IMPROVEMENTS IN SEPARATING SUBSTANCES OF DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITIES, AND IN THE MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULIUS
FRIEDRICH PHILIPP LUDWIG VON SPARRE, of Brewer Street, Golden Square, in
the County of Middlesex, Mining Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twentieth day of July,"
in the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Julius Friedrich Philipp Ludwig Von Sparre,
my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I; the said Julius Friedrich Philipp Ludwig Von Sparre,
my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Julius Friedrich
Philipp Ludwig Von Sparre, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in
the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her said
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEPARATING SUBSTANCES OF DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITIES, AND IN THE MACHINERY
AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that I, the said Julius Friedrich Philipp Ludwig Von Sparre, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Julius Friedrich Philipp Ludwig Von Sparre, hereby declare that the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
are fully described and ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
The improvements which constitute my said Invention are based on the
principle that when substances or bodies of equal volume or size, but of
different specific gravities, fall into a resisting fluid, such for instance as water,
they sink to the bottom with different rates of velocity, the velocity or rate of
sinking of the heavier substances being greater or more rapid than that of the
lighter substances, and this in proportion to their respective specific gravities.
The manner in which my improved machinery is constructed so as to take
advantage of this principle to effect the separation of substances of different
specific gravities is exhibited in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, of the Drawings
annexed, which represent two arrangements of machinery suitable for the said
purpose. Figure 1 is a vertical section of one of the said arrangements on the
line E, F, of Figure 2; Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the same on the
line A, B, C, D, of Figure 1; Figure 3, a side view in the direction F, E, of
Figure 2; Figure 4, an underside view of the main shaft and its appurtenances;
and Figure 5, a vertical section of the same; a is a vertical shaft or axle
which has rotary motion communicated to it from any suitable prime mover by
means of the bevil gearing 6; c is a shoot or gutter leading from an ore
receiver, by means of which the substances to be operated on are supplied to
the machine. These substances, whether ores, gold, sand, or coal, &c., &c.,
are to be previously assorted, according to their size, by any of the methods
ordinarily in use for this purpose; d is a cylindrical casing for containing the
substances to be separated, which casing is fixed to the upper part of the
revolving shaft a; e is an aperture in the bottom of the casing d, through
which the substances pass to the water vessel; f is an inclined curvilinear
way down which the substances roll after passing through the aperture e. The
object of this curvilinear way is to impart to the substances traversing it a
horizontal motion in a direction opposite to that in which the machine is
moving, and sufficiently powerful to counteract their centrifugal tendency, and
thus cause them to fall into the water vertically; g is a cylindrical vessel filled
with water, into which the substances to be separated fall; h is a cylinder
composed of metal or other suitable material, which is attached to the lower

page_text: part of the shaft or axle a, and turns with that shaft in the water vessel g;
i, i, are horizontal partitions or ledges placed at certain given distances apart
around the periphery of the cylinder h. The ledges or partitions do not
surround the entire periphery of the cylinder, but only from one-half to two-
thirds of it, so that a portion of the annular space between the exterior of the
cylinder and the sides of the water vessel g, in which that cylinder revolves,
is left open to allow the substances to be separated to sink freely in the water.
in the vessel g; k, k, are openings in the sides of the water vessel g, through.
which the separated substances are ejected by centrifugal force into the
receivers 1, 1, which are in communication with the vessel 9. and arranged around
it at convenient distances; m, m, are openings in the tops of the receivers I, I,
through which the separated substances are removed from time to time as they.
accumulate, but which are closed by valves during the time the machine is at
work.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The substances to be sepa-
rated, having been previously assorted according to their size as before men-
tioned, are supplied to the casing d (the machine being in rotation) from any
convenient receptacle by the shoot c from the casing d; they pass through the
aperture e down the curvilinear inclined way f, the peculiar form of which,
passing gradually from a vertical to a horizontal direction, imparts to them a
horizontal velocity in a direction contrary to that in which the machine is
revolving, the effect of which is to overcome the centrifugal tendency they
may have acquired on entering the curvilinear way, and to cause them to drop
from it perpendicularly into the water in the annular space of the vessel g..
The curve of this way, or its height above the vessel g, and distance from the
centre of motion at each particular point must be determined by the ratio of
centrifugal force exerted at such points, and consequently the curve must be
sharpest or greatest near the sides of the cylindrical vessel 9, and gradually
diminish as it approaches the cylinder h. The substances on leaving the cur-
vilinear way fall into the water in a line across the annular space, between the
cylinder h and the casing 9, and at the part which is left open between the
ends of the segmental partitions or ledges i, i, but close to the receding ends
of the ledges or partitions, and immediately sink to the bottom with a velocity
corresponding to their specific gravity. As the substances are continuously
introduced into the vessel g at this point, only a certain time must always
elapse before the advancing ends of the partitions on the revolving cylinder
come up to it, and as the heavier substances sink more quickly than those
which are lighter, they will have deposited themselves on the bottom of the
vessel 9, whilst the lighter portions will be still held in suspension when the

