IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FILTERING AND SOLIDIFYING
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Arthur Waller, of Saint James' Gate, in the
City of Dublin, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR FILTERING AND SOLIDIFYING."
Sealed the 4th December 1860, and dated the 7th June 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Arthur Waller at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th June 1860.
I, GEORGE ARTHUR WALLER, of Saint James' Gate, in the City of Dublin,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FILTERING AND SOLIDIFYING," to be as follows:--
My Invention is for improvements on and additions to one for which former
Letters Patent, No. 290. were granted to me, dated 1st February 1859, and
consists in constructing and working filtering and solidifying or compressing
apparatus as hereafter "explained.
I construct a cylinder for filtering of a bottom plate of metal with uprights
and a ring or flange at top and bottom, and inside of these uprights I fix rings
or a coil of stout wire, leaving a space of about one-eighth of an inch more or
less between every successive ring or turn in the coil, or this cylinder may be
formed of solid metal either grooved or slotted. I employ a cover of metal,
and secure it by clips to the uprights of the cylinder frame in such manner

page_text: that it may be readily secured and removed when required. I pass a rod
through the cover, and fix on the inner end à circular brush for the purpose
of cleansing the inside of the apparatus when necessary. I place inside the
cylinder a filtering tube made of jean or other stout textile fabric. This tube
is made to fit or is rather larger than the interior of the cylinder, and is kept
in its place by wire rings at top and bottom, and when subjected to internal
pressure, strains against the iron ring at bottom and against the inside of the
cover, thus making the joints tight, or the top joint may be made by means
of a short curtain attached to the cover, and dropping inside the cylinder.
The filtering tube being in position, and the cover fixed, I force the material
to be filtered under pressure into the interior of the tube, and continue
pressure to drive out all the liquid therefrom, which passing through the tube
and sides of the cylinder is received in a cup round the outside and lower part
thereof. As soon as the tube becomes foul or choked force down the circular
brush in order to cleanse it, and continue as before.
In order to solidify such materials as barm, for instance, retained from beer
inside the filter, before placing on the cover of the apparatus I introduce and
lay on the bottom of the cylinder a bag with flexible and waterproof sides and
with a metal top and bottom, or made entirely of waterproof cloth or of india-
rubber, and having a tube communicating with the outside of the apparatus.
Upon the filtering being finished I force liquid or fluid into this bag, and
solidify the barm between it and the filtering tube; I tilt over the cylinder,
remove the cover, and scrape out the barm. Instead of a brush I sometimes
use a scaper travelling round the inside of the cylinder and worked by external
gearing, and for some purposes substitute a wire gauze tube for that described
as made of textile material. Where substances are too thick or otherwise
unsuitable for being pumped into the apparatus, I introduce them directly into
it, place on the cover, and compress and solidify by inflating the waterproof
bag. Again, for solidifying such substances as peat, I sometimes form ar
aperture in the bottom of the cylinder and drive in through it a solid plunger
instead of employing the inflated bag. I also sometimes make use of the
interior of the cover as a straining surface; for this purpose I either perforate
and line it with the cloth employed, or groove it inside and line it with wire
net and cloth.
A most essential part of this Invention is the means I employ for renewing
the surface of a filtering or straining vessel by means of a circular brush or o
a scraper as before described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Arthur Waller in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th December 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ARTHUR WALLER, of Saint James' Gate, in the City of Dublin, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by: Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh, day of June, in the year. of our. Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her. reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give. and, grant unto me, the said
George Arthur Waller, Her special licence that I, the said George Arthur Waller,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as L, the said George
Arthur Waller, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENES
APPARATUS FOR FILTERING AND SOLIDIFYING." upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said George Arthur Waller, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to
be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
IN
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Arthur Waller, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that
is to say:
My Invention is for improvements in and additions to one for which former
Letters Patent, No. 290, were granted to me for Great Britain, dated 1st
February 1859, and consists in constructing and working filtering and
solidifying or compressing apparatus as hereafter explained. I construct a
cylinder for filtering of a bottom plate of metal with uprights, and a ring or
flange at top and bottom, and inside of these uprights I fix rings on a coil of
stout wire leaving a space of about one-eighth of an inch, more or less, between
every successive ring or turn in the coil, or this cylinder may be formed of
solid metal either grooved or slotted.
I employ a cover of metal, and secure

