IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TREATING MINERAL SUBSTANCES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Edwards, of 22, Buckingham Street,
Adelphi, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
TREATING MINERAL SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 12th November 1867, and dated the 15th May 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Edwards at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th May 1867.
I, EDMUND EDWARDS, of 22, Buckingham Street, Adelphi, London, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR TREATING MINERAL SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in arranging a box or cistern filled with water and
having one part of the top open and fitted with a perforated or wire screen,
upon which the mineral substance to be treated is fed, and the other part of
the top at a lower level and closed; this closed part is inclined downwards
towards the back, and has an aperture closed by some flexible substance upon
which is screwed a cup-shaped block or a plate containing a block, which
receives the stroke of one or more cams fixed upon a shaft revolving above,
and which thus depress the block and flexible substance. When the appa-
ratus is filled with water each depression causes the water to rise suddenly
through the perforated or wire screen, and thus raise with it the mineral substance
resting on the screen. When the cam leaves the block the pressure of the

page_text: water below increased by the inclination of the top of the cistern causes the
flexible substance to rise slowly until again depressed by the cam. The
mineral substance is thus rapidly thrown up in the water from the perforated
screen, and allowed slowly to fall upon it again, and the heaviest fragments
falling most quickly the substance soon arranges itself in layers upon the
screen, having the heaviest below and the lightest above. The lightest or
upper part is removed by rakes or scrapers carried upon a frame running on
wheels, and driven backwards and forwards by a crank or eccentric upon the
same shaft which carries the cams. These rakes or scrapers are suspended by
pins working in holes in the frame, and as it is found that in such machines
as heretofore used these pins and holes are subject to more wear and tear
than any other part of the apparatus, especially those nearest to the opening
through which the mineral substance is fed in, I make the pins and holes
nearest to such opening larger than those farther from it, and sometimes I fit
bushes or bearings into the frame, which can easily be renewed if required;
and sometimes I make the pins or bearings of steel, hard wood, or other durable
material, and sometimes I attach vertical bars or stirrers to the frame carrying
the scrapers, and I make those bars sufficiently long to reach nearly to the
wire gauze
or perforated screen, so that they may continually. stir the mineral
substances, sometimes I attach the scrapers to endless chains and make
them travel continuously over the surface of the inaterial instead of travelling
backwards-and forwards. And instead. of cams to depress the flexible sub-
stance and block already described I sometimes attach levers to these blocks
of sufficient weight to depress the flexible substance suddenly when released,
and thus throw up the mineral substance in the water, and I raise these levers by
placing a shaft carrying cams under them, which cams thus raise them slowly
and then allow them to drop suddenly, thus obtaining the required inotion; and
sometimes where the mineral substances require to be crushed I place
crushing rollers above the opening through which the mineral is fed, and I
work these crushing rollers by the same shaft, which drives the cams already
described, or I attach the apparatus to an ordinary crushing mill, so that the
stuff when sufficiently small passes directly into the cistern, which in either
'case thus forms a part of the crushing mill or rollers; and sometimes I make
a water-tight door at the lower part of the apparatus, (the bottom of which is
'made to slope downwards towards the door, through which any small particles
which pass through the wire screen can readily be removed when required.
Sometimes I merely use moveable plugs or cocks by which the water can be
drawn off. Sometimes I remove the sand and find particles which pass
through the wire screen by means of an endless flexible ohain or-band carrying

