fixed fingers turn over the edges
of the paper, and fold them together over the top of the upper plate.
The upper plate of the former is inclined in such manner that as the
paper travels forward it finds the space between the plates become nar-
rower, and finally the folds of the paper are pressed down flat. In
this way a tube of paper with bellows-like folds in the side (thus
X) is continuously produced. This tube is drawn forward by rollers
as in Spence's machine, and is divided into lengths by means of two
serrated plates and a beater bar moving at right angles to the paper.
The lower serrated plate is within the paper tube, and is a continuation
of the lower plate of the former; and the upper serrated plate is imme-
diately over the tube, and somewhat in rear of the lower plate. This
beater strikes the paper upwards, and breaks it over the edges of these
plates. The detached portion then travels forward until its end projects
over two parallel horizontal rollers, between which a blade descends. The
blade doubles over the end of the detached portion of the paper tube, and
causes it to be carried down between the rollers, and also at the same
time a piece of wood on the back of the blade transfers paste to the
paper to fix the folded end. The bags then pass through two pressing

page_text: rollers for the purpose of more effectually keeping down the folds.
Thus the bag is completed. The paste is dried by carrying the bag on
by means of tapes around a steam heated cylinder.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Elisha Smith Robinson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ELISHA
SMITH ROBINSON, of No. 2, Redcliffe Street, in the City of Bristol,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Elisha Smith Robinson, Her special
license that I, the said Elisha Smith Robinson, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Elisha Smith
Robinson, 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 FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF
SATCHELL OR RECTANGULAR BOTTOMED PAPER BAGS," a communication to me
from abroad by Edwin J. Howlett and John P. Onderdonk, both
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Elisha Smith
Robinson, 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 Elisha Smith Robinson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for the
manufacture of paper bags.
Paper bags are now frequently manufactured from a continuous roll
of paper by machinery such as is described in the Specification of the
Patent granted to Lewis Henry Spence, and dated July 1st, 1861,
No. 1674.
Such machinery has heretofore been restricted to the production of
plain straight bottomed bags, and although the manufacture by such
machinery of "satchel" or square bottomed bags has been a great
desideratum it has not yet been accomplished.
"
According to this Invention "satchel" bags are made and in the
following manner:-The paper, as it is drawn by the machine from the
roll is as heretofore pasted on one edge by passing in contact with a
wheel rotating in a reservoir of paste, and it is caused to take a trough-
like form by a roller or rollers pressing on the centre of the sheet, whilst
it is turned up on either side by a fixed guide through which it is drawn.
In front of this guide a "former" is supported, and the paper passes
beneath it. The "former consists of a plate at the top and bottom
connected together by a rib at the centre, thus I. Between the
plates wheels run, and these press the paper into the recesses on either
side of the central rib, whilst fixed fingers turn over the edges of the
paper, and fold them together over the top of the upper plate. The
upper plate of the "former" is inclined in such manner that as the
paper travels forward it finds the space between the plates become nar-
rower, and finally the folds of the paper are pressed down flat. In this
way a tube of paper with bellows-like folds in the sides (thus Σ
is continuously produced. This tube is drawn forward by rollers, as in
Spence's machine, and is divided into lengths by means of two serrated
plates and a beater bar moving at right angles to the paper. The lower
serrated plate is within the paper tube, and is a continuation of the
lower plate of the "former," and the upper serrated plate is immediately
over the tube, and somewhat in rear of the lower plate. This beater
strikes the paper upwards, and breaks it over the edges of these plates.
The detached portion then travels forward until its end projects over two

page_text: parallel horizontal rollers, between which a blade descends. The blade
doubles over the end of the detached portion of the paper tube, and
causes it to be carried down between the rollers; and also at the same
time a piece of wood on the back of the blade transfers paste to the
paper to fix the folded end. The bags then pass through two pressing
rollers for the purpose of more effectually keeping down the folds.
Thus the bag is completed. The paste is dried by carrying the bag on
Figure 1 is a plan, and Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of a
machine for the manufacture of satchel or rectangular bottomed paper
bags.
a, a, is the frame of the machine%; b is a spindle mounted on
standards 6. Upon this spindle is carried a roll of paper of suitable
width, which is unwound continuously for the supply of the machine.
The spindle and its standards are supported upon a table a¹, which for
the purpose of adjustment can when requisite be slidden to and fro for a
short distance transversely on the frame by means of a screw and hand
wheel which the Drawings do not shew. The paper, as it runs off the
roll passes beneath the small roller c, and over the roller d, at one end
of which is a disc c¹ dipping into the paste box c². The disc c¹ applies
paste to the under side of the sheet of paper on the left-hand edge
thereof. d, d, are two wheels or pulleys turning free with their axis.
The distance between them can be adjusted; they bear upon the middle
of the sheet of paper, which passes beneath them, and cause it to bend
into a trough-like form. The paper next comes into contact with two
adjustable disc wheels e, e; the stems c¹ carrying these wheels are clamped
down to the fixed table a², which is slotted so that they may be set as
may be set desired. The "former" is fixed to the table a² by the bent
iron f, which is attached to the table by clamping bolts.
An end view of the "former," with the paper around it, is shewn to a
larger scale at Figure 3; it consists of top and bottom plates g¹ and g³
connected by a wooden rib g³.. The wheels e, e, are set between the

