IMPROVE- MENTS IN AMALGAMATING AND SETTLING APPARATUS
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Patterson at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 16th December 1882. In part his own
Invention and in part the result of a communication to him from abroad
by Frederick Morris of San Francisco in the State of California United
States of America
"
JOHN PATTERSON of Inverness Terrace in the County of Middlesex "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AMALGAMATING AND SETTLING APPARATUS In part my own invention
and in part the result of a communication to me from abroad by Frederick Morris
of San Francisco, in the State of California United States of America
澤
This Invention consists of improved arrangements and combinations of parts by
which pulp or even tailings may be advantageously treated for the recovery of
the precious metals contained therein Said apparatus is formed or made in
substantially the following manner Upon suitable sleepers or supports are placed
the bottom planks of a preferably wooden circular tank or vessel; upon said planks
rest the internal bottom planks of said vessel and upon this in turn rest a series of
flat fan shaped dies formed of wood so cut that the grain is vertical
These dies are placed comparatively close together, but absolute contact at their
sides is prevented by means of wooden strips of less vertical depth, placed between
them and thus a series of radial channels are formed around the entire tank At
the outer ends the dies are kept from coming in contact with the sides of the
vessel by a strip similar to that employed to separate said dies, while at the inner
extremities they are kept in position and from contact with the pillar by wedges.
The central pillar rises nearly to the top of the tank and carries one or more
vertical outflow pipes which pass through it and out at the bottom of the tank
where they discharge into a sluice or other waste pipe. The advantage of drawing
off the water at the neutral centre where it is comparatively still, will be obvious
The pillar carries a metal footstep in which can revolve a shaft upon which is
secured a double tee hub or boss, in which is secured two or more radial arms (the
number being preferably four) Passing vertically through the outer end of said
arms are a series of elongated bolts or tie rods, the lower ends of which carry
suitably weighted wooden shoes cut to leave the grain in a vertical position These
shoes cover radially slightly more than one half the dies upon which they rest and
ID 31

page_text: are alternately arranged so as to pass over the outer and inner horizontal faces of
the dies when the shaft and arms are revolved. The leverage strain on the vertical
rods is in part borne by suitable tie rods passing from one shoe to the immediately
preceding arm The vertical shaft passes through a T shaped bearing secured to
the top cross beam of the vessel and, terminates in an inverted bevel gear wheel
Beneath said bevel wheel and gearing thereinto is a second gear wheel attached to
the horizontal driving shaft, the end of which rests in the shank of the before
mentioned bearing while its outer extremity is suitably supported and is
provided with fast and loose pulleys in order that the apparatus may be driven by
a belt
The cross top beam is supported in sockets bolted to uprights secured to sides of
the vessel and is held in position by means of taper pins or bolts which pass through
both the sockets and the beam. This arrangement of parts enables the vertical
shaft with its gearing to be lifted out and removed without interfering with the
rest of the apparatus while after removing the taper pins or bolts the cross beam
and the balance of the gearing may be removed thus leaving the vessel perfectly
open at the top for the removal of the radial arms supports and shoes or the entiro
gearing and radial arms with their connected parts may be removed without
disconnecting the vertical shaft from the said radial arms This is very convenient
enabling rapid cleansing or repairing to be accomplished It will be understood
that the ordinary process of treating the metallic substances by amalgamating and
settling is to be carried on in this apparatus and after settling, the water is
gradually and quietly drawn off by a series of taps arranged at different heighths
upon the sides of the vessel