Year: 1886

page_text: I, HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of 52 Chancery Lane, London, in the county of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, which
has been communicated to me from abroad by James Henry Blessing, of Albany,
in the State of New York, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Figure 1 is a vertical section of my apparatus;
Figures 2 and 3 are vertical sections of same, taken at right angles to Fig. 1, on
the lines xx and y y respectively;
Figure 4, a plan view;
Figure 5, a detached plan view of the percolating plate and clearing device;
Figure 6, a vertical section of same at the line 22;
Figure 7, an enlarged vertical section of a portion of the same;
Figure 8, a plan view of valve-seat for the current-reversing valve; and
Figure 9, an inverted plan view of the current-reversing valve.
This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for filtering water, and
it consists of a single filtering-chamber, containing granular filtering material,
through which the direction of the current of water can, by means of a single
valve, be reversed, as occasion requires, to either cleanse the water of any impurities
that are held in a state of suspension therein, or to wash from the filtering-
material the deposited impurities that have been separated from the water, the
said impurities to be conveyed from the apparatus through a channel that is inde-
pendent of that through which the filtered water is carried. It also consists of the
percolating device of improved construction, as hereinafter described.
As represented in the drawings A is the shell of the filter, which is preferably
made in a cylindrical form, and has, at its lower part, a chamber B, into which the
filtered water is first received, and from which said filtered water is discharged
through the pipe b; the latter extends upward from the chamber B, and is con-
nected to the cover a, so as to communicate with a passage, a¹, formed in the top

page_text: of said cover: At the bottom of the casing A, directly over the chamber B, a
spider C is secured, and to the lower face of the latter a closely perforated perco-
lating-plate D is attached; beneath the latter is a head E which carries a series of
pins, or plungers, e, equalling in number, and corresponding in position to the
perforations of the plate D, into which perforations said plungers are constantly
retained; the diameter of said plungers should be very slightly less than the
diameter of the perforations-the difference in diameters being just sufficient to
allow water to ooze through the passages thus formed, but insufficient to let the
finest particles of sand pass therethrough. The plungers e are preferably held
in position by means of the perforated plate e¹, which should have its holes drilled
simultaneously with the plate D in order to secure the necessary exactness; the
plate e¹ is secured to the head E by a central stem e' which passes through the hub
of the spider C. The pins, or plungers, e, may be held in the perforations of the
plate D in a stationary position, but in order to obtain a removal of any deposition
that might lodge in said perforations, or on said plungers, I preferably adapt the
head E to receive an occasional reciprocation, whereby the plungers e receive a
slight up-and-down movement in the perforations of the plate, and the said
reciprocating movements should occur when the water currents are arranged to
pass upward (while washing the filtering media, as hereinafter described,) so that
the loosened particles can be carried up and out of the casing during the operation
of washing.
The reciprocating motion of the head E is imparted by an eccentric F which has
a very slight throw, and which is secured to the transverse-shaft G that extends
through a stuffing-box g at the side of the casing A, and the outer end of said
shaft is provided with a hand crank g', or other means, whereby a rotatory motion
can be imparted thereto. The eccentric F is connected, by the rod f, to the
stem e, which slides through a stuffing-box, c, that is formed on the hub of the
spider C.
The casing A is partially filled with a filtering media A¹, which is preferably
composed of a moderately fine beach-sand, and, in order to produce a proper
separation of the particles of said media during the operation of washing any
deposition of foreign matter therefrom, I provide an agitator which consists of one
or more endless chains H, that are driven by the chain sheaves, h, secured to the
shaft G; the lower bends of said endless-chains are carried around grooved
sheaves, h¹, which are fitted to revolve on studs h³ secured to the casing A.
I, a valve-seat provided with two independent induction-ports i and i, and two
independent eduction-ports and ; the induction-port i is arranged to commu-
nicate with the passage a¹, and, through said passage, with the pipe b; and the
induction-port connects with the opening a³ to form a passage which leads
directly into the interior of the casing. The eduction-port 3 connects with the
pipe J by which the filtered water is conveyed to the place where it is to be used;
and the eduction-port connects with the waste-water pipe J¹ through which the
waste-water escapes during the operation of washing the filtering media.
K, a slide-valve fitted to be moved on the valve-seat I by means of the hand-
lever k; said valve is provided with two independent pass-over passages k¹ and ki
the passage is adapted to form a communication between the induction-port i
and the eduction-port ; and the passage k is adapted to form a like communi-
cation between the induction-port and eduction port ; the arrangement of the
ports in the valve-seat and the pass-over passages in the slide-valve must be such
that when the valve is moved into a position to form an open communication
between either one of the induction-ports and its corresponding eduction-port, the
communication between the other induction-port and its corresponding eduction-
port will be reciprocally closed. The valve K is enclosed in the valve-chest L and
its bonnet 2.
M, a supply pipe through which the water is delivered into the valve-chest L.
The operation of my apparatus is as follows: The valve K being placed so that
its pass-over passage will form an open communication between the induction-