page_text: pistons, which are made to pass down a tube to the bottom of the cistern, and
then up another tube through which they bring the sand, &c. The flexible
chain passes over a wheel at the top (by which it is driven), and another
wheel at the bottom of the cistern, An opening is left at the bottoin of the
tubes through which the sand may enter them; and I box or close in the
whole of the driving apparatus consisting of shaft bearings, cams, flexible:
substance, levers, &c., so that no dirt can fall upon them when the appa-
ratus is working; and I make the bearings. carry the shaft of such a shape
that when necessary the shaft can be removed at once, after the unscrewing
their caps without withdrawing it endways; and I fix the shaft at such a
height that when the crank which drives the frame is at its highest the cou-
necting rods from the crank to the frame may be nearly horizontal; and I.
make the shaft revolve in such a direction that when the connecting rod is
nearly horizontal the crank is thrust the scrapers, which are then removing
the upper layer of the mineral substances, and when the frame is being drawn
back the crank is at its lowest, and the connecting rods inclined downwards.
This construction enables me to make the cams upon the shaft of less diameter
by bringing the shaft nearer to the flexible disc; and if more than one appa-
ratus is at work I place them in line, coupling the ends of the driving shafts
together, and when it is required to stop one machine whilst, the others'
continue working I hold down the plate upon the flexible substance by
means of a hook readily removeable, so that the cams revolve without touching
the block. Or where levers are used I hook them up above the cams with
the same result. In either case I provide a hook and a wire or cord attached
to the front of the frame of scrapers, which removes the upper or light part
of the mineral substance by which the said frame can be raised into a vertical
position running upon the back wheels, only the heavier layers of mineral are
then accessible, and can be removed. Sometimes I make the frames carrying
the perforated or wire screen (which may be either rectangular or circular)
moveable vertically by means of racks or screws, and in this way the heavier
layers may be removed by being raised until the scrapers scrape them off the
screen into a suitable receptacle; and sometimes I make the front part of the
cistern where the mineral substances are discharged (above the perforated
screen) moveable hinge, so that it can be turned down and the heavier
layers removed more easily when required; and I make the perforated
screen either of wire gauze, perforated plates of cast iron, or other metal, or of
metallic bars placed side by side, and screwed together with a sufficient space
between them to allow the water to rise and fall without the mineral sub:
stance passing down; and sometimes I fix the perforated screen in an
.

page_text: inclined position so that the thickness of the mineral substances may bẻ
greater.at the end nearest the hopper where it is fed in. And where metallic-
ores are operated upon I remove the fine particles which pass through the
perforated screen, and enrich them either by means of the buddles ordinarily
used, or of a buddle constructed of conical plates arranged one above the other,
so that the fine particles being mixed with water are admitted upon. the upper
conical plate, over which they pass and deposit their heavier parts, and are:
then conveyed to the plate below, and so on until the whole of the métallic
particles have been deposited.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed 1
by the said Edmund Edwards in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th November 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND.
EDWARDS, of 22, Buckingham Street, Adelphi, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One-
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edmund Edwards, Her special licence that I, the said Edmund Edwards, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said, Edmund
Edwards, 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
APPARATUS POR TREATING MINERAL SUBSTANCE," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Edmund Edwards, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 Edmund Edwards, 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:

page_text: This Invention consists of a box or cistern filled with water and having
one part of the top open and fitted with a frame carrying a perforated plate or
wire screen upon which the substance to be treated is fed from a hopper;
the other part of the top is closed and inclined downwards, and has an
aperture closed by some flexible substance upon which is screwed a block or
plate carrying a block upon which one or more cams strike fixed to a shaft
revolving in a carefully adjusted position above. When the cistern is filled
with water each depression causes the water to rise suddenly through the per-
forated plate or screen, and thus to throw up the mineral substances resting upon
it. When the cam leaves the block the pressure of the water below increased by
the inclination of the top of the cistern causes the flexible substance to rise
slowly until again depressed by a cam; the mineral substance thus has time to
fall slowly through the water, the heavier particles falling first upon the screen
and forming the lower layer, and the lighter particles forming the upper layer;
this upper part is removed by rakes or scrapers carried upon a frame running
on wheels and driven by a crank upon the driving shaft; these scrapers are
suspended by pins working in holes in the frame; and as it is found that in
such machines as heretofore made these pins and holes are subject to more
wear than any other part of the machine, especially those nearest to the
hopper, I make the pins and holes nearest to the hopper larger than those
further from it; and I fit bushes on bearings into the frames, which can easily
be renewed when required; and I make the pins or bearings of steel, hard
wood, or other suitable material; and sometimes I attach the rakes or scrapers to
endless bands or chains and make them travel continuously over the surface of
the substance to be removed; and instead of depresssing the flexible substance
suddenly by means of cams I sometimes make the block of sufficient weight
to fall suddenly and force the water through the screen, and I elevate it gently
by means of cams placed underneath bars attached to the block; and where
the mineral substances require to be crushed I either counect the machine to
an ordinary crushing mill, or which I prefer I. place crushing rollers above
the hopper through which the mineral substances are fed to the machines;
and I drive these crushing rollers by means of gearing from the shaft upon
which the cams are fixed; and I make a water-tight door at the lower part
of the cistern, the bottom of which slopes towards the door through which
any fine particles passing through the screen can readily be removed from
time to time when necessary; or sometimes I merely leave holes through
which the water may be drawn off; or sometimes I remove the sand and fine
particles which pass through the screen by means of an endless flexible chain
or band carrying pistons which are made to pass down a tube..to the bottom

