US21161A - Heinr - Google Patents

Description

N.PETERS, FHOTQLITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. D C.

A VNflirnp STATES 'PATENT OFFICE.

HEINR. VOELTER,YOF FEIDENHEIM, GERMANY.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 21,161, dated August 10, 1858.

To 1f/ZZ` whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HEINR. VOELTER, of the iirm of Henry Voelters Sons, of the city of Feidenheim, in the Kingdom of Wrtemberg,

Germany, have invented a new and most useful machine for producing and assorting pulp 'from wood or Woody fibers for the purpose of making it into paper, pasteboard, papiermach, and similar paper-like fabrics, a patent having been granted to me therefor in the Kingdom of Viirtemberg, Germany, a sworn and certified copy of which being annexed to this application; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention and of the operation and construction of the same, with a due reference to the accompanying model and duplicate drawings.

The principle and the elements of my invention as will be hereinafter exhibited have nothing in common with any known or used machinery or apparatus for preparing and asserting wood pulp except the employment of a circular and rotating mill or grindstone as a reducing agent, and even this method of' obtaining the liber of wood by employing such a stone caused to revolve and made to act upon said material, and by directing at the same time a current of water to the stone before its contact with the material to be reduced, belongs to the invention and has been patented by my brother, Christian Voelter, of the firm Henry Voelters Sons, in various coun-v tries of Europe; in France as early as 1847, patent dated Aprilll, and published in the 10th volume of the official patent reports of France for the year 1852. I am further aware that for this very same or essentially the same invention a patent has been taken out in Great Britain by R. A. Brooman, of London, England,l853,(seeRepertoryofPatent Inventions, May, 1856, page 110, and Mechanics Magazine, 1856, No. 1613,) for a process of reducing blocks of wood to pulp, and for the purpose of making it into paper by means of mechanical agents consisting of a millstone or cylinder acting upon pieces of wood held in a frame always in the direction of the length or grain of the fibers and parallel thereto. In connection with this he claims v theV particular4 arrangement of the machine employed for reducing the wood, and alsod'escribes the method of assorting or separating the pulp after leaving thestone by employing a current of water and a series of shaking frames or boards covered with sieves of different gages.

It may here be proper to state that at the time a patent was applied for in France for the reducing machinery by my brother Christian this last-mentioned separating apparatus had already been in use in our establishment. i

Owing to its imperfect operations, however, and the constant manual assistance it required, I did not deem it worth patenting.

Brooman, in his patent for the reducing process, distinctly describes and claims that theV wood to be reduced be placed on the stone with its fibers running in the same direction as that in which the stone revolves, and considers this arrangement absolutely essential. Now experiments and experience have shown that in order to carry out this plan not only an enormous amount ot' power is consumed by keeping up the proper speed of the revolving stone, since the blocks to be reduced, and when so located, gradually become so in any regular brakes by partaking more and more of the circular grinding-surface, but, what is still worse and most objectionable, the grinding by degrees takes place in a cross-grained direction, thereby destroying the length of the fibers and grnding'up the iilaments completely. `On the other side a most important and decidedly novel feature is introduced by constructing and arranging' the reducing apparatus in such a manner as to admit, first, cfa portion of the block with its bers parallel tothe axis of the revolving stone, and, second, owing to this very position to be able to locate a number of them behind each other, so aSto cause the fibers when separated from the iyfrst block of woodto pass again under the grindi'g-'surfaceof the second block and along with the iibers of the latter to andunder the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth one, and so on. The greatest part ot' the fibers having thus been several times in contact with the grinding-stone leave it as pulp ofa better and much more uniform quality. The separation may be carriedon to any extent, and the better and very best sorts of paper can be produced. i. p The nature of my invention for making and assorting wood pulp, generally speaking, therefore consists, first, in the particular mode of applying or locating blocks of Wood upon the grinding-surface of a circular and rotating millstone forthe purpose of separating the iibers from the Wood and reducing them to pulp-that is to say, in placing a number of such blocks in or above the upper right orleft hand quarter of the said stone, as it may revolve, behind each other and with their fibers running parallel to the axis of the stone, the blocks to be confined within stationary boxes and held in their respective position during the grinding process by a strong and suitable framing. all of which, in combination with the cmploymentof aself-actingfeedingapparatus,