page_text: it by clips to the uprights of the cylinder frame in such manner that it may be
readily secured and removed when required. I pass a rod through the cover
and fix on the, inner end a circular brush for the purposes of cleansing the
inside of the apparatus when necessary. I place inside the cylinder a filtering
tube made of jean or other stout textile fabric: this tube is made to fit. or is
rather larger than the interior of the cylinder, and is kept in its place by wire
rings at top and bottom, and when subjected to internal pressure strains
against the iron ring at bottom and against the inside of the cover, thus
making the joints tight, or the top joint may be made by means of a short.
curtain attached to the cover and dropping inside the cylinder. The filtering
tube being in position, and the cover fixed, I force the material to be filtered
under pressure into the interior of the tube, and continue pressure to drive out
all the liquid therefrom, which, passing through the tube and sides of the
cylinder, is received in a cup round the outside and lower parts thereof. As
soon as the tube becomes foul or choked, I force down the circular brush in
order to cleanse it, and continue as before. In order to solidify such materials
as barm, for instance, retained from beer inside the filter, before placing on the
cover of the apparatus I introduce and lay on the bottom of the cylinder a
bag with flexible and waterproof sides, and with metal top and bottom, or
made entirely of waterproof cloth, or of india-rubber, and having a tube com-
municating with the outside of the apparatus. Upon the filtering being
finished I force liquid or fluid into this bag and solidify the barm between it
and the filtering tube. I tilt over the cylinder, remove the cover, and scrape
out the barm. Instead of a brush I sometimes use a scraper travelling round
the inside of the cylinder and worked by external gearing and for some pur-
poses substitute a wire gauze tube for that described as made of textile material.
Where substances are too thick or otherwise unsuitable for being pumped
into the apparatus, I introduce them directly into it, place on the cover
and compress and solidify by inflating the waterproof bag. Again for solidi-
fying such substances as peat I sometimes form an aperture in the bottom of
the cylinder, and drive in through it a solid plunger instead of employing the
inflated bag. I also sometimes make use of the interior of the cover as a
straining surface, for this purpose I either perforate and line it with the cloth
employed or groove it inside and line it with wire net and cloth.
A most essential part of this Invention is the means I employ for renewing
the surface of a filtering or straining vessel by means of a circular brush or of
a scraper as before described.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus for filtering and solidifying
according to my Invention. Figure 2 is a section, and Figure 3 a plan of the

page_text: same. A, A, are uprights bolted to a bottom plate B, having on their upper
ends projections b, b, which are grasped by clips c, c, on the cover or top plate.
D. The uprights are held in position by internal rings at top and bottom, E¹
and E. F is an external ring with trunnions or axles which are supported
by standards g, g, within these uprights and attached to the rings E and E²,
by the perpendicular rods e, e, c, I place a cylinder formed of a coil of stout
wire as before described; the interior of this cylinder is of the same internal
diametor as that of the rings E, E². I employ as my straining medium a tube
or tubes of canvass or other suitable textile material H somewhat longer and
larger than the cylinder. This tube is provided at top with a ring of wire
which rests on the ring E' and keeps the tube in position. I fold the
lower part of the tube on the bottom plate, and when internal pressures is
applied a staunch joint is formed by the tube being pressed against the ring
E. The cover D is provided with a flexible curtain I, I, which depends from
it, drops inside the tube 1 and is forced against it when internal pressure is
applied, whereby a staunch joint is formed; the formation of this joint is assisted
by the scraper L, L, hereafter described, being placed when commencing to
work at the top of the cylinder, and ensuring a close contact between the out-
side of the curtain and the inside of the tube H. I prefer to obtain the
internal pressure when solidifying by forcing water or liquid into a waterproof
bag J, lying on the bottom plate, and communicating with the outside of
eylinder by means of the neck K, but a solid plunger might be used for the
purpose, I construct this bag by preference of solid india-rubber J, tied securely
on a head of gutta percha j, as shewn in Drawing; I construct this head for
greater strength with, a wooden or metallic ring inserted around it and im-
bedded in the substance of the gutta percha as shown at m; when filtering I
obtain the internal pressure by forcing the liquid directly into the head of the
machine through a cock N; a rod O, O, passes through the centre of the top
plate and carries at its lower extremity a circular scraper L, L, composed by
preference of an india-rubber ring held between two metal rings P1, P2, the
lower ring P2 is somewhat smaller than the upper to allow more play to the
india-rubber ring in its upward motion. I move this scraper up and down by
means of the cross-head Q, Q, and its depending racks worked by the cross
shaft R by means of the winch handles and pinions shown in the Drawings
but it is obvious other means of imparting up and down motion to it may be
resorted to. The cover or top plate has a pressure guage T fixed on it, and is
provided with an opening S to admit the substance to be solidified, if required,
without removing the cover. This opening is closed by a flat internal valve
or plate of metal having on its upper surface a ring of india-rubber, so that it

page_text: becomes tight when internal pressure is applied. On the cylinder being lined
as described and filled with the substance to be solidified, the head is lowered
and turned round to enable the clips C, C, to grasp the projections b, b.
Pressure is applied and the internal surface of the straining tube is kept clear
as required by means of the scraper. The expressed liquid passes through the
sides of the tube and cylinder, and is delivered at bottom through the cock t.
When the operation is completed, the compressed material may be removed by
lifting the cover which is suspended by the chain U passing over a pulley to a
balance weight V; the cylinder should then be tilted over and emptied of all
its contents.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the improved apparatus for filtering and solidifying herein-before
described and represented in the Drawings annexed, the various parts thereof
being constructed, arranged, and acting substantially in the manner hercinbefore
described.
Second, the employment of a circular brush or scraper in the aforesaid
cylinder for cleansing the surface of the filtering or straining vessel sub-
stantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
Third, the employment of textile tubes for the purpose of filtering and
solidifying inside of a wire or other openwork cylinder, the top and bottom
of which tubes are closed by independent parts and made staunch, when
internal pressure is applied in manner before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Arthur Waller, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty.
G. ARTHUR WALLER. (L.S.)