Improvements in Means and Apparatus for Discharging, Neutralizing, or Removing Electrical Charges from Paper and like Material during and after the Process of Manufacture.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Mar., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 6th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 26th Feb., 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means and Apparatus for Discharging, Neutralizing,
or Removing Electrical Charges from Paper and like Material
during and after the Process of Manufacture.
We, HENRY JOHN ROGERS, of Lavington, Watford, in the County of Hertford,
Engineer, and WILLIAM MORRIS MORDEY, of Redholme, Loughborough, in the
County of Leicester, Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object the removal of electrical charges from paper
and like material either during or after the process of manufacture.
During the manufacture of paper an electrical charge is frequently imparted to
the paper as a result of the friction produced by its passage over the drying rolls
and calendering rolls and other parts of the paper making machine.
This charge is a cause of considerable trouble in the subsequent use of the paper
for printing and other purposes and efforts have been made to remove or prevent
this charge of electricity by connecting the rolls to earth and by placing near the
paper as it leaves the rolls a piece of metal and by connecting this to earth but
these means have proved quite inadequate.
According to our invention we place in close proximity to the paper, preferably
to both sides of the sheet large metallic surfaces provided with numerous points
which we connect together and to earth. The points are directed towards the
charged surfaces and effect the object sought to be attained by virtue of the well
known property of points. The points may be fixed and rigid or they may be
prolonged in the form of a fine wire brush, the ends of the very numerous wires
being brought within a very short distance of the charged surface or even allowed
to rest lightly upon the said surface.
We may use these methods separately or in combination; we prefer to place
these dischargers at more than one position so as to act on the paper in succession.
Where necessary we generate electricity of opposing sign to that produced in the
paper using the same for the purpose of neutralizing the charge in the paper.
Any form of statical electrical generator can be used for this purpose.
Dated this First day of March 1907

page_text: Improvements in Means and Apparatus for Discharging, Neutralizing,
or Removing Electrical Charges from Paper and like Material
during and after the Process of Manufacture.
We, HENRY JOHN ROGERS, of Lavington, Watford, in the County of Hertford,
Engineer, and WILLIAM MORRIS MORDEY, Electrical Engineer, late of Lough-
borough, now of 66, Victoria Street, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention has for its object the removal of electrical charges from paper and
other material during or after the process of manufacture. In the following descrip-
tion & explanation we refer to paper but we wish it to be understood that we do not
confine ourselves to that material any raw material or fabric in process of manufac-
ture or actually manufactured with regard to which the developement of electrical
charge is a cause of trouble or inconvenience may be treated according to the
principle of our invention. During the manufacture of paper an electrical charge
is frequently imparted to the paper as a result of the friction produced by its
passage over the drying rolls and other parts of the paper making machine. This
charge is a cause of considerable trouble in the subsequent use of the paper for
printing and other purposes and efforts have been made to extract or prevent or
neutralize this charge of electricity by connecting the rolls to earth and by placing
near the paper as it leaves the roll a piece of metal and by connecting this to earth
but these means have proved quite inadequate.
A series of experiments made by us in our study of this subject. has shewn that
the cause of previous failures has been the inadequacy as to area of the means
adopted, and the omission to recognise that paper becomes electrically charged
not only on its surfaces but internally. On account of its high insulating pro-
perties the discharge of electricity at its surfaces at any particular stage of its
progress through the apparatus employed, is ineffective, because, after such discharge
the internal charge "soaks out" slowly and the surface of the paper again presents
an electrified condition.
Having ascertained the causes of previous failures we have been able to succeed
by this our invention according to which we provide very large discharging areas,
presenting to the surface or surfaces of the paper, numerous discharging points
arranged over the area or areas in the form of brushes or combs disposed so as to
act on the paper during an appreciable time in order, not only to discharge the
electricity from the surface of the paper at any one stage of its progress but to
allow. sufficient time for internal charge to "soak out," to be then removed or dis-
charged or neutralised.
"
Fig. 1, illustrates somewhat diagramatically one way of carrying our invention
into effect. In close proximity to the surface or surfaces of the paper a a (pre-
ferably to both surfaces) and extending over the whole width of the sheet and for
about twelve inches in the direction of the length of the sheet, we place large
metallic areas b b provided with numerous discharging points P P which we
connect together and to earth by means of suitable conductors e e, these points are
directed towards the charged surfaces and effect the object sought to be obtained
either by virtue of the well-known property of points in facilitating electrical
discharge or by actual contact or by a combination of both.
The points may be fixed or rigid or they may be prolonged in the form of a
fine wire brush b₁, b', of thin brass wire or other suitable material, the ends of the

page_text: very numerous wires being brought within a very short distance of the charged
surface or even allowed to rest lightly upon the said surface, when it is of a
character to permit such contact.
We may use these methods separately or in combination and we prefer to place
these dischargers at more than one position so as to act on the paper in succession.
The number of dischargers and their positions depends on the amount of the charge,
the character of the fabric, the speed of its passage and so forth. The top part of
the discharger may be hung upon supports that can be raised or lowered at will
by means of a balance weight or a lever or other device or the two parts of the
extractor can be raised and lowered by a right and left handed screw.
"6
Where necessary we generate electricity of opposing sign to that produced in
the paper using the same for the purpose of neutralising the charge in the paper.
Any form of statical electrical generator can be used for this purpose. We
prefer a Wimshurst or other suitable static generator. One pole of such
generator is connected to the discharging area constructed and arranged as above
described, the other pole of the generator being earthed. The pole connected to
the discharging area must be of opposite sign to the charge on the paper. The
machine is arranged by suitably adjusting the distance between the paper and
the discharging area to neutralise the charge on the paper by supplying a counter
or opposite charge.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. Preventing electrical charges in paper or other substances by providing &
succession of very numerous discharging points or contacts arranged to act succes--
sively on the substances as they pass the said points or contacts.
2. The construction and use of discharging points or contacts arranged to present-
to and act on the paper or other substance over a considerable area substantially-
as and for the purpose set forth.
3. The use of light conducting brushes of thin brass wire or other suitable-
material disposed so as to make such contact with the paper or other substance as..
shall discharge the surface electricity therefrom but not sufficient to cause sensible.
friction or to injure the said substance as and for the purpose described.
4. The use of an estatic or other suitable generator of electricity connected to a:
system of contact points or brushes or both for the purpose of neutralizing electrical
charge on paper or other substances by giving to the said substance a charge of
opposite sign to that existing at or in the said substance.
5. Removing electrical charges from paper or other fabrics during and after the
process of manufacture by the means and apparatus herein described and illustrated
in the accompanying sheet of drawings.
Dated this 3rd day of January in the year of our Lord 1898.
HENRY J. ROGERS.
W. M. MORDEY.