IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFAC- TURE OF SALT
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hamer, of the Hill, Winnington,
Northwich, in the County of Chester, Salt Proprietor, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFAC-
TURE OF SALT."
Sealed the 14th May 1872, and dated the 29th February 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hamer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th February 1872.
I, WILLIAM HAMER, of the Hill, Winnington, Northwich, in the
County of Chester, Salt Proprietor, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF SALT," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention in the first place is to effect an economy
in the fuel used in the process of evaporating brine, by making use of the
heat radiated from the surface of the brine in the evaporating pan or
carried off by the vapour arising from the said brine. For this purpose
I enclose the pan by means of a cover, and I cause the steam or vapour

page_text: arising from the surface of the brine to flow through a passage whereby
it is led beneath a second pan or beneath other pans, or is employed
for other heating purposes. The said cover may be formed in one piece
or in two or more parts, and is balanced or partly balanced, or is other-
wise arranged and fitted in such a manner as that it may be readily
raised and lowered, or the said cover may be fixed and be fitted with
doors, through which access may be had to the interior of the
pan.
In the second place I employ a mechanical agitator or mechanical
agitators to agitate the surface of the brine in order to cause the crystals
of salt to sink to the bottom of the pan. I prefer to employ a revolving
agitator fitted with blades, which dip into the brine as the said agitator
traverses to and fro over the pan.
In the third place I force air by means of a fan to flow through a
pipe or hollow pillar, or through pipes or pillars, which is or are exposed
to the heat of the furnace, whereby the said air becomes heated,
and I cause the heated air to flow into the space enclosed by the
aforesaid cover, in order that the said heated air may act upon the
surface of the brine and thereby increase the evaporation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Hamer in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th August 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HAMER, of the Hill, Winnington, Northwich, in the County of Chester,
Salt Proprietor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Hamer, Her special license that
I, the said William Hamer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Hamer, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to

page_text: time and at an times thereafter auring 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 EMPLOYED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF SALT," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the
.said William Hamer, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 Hamer, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
The object of my Invention in the first place is to effect an economy
in the fuel used in the process of evaporating brine, by making use of
the heat radiated from the surface of the brine in the evaporating pan or
carried off by the vapour arising from the said brine.
For this purpose
I enclose the pan by means of a cover, and I cause the steam or vapour
arising from the surface of the brine to flow through a passage whereby
it is led beneath a second pan or beneath other pans, or is employed for
other heating purposes. The said cover may be formed in one piece or
in two or more parts, and is balanced or partly balanced, or is otherwise
arranged and fitted in such a manner as that it may be readily raised
and lowered, or the said cover may be fixed and be fitted with doors
through which access may be had to the interior of the pan.
In the second place I employ an agitator, which is caused to traverse
to and fro over the surface of the brine, and to agitate the surface of the
said brine in order to cause the crystals of salt to sink to the bottom of
the pan.
In the third place I force air by means of a fan through a pipe or
hollow pillar, or through pipes or pillars, which is or are exposed to the
heat of the furnace, whereby the said air becomes heated, and I cause
the heated air to flow into the space enclosed by the aforesaid cover, in
order that the said heated air may act upon the surface of the brine and
thereby increase the evaporation.

