IMPROVEMENTS IN SEPARATING AND ASSORTING SOLID MATERIALS OR SUBSTANCES OF DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITIES
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-first day of February, in the thirteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her especial license, full power, sole privilego
and authority, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exors, admors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exors,
admors, 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 mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SEPARATING AND ASSORTING
SOLID MATERIALS OR SUBSTANCES OF DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITIES," being a
communication from a foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled, in-Her Majesty's'

page_text: 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 had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, of improvements in separating and assorting solid materials
or substances of different specific gravities, communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, will be clearly understood from the following description
thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing forming part of this
my Specification.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section, representing the crushing, drying, and screening
portions of the machinery; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the
apparatus, for separating substances according to the difference of their
specific gravities; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of a portion of the
drying apparatus on a larger scale; Fig. 4 is a oross section of the same, to
represent the form of the arms at the ends; Fig. 5 is another cross section of
the drying apparatus on a larger scale, representing the manner of supporting
the cylinder between the bearings of the shaft;. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal
vertical section on an enlarged scale of the rotating series of screens; and
Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10 are cross sections thereof, taken at the lines A a, Bb,
Cc, Dd, of Fig. 6, and looking in the direction of the arrows. The same
letters indicate like parts in all the Figures.
The special object of this Invention is to separate copper ores from the
gangue or foreign matters of different specific gravites, which Invention,
however, is also applicable to the separation or assortment of other substances
having different specific gravities.
Copper ore is generally attached to and mechanically mixed with other
substances, constituting what is called the gangue, and as these substances
thus attached and mixed together generally differ in specific gravity from
the copper ore, this Invention is adapted to the separation of the ore from
the gangue or foreign matter, so far as these substances are of different.
specific gravities. As it depends entirely on the difference of their specific
gravities to effect the desired separation and assortment, it will be obvious that
this Invention is equally applicable to the separation of any other solid sub-
stance from other substances of different specific gravities.

page_text: Copper ore and gangue, as taken from the mine, are generally in masses or
Jumps, and in a moist state.
The first operation to which the ore and gangue is subjected is that of
grinding or crushing, to reduce them into small lumps or particles, which is
the usual process to effect the separation of the ore from the gangue or foreign
matters in which it is embedded, and to which it is attached; but by this
operation it is not reduced to particles of equal size, and as these substances
thus reduced are generally in a moist state, which will cause the particles to
adhere to one another.
The next or second operation is to expose them to heat and air to expel the
moisture, and thus prevent them from adhering during the third operation,
which is that of screening, to separate and assort the different sizes preparatory
to the fourth and last operation, which consists in separating them according
to their different specific gravities, that the ore may be deposited separate from
the foreign matters.
The first part of this Invention, which relates to the screening operation,
consists in preventing the accumulation of dust, dirt, or any other matter on
the sieves, by means of blocks of india-rubber, wood, or other suitable sub-
stance placed between partition plates or divisions attached to the shaft or
otherwise, that the said blocks in moving around and falling may shake the
sieves by gentle blows.
The second part of this Invention consists in the use of a screen or screens,
or sieve or sieves, combined with and arranged in the trunk or passage through
which the current or currents of air pass, to act on the substances whilst falling
by gravity, for the purpose of equalizing the current and preventing the forma-
tion of eddies, that the said current may act with equal force on each particle
whilst falling.
'
In the accompanying Drawing, a, a, represent five pairs of crushing rollers,
which are to be properly mounted in an adequate frame of any appropriate
construction and of requisite strength, and geared in the well-known manner
of gearing rollers for crushing ores or minerals, such as are generally employed
in mines, the two rollers of each set turning towards each other, and each set
turning in the same manner.
The manner of gearing and operating these rollers is not represented in the
accompanying Drawing, as it will be well understood by any competent
machinist or engineer. The five pairs of rollers are not arranged on a vertical
line one above another, but on an inclined line, varying, say, from forty-five
to sixty degrees (more or less), at the discretion of the constructor. The pair of
rollers forming the top set are so adjusted as respects their distance apart as

