USRE17854E - m kratz - Google Patents

Description

N 4 1930 E M KRATZ TRANSPARENT PAPER MACHINE 4 Sheets- Sheet 1 Original Filed Aug. 13, 1925 E. ,M KRATZ TRANSPARENT PAPER MACHINE Nov. '4, 1930.

Original Filed Aug. 3, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 EE Edouard/Y 3422 LJ fit 5 Nov. 4, 1930. E M KRATZ Re. 17,854

TRANSPARENT PAPER MACHINE 1 4 SheetsSheet Original Filed Aug. 1 1925 v E [:1 Edouard/Y Z6222? No v. 4, 1930. KRATZ- Re. 17,854

TRKN SPARENI' PAPER MACHINE Original Filed Aug. 13. 1925 4 sheets sheet 4 I E- 6 4s Edouard/z 16-422 rinouartn m.

11.1.... Nov. 4, 1930 TRANSPARENT-PAPER MACHINE v Original Illo. 1,650,585,

This invention relates to a machine for manufacturing sheet material, more particu- I larly transparent paper, such as thin gelatine composition sheets for use in wrapping packages of candy and the like.

The machine includes improved feed mechanism, a novel jell box construction, a suction drive roll, and means for drying the sheet hisbelt which I prefer terial. The sheet forming h h h t is mac ine-w en to use in conjunction wit making gelatine composition sheets forms the subject of a; separate application, a surface for. forming transparent paper, Serial No. 11,335, filed February 24, 1925. The composition of the transparent paper and the process of making the paper is described in my application for ftransparent a r anda process of manufacture, Seria 0. 10,962, filed February 21, 1925. i

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple, ous manu acture of sheet material, more par.-

ticularly,transparentgaaper, said machine being especially adapte to making transparent gelatine composition sheets of great umformity.

With the above and other objects in View as will be apparent, this invention consists in the construction, combination and ar-- rangem'ent of parts all as hereinafter more fully described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a ma-.

chine embodying my invention,.partly in section and showing a feed mechanism, a jell box and a suction roll in elevation Figure 2 is an enlarged front elevational view of the feed mechanism with parts broken away. p

- Figure 3is an enlarged section taken on line III-III of Figure 2, showing the opera tion. Y

Figure 4 is an enlarged broken longitudinal section of the'jell box, showing parts in elevation.

Figure 5 is a broken section taken subst'antially on line of Figure with parts removed.

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectiorrtaken g tion of the suction roll, with parts in elevaractical machine for the continupiilfigenteriiig the frontof the tro' (l i gure the stantially on line VIVI of Figure 4, with parts in elevation and broken.

Figure 7 is an enlarged longitudinal seetion.

.Fi re 8 is an enlar section taken on line II I-VIII of Figure 7 showing the operation.

. In referring to the drawings especially to Figure 1,there is shown a mac ine embodying the principles of my invention in a preferred arm. as a plied to the making of transparent paper rom gelatine composition. It wi however, be understood that the machine is adapted to make sheet material from substances otherthan gelatine. The machine mm, or cnrea'oo, rumors, assronoa 'ro manna raionuc'rs o0.)

or omoaeo, minors, a conromrron or rumors dated November 88, 1087, Serial Io. 9,970, illed August 18, 1985. Application '!0l' relssue filed April 88, 1889. Serial Io. 359,140.

includes a supporting frame com rising vertical ostsl and 2 and a plat orm 3 supporte by said posts. A feed mechanism, for

eedin a gelatme coinposition solution onto an en ess-sheet forming belt 4, is mounted on the posts. 1. The .belt 4 which I prefer to use is a fabric belting coated on one side with a s 'al composition coating, described in the a orementioned application, a surface for forming trans arent aper, but it is obvious that any be t suitab efor the urpose in view may be used. The feed mec anism iiifiludes a gelatine solution trough 5,-adjusta tac ed to the ablglsup orte p revolves partly immersed in the gelatine composition solution. An up r cooperating roll 9 is stationarily supporte by the brackets 10. onthep'osts 1.