page_text: In order that my said Invention may be well understood, I will refer
to the accompanying Drawings illustrative of the means I have adopted
when carrying the said Invention into practical effect.
In Sheet 1 of the said Drawings Fig. 1 represents a side elevation ;
Fig. 2, a plan; and Fig. 3, a cross section of a salt pan fitted with a
cover in manner according with the first part of my Invention, the said
views being drawn to a scale of about one quarter of an inch to the foot.
Fig. 4 represents a portion of Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 a portion of Fig. 3.
drawn to a larger scale.
In the said Figs. a represents the said salt pan, and b the cover ]
thereof. The framework of the said covers consists of iron trusses c
which are connected together at each end by the tee-iron girders d, and
are covered with sheet iron, or with metal plates or timber. The lower
surfaces of the girders d are faced with timber, and rest upon the edges
of the salt pan when the cover is down.
E
]
The cover is raised when required by means of chains e, e, which pass
over pulleys ff, which are mounted on the upper ends of the columns
g, g, which are fixed at suitable distances apart on each side of the pan.
Each of the said chains extends through one of the said columns, and
passing partly around a second chain pulley h which is mounted in the 2
lower part of the said column is connected with one of the two chains
i, i, each of which connects together the chains proceeding from the
columns on one side of the salt pan. Each of the said chains i, i, is
attached by one end to the chain drum j of a windlass, there being a
separate windlass to each of the said chains. The two windlasses are:
connected together by means of the shaft k, which is provided with
winch handles, and gives motion through worm and spur gearing to
both of the said chain drums, so that when the shaft k is rotated in a
suitable direction the chains i, i, are wound upon the said chain drums,
thereby drawing the chains e, e, and raising the cover b. Adjustable ;
shackles are or may be fitted to each of the chains i, i. The said
cover is arranged to fit upon the upper edges of the salt pan as near as
may be in a steam-tight manner, and the steam arising from the surface
of the brine during the time when the cover is down passes through a
passage which conveys the said steam into the space below a second
pan, as will be mentioned herein-after. The drip or condensed steam
which flows down the under side of the cover is collected by gutters m,
from whence it is conveyed away in any suitable manner.

page_text: Figs. 6, 7, and 8 illustrate a modification in the form and arrange-
ment of the said cover. In this example the said cover is formed in a
number of sections, each of which is hinged at n to a girder o which is
above the salt pan, and is sustained by the end columns p, p. A shaft q
is mounted in brackets fixed to the said girder, and is actuated by means
of the winch handles and gearing r, r.
Each section of the cover is
raised when required by means of a chain 8, which is attached by one
end to the said section, and by the other end to a chain drum fixed on
the shaft q, so that by turning the winch handles r, r, the whole of the
sections may be raised by one operation. When down the said sections
rest upon angle or tee-iron beams or principals t, t, which are attached
by one end to the sides of the salt pan and by the other end to the lower
part of the girder n, the said beams serving also to close the spaces
between the edges of the said sections. The outer edge of each section
is formed with a lip which dips into a gutta, which serves to seal the
outer edge of the cover and also to collect the afore-mentioned
drip.
In this
Figures 9 to 13, Sheet 2, illustrate a further modification.
example the said cover is divided into six sections, each section being
hinged to the girder o, as in the example last described. Each section
is represented as being trussed and as being otherwise of a stronger con-
struction than the sections illustrated in Sheet 1.
The sections are
raised in pairs, the two sections situated opposite to each other on
different sides of the central girder being raised together by means of a
; single chain. One end of the said chain is attached to one section, as
shewn in Fig. 11, and passes over a chain pulley o which is mounted in
a bracket fixed to the girder o, and thence around a pulley w which is
linked to the opposite section, and returning to the said bracket passes
over a chain pulley x, and is then led over carrier pulleys to a windlass
situated at one end or the other of the salt pan. There being three of
the said chains one chain is led to a single windlass situated to the left
hand in Figs. 9 and 10, and represented on a larger scale at Figs. 12
and 13, the other two chains being led to a double windlass situated at
the other end of the salt pan. The said windlasses are provided with
5 winch handles y, y, and with suitable gearing, whereby any one of the
said chains may be operated upon in order to raise two of the sections of
the cover.

