An Improved Method and Apparatus for Testing Sand used for Building Purposes, and for other purposes of the like kind.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 17th May, 1895-Accepted, 22nd June, 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method and Apparatus for Testing Sand used for
Building Purposes, and for other purposes of the like kind.
I, JAMES PRICE CLEGHORN, of Ballygunge, Calcutta, in the Empire of India,
Executive Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the
following statement, that is to say :-
My invention has for its object an improved process and apparatus to be used
more especially for testing sand for building purposes, by ascertaining the amount of
air-spaces, and of impurities contained in such sand.
My improved apparatus consists of a glass tube of suitable length and diameter:-
for instance, and preferably, fifteen inches long and three quarters of an inch
diameter, one end being permanently closed or plugged.
A scale about ten inches long and divided into twenty equal parts, each part
being subdivided into tenths, or in all two hundred equal parts, is attached to the
tube, the "zero" of the scale being level with the upper edge of the plug in the
bottom of the tube. The method of using the improved process and apparatus is
as follows:-A sample of the sand which is to be tested, in a dry state, is poured
into the tube until the latter is filled up to the "one hundred" indication, or half
the length of the scale, the tube being tapped to cause the sand to pack properly.
The sand is then removed from the tube, and water is poured in up to the same
mark, that is to say, one hundred, and the sand already measured is poured back
into the tube, which is tapped to displace any air contained in the sand. The water
level is then read off on the scale, and Leing deducted from two hundred will give
the percentage of air space in the sand which is being tested.
In order to test the same sample of ɛand to ascertain the impurities present in it,
the thumb is placed over the open upper end of the tube, and the contents
vigorously shaken for a sufficient time, in order to dissolve and disintegrate
any foreign matter. The tube is then held upright and the thumb removed
from its open end, and any material adhering to its side is washed down
and the tube is tapped to cause the sand to pack properly, and the level of the
sand is then read off upon the scale, and this reading being deducted from one
hundred will give the percentage of impurities contained in the sand which is being
tested.
As a standard for the scale it is advisable that the capacity of the tube up to
the "two hundred " indication should be equal to one thousand grains of water.
The apparatus can then be conveniently used for ascertaining the " density" of any
dry material as compared with one thousand grains of water by weighing the
quantity separately.
"
In order to reduce any errors, I prefer that the upper half of the scale should be
reversed, so that there are two zeros, one at the bottom, and one at the top, both
reading in the centre as one hundred. In this way the percentage of air space can
be read off at once without the necessity for making a deduction from two hundred
as already described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The apparatus consisting of a glass tube, having its lower end stopped, and

page_text: having a divided scale formed upon or attached to it, substantially as and for the
purposes described.
2. The process for determining the quality of sand to be used for building
purposes, by means of the apparatus claimed in Claim 1, by partly filling the tube
with the sand to a determined mark, then removing the sand and re-filling the tube
to the same mark with water, then adding the same sand to the water, and
ascertaining the air spaces in the sand, by the level at which the water then stands,
substantially as described.
3. The process for determining the amount of impurities in the sand by means of
the apparatus claimed in Claim 1, by stopping the open end of the tube and shaking
the sand and water contained in it, washing down any material adhering to the side,
and ascertaining the impurities by the level at which the sand then stands,
substantially as described.
Dated this 15th day of May 1895.
EDWARDS & Co.,
65 and 66, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.