IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MIXING PRECIPITATING MATERIALS WITH SEWAGE AND REMOVING' DEPOSITS, WHICH APPARATUS IS APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Syed Copland, of No. 14, Duke Street,
Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MIXING PRECIPITATING MATERIALS WITH
SEWAGE AND REMOVING' DEPOSITS, WHICH APPARATUS IS APPLICABLE
FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
ALSO
Sealed the 11th January 1873, and dated the 17th July 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Syed Copland
•
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th July 1872.
I, HENRY SYED COPLAND, of No. 14, Duke Street, Adelphi, in the.
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MIXING PRECIPITATING
MATERIALS WITH SEWAGE AND REMOVING DEPOSITS, WHICH APPARATUS IS APPLI-
CABLE ALSO FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
. This Invention relates to an arrangement of apparatus adaptable
either to circular, rectangular, or other tanks or reservoirs for effectually
and uniformly mixing precipitating materials with sewage in such

page_text: tanks or reservoirs and afterwards removing deposits from the same
for further treatment.
The apparatus is applicable also for mixing other fluid or semi-fluid
substances of unequal densities in tanks or reservoirs and removing
portions of the contents of such tanks or reservoirs.
In arranging the apparatus for dealing with the contents of rect-
angular tanks or reservoirs I construct a tramway or track between two
such tanks or reservoirs for the apparatus to travel on.
The apparatus consists of a travelling platform or carriage with arms
at its sides overhanging the tanks or reservoirs and supporting shafts to
which are attached a number of radiating arms or agitators reaching
close to the bottom of the tanks or reservoirs and having a continuous
or rotary motion.
This motion may be given to the radiating arms by gearing from one
or more of the axles of the travelling platform or carriage. The shafts
carrying the radiating arms or agitators may be placed vertically,
horizontally, or obliquely to the direction of the tanks or reservoirs, and
may by suitable gearing be made to revolve faster on their axes than
would be due to the rate of progress of the travelling platform or
carriage, and they may revolve in the same or in the reverse direction:
to that of the movement of the travelling platform or carriage, or they
may revolve in contrary directions to each other.
The travelling platform or carriage carries also a receptacle in which
the precipitating or other materials to be added to those in the tanks
or reservoirs are mixed with the necessary quantity of fluid and kept
at a uniform density by means of a suitable agitator, and in connection
with this receptacle suitable perforated tubes or channels are provided
for conducting the precipitating or other materials over the radiating
arms or agitators and discharging such materials into the tanks or
reservoirs. The travelling platform or carriage may also be provided
with suitable adjustable apparatus, which may be connected to it when
required for the purpose of removing the whole or part of the deposit
or contents from the tanks or reservoirs, by a slowly advancing
motion of the travelling carriage or platform towards the outlet.
Motion may be given to the apparatus by means of a rope fastened
at either end to the opposite ends of the travelling platform and passing
over a pulley at a fixed anchorage at one end of the tramway, and

page_text: around a barrel or drum driven by steam and with suitable reversing gear
at the other end; but I do not confine myself to this-method of giving
motion to the apparatus.
The above arrangement may be modified for application to a single
tank or reservoir by laying one rail or track at either side of the tank
or reservoir and arranging the platform and its mixing apparatus at the
centre or at one end of the travelling apparatus.
In applying my Invention to a circular tank of large diameter in lieu
of the overhanging arms a girder may be made to reach across the.
tank and to travel at its respective ends upon a circular rail round a
fixed axis, the submerged shafts and radiating arms or agitators being
caused to rotate as before; and the precipitating or other materials being
contained in a suitable vessel carried by and revolving with the travelling
platform or carriage and provided with an agitator which may be fixed
on the fixed axis or made to revolve at a greater rate than the mixing
vessel in the same or an opposite direction, as may be deemed most
suitable for the particular case under treatment.
The distribution of the precipitating or other materials will be effected
as before by perforated tubes or channels extending from the central
vessel with regulating valves to direct the rate of supply.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Syed. Copland in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th January 1873.
J
1
44
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
SYED COPLAND, of No. 14, Duke, Street, Adelphi, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
.
T
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Syed Copland, Her special license
that I, the said Henry Syed Copland, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Syed Copland, my

