IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER."
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Routledge, of Eynsham Mills, near Oxford
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Routledge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th June 1861.
I, THOMAS ROUTLEDGE, of Eynsham Mills, near Oxford, do hereby declare
the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
PAPER," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the preparation of half-stuff (paper pulp) and
paper from esparto or Spanish grass, (comprising spartum ligeum, stipa
tenacissima, dis, or lilfa,) the same being applicable to straw and other raw
fibrous substances. The general details of the process are the same as
specified in my Patent No. 274, dated 2nd February 1860, the improvement
consisting in that portion which relates to the preparation of the leys employed
in boiling the esparto or other raw fibres; and in order to preclude the
presence of lime in the caustic state, or even too much causticity in the leys,
either of which I have stated would produce a very injurious effect, I proceed
in the manner following, that is to say-I take from 9 to 11 per cent. of
I first
soda, employing on account of its cheapness soda ash of commerce.
carefully test its per-centage, strength, and amount of impurities, in which it
varies greatly as delivered from the chemical works, and having determined

page_text: the amount of carbonic acid it contains in combination, reserve from 5 to
25% of it in the state of carbonate, dissolving the remainder in water not
less than 9 to 10 times its weight, using a jet of steam to facilitate the
operation, although the direct action of fire to the vessel in which this
operation is conducted would be equally effective; or the ley may be made. 5
without heat. I then add a sufficient quantity of lime in the caustic state,
or in the state of hydrate, to absorb the carbonic acid combined with the soda,
blowing up with steam, or if cold water, employing agitation to effect the
necessary chemical decomposition, which done, and-the-ley allowed to settle
perfectly clear, I run it into the boiling pan over or through a sieve or per- 1
forated vessel containing the soda above referred to reserved in the carbonated-
state; the perforated vessel is employed for the sako of retaining any
mechanical impurities contained in the soda salt, but may be omitted, and-
the requisite proportion of soda in the carbonated state added in the boiling
pan, or to the ley. The quantity or per-centage of real soda in the ley is in 1
relation to the esparto, or other fibre treated, and that portion reserved in the.
carbonated state must depend upon the nature of the fibre, and its state of
maturity when operated upon. I have stated that the soda salts of commerce.
are extremely variable, both as regards per-centage, strength of soda, and the.
amount of impurities they contain, as delivered from the chemical works; but
lime varies still more in quality, both in its normal condition and in the caustic
state, as prepared by burning, generally from 25 to 40 per cent., and even
more than the theoretical quantity, being required; no chemical analysis can,
therefore, accurately determine the quantity necessary to make a given amount
of soda caustic, which must, therefore, be left to practice, and sufficiency be
used; but as the presence of lime in the caustic state, or even an excess of-
causticity in the leys would be extremely injurious, forming a calcareous soap
with the resin, hardening the gluten, and thereby fixing the coloring and
extractive matters or compounds combined with raw fibrous substances,
extreme care must be observed to insure the ley being sufficiently carbonated,
and also sufficiently caustic, as without the latter the silica would not be
rendered-soluble. I find from 5 to 25 per cent. of the quantity of soda salt
used should be in the state of carbonate, and of this not less than 5% be put
in the pan in which the fibre is boiled, which in the event of any lime in the
caustic state being accidentally run in with the ley, will ensure its being con-
verted into carbonate. Hydrate, or caustic, or other salt of soda or potash, if
not too costly, may be employed in making the leys, but in either case 5
to 25% should be in the state of carbonate, or reduced to that condition.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Routledge in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
ROUTLEDGE, of Eynsham Mills, near Oxford, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, 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, givo and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Routledge, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Routledge,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Routledge, 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, exer-
cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thomas Routledge, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 .imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Routledge, 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
thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in the preparation of half-stuff (paper. pulp) .and
paper from esparto or Spanish grass, (comprising spartum ligeum, stipa
tenacissima, dis, or alfa,) the same being applicable to straw and other raw
fibrous substances. The general details of the process are the same as
specified in my Patent No. 274, dated 2nd February 1860, the improvement
consisting in that portion which relates to the preparation of the leys employed
in boiling the esparto or other raw fibres; and in order to preclude the
presence of lime in the caustic state, or even too much causticity in the leys,
either of which I have stated would produce a very injurious effect, I proceed
of
in the manner following, that is to say:-I take from 9 to 11 per cent.
.soda (employing on account of its cheapness soda ash of commerce) by weight

page_text: in relation to the weight of the fibre to be treated. I first carefully test its
percentage, strength, and amount of impurities, in which it varies greatly, as
delivered from the chemical works, and having determined the amount of
carbonic acid it contains in combination, reserve from 5 to 25% of it in the
state of carbonate, dissolving the remainder in water not less than 9 to 10
times its weight, using a jet of steam to facilitate the operation, although the
direct action of firo to the vessel in which this operation is conducted would be
equally effective; or the ley may be made without heat. I then add a
sufficient quantity of lime in the caustic state, or in the state of hydrate, to
absorb the carbonic acid combined with the soda, blowing up with steam, or
if cold water, employing agitation to effect the necessary chemical decomposition,
which done, and the ley allowed to settle perfectly clear, I run it into the
boiling pan over or through a sieve or other perforated vessel containing the
soda above referred to reserved in the carbonated state; the perforated vessel
is employed for the sake of retaining any mechanical impurities contained in
the soda salt, but may be omitted, and the requisite proportion of soda in the
carbonated state added in the boiling pan, or to the ley.
In making printing paper, I have found that from about 10 to 15 per cent.
of the soda in the ley should be in the carbonated state, whilst the remainder
should be in the caustic state. If a higher class of paper is desired, then I
prefer that the ley should be in a milder or more carbonated state, using in
such case a larger quantity of soda in the ley. The quantity or per-centage
of real or anhydrous soda in the ley is in relation as before explained to the
esparto or other fibre treated, and that portion reserved in the carbonated
state must depend upon the nature of the fibre and its state of maturity when
operated upon. I have stated that the soda-salts of commerce, are extremely
variable, both as regards per-centage, strength of soda, and the amount of
impurities they contain, as delivered from the chemical works; but lime varies
still more in quality, both in its normal condition and in the caustic state, as
prepared by burning, generally from 25 to 40 per cent., and even more than
the theoretical quantity being required; no chemical analysis can, therefore,
accurately determine the quantity necessary to make a given amount of soda
caustic, which must, therefore, be left to practice, and a sufficiency be used;
but as the presence of lime in the caustic state, or even an excess of causticity
in the leys would be extremely injurious, forming a calcareous soap with the
resin, hardening the gluten, and thereby fixing the coloring and extractive
matters or compounds combined with raw fibrous substances, extreme care
must be observed to ensure the ley being sufficiently carbonated, and also
sufficiently caustic, as without the latter the silica would not be rendered

page_text: soluble. Hydrate, or caustic, or other salt of soda or potash, if not too costly,
may be employed in making the leys, but in either case 5 to 25% should be
in the state of carbonate, or reduced to that condition.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Routledge, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
THOS. ROUTLEDGE. (L.S.)