page_text: beneath the cover into the space beneath a second pan is illustrated.
In this example a pipe or trunk z conveys the steam from the space a¹
below the cover 6 to the space b¹ below the salt pan a. If thought to be
desirable the second salt pan may be fitted with a cover and the steam
be conveyed below a third salt pan, or the arrangement may be extended
to more than three pans.
In Figs. 1 and 3, Sheet 1, the salt pan is represented as resting upon
columns, instead of on partition walls as is usual. The hollow columns k¹,
in the furnace portion are perforated, and are so formed and arranged as
that air can enter at their lower ends and flow through the perforations,
thereby promoting a more perfect combustion of the fuel, or if preferred
solid or unperforated columns may be employed instead of the said
perforated columns.
The second part of my Invention is illustrated by Figs. 16 to 19. In
Fig. 16 a is a salt pan, and c¹ is a revolving agitator which is caused
to traverse to and fro from end to end of the said salt pan. The said
agitator is formed with paddles and is caused to traverse to and fro by
means of the endless chain or band d¹, or by means of two such chains
or bands, the said agitator revolving by contact with the brine or being
caused to revolve by positive motion, as for example a spur pinion fixed
on the axle of the agitator may gear with a rack or with racks fixed to
the edge of the salt pan. In Fig. 17 a float is connected by means of a
chain to an endless chain or band e¹ which passes around end pulleys f¹,
one of which is caused to revolve, whereby the said float is traversed to
and fro from end to end of the salt pan. In Figs. 18 and 19 a shaft g¹
fitted at each end with a train wheel to run on the edge of the salt pan
is arranged to be traversed to and fro as in the case of the revolving
agitator, and a number of floats h', h', are connected with the said shaft,
the said floats acting on the surface of the brine for the purpose herein-
before mentioned.
The last and remaining part of my Invention is illustrated by Figs. 20
and 21. In this example the upper part of the furnace bridge is formed
of a pipe through which air is forced. The air heated by flowing
through the said pipe is conveyed through the side pipe m¹ into the
space below the cover, or is otherwise conveyed into the said space or
into the space below the cover of a second salt pan. Such heated air
promotes the evaporation of the water in the brine.
The situation,

page_text: form, and arrangement of the pipes for heating air for the said purpose
may be varied from the arrangement illustrated if desired.
Having now fully described and indicated the nature of my Invention,
and my methods of carrying the same into practical effect, I would
in conclusion have it to be distinctly understood that I claim,―
First. Providing and fitting salt pans with covers, substantially as and
for the purposes herein-before set forth and indicated.
Secondly. The forms and arrangement of the salt pan covers and the
methods of raising or opening the same, substantially as herein-before
described, and as illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly. The employment of self-acting mechanical agitators for the
purpose herein-before set forth.
Fourthly. The employment of perforated or unperforated columns in
lieu of the walls which ordinarily separate the furnaces.
And, lastly. The discharging of heated air into the space immediately
below salt pan covers, for the purpose herein-before indicated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hamer, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Thirdly. The employment of sen-acting mechanical agitat
purpose herein-before set forth.
CHO
Fourthly. The employment of perforated or unperforated columns in
lieu of the walls which ordinarily separate the furnaces.
And, lastly. The discharging of heated air into the space immediately
below salt pan covers, for the purpose herein-before indicated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hamer, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.

page_text: Filed 20th December 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HAMER, of the Hill, Winnington, Northwich, in the County of Chester,
Salt Proprietor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Isles, and the Isle of Man, bearing
date the Twenty-ninth day of February One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-two, and numbered 630, in the thirty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Hamer, Her special license, that I, the said William
Hamer, my executors, administrators, or 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 Isles, and the Isle of Man, an Invention for "Iж-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SALT :
"
And whereas in pursuance of and performance of a proviso in the said