page_text: to receive the lumps of ore as they come from the mine, or other substance of
the largest size, and partly reduce them; the rollers of the next set below are
a little nearer together, and so on to the rollers forming the lowest set, which
are so near together as to reduce the ore or other substance to the smallest
required size.
The ore or other substance to be worked is placed on a platform b, and
pushed by an attendant over a coarse screen c towards a hopper d, placed
above the first pair of rollers. The meshes of the screen c are equal in size
to the space between the fourth pair of rollers, so that all the lumps below
that size, and which need not, therefore, be acted upon by the first, second, and
third pair of rollers, will pass through the meshes of the screen c on to an
inclined plane e, which conducts them to the inside of an inclined cylinder f
which receives a slow rotating motion from some first mover, or from any part
of the machinery, and by its rotation and inclination the lumps of ore or other
substance are carried down and delivered through apertures 9 on to an
inclined screen h, which delivers the larger lumps to the fourth pair of rollers
to be crushed or reduced. The finer particles, which need not be acted upon
by the fourth pair, pass through the meshes of this screen and fall on to an
inclined plane below, which conducts them to the last pair of rollers. If the
ore or other substance be moist, it may be dried in passing through the cylinder
by the application of heated air outside or inside of the cylinder, or by steam
applied to the outside, or in any of the well-known modes of kiln drying
substances. The inclined side i of the hopper d is a screen, with meshes
coarser than those of the screen c, but of a size equal to the space between
the first pair of rollers, so that when the lumps are discharged into the hopper
those which are small enough will pass through the meshes of the screen on to
another screen j, which forms one side of the hopper for the second pair of
rollers. The largest lumps, which do not pass through the meshes of the
screen i, pass between the first pair of rollers, and are partly crushed and
reduced, and fall thence on to the screen j, the larger lumps passing down
to and between the second pair of rollers to be still farther crushed and
reduced, and the smaller lumps pass through the meshes of the screen j, and
fall on to another inclined screen k, leading to the third pair of rollers. The
lumps which need not be crushed by the third pair of rollers will pass through
the meshes of this screen k on to another inclined screen to be conducted
to the fourth pair of rollers, and the larger lumps will run down to and be
still further crushed by the third pair and fall on to the screen 1, the larger
lumps passing down the surface of this screen to the fourth pair of rollers
and the smaller lumps passing through the screen into the hopper m of the.

page_text: any
last pair of rollers, into which is also discharged all that passes between the
fourth pair of rollers to receive the final crushing. The last pair of rollers
discharge what passes between them into a hopper n, the spout of which
leads into one end of a rotating screen o, receiving motion in desired!
manner from any rotating part of the machinery, and all the particles that
pass through the meshes of this screen are conducted by a spout p into a
receptacle 9, whence they are taken by the buckets of an elevator ŕ and
carried up and delivered into the spouts of the drying cylinder t, but such
of the particles as have not been sufficiently reduced to pass through the
meshes of the screen o, by being carried once between the last pair of rollers,
by reason of flexure or any other cause, or which may have in any manner
got into the rotating sereen o without passing between the last pair of rollers,
will be delivered at the end of the said rotating screen into an elevator
wheel u (rotated by any appropriate means in the direction of the arrow),
the rim of which is formed with inclined buckets to carry them up, and drop
them into the hopper of the last pair of rollers to be recrushed. Each of
the series of inclined screens h; i, j, k, l, m is provided with a shield, bar, or
strip, projecting from the under surface, and placed near the periphery of the
rollars, to prevent the lumps or particles which pass through the meshes of
the screens from falling on to the rollers, and for directing them on to the
screen. In this way all the particles will be reduced to and below the size of
the meshes of the rotating sereen o; so that no particles above a given size.
will be carried to the second or drying operation preparatory to the third
operation, which is that of screening, to separate the particles áccording to.
sizes.
From the foregoing it will be seen that in each of the successive crushing
operations no other portion of the ore or other substance to be reduced passes
between the rollers than is of a size greater than the space between the rollers,.
whilst in other machines heretofore known and used all the particles and
lumps which have to pass through the last crushing operation must previously
pass between all the pairs of rollers. All the pairs of rollers, from the first or
upper to the last or lower pair, should be geared to move with a greater
velocity, so proportioned as to correspond as nearly as prácticable with the
increased quantity of matter which passes between them, the first slowest and
the last fastest.
The number of pairs of rollers may be increased or decreased from the
number above given, according to the judgment of the constructor, who must
be governed in this by the nature of the substance to be operated on, the
number above given being that which is deemed best for the harder kinds of