page_text: advancing ends of the partitions or ledges come up to the point at which the
substances were introduced, The partitions will then, by the continuous
rotation of the machine, pass between and intercept the falling substances,
which will be divided into as many different parcels, each of about the same
specific gravity, as there are ledges or partitions to the cylinder. The sub-
stances thus separated and deposited on the ledges will at the moment of
touching them be thrown by centrifugal force, communicated to them by
friction through the openings k, k, in the sides of the vessel g, g, into the
receivers 1, 1, and the process of separation will continue unintermittingly so
long as the rotation of the machine is kept up, and the substances supplied to
be operated on, the substances falling continuously into the annular space of
the water vessel, but immediately in the rear of the receding ends of the
ledges, so as to give time for them to separate and sink in the water before
the advancing ends of the ledges come up to them. Thus a continuous
process of supplying the materials to be separated from each other, and of
separating and ejecting them from the water vessel into the receivers, is
constantly going on at all points of the annular space of the water vessel.
As the horizontal ledges or partitions occupy from one-half to two-thirds of
the annular space in the water vessel g, a rotary motion must of necessity be
communicated by them to the water in that vessel, through which they pass in
their revolution. This motion will not in any case be sufficient to affect the
efficient working of the apparatus, but on the contrary it will admit of the
speed of the main shaft being increased, and thus enable a greater amount of
work to be performed in a given time.
In cases, however, where it is desirable that the water should remain as free
from disturbance as possible, I adopt the arrangements exhibited in Figures 6
and 7, which shew in plan and vertical section another construction of sepa-
rating machinery embodying my improvements. In this case the cylinder h is
enclosed by other cylinders n, n, which are attached to the sides of the water
vessel by means of the radial arms or brackets o, o. The height of the
cylinders n, n, is equal to the distance between the horizontal .partitions or
ledges i, i, and they are placed above and below as well as between the ledges.
By these means the circular motion of the water is greatly lessened, if not
entirely prevented. The same Figures show also a grating p which covers
the top of the water vessel g, and through which the substances to be sepa-
rated are caused to pass to the water in that vessel, after rolling down the
inclined way before mentioned, and thus to enter the water perpendicularly; or
the curvilinear way f may be altogether dispensed with in cases where the
grating is adopted.

page_text: The dimensions of the machinery before described will vary according to the
size of the substances to be separated, and depend also in some measure on
local circumstances; and the materials of which the different parts are com-
posed may be selected according to the discretion of the constructor, and
their suitability for the several kinds of work to be performed.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim in respect
thereof is, the separating of substances of different specific gravities by means
of horizontal partitions intercepting the same at different heights while sinking
in a vessel containing water, and the removal of the separated substances
from the partitions by centrifugal force, as herein-before exemplified and
described.
I also claim the arrangements of machinery for the said purposes repre-
sented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, of the Drawings annexed and herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julius Friedrich Philipp Ludwig Von
Sparre, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of
January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-three.
JULIUS FRIEDRICH PHILLIPP (L.s.) LUDWIG VON SPARRE.