As best shown in Figures 2 and 3 the trough 5 comprises .a rectan 11 having a semi-cylindrical 'ning 12. said lining-12 is made offsheet metal, soldered at by the brackets;.8 on theposts lar metal box ,i

own into said trough; 5-,...where it Y its ends to the box ends, with its sides turned between the lining 12 an box 11 serves-as an air jacket to retain the heat of the gela-' I tine composition solution. The gelatineso lution 14 is fed into theftrough 5 through a 2). The level of the solution in box m be controlled by an automatic float or-a ve at -(not"shown -A drain 16 having a valve 17 is provid in the bottom of the trough for draining the solutionfor washing out Thetrough is so ported on a pair 0 vertically adjustabl ratchet arms 18 slidably mounted in the brackets 6. of ratchet wheels19 connected by a 20 engage with said ratchet arms 18 to raise or lower the trough. The ends of the rod 20 are adapted to be engaged by a crank for manually raising or lowering the tree The feed roll 7 is journaled in a of rings 21 slidably mounted on a pair of horizontally slidable ratchet arms 22, said arms beitlcihgotgrooved inthe brackets 8. A pair of re wheels 23 rigidly connected by a rod 24 serve to slide said ratchet arm in and out. Affinelgsscrew alllljgstm'cnlzi .com a 'ro 'attace tosai ratchz t arms and s c r ews 26 threaded in said I and rotatably secured at their ve ends in said bearings 21, rmits tr?! ildzidgfin adjustment of each leg of the r ement urposes. e upper roll 9 is urnaled in e stationar bearin 10 to the 1.- It wi be noted that the upper is lon r than the feed roll and thattheaxis of t e u per cooperroll 9 is verticall offset 111 the axis of fed roll (,po t lateral movement of the roll 7 changesthe relative distance between the surfaces of said rolls, for a purpose now to he explained. As the feed roll is Involved (by mechanism not shown) it picks up a film 27 of gelatine comtion onits surface. In the operation the roll is moved close enough to the upper roll so that the endless belt 4H1! around 7 saidupper roll contacts the of, gelatin'e composition, -"some of which willadhere to the belt in a thin film 27. As the belt travels in an op 'te direction from the upper surface of feed roll l, the gelatine compositionfilmtendstobuildu infront ofthe belttoformafillet28, ede thofthis aswellasthethickness of e film27' on be] will dependlargely upon the o the gelatine composition solu-- vimosi I tion. with a given viscosity it is still to adjust the distance between thafeed roll and thebelt so as to deliver margin" on each ed of reventing the solfiion e back side'of the belt. travel is guided laterally so latine film were apties would also arise from the curling of the belt during the drying operation. As shown in Figure 1, the belt from the feedin or coating mechanism over a roll 29 throug a jell box 30. Said jell box is supported b the latform 3. The construction of the je box 15 bestshown by reference to Figures 4 to 6 inclusive. The roll 29 is 'ournaled in a pair of brackets 31 su orted y bolts from the front end of the e box. The jell boxis made of sheet metal in the form of a relatively long, rectan lar shallow box. This box isdivided into t ree horizon: tal com artmen'ts, an upper air 3 ace 74 and a lower airspace 32 both open at e front end, and an intermediate water-tight chamber 75, The box comprises a bottom 76, a cover or p up hood 36 intermediate horizontal walls forming the bottom wall 33 andtop surface 38 of the chamber 75, and vertical side walls 34 and end walls 35 'oining the horizontal walls 76, 33 and 36. T e top surface 38, however does not extend clear out to the side walls 34 but is secured to shoulders 37 extending the length of the box and opening into said chamber This arrangement gives chamber 75 a .U- shapedcross section. Said surface 38is crowned longitudinallyfizs shownin Figure 4, for a purpose hereina r set forth. A plurality of transverse'baflle plates 39, each having a flanged end and flanged up r and lower edges, are attached at their en 34 of the box, at their up r flanged edges'to the under side of the sur ace 38 and at their lower flanged edges to the bottom wall 33. I Said bafiles' are sta ered, as is common in such construction. e attached ends of the bafile plates extend up into the hollow shoulders 3 r to conform with the inner contours of to the sides said shoulders but do not form water-tight joints with said shoulders. The baflles serve to strengthen the jell'box and especially to prevent the surface 38 from buckling.

