- Crompton, Thomas Bonsor
- SUBJECT AREA: Paper and printing[br]b. 1791/2 d. 1858[br]English papermaker and inventor of a, drying machine.[br]The papermaking machine developed by the Fourdrinier brothers in 1807 produced a reel of paper which was cut into sheets, which were then hung up to dry in a loft. The paper often became badly cockled as a result, and ways were sought to improve the drying part of the process. Drying cylinders were introduced, but the first real benefit came from the use of dry felt in Crompton's drying machine. Various materials could be used, but Crompton found that felt made from linen wrap and a woollen weft was best. In 1820 he took out a patent for steam-heated drying cylinders, and in the following year a patent for a cutter to cut the paper reel into sheets. With Crompton's improvements, the papermaking machine assumed its modern form in essentials. In 1839 Crompton installed centrifugal air fans for reciprocating suction pumps in the suction boxes to extract water from the paper on the continuous wire mould. Crompton owned and operated a successful paper mill at Farnworth in Lancashire, supplying the principal merchants and newspaper publishers in London. He was also a cotton manufacturer and, for a time, owned the Morning Post and other newspapers. By the time he died in 1858 he had amassed a considerable fortune.[br]Further ReadingR.H.Clapperton, 1967, The Paper-making Machine, London: Pergamon Press.LRD
Biographical history of technology. - Taylor & Francis e-Librar. Lance Day and Ian McNeil. 2005.
