US2661667A - Apparatus for refining papermaking material - Google Patents

Description

W. V. KNOLL APPARATUS FOR REFINING PAPERMAKING MATERIAL Filed April 15, 1950 Dec. 8, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ullll lfll INVENTOR WILLIAM V. K NOLL BY HIS ATTORNEY Dec. 8, 1953 w. v. KNOLL APPARATUS FOR REFINING PAPERMAKING MATERIAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 13, 1950 L ML mm E K WV M m L l W HIS ATTORNEY Dec. 8, 1953 2,661,667

W. V. KNOLL APPARATUS FOR REFINING PAPERMAKING MATERIAL Filed April 13, 1950 FIG. 3

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR WILLIAM V. KNOLL HIS ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 8, 1953 APPARATUS FOR REFINING PAPERMAKING MATERIAL William V. Knoll, Dayton, Ohio Application April 13, 1950, Serial No. 155,634

2 Claims.

The present invention is directed to pulp-refining apparatus and relates more particularly to such an apparatus for continuously treating pulp in progressive stages to gradually reduce the fibers thereof in fineness until said pulp is of the proper consistency for paper making.

One object of the present invention is the provision of an improved apparatus for treating pulp for paper making,

Another object is to provide means to brush, hydrate and refine fibers for making paper of high quality.

Still another object is to provide a single apparatus for progressively increasing the fineness of paper-making pulp as it passes through the apparatus.

A further object is to provide an apparatus having several identical stations for progressively treating paper-making pulp as it passes from one station to the next, to reduce said pulp to the proper fineness, each of said stations being provided with adjusting means for securing the desired treatment of the pulp.

Another object is the provision of an improved machine for treating paper-making pulp, said machine having several identical units through which the pulp passes, said units being effective to progressively increase the fineness of the pulp as it passes from one unit to the next, each of said units comprising adjusting means for securing the desired treatment of the pulp as it passes therethrough.

With these and other incidental objects in view, the invention includes certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, a preferred form or embodiment of which is hereinafter described with reference to the drawings which accompany and form a part of this application.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete apparatus.

, Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the horizontal center line of the apparatus and showing the internal arrangement of the various parts.

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the apparatus.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail view of one of the driven plug or cone members.

, Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along line '55, Figure 4 looking in the direction indi- Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along line 1-1, Figure 6.

2 Description As brought out in the opening paragraph of this specification, the present invention is directed to a machine for treating fibrous materials, such as wood pulp, for example, and in certain cases, rags, in order to reduce the fibres of said materials to the proper fineness for making paper of high or excellent quality.

The machine comprises several units or stations which are similar in construction and operation, each unit arranged to individually brush or treat the fibres of the paper-making material, as said material is fed through the machine under suificient pressure to insure that it advances progressively from one stage of desired treatment of the fibres as they pass between said faces.

The machine chosen to illustrate the present invention has four of the above mentioned units .for imparting four phases of treatment to the paper-making material as it passes through the machine. However, it is neither the intention nor the desire to limit the machine to any par- .ticular number of units as the machine is arranged to be assembled in sections, each sec- .tion containing two of the paper-treating units,

and it is but a matter of omitting or. adding sections to obtain the required number of units,

for securing the desired treatment to the papermaking material.

In the ensuing pages, the mechanism pertinent to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the figures of the drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the machine as presently constructed comprises two central sections 20, cylindrical incontour and cast of suitable .material. Each section 2 0. comprises an upper portion}! and a lower portion 22, separated on the horizontal center line,where similar adjacent. flanges are providedfor bolting the upper and. lower portions together, as at 23. Suitable gaskets between the flanges of the upper and lower halves or portions provide a liquid seal therebetween. The lower halves of the sections 20 have footings 24, which are bolted to a suitable base casting 25 in turn mounted on a foundation of suitable firmness. Adjacent inner faces of the sections 20 are flanged as at 26, to provide means for bolting said sections together, and a suitable gasket is inserted between the inher faces to seal the sections against leakage.

