IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING COAL, ORES, AND OTHER MINERALS
Year: 1866

page_text: Sealed the 29th January 1867, and dated the 31st July 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Addison Birkbeck at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st July 1866.
I, JOHN ADDISON BIRKBECK, of Dunstan Villa, Chesterfield, in the County
of Derby, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING COAL, ORES, AND OTHER MINERALS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved mode or method of washing coal, ores,
and other minerals, and consists in dividing or reducing the minerals to be
treated into fragments of various sizes, which are then to be separated or
screened and assorted and collected into lots or parcels, each composed of
fragments of uniform or nearly uniform size. The fragments of the same size
assorted as aforesaid are to be placed upon perforated plates or false bottoms
contained in washing vessels, and water is then forced up through the per-
forated plate or false bottom, either by a constant or intermittent stream or by
[Prise 8d.]

page_text: means of jets or pulsations, and this may be effected by means of a double-
acting displacer or pump, or by the aid of a head of water regulated by cocks
or valves.
!
The result is the separation of the minerals or materials operated upon.
according to their several specific gravities, those of the highest specific
gravity being found at the bottom, and those of the lowest specific gravity at
the upper part of the layer, and these minerals or materials are also separately
deposited in receptacles as may be required by the continued operation of the
machinery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Addison Birkbeck in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 31st January 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ADDISON BIRKBECK, of Dunstan Villa, Chesterfield, in the County of Derby,
Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Addison Birkbeck, Her special license that I, the said John
Addison Birkbeck, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Addision Birkbeck, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN WASHING COAL, ORES, AND OTHER MINERALS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Addison Birkbeck, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Addison Birkbeck, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to an improved mode or method of washing coal,
ores, and other minerals, and consists in first dividing or reducing the materiais
to be treated into fragments of various sizes, which are then to be separated or
screened and assorted and collected into lots or parcels, each composed of
fragments of uniform or nearly uniform size. The fragments of the same size
assorted as aforesaid are to be placed upon perforated plates or false bottoms
contained in washing vessels, and water is then forced up through the per-
forated plate or false bottom in an intermittent stream or by means of jets or
pulsations, and this may be effected by means of a double-acting displacer
or pump or by the aid of a head of water regulated by cocks or valves.
The result is the separation of the minerals or materials operated upon
according to their several specific gravities, those of the highest specific
gravity being found at the bottom, and those of the lowest specific gravity at
the upper part of the layer, and these minerals or materials are also separately
deposited in receptacles as may be required by the continued operation of the
machinery.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall
refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheets of Drawings, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the corresponding
Figures.
¦
Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of my Drawings, represents a sectional elevation of
one arrangement of my washing apparatus in connection with a cylinder and
piston for giving the desired pulsations to the water entering the washing
vessel; Figuré 2 is a corresponding plan of the same; and Figure 3 is a
partial section and end elevation of the apparatus looking at right angles to
Figure 1. Before submitting the coal ore or other minerals to the action
of my improved washing apparatus I first reduce the substance to be operated
upon to fragments of uniform or nearly uniform size, and assort the same
by screening, if it has not already been reduced and assorted into different
sizes, when it comes to hand, as in some districts the coal is divided or
subdivided before being sent to market, in which case I take the smallest
size and dispense with the use of the crusher and screen; in other districts,
however, the largest sizé coal only is sent to market, in which case I reduce
and assort it by the means above referred to. Any well-known crushing and
screening apparatus may be employed, but I prefer to adopt the following:-
The rough coal as it is delivered is shot into a hopper provided with a self-

page_text: acting delivery door or slide which allows it to descend at regular intervals
into the well of an elevator, consisting of an endless chain of buckets, or an
archimedean screw driven by any prime mover; this elevator delivers the coal
into an inclined spout, whence it falls into an inclined revolving cylindrical
screen. I prefer that this screen be perforated with round or square holes in
lieu of being composed as is usual of bars or grids, as the fragments will be
thereby obtained of a more nearly uniform size, which is important in my
. Invention. The fragments which fall through the perforations are received
on to inclined planes or shoots, which deliver them to the washing vessels
herein-after described. Those portions of the coal or other substance which
are too large to pass through the perforations of the screen are delivered at
the end thereof, and fall on to inclined shoots which convey them to the
feeding hopper of a pair of crushing rolls provided with pyramidal teeth
or projections; these crushing rolls are driven from the prime mover before
referred to, and the crushed material falls into an inclined spout which
conveys it to the well of the elevator to be again elevated and screened as
before.
A, A, are the washing vessels or tanks of cast or wrought iron or other
suitable material supported by preference on standards or frames B. of
sufficient height to allow of the passage of a truck or waggon underneath the
vessels. The vessels may be of a rectangular, cylindrical, or other shape, and
their sides at the lower portion should be inclined inwards, so as to form a
species of hopper A', the opening in which is provided with a sliding door C
capable of being readily opened or closed by a lever or other convenient
mechanical contrivance; towards the upper portion of the washing vessel
there is provided a false bottom E, composed of one or a series of perforated
plates or gratings, upon which the substance to be washed is placed or allowed
to fall from the screens. This false bottom is represented as stationary, but
in some cases it may be made moveable so as to be capable of being raised to
the top of the vessel with a view to the ready removal of the deposit thereon.
In my Drawing I have only shown perforations in a portion of the false bottom.
but the whole of it in practice must be similarly perforated; F, F, are the pipes
which supply the water to the washing vessels at a point below the false bottom.
The front edge of each vessel is rather lower than the other edges, and to it is
fitted a spout G for conveying the washed material or substances to waggons
or otherwise as found most convenient; H is a cylinder situate at the back of
and between the washing vessels, within which cylinder works a piston I, the
rod of which passes through a stuffing box in the top cover of the cylinder.
A vertical reciprocating motion is imparted to this
piston by a crank