The jell box serves to chill the liquid gelatine composition film on the belt 4 as it comes from the coatingrmechanism. For this purcold brine em a refrigeratin plant is introduced through a pipe 40 inthe bottom of the box into'the chamber at the further end thereof. -The brine circulates between the bma plates 39 to the front end of the box y where it passes out of the box through an elevated outlet 41 in one of the shoulders 37.

. In circulating, the brine carries with it a cer- 'tain amount of entrapped air. This air must. be relieved or else it will form air pockets under the surface 38, thereby preventing the roper exchange .of heat through saidsurace. Vents 42 comprising a short nip Is and stop cock are accordingly placed near t e midv die of the box in the top of the shoulders 37 Further, the are perforated as at 80 to men allow all of the air entrap d in the shoulders 37 to pass from either an of the box toward the center and there to be vented through the vents 80.

Inthe operation, the belt 4 carrying the liquid film passes over and in contact with the surface 38 of the jell box. The cold brine extracts the heat from the gelatine solution by conduction of the heat through the belt 4 and the crowned surface 38. The reason for crowning the surface 38 is now apparent, for if it were perfectly level the belt would tend to contact it tangentially at only two points, the front and the rear, with the result that the rate of conduction ofthe heat would be materially reduced. The eflicienc'y of the heat transfer would also be reduced if :1?

pockets were allowed to form under-the su face. Furthermore, such pockets cause dcfrosted s ots on the upper side of the surface 38 directly above the air pockets and ridges of ice accumulated where the condensed water vapor freezes beyond the defrosted spots. These ridges of ice raise the belt and cause unjelled streaks in the gelatine film. As 'a further cooling means, cold air is blown against the surface of the gelatine film as the belt passes through the jell box. Anair fan 43, connected by piping 44 to the rear end of the space 32, draws the cold air out from this space and blows it through a system of piping 45 to a pipe 46 extending transverse of the jell box near the rear thereof and betwen' the surface 38 and the hood 36.

Said pipe 46 is provided with rectangular slots 47-having air deflecting fingers 47 on the inside of the pipe which direct the air currents against the film on the belt. By this arrangement the effective cooling value of both theupper and lower surfaces ofthe jell box is. efiiciently used.

, The cooling of the gelatine composition solution in the jell box must be sufficient to bring the solution below its jelling or hardening tem erature in order that the film may lie-perfect y set'before it. is dried. This is important as otherwise the film' would flow on the belt and form ridges on its surface in the drying'operation. The desi of the ell box is such that the film may i e quicky chilled, with the result that the machine may be run at high speeds.-

From the jell box the belt 4 passes over a suction roll 48-journalled in bearings 49 bolted to the platform 3. As best shown in Figures 7 and 8, the suction roll 48 comprises a hollow cylindrical shell having perform .tions 50 through which the sucked air passes.

The roll is driven by any suitable source of power (not shown). One of the journals 51 is hollow to admit a perforated pipe 81 extending the length of the roll and supported at the other end in the other journal. A suction fan 53, connected to said pipe by piping 54, furnishes the suction for the roll.

Said-roll is internally divided by longitudinal partitions 55 secured to the. pipe ,52 and extending radially outward to contact the I 81 lie within the 6.

applied to revolve the suction roll and thel suction fan is started, the suction will draw the belt down against the surface of the suction roll and the frictional or suctional contact thus provided is suflicient to hold the beltfroin slipping. The belt is therefore pulled around as the roll revolves. But after the belt passes beyond the second partition 55 asitis no longer subject to the suction action, it leaves the roll and continues in its normal path. The suction roll th'us serves to continuously pull the belt through the machine. An ordinary driven roll or a series of rolls in place of thesuction roll would not afford the necessary frictional drag to pull the belt around, nor could a pair of rollers grip ing the belt on both sides .be used because 0 the gelatine film on the j top side ofthe belt. QA suction belt may be used in place of the suction roll in case it is found advisable.

