IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE TreatMENT OF ARGENTIFEROUS LEADS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Gustave Dumont, of Quai-sur-Meuse, No. 19, à
Liège, Belgique, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR THE TreatMENT OF ARGENTIFEROUS LEADS."
PROVISIONAL · SPECIFICATION left by the said Ġustave Dumont at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th February 1870.
:
I, Gustave DUMONT, of Quai-sur-Meuse, No. 19, à Liège, Belgique,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF ARGENTIFEROUS LEADS," to be
as follows :-
My apparatus is intended to replace hand labor by steam power in
order to effect by the aid of a single attendant all the operations
necessary for obtaining poor lead and lead rich in silver, the method of
concentrating by crystallization being employed. The mode of con
centration is modified-in-that-no-heating vessel is emptied and that the
-poor-lead-and-the-rich-lead-are.only cast into pigs or ingots; an economy

page_text: in fuel is thus effected, since during the whole operation the lead is never
cooled. The facility with which a heating vessel can be scaled and the
leaden mass divided into several parts allows of employing divers modes
of operating, which vary with the richness of the raw lead to be treated.
In order to facilitate the operations the vessels in which the lead is
melted are arranged continuously in a circle around the motive
apparatus. This arrangement is very advantageous, because all the
vessels increase in content at each operation and all the scries which
contains the rich lead at one end and the poor lead at the other is
removed from one vessel. An arrangement of vessels in a straight line
such as is now used may however be adopted, but the apparatus must
then have a to-and-fro movement in order to carry the crystals from ono
end to the other. The apparatus will in either case be constructed upon
the same principles. In the circular arrangement the apparatus is
composed of a beam free to turn on a vertical axis in the centre of a
platform. The beam is supported on rollers which run on a circular rail.
It carries at one end a vertical cylinder, which can receive steam
alternately at top and at bottom and the height of which is regulated by
the depth of the heating vessels so that the tool can reach their bottom
and risc a few inches above their edge. This cylinder effects all the
vertical movements. Inside the cylinder is a piston the rod of which
is hollow and gives passage to a central rod which carries the tool. The
tool rod has an enlargement bearing on the piston so that when the
latter rises the tool is lifted; this rod is prolonged through the top of
the cylinder and carries a bevil wheel, which is feathered thercon so that
all rotary movement given to the wheel is imparted to the rod and con-
sequently to the tool at whatever height the tool may be. The rotary
movement of the rod is obtained through connecting rods and gearing by
means of a pair of small steam cylinders at the side of the beam; the
cylinders are provided with slides which allow of interverting the move-
ment. Motion is also transmitted by suitable gearing from these cylinders
to the base of the apparatus so as to cause the whole apparatus to turn
on its central pivot. A break is attached to the base and is stretched
by a weight in order to regulate the rotary movement of the beam. The
steam for working the three cylinders is conducted to the centre of the
beam by a pipe provided with packing which permits of the rotation.
Three secondary pipes with regulators unite the cylinders at this central
point. The tool is composed of a horizontal plate formed with small
holes, and with (say) six grooves. Below each groove is an inclined
°

