US1325091A - Machine and method of making reinforced sheet material - Google Patents

Description

M. R. HARRISON.

MACHINE AND METHOD OF MAKING REINFORCED SHEET MATERIAL. APPLICATION FILED AUG-14,19I6- RENEWED JUNE 13, I9I9.

1,325,091 Patented Dec. 16,1919.

2 SHEET S-SHEET I.

/ m amwwo M. R. HARRISON. MACHINE AND METHOD OF MAKING REINFORCED SHEET MATERIAL. APPLICATION FILED AUG-14,19I6- RENEWED JUNE 13 1919.

1,325,091. Patented Dec. 16,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED stares PATENT carton.

MARY R.v HARRISON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE AND METHOD OF MAKING REINFORCED SHEET MATERIAL.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 16, 1919.,

Application filed August 14, 1916, Serial No. 114,720. Renewed June 13, 1919. Serial No. 304,082. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARY R. HARRISON, of Boston, in the county of Sufiolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines and Methods of Making Reinforced Sheet Material, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of reinforced paper, by combining with the web of pulp, before it is dried, strands of material such as strings or wire.

In Letters Patent 1,195,919 and 1,195,951 granted to me August 22, 1916, I illustrate and claim a method and machine for reinforcing sheet material such as paper after the latter has been manufactured. One of the objects of my present invention is to provide a .method and machine similar thereto in principle but which effects the combination of strands and paper during the manufacture of the latter.

Another object is to provide improvements whereby the transverse strands will be kept under such tension until united with the web or paper that in the finished product the strands will be straight from end to end.

To these ends, my invention consists in the method and machine substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

Of the accompanying drawings, in which I have not attempted to illustrate details of the driving mechanism for my improvements because suitable mechanism for that purpose is disclosed in said patents Figure 1 is a side elevation of suflicient portions of a paper making machine to illustrate a suitable location for my improvements in such machine.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the essential portions of my improvements, on a larger scale than Fig. 1, and centrally broken out to reduce width of the figure.

Fig. 3 represents a section on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 1 is a somewhat skeletonized view illustrating a modification hereinafter described.

Similar reference characters indicate similar parts in all of the views.

All paper making machines comprise what are technically known as the wet part and the. dry part, the wet part forming a Web of soft, moist, pulp which, after leaving the felt, passes between press-rolls and then to the receiving drier or drum of the dry part. From the felt to the receiving drier .the web of soft moist pulp travels unsupported a distance which varies in different machines, but the space is sufiicient for the introduction of my improvements.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2'and '3, the frame-work of a paper making machine is indicated at 12, the last press rolls at 13, and the first drier drum, or receiving drier, at 14. The web of pulp a travels from rolls 13 to receivmg drier 14 between a pair of devices 15, which, for brevity of description, I term fingers. These fingers serve two purposes as presently described. They are carried by brackets 16 suitably connected with the frame and are in the plane of, and closely ad acent to, the edges of the web 0;. Each. finger has a strand conveyer, such as a fine chain 17, mounted on sprockets 18, and said. chains may be driven by suitable gearing connections such as in my Patent 1,195,951 so that the outer stretches of the two chains will more in the same direction, and at the same speed as, the. web a. The object of these conveyers is to prevent the transverse strands b, which are wrapped around the web a and the fingers as presently described, from binding along the outer edges of the fingers and interfering with their being drawn or fed along.

One or more carrier chains 19 (two being shown in F igs. 1 and 2) are mounted on sprockets 20 carried by shafts 21, one of which is driven by any suitable gearing so that strands Z), from. spools mounted on spindles 22 carried by the chains, will be wrapped around the fingers and the web 0; traveling between said fingers. The strands Z) pass hrough guides 22 carried by the chains. In practice, the chains are provided with suitable clip bearings for the spindles so that the spools may be quickly replenished without stopping the machine. To support the weight of the carrier chains and the spools carried thereby, suitable track guides 23 are provided.

