AN IMPROVED FILTER FOR WATER OR OTHER LIQUIDS
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
BAGSHAW, of the Parish of Saint James, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patents under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Sixth day of November, in the fifth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Samuel Bagshaw, His especial licence that I, the said Samuel Bagshaw,
my exors, adiiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel
Bagshaw, my exors, adññors, 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, and also
within all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of
"AN IMPROVED FILTER FOR WATER OR OTHER LIQUIDS;" in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Samuel Bagshaw, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said 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
Samuel Bagshaw, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,

page_text: and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascer-
tained in the following explanation thereof, that is to say:--
I take five parts, by measure, of pulverized charcoal, and five such parts of
pulverized stone, and two such parts of potters' clay. I combine these sub-
stances with water into a fit state for moulding. I form with this composition
the figure of a ring, of which the side is about one third of an inch thick, the
depth about three inches, and the diameter is made suitable to the vessel into
which is to be placed. I then form flat pieces of about an eighth or three
sixteenths of an inch thick, and of the same depth as that of the aforesaid ring,
and of such different lengths as will fit across the aforesaid ring thus:
I place one of these pieces upon another of the same length, inserting
between them pasteboard or other substance so as to prevent them
from uniting except at those three edges which will form their tops and sides
when they are fixed across the said ring. I then unite the two pieces
together along the aforesaid three edges; I afterwards withdraw the substance
which I had inserted, and thus Icave a space between the interior sides and
between the bottoms of the said united pieces. I place these double pieces
across the aforesaid ring at the distance of about half an inch from each
other, and unite them with the ring; I then form a bottom between each of
the said double picces, and I perforate these bottoms with small holes; I
afterwards bake this apparatus; it has hitherto been baked in a pipe-
maker's oven. I afterwards place my said apparatus into such a vessel as
is used for a filtering machine at about an inch from the bottom of it, but I
do not confine myself to the use of such vessel, and I fasten the upper edge of
my said apparatus to the side of the vessel by forcing between them cloth or
other material, and covering such material with cement.
I claim as my Invention a combination of the clay, charcoal, and stone,
making up the material of the apparatus with the form and manner of
the apparatus itself as above described. The pulverized stone which
I have used is sold in London under the name of mason's dust, and, as
I am informed, is found at or near Godstone, in the county of Surrey;
but I do not confine myself to the use of this stone, as other stone of the
same kind will answer the purpose. I use as large quantities of the charcoal
and stone as can be done without rendering the composition too friable after it
has been baked; their quantities therefore will depend upon the quality of the
clay which is used. Neither do I confine myself to any particular size, depth,
or shape of my said apparatus. The size will depend upon the quantity of
water or other liquids which it is intended to filter. The depth may be
increased according to the degree of pressure of the liquid to which it is to be

page_text: subjected. The shape may be various; it may be square or double. Rings
of various sizes may be fixed one within the other, instead of using the afore-
mentioned double pieces, which are fixed across the aforesaid ring. My
Invention applies principally to water, but it may also be used advantageously
for other liquids, as wine or gin. I do not claim as any part of my Invention
the mode of filling this machine, which I shall now describe:-
I fill the interior of my said apparatus with coarse river sand, which I
continue to the thickness of about a quarter or half an inch, or more, above
it; upon this I place a mixture of equal parts of gravel, which is coarser than
the said sand, and charcoal of the same sized grain to the thickness of three
or four inches, or more. Upon this I place pebbles mixed with lumps of
charcoal to the thickness of two inches or more. I then fasten on the lid, in
which is fixed the usual sponge or sponges.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Bagshaw, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.
Inrolled the Sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-five.