Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Filtering Water.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Dec., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Sent., 1894-Accepted, 10th Nov., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Filtering Water.
I, JOHN FREDERICK CREASE, C.B., of Sion, Stourbridge, in the County of
Worcester, Major-General in Her Majesty's Army (Retired), do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to improvements in or relating to apparatus for
filtering water specially suitable for use on board ships, and it has for objects to
improve the construction and operation of such apparatus, to render the filter
readily accessible and removable for cleaning or other purpose and likewise to
enable the filter to be more readily ventilated (and the water thus aerated) than
has heretofore been usual. To render the filter easily accessible and detachable it
is made separate from and arranged externally of the filtered water storage tank
with which it is placed in communication by one or more pipes provided with a
controlling valve or valves. The filter may advantageously comprise a metal box
or casing provided with a perforated false bottom and one or more transverse
partitions, these being so arranged as to form two filtering chambers that are in
communication with each other through the chamber or space between the false
and true bottoms and are charged with filtering material, that may advantageously
consist of carbalite, compressed in place by adjustable perforated plates set up by
bolts and nuts, the spaces above these plates serving as water supply and delivery
chambers.
In one arrangement such a filter is suitably secured to the top of the storage
tank, the water delivery chamber of such filter and the upper portion of said tank
being connected by a delivery pipe provided with a valve, the said tank
being provided with a water tight cover and with an air escape cock or valve.
The water to be filtered may be stored in a tank arranged above the filter so that
the filtration may be effected under pressure. In order however to aerate the water
and filtering material and at the same time to obtain a suitable pressure to effect
rapid filtration, the top of the filter may advantageously have secured thereto a
rising pipe (hereinafter called the aerating and pressure pipe) into which the water
to be filtered is delivered by a pump and which at the bottom is in communication
with the supply chamber of the filter and at the top with the external atmosphere,
the arrangement being such that by suitably controlling the rate of supply of
water to the aerating and pressure pipe any desired pressure within the limits
determined by the height of the pipe can be obtained. To prevent the water
being forced out of the top of the pipe, the latter may be provided with a valve
operated by a float and adapted to close the pipe when the water rises therein to a
predetermined height, the valve at other times remaining open and allowing air to
enter the filter with the water from the pump, so as to thereby aerate such water
and also the material through which it filtrates. The said aerating and pressure
pipe will also serve as a vent pipe when necessary, to prevent undue air pressure.
within the filter.
"
In a modified construction the lower end of the pressure pipe is provided with a
branch connected to the top of the second filtering chamber and fitted with a valve,
and the space or chamber between the false and true bottoms of the filter is
connected by a pipe to the other pipe and controlled by a valve such as a three-
way valve, the arrangement being such that the water to be filtered can be passed
through the two filtering chambers in succession or can be admitted to the top of
each filtering.chamber simultaneously and after being filtered by descension once
can be.led.direct, into the filtered water storage tank through the three-way valve
and delivery.Dine.

page_text: In another construction the filter proper with or without the aerating and
pressure pipe may be placed at any suitable distance from and in any relative
position to the storage tank for filtered water, the said tank being provided if
necessary with a water tight cover and an escape cock or valve as in the other
arrangement.
The above described arrangements of aerating and pressure pipe may advan-
tageously be used in connection with a filter secured within the upper part of
the filtered water storage tank, in which case the outer bottom of the filter
box or casing can be dispensed with, the filtered water falling direct into the tank
below.
In a modified construction of filter, the supply and delivery chambers at
opposite sides of the filtering material, are arranged at the ends of the filter box
or casing so that when the latter is arranged horizontally, as usual, the filtration
will be effected in a horizontal direction instead of in a vertical one as in the
previous arrangement. Such a filter may however be turned on end so that the
filtration will take place in a vertical direction: or the filter may be inclined-and
there may be partition plates so arranged as to increase the distance through which
the water has to travel through the filtering material.