page_text: of the cistern, and then up another tube through which they bring the
sand, &c., an opening being left at the bottom of the tubes through which
the sand enters. The chain passes over a chain at the top by which it is
driven; and I make the bearings carrying the driving shaft so that it can
readily be removed without withdrawing it endways; and. if more than one
machine is at work I place them in a line, coupling the ends of the driving
shafts together; and when it is required to stop the action of one machine whilst
the others continue working I provide a hook by which the flexible substance
and block can be held down so that the cams shall not strike the block; or
where the cams are below the blocks I hook the latter up with the same
result; and I attach a cord to the front end of the frame carrying the scrapers
by which the frame can be raised into a vertical position running upon the
two back wheels only without stopping the machine. The screen thus
becomes readily accessible for the removal of the heavier substances which
accumulate upon it; or sometimes I make the frames carrying the screen
moveable vertically by means of gear worked by a handle, so that when
necessary they may be raised until the rakes or scrapers remove the whole of
the heavier substances which have accumulated upon the screen, the screen
is then lowered; and I make the front part of the cistern above the perforated
plate or screen and where the mineral substances are discharged by the
scrapers moveable on hinges, so that it can be turned down level with the
screen, and the heavier substances removed more easily when required; and I
make the screen either of wire gauze, perforated plates, or being placed side by
side and screwed together with a sufficient space between them to allow the
-water to rise and fall without the mineral substances passing through; and
where metallic substances are to be operated on I remove the fine particles
which pass through the screen into the cistern, and enrich them by means
either of ordinary "buddles" or of an apparatus consisting of two or more
conical plates arranged above one another, so that the fine particles mixed
with water being admitted upon the centre of the upper plate pass over it
and deposit their heavier parts, and then are conveyed to the centre of the
plate next below, over which they pass, and so on until the whole of the
metallic particles have been deposited.
In illustration of this Invention the accompanying Sheet of Drawings
contains Figures showing the form and arrangement of apparatus constructed
accordingly.
Fig. 1 is an elevation, and Fig. 2 an end view of a machine intended for
operating upon coal or mineral ores.
A is a cistern containing water, the back part of this cistern B is inclined

page_text: downwards, and has an aperture closed by a flexible disc of leather C to which
is attached a block D; this block D.is struck by the cams E upon the driving
shaft F, and the water contained in the cistern A is thus caused to rise,
suddenly through a screen of wire gauze fixed at the other end of the cistern,
and upon which the mineral substance to be operated upon is fed from a
hopper G, and the component parts of the mineral substances are thus,
separated into layers upon the screen, the heaviest being below and the
lightest above. I arrange the driving shaft F so far back that the blows of
the cams E, E, may strike upon the centre of percussion of the block D, the
leather disc C, and the guiding bars H, by which the latter is caused to rise
and fall vertically. The rakes or scrapers I, I, are carried by a frame
running on wheels, and are suspended by pins turning in hard bushes K, K,
which can readily be replaced when worn, and I make these pins and bushes
larger, as shown in Fig. 1, at the end of the machine nearest the hopper G
where there is the most wear..
. The frame carrying the rakes or scrapers I, I, is driven by a connecting
rod from a crank upon the driving shaft I, and the centre of this shaft is
arranged below the level of the frame so; that the connecting rod may be level
or nearly so in its forward stroke when the scrapers are in action, and only
diagonal during the return stroke when the rakes are not in action...Some-
times I attach fixed stirrers to the scraper frame which stir up. the substauce
operated upon. Sometimes instead of using cams to depress the leather disc,
allowing it to rise again by the pressure of the water beneath, I use the
arrangement shown in Fig. 3, where the leather disc and block D are made
sufficiently heavy. to force the water through the screen, and are raised
gently by the cams E, which are placed below the block instead of above it
as in Fig. 1; and where the mineral substance requires to be crushed before
being washed I either attach the apparatus to an ordinary crushing mill or I
place crushing rollers over the hopper, and drive them from the driving shaft F,
as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2, where L, L, are the crushing rollers
driven by the wheels M, M; and sometimes instead of suspended scrapers
carried by a frame driven backwards and forwards I use endless chains or
Lands carrying rakes or scrapers which are driven continuously in one
direction, as shown in Fig. 4; and I make: a water-tight door at the lower
part of the machine, and make the bottom of the cistern, slope down towards
the door so that the cistern may be readily emptied of water and of the fine
particles which pass through the screen, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, where
the bottom of the cistern A is made to slope down towards the water-tight
door N; or I remove the sand and fine particles which pass through the

