USRE3907E - Improvement ik the manufacture of paper - Google Patents

Description

iinitmi gram THE OKRA PAPER COMPANY, on NEW YORIL'N; Y., Ass1eNnEs or JOHN B. READ.

Letters Patent N 51,571, dated December 26, 1865 reissue No. 3.907, dated April 5, 1870.

The Schedule referred to in than Letters Patent and making part of the same To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN B. READ, of the town of Tuscaloosa, in the State of Alabama, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Paper and Papier-Mach; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear and exact descriptiontbereof.

The application of various plants to the production of pulp for the manufacture of paperandpapier-maclm' has for many years pastcommanded considerable attcntion, for the reason that it has become apparent ,that the consumption of paper and popier-machc was increasing beyond the increasing production of rags suitable for the purpose. 7

The desideratum has been to produce pulp suitable for the manufacture of paper audpapicr-machc at less cost than from rags, and as rags are worn textile fabrics, such as linen and cotton fabrics, those who have sought to obtain a cheaper'snbstitute for Jags have generally direct-ed theirattention to fiber-yield ing plants, looking only to the fibrous portion of the plants as suitable for the purpose.

Straw, eorn-husks, and such-like plants have been appplied to thispurpose with varying degrees of success, but as these are in demand for other uses in the economy of like, the production of pulp! from them is not so-ecouomical as was desired, and wood and other ligueous substances have finally been resorted to and are now used to some extent, but these, as well as the fiber-yielding plants, contain proximates which require powerful chemical agents to reduce them, and which, in reducing the proximatcs act upon and materially reduce the strength of the fibers.

I have discovered that the entire stalk of the okra plant, (hibiscus csculentus,) consisting of the fibrous and ligneous portions and pith, can be applied .to the pro-- duction of pulp suitable for the manufacture of paper and papicr-machc' of the various qualities suitable to the demands of the market, and that this plant also yields the matter suitable for sizing the paper.

And I have also discovered that this plant can be reduced-to pulp by the same process required for the treatment of rage, without the necessity of resorting to the powerful chemical agencies required forthe treatment of other plants heretofore applied to this purpose, although it can be treat-ed for the production of good pulp by any of the processes which have been successfully applied to other plants.

To enable anyone skilled in the art of making pulp for the manufacture of paper and pap'ier-mache', Iwill describe the mode of treatment which I have practiced with success.

The stalks of the 0km plant may be used for this purpose at any time after or just before maturity, but,

by delaying the collection of them until after .October, they will be more readily dried or cured and rc- 'duced.

The stalks are to be pulled up by the roots, or out near the surface of the ground, and left to dry in the sun, and then stacked on end in the field for a few weeks; and, after being so cured, the stalks should be passed through a thrashing-machine, or otherwise treated, to separate the seeds, leaves, adhering soil, and any decayed portions, and then the stalks may be baled for transportation.

At the mill the stalks are to be broken by -any of the well-known breaking-machines, and then boiled and in all respects treated as in the process of 'reducing rags to pulp, or by the process used for reducing straw.

I prefer to pass the stalks through a cutting-machine, such as used in paper-mills.

Pulp for making coarse paper can be produced from the okra plant by simply breaking the stalks, and working them in the beating-engine without either the boiling or alkaline treatment; but for making good strong paper and opaque paper, the stalks, after having been broken and cut,,are to be boiled in water to dissolve the gum, which is to be separated either by permitting it to settle at the bottom of the boiler or ,by forcing it out by'a press. 'The gum thus separated should be preserved to be afterward applied to size the paper.

I One of the reasons for thus dwelling upon this separation of the natural gum of the okra is its admirable adaptation for sizing; it is believed to be fully equal to the best gelatine or animal sizing, and suited for the finest grades of writing-paper. I

After the gum has been separated, the mass is to be boiled the proper number of hours, which is about twelve hours at eighty pounds pressure to the square inch, in milk of lime, but without soda, although soda .may'be used, and in that case somewhat less boiling will be requisite, but time may be saved in boiling, and better results secured in making fine paper by boiling under high pressure; or the stalks. may be passed at once into the boiler without separating the gum, as the boiling just prescribed will destroy it. When the natural gum is saved, it makes the best of sizing, but when destroyed, any of the ordinary materials will answer for that purpose.

After the mass is removed from be washed and made into halt stufl', just as rags would be, but the brown coloring matter is to be removed before the full amount of bleach is applied. 1 A weak solution of bleaching-powder or liquor, or

of soda-ash, which may or may not be rendered caustic by quick-lime, will remove the most of the coloring the boiler, it is to 7 matter,

' strength ing or beefing-engine will facilitate this operation by moderate heating or boiling.

After this is aeeomplished, then apply the full usual. of bleaching-powder or liquor, or chlorine gas may be used for this purpose. The mass will then bgready for the finishing engine and the paper-ma e we.

, It is pmper to state here that good, strong paper can he made without separating or destroying the gum,

butthe paper in this-case would be less opaque, and ,might run less may upon the machine.

and steam introduced by a pipe into the wash- What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-; The preparation of pulp for the manufacture of pa.- per or pqrier-mache'. from the okra plant, (hibiscus esculmtus,) substautiallyas described, whichisclaimed as my discovery, and as constituting a new mauufac tare from a combination ofmatteror materials never before used for this purpose.

' JOHN B. READ;

Witnesses:

WM. H. BrsHoP, A. .LDE Lscnx.