Abstract: A rigid metal housing is positioned downstream of a coating applicator. The housing supports a plurality of positionable contact elements formed of a low friction, high wear-resistant material, which extend inwardly from the housing to engage a slow speed rotating rod. At least one of the contact elements is adjustable to support the rod for stable rotation, and to retain an effective seal between the contact elements and the rod to thereby prevent leakage of clearing/lubricating fluid into the applied coating. The contact elements may be advanced inwardly as the elements and the rod wear, thereby extending the effective life of the rod holder apparatus. Screws may bear against a rear contact element through segmented backing plates allowing refinement of the coat weight along the width of the substrate. Furthermore, an air tube may be positioned between the housing and a rear fixture to adjust overall coating thickness.

Abstract: A winder for winding a continuous traveling web into a wound web roll including a cylindrical winder drum for being in supporting and driving relationship to a roll wound from a continuous web, a covering layer on the drum having a compliant surface with an outer surface pattern providing a series of recesses and land areas which in some preferred forms are non-uniform in shape and non-uniform in spacing but may be circular or elliptical or other defined shape within a range of sizes, spacing and a range of surface land area contact with the web and roll for reducing noise and improving tension in high speed winders.

Abstract: A coating apparatus is disclosed for coating a web of paper. The apparatus includes a first and second roll having axes of rotation disposed parallel relative to each other such that the rolls define therebetween a first nip for the selective passage therethrough of the web. A backing roll has a peripheral surface which cooperates with the first roll for defining therebetween a second nip. A coater cooperates with the peripheral surface for applying coating material to the web when the web is guided by the surface and disposed between the surface and the coater. A further backing roll has a further peripheral surface which cooperates with the second roll for defining therebetween a third nip. A further coater cooperates with the further surface for applying coating material to the web when the web is guided by the further surface and disposed between the further surface and the further coater.

Abstract: Methods for processing wood chips for digestion utilize a chip destructuring apparatus. The method includes an initial disc screen for removing the gross overthick and oversized chips which are discarded or are processed through a rechipper. After the initial disc screen, the entire stream of chips is processed to eliminate tramp metal. The entire chip stream is screened to remove fines. The stream of chips is fed to the chip destructuring apparatus from a surge bin with a star feeder. The star feeder is a metering device and is operated by a controller which monitors the level of chips in the surge bin. The controller uses the star feeder to feed a steady supply of chips to the chip destructuring apparatus which allows the destructuring apparatus to be configured for a maximum feed rate.

Abstract: A cleaner receives input pulp stock in an inverted conical chamber, which acts as a hydrocyclone to direct heavyweight reject flows outwardly, lightweight reject flows into a discharging vortex chamber and accept flows in between to a vortex finder for removal. The cleaner body has an inverted hydrocyclone chamber formed beneath the inverted cone and a ceramic splitter below which skims off the heavyweight reject flow from the accept flow, and diverts it into the inverted hydrocyclone chamber. A portion of the diverted heavyweight reject flow is removed through a toroidal heavyweight rejects relief outlet, but the larger fraction of the heavyweight reject flow is recirculated within the inverted hydrocyclone chamber. Because the chamber narrows as it extends upwardly, the flow increases in speed and angular velocity to such an extent that the flow within the inverted hydrocyclone chamber matches the flow passing by the chamber, thereby preventing turbulent mixing.

Abstract: A multiplicity of teeth are mounted to a beam in a comb structure, with the space between the teeth defining slots. The edges of the slots are lined with upstanding flanges which are sharpened to form cutting edges. The comb structure is arranged to be substantially parallel to an array of bag breaking bars. The bars interdigitate with the teeth and thus pass through the narrow openings between the teeth where the knife edges scrape the bars, thereby cutting free any material adhering to or impaled upon the bag breaking bars. Alternatively, an apparatus for cleaning a bag breaker has a pivotally mounted are having a fork which is aligned to receive a bar between the tines of the fork. The fork engages the base of the bar and then proceeds to slide up the bar as the forward motion of the bar causes the arm to pivot. In this way, material impaled upon a bar is slid or scraped upwardly towards the top of the bar.