page_text: ores. If the ore or other substance to be crushed be sufficiently dry, the
drying cylinder may be dispensed with, by connecting the inclined plane e
with the inclined screen to supply the fourth pair of rollers.
After the operation of crushing has been effected, the ore or other substance
is discharged, as before stated, by the spout s into the upper end of an inclined
cylinder t, surrounded, except at the receiving and delivering ends, by a casing
v, into which the products of combustion from one or more furnaces w circulate.
The heated products of combustion thus pass around the cylinder and heat
every part of it as it rotates, and it will be found important to apply a more
intense heat towards the receiving than the delivering end, to prevent the air
as it passes through the cylinder, and becomes more and more charged with
moisture, from condensing and depositing its moisture. If the cylinder be of
too great length more furnaces may be employed, although three in general
will be found sufficient; and if the works be driven by steam power, the
exhaust steam from the engine may be conducted by an exhaust pipe to and
discharged into the casing to aid in heating the drying cylinder and diffusing
the heat. The said drying cylinder is supported by two short shafts, one at
cach end, x, y, having journals running in appropriato boxes, the one at the
receiving end being connected centrally by means of oblique or spiral arms z,
to give a free entrance to the substance or substances to be dried, and the
other y at the delivery end, by similar arms a¹, for the free entrance of a
current of air, which circulates through and escapes at the upper end. The
said cylinder is supported at one or more places between the ends by rolling
on friction rollers 6', b', the peripheries of which for this purpose pass through
the casing v. The cylinder receives a rotary motion from the screening part
of the machinery or from some other first mover by bevel cog wheels c¹, c², on
the shaft y and an oblique shaft d³, and as it rotates its inclination causes the
ore or other substance which is supplied at the upper end to descend and to
pass over the entire heating surface, and when it reaches the lower end it
is discharged in a dried state through apertures e¹ in that part of the periphery
which projects beyond the casing, and from these holes the substance is guided
by a spout f into a recepticle g¹, from whence it is taken by the scoops or
buckets of an endless chain elevator h¹ and discharged into a hopper or
spout of the screening apparatus, which separates and assorts it into the
various sizes. To prevent the escape of the ore or other substance between
the arms a' at the delivery end, there is a screw thread between the arms
and the discharge apertures e¹, which is inclined in the reverse direction of the
motion of the cylinder, and which therefore carries back all the substance
which passes beyond the discharge apertures.

page_text: Instead of the elevators herein described for transferring the ore or other
substance from the crushing to the drying and from the drying to the screen-
ing operations, other means of transferring may be substituted, or if desired
this may be done by hand, but this latter will be at greater expense. And
although the herein described apparatus for drying is deemed the best, any
other adequate mode of drying may be substituted therefor. The elevator
for transferring the ore or other substance to the screening apparatus is
operated by a belt from the shaft d' on to a pulley on a shaft k', which carries
at its upper end a bevel wheel, which engages another wheel on the shaft of
the drum which carries the elevator. The shaft d' also communicates motion
to the shaft m' of the screening apparatus by bevel cog wheels n", n".
The screening apparatus is divided into several sections, 1, 2, 3, 4, Fig. 1,
and each division is divided into three compartments, 5, 6, 7; each division
has four heads or discs n', o', p, q, secured on to the shaft m² at equal distances
apart. These discs are formed at their peripheries with cylindrical flanges.r',
to which are secured cylindrical sieves s³, represented by red lines in Fig. 6, the
first in compartment 5 having the coarsest meshes, and each succeeding one
throughout the compartments and divisions having finer meshes; and to each
of the flanges, outside of and excentric therewith, is attached a cylindrical
ring t¹, leaving an annular space u¹ outside of each disc, and then the cylin-
drical sieves are surrounded by a cylindrical casing v', properly secured to the
cylindrical rings t¹, thus leaving an annular chamber or compartment w³ out-
side of each sieve. At the receiving end there is attached by bolts a short.
inverted conical tube or funnel x, into which the delivery end of the spout i¹
discharges the ore or other substance to be screened or sifted, and as
the screening apparatus rotates the substance passes through apertures y¹
made in the flanch. into the annular space u², where it is caught by
oblique cant pieces or buckets 2¹ and discharged through oblique holes a²
made in the flanch r³, and leading into the inside of the first cylindrical
sieve s¹, and as the substance passes down over the inner surface of the
sieve, by reasons of its rotation and inclination all the particles which are of
less size than the meshes of the sieve will pass through into the surrounding
annular chamber w³, and thence, pass down towards the next disc o' and into
the annular space u¹ surrounding this disc, which space is provided, like the
head before described, with buckets 2', and apertures to transfer all the sub-
stance which passes through the meshes of the first sieve to the inside of the
second sieve; but when the particles which are too large to pass through
the meshes of the first sieve reach the second disc they are discharged through

