ROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SALT
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Astbury Jump, of Moulton, near Northwich,
in the County of Chester, Salt Manufacturer, for the Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SALT"
Sealed the 21st November 1856, and dated the 19th July 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Astbury Jump
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 19th July 1856.
1, WILLIAM ASTBURY JUMP, of Moulton, near Northwich, in the County of
Chester, Salt Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SALT," to be as follows:-
The first part of these improvements relates to the boiling of the brine, and
consists in the use and employment for that purpose of pans of the following
improved construction:-The pan is made with an upper and a lower bottom,
held together by stays; a shaft works in a step affixed to said upper bottom,
and to said shaft arms are securely connected, and to these are attached a
series of salt rakers. About midway between the upper and lower aforesaid
bottoms, and at one side of the brickwork setting of the pan, an opening
or pocket is formed, on which are placed revolving drums, and around these
pass chains, to which rakes are fixed for removing the salt from the aforesaid
pocket as it becomes charged by the rotation of the rakers which are in the
Pic 17

page_text: pan. These rakers, as also the drums and rakes in the pocket, may have
rotatory motion imparted thereto through the agency of bevil or spur gear-
ing, or other convenient means.
The second part of these improvements consists in placing in a rever-
beratory furnace (employed in the manufacture of salt) one or more hori-
zontal shafts, having an indefinite number of arms fixed thereon; the shaft
is placed just below the surface of the water, so that as it revolves, the
aforesaid arms take up a thin film of water, which, passing through the
flame of the fire, becomes converted into steam, thus exposing an extensive
surface of water to the direct action of the heat from the furnace. The
steam thus generated is proposed to be used under salt pans.
The third part of these improvements consists in placing in a reverberatory
furnace (employed in the manufacture of salt) a shaft upon which one or more
cylinders are fixed, and on the outermost of these cylinders a series of cups or
small vessels, open at one end, are secured, so that as the cylinders revolve in
the water the cups become charged therewith, and thus when they get above
the surface of the water they expose a thin body of liquid to the action of
the heat from the fire; and by these means I produce rapid evaporation.
The fourth part of these improvements consists in causing the "brine"
to circulate in the furnace and round the pan in a more efficient manner
than heretofore; that is to say, according to these improvements, as the
"brine" passes through the furnace it receives a portion of heat, and cools
in its passage round the pan, where the salt is precipitated. The circula-
tion is caused by a revolving fan.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Astbury Jump in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th January 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ASTBURY JUMP, of Moulton, near Northwich, in the County of Chester, Salt
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Astbury Jump, Her special licence that I, the said William Astbury
Jump, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the

page_text: said William Astbury Jump, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANufacture of Salt," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Astbury Jump, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Astbury Jump, 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:-
My said improvements consist in the combination of certain arrangements
in the construction of pans or boilers, and in the furnaces connected with
the boiling and concentration of brine and heating salt water in the
manufacture of the several qualities of common salt. And for the better
understanding of the same, I will now proceed to detail the particulars
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, in which
the same letters indicate like parts throughout.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is the plan of a circular salt pan constructed according to my
said Invention; and Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same.
A is the upper bottom, or salt pan; B, B, the lower bottom, forming with
the upper bottom and sides either a steam boiler or generator, or a steam
casing; a, a, a, numerous stays, rivetted to A and B; C, the pan cover;
b, the steam pipe; D, D, a vertical shaft, passing through the cover, and
operated by bevel or other suitable gear; c, c, rakers in ordinary use; E,
a horizontal arm, carrying a series of small steel bars d, d, d, pressing on
the bottom A to remove pan scratch or scale; and F, F, the usual pocket
or recess for the salt; and e, e, furnace flues.
Figure 3 is the plan of a furnace on my improved construction for
evaporating by the direct action of the fire.
A' is the furnace; B, B", a tank to contain the brine; C", a partition
dividing the tank into two portions, B¹ being that usually employed, and B