Abstract: Secondary sludge produced in the papermaking process is dewatered by adding a material capable of absorbing water together with dry fibers to the secondary sludge, and mixing the secondary sludge with the dried fibers to produce a modified secondary sludge which has sufficient structure and low enough moisture that it may be further dewatered by mechanical means. The preferred fiber adding materials are those readily produced in the papermaking process, particularly dry primary sludge, dried fines and bark and fly ash from boilers.

Abstract: A varying tapered conical shell is provided with a varying taper conical rotor having pinlike radially extending projections whereby the varying taper assures more uniform solids distribution in a fluffing solids/gas contactor.

Abstract: The bars of one of two sets of interleaved screen bars is extended beyond the interleaved portion of the screen bed, thus forming a region of the screen bed which has screens particles of intermediate dimensions. A second improvement is a clamping member which holds the downwardly extending legs of individual bars of the screen. The clamping member is a steel channel which has a steeply peaked roof between legs which sheds particles. The bar legs fit into slots which penetrate the peaked roof transverse to the lengthwise direction of the channel. The legs are retained by transverse bolts which pass through the vertical sidewalls of the channel and the legs, retaining and clamping them. The third improvement mounts the clamping member to a flange which may be traversed by a screw and bolt arrangement such that the clamping member may be adjusted in its lateral position. A fourth improvement is a clamping member which extends longitudinally and which has a keyway formed therein.

Abstract: A winder in a papermaking machine has a frame with horizontal rails which are positioned above a rotatable reel support drum, which is fixedly mounted. As a relatively large diameter wound paper web reel, or jumbo, is formed on a spool riding on the rails, the surface of the jumbo remains tangent to the top of the support drum as the spool moves from an initial position vertically over the reel drum to a position laterally displaced horizontally along the rail. Centerwind drive(s) control spool torque. As the jumbo increases in size, it is moved linearly away from the initial position, while maintaining the paper web reel rotatively supported and in a nipping engagement with the support drum. Nip pressure between the support drum and the jumbo is controlled by the force of gravity and the horizontal positioning of the jumbo along the rails. The positioning of the jumbo along the rail may be controlled by a conventional pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder, or a screw mechanism.

Abstract: A papermaking machine has a stock manifold or headbox which is tapered in the machine direction. Paper stock flows through a bank of tubes from the stock manifold to a slice for injecting stock onto a forming wire. Each tube in the tube bank extends in a plane which is substantially parallel to the direction of motion of the paper web being formed. The tubes are connected to the interior of the headbox manifold along a stock supply wall. A plurality of supply conduits are connected to the supply wall and discharge emollients such as chemicals and fillers into the manifold where they are immediately drawn, together with the stock, into adjacent tube ends which feed the stock and added chemicals to the slice for forming a paper web.

Abstract: In an extended nip press employing an endless loop nip blanket the invention is a gear-actuated blanket edge clamp. The ends of the blanket are sealed to rotatably mounted heads and forced against sealing surfaces on the heads by shoes which are mounted radially about the heads. The shoes are pivotally mounted to main pivot links. These in turn are pivotally mounted to the head. A jack link joins each of the main links to an expanding gear ring. The gear ring is rotatably mounted to the head about the axis of the head's rotation. The gear ring has two opposed gear teeth segments. Two opposed pinion gears which are mounted on shafts ride on the geared sections. The shafts are turned from the exterior of the head, and cause the expanding gear ring to rotate. The rotation of the gear ring causes the jack links to press against the main links, causing the main links in turn to swing radially outwardly. The outward displacement of the main links causes the shoes to move outwardly against the clamping surface.

Abstract: A roll for selective use as either a support drum or as a rider roll in a winder for winding a traveling paper web into a relatively large diameter wound web roll has a body with an outer, elastomeric cover. The elastomeric cover includes a pattern, open to the surface, arranged such that the percent of volumetric void for a unit of cover volume is such that the effective hardness of the cover ranges between about 30 Shore "A" to about 55 Shore "A" where the roll is a support drum, and between about 40 Shore "A" to about 65 Shore "A" when the roll is a rider roll. In addition, the elastomeric material has an absolute hardness of about 65 Shore "A", or less, for a support drum, and about 75 Shore "A", or less, for a rider roll, and a Poisson's ratio of between about 0.47 to about 0.499.