In order that the strands will be pressed snfficiently into the web to adhere thereto and be carried through the dry part of the machine, the web and strands pass between a pair of small rolls 24 which are mounted of the web and the finger chains 17.

once introduced.

to press the web with only sufficient force to embed the strands in the web. The free ends of the fingers 15 extend far enough past the nip of the rolls 241 to insure the carrying of the strands to .a point where they will be acted upon by said rolls before leaving the advancing influence of the feed chains 17 of the fingers.

The transverse strands are held straight and under tension until they are combined with the web, due to the fact that they are not delivered from the free ends of the fingers until they have been gripped by the pressing rolls 2%. Obviously transverse strands which are slack and more or less sinuous impart no material tensile strength to paper or other sheet material. The structure described prevents any slackening of the strands b, so that the tension under which they are wound around the rigid fingers will be retained until control thereof 15 taken by the rolls 24.

The tranverse strands are not laid at a right angle to the edges of the web a, but are spiral relatively to the web, this being due to the travel or advancing movement The degree of obliquity of the strands will depend upon the speed of travel of the carrier chains 19 relatively to the speed of movement of the web a, and this also, in connec tion with the number of spools of strands Z), controls the spacing of the strands. With sufiicie-nt spools and with their speed of travel the same as that of the web, the transverse strands will extend across the web at an angle of 45 degrees, all of those on one surface being separate from each other and straight from end to end, but at a right angle to those on the other surface.

For many purposes it is desirable to have strands extending longitudinally of the web, parallel with its edges. For this purpose I provide suitable supports 25 for spools or cops of strands c which lead through easily threaded guides 26 carried by a bar 27, said strands being simply drawn from the sources of supply by the action of rolls 2% and the driers, after the ends of such strands are The supports and bars for these longitudinal strands may be so located that said strands will be laid either above or under the transverse strands Z).

I have not attempted to show or describe many of the details of the driving mechanism, and framework or supports therefor, as the same will vary more or less according to different types or structures of papermaking machines with which my improvements may be combined.

Instead of laying the strands on both surfaces of the web a, they may all be laid on one surface. For instance, as illustrated in Fig. 4:, the fingers or supports for the strands 72 need not be wholly in the same for a sufficient distance to afford clearance for the travel of the carrier chains 19 and the spools of strands b, but the free ends of the fingers and their feed chains 17 extend far enough past the nip of rolls 24- to insure the feed of the strands to a point where they will be acted upon by said rolls in the manner hereinbefore described, because at the point of nip of said rolls the web a is in the same plane as the fingers. As indicated in said Fig. t, the fingers 15 of this form hold the strands under tension until control is taken by the rolls 24, in the same manner as described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2. It will be readily understood, of course, that longitudinal strands may also be supplied in a manner already described, if the structure is such as illustrated in Fig. 4.

When the strands b are of a nature to cause a shrinkage when wet, they contract after being laid in the web a. \Vhatever surplus remains at the edges of the web when the latter leaves the dry part of the machine, is removed as the result of the usual trimming of the edges. This leaves the strands on one surface of the paper entirely separate from the strands on the other surface. For some uses, however, when it is desired that the paper shall have loops at the edges, the paper will not be trimmed.

A particular use for paper reinforced as described is for the production of strong corrugated paper. Such sheet material comprises a corrugated sheet and one or two flat sheets adhesively secured to its ridges or ribs. When paper made as herein explained is employed for the flat sheets as described in Letters Patent 1,195,950 granted to me August 22, 1916, in the completed product the strands Z) will cross the ribs of the corrugated sheet at an acute angle and be adhesively secured to said ribs.

I do not limit myself to the manufacture of reinforced paper having strandmaterial connected thereto solely by being embedded therein. It is obvious that the material produced as so far described may have covering sheets applied thereto adhesively. For instance such a covering sheet may be supplied directly under the upper roll 24 shown in Fig. 4 so that the network of strands will be located between the web a and such covering. ()r a web of pulp may pass to a second paper-making machine having both a wet part and a dry part, whereby the strands-are entirely covered by additional plies of pulp.

Also I do not limit myself to the employment of a single carrier for the transverse strands. In such machines as have sufficient space between the wet part and the dry part, or in such machines as may be specially designed to provide sufficient space, I

.ing material.

may provide a plurality of such winders and drive them in the same or in opposite directions as explained in my Patent No. 1,195,951.