page_text: radial tubes 6, which extend through the flanch r', annular space u³, and con-
centric ring t into a conduit or spout c², leading into a receptacle or bin
d below. In this way all the substance which passes through the meshes of
the first sieve is transferred to the inside of the second, all that passes through
the inside of the second to the inside of the third, and so on through the series,
each succeeding sieve having finer meshes; and all the particles which do not
pass through the meshes of each sieve are separately discharged through
tubes 63, and conducted by the spouts c³ into separate receptacles or bins.d³.
But as it is deemed inconvenient to make this rotating screening apparatus
of more than three successive compartments, on account of the difficulty of
giving it support when the substances to be operated require to be subdivided
into more than three different sizes, other divisions similar to the one above.
described are to be added, each additional division being constructed and.
operated in the same manner as the first, the shafts of the several divisions
being coupled together as at e³, Fig. 6, the shaft between every. two divisions
having a journal running in a box f" properly supported. The upper end of
each succeeding division should be made like the one above described, and the
lower end of each division has an additional disc g³, secured to the end of the
annular space u³, which is enclosed so as to leave a chamber h³, into which
will be discharged all the substance which passes through the meshes of the
preceeding sieve; and in this chamber there are oblique arms t³, which direct
the substance to apertures (in the disc g³ and around the shaft), whence.
it passes through a spout into the receiving end of the next division. In
this way the apparatus may be made of any length, and any number of divi-
sions and compartments. In each compartment there is a series of thin metal
discs a³, attached to the shaft, and extending so near to the inner periphery of
the series s¹ as to leave only sufficient space between for the passage of the
substances to be separated, and between these discs are placed blocks of
vulcanized india-rubber b³, or blocks of wood, or other substance, made octan-
gular, or of other suitable shape. One, two, or more of such blocks are placed
in each space between every two discs, and as the screening apparatus rotates
these blocks are carried up by rods c³, extending through the discs and parallel
to the shaft, and then dropped, which jars the sieves and prevents the accu-
mulation of matter in the meshes. The size of the blocks and the distance
of the rods c³ from the sieves will determine the height to which they will be
carried up and from which they will fall.
Below the series of receptacles or bins d³ there is an endless apron F
passing around rollers, on to which the contents of any one of the said bins

