Stories from Old Newspapers


Dungarvan Observer 3 May 1930
Dungarvan Solicitor’s Patent - Removing a difficulty in paper-making
Another Irish invention is described in the official journal of the Industrial Property Office for last month. It stands in the names of Frederick Butterworth, solicitor, Dungarvan, and Robert W. Horsburgh, Saggart, as joint inventors, and its object is to control automatically the thickness of paper in manufacture. The method adopted to measure the thickness depends upon the use of the photo electric cell. A beam of light passed through the paper will vary in intensity with the thickness of the paper, more or less light being absorbed, or the thickness increases or decreases. The beam of light, after its passage through the paper, is focused upon a photo electric cell and variations in intensity of the light produce variations in electric currents in the cell. These variations are amplified and used to control the speed of the motor driving the paper- making machine, so that, if the paper tends to thicken, the motor is accelerated and the amount of ‘stuff’ fed to the machine in each revolution is reduced.
Mr Butterworth, solicitor, is the nephew of Mr E.A. Ryan, solr., Dungarvan, and practices in the Waterford office of the firm of Messrs E.A. Ryan & Co Solrs.
Note: The Butterworth family lived in Colligan Lodge in the early 1900s.