arranged to be operated by a positive mechanism and by the revolving stone itself, said feed to be so constructed that in case of need its action is automatically intercepted at any moment or diminished to any degree when the momentary condition of the grinding-surfaces of the blocks should demand it, rendering thereby the reducing machinery more perfect and susceptible of yielding and adapting itselfto the condition of the material and to retain the tilaments of the wood after the reducing process; second, in the novel manner of assorting or separating the pulpby employing for this purposeand in close connection with the reducing device a series of holloW and' rotating cylinders or reels covered with sieves of various gages, together with a number of rollers or receivers made to bear upon the circumference of said cylinders and revolving therefore in opposite directions, in combination with a steady land subtile flow of ater caused to spread evenly over their Vsurfaces,.said cylinders to be placed within l through the sieves and the interior of the cylinder and into the conducting-channels upon the surface of the following liner one, while the coarser fibers, -adhering to the outer surface, are taken off by the receiving-rollers. The separated and finer particles may also be received and carried away at once and separat-ely through au extra channel placed at a slope withinthe first rotating cylinder; or the pulp may not be caused to iiow directly upon the cylinder, but merely in its channel or trough. The mass will there be constantly agitated by the rotation of the cylinder, thev tendency of the water to pass through the sieves carrying again the finer particles along, while'adhesion will cause the coarser ones to collect upon the outside, ready to be taken up by the rollers and thrown into a separate partition, the assorting apparatus fullling therebythesecond condition-viz.,producingpaper from Wood economically and Without manual assistance. Y

To enable the Oftice fully to understand the precise operation of the machine, as well as others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe its detailed construction and operation, reference being had to :the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification.

Figure 1 represents an elevation with partial sections and with a portion of the outer casings removed so as to fully exhibit the various processes of grinding and assorting. Fig. 2 gives a ground View of the machine with the feed-motion detached therefrom and the water-channels, conducting-pipes, and receiving-boxes cut open. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 represent details of the iron frame-work encircling the upper part of the stone, as seen in Fig. 1. They also give top views of the working parts of the feed-motion and showing the manner of feeding up itself.

A Ain Figs. l, 2, and 5 indicate the circular mill or grind stone, ofany suitable width and diameter, employed for reducing the blocks. It is fixed in a vertical position on a shaft turning in suitable bearings and mounted upon or between the strong wooden framing B B, the sides of said framing being tightly planked up to form a water-proof casing D D for the stone to revolve in. It receives a rotary motion at the rate of one hundred and twenty to two hundred and fifty revolutions per minute, according to size and diameter, from the main pulley C, Fig. 2, and a driving-belt connecting with the line-shaft or engine. The under partof casing or box D D is provided with-'an outlet E for the ground pulp and wateifiutroduced by the pipe F for the purpose lofwetting the stone and 'mixing with the pulp during grinding.

to receive the feeding apparatus and the auxiliary machinery connected therewith. They are strongly combined and Vfirmly bolted to the main framing B by means of the iron bed- `plate and standard I-l l-I, while their vertical and parallel position is maintained by iron braces or traverses I I, in Fig. 6, the latter forming in the same time the support of the driving machinery actuating the feed of the blocks. Additional connection between the arches G G and the outer segments G G' are established by the 'employment of wroughtiron columns or rods`K K K, bolted at proper distances firmly between them, keeping the arches-in a proper rela-tion to each other and rendering the Whole a stiff andA substantial structure. The inner arches G G, encircling the stone on each side, form a water-tight joint with the casing D, While their inside facesare lined with the wooden segments L i L, Fig. 5, slightly lapping over the edges of the stone, so as to prevent the fibers when separated, or any other foreign substance,

'f rom passing between the casin g and the stone and causing friction or accident.

M M M are brackets, cast at suitable divisions upon the outer rims of the two arches G G. They are made to receive the plates N N, the latter tting closely between G G and i forming thereby the bottom and top or the partitions of regular and separate boxes, which, bein g'located behind each other, serve as recipients for the blocks to be reduced. lIt is obvious that any number of such boxes indicated in Fig. l-that is to say, not much over the right or left hand upper quarter of the stone, according to the direction of its rotation. It is also most important that it should always revolve against the boxes containing the wood and in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. l.

O O in Figs. l and 5 represent the blocks of wood when in contact with the stone for the purpose of being reduced. The wood of course is first cut. and split into pieces of suitable length and then prepared for use by freeing it from bark, knots, and adhering foreign matters. That most any kind of wood can be vmade use of, -according to quality and color of the paper to be produced, needl hardly be said.