page_text: screen by means of the apparatus shown in Fig. 5, where A is the cistern;
B, B, two tubes through which an endless chain C passes, upon which are
discs which fit the tubes; this endless chain is driven by a wheel D, and the:
sand and water being admitted through an opening E at the bottom into the.
tubes B, B, (which are shown broken off) are carried up by the discs or the
chain C and discharged at F; and sometimes I box in or close the whole of
the front of the machine below the hopper so that, no dirt can enter the:
working parts, and I make the bearings for the driving shaft F, Figs. 1 and 2,
of the shape shown, so that the shaft can be readily removed if required.
without withdrawing it endways, and if more than one machine is at work I
couple the drawing shafts together end to end, and when it is necessary to
stop the action of any one of them I hold down the block and leather disc by
means of a hook readily removable so that the cams shall not strike the block,
and if it is required that the scrapers should not act I lift up and suspend the
front end of the frame which carries them, so that the frame runs (in a vertical
position) upon the two back wheels only. The screen or perforated plate is
thus left perfectly accessible, and the heavier substances accumulating upon it
can be readily removed as required; and in order to facilitate such removal
I sometimes make the frames, carrying the screen or perforated plate, (which
may be either rectangular or circular in plan) moveable vertically, as shown
in dotted lines in Fig. 1, where O are the frames and screen, P, toothed gear
and levers, to which a handle can be applied, by means of which the heavier
substances can be raised within the screen O until the rakes remove them and
leave the screen clear; sometimes I use levers without toothed gear for the
same purpose; and where I do not use the apparatus described for the
purpose I make the front of the cistern where the mineral substance is
discharged turn upon hinges, as shown at Q, Figs. 1 and 2, so that it fall
into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the screen can then be
very readily cleaned; the front is then turned up on the hinges Q, Q, and is
fastened up against a water-tight joint by means of the keys R, R; and
where metallic ores are the substances treated in this apparatus I remove the
fine metallic particles which pass through the screen, and I enrich them either
by means of the ordinary buddles, or by an apparatus constructed as shown in
Fig. 6, where two or more circular conical plates A, A, are arranged one above
the other as shown, and the sand and metallic particles mixed with water are
allowed to flow through a funnel B upon the upper plate, where the heavier
parts remain, the rest passing through the passage C and the funnel D upon
the next plate, and so on in succession over as many plates as may be
necessary to extract the heavier particles of metallic ores; and I either cause
may

page_text: a revolving vertical bar passing through the centre of all the plates to carry
rakes or scrapers by which the surface of the accumulating particles may be
prevented from forming into channels down which the water would run, or I
attach the plates together at the centre and cause them to revolve on pivots,
projecting arms being fixed over each plate, under which the accumulated
particles would pass and be made uniform in height as before; and this
apparatus can be used for any finely divided substances of different specific
gravities, whether or not they have first been passed through machines of the
kind first described.
Having now described my said Invention, and the manner in which it is
intended to be employed, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim the
washing of coals or mineral ores, or metallic or other substances, by means of
water caused to pulsate through perforated plates, but I claim as my Invention
the novel combination of the several parts of the machines herein described
for the purpose of washing mineral and other substances or materials,
by which such machines are made much more efficient than any others
heretofore made, and the wear and tear is reduced to a minimum.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Edwards, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
EDMUND EDWARDS. (L.B.)