IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DRYING D PRESSING OR CALLENDERING PRINTED PAPER
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Davidson Nichol, Printer, and James
Eckersley, Engineer, both of Edinburgh, in the Kingdom of Scot-
land, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DRYING
D
"
Scaled the 9th August 1872, and dated the 13th February 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Davidson Nichol
and James Eckersley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 13th February 1872.
We, JOHN DAVIDSON NICHOL, Printer, and JAMES ECKERSLEY, En-
gineer, both of Edinburgh, in the Kingdom of Scotland, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR DRYING AND PRESSING OR CALLENDERING PRINTED PAPER," to be as
follows:-

page_text: and consists, first, in improvements upon the pressing or callendering
part of the apparatus; and, second, in an improved mode of combining
and arranging the drying apparatus with the pressing or callendering
rollers.
The callendering machine consists of a large paper roller and two iron
rollers placed one above and the other below the paper roller. The
upper iron roller is driven by gearing and the other two by friction of
contact.
The first improvement in the callendering machine is the adaptation
to the nip of the two callendering rollers of one or more small holding
rollers, which when the sheet of paper is conducted to the large rollers
will hold the same and keep it extended as it passes into the machine, so
that it will be prevented from creasing. As the inked surface of the
paper passes between the callendering or pressing rollers the ink is liable
to set off on to the surface of the rollers, and therefore must be removed
therefrom before it is allowed to accumulate and damage the sheets that
follow in rapid succession. The surfaces of these rollers are kept clean
by means of scrapers and a rapidly rotating buffing roller or rollers.
The scrapers are composed of a number of separate steel blades or knives,
which are made to bear with a certain amount of pressure against the
surfaces of the rollers, and thereby scrape off any ink or extraneous
matters that may adhere thereto. The steel blades or knives of which
the scrapers are composed are placed side by side close together, and
are secured to a rocking bar provided with a weighted lever, whereby
the blades are kept in contact with the rollers. The buffing rollers are
composed by preference of a number of sheets of canvas or other woven
fabric or flexible material, mounted edgewise on a rotating shaft, to
which very rapid rotary motion is communicated by means of driving
bands and pullies. The surface of these buffing rollers is made elastic
and yielding, and therefore continually rubs the surface of the callen-
dering roller.
In order to relieve the printed sheets from the callendering rollers and
prevent them from adhering thereto, we adapt to each of the top rollers
a set of knives or elastic blades, which by bearing against the surfaces
of the rollers will lift the edges of the sheets from the rollers, so that
they will be free to be carried forward by the tapes.

page_text: a metal doctor for scraping the surface, and a woollen or other soft
doctor for rubbing off and removing the extraneous matters when they
are detached or loosened. These woollen or soft doctors are composed
of a bar or bars of wood or metal covered with woollen cloth, felt, or
other suitable material, and they are kept in contact with the surface of
the rollers either by springs, weights, or set screws.
If desired two sets of callendering rollers may be employed, so that
both sides of the paper may be operated upon in the same manner but
when such is the case care must be taken that the sheet be free of one
set of rollers before it enters between the nip of the second set.
When the printed sheets are delivered from the callendering rollers
they are conveyed by tapes and conducting rollers to a moveable box or
receptcle provided with a moveable bottom, which by means of screw
gearing actuated by a tappet lever is made to descend gradually as the
sheets fall on to the moveable bottom.
We sometimes find it convenient, before conducting the printed sheets
from the drying cylinders to the callendering rollers, to pass them
between a pair of metal rollers, which will take the set off from the
sheets. These set-off rollers are provided with scrapers and doctors
or buffing rollers to clean their surfaces from the ink that adheres
thereto.
In the Specification of our former Patent we showed an arrangement
of three drying cylinders, but we now find that two drying cylinders
placed side by side are sufficient for the purpose, and therefore we are
enabled to very considerably reduce the size and cost of the drying appa-
ratus. We moreover construct these drying cylinders of tinned sheet
iron instead of cast iron. We feed in the sheets from a table placed
above one of the drying cylinders, and they are conducted from the
second drying cylinder direct to the callendering rollers or to the set-off
rollers above mentioned.
Sometimes we pass the printed sheets through a steam chest or other
equivalent device, whereby they will be exposed to a slight amount of
damp or humidity, which will be sufficient to soften the surface of the
paper before it enters between the callendering rollers.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters ratent,
filed by the said John Davidson Nichol and James Eckersley in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th August 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
DAVIDSON NICHOL, Printer, and James EcKERSLEY, Engineer, both of
Edinburgh, in the Kingdom of Scotland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said John Davidson Nichol and James Eckersley,
Her special licence that we, the said John Davidson Nichol and James
Eckersley, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said John Davidson Nichol and James Eckersley, our exe-
cutors, 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
APPARATUS FOR DRYING AND PRESSING OR CALLENDERING PRINTED PAPER," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Davidson Nichol
and James Eckersley, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, 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 we, the said John Davidson Nichol and James
Eckersley, 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, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :—
Our Invention of "Improvements in Apparatus for Drying and
Pressing or Callendering Printed Paper" has for its object to obviate