.From the suction roll the belt a system of traveling conveyers and is supported by them while it is festooned and dried. The mechanism conveying and festooning the belt includes a pair of spaced,

short, inclined endless chains 56 travelling over lower sprocket wheels 57 and upper sprocket wheels: 58, one of said rolls being driven. Said chains have coordinating spaced lugs, or brackets 59 which ick vup tubes 60 one at a time from a'box-61 olding said tubes. The arrangement whereby only one tube at a-time is picked up by the brackets 59 is old and need not be explained. In passing upward the tubes pickup the belt from its under side and carry it along, the belt lying between the two chains and a ing infest'oons over said tubes. After pass- .ing over the top of the sprocket whee s58 the tubes slide over a pair of spaced arms fall from the conveyer 63 at its farther end. 1.30 I

passes onto i continuous.

Supporting] rolls 67 to 72 inclusive sup rt an turne belt in its return to the eeding mechanism. At'some point, as at roll 67, the dried film may be stripped mechanically from the belt and wound up on a shaft in a continuous sheet to form a roll 73. The belt may then be recoated and the process thus be made i It is thus seen machine for the continuous" manufacture of thin sheets of transparent paper from gelatine composition or other suitable sheet material has been provided. The novel adjustable feeding mechanism insures a sheet of uniform thickness, varying less than 1/10,000of an inch across the width and tion,

the patent length of the sheet. The use of a fabric belt gives a sheet of paper possessing much greater stren h than sheets made on rigid, noncontractible surfaces. The jell box providesquick jelling or setting action so that the machine may be run at high speeds. The suction roll affords the necessary drive for the belt in a simple inexpensive way. The

000 rating conveyers provide a simple met 0d of carrying the belt along in compact form through the drying chamber.

' I am aware at many changes may be made, and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide ran e without. 'departinglfrom the principlesof t is invenand use limiting thereforedo not pu ted hereon, 0t erwisethan necessitated y the prior art.

I claim as my invention: 1. An apparatus for making sheets, said apparatus comprising a vertically adjuste trough for containing a solution of a material to form the sheet, a horizontally movable feed roll partly immersed in said so-' chamber, a belt carrylng'a lution, an upper roll in cooperation with said feed roll, a ell box, a driven suction roll, a drying tunnel, and an endleswbelt having a surface to which said sheet, material will not stick-Qwhen dry, said belt being adapted to be drawn by said suction roll between said i iooperating rolls to pickup said solution to orm a film on said I jell box to harden said film.

surface, and over said 2. In a sheet forming machine,-a 'e ll box having anv up r and lower air s ace and a chamber there tween, a cooling uid in said chamber, a crowned upper surfaceto said of material to form the sheet in contact with said surface, and means for drawing cold air from said lower air space and blowin said cold g1; into said upperalr spacefor c Hing-the 3. In'an a paratus of the class described, a vertically a ustable vtrough for containing "*asolution of a ma i folm sheet; a

lower adjustable rollrevolving partly immersed in said solution, an upper stationary that a simple, practicalu n 'which the roll cooperating with said lower roll but out of contact therewith, a jell box, a driven suctionroll, means for appl suction to said roll, and endless sheet formm belt passing between said cooperating rolls in contact with said upper roll only, topick up a film of said solution from said lower roll and passing over said'jell box to chill said film, said belt being propelled by suction contact. with said revolving suction roll, means for supporting said belt in festoon arrangement for dryin said film, and mechanical means for stripping said film from said belt.