Furthermore, I do not limit myself to the manufacture of reinforced paper of the specific character so far mentioned. The web a may be of a material which, when finished, would not be termed paper, but would be, for instance, felt, or sheet. asbestos, or roof- In fact-the mechanism illustrated in the drawings, especially that of Fig. 4 when a covering sheet is employed as described, is adapted for producing reinforced sheet material of' widely varying character other than a web in pulp form.

The chains 19 constitute traversing mechanism which carries the thread guides 22 laterally beyond the ends of the rolls 2 as shown by comparing Figs. 2 and 3. The fingers 15 are so located that they constitute lateral thread engaging means adjacent the ends of the rolls so as to longitudinally guide the bights of threads received from said traversing mechanism.

I also do not limit myself to an arrangement/of the supporting devices or "fingers in the same plane as the web, even when the strands, are to be wrapped around the web. For instance, instead of having said devices in the same plane as the web as shown in Fig. 3, the edges of the web may travel just underneath said fingers, so long as the 1 outer edges of the fingers are spaced slightly farther apart than the distance between the edges of the web, so that the wrapping strands will not collapse the web. Such an. arrangement provides for less waste of strand material to be trimmed ofi, than when the supporting devices are mounted relatively to the web asshown in Fig. 3.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

. 1. The method of making reinforced paper, consisting in forming a web of pulp, laying uncut strand material continuously across both surfaces of the web after the latter is formed and while'it is traveling'inthe direction of its length, feeding the web and the strand material, after the latter is laid across the former in the same direction, anckl) pressing the strand material into the we 2. The method of making reinforced paper, consisting informing a web of pulp, continuously laying a series of stretches of strand material across both surfaces of the web after the latter is formed and while it is traveling, pressing said stretches into the web, and holding said stretches taut until pressed into the web.

3. The method of making reinforced sheet material, consisting in feeding a web of sheet material in the direction of its length, forming transverse coils of strand material under tension and shifting said 'coils laterally in a direction and at a speed coinciding with the direction and speed of the web, uniting the strand material and web, holding the coils under tension until united with the web, and then removing the tension.

4. The method of making reinforced paper, consisting in wrapping strand material around a web of pulp, preventing collapse of the web during said wrapping, and pressing the strand material into the web.

5. The method of making reinforced paper, consisting in completely forming a web of pulp, then applying longitudinal and transverse strands to both surfaces of saig Web, and pressing the strands into the we 6. The method of making reinforced paper, consisting in wrapping strand material around a web of pulp, preventing collapse of the web during said wrapping, supplying other strand material parallel with the edges of the web, and pressing the strand material into the web.

7. A machine for reinforcing a Web of sheet material comprising means for advancing the web, continuously operating feeders movable in the same general direction as the web,-means for wrapping strand material around the feeders, said feeders having free ends to permit the strand material to be delivered therefrom, and means for uniting the strand material and web, said feeders extending past the uniting means to retain the strand material under tension until it is united with the web.

8. A machine for assembling strand material with a web of sheet material, comprisin means for feeding the web in the directlon of its length, means for drawing the strand material continuously in a direction transverse of the web, means for shifting said strand material by a movement coinciding with the direction of movement of the web, means for uniting the strand material and web, and means for holding the strand material under-tension until it is united ,with the web.

9. A machine of the character described comprising means for causing a web of pulp to travel in the direction of its length, a strand carrier movable around the webto wrap a strand spirally about it, and means for pressing the strand material into the web of pulp.

10. A machine of the character described comprising means for causing a web of pulp to travel in the direction of its length, a strand carrier movable around the web to wrap a strand spirally about it, means for leading other strand materialin the direction of travel of said web, and means for pressing the strand material into the web of pulp.

11. A machine of the character described comprising means for causing a web of pulp to travel in the direction of its length, a strand carrier movable around the web to wrap a strand spirally about it, means for preventing collapse of the web by the strand material, and means for pressing the strand material into the web of pulp.