page_text: plates g¹ and g of the "former," and they double the paper in between
the plates, as is clearly seen at Figure 3. The paper next comes into
contact with four iron fingers h³, h¹, h², h², which are clamped to the
table a². The first pair h¹, h¹, double the paper over the upper plate g³,
and the second pair crease it between the plates g¹ and 9³, as is clearly
shewn at Figure 4, which is a transverse section taken through the
"former" near the place where these fingers act.
i is a roller sup-
porting the former without impeding the progress of the paper along
it. After passing the fingers the folded paper is kept in form by two
guide plates k, k. Each guide plate has a channel along one edge, as is
shewn at Figure 5, which is an end view of one of them, and they rest
on upright ribs 7, 1, clamped to the table a²; k¹, k¹, are adjusting screws
in the guide plates; they bear on the top of the flanges so as to prevent
their nipping the paper against the "former" g¹ and 9². The under sides
of the guide plates serve as guides to the paper, and they preserve the
folds which have been given to it. They can be lifted off readily when
requisite for inserting the paper, or rectifying defects. It is only the
lower plate g¹ of the "former" which projects beyond the guide plates /
and the paper is pressed upon it to flatten the creases by two rollers 1, 1,
one over and the other under the "former." The paper next comes to
two driven rollers m, m; they are geared together, and the lower one
receives motion from the main axis n, on which are the belt pulleys, by
spur gear, as is indicated by red circles in Figure 2. These rollers nip
and draw forward the paper, but they do not press upon the plate g¹ of
the "former," this plate being reduced in width as it passes between
them, and the rollers being turned smaller in the middle where it passes
between them. The former" terminates immediately beyond the
rollers m, m, in saw-like teeth g*, which are kept sharp at the points.
Immediately above the teeth 9*, but about a quarter of an inch nearer
the paper roll, is another plate o with similar teeth; it is carried by a
bar fixed at either end to the frame of the machine. n¹ is a hand wheel
upon the main axis n; p is an axis driven, as shewn, from the axis of
the upper roller m. This axis does not extend through the machine, but
has a bearing on one side of the frame only. On it there is mounted an
arm p¹ carrying a beater bar p³, which at each revolution strikes the
paper sharply, and breaks it against the toothed edges 9* and o. The
forward end of the detached piece is held between the rollers 7, 7, which
present it to the rollers s, 8, and these rollers carry forward the pieces at a
somewhat greater speed than that at which the continuous paper travels.

page_text: Thus a short interval is gained between piece and piece, which allows the
beater bar p³ to pass down to the under side of the paper without again
coming into contact with it. The way in which the rollers r, r, and 8, 8,
are driven is indicated by red circles in Figure 2, and the wheels are also
shewn in plan in Figure 1. t is a small roller to ensure the passage to
the detached pieces of paper to the nip of the rollers 8, 8; it is grooved
in the centre, and so is the upper roller r to receive an elastic driving
band. As soon as the end of each detached piece of paper comes over
the small rollers u, u, a blade v descends doubling over the end of the
paper, and tucking it in between the rollers. The rollers carry the bag,
which is now complete, down under the drum w, and tapes indicated by
green lines in Figure 2 convey it away, and it passes around a steam
cylinder before it is released, in order to dry the paste.
The way in which the transverse bottom seam of the bag is pasted
has not yet been described. It will be seen that at the back of the
blade v there is a pad of wood v³, which when the blade rises comes
against a roller x revolving in a paste trough x¹. The pad v¹ licks off some
of the paste from the surface of the paste roller, and communicates it to
the paper with which it immediately after comes into contact. The
paste roller has a ratchet wheel x² on its axis, and it is slowly rotated by
means of a pawl. The blade is suspended from arms v³ on an axis v³,
to which a rocking motion is communicated. It has an arm v* at its
end, from which a connecting rod v³ passes to an adjustable pin on the
end of the beater axis f. The pad v¹ on the blade v is brought into
contact with the paste roller by a short arm in connection with the
blade working in a fixed guide slot 26. The rollers u, u, are geared
together, and one of them has a band wheel u¹ on its axis. A driving
cord u³ passes around this wheel, and also around a corresponding wheel
upon the axis of the lower roller m.
Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the finished bags open ready
for filling.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that I
claim,―
The construction of machinery for the manufacture of satchel or rec-
tangular bottomed paper bags with "forming" instruments, by which
the paper travelling continuously forward is folded with bellows-like
folds, substantially in the manner described.

page_text: I also claim the combination of machinery, substantially as described,
for the manufacture of satchel or rectangular bottomed paper bags.
In witness whereof, I, the said Elisha Smith Robinson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
E. S. ROBINSON. (L.S.)
March 4/74.