To enable the height of filtered water in the storage tank to be readily
determined I employ a gauge glass that is carried by tubular sockets in com-
munication with the top and bottom of the tank and is preferably held and
supported in place by a suitable holder such for example as a concave metal strip
provided at intervals with clips to embrace the tube. To admit of the air in the
tank being readily displaced by the entering water, the upper socket is or may be
provided with a tap; or this tap may be secured direct to the upper portion of the
tank as herein before mentioned.
In another construction of filtering apparatus according to this invention, the
filter proper is secured to the underside of a water supply tank which may be
carried by feet or by a stand, and a cock or valve is provided by which the
filtered water can be drawn off direct for use from the delivery chamber of the
filter box or casing itself, the storage tank for filtered water being in this case
dispensed with.
The various portions of the filter and storage tank with which the water would
come in contact, may advantageously be enamelled.
As will be evident the details of construction may be variously modified in
carrying out my invention which is applicable in whole or in part to filters and
tanks of various forms.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Filtering Water.
I, JOHN FREDERICK CREASE, C.B., of Sion, Stourbridge, in the County of
Worcester, Major-General in Her Majesty's Army (Retired), do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has reference to improvements in or relating to apparatus for
filtering water, specially suitable for use on board ships, and it has for objects to
improve the construction and operation of such apparatus, to render the filter
readily accessible and removable for cleaning or other purpose, and likewise to
enable the filter to be more readily ventilated, and the water thus aerated, than has
·

page_text: heretofore been usual. To render the filter easily accessible and detachable, it is
made separate from and arranged external to the filtered water storage tank with
which it is placed in communication by one or more pipes provided with a controlling
valve or valves.
And in order that my invention may be fully understood I will proceed to
explain the same by aid of the accompanying drawings, in which,
Fig. 1 shows partly in vertical section and partly in side elevation, and
Fig. 2 in end elevation, filtering apparatus according to this invention.
The filter proper comprises a metal box or casing 1 provided with a perforated
false bottom 2, and a transverse partition 3, these being so arranged as to form two
filtering chambers 4 that are in communication with each other through the chamber
or space 5 between the false and true bottoms, and are charged with filtering
material, which may advantageously consist of carbalite, compressed in place by
adjustable perforated plates 6 set up by bolts 7 and nuts 8, the spaces 9 and 10
above these plates serving as water supply and delivery chambers respectively.
In the arrangement now being described, such a filter is removably secured, as
for example by flanges 11 and bolts and nuts 12, to the top of the filtered water
storage tank 13, the water delivery chamber 10 of such filter and the upper portion
of the said tank, being connected together by a delivery pipe 14 provided with a
valve 15. The said tank is provided with a water-tight cover and with an air
escape cock or valve 16. The water to be filtered, may be stored in a tank
arranged at a level above the filter, and in any suitable place, so that the filtration
will be effected under pressure.
In order to aerate the water and filtering material, and at the same time to
obtain a suitable pressure to effect rapid filtration, the top of the filter may
advantageously have secured thereto a rising pipe 17 (hereinafter called the aerating
and pressure pipe) into which the water to be filtered is delivered by a pipe 18
from a pump or overhead tank (not shown). The said pipe 17 is in communication
at its lower end with the supply chamber 9 of the filter, and at the top with the
external atmosphere, the arrangement being such that by suitably controlling the rate
of supply of water to the said aerating and pressure pipe, any desired pressure, within
the limits determined by the height of the pipe, can be obtained. To prevent the water
being forced out of the top of the pipe, the latter may be provided with a valve 19,
as shown in plan and sectional elevation in Figs. 3 and 4 respectively, and which
may be made as a float valve, as shown, or be operated by a float, so as, in either
case, to close an air inlet opening 19" in a valve box 19 at the top of the pipe,
when the water rises therein to a predetermined height. The valve at other times
remains open, as shown, and allows air to enter the filter with the water, so as to
thereby aerate such water, and also the material through which it filtrates. The
said aerating and pressure pipe 17 will also serve as a vent pipe when necessary, to
prevent undue air pressure within the filter. Its upper end may in some cases be
unprovided with an automatic closing valve, as shown in Fig. 5.