Right and left end caps 21 and 28, similar in outline and cast of suitable material, are provided for enclosing the central sections 20. Each end cap comprises an upper portion 29, and a lower portion 30 separated on the horizontal center line, the same as the center sections 20, and

similar adjacent flanges are provided on each portion for bolting them together. A suitable gasket is inserted at 3| between the upper and lower portions of each cap 21 and 28, to seal said portions against leakage. The inwardly disposed faces of the end caps 21 and 28 and the sections 20 have matching flanges 32 (Fig. 1) which provide means for bolting said end caps and said sections together. at 32 between the flanged portions of the caps 2'! and 28, and the sections 20, to seal said parts against leakage where they are joined together. The end caps 21 and 28 (Figs. 1 and 2) have axially alined openings therein to receive a main shaft 34, which extends through said openings, and packing material 33 is inserted in said openings and compressed by suitable end plates to insure that the shaft is properly sealed against leakage. Opposite ends of the shaft 34 are journaled in axially alined bearings 35 (Fig. 1), said bearings in turn secured on corresponding uprights 36, in turn secured to the top surface of the base 25. The righthand and f the main shaft 34 (Fig. 1) is connected by a suitable cou- Lpling means (not shown) to an operating motor (not shown) of proper proportions and characteristics to properly operate the pulp-treating mechanism.

The shaft 34 (Fig. 2) is provided with a thrust collar 39 against which abuts the reduced righthand end of a plug member 40 of frusto conical shape (see also Figs. 4 and said plug being a tight fit on said shaft and further retained as an integral unit therewith by being keyed thereto. In the present adaptation there are four of the plug members 40, which abut each other, as shown in Fig. 2, all of said members being secured on the shaft 34 in fixed relationship to each other, in the same manner as explained in connection with the righthand member 40. Each of the plug members 40 is provided with an external angular face 4|, which coacts with a matching internal angular face on a corresponding drum member 42, comprising similar upper and lower halves 43 and 44 (Fig.6) secured together by suitable bolts. When the corresponding halves 43 and 44 are secured together, as shown in Fig. 6, they form the drum-shaped member 42, the outside diameter of which is properly finished by grinding or otherwise to snugly and slidingly engage the similarly finished surface 45 (Fig. 2) which forms the internal diam- 'eter or bore of the center section members 20. Likewise each of thedrum members 42 (Figs. 2 and 6) is providedwith a central bore 46 to provide clearance for the main shaft 34, and for the hub-shaped lefthand end of the corresponding plug member 40. p I

' Mechanism is provided for adjusting the drum members 42 in relation to the corresponding plug Suitable gaskets are provided member, as viewed in Fig. 2, Will be sufficient for i all of said members. Each of the drums 42 (Figs. 2 and. 6) has diametrically opposed camming slots 48 cut in the periphery thereof, which are engaged by corresponding cams 43 formed on the inner ends of stub shafts 50, in turn journaled in bushings 5 l secured between the upper and lower halves of the corresponding section 20. The outer ends of the shaft 50 are journaled in corresponding gear box castings 53, secured against the finished faces of pads on the outer surface of the section 20. Secured on each of the shafts 50 near their outer ends is a worm wheel 54, which meshes with a companion helical gear 55 secured on the lower end of a shaft 56 journaled in the corresponding gear box 53 at right angles to its companion shaft 59. Each of the shafts 56 (Fig. 3) is connected by a clutch 5'! to a corresponding shaft 53, journaled in corresponding gear box castings 59, in turn secured to the finished faces of extensions 58 of the section 20. Secured on the upper end of each of the shafts 58 is a corresponding bevel gear 6i which meshes with a companion bevel gear 52 secured on a corresponding horizontal shaft 53, said shafts being in axial alinement and connected by a clutch mechanism 64.

Secured on the outer end of the righthand shaft 63 (Fig. 3) is a hand wheel 65 which is used for revolving said s'haftand connected mechanism, including the cams 69, causing said cams, in cooperation with the corresponding cam slots 48, to adjust the corresponding drum member 42 with respect to the corresponding plug member 40, to in turn adjust the distances between the angular faces of said members to obtain the desired treatment of the paper-making material,

The angular working face of each of the plugs 42 (Figs. 2, 4 and 5) has a plurality of brushing ridges 66 thereon, which coact with similar ridges 67 formed on the internal angular face of each of the corresponding drums 42 (Figs. 2 and 6) to obtain the brushing or scrubbing action required to reduce the paper-making material to the proper fineness for the desired results.

Directing attention to Figs. 1 and 2, the lefthand cap 29 has an inlet opening 68 therein, conheating with a supply source of untreated pulp material and the righthand cap 29 has an outlet opening 69 connecting with a source of demand for treated pulp material. The pulp material is introduced into the machine through the inlet opening 63 under suflicient pressure to cause it to move from the left toward the right through each succeeding stage of the machine comprising one of the drum members 42-, and corresponding plug member 40. In the. present adaptation there are four of such stages. However, this is a matter of choice, as the number of stages is usually determined by the quality of the papermaking material required, the finer quality of paper-making material requiring more stages, and the coarser quality ofpaper-making material requiring less stages.

I The usual practice is to reduce the paper-makthe extreme lefthand stage, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, the drum member 42 should be adjusted rather loosely in relation to the corresponding plug member it so as to obtain a minor degree of treatment of the paper-making material in the first stage. In the next stage the angular faces of the corresponding drum and plug members 42 and as should be adjusted in closer relationship to each other so to impart a further degree of treatment to the paper-making material, and so on throughout the succeeding stages until in the final stage the opposed faces of the corresponding drum member =32 and plug member 49 may be adjusted in extremely close proximity to each other to insure that the paper-making pulp or material is reduced to the required fineness.

After the paper-making material has passed through the last or extreme righthand stage of treatment it flows through the outlet 69 to a source of demand, such as a paper-making machine or a storage tank or vat.

It may therefore be concluded from a perusal of the foregoing specifications that the present invention is directed to an improved machine for the treating of pulp material for use in the making of fine quaiity paper. Furthermore, the fact that the machine is built up of units or sections makes it possible to increase or decrease the paper-treating characteristics of the machine by assembling the required number of sections or units 2t into the machine to obtain the required number of paper-treating stages. Moreover the adjustable feature of the drum members 22, in relation to their corresponding plug members 49 of each stage, makes it possible to obtain the necessary degrees of fineness of the fibres of the pulp material as it moves through the machine from one stage to the next. Likewise the unit or sectional construction of the machine makes it possible to perform a quick and efficient repair operation in case of breakdown or damage, as the defective unit or section may be readily removed from the machine and replaced with a spare unit in good repair, without the necessity of an extensive or prolonged shutdown period such as is usually required in the repairing of conventional machinery of this type.

While the form of mechanism herein disclosed is admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form or embodiment herein disclosed for it is susceptible of embodiment in various other forms without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the character described, for treating the fibers of paper-making material to reduce said fibers to the required fineness for paper-making, the combination of a base; cylindrical center sections connected together and mounted on the base; end portions formed of symmetrical halves connected together and connected to the opposite end faces of the center sections to form a cylindrical body portion, said end portions having inlet and outlet openings therein to permit the flow of paper-making material through said cylindrical body portion; a rotatable drive shaft passing through the center of the cylindrical body portion and journaled in uprights secured to the base; a plurality of solid plug members fixedly mounted on the shaft in abutting relationship to each other and arranged to rotate in unison with said shaft, said plug members having angular pulp-treating faces with a plurality of brushing ridges thereon; an annular drum element for each plug member, said drum elements encircling the shaft and being a slidable fit within the cylindrical body portion, said drum elements being formed of symmetrical halves bolted together so as to be readily removable from around said shaft for convenient replacement and repair; a pair of diametrically opposed cam slots in the peripheries of each of the drum elements; a pair of diametrically opposed cam members supported in the cylindrical body portion and engaging the cam slots of the corresponding drum elements; and means to rotate each pair of cams in unison to slide the drum elements back and forth in the cylindrical body portion to adjust the angular faces and brushing ridges of each drum element in relation to the angular faces and brushing ridges on the corresponding plug members, said cams and said slots also acting to hold the drum elements against rotation within the cylindrical body portion.

2. In a machine of the class described, for reducing the fibers of paper-making material to the required fineness for paper making, the combination of a cylindrical body portion closed at the i ends, with the exception of inlet and outlet openings, to permit the flow of paper-making material therethrough; a rotatable drive shaft extending through the center of the cylindrical body portion; a plurality of solid plug members secured l} on the shaft in abutting relationship to each other; a ring-shaped drum element for each plug member, said drum elements constructed and arranged to coast with said plug members to reduce the fibers of the paper-making material as said material passes through the cylindrical body portion, said drum elements encircling the shaft and being a sliding fit within the cylindrical body portion, said drum elements each comprising substantially symmetrical halves bolted together for quick and convenient removal from around the shaft to facilitate replacement or repair and each having a pair of diametrically opposed cam slots formed therein; a pair of eccentric cams for each pair of slots, said cams mounted in the body portion and engaged with the corresponding slots; and means to rotate each pair of cams in unison to slide the corresponding drum element back and forth in the cylindrical body portion in relation to the corresponding plug member to control the fineness of the fibers of the paper-making material, said cams and slots also coacting to prevent rotation of the drum elements within the cylindrical body portion.

WILLIAM V. KNOLL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 870,997 Sauer Nov. 12, 1907 1,913,540 Fritz June 13, 1933 2,044,480 Lord June 16, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 4,306 Great Britain Feb. 22, 1909

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