IMPROVEMENTS IN FILTERS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Weightman Harrison, of Battersea, in the
County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN FILTERS."
Sealed the 13th May 1864, and dated the 16th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Weightman Har-
rison at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th November 1863.
I, CHARLES WEIGHTMAN HARRISON, of Battersea, in the County of Surrey,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FILTERS," to be as follows:—
My Invention consists, first, in forming filtering layers or beds of asbestos,
tale, and other similar fibrous or laminar minerals, either alone or combined
with mineralised wool, sponge, or carbon.
Second, in the adaptation to filters of one or more cast-iron or steel per-
manent magnets or electro-magnets, or helices of conducting wire. These are
placed in any convenient position for acting upon or polarising the oxygen
the water or other liquid to be purified.
in
And, third, in constructing filters in manner hereafter stated, in order that
they may float at or just below the surface of the water or other liquid to be
filtered.
I construct my filters of a cylindrical or other shaped cage closed at bottom,
and at top by a movable cover. The cage itself is formed of wire cloth or

page_text: perforated metal, and encloses within it another openwork cylinder; inside
this cylinder, and in the centre of the filter, is a perforated pipe leading into a
solid pipe passing through the bottom of the filter, from which the filtered
liquid is taken. The space between the two openwork cylinders is packed
with sponge, felt, fibrous substance, or other coarse filtering material, such, for
instance, as washed gravel, while the space between the inner cylinder and the
perforated pipe for receiving the filtered liquid is filled with silicated carbon,
animal charcoal, or other carbonaceous matter. A cover in the form of an air
vessel is applied on the cylinders to give the filter sufficient buoyancy to float
at or just below the surface of the liquid. This air vessel cover is capable
of ready removal to allow of the cleansing of the filtering materials when
necessary.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Weightman Harrison in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WEIGHTMAN HARRISON, of Battersea, in the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Weightman Harrison, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Weightman Harrison, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Charles Weightman Harrison, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FILTERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Charles Weightman Harrison, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Weightman Harrison, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
My Invention consists, first, in forming filtering layers or beds of asbestos,
talc, and other similar fibrous or laminar minerals, either alone or combined
with mineralized wool, sponge, or carbon.
Second, in the adaptation to filters of one or more cast-iron or steel per-
manent magnets or electro-magnets, or helices of conducting wire. These are
placed in any convenient position for acting upon or polarising the oxygen in
the water or other liquid to be purified.
And, third, in constructing filters in manner hereafter stated, in order that
they may float at or just below the surface of the water or other liquid to be
filtered.
I construct my filters of a cylindrical or other shaped cage closed at bottom,
and at top by a movable cover. The cage itself is formed of wire cloth or
perforated metal, and encloses within it another openwork cylinder; inside this
cylinder, and in the centre of the filter, is a perforated pipe leading into a
solid pipe passing through the bottom of the filter, from which the filtered
liquid is taken. The space between the two openwork cylinders is packed
with sponge, felt, fibrous substance, or other coarse filtering material, such, for
instance, as washed gravel, while the space between the inner cylinder and the
perforated pipe for receiving the filtered liquid is filled with silicated carbon,
animal charcoal, or other carbonaceous matter. A cover in the form of an air
vessel is applied on the cylinders to give the filter sufficient buoyancy to float
at or just below the surface of the liquid. This air vessel cover is capable
of ready removal to allow of the cleansing of the filtering materials when
necessary.
The accompanying Drawing is an elevation, one half in section, of a filter
constructed according to this part of my Invention.
A is a cylindrical cage formed of wire cloth or perforated metal, and closed
at bottom, as shewn. The cage A encloses within it another openwork
cylinder B, inside which, and in the centre of the filter, is a perforated pipe C
leading into another pipe D (not perforated) passing through the bottom of
the filter, from which the filtered liquid is taken. The space between the
cylinders A and B is packed with sponge, felt, or other coarse filtering ma-
terial, and the space between the cylinder B and perforated pipe C is filled
with silicated carbon, animal charcoal, or other carbonaceous matter. E is a

page_text: cover, in the form of an air vessel, for giving buoyancy to the felter, as before
mentioned. It fits on to the cylinder A, and is secured by a rod F, which
passes through it, and which is threaded at its upper end in order that a nut
may be screwed thereon.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my improve-
ments in filters,-
First, forming filtering layers or beds of asbestus, tale, and other similar
fibrous or laminar minerals, either alone or combined with mineralized wool,
sponge, or carbon.
Second, adapting one or more cast-iron or steel permanent magnets or
electro-magnets, or helices of conducting wire, to filters, in manner and for
the purpose herein-before described.
Third, constructing filters in manner herein-before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing, in order that they may float at or just below
the surface of the liquid to be filtered.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Weightman Harrison, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of May, One thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty-four.
C. WEIGHTMAN HARRISON. (L.S.)