To enable the height of filtered water in the storage tank 13 to be readily
determined, I may employ a gauge glass 20, as shown in Fig. 2, and to a larger
scale in cross section in Fig. 6. This gauge glass is carried by tubular sockets 21
in communication with the top and bottom of the said tank, and is preferably held
and supported in place by a suitable holder such for example as a concave metal
strip 22 provided at intervals with clips 22" to embrace the tube. To admit of the
air in the tank being readily displaced by the entering water, the upper socket 21
is, or may be, provided with a tap 16; or this tap may be secured direct to the
upper portion of the tank.
.
The lower end of the pressure pipe 17 may advantageously be provided with a
branch 17" connected to the top of the second filtering chamber 10 and fitted with
a valve 17, and the space or chamber 5 between the false and true bottom of the
filter be connected to the pipe 14 by a pipe 14ª controlled by the valve 15, which
in this case may be a three-way valve. By this modified arrangement, the water
to be filtered can be passed either through the two filtering chambers in succession,

page_text: or can be admitted to the top of each filtering chamber simultaneously, and, after
being filtered by descension once, can be led direct into the filtered water storage
tank 13 through the pipe 14, three-way valve 15, aud the lower end 14* of the
delivery pipe 14.
The filter, filtered water storage tank 13, and water supply pipe 18, are shown
arranged below the deck 23 of a ship through and above which the aerating and
pressure pipe 17 extends.
Fig. 7 shows an arrangement of filtering apparatus similar to that shown in
Figs. 1 and 2, except that the aerating and pressure pipe 17 is made much shorter,
so that the water supply from the pipe 18 can be delivered into its upper open end
which is arranged to terminate below the deck 23, the aeration in this case taking
place from below deck.
Fig. 8 shows an arrangement similar to that shown in Fig. 7, except that the
pressure pipe 17 with its branch pipe 17", is connected at its upper end direct to
the water supply pipe 18, so that the water will be delivered under pressure to the
filter, though the water and filter will not be aerated as in the arrangements herein
previously described.
Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are sectional elevations showing modified arrangements in
which the transverse partition 2 in the filter does not extend to the top of the
removable and external box or casing 1, so that the water to be filtered passes
simultaneously through both masses of filtering material in the compartments 4, and
in which there is no bottom to the filter box or casing so that the filtered water,
upon passing through the perforated plate 2, falls direct into the storage tank 13,
to the top of which the filter is detachably secured. In Fig. 9, the pipe 17, which
is without the branch 17° (Figs. 1, 2, 7 and 8), extends above the deck 23, as in
Figs. 1 and 2; in Fig. 10 it terminates below the deck, as in Fig. 7; and in Fig. 11
it is directly connected to the water supply pipe 18, as in Fig. 8.
The above described arrangements of aerating and pressure pipe may advan-
tageously be used in connection with a filter secured within the upper part of the
filtered water storage tank 13, in which case the outer bottom of the filter box or
casing can be dispensed with, the filtered water falling direct into the tank below.
Two such arrangements are shown in Figs. 12 & 13 which, in other respects, are
similar to the arrangements shown in Figs. 9 & 10 respectively. Fig. 14 shows a
similar arrangement to that shown in Fig. 11, except that the filter is arranged
within the upper part of the storage tank, the walls of which also form the external
walls of the filter.
Fig. 15 is a sectional elevation, showing an arrangement similar to that shown in
Figs. 1 & 2 except that the pressure pipe 17, with branch pipe 17", is connected
direct to a water supply pipe 18 in connection with an unfiltered water supply
tank 18 supported above the deck 23, and a separate aerating pipe 17*, extending
through and above the said deck, is provided in connection with the water supply
chamber 9 of the filter.