page_text: 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS 5
FOR MIXING PRECIPITATING MATERIALS WITH SEWAGE AND REMOVING DEPOSITS,
WHICH APPARATUS IS APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Syed Copland, 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 1
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 Henry Syed Copland, do hereby 1
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof (that is to say)
This Invention relates to an arrangement of apparatus adaptable
either to circular, rectangular, or other tanks or reservoirs for effectually 2
and uniformly mixing precipitating materials with sewage in such tanks
or reservoirs and afterwards removing deposits from the same for
further treatment:
The apparatus is applicable also for mixing other fluid or semi-fluid
substances of unequal densities in tanks or reservoirs, and removing 2
portions of the contents of such tanks or reservoirs.
In arranging the apparatus for dealing with the contents of rect-
angular tanks or reservoirs I construct a tramway or track between
two such tanks or reservoirs for the apparatus to travel on.
The apparatus consists of a travelling platform or carriage with arms 3
at its sides overhanging.the, tanks or reservoirs and supporting shafts,
to which are attached a number of radiating arms or agitators reaching
close to the bottom of the tanks or reservoirs and having a continuous
or rotary motion.
This motion may be given to the radiating arms by gearing from one 3
or more of the axles of the travelling platform or carriage. The shafts

page_text: ▸
carrying the radiating arms or agitators may be placed vertically,
horizontally, or obliquely to the direction of the tanks or reservoirs, and
may by suitable gearing be made to revolve faster on their axes than
would be due to the rate of progress of the travelling platform or
carriage, and they may revolve in the same or in the reverse direction to
that of the movement of the travelling platform or carriage, or they
may revolve in contrary directions to each other.
'
:
The travelling platform or carriage carries also a receptacle in which
the precipitating or other materials to be added to those in the tanks
or reservoirs are mixed, with the necessary quantity.of fluid, and kept at
a uniform density by means of a suitable agitator, and in connexion
with this receptacle suitable perforated tubes or channels are provided
for conducting the precipitating or other materials over the radiating
arms or agitators and discharging such materials into the tanks or
reservoirs. The travelling platform or carriage may also be provided
with suitable adjustable apparatus which may be connected to it when
required for the purpose of removing the whole or part of the deposit or
contents from the tanks or reservoirs by a slowly advancing motion of
the travelling carriage or platform towards the outlet. Motion may be
given to the apparatus by means of a rope fastened at either end to the
opposite ends of the travelling platform, and passing over a pulley at a
fixed anchorage at one end of the tramway, and around a barrel or. drum
driven by steam and with suitable reversing gear at the other end;
but I do not confine myself to this method of giving motion to the
apparatus.
•
The above arrangement may be modified for application to a single
tank or reservoir by laying one rail or track at either side of the tank
or reservoir and arranging the platform and its mixing apparatus at the
centre or at one end of the travelling apparatus.
.
In applying my Invention to a circular tank of large diameter in lieu
of the overhanging arms a girder may be made to reach across the tank,
and to travel at its respective ends upon a circular rail round a fixed
axis, the submerged shafts and radiating arms or agitators being caused
to rotate as before, and the precipitating or other materials being con-
tained in a suitable vessel carried by and revolving with the travelling
platform or carriage, and provided with an agitator which may be fixed
on the fixed axis or made to revolve at a greater rate than the mixing