' 4. In an apparatus of the class described, a sheet machine comprising an endless sheet forming belt' having a surface from which said sheet may be readily stripped when dry, a feed mechanism for coating said surface with a film of a material to form said shed, a jell box for hardening said tunnel for drying said film, and a suction roll for driving said endless belt.

5. In a machine of the class described, the

combination with an endless belt having a' surface adapted to the formihg of sheet material thereon, of meansf'or applyin a film of. said material to said I It, a jail x for cooling and setting said' film on said belt, means for drying said film on said belt, means for stripping said film in sheet form from said belt, and a suction roll for driving said belt through said mhchine.

6. In a machine of the class described, the

combination with a belt carrying a film of material to form a sheet, of a 0x containing ening said film by contact of said belt with a refrigerating fluidfor chilling and hardthe upper surface of said box and means for 7 drawing air cooled b contact'with the under side of said box an blowing said co (1 air against said film for further chilling the same. I

' 7. In an apparatus of the class described,

the combination with an endless belt having a surface to which a gelatinecomposition film will not stick when dry, of means for applying a gelatine composition film to said belt, means for chilling said film to set the same, means for drying said film and. festoon means on which said belt may travel during the drying process.

v 8. Ina machine for making thin gelatine composition sheets including a traveling belt elatine com sition is a pted to be sprea a hollow chill box'hav ing a crowned upper surface for contact with said belt, the walls of said box defining-a chamber for the circulation of arefrigerating fluid andmeans for effecting a circuitous fiow of said fluid throu h said box.

9. In a'machine of t eclass described, a chill device com risin elevated si e we ls am? a depressed crowned upper surface therebetween, a cover secured to the top of said side walls forming with a hollow box having said crowned surface an air chamber, an oriover saidcrowned u r'wall rtion-an spaced therefrom and n i eans for chill device comprisin ..walls of member.

' ficed pipe transversely positioned in one end of said'chamber and means connected with said pipe for blowing air through said pipe orifices out over said crowned surface.

10. In a machine of the'class described, a chill device, comprising a hollow box, the walls of said box defining a chamber for the circulation of a :refrigerating fluid and air chambers above and below said fluid chamber andmeans for ,drawing air from the lower chamber and distributing said air in said upper chamber, said air being cooled by contact with the lower .wall of said fluid chamber.

11. In a machine of the class described, a chill device, comprising a hollow box, the walls of said box defining a chamber for the circulation of a refrigerating fluid and air I chambers above and below said fluid cham ber, means for drawing air from the lower chamber and distributing said air in said upper chamber, said air being cooled by conoutermost top walls of the U-shaped chamslots thereof for distributing air drawn from beneath said chamber into the space so formed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub- Ind., county, Lake.

scribed myname at Ga EDOU M. KRATZ.

tact with the lower wall of said fluid chamber and means in said fluid and lower air chambars for efiecting a circuitous flow of the fluid and air in the respective chambers.

12. In a machine of the class described including a travelin beltacarrying material to be congealed, a ill H omprising a hollow member, the walls of said member defimnfri'geg: bar for the circula" f thtion of a ri ting ui a-Dortiono e upperw being dep and longitudinally crowned for contacting said belt.

13. Inamachineoftheclassdescribed,a chill device, comprising a hollow member, the walls of said member for the circulation of a re rtion of theupper wall being. depressed and ongitudinally' crowned, a'-. cover exten cooled air into the space so formed.

14. In a machine of the class described a the'circulationbia tion ofthe upper w'all p longitudinally crowned, a cover extending over said crowned upper wall portion and a hollow membe -,6

11mv defining chamber fluid, a

/ spacedtherefrom and means for distributing 1 air drawn from said chamber'into the space so formed.

15. Inan apparatus for j chill device comprising a v I H tition from the bottom 'wall to form an air c amber therebetween, a depressed wall'forming with said partition a U-sha brine chamber e xtending'the length of, the 7 box, a cover for said depr top' wall forming therewith a second air-chamber and means for circulating air from the bottom air chamber to and through the top air chamber,

16. A device as in claim wherein the and means including a

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