page_text: forming a vessel in which the salt is deposited as it crystallizes; D¹, D, con-
necting channels or gutters allowing the heated brine to flow in the direction
of the arrows z, promoted by the action of the fan or wheel E¹.
I would here observe, that the first part of my said improvements relates to
the boiling of the brine, and consists in the use and employment for that
purpose of pans of the following improved construction:-The pan is made in
one arrangement of a circular form, and covered in at the top, through which a
central vertical shaft is operated by bevel or other suitable gear, and the lower
end of the shaft works in a step affixed to the pan bottom, and arms carrying
a series of saltrakers of the ordinary construction are securely attached thereto
The pan is made with an upper and a lower bottom, held together and
strengthened by stays, and is employed for boiling the brine in the upper pan
by high-pressure steam within the double bottom, which thus forms a shallow
steam boiler or generator, and there may be one or more furnaces underneath
it, as customary; or high-pressure steam may be supplied from an independent
source, as customarily practiced in such applications.
Outside the pan the opening or pocket in present use is formed, in which
may be placed revolving drums with chains passing around them, to which
rakers may also be fixed for removing the salt from the pocket. The pan
rakers, as also the drums and rakers in the pocket, may be rotated by bevel
gearing or other convenient means. The salt may likewise be removed
from the pocket by hand, as usual. The pau bottom is kept scaled by the
rotation of one or more arms, set with a series of steel bars or blades,
which act as pan scratch or scale scrapers.
The second part of my said improvements consists ofa plan for concentrating
weak brine or salt water to prepare it for transferring to the salt pans, by
placing in a reverberatory furnace, within the usual tank thereof, one or more
horizontal shafts having a number of arms fixed thereon. The shaft is placed
just below the surface of the salt water, for the evaporation of which it is
principally intended; so that as the shaft revolves, its arms take up a thin
film of salt water, which, passing through the flame of the fire, steam is
rapidly generated, , as this arrangement exposes an extensive surface of salt
water to the direct action of the heat from the furnace. The steam and
hot air thus generated may be used under salt pans, or otherwise.
The arms on the shaft may be flat bars, or one or more cylinders may be
substituted, constituting the third part of my said improvements, and on the
outermost of these cylinders a series of cups or small vessels, open at one end,
are placed and secured, so that as the cylinders revolve in the salt water,
the cups become charged therewith, and thus when they rise above the surface

page_text: of the salt water they expose a thin body of liquid to the action of the
heat from the fire, by which means I produce rapid evaporation.
The fourth part of my said improvements consists of a plan of reverberatory
furnace for heating brine by the direct action of the fire, the brine circulating
in the furnace in the usual metal or other tank or pan, and round the pan in
a more efficient manner than heretofore; that is to say, according to my said
improvements, as the brine passes through the furnace in the course of its
circulation in the tank, it receives a portion of heat, and passing into the
outer vessel, it there cools in its passage around or along the pan or other
vessel, where the salt is precipitated. The circulation is promoted by a
revolving fan screw, wheel, or like means, placed in a convenient channel
at one end for that purpose, and the flow is maintained through a channel
at the other end, and so on continuously during the operation.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, and several modes of carrying
out the same, I wish it to be understood, that I make no claim to covered
pans, pockets, or revolving rakers, they being in use; and also that I do not
limit myself to materials, dimensions, or the precise form in the construction of
any of the parts of my said improvements, as the same may be variously modified
in their details without affecting the principle of my said improvements; and
I do declare that what I claim as my improvements are, namely,―
First, the application of steam to heating covered salt pans having
double bottoms for that purpose.
Second, the steel or other metal pan scratch or scale scrapers.
Third, the revolving horizontal shaft, with arms, cylinders, and cups, or
the like, for promoting evaporation, in reverberatory furnaces..
And, fourth, the arrangement of reverberatory furnaces, providing a side
receptacle for the salt deposit, and the brine circulating by the agency of a
fan or like means.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Astbury Jump, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord 1857.
WILLIAM ASTBURY JUMP. (L.S.)