page_text: into the tanks or. reservoirs d. For the purpose of removing the whole
or part of the deposit or contents from the tanks or reservoirs by a
slowly advancing motion of the travelling carriage or platform towards
the outlet, I draw the bevil wheels of the axle h out of gear with the
wheels g', and to the arms f I temporarily secure a strip of wood or
iron about the same length as the width of the tank. This strip of wood
or iron carries a stiff strip or flap of india-rubber or leather, or such
like material, or a row of suitable bristles extending to the bottom of
the tank so as to sweep forward the deposit as the carriage travels
towards the outlet end of the tank, from whence the deposit can be
removed for further treatment by gravitation, pumping, or other well-
known means.
:
Motion is given to the apparatus by means of a rope n kept tight by
adjusting screws n', and fastened at each end to the respective ends of
the travelling platform. This rope passés over a pulley o at a fixed
anchorage at one end of the tramway, and round a clip pulley p at the
other end. The two fast pulleys q, q', are keyed on to the shaft r, and
the two loose pullies 8, 8¹, are capable of turning freely on the said shaft.
The driving belt t passes direct over a pulley u on the shaft v, which
receives motion from a suitable engine in the ordinary way. The driving
belt is crossed on its way, to the pulley u¹ on the shaft v.
.
By this arrangement when the belt is on the pulley q it will drive
the shaft r in the same direction as the shaft vis moving in; but when
the belt is on the pulley q' it will drive the shaft r in the contrary
direction; w is a sector lever having its fulcrum at w¹; it is formed
with teeth which gear into the teeth of a pinion x. This pinion is
formed with an internal screw, and fits freely on a correspondingly
screwed rod or bar y provided at each end with a fork, as shewn at y¹, y³.
is a lever forked at each end, and having its fulcrum at z¹, so that
the upper part of the rope n passes between the upper prongs at 22,
and the under part of the rope through the lower prongs at 2³. The
lever is connected by a rod 1 to the lower arm of the sector
lever w.
In the position of the parts, as shewn in Figs. 2 and 4, the travelling
carriage has just reached the farther end of the tank, and the knot n² on
the rope 'n has moved the lower forked end 23 of the lever z towards
the sector lever wo, thereby turning the sector lever and pinion x, and
by the screw in the latter moving the screwed bar y so as to shift the

page_text: • belt,t on to the loose pulley & and the belt fon to the fast pulley q¹ in
readiness for the return travel of the carriage which' is now about to
: commence. As the carriage approaches the driving end of the tank the
knot n³ of the rope will carry with it the upper end of the lever z,
thereby throwing over the sector lever w, pinion x, and
shift the belt t on to the fast pulley 9 and the belt
pulley & for the return travel, and so on.
'
"
t
7
bar,y, so as to
on to the loose
On Sheet 2 of the accompanying. Drawings my Invention is repre-
sented as applied to a circular tank. The apparatus in this case is
constructed with a square shaft 2 made to reach across the tank d and
to travel at its respective ends upon a circular rail 6 round the shaft 3,
the submerged shafts e and radiating arms or agitators f being caused
to rotate by bevil gearing 9, g³, from the shaft 3, as shewn.
The precipitating or other materials are contained in the vessel i,
carried by girders 4, partly supported by the central shaft 3, and pro-
vided with an agitator which is fixed on and revolves with the said
shaft 3.
The distribution of the precipitating or other materials is effected by
the perforated tubes m extending from the central vessel i, and provided
with regulating valves to direct the rate of supply.
The shaft 3 may be actuated by a clip pulley and an endless rope,.
or in any other convenient way.
: Circular tanks with apparatus as described may be advantageously
arranged in sets for dealing with large quantities of material.
Having described my said Invention of "Improved Apparatus for
Mixing Precipitating Materials with Sewage and Removing Deposits,
which Apparatus is applicable also for other Purposes," and having ex-
plained the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it
'to be understood that I do not claim as of my Invention or the exclusive
"use of the several mechanical parts herein-before described and referred
to, except when the same are used in and for the purposes of my said
Invention, as respects which I claim,―
First. The construction and arrangement of travelling apparatus
for mixing and precipitating purposes, substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated on Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings.

page_text: Secondly. The combination with the travelling carriage of the arrange-
ment for actuating and reversing its direction of motion, substantially
as shewn in and described with reference to Figs. 2, 4, 6, and 7 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly. The construction and arrangement of mixing and pre-
cipitating apparatus, substantially as shewn on and described with
reference to Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Syed Copland, have here
unto set my hand and scal, this Seventeenth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
HENRY S. COPLAND. (L.S.)