It now remains to explain the automatic and self-intercepting action of the feed-motion. From a View at Figs. l aud 5 will be perceived that the blocks are acted or pressed upon by the pieces P P, so as to distribute a regular pressure on the whole surface of the blocks. These pieces P P are bolted firmly to the iron press-platens Q Q, and the latter terminate in the spindles or feed-screws R R R, extending outward and passing through the centers of the traverses I I. Thus by pulling or pushing the spindles R R R out and in, or by raising and lowering the same, the platens Q Q, with their soles P P, are brought to act upon the blocks O O, the supporting-columns K K K'by doing so serving in the same time as guide-rods to keep the said'platens Q Qand spindles R R in a rectilinear direction a-nd at right angles with the blocks, as shown in Fig. 3. Now, around the circumference ofthe outer framing G G are located a number ot cross-shafts S S S, having their stationary bearings firmly secured upon the rims of said framing and carrying on their extremities the driving-pulleys T T T, a positive and rotary motion being trans- Initted to `them in the following manner, viz: A small driving-pulley U is keyed upon V the outer end of the grindstone-shaft to con- `vey a suitable'motion to the counter-shaft V by means of the larger pulley U. This shaft V maybe set somewhere upon the main framing B B, or attached thereto in any position fit to again convey motion, by a band to the uppermost and first cross-shaft S by aid of the cone-pulleys W W"` Wand W W W', whereby the speed of S and subsequently of 'shaft-s S S S can be varied at pleasure by conjoining these shaftsv with the first one S', in the man ner shown at Fig. 1-viz.,byrunning the endless band X from pulley T alternately above or below the rims of the pulleys T T T of shafts S S S, motion being so conveyed to the same by the reducing-agent itself, it is evident that the shafts will at any moment partake of the least changes of its velocity,

and if they are made to actuate the feed control the same accordingly. To accomplish this a worm Y is placed and secured upon each of the shafts S S S, Fig. 4, to gear with and give a slow motion to the worm-wheels Y Y.' The traverses I I I, as alreadysaid, form the support and the stationary bearings for the wheels by letting their hubs pass through the center of the traverses in such a manner as to admit the wheels to turn freely upon them. To keep the wheels in their proper position Vto the worms and within their bearings a strong collar is shrunk ou or otherwise fastened to the projecting ends of the hubs, forming a solid shoulder to bear against and preventing thereby the wheels from rising when power is applied. The hubs of wheels Y Y Y are bored out sufficiently large to receive the feed-screws or spindles R R R, and to allow them to slide freely through and over the threads of the spindles, and to admit of raising or lowering by taking hold of their handles R R.

Z and Z Z Z in Figs. l and 5 exhibitapair of iron tongs provided with spring and catch to readily open and close when required. One of these tongs is firmly secured and bolted to the upper face of each wheel Y Y', partakiug thereby of their rotary motion. The inner portions of the semicircular jaws of the tongs contain screw-threads matching `vwith those of the feed-screws and the jaws by encircliugthe screwswhile passing through the traverses and the hubs of wheels Y Y form thus the two halves of a nut. It is clear that by closing the tongs and giving motion to wheels Y Y they-that is to say, the nut itself-will revolve, and being kept within its bearing will necessarily act upon and urge down the feed-screws together with the platens Q Q, and this in proportionto the velocity given to the worm-shafts S S. By simply opening the tongs the screw is readily disengaged. It may then be pulled back and made ready again to descend. To :facilitate this drawing Vback or rather raising of the uppermost screws, being not within the reach of the attending workman, little band-wheels l and 2, Figs. 'l and 6, mounted on small crossshafts, have been provided for hoisting up the spindles by aid of a rope and drum, or a similar lifting device.

An arrangement of the foregoing description, when combined and constructed as proposed, would constitute an automatic feeding apparatus possessed with a reliable motion. Now,in` order to render it at the same time self-intercepting, for the purposes already stated, the following arrangement has been resorted to: The pulleys T T are not keyed fast upon the worm-shafts S S S, but are made to run loosely upon them. They are facing, however, the disks or ratchet-wheels a a, which are fixeddupon `the shafts, as shown in Fig. l, where, for the sake of a better understanding, two of these shafts are represented turned over, thereby showing the ratchets and pulleys in front. The pulleys carry the steel springs h b, pressing vigorously upon the ratchet-wheels, and with a tension so adjusted as to move along the shafts S S S and consequently tooperate the feed when the machin-- ery is in an ordinary and regular state of working, but letting loose instantly, inter- 'cepting the action of the feed,when an undue friction takes place or a diminished pressure upon the blocks is momentarily required. Should one or the other of the blocks be reduced or ground up sooner than the attending workman might expect it, this same contrivance will indicate the fact by a noise sufficiently distinct to call his immediat-e attention and prevent the machinery fromserious breakage which inevitably would occur by working up the spindles and platens against the framing G G and farther than the guiderods K K will permit.

The machinery, so as described, is fully self-acting. It requires no furtherassistance but to supply the boxes with Afresh material when one or the other of the blocks is done. Nor does this manipulation demand a minutes delay or the stopping of the machine, as it simply consists in vthe opening of the nut or tongs Z, the pulling back of screws R R for the introduction of the material, and the reclosing of Z, when feeding up is resumed and continued without further assistance.

Having now ininutely described the reducing machinery, I will proceed to explain the second part of my invention so integrally combined with the first one, Viz., the novel device proposed for asserting the fibers when separated from the wood.

E E E, in Fig. 1, as already stated, is an outlet and channel of the casing D D for the purpose of leading or carrying the watery pulp to the cylinders. vIt first passes from E E E into the shaking frame c c, covered with sieves of the coarsest gages and constructed on whatis termed Donkins plan. This is an old and well-known contrivance. The shaking or rolling motion naturally pertaining to its construction as well as the rotary motion of the succeeding and separating cylinders is conveyed by one and the same counter-shaft V, by aid of the pulleys CZ and e and the pulleysfg q g in Fig. 2.

The shaking frame c c in my invention serves only to throw out and separate extraneous substances and such fibers as are unfit for paper-making. In most cases, however,

I would suggest the employment of a large cylinder in its stead of a construction similar to that of the asserting-cylinders hereinafter described. The mode of assorting the pulp after leaving the frame c c is very simple and has in its nature already been Y described. I will therefore merely refer to the details of the apparatus as represented in the drawings and in Figs. l and 2.

71.71, h2 indicate the rotating cylinders. V'Their entire surfaces are covered with sieves of gradually-increasing fneness, say from sixteen up to two thousand meshes per square inch. lt is very essential for the good working order of the cylinders that the sieves should be very carefully and accurately put on. To facilitate this their circumferences should be provided with a sufficient number of strips y y y running throughout the-length of the cylinders, as shown at h, Fig. 2, for the sieves to fasten or screw to, as the penetrability of the sieves is thereby greatly enhanced. Rollers instead of lstrips turning in stationary bearings may also be employed to support the sieves. The same might then revolve or rotate upon them and independently from the shafts of the cylinders. The last cylinder h2 is covered with sieves ofthe finestgage. It is called the pulpcatcher, in as far as it terminates the operating process by taking up or catching within itself the finest particles of the pulp. The waste water is then allowed to flo-w off entirely through the channel t t and the pipe w. As the nature of my asserting process principally consists in the employment of revolving cylinders for the purpose of dividing the y tion of the same, while the coarser ones arescraped o from without-it is evident that the only communication existing between the cylinders succeeding each other inj the separation is established by the meshes of the sieves they are covered with, and that the water and watery pulp contained, for instance, in the trough and around the exterior of the first cylinder can only reach the following finer one by passingfthrough the sifting envelopment of the former. The cylinders h h h2 are therefore tightly closed up on one end, while the other and open" one of cylinder h communicates with the conducting-pipe and distributing-trough of the following one h', and so on. A glance at the elevation,Fig.l, and the ground view, Fig. 2, will illustrate this.

i' i t' is the first receiving-trough in which the cylinder h revolves. The pulp and Water are carried into it after leaving the frame cc and after having passed through the channel c c in the direction of the arrow at Fig. 2. To prevent sand or particles of stone from getting into the trough t' t' and upon the cylindersfthe passage through the partition c is somewhat raised-say one inch or so. This forms asort of a Weir for the mass to flow over and to cause the heavy and hard substances to settle there. It is most essential that the iiow of water and pulp be as uniform as possible and that the sheet ot' the liquid touching the cylinders and when spreading over their surfaces be kept in the mostperfect state of tranquility. To achieve this, partitions t" K p are inserted in the troughs and reservoirs 2, K, and p, so as to separate the body of water at the surface and allow it to communicate, but underneath the partitions and at the lowest point of the sheet.

