A METHOD OF PREPARING AND CLEANSING MINERALS AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HENRY CAPPER, of Edgbaston, in the County of Warwick, Gentleman, 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 Thirteenth day of June,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, in the eleventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Ier heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Henry Capper, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Charles Henry
Capper, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
11enry Capper, my exors, adññiors, 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, my Inven-
tion of "A METHOD OF PREPARING AND CLEANSING MINERALS AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said Charles Henry Capper, should 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 Majesty's High Court of Chancery 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 bad, will more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Henry Capper, hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to tho Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
Figure 1 represents a plan, Figure 2 a vertical section, and Figure 3 a
longitudinal section of the apparatus into which the ore is introduced after
it has been reduced to small fragments by the crushing mill, the object of the
said apparatus being the sizing or sieving of the ore. a is a box or trough
filled with water. 6 is a hollow cylinder or sieve turning upon the axis c, the
said axis being inclined, as shewn in the Drawing. d is a pulley on the axis c.
The said cylinder or sieve is driven by a band passing over the said pulley.
The sieve 6 is formed of wire gauze, that portion of the said sieve marked 6 being
made of wire gauze of finer meshes than that of which the portion marked b¹ is
made. The exact size of the meshes of the said wire gauze are determined
by the sizes into which it is desired to separate the ore. e is a division in the
box or trough a, which division is situated immediately under the division in
the wire gauze. The crushed ore is introduced into the cylinder or sieve bat
its upper end, and by the revolution of the said cylinder or sieve the said
crushed ore is made gradually to roll down the same; during the passage
of the ore over the part 6 of the said sieve the particles of less size than the
meshes of the wire gauze of which that part of the cylinder or sieve is formed
pass through the same, and are collected in the trough underneath as the ore
in its descending motion passes over the lower part of the cylinder, which is
made of wire gauze of larger meshes. Another portion of the ore passes
through and is received in the trough underneath; that portion of the ore
which is too large to pass through the meshes of the cylinder falls from the
lower end thereof, and is received in the box or trough a'.
a is
Figure 4 represents a vertical section of my improved apparatus for dressing
ores, that is to say, of separating the earthy particles from the said ores.
a hopper in which a quantity of sized ore requiring to be dressed is put; tho
descent of the ore from the said hopper is regulated by the plate b, which being
acted on by the rod and set screw c, allows the said ore to fall with greater or less
rapidity on the inclined trough d, by which it is conducted into the receptacle
or vessel c; the bottom of this vessel (shewn separately in plan in Figure 4, A)
is made of fine wire gauze, but the said gauze is perforated with a series
of los sufficiently large to allow particles of ore of the size used to pass

page_text: h is a
through. f, f, are tubes or spouts in the sides of the vessel e; a reciprocating
or "jigging" motion is communicated to the vessel c by the lever g.
vessel of water in which the jigging vessel c is immersed, and into which any
particles passing down the tubes or spouts f, f, are delivered; audi is a
smaller vessel situated within the former vessel h, into which said vessel i any
particles passing through the bottom of the vessel o are received.
The action of this apparatus is as follows:-The vessel h is nearly filled with
water, and sized ore is supplied in the manner described from the hopper, and
a reciprocating or jigging motion is communicated to the vessel ; by the
motion of the vessel the lighter particles of earthy matter are separated from the
heavier particles of ore; the former pass down the tubes or spouts f,f, into the
outer receptacle h, while the latter pass through holes in the bottom of the
vessel c, and are received in the inner receptacle i.
Figure 5 represents a plan, Figures 6 and 7 vertical sections, and Figure 8
a longitudinal section of another apparatus, whereby I carry into effect my
method of cleansing and separating ores. a is a vessel partly filled with water;
6 is a semicylindrical receiver or cradle which is suspended and vibrates upon
the axis c. I prefer placing the point of suspension of the said receiver or
cradle at a point somewhat below the centre of the curve described by the
section of the said receiver or cradle. I also prefer placing the said point of
suspension excentrically, that is to say, out of the line of the radius of the said
curve. d is a bob or balance-weight, fixed at such a height on the rod e,
attached to the axis c, that it nearly balances the said receiver or cradle
when the same contains a proper quantity of oro to be dressed. I prefer
operating upon a quantity of oro which will about one third fill the said
receiver or cradle. f is a crank on the end of the axis c, by which crank and
the connecting rod d a vibratory motion is communicated to the said receiver or
cradle b. The crank. may be lengthened or shortened, so as to give a
greater or less oscillation to the said cradle. During the vibratory motion
of the said receiver or cradle the water passes rapidly to and fro over and
among the particles of ore, and suspends and carries with it the lighter
particles of carthy matter and delivers them into the vessel a, whilst the
particles of pure ore, by virtue of their superior density, remain unmoved by
the motion of the water.
Figure 9 represents a side elevation, partly in section, of another apparatus,
whereby. I carry into effect my method of dressing ores. I prefer using this
apparatus for dressing the small particles of ore called "slime." a, a, is a wheel
having flanges on its edge, as shewn in the section of the same marked. b is a

page_text: hopper of the construction herein-before described with reference to Figure 4,
into which the small ore or slime is put, and by which the same is delivered on or
near the highest point of the flanged edge of the wheel a. c is a trough some-
what narrower than the edge of the wheel a, which trough delivers a stream of
water in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrows, while the wheel and
the slime delivered thereon are moving slowly in the direction indicated by the.
said arrow. The stream of water, in passing over and among the particles of
ore, carries with it the lighter particles of earthy matter, and delivers them
suspended in it on the inclined plane d, from whence they pass to the trough
or reservoir e, while the heavier particles of ore, being undisturbed by the
stream of water, are carried forward by the moving wheel, and fall from it into
the trough on the side opposite to that at which the earthy particles are
delivered.
The several machines herein described are applicable for separating gene-
rally, where there is a difference in the densities of the substances to bo
separated.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise methods of carrying my Invention into effect herein-
before described and represented in the accompanying Drawing, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I
claim,-
Firstly, the construction of a jigging apparatus, the bottom of which is per-
forated with holes of a sufficient size to allow of the particles of ore being
dressed to pass through them; also the application to a jigging apparatus of
tubes or spouts for conducting away the carthy particles separated by the
action of the apparatus from the particles of ore, as herein described and
represented in Figure 4 of the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly, the construction of an apparatus for dressing ores, in which the
ore to be dressed is introduced into a trough or vessel partly immersed in water,
and the lighter or earthy particles separated from the heavier particles of
ore by means of an oscillatory motion communicated to the said trough, as
herein described and represented in Figures 5, 6, 7, & 8, of the accompany
Drawing.
Thirdly, the construction of an apparatus for dressing ores, in which the ore
to be dressed is delivered on or near the highest point of the edge of a wheel
rotating in a vertical plane, the said ore being submitted to the action of a
stream of water delivered on the said edge of the said wheel, and moving

page_text: in a direction opposite to that in which the said ore is moving, as herein
described and represented in Figure 9 of the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Henry Capper, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.