MAKING PAPER BAGS BY MACHINERY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10359, 14 May 1895, Page 7

MAKING PAPER BAGS BY MACHINERY.

A COLONIAL PATENT. We have had aa opportunity of inspecting a new machine, invented : by Mr-Robert; Mill's, foreman machinist at the Evening Star office. This machine, named the " Simplex," has been working with very satisfactory results for some months, and it is now the intention of Mr Millis to proceed to Britain and place it upon the market there. Many of our readers will remember the three-cornered paper bag generally used in fche "auld lang syne." This was simply, a square piece of paper deftly twisted into* the shape of a bag. The next step ia advance was what is generally known as the " side-seam" bag, to make which several machines have been placed upon the market. Then came the "satchel," "pocket," "union," and many other kinds. Mr Millis being a practical machinist, well acquainted by long experience with-the handling of paper, the " Simplex " machine is the result of years of thought and experiment, and it was only after attaining what he believed to be a practicable piece of mechanism, combining several special features, that he took steps to patent his invention. Two machines have already been constructed, and both have been worked in the ofiice of onr contemporary for some time. - ,

The special features of fche "Simplex" as distinct; from other paper bag-making machinery are (1) the simplicity of the machine itself, and the means of changing from one size of bag to another; (2) its extensive range—we noticed bags made upon it as small as a loz tobacco and as large as a 141b sugar,' with all the intermediate sizes; (3) it is comparatively inexpensive. The machine is worked by two lads, fche one "feeding," the other "taking off." The paper is firs'' cut square to the required sizeno anglc-cuctiug as in the side-seam bag and the heap cf paper i 3 placed in position under the pasting roller. As each sheet is automatically pasted ifc is fed to gauges, when a die descends and carries it into a receptacle, whore folders complete fche process of making fche bag. The die then ascends and the taker-off removes the made bag from the die and places ifc under a roller and blade; which form the block bottom and break down the bag for packing. This is the whole procesß, fche bags being then passed on to a drying cylinder, where they are retained for a sufficient time to dry .he-paste. The machine is pfti}.

tioularly adapted for making square bags, printed upon all foar sides, such as tea packers use in making up their teas for the market. While this may be termed the specialty ol the machine, it is equally effective in making bags in general use. While the one machine, makes a wide range of sizes of bags, ifc will also make them of any quality of paper, from the thin drapers' cap to the heavy grey known as grocers' sugar, or the brown so much favoured by seedsmen. Mr Millis has patented his invention in New Zeiland. Victoria, New South Wales, Great Britain, France, Germany, and the United States, and we wish him the success his ingenuity and the merits of his machine entitle him to. The two machines made here were manufactured "by Messrs bohlaadt Bros, and Messrs Cossens and Black.