Fig. 16 is a sectional elevation showing a modified construction of removable
filter in which the supply and delivery chambers 9 & 10 respectively thereof, at
opposite sides of the filtering material, are arranged at the ends of the filter box or
casing 1, so that when the latter is arranged horizontally, as shown, the filtration
will be effected in a horizontal direction, as indicated by the arrows, instead of in a
vertical direction, as in the herein previously described arrangements. Such a
filter may however be turned on end as shown in Fig. 18, so that the filtration will
take place in a vertical direction; or the filter may be inclined,-and there may be
partition plates so arranged in the box or casing 1 as to increase the distance
through which the water has to travel through the filtering material. In each of
the arrangements shown in Figs. 16 & 17, the filter may be provided with an
aerating and pressure pipe 17 that extends through and above the deck, the supply
water being delivered to this pipe at a point below the deck in Fig. 16, and at a
point above the deck in Fig. 17, from a tank 18" that is also above the deck.
Fig. 18 is a sectional elevation showing another construction of filtering apparatus

page_text: according to this invention in which the filter proper 1 is detachably secured in
place below the water supply tauk 18", which may be carried by feet 13", or by a
stand. The filter is similar in construction to that shown in Figs. 1 & 2. The
pipe 17 however, extends upwards through and above the tank 18* and deck 23,
and is provided with a water supply branch 18 in communication with the tank 18*;
and the delivery pipes 14 & 14 terminate in a cock 14* by which the filtered
water can be drawn off direct for use from the delivery chamber 10, or 5, of the
filter box or casing itself, or from both 10 and 5, a storage tank for filtered water
being in this case dispensed with. The removable filter proper, with or without
the aerating and pressure pipe 17, instead of being placed directly upon the top of
the storage tank for filtered water, or below such tank, as hereinbefore described,
may be placed at any suitable distance from, and in any relative position to, the
said tank, which may, if necessary, be provided with a water tight cover, and an
air escape cock or valve, as in the other arrangements herein before described.
Fig. 19 is a sectional elevation showing such an arrangement, in which the filter 1,
which is similar in construction to that shown in Figs. 1 & 2, is placed above the
deck 23, and is connected by its delivery pipe 14, with the filtered water tank 13
placed below the deck, and, by its branch pipes 17 and 17" and pipe 18, with a
water supply tank 18", also supported above the deck.
The filtered water may be discharged into the storage tank 13 over a perforated
pinte 13 (Fig. 1), or through a perforated pipe 13b (Fig. 16) in order that it may
descend in streams through the air in the tank and thus become further aerated.
As will be evident the details of construction of my filtering apparatus, may be
variously modified in carrying out my invention, which is applicable in whole or in
part to filters and tanks of various forms.
The various portions of the filter and storage tank with which the water will
come in contact, may advantageously be enamelled.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A filtering apparatus in which the filtering chambers with compressed filtering
material, water supply chamber, water supply pipe with its branches (with or
without ventilating pipe), delivery chamber, and delivery pipe, are arranged
substantially as hereinabove described with reference to Figs. 1 & 2 of the
accompanying drawings, the arrangement being such that water under pressure
can be caused to pass through the two filtering chambers in succession, or through
both of them simultaneously, as set forth.
2. A filtering apparatus of the kind herein referred to in which the filter proper
is made readily removable from the storage tank for filtered water, as described.
3. Providing in a filtering apparatus of the kind herein referred to, a water supply
pipe open at its upper end to the external atmosphere, the arrangement being such
that the pipe will serve as au aerating and pressure pipe, whether or not the upper
end of the said pipe be provided with a valve adapted to close the top of the pipe
when water rises therein to a predetermined level, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
4. Filtering apparatus constructed arranged and operating substantially as
hereinbefore described with reference to and illustrated by the accompanying
drawings.