page_text: Letters Patent contained, I, the said William Hamer, did cause a Specifi-
cation, under my hand and seal, particularly describing the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, to be
duly filed in the Great Seal Patent Office on or about the Fifteenth day
August 1872:
And whereas since the filing of the said Specification I have ascer-
tained that,
-
Firstly. Doubts have arisen as to the novelty of certain parts of the
Invention as claimed in the Specification aforesaid.
Secondly. Certain other parts of the said Invention, though clearly
described in the Provisional and Final Specifications, have nevertheless
been omitted to be clearly claimed as forming portions of my Invention.
Thirdly. Certain other parts, also fully described in the Provisional
and Final Specifications, have been only partially claimed, all as hore-
after more particularly stated, viz.,-
First. The application of covers to salt pans as described in the
Provisional Specification,
page 1, line 8, to page 2, line 3;
but salt pan covers constructed in the particular manner described in the
Provisional Specification, page 2, line 3 to line 8, and as described in the
Final Specification from page 4, line 4 to page 5, line 37, and shown on
the Drawings at Figs. 1 to 13 were believed to have been new at the time.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Hamer, by and with the
leave of Her Majesty's Solicitor-general, do hereby for the reasons
aforesaid, desire to strike out the first claim at the end of the Specification,
and to make the now second claim into the first claim.
Second. That I have fully described a method of conveying the steam
from the space beneath the cover of a salt pan into a space beneath a
second pan, viz., in the Provisional Specification, page 1, last line to
page 2, line 3, and in the Final Specification at page 5, last line to
page 6, line 6; reference is also here made to Figs. 14 and 15, Sheet 2,
which clearly show the aforesaid mode of accomplishing the object;
now this part of the Invention has inadvertently been left unclaimed.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Hamer, by and with the
leave of Her Majesty's Solicitor-General, do hereby for the reasons
aforesaid, desire to add the following as and instead of the now second
claim.

page_text: Secondly. The mode of conveying the steam from the space beneath
the cover into the space beneath a second pan, substantially as shewn
and described with reference to Figs. 14 and 15.
Third. That I have fully described various modes of mechanically
agitating the surface of [the brine both in the Provisional and in the
Final Specification, viz., in the Provisional Specification, page 2, line 9
to 13, and in the Final Specification various modes of carrying this part
of the Invention into effect, are described with reference to Figs. 16 to
19, Sheet 2 on page 6, line 14 to line 30. On referring to line 19 the
following will be found:-" The said agitator revolving by contact with
"the brine, or being caused to revolve by positive motion, as for example
a spur pinion fixed on the axle of the agitator may gear with a rack
or with racks fixed to the edge of the salt pan." Two modes of
turning the agitator, viz., either self-acting by contact of the agitator
arms with the surface of the brinc, along the surface of which the
agitator is dragged by means of the endless chain or band d, as shewn at
Fig. 16, or secondly, by positive motion such as spur pinion and rack as
shewn in dotted lines at Fig. 16.
<
"
Now although both the self-acting and the other or positive motion
modo are clearly described both in the Provisional and the Final
Specification, and clearly to be understood from the Drawings, yet the
third claim covers only self-acting mechanical agitators.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Hamer, by and with the
leave of Her Majesty's Solicitor-General desire to erase the word "self-
acting" in the third claim, and to insert the words "substantially as
and" after agitators, so that this claim would read,—
Thirdly. The employment of mechanical agitators, substantially as
and for the purpose herein-before set forth.
And in order that it may be clearly understood what is the Invention
in part
A
which I now consider to be secured by the herein-before recited Letters
Patent, I shall proceed to repeat the Specification as proposed to be
amended by this present Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration,
as follows:-
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HAMER, of the Hill, Winnington, Northwich, in the County of Chester,

