Improvements in Apparatus for Refining Metal by Electrolysis.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Aug., 1894-Accepted, 22nd Sept., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Refining Metal by Electrolysis.
We, HENRY ALONZO HOUSE, Senior, HENRY ALONZO HOUSE, Junior, both
of The Columbine Ship Yard, East Cowes, Isle of Wight, Engineers, and ROBERT
RINTOUL SYMON of 20 Abchurch Lane in the City of London Gentleman, 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, reference being had to the accompanying sheet of drawings and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
This invention pertains to apparatus for refining metals, particularly silver, by
electrolysis, and consists in the improvements in the construction of said apparatus
which are hereinafter more fully described.
The object of the invention is to separate, from the impure or base bullion, the
silver in a pure state, and to recover the other metals by the same operation, in a
more economical and practical manner than has heretofore been done. For this
purpose I provide, in a suitable tank or vat, a horizontal shaft with means for
rotating the same, and on said shaft I mount one or more cathodes and one or more
anodes of the impure metal to be refined. The cathodes upon which the metal is
deposited are in the form of segments of a disc, carried by an insulating support
and adapted to be alternately connected with the circuit while in the solution, and
cut out of circuit during that part of their movement when they are out of the
solution. The anodes of impure metal are also carried by suitable supports and
may be cast in the form of annular discs, or in segments, that are secured to such
support, and similarly arranged to be brought into and cut out of the circuit.
Under each electrode support or carrier is arranged a porous receptacle, such as
a canvas bag, to retain the impurities or particles of metal that may fall off from
the electrodes, and under all the carriers is a larger bag or receptacle. Provision
is made for lifting the electrodes, and these bags, and also the main bag, out of the
tank when so desired.
Above the level of the solution I provide brushes that sweep over the surface of
the anodes for the purpose of removing all bubbles of gas or impurities that may
tend to form on and adhere thereto, and I also provide scrapers that bear on and
remove from the cathodes the film of deposited metal, and cause it to drop into a
trough, or suitable device for retaining it and delivering it into a receptacle.
The details of the apparatus thus generally described are illustrated in the
accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a central vertical section of my improved apparatus.
Figure 2 is a plan view of the same with portions shown in section.
A is a tank or vat of any suitable character such as is commonly employed for
this purpose.
In suitable bearings A' at the ends of this tank is a shaft B having
a pulley B, by which rotatory movement may be imparted to said shaft. The
bearings A' are preferably open or otherwise arranged so that the said shaft B may
be readily lifted up or removed from the tank A.
On the shaft B is or are mounted one or more pairs of electrode supports or
carriers, preferably consisting of discs or circular frames CD of insulating
material, with hubs E of metal which are insulated from the shaft, and divided into
three or more insulated segments.
The electrodes are in the form of segments of a disc, and are inserted in recesses
in the sides of the carriers, or in any other convenient manner secured thereto in
contact with the hub segments respectively.

page_text: The cathodes Fare preferably plates of copper with silvered surfaces, while
the anodes G are composed of the impure metal to be refined, cast in suitable
forms.
Each electrode carrier has suspended beneath it a bag H of canvas, or other
similar porous receptacle, and beneath the pair of series of carriers is a large bag K
of the same material.
Secured to the edges of the tank are arms L L' of conducting material, or
carrying conductors, that terminate in contact plates or brushes, that bear on the
segmental hubs or commutators E, there being one of such brushes for each of said
hubs.
M M designate brushes of bristles or fine flexible wires that are supported in any
convenient manner above the level of the solution in the tank and that rub over the
surfaces of the anodes.
NN are scrapers or blades also secured above the level of the solution by
attachment to the sides of the tank or in any other proper manner, and which bear
against the surfaces of the cathodes. Under such scrapers are troughs or chutes O
which are perforated or made of fine wire netting, and which lead to boxes or other
receptacles P.
The circuit connections are made as indicated in Figure 2, the anode brushes L
are connected with the positive pole of the generator, through wires a a and the
other brushes with the negative pole through wires b b.
When the shaft B is rotated, and the current sent through the circuit, it passes
from each anode segment in the solution to the opposite cathode segment, the
electrode segments out of the solution being cut out of circuit by the position of
the brushes L L' with reference to the commutators E. By the use of a proper
solution and by regulating the density of the current, in a well understood manner,
the silver is deposited on the faces of the cathode segments F, in a loose spongy
state, from which it is scraped off by the scrapers N, and falls into the perforated
troughs beneath the scrapers.
Any particles of metal, whether detached from the anodes or cathodes, drop into
the bags under the electrodes, and may be recovered when the electrodes and bags
are lifted out. In the same way, any metal or other particles that may fall into
the tank, are caught in the larger bag.
The isolation of the electrode segments, while out of the solution, reduces the
liability of leakage of current, and obviates the necessity of insulating the scrapers
and brushes.
Having now particularly described & ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In an electrolytic apparatus, the combination with a rotating cathode, partially
immersed in the solution, of a scraper for removing the film of metal from the
surface of the cathode above the solution as the cathode revolves, substantially as
described.
2. In an electrolytic apparatus, the combination with a rotatory cathode, partially
immersed, of a scraper for removing the film of metal from the surface of the
cathode above the solution, as the cathode revolves, and a receptacle for receiving
the metal removed by the scraper, substantially as described.
3. The combination, with one or more rotatory anodes, divided into segments,
and partially immersed in a solution, and a commutator to which the anode
segments are connected, of one or more rotatory segmental cathodes, partially
immersed in the solution, and commutators to which said segments are connected,
substantially as described.
4. The combination with an anode a rotatory segmental cathode, a commutator
connected with said segmente and adapted to connect the submerged segments in
circuit, and a scraper bearing on the cathode segments out of the solution,
substantially as described.

page_text: 5. The combination with rotatory anodes and cathodes and means for scraping
off the deposit from the portions of the cathodes above the level of the solution, of
porous bags or receptacles under each of the said electrodes, substantially as
described.
ཁམས སག + ="%ཥཿ ཅ
H. A. HOUSE, Senior,
H. A. HOUSE, Junior,
R. R. SYMON,
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, Agent.