IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN WASHING, BOWKING, BLEACHING, AND PREPARING FLAX AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Weston Grimshaw, of Lower Broughton, near the
City of Manchester, Gentleman, and Samuel Mason, junior, of the City
of Manchester, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN WASHING, BOWKING, BLEACHING,
AND PREPARING FLAX AND OTHER SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 7th February 1860, and dated the 18th August 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Weston Grimshaw and
Samuel Mason at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents with their
Petition, on the 18th August 1859.
We, WESTON GRIMSHAW, of Lower Broughton, near the City of Manchester,
Gentlemen, and SAMUEL MASON, junior, of the City of Manchester, Machinist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN WASHING, BOWKING, BLEACHING, AND
PREPARING FLAX AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
The first part of this Invention is applicable to the ordinary rag engine used
in reducing rags or other materials employed in making paper to a pulp, and
it consists in applying a steam and air-tight lid or cover to the cistern of the
rag engine, by which means the rags or other materials can be washed and
bowked under steam pressure, and afterwards bleached either in vacuo or
otherwise, and reduced to pulp without being removed from the cistern until
all the processes are completed, this part of our Invention is applicable in

page_text: wasbing, bowking, and bleaching flax and other substances previous to
preparing for spinning, and for other purposes.
The second part of our Invention consists in the application of two or more
triturating rolls to the same rag engine, whether the engine be made with an
open cistern as usual, or closed according to our improvements; these rolls
are placed at each side of an oblong cistern or otherwise, and in driving both
or all the rolls by an oscillating steam engine connected to cranks fixed to the
axles of the rolls or to intermediate gearing.
The third part of our Invention consists in applying an excentric roller or
wedge under the triturating roll of the ordinary or of our improved rag engine
which excentric roller or wedge is covered with teeth or blades, and by being
turned round, or moved when required, varies the cutting or tearing action of
the triturating roll on the rags or other materials.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Weston Grimshaw and Samuel Mason in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 18th February 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WESTON
GRIMSHAW, of Lower Broughton, near the City of Manchester, Gentleman,
and SAMUEL MASON, junior, of the City of Manchester, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Weston Grimshaw and Samuel Mason, Her special licence that we,
the said Weston Grimshaw and Samuel Mason, our executors, adininis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Weston Grimshaw
and Samuel Mason, our 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 AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN WASHING, BOWKING, BLEACHING AND
PREPARING FLAX AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Weston Grimshaw and Samuel Mason, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our

page_text: or 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 we, the said Weston Grimshaw and Samuel
Mason, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement (that is to say):-
The first part of this Invention is applicable to the ordinary rag engine used
in reducing rags or other materials employed in making paper to pulp, and it
consists in applying a steam and air-tight lid or cover to the cistern of the rag
engine, by which means the rags or other materials can be washed and
bowked under steam pressure, and afterwards bleached either in vacuo or
otherwise, and reduced to pulp without being removed from the cistern, until
all the processes are completed. This part of our Invention is applicable in
washing, bowking, and bleaching flax and other substances previous to pre-
paring for spinning and for other purposes. As any mechanic conversant with
paper machinery will be able to apply a steam and air-tight lid or cover to the
cistern of a rag engine, and the requisite pipes or openings for supplying and
drawing off the liquids and other materials employed, it will not be necessary
to givo drawings to illustrate this first part of our Invention.
The second part of our Invention consists in the application of two or more
triturating rolls to the same rag engine when it is made with a closed or air-
tight lid or cover according to our improvements; these rolls, when two are
employed, are placed at each side of an oblong cistern, and in driving both the
rolls by an oscillating steam engine connected to cranks fixed to the axles of
the rolls, or by an ordinary steam engine with intermediate gearing.
The third part of our Invention consists in applying an excentric roller or a
plate acted upon by an excentric, or a wedge under the triturating roll of the
ordinary or of our improved rag engines, which excentric roller or plate or
wedge is furnished with teeth or blades; the cutting or tearing action of the
tritutating roll on the rags or other materials is varied as required by moving
the excentric roller, or the excentric acting on the plate, or the wedge above
referred to.
And in order that the second and third parts of our Invention may be
fully understood and readily carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures aud letters
marked thereon.

page_text: Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section of our improved rag engine with
two triturating rolls, and Figure 2 is a plan of the same; this machine is also
used in washing, bowking, and bleaching flax and other substances; Figure 3
is a detached view of part of a triturating roll to which one mode of construct-
ing the third part of our Invention is applied. a and b are the triturating
rolls constructed in the usual manner; the axles of these rolls are supported in
bearings fixed to the sides of the oblong trough c, which we prefer to make of
cylindrical pipes except in the parts where the rolls a and b revolve, and at the
ends which are made with the chambers d and e having the upper lids d'and e¹,
and lower lids.d-and e²; the lids a and b¹ are placed over the rolls a and b.
The pipes and 9 are connected to the lower part of the oblong trough or
cistern, and through them the liquids for bowking or bleaching are supplied
and drawn off; f¹ and g¹ are side pipes furnished with taps to admit steam,
and fg, are grids through which the water or other liquid can pass without
allowing the rags or other material to escape; the pipe h is connected to the
upper part of the trough, and through it the cold water is supplied; a and y
are straining cisterns into which the pulp or other material is discharged when
the processes are completed, and z, a¹, are the vats for the bowking or bleaching
liquids. The rolls a and b may be driven by an oscillating steam engine,
the piston rod of which is connected direct to a crank attached to the axle
of each roll, or they may be driven in the manner shewn in the Drawing;
the steam cylinder i is furnished with a piston to which the piston rod j is
attached; at each end of this piston rod is fixed a cross head to which one end of
each of the connecting rods & and 2 are jointed, the other ends being connected
to the crank pins m and n fixed to the short shafts m¹ and n¹; these crank
pins are also fixed in the spur wheels m² and n², which gear into the wheels a
and fixed to the axles of the triturating rolls. To the crank shaft m¹ is
fixed the crank o, which, by means of the connecting rod o¹ gives motion to the
plunger of the pump p, the barrel of the pump is in communication with the
interior of the trough or cistern c by means of the pipes q. To the crank
shaft n' is fixed the excentric ? for working the slide valves of the steam engine;
s is a plate or block, see the detached view, Figure 3, fitting in the chamber s
under the triturating roll a; this block is furnished above with teeth or blades"
(or the teeth or blades may be attached to a separate plate fitting on the block),
which are brought nearer to or further from the blades of the triturating roll
by means of an excentric on the shaft s'; this shaft is turned partly round by the
attendant, when it is necessary to vary the cutting action of the roll; or the
teeth or blades may be raised and lowered by a wedge, or they may be placed
on the circumference of an excentric roller; the object of this part of our

page_text: Invention, which may be applied to any rag engine of the ordinary construc-
tion, being to afford great facility in varying the cutting or tearing action of
the triturating roll. The plate s is perforated, to allow the water and
impurities to pass into the pipe 5, which is in communication with the
discharge pipe s', and with the chambers; the pipe s' is furnished with a
tap, not shewn in the Drawing, so as to be able to shut off the discharge when
required. The mode of operation is as follows:-When all the taps and
lids have been closed, excepting the lids d' and e', water is supplied to tho
cistern through the pipe h, and the triturating rolls a and b, are set in motion.
The rags or other materials to be operated upon are then thrown into the
chambers & and e; and when the proper quantity has been thrown in the lids
d and e¹ are put on and securely fastened, the operation of tearing or reducing
the rags or other materials to pulp, and the process of washing, are continued
until the loose impurities have been removed, which can be ascertained by
examining the water as it runs off through the grids f2 and 92 and pipes f and
g; the tap his then closed to shut off the supply of water. During the process
of washing it is desirable to warm the water in the cistern, and this can be
accomplished by turning the exhaust steam from the cylinder i into the
cistern. When the rags or other inaterials have been washed, the process of
bowking is performed by admitting more fresh water and the requisite
alkaline lye usually employed in bowking in kiers, and the liquid in the
cistern c is heated by admitting steam through the pipes f¹ and g'. We prefer in
this process to. raise the pressure in the cistern up to about twenty pounds per
square inch, in order to increase the action of the alkaline lye on the rags or
other materials, which action is greatly facilitated by the simultaneous
operation of the triturating rolls. As soon as the bowking is finished the
fluid in the cistern c is allowed to run off through the pipes f and y, and
more fresh water is supplied, until all the alkaline lye has
been washed out
work in order to
of the rags or other materials; the pump p is then set to
form a partial vacuum in the cistern for the purpose of raising the solution of
chlorine, or other bleaching liquid out of the vats z and z¹, through the pipes
and g³, into the cistern, and the process of bleaching may be performed
while the operation of pulping is continued. When the rags or other
materials are bleached, the bleaching liquid is allowed to run into the cisterns
5z, z, ready to be used over again. When the bleaching and pulping are
completed the lids and are opened to discharge the contents of the cistern
c into the straining cisterns a and y. It is evident that in some cases the
processes of washing, bowking, and bleaching can be performed in the above
described apparatus, independently of the operation of pulping.

page_text: Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, we declare that we claim as of our Invention,―
First, the application of a steam and air-tight lid or cover to the cistern of
the ordinary rag engine, used in the manufacture of paper pulp, whereby the
various processes of washing, bowking and bleaching the rags or other
substances, may be performed either before, or after, or during the operation
of reducing the rags or other substances to pulp, and without removing
the said rags or other substances from the cistern until all the processes and
operations are complete.
Secondly, the application of two or more triturating rolls to the same rag
engine, when the said engine is provided with a steam and air-tight lid or
cover, as described.
Thirdly, the application of an oscillating steam engine to work the
triturating rolls, either direct or through intermediate gearing.
And, fourthly, the improved machinery or apparatus shewn and described in
reference to Figures 1 and 3, for varying the cutting action of the triturating
rolls.
In witness whereof, J, the said Weston Grimshaw, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Seventeenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
W CDIMOTA 17
W. CR
CRIMSTA 117
W. (..)