page_text: can be discharged, and by the motion of the apron, carried to any required
distance, in the building and discharged into any appropriate receptacle, such
as the receptacle g', before described, and from this taken by an elevator to
and discharged into the hopper m², Fig. 2, of the apparatus for separating the
substances according to the difference of their specific gravities. Or, instead
of this apron and elevator, the ore or other substance can be transferred
from any one of the bins & by hand and supplied to the hopper m². One
of the inclined sides of this hopper extends down below the other, and
is there made, as at m², in a segment of a circle, like a concave, over
which
is placed a cylinder o³, with blades or strips on its periphery, running longi-
tudinally and parallel with the axis, and tangential to a circle of about one-half
the diameter of the cylinder. The outer edges of these blades or strips very
nearly touch the surface of the concave, and from their tangential position
they form a series of elevators. The cylinder should receive a slow rotary.
motion from any part of the machinery in the direction of the arrow, so as to
measure out and deliver regularly the ore or other substance over the edge of
the concave. The substance thence runs by gravity down the inclined plane
p3, it strikes against a reversed inclined plane q², thence between the two
against a third inclined plane parallel to p³, and then down vertically.
through the vertical aperture s³ into a trunk t, falling by gravity towards
the bottom thereof, which is formed with compartments or bins u², as many
in number as may be desired. The said trunk is connected at one end.
with a casing, which surrounds a fan wheel or blower w³, 'which by its
rotation receives atmospheric air around the shaft, and by centrifugal force
discharges it at the periphery into the trunk t, where it strikes against the
particles of ore or other substance as they are falling by gravity, and deflects
them to a greater or less distance, according to the difference of their specific
gravity, depositing them in the different bins; for the particles being of equal
size, and impelled by two forces, one in a vertical direction, due to their
specific gravity, and the other horizontal, due to the force of the current of air
acting on particles of equal size, it follows that the lighter the particles the
farther they will be carried; hence the heaviest particles will fall in the bins
nearest the spout through which they fall, and the lightest in the bins which
are the furthest therefrom. But as it is highly important that the current of
air passing through the trunk should be regular and always in the samo.
direction, one, two, or more screens or sieves a³ are placed vertically and
transversely in the trunk between the fan blower and the aperture through
which the substance falls, so that the air shall be forced through the fine
meshes of the said screens or sieves before acting on the falling particles to

page_text: deflect them. In this way the current is rendered regular and without
eddies.
For supporting the screens or sieves against the force of the pressure of the
column of air, a sash made of wires attached to a frame may be placed at
back of each sieve or screen.
In making the trunk care should be taken to have it closed all round
except where it receives the air from the fan and the end where the current
escapes, and this latter should be made as far as practicable from the place
where the current acts on the substances to be separated.
It will be obvious that any number of apparatus for separating according to 1
specific gravities may be used side by side, but it will be found that one is
sufficient for a screening apparatus of forty compartments, for the contents of
the different bins d' of the screening apparatus can be transferred in succession
to the hopper m² of the winnowing apparatus.
.
Although it has been deemed advisable to describe the entire mode of pro- 1
cedure, and the machinery on which the present improvements are based, and
to which they are applied, it is not intended thereby to make a general claim
to the several parts thereof, but to limit the Specification of claims as herein-
after to certain improvements thereon.
5
From the foregoing it will be seen that the first operation, to which the 2
substances to be separated and assorted are subjected, is that of reducing the
larger lumps or masses into small lumps or particles, which when applied to
the purpose of obtaining ores, particularly of copper, is necessary to the
separation from the gangue or other foreign matter to which they are attached
or in which they are imbedded, and the metallurgist will recognize this as the g
well-known operation heretofore extensively used for this purpose, although
the machinery is new in part, as pointed out. But this part of the Invention
may be employed for crushing and separating according to sizes other sub-
stances, such as stones for making roads.
As to the first part of this Invention, the form and substance of the blocks 3
for keeping the sieves clean may be varied at pleasure, as also the means of
keeping them separate and elevating them, although the form, substance, and
arrangement above described is deemed the best, as the object of this part of
the Invention is slightly to jar the sieves in such way as to prevent the
accumulation of matter, which would otherwise choke the meshes, and thus 3
prevent the free working of the sieves, so necessary to an accurate division of
the particles.
And as to the second part of this Invention, it is not intended to be limited
to the employment of any particular kind of blower, nor to the number,

page_text: whether one or more, nor to the kind or number of screens or sieves for
régulating the current or currents, as the object is simply to have the current
of sufficient force, and steady and direct.
Having now described the Invention of improvements in separating and
assorting solid materials or substances of different specific gravities, I wish
it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I
claim,―
First, the cleaning of the sieves and preventing the choking of the meshes
thereof by means of tumbling blocks of any form arranged between partitions
or divisions within the sieves, substantially as described.
And, secondly, regulating the current of air by means of a sieve or sieves, or
or screens, or the equivalent thereof, arranged within the trunk
between the fan or blower and the shute from which the particles fall by
gravity, as described,
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
(L.B.) A. V. NEWTON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of August, in
the year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid Alfred Vincent Newton came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty.