Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application 29th Sept., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 12th June, 1897-Accepted. 24th July, 1897
I, JOHN BARCLAY, of the Firm of Southall Brothers and Barclay, of Lower Priory,
Birmingham in the County of Warwick Wholesale Chemists do hereby declare the
nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
My invention consists of a filter for filtering water and other liquids constructed in
the manner and with the materials hereinafter described.
Filters made according to my invention may be made of various sizes and forms
according to the uses to which they are to be put.
For convenience of description I will describe a domestic filter, that is, a filter for
filtering table water made according to my invention.
The body of the filter is made preferably of earthenware and of a cylindrical figure
internally. Externally it may have any desired ornamental figure. The body of the
filter is divided by a horizontal perforated diaphragm made preferably of earthenware
and in one piece with the body. The said perforated diaphragm divides the body
into two compartments or chambers, the lower one being preferably larger than the
upper one. The said perforated diaphragm may be flat but I prefer to make it
concave and of nearly a hemispherical figure. The filtering material is supported on
the said perforated diaphragm. The filtering material consists of an intimate
mixture of cellulose or woody fibre and the siliceous infusorial earth called
kieselguhr. The cellulose may either be the sulphite pulp of commerce or the
cellulose wadding of commerce or cellulose derived from any other source. I employ
the said cellulose and kieselguhr in about equal quantities by weight, the kieselguhr
being in fine powder. I disintegrate the cellulose and mix it uniformly with the
kieselguhr by means of a disintegrator such as is commonly used by chemists. The
mixture is formed into a dense coherent mass by pressure with or without the addition
of water. I prefer to employ a thickness of about an inch of the said compressed
mixture. The disc of filtering material is simply placed on the perforated diaphragm
in the body of the filter no fixing down of the material being required the pressure
of the water being filtered keeping it down tightly on the diaphragm.
The water filtered by my new or improved filter is not only freed from all ordinary
suspended matter and rendered perfectly clear but it is also deprived wholly or in
great part of the micro-organisms (bacteria and the like) which are almost invariably
present in rivers and other sources of potable water. The peculiar property of silica
in effecting the removal of micro-organisms from water is well known and the minute
size of the particles of the siliceous infusorial earth kieselguhr makes that earth
especially when mixed with cellulose, very potent in clearing water of micro-
organisms. The form of filter I have described is very efficient for domestic purposes,
but I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to any of the details I
have described as these must be varied according to the particular purpose to which
the filter is to be applied; the essence of my invention consisting in the employment
in filters of a filtering material composed of a mixture of cellulose and kieselguhr.
Dated this twenty-ninth day of September 1896.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant,

page_text: I, JOHN BARCLAY, of the Firm of Southall Brothers and Barclay, of Lower Priory,
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Wholesale Chemists, do hereby declare the
nature of my invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention consists of a filter for filtering water and other liquids constructed in
the manner and with the materials hereinafter described.
Filters made according to my invention may be made of various sizes and forms
according to the particular uses to which they are to be put.
For convenience of description I will describe a domestic filter, that is, a filter for
filtering table water, made according to my invention.
The body of the filter is made preferably of earthenware and of a cylindrical figure
internally. Externally it may have any desired ornamental figure. The body of the
filter is divided by a horizontal perforated diaphragm made preferably of earthenware
and in one piece with the body. The said perforated diaphragm divides the body
into two compartments or chambers, the lower one being preferably larger than the
upper one. The said perforated diaphragm may be flat or concave or of a nearly
hemispherical figure. The filtering material is supported on the said perforated
diaphragm. The filtering material consists of an intimate mixture of cellulose with
the siliceous infusorial earth commonly called kieselguhr. The kind of kieselguhr I
employ is the purified kieselguhr of commerce or natural kieselguhr purified by
incineration and washing. The cellulose may be either the sulphite pulp of
commerce or the cellulose wadding of commerce or cellulose derived from any other
source. I employ the said cellulose and kieselguhr in about equal quantities by weight,
the kieselguhr being in fine powder. I disintegrate the cellulose and mix it
uniformly with the kieselguhr by means of a disintegrator preferably a Carter's
disintegrator. The mixture is formed into a dense coherent mass by pressure with or
without the addition of water. I prefer to employ a thickness of about one quarter
of an inch of the said compressed mixture. The disc of filtering material is placed
on the perforated diaphragm in the body of the filter and is preferably covered by a
perforated earthenware or metallic plate or disc.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in vertical section a domestic
filter made according to my invention and Figure 2 represents a modification of the
same.
