THE

London

JOURNAL AND REPERTORY

OF

Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures.

CONJOINED SERIES.

No. CXXIV.

Recent Patents.

TO CHARLES EDWARDS AMOS, of Great Guildford-street, in the Borough of Southwark, millwright and engineer, for certain improvements in the manufacture of paper. -[Sealed 10th November, 1840.]

THESE improvements in the manufacture of paper, consist, firstly, in gradually lowering the roll of the engine in which the rags are prepared and converted into pulp; secondly, a mode of regulating the supply of pulp to the papermaking machine, in order to produce papers of any required thickness; thirdly, an improved sifter or strainer, through which the pulp is passed, for the purpose of arresting the knots and lumps; fourthly, certain novelties in the construction, arrangement, and action of parts of the machine, in which the pulp is deposited, that is moulded or made into continuous lengths of paper; fifthly, an improved method of heating the cylinders of the apparatus, whereby the newly made paper is dried; and sixthly, improvements in the machinery, by which the continuous length of paper is cut up into sheets of any required dimensions.

VOL. XX.

T

The machinery, for beating or grinding the rags into pulp, is shewn in Plate VII., fig. 1, being an elevation of the machine, and fig. 2, an end view of the same.

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In the end of the water-wheel shaft, shewn at x, excentric pin, which acts as a crank, and transmits motion through the rods a, a, a, and the bell-crank levers b, b, to the lever c, which hangs upon a pin, fixed in the side of the engine. On the lever c, a pall d, is mounted, which takes into the teeth of a ratchet-wheel e, fixed upon an axle, turning in a bracket, attached to the side of the engine. On this axle there is a worm or endless screw g, working into a worm-wheel h, upon the upright shaft i; and on this shaft i, a screw-thread is cut, which works in a box or nut j, in order to raise or lower it.

A long lever k, is attached by a pivot at one end to the side of the engine, and its other end is supported by the box or nutj. Near the middle of the lever k, the sliding plummer-box 7, has its bearing, in which the axle m, of the engine-roll n, is supported; and a corresponding motion may be transmitted, in any convenient manner, to a similar lever k, on the opposite side of the engine, if thought desirable.

The roll being, at the commencement of the work, placed in its highest position, in order to perform light work, the rotation of the water-wheel shaft, or other first mover, through the cranks and rods a, a, and b, b, gives a continuous vibrating action to the lever c, and hence causes the click d, to produce an intermittent rotary movement of the ratchet-wheel and its worm-shaft g, which, by turning the worm-wheel h, and its vertical shaft i, gradually lowers the screw-boxj, and thereby allows the lever k, and plummerblock 1, to descend and let down the roll n, nearer to the plate.

As all kinds of rags cannot be beaten off in the same

time, it becomes necessary that the means of altering the speed, at which the roll is lowered, should be perfectly under control;-this is effected in the following manner :

The lever c, at the bottom of its stroke, rests upon a stop 1, fastened to the engine side. On the rod a, an adjusting-box 2, is fitted, having a right-hand screw cut on the one end, and a left-hand screw on the other. By turning the handle 3, the rod a, is shortened or lengthened at pleasure; if shortened, the stud 4, of the rod a, more quickly catches the lever c, and gives a greater extent of motion to the pall d, which will cause the roll n, to be sooner depressed; if the rod is lengthened, the effect will be the reverse.

The patentee claims the invention of gradually lowering the roll in the vessel, known to paper-makers by the name of engine, (whether used for the purpose of washing, breaking, or beating rags,) by means of self-acting machinery, worked by the same rotary power as the engine itself, and which self-acting machinery can be regulated as to the velocity with which it acts upon the engine roll.

The machine, for regulating the supply of pulp, is shewn at figs. 3, 4, and 5,-fig. 3, being a longitudinal vertical section; fig. 4, a section, taken in the line w, x; and fig. 5, a section in the line y, z, of fig. 3. This apparatus is made to work in the following manner:—

The stuff or pulp is to be let out of the stuff-chest, through the shoot A, (see fig. 5,) into the weigh-box B; when a sufficient quantity of pulp is admitted to over-balance the power of the weighted lever c, the box B, will descend and close a slider or valve a, in the shoot, and prevent, for a time, any further flow of pulp through the shoot A. The box B, is fastened to the scoop case B', by loose leather or caoutchouc cloth joints b, to admit of motion in the arc of a circle.

The back-water is collected in the usual way, by the dripping pan, and flows from thence through the shoot E, (see fig. 4,) into the scoop-case D; the quantity so discharged, is regulated by a sliding shutter G, which can be raised or lowered at pleasure. When the shutter G, is down to the line c, c, the back-water will run off through the opening, the quantity so discharged being according to the depth to which the shutter G, is lowered; and a pendant valve F, will prevent the pulp from running off to waste with the back-water.

A copper or iron spindle c, passes through both the scoop-boxes or cases B1, and D; and on this spindle is keyed arms, with two sets of scoops, which are made to revolve in the cases B1, and D, by the cog-wheel н, upon the end of the shaft, which is driven by the pinion 1, on the shaft J, of the rigger K.-This rigger carries a strap, which receives motion from the shafting of the mill. By the rotation of the scoops, the pulp from the case в1, is delivered into a sliding shute L, which discharges it through the trough м, into the case D.

In order that the paper may be made of any certain required weight or thickness, the machine must be adjusted thus:-If the paper is to be made thinner, the receiving shute L, must be moved forward by the rack m, and pinion n, a portion of the pulp from the scoops working in the case B1; then fall down into the scoop-case, instead of being delivered into the shute L; the pulp and back-water may thus always be delivered into the case D, in quantities equal to the speed or going of the paper-making machine.

The patentee claims the combination of machinery herein described, or any modification of the same machinery which will regulate the quantities of pulp and back-water, according to the speed at which the paper-machine may be working.

The strainer, for separating the knots and grit from the pulp, is shewn at figs. 6, 7, and 8. Fig. 6, is a horizontal view of the strainer or sifter; fig. 7, is a side elevation of the same; and fig. 8, is a section, taken in the line E, F, of fig. 6.

The pulp is discharged from the lifters, or from the stuffchest, into a compartment of the box marked a. Motion is then given to a wooden flap or clapper c, which is made air-tight to the box, at its edges, by leather or by a caoutchouc cloth. This flap, being raised and depressed, causes an undulating movement of the water and pulp in the box, passing through the plates, by the pressure of the atmosphere and the head of pulp and water in the box a; the knots, grit, &c., are thus left behind in the box, under the plates b, b.

On the ends of the shaft e, are keyed the crank-plates f, the rigger g, of different diameters, and the fly-wheel h. By means of these crank-plates, when they revolve, motion is given to the clapper c, which is united to the crankplates by the connecting-rods i.

A copper or brass perforated plate j, is to prevent the pulp settling or subsiding at the bottom of the box d, which is effected by the pulp passing and repassing through the holes formed therein. The sieves b, and the plate j, also may, if required, be fastened to the box by joints, for the purpose of allowing them to turn up for cleaning.

The patentee claims the combination and the manner of working the pulp through the sieves by the action of the clapper c, the sieves remaining quiescent.

The paper-making machine is intended to produce, as nearly as possible, that particular kind of shake or movement of the web and table, given to the mould by the vatman, when making paper by hand, on the old principle, which movement affords greater facility in closing or felting