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Hamer, Her special license
that I, the said William Hamer, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Hamer, 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 EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SALT," upon the condition,
amongst others, that I, the said William Hamer, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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 Hamer, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
The object of my Invention in the first place is to effect an economy
in the fuel used in the process of evaporating brine by making use of
the heat radiated from the surface of the brine in the evaporating pan or
carried off by the vapour arising from the said brine. For this purpose
I enclose the pan by means of a cover, and I cause the steam or vapour
arising from the surface of the brine to flow through a passage whereby
it is led beneath a second pan or beneath other pans, or is employed
for other heating purposes. The said cover may be formed in one
piece, or in two or more parts, and is balanced or partly balanced,
or is otherwise arranged and fitted in such a manner as that it may be
readily raised and lowered, or the said cover may be fixed and be fitted
with doors through which access may be had to the interior of the pan.
In the second place I employ an agitator which is caused to traverse
to and fro over the surface of the brine and to agitate the surface of the

page_text: said brine in order to cause the crystals of salt to sink to the bottom of
the pan.
In the third place I force air by means of a fan through a pipe or
hollow pillar, or through pipes or pillars which is or are exposed to the
heat of the furnace whereby the said air becomes heated, and I cause
the heated air to flow into the space enclosed by the aforesaid cover in
order that the said heated air may act upon the surface of the brine and
thereby increase the evaporation.
In order that my said Invention may be well understood, I will refer
accompanying
A
to the Drawings illustrative of the means I have adopted when carrying
the said Invention into practical effect.
In Sheet 1 of the said Drawings Fig. 1 represents a side elevation;
Fig. 2, a plan; and Fig. 3, a cross section of a salt pan fitted with a
cover in manner according with the first part of my Invention, the said
views being drawn to a scale of about one quarter of an inch to the foot.
Fig. 4 represents a portion of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 a portion of Fig. 3,
drawn to a larger scale.
In the said Figs. a represents the said salt pan, and 6 the cover thereof.
The framework of the said covers consists of iron trusses c, which are
connected together at each end by the tee-iron girders d, and are covered
with sheet iron or with metal plates or timber. The lower surfaces of
the girders d are faced with timber, and rest upon the edges of the salt
pan when the cover is down. The cover is raised when required by
means of chains e, e, which pass over pulleys f, f, which are mounted on
the upper ends of the columns 9, 9, which are fixed at suitable distances
apart on each side of the pan. Each of the said chains extends through
one of the said columns, and passing partly around a second chain
pulley h, which is mounted in the lower part of the said column, is
connected with one of the two chains i, i, each of which connects
together the chains proceeding from the columns on one side of the salt
pan. Each of the said chains i, i, is attached by one end to the chain
drumj of a windlass, there being a separate windlass to each of the said
chains. The two windlasses are connected together by means of the
shaft k, which is provided with winch handles, and gives motion through
worm and spur gearing to both of the said chain drums, so that when
the shaft is rotated in a suitable direction the chains i, i, are wound
upon the said chain drums, thereby drawing the chains e, e, and raising

page_text: the cover b. Adjustable shackles are or may be fitted to each of the
chains i, i. The said cover is arranged to fit upon the upper edges of the
salt pan as near as may be in a steam-tight manner, and the steam
arising from the surface of the brine during the time when the cover is
down passes through a passage which conveys the said steam into the
space below a second pan, as will be mentioned herein-after. The drip or
condensed steam which flows down the under side of the cover is
collected by gutters m, from whence it is conveyed away in any suitable
manner.
q
Figs. 6, 7, and 8 illustrate a modification in the form and arrangement
of the said cover. In this example, the said cover is formed in a
number of sections, each of which is hinged at n to a girder o which is
above the salt pan, and is sustained by the end columns p, p. A shaft
is mounted in brackets fixed to the said girder, and is actuated by means
of the winch handles and gearing r, r. Each section of the cover is
raised when required by means of a chain 8 which is attached by one
end to the said section, and by the other end to a chain drum fixed on
the shaft q, so that by turning the winch handles r, r, the whole of the
sections may be raised by one operation. When down the said sections
rest upon angle or tee-iron beams or principals t, t, which are attached
by one end to the sides of the salt pan, and by the other end to tho
lower part of the girder n, the said beams serving also to close the spaces
between the edges of the said sections. The outer edge of each section
is formed with a lip which dips into a gutter which serves to seal the
outer edge of the cover, and also to collect the afore-mentioned drip.
Figures 9 to 13, Sheet 2, illustrate a further modification. In this
example the said cover is divided into six sections, each section being
hinged to the girder o, as in the example last described. Each section
is represented as being trussed, and as being otherwise of a stronger
construction than the sections illustrated in Sheet 1. The sections are
raised in pairs, the two sections situated opposite to each other on
different sides of the central girder being raised together by means of a
single chain. One end of the said chain is attached to one section, as
shewn in Fig. 11, and passes over a chain pulley which is mounted in
a bracket fixed to the girder o, and thence around a pulley w which is
linked to the opposite section, and returning to the said bracket passes
over a chain pulley x, and is then led over carrier pulleys to a windlass
situated at one end or the other of the salt pan. There being three of