12. A machine of the character described comprising a pair of supports having free ends, means for wrapping strand material around said supports, means for causing a web of sheet material to travel between said supports, and means for uniting the strand material with the web.

13. A machine of the character described comprising a pair of supports having free ends, means for wrapping strand material around said supports, means for causing a web of sheet material to travel between said supports, and means for uniting the strand material with the Web, said supports having flexible traveling means for preventing the strand material from binding on the supports.

14. A machine for making reinforced paper, comprising a wet part and a dry part having a space across which the web travels from one to the other, and means for winding strand material around the web on its way across said space.

15. A machine for making reinforced paper, comprising a wet part and a dry part iaving a space across which the web travels from one to the other, means for wind-' ing strand material around the web on its- Way across said space, and means for preventing the web from being collapsed by the strand material.

16. A machine for making reinforced paper, comprising a Wet part and a dry part having a space across which the web travels from one to the other, means for winding strand material around the web on its way across said space, and means for preventing the web from being collapsed by the strand material, said means comprising a pair of fingers having free ends in the plane of the web and adjacent its edges.

17.- A machine for reinforcing sheet material with a network of strand material, comprising a pair of stationary fingers or supports having free ends, means for causing a plurality of strands to travel between said fingers or supports, means for wrapping other strands around said fingers or supports, and means for uniting the stands and sheet material.

18. A machine for reinforcing a web of sheet material with a network of strand material, comprising a pair of stationary fingers or supports having free ends, means for causing a plurality of strands to travel between and parallel with said fingers or supports, means for wrapping other strands around said fingers or supports, and means for uniting the strands and sheet material, flexible traveling means being provided for preventing the strand wrappings from binding on said fingers or supports.

19. In a machine for reinforcing sheet material, a pairof press rolls, means for supplying sheet material to the nip of said rolls, means for guiding strand material in a path substantially parallel .With the axes of the rolls, and substantially rigid guides for delivering said strand material to the nip of therOllS.

20. In a machine for reinforcing sheet material, a pair of press rolls, means for supplying sheet material to the nip of the rolls, means for supplying longitudinal strand material to the nip of the rolls, means, for guiding strand material in a transverse path relatively to the longitudinal strands, and means lndependent of the longitudinal strands for holding the transverse strand material in taut condition until delivered to said rolls.

21. In a machine for reinforcing sheet material, a pair of press rolls, means for su plying sheet material to the nip of the. rolls, and means for forming continuous strand material into transverse connected lengths under sufficient tension to hold them straight and means for keeping a uniform tension on-said lengths until they reach the rolls to prevent them from slackening.

22. In a machine of the class described, a pair of rolls constructed and arranged to unite sheet materialand strand material, and means for forming and supplying continuous strand material to the nip of said rolls in the 'form of transverse connected straight lengths, said machine including means for preventing slackening of said transverse strand lengths during their passage from the point of formation to the nip of the rolls.

23. In a machine of the class described,

the combination of a pair of rolls,-a traversing mechanism having a thread guide movable laterally beyond said rolls, andlateral thread engaging means adjacent the ends of the rolls for longitudinally guiding the bights of thread received from said traversing mechanism. 24. The method of making reinforced sheet material, consisting in forming continuous strand material intotransverse connected straight lengths, uniting said lengths with sheet material under pressure, and delivering said lengths in uniform taut condition at the point of unitingthem with the sheet material.

25. The method of making reinforced sheet material, consisting in propressively inclosing the sheet material in a wrapping of strand material by a rotative movement of one relativelyto the other, uniting the sheet and strand materials, and holding the strand material under tension until it is united to the sheet material;

26.' The method of reinforcing sheet material with strand material. which consists in rotating one relatively to the other, laying the strand material upon the outer surface of the sheet material, preventing collapse of the sheet material by the strand material, uniting the strand and sheet materials, and holding the strand material under tension until it is united With the sheet material.

27. A machine of the character described comprising means for causing sheet material and strand material to move relatively to each other in a direction to inclose the sheet material in windings of strand mate-.

rial, means for advancing the sheet material in a direction to lay the strand material spirally relatively to the advancing sheet material, means for uniting the strand material and sheet material, and means for holding the strand material under tension

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