The mode of operating by letting the pulp iiow into the surrounding trough instead of leading it directly upon the rotating cylinder, is illustrated in Fig. lof the drawings at the first cylinder 7L and its trough z' t'. The mass there is slightlyagitated by the rotation of the former and the coarser4 fibers adhering without are taken up by the touching roller and separated, while the Water and the finer particles are entering the sieves. This finer pulp with the water next reaches the receiving box or reservoir R R by aid of the conducting-pipes communicating with the interior of cylinder h. It ist-hen caused, owing to the lower position of box R, to ow by its own gravity evenly` and gently over the horizontal board Z Z and upon the surface of cylinder h. The separation here is continued in the other way set forth-viz., by letting the pulp spread directly over and upon the sieves of h', the coarser fibers being again taken up and separated by the rollers touching upon the cylinders. i2 m rin Figs. l and 2 show these rollers. They are made of Wood carefully clothed with flannel, rubber, or similar soft substance. There may also be employed one, two, or more of such rollers in contact with each cylinder, according to its size and working capacity.

Straight bars running closely' along the surface of the rollers, as seen at m and r in Figs. 1 and 2, serve to scrape off and deliver from the rollers the separated fibers received from the cylinders and to deposit them according to their respective iineness in the different boxes n n' s s provided therefor. The still finer pulp having penetrated the meshes of cylinder h', again passes through -it and into the conducting-channel o o, from thence to the next receiving-box p p, and for the reasons set forth it is once more compelled to descend or dow over the plane q q upon the cylinder or pulp-catcher h2, which, in the drawings, terminates the separating process. The entrance into this cylinder bythe finest and very best portion of the pulp takes place precisely the same way, as before stated, and the outside separation is again effected by the rollers fr fr and the bars r r. To more readily collect the finest pulp in `the cylinder h2, a series of small buckets may be placed and secured within in such a manner as to allow the waste water to escape freely through the channel t t. The trough t i of cylinder h is of a semicircular shape, to prevent the fibers from collecting or settling at the bottom or in the sharp corners, insuring thereby the constant taking up of the mass by the rotation of the cylinder;

- It is hardly necessary to remark that the pulp before reaching this last cylinder may pass one or two more intermediate sieves or cylinders of increasing minuteness. It will then only be necessary to give them and their surrounding troughs 'L' t" t the proper degree of declivity to secure an easy and gentle descent of the pulp. By a careful perusal of this specification, drawings, and model it will ycertainly be admitted that the problem of utilizingwood for paper-making extensively has been practically solved by my invention, and that the use and assistance of my self-acting machinery will make it an object to employ wood or woody fibers as a substitute for rags. It may, lastly, be proper to add that in order to conform as far as possible in the present case to the rule of the Office as to size of models the rotating cylinders here had to be placed alongside ofthe grindstone-frame,while they are put ahead and in a more natural position in the accompanying drawings.

a' z indicate the cone-pulleys in Fig. 2 to transmit motion to the cylinders when they are placed as shown in the model.

Having now fully explained my invention in all its parts, I wish it to be understood that I make no claim in this application as to the originality of invention of using wood-pulp for paper-making, although it might be shown that this even emanated from me; nor do I l claim, broadly, the employment of mechanical agents in combination with water or other suitable liquids for the purpose of separating and obtaining the fibers of Wood. I also dis` claim the Various parts and mechanical devices constituting my machine when separately considered and when not combined as herein set forth; but

Vthat I do claim as new in manufacturing paper from Wood, and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent of the United States, 1s-

1. The particular arrangement, construction, and combination of the machinery or the mechanical expedients employed, as herein specified, for reducing blocks of wood or producing wood-pulp by feeding them up automatically to a rotating grind or mill stone, in connection with the peculiar manner of applying or locating said blocks upon the circumference of the stone or on a portion of its 6 *i A21,161' y i circumference by holding them behind each ervoi'rs, all made to operate as set forth, and other in a position and direction essentially for the purpose of assorting the fibers when the same as described and herein set forth. separated from the Wood in the modes herein 2. The employment and the combination of described, rendering the pulp I it to be formed :t series of perforated and rotating cylinders into paper of diierent qualities.

with the reducing expedient when constructed HEIN R. VOELTER. and connected between themselves in the Witnesses: Y manner herein specified by surrounding BAPT. BEAUBEIN,

troughs and communicatingchannels or res- AUGUST WAGNER.

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