page_text: the said chains, one chain is led to a single windlass situated to the left
hand in Figs. 9 and 10, and represented on a larger scale at Figs. 12
and 13, the other two chains being led to a double windlass situated at
the other end of the salt pan. The said windlasses are provided with
winch handles y, y, and with suitable gearing, whereby any one of the
said chains may be operated upon in order to raise two of the sections of
the cover.
In Figs. 14 and 15 a method of conveying the steam from the space
beneath the cover into the space beneath a second pan is illustrated. In
this example a pipe or trunk z conveys the steam from the space a¹
below the cover 6 to the space 6¹ below the salt pan a. If thought to
be desirable the second salt pan may be fitted with a cover and the
steam be conveyed below a third salt pan, or the arrangement may be
extended to more than three pans.
In Figs. 1 and 3, Sheet 1, the salt pan is represented as resting upon
columns instead of on partition walls, as is usual. The hollow
columns k¹ in the furnace portion are perforated, and are so formed and
arranged as that air can enter at their lower ends and flow through the
perforations, thereby promoting a more perfect combustion of the fuel;
or if preferred solid or unperforated columns may be employed instead
of the said perforated columns.
The second part of my Invention is illustrated by Figs. 16 to 19. In
Fig. 16 a is a salt pan and c¹ is a revolving agitator, which is caused to
traverse to and fro from end to end of the said salt pan. The said
agitator is formed with paddles, and is caused to traverse to and fro by
means of the endless chain or band d³, or by means of two such chains
or bands; the said agitator revolving by contact with the brine or being
caused to revolve by positive motion, as, for example, a spur pinion
fixed on the axle of the agitator may gear with a rack or with racks
fixed to the edge of the salt pan.
In Fig. 17 a float is connected by means of a chain to an endless
chain or band e¹, which passes around end pulleys f¹, one of which is
caused to revolve, whereby the said float is traversed to and fro from
end to end of the salt pan.
In Figs. 18 and 19 a shaft g¹ fitted at each end with a train wheel to
run on the edge of the salt pan is arranged to be traversed to and fro

page_text: as in the case of the revolving agitator, and a number of floats h³, h¹,
are connected with the said shaft; the said floats acting on the surface
of the brine for the purpose herein-before mentioned.}
The last and remaining part of my Invention is illustrated by Figs.
20 and 21. In this example the upper part of the furnace bridge is
formed of a pipe A, through which air is forced. The air heated by
flowing through the said pipe is conveyed through the side pipe m¹ into
the space below the cover, or is otherwise conveyed into the said space
or into the space below the cover of a second salt pan. Such heated air
promotes the evaporation of the water in the brine.
WILLIAM HAMER. (L.S.)

page_text: To the Commissioners of Patents for Inventions.
I hereby grant my fiat giving leave to the above-named William
Hamer, of the Hill, Winnington, Northwich, in the County of Chester,
Salt Proprietor, to file in the Great Scal Patent Office, with the Specifi-
cation to which the same relates, the above-written Disclaimer and
Memorandum of Alteration.
W. V. HARCOURT,
20th December 1873.
Solicitor-General.