Abstract: A plurality of parallel chain loops have outwardly extending blades and travel in plastic channels over an inclined deck. The chains extend between shafts which rotate in opposite directions and are mounted to the shafts so that alternating chains move up the incline and the others move down. Refuse bags deposited on the deck are torn open by the blades. Small refuse objects fall between the chains and slide down the deck to be discharged, while larger objects are carried by the upwardly moving chains to the top of the deck. Refuse objects are thereby initially segregated by size.

Abstract: A single tier drying section apparatus is disclosed for drying a web of paper. The drying section includes a first and a second dryer which are disposed in a single tier for drying the web. A vacuum roll is disposed closely adjacent to and between the first and second dryers for guiding the web from the first to the second dryer. The vacuum roll includes a rotatable roll shell having a first and a second end. The shell defines an outer surface and an internal chamber which extends between the first and the second end of the shell. The shell defines a plurality of channels with each channel extending from the chamber to the outer surface such that the chamber is disposed in fluid communication with the outer surface. A vane mechanism is disposed within the chamber for evacuating the chamber. The arrangement is such that a flow of air flows towards the chamber through the plurality of channels for drawing the web into close conformity with the dryer felt when the web extends around the vacuum roll.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for reeling a traveling web, such as the paper web produced on a papermaking machine, comprises the concept of winding the on-coming traveling web onto a reel spool which is horizontally supported rotatively, and which, in a preferred embodiment, moves translationally in a direction from the dry end of the papermaking machine towards the wet end of the papermaking machine as the diameter of the wound web roll increases. The reel spool is supported on a pair of spaced, substantially horizontally disposed rails. The on-coming web is first partially wrapped over a segment of a translationally movable support drum with the upper side of the web facing inwardly toward the surface of the support drum. The support drum is selectively nipped, or not nipped, with the reel spool/web over the web roll as it is commenced to be wound in a winding position, and continues to be wound into a web roll on a reel spool.

Abstract: A vacuum roll apparatus is disclosed for transferring a web supported on a dryer felt from a first to a second drying cylinder of a dryer section. The apparatus includes a rotatable perforate shell having a first and a second end, the shell defining a cavity which extends from the first to the second end of the shell. The arrangement is such that the dryer felt extends from the first dryer around the perforate shell to the second dryer with the web extending contiguously with the dryer felt, and the dryer felt being disposed between the shell and the web. At least one fin is rigidly secured to the shell and is disposed within the cavity such that when the shell is rotated, the fin generates a flow of air through the perforate shell towards the cavity for drawing the web into close conformity with the dryer felt during movement thereof around the vacuum roll apparatus so that the web is restrained against cross-machine directional shrinkage.

Abstract: A pressurized dynamic pulp washer including an annular hollow housing in which the stock is driven axially along a plurality of stationary, annular, coaxial wash filters in axially reversible directions, with an annular rotatable shell between the wash filters to urge liquid through openings in the filters, to generate axial, radial and circumferential velocities in the slurry to create localized pulses in the slurry to urge liquid through the filters with wash liquid being introduced to replace liquid filtered from the fibers in the slurry.

Abstract: A short dwell coater apparatus is disclosed for applying coating material to a web supported by a backing member. The apparatus includes a housing which defines an application zone having an upstream and a downstream end. The application zone extends in a cross-machine direction across the web and is connected to a source of the coating material such that the coating material is applied to the web during movement of the web past the application zone. An elongate pipe is disposed within the application zone and extends in a cross-machine direction across the application zone. The pipe defines at least one orifice for the passage therethrough of the coating material. The pipe is connected to the source of coating material such that the coating material flows through the pipe and through the orifice for supplying coating material to the application zone.

Abstract: High powered lasers are used to score the bark on logs before they are mechanically debarked. Typical of the lasers employed are multi-kilowatt CO.sub.2 industrial lasers. A high powered laser beam is brought to a focus just above the surface of the bark on the log. A jet of compressed air is blown coaxially with the beam and facilitates the beam's formation of a narrow slot in the surface of the bark. Logs are advanced and rotated by a plurality of parallel augers extending across the base of a trough. The lasers are positioned in a gap beneath and in between sets of augers. The beam's focus may be adjustable with respect to the bark's surface.