page_text: port i and eduction-port is, (as shown in Fig. 2) the induction-port ¹ will thus be
opened to allow the water that comes into the valve-chest L to pass directly into
the interior of the casing A; and from the latter, the water, after it has been
defecated from its impurities by passing through the filtering media, will percolate,
through the minute openings, formed by the perforations in the plate D, around
the plungers e, into the chamber B; from the latter the purified water will pass
through the pipe b into the passage a¹, and from thence, through the induction-
port i, pass-over passage k¹ and eduction-port i³, out of the pipe J to such place as
it may be required; the course of the water, in the process of filtration, from the
valve-chest until its escape from the apparatus, is indicated by arrows in Fig. 2.
During the process of filtration the body of sand, which composes the filtering-
inedia, becomes densely impacted to such a degree that it will prevent any move-
ment of the endless-chains H therethrough. To effect the washing of the filtering
media, the course of the currents of water inust be changed, as indicated by arrows
in Fig. 3; and this change is effected by simply sliding the valve K to open the
induction-port i, and establish a communication, through the pass-over passage k³,
between the induction-port i¹ and eduction-port . When this is accomplished the
water from the valve-chest L passes down through the induction-port i and
passage a¹ into the pipe b and chainber B; from thence, passing upward through
the many minute openings around the plungers e, it enters the body of the filtering
media with sufficient force to break up the compact condition of said body and to
cause the particles to become separated and loosened from each other; when this
occurs the shaft G can be readily rotated, and thereby the plungers e will be
reciprocated, to remove any deposition from said plungers and perforations in the
plate D, and the endless-chains H will be set in motion to produce an agitation of
the particles of the filtering-media, whereby the floculent matter held by said
media will be set free to be carried out of the apparatus by the escaping currents
of water, which then pass through the induction-port ¹, pass-over passage k³, and
eduction-port, and out of the waste-water pipe J¹.
In filters as commonly constructed, the reversal of the currents of water, for the
purpose of washing the filtering-media, can only be effected by the manipulation
of several cocks, or valves, but in my apparatus the reversal of the water-currents
is effected by a single movement of the valve K.
The pins, or plungers, e may be fitted to permanently remain in a stationary
position in the perforations of the plate D, or the form of said pins and plungers,
and the holes in which they are fitted, may be changed from the circular form
shown in the drawing, and a very satisfactory result will be obtained therefrom;
the most essential feature connected with the use of said pins and plungers is
that they must not be fitted into the perforations, or openings, in the plate D so
closely that water will not ooze through the joints, and the joints between the
pins, or plungers, and their corresponding perforations, or openings, must not be
sufficiently open to allow the sand to pass therethrough,
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. In a filtering apparatus, a perforated percolating-plate having pins, or plungers,
inserted in its perforations to produce minute openings through which the water
wil ooze as herein specified.
2. In a filtering apparatus, the combination with a chamber containing sand, or
other filtering media, and a perforated percolating plate, of a reciprocating-head
provided with pins or plungers adapted to slide in the perforations of said per-
colating-plate as and for the purpose herein specified.
3. In a filtering apparatus which contains filtering-media of granular particles,
an agitator composed of a rotative shaft, having chain-sheaves, and endless-chains
driven by said shaft as and for the purpose herein specified.

page_text: 4. In a filtering apparatus, the combination, with a filtering-chamber, containing
a filtering-media of granular material, a percolating-plate separating said filtering-
chamber from an underlying filtered water chamber, and a pipe leading from the
latter to an eduction-port, of a series of pins or plungers fitted into the perforations
of the percolating-plate to produce minute openings through which the water will
ooze, and a single valve for changing the direction of the currents of water through
said filtering-apparatus as herein specified.