Figures 3 and 4 represent respectively in plan and edge view the disc of filtering
material constituting the essential part of my invention.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
Drawing.
I will first describe the filter Figure 1.
a is the earthenware vessel constituting the body of the filter and b the perforated
diaphragm of the same dividing the said body into two chambers; d is the disc of
filtering material (shown separately in Figures 3 and 4) placed on the perforated
diaphragm 6 and e is a loose perforated earthenware or metallic plate or disc for
protecting the filtering disc d from disintegration by the pouring of water to be
filtered into the upper chamber of the body a of the filter. The body a of the filter
is provided with a cover c.
The action of the filter is as follows;-
Water to be filtered having been poured into the upper chamber of the filter a the
said water passes through the perforations in the plate e and slowly percolates

page_text: through the filtering disc d. The clear filtered water passes through the perforations
in the diaphragm b and falls into the lower chamber or compartment of the filter
from which it can be drawn as required by the tap represented.
In the modified filter represented in Figure 2 a perforated diaphragm is dispensed
with the upper chamber being formed by a metallic vessel f preferably of tinned
copper occupying the upper part of the body a of the filter. The bottom of the
metallic vesself is perforated and on the said perforated bottom the disc d of filtering
inaterial is placed, the said filtering material being protected by a perforated metallic
or non-metallic plate e as in the filter first described.
The action of the filter last described is essentially the same as that of the filter
Figure 1.
In making the filtering discs Figures 3 and 4 I mix equal parts by weight of
kieselguhr, in fine powder, and finely disintegrated cellulose, preferably sulphite pulp,
and thoroughly wash the said mixture with distilled water. When the said washed
mixture has, after draining, about the consistency of dough I pass it between a pair
of pressure rolls by which it is spread out into a sheet of the desired thickness and
compression. The compressed sheet is transferred to a drying stove. When quite
dry discs of the desired size are cut from the sheet. A disc of the thickness described
and represented would serve to filter from 14 to 20 gallons of ordinary tap or pump
water when it would be removed and replaced by a new disc. The used filtering discs
are destroyed or thrown away.
The water filtered by my new or improved filter is not only freed from all
suspended matter and rendered perfectly clear but it is also deprived wholly or in
great part of the micro-organisms (bacteria and the like) which are almost invariably
present in rivers and other sources of potable water. The peculiar property of silica
in effecting the removal of micro organisms from water is well known and the minute
size of the particles of the siliceous infusorial earth or kieselguhr makes that earth
especially when mixed with cellulose very potent in clearing water of micro-
organisms. The form of filter I have described and represented is very efficient for
domestic purposes but I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to any
of the details I have described as these must be varied according to the particular
purpose to which the filter is to be applied.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that I claim as my
invention of "A new or improved filter; "-
First The use in filters for filtering water and other liquids, of an intimate
mixture of preferably equal parts by weight of siliceous infusorial earth, commonly
called kieselguhr, and disintegrated cellulose, preferably of the kind called sulphite
pulp, the said materials being mixed and treated substantially in the way hereinbefore
described.
Secondly-The new or improved filter hereinbefore described and illustrated in
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing the said new or improved filter consisting of
an earthenware vessel having a perforated diaphragm upon which diaphragm is placed
a disc of the compressed filtering material claimed in the prior claim the said disc of
filtering material being protected when in use by a perforated metallic or non
metallic covering plate or disc substantially as described.
Thirdly: The inodified filter hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figure 2 of
the accompanying Drawing the said modified filter consisting essentially of an
earthenware vessel with which is combined a metallic vessel with perforated bottom on
which perforated bottom the disc of filtering material is placed the said dise being pro-
tected by a perforated metallic or non-metallic plate or disc substantially as described.
Dated the twelfth day of T 1007
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.