page_text: the necessity of having the ordinary drying room and employing
hydraulic presses and pressing boards for drying and pressing printed
paper, and in place thereof the paper is dried by means of an arrange-
ment of apparatus which consists of a combination and arrangement of
hollow drums heated by steam or otherwise, and caused to rotate by
suitable gearing, and over and under and in contact, or nearly in contact,
with which the printed sheets of paper are separately passed, and when
dried are conducted between one or more pairs of pressing rollers or
cylinders, whereby they are pressed, callendered, or smoothed, and from
whence they pass and are delivered successively into a suitable box or
receptacle, or on to a table.
The printed sheets may be fed into the apparatus as required either by
hand or by means of suitable mechanism, and they are guided over,
under, and around the heated drums by means of tapes or otherwise, so
that both sides of the sheets are brought in contact or in close proximity
to the heated surfaces of the cylinders or drums in the course of their
passage through the machine. The printed sheets on leaving the heated
drums are caused to pass on to a travelling endless web or endless tapes,
and are thereby introduced into and pass through a close box or chamber
supplied with moist steam for the purpose of softening or slacking
back" the paper, so that it may be callendered smooth and even.
Slacking back can be done by passing the sheets between rollers
covered with felt, flannel, or such like material moistened with water or
steam on the outside, or the moisture may be applied internally by per-
forating the shell of the rollers, and introducing the water or steam into
the inside, and thence through the holes, moistening the felt or other
covering. The softening process may however be sometimes dispensed
with, in which case steam is not admitted to the box. The paper is then
carried forward between a pair of "set-off" rollers, and from thence to
the pressing or callendering rollers, which may be adapted for either hot
or cold pressing, and for glazing if required.
66
,,
The box or receptacle to receive the printed sheets after they have
been dried and pressed is arranged so that the sheets may pass directly
thereinto from the pressing or callendering rollers. This box or recep-
tacle may if desired be mounted on wheels or rollers, so as to be readily
removed when filled with sheets.
In some cases it may be fitted if required with a moveable bottom,
provided with suitable gearing adapted to keep the said moveable bottom

page_text: in its required position to receive the sheets, and to descend gradually as
the sheets are successively delivered from the pressing or callendering
rollers.
When an automatic moveable bottom such as that above mentioned is
adapted to the box or receptacle for the printed sheets, it will be more 5
convenient for the box to remain a fixture.
By means of the process of drying and pressing or callendering the
printed sheets as above stated, the frequent delays in the publication of
printed books hitherto experienced will be obviated.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, we will proceed 1
to describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be performed
by reference to the accompanying Drawings, in which are represented
the principal parts of the apparatus above referred to.
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the apparatus complete, and
consisting of the drying machine and steam chest, and the callendering
apparatus; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same.
A, A, is the frame or standards of the machine; B, B, are the hollow
drums or cylinders, which are made of tinned sheet iron, and are heated
by steam by means of the pipes shewn in Fig. 1. Only two of these
hollow drums B, B, are shewn in the Drawings, but the number may be
increased if desired. They are geared together by toothed wheels B¹, B',
(driven by intermediate wheels from the driving shaft E, as shewn by
red lines), on their hollow axles, and are thereby caused to rotate at
uniform speed in order to carry forward the printed sheet. Steam
pipes C, C, (provided with a safety valve and suitable connections for
admitting steam) are used to heat the drums B as required. Pipes may
be connected with the opposite ends of the cylinders B for carrying off
the exhaust and condensed steam.
The water produced by the condensation of the steam in the hollow
drums or cylinders B is scooped up (as the cylinders B revolve) by curved
pipes placed inside the cylinders and connected with the exit pipe. The
open ends of the curved pipes are provided with scoops, and extend the
whole length of the cylinders B, B. The water which enters these pipes
is, by the rotation of the cylinders B, conducted by the scoops to the

page_text: When it is considered necessary to provide a more determined endway
motion, this may be effected by the use of a cam or any other of the
well-known mechanical appliances for effecting such objects.
In order still further to facilitate and assist in keeping the working
rollers O and P free from dirt and extraneous matters, we adapt to the iron
rollers P and P✶ stationary rubbers or doctors R, R, consisting of a bar
of wood or iron covered with woollen cloth, felt, or other suitable materials.
To the "set-off" rollers F, F, we also adapt rubbers or doctors R, R,
and in addition thereto there is a set or sets of scrapers S, S, composed
of a number of separate blades of steel bolted to a bar provided at each
end with a weighted lever, which will keep the end edges of the steel
blades in contact with with the rollers F, F, and O, and scrape off any ink
or dirt that may adhere thereto. The paper or cotton roller O rests upon
and is supported by an iron roller P* below, and which rotates by
friction of contact against the roller O. Two sets of steel knives or
scrapers T and T are adapted to the rollers O and P, and sometimes also
the rollers F, for the purpose of detaching the sheets of paper therefrom
should the paper have any tendency to adhere thereto. The lower set of
scrapers T also to some extent assist in removing dirt or ink from the
cunfern of the maller O

page_text: Instead of this simple form of receptacle the box V may be con-
structed with a moveable bottom, as shewn in Drawing, and which by
means of the screw gearing V*, Fig. 2, and ratchet and click V¹, Fig. 1,
may be made to descend the thickness of a sheet of paper every time a
sheet is delivered; or the sheet may be deposited on a delivery table and
taken of by hand.
It will thus be seen on reference to the Drawings that the several
printed sheets of paper on being successively fed into the drying machine
are carried forward by the conducting tapes L, and caused to pass round
and in contact or nearly in contact with the first heated drum B, thence
the sheet is reversed and passed round the second drum B and through
the steam box C*, from whence it passes between the set-off rollers F, F,
and is conducted by the tapes N to the pressing rollers or callenders O
and P, and is ultimately delivered into the box or receptacle V dried and
pressed ready for folding and binding.
The mode of actuating the several parts of the machine is as follows:-
E is the main driving shaft of the machine, and on it are mounted the fast
and loose band pullies E', E¹, Fig. 1, which are two feet in diameter, and
are driven by a four foot pulley on the shaft of
suitable motive power
any
engine. On this shaft E is also keyed a pinion E*, which gears into and
drives a large toothed wheel P³ on the axle of the cylinder P. The
pinion E*, by means of intermediate wheels or pullies, drives the largo
toothed wheel B' on the axle of one of the drying cylinders B. The
large toothed wheel B' on the axle of the first drying cylinder B gears
into and drives another toothed wheel B' of the same diameter and
number of teeth on the axle of the other drying cylinder B, so that both
these cylinders will rotate at the same surface speed. The carrying or
conducting tapes L, L, which carry the printed sheets into the machine
and conduct them in contact or nearly in contact with the drying
cylinders B, B, are driven by friction of contact, and these tapes of
course drive the guide rollers K, K. The tapes N, N, serve as before
mentioned to conduct the printed sheets from the drying cylinders to the
callendering rollers O, P.

page_text: rollers independent of the drying cylinders, and we sometimes employ a
separate driving shaft for this part of the apparatus.
In the Drawing the pinion E* gears into and drives the large toothed
wheel P', keyed on to the axle of the iron roller P, which rests upon the
large paper or cotton roller O, and drives the same by friction of contact.
The roller O rests upon a second iron roller P*, which it drives by
friction of contact, and which serves to support the larger roller O and
prevent it from springing. On one end of the shaft of the buff roller M
is mounted a band pulley 5, which is driven by a band from a large
pulley 6 on the axle of a smaller pulley 7, which is driven by a band
from a large pulley 8 on the main driving shaft E, so that the buff
roller M is driven at a very considerable surface speed, and consequently
keeps the cotton or paper roller O clean. A similar band pulley 4,
mounted on the opposite end of the shaft of the pulley 6, gives motion
to a second buff roller M' above the iron roller P.
We would here remark that the drying or callendering operations can
be used for drying and callendering paper printed in the web as well as
when printed in sheets, and if preferred the drying and callendering
mechanism may be driven by separate gearing.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention of "Improve- 2
ments in Apparatus for Drying and Pressing or Callendering Printed
Paper," and in what manner the same is to be performed, we wish it to
be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent we
claim,―
•
First. The combination of two or more hollow drums or cylinders 2
heated by steam or otherwise, with any convenient arrangement of tapes
or their equivalents for conducting printed sheets of paper to and around
the heated hollow drums or cylinders for the purpose of drying the same
on both sides, as herein set forth.
Second. The combination of a drying machine or apparatus composed 3
as aforesaid of hollow drums or cylinders heated by steam or otherwise
with pressing or callendering rollers, either with or without the steam
chest C*, for softening the paper, or "slacking back" as it is termed,
the combination of parts being adapted for drying and pressing printed
sheets of paper, in the manner and for the purpose herein-before 3
described.

page_text: Third. We claim the combination with the pressing or callendering
rollers O and P of the holding roller U, the stationary doctors R, R, the
buff roller M, the scrapers S, and the knives or scrapers T, T', as and for
the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Davidson Nichol and James
Eckersley, have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Tenth day
of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-two.
J. D. NICHOL.
(L.S.)
JAMES ECKERSLEY. (L.S.)