page_text: If
driven from the main shaft of the prime mover or otherwise for the purpose
herein-after explained. K, K, are pipes or passages which form communi-
cations respectively between the upper part of the cylinder and one of the
vessels, and the lower part of the cylinder and the other vessel. When
the vessels and cylinder are filled or partly filled with water, the
reciprocating motion of the piston in the cylinder will agitate the water
in the vessels, and force it through the perforations in the false bottoms,
thereby causing pulsations to be imparted to the substance to be acted upon,
the effect being that the bodies arrange themselves according to their specific
gravities, the heaviest remaining on the perforated false bottom and the
lightest, such as coal, being carried with the stream of water, assisted by
rotating rakes or scrapers L, over the front or lowest edge of the vessels into
the discharge spouts G, whence they fall into waggons or otherwise.
desired the cylinder may be fitted with valves, so that it may supply itself
and the washing vessels with water; but I prefer the arrangement above
described and illustrated by my Drawings. The false bottoms E should be
caused to incline downwards slightly towards the back of the vessels as
shown, and at the lower end thereof there is fitted a sliding door or sluice
M, extending from side to side of each vessel, such sluice being opened or
closed by a lever N or other convenient contrivance. Immediately behind
this sluice at the back part of the vessels, a chamber O is formed, the per-
forated bottom P of which dips towards one side of the vessel, and is made
rather lower than the false bottom E; at the lower end of the bottom P there
is fitted another sluice Q at right angles to the first, and worked by levers R
fast on a rocking shaft S. The heavy substances which settle or become
deposited upon the false bottom E are allowed either constantly or at suitable
intervals to pass under the sluice M, into the chamber O, the sluice being
opened for that purpose by depressing the lever N; from this chamber they
are discharged by opening the sluice Q into the lower portion A' of the
vessels A, beneath the false bottoms where they collect, and are thence
discharged at intervals into waggons by opening the sliding discharge doors
C. Before the refuse matter (when coal is being washed) is let off into the
lower part of the vessel the attendant can readily ascertain if any coal has
been carried under the sluice M along with the refuse matter, as it will by the
pulsations be carried to the surface, whence it may be removed and returned
to the body of the coal undergoing the operation. When using two washing
vessels, as shown in my Drawings, I prefer to make the perforations in
one-half of the length of the cylindrical screen finer or smaller than; the
erforations in the other half, and to have a separate spout leading from

page_text: underneath each half of the screen to its respective washing vessel, whereby
the two vessels will be supplied with coal or other substance of different sizes.
Figures 4 and 5, on Sheet 2 of my Drawings represent respectively a
sectional elevation and plan of a pair of washing vessels worked by a head
of water, the pulsations in the water in the vessels being obtained by the aid
of valves on the inlet pipes worked by a water wheel, such water wheel being
driven by the waste or overflow from the washing vessels. The washing
vessels A, A, are similar in their construction to those described in reference
to Sheet 1 of my Drawings. The water under pressure is supplied by the
pipe F, which is provided with valve or clack boxes F¹, F¹, communicating
respectively with the washing vessels A, A. Within these boxes are provided
the valves a, a, which are connected by a spindle b with a vertical rod c
sliding in fixed brackets or supports d, d; the lower ends of these rods rest
upon cams or tappets e, e, carried by the shafts T, T. These shafts receive a
rotatory motion by the aid of the spur wheels f, f, and pinions g, g, from the
axis of the water wheel U, which is driven by the waste water carried over
the front of the washing vessels. For this purpose I construct a grating or
perforations at V in the upper ends of the delivery spouts G, which will allow
the waste water to descend into the spout W, which supplys the water wheel,
the washed coal passing over such grating or perforations, and being delivered
as before described with reference to the first arrangement. A branch pipe
F provided with a stop-cock is fitted to the main supply pipe F, whereby the
attendant by simply opening the stop-cock can readily start the machine by
allowing a stream of water to fall upon and rotate the water wheel.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1st, the system or mode of washing coal, ores, and other minerals by forcing
water upwards through the perforated false bottom of a washing vessel con-
taining the substances to be washed in intermittent streams, jets, or pulsations,
substantially as herein-before described.
2nd, the combination with a washing vessel provided with a perforated
false bottom of a double-acting displacer or pump, or of clack valves or
cocks disposed in the water supply pipe, the whole being arranged and
operating substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described.
3rd,
peculiar construction of apparatus for washing coal, ores, and othe

page_text: ottom is removed from one end of the vessel, and the coal or washed mineral
rom the opposite end of the vessel, as herein-before described and illustrated
y my Drawings.
1
In witness whereof, I, the said John Addison Birkbeck, have to this
my Specification hereunto set my hand and seal, this. Twenty-ninth
day of January, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
JOHN ADDISON BIRKBECK. (L.S.)