page_text: wing or knife rivetted to the plate, the lower face of which has the same
curve as the bottom of the heating vessels. The object of these wings
is to detach the crystals which form at the bottom of the vessel and to
cause them to pass above the plate by the grooves as soon as rotary
5 motion is imparted to the tool. To keep the crystals thus detached
above the plate its edge has (say) six curved vertical segments or wings
having some analogy to the floats of a turbine, and leaving between them
at their ends a vertical groove so that when the tool is forced with a
turning motion into the leaden mass the crystals and the liquid enter at
) once by the respective grooves. Between the vertical wings and the
plate is a space about a third of an inch high, by which the liquid lead
projected by the centrifugal force when great speed is given to the tool
flows. The attendant, who stands at one side of the beam and turns
with it, has all the necessary parts within his reach.. When the heating
6 vessels are arranged in a straight line the apparatus is modified in order
that it may receive a to-and-fro instead of a circular movement, but the
parts are in other respects the same as just described.
To explain the action of the apparatus let us suppose that it is desired
to work by thirds. There will be a set in which there is alternately a
full vessel which is to be impoverished, and at the side of it a vessel
containing only a third of lead. All the full vessels have their fire
covered, and are cooling; all the vessels two-thirds empty are being
heated. The attendant brings the tool above a full vessel and causes it
to descend therein by allowing steam to escape from the bottom of the
vertical cylinder; he then by means of the small cylinders and gearing
rotates the tool, which is forced into the mass by its own weight, and by
the steam admitted at the top of its cylinder; the tool in turning
divides the crust which is formed by the cooling at the surface of the
bath or the crystals which become attached to the sides of the vessel;
the whole takes a pasty form; the crystals enter the tool by the vertical
and lateral grooves and when the tool has reached the limit of its
travel which is at the bottom of the vessel the attendant stops its
movement, it being charged; the attendant then admits steam to the
bottom of the vertical cylinder, the tool rises carrying a quantity of
crystals and the liquid lead runs out by the holes; when the tool is
above the bath without having passed beyond the edge of the vessel ho
imparts a rotary movement to it, slight at first, then more and more
rapid according as the mass becomes dry; the rich liquid lead projected

page_text: by the centrifugal force escapes in a continuous film which falls into the
vessel or congeals against its side; the draining is then finished. The
attendant now stops the rotary movement, raises the tool above the
vessel, gives a partial rotary motion to the apparatus to bring it above
the adjoining vessel two-thirds empty, and causes the tool to descenda
into it; he then imparts rotary motion to the tool, the hot lead
penetrates the crystals and melts them in a few seconds, and the tool is
discharged; lic then moves the apparatus to another vessel, which
undergoes the same operation, and so on successively until he has
removed a ladleful from each vessel. During this time an assistant
detaches the crust which has formed on the edge of the vessel, returns it.
into the mass and at times hastens the cooling by throwing water on
the bath. The attendant having returned to his first point therefore
finds the vessels sufficiently cooled to enable him to take a new chargo
of crystals, and the operation continues thus until there remains in the
vessels which were originally full only a third of lead.
During this
time the vessels two-thirds empty are filled, and we have a fresh set to
be operated upon by heating the vessels which were cooled and cooling
those which were heated. By this operation there is produced at one
side of the set a poor lead which may be cast into pigs or ingots, and at
the other a rich lead, which is also kept separate or which is left in the
vessels for further operations.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Gustave Dumont in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 2nd August 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GUSTAVE
DUMONT, of Quai-sur-Meuse, No. 19, à Liège, Belgique, Engineer, send
greeting.
2
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of February, in the 3
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Gustave Dumont, Her special licence
that I, the said Gustave Dumont, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Gustave Dumont, my executors,

page_text: 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, excrcise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF ARGENTIFEROUS LEADS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Gustave Dumont, 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 Gustave Dumont, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :—
My apparatus is intended to replace hand labor by steam power
in order to effect by the aid of a single attendant all the operations
necessary for obtaining poor lead and lead rich in silver, the method
of concentrating by crystallization being employed. The mode of con-
centration is modified in that no heating vessel is emptied, and that the
poor lead and the rich lead are only cast into pigs or ingots; an economy
in fuel is thus effected, since during the whole operation the lead is
never cooled. The facility with which a heating vessel can be scaled
and the leaden mass divided into several parts allows of employing
divers modes of operating, which vary with the richness of the raw lead
to be treated. In order to facilitate the operations, the vessels in which
the lead is melted are arranged continuously in a circle around the
motive apparatus. This arrangement is very advantageous, because all
the vessels increase in content at each operation, and all the series which
contains the rich lead at one end and the poor lead at the other is
removed from one vessel. An arrangement of vessels in a straight line
such as is now used may however be adopted, but the apparatus must
then have a to-and-fro movement in order to carry the crystals from one
end to the other. The apparatus will in either case he constructed upon
the same principles.

page_text: :
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings represent in vertical
section and plan respectively an apparatus in which the circular
arrangement is adopted. In this circular arrangement the apparatus
is composed of a beam X free to turn on a vertical axis in the centre
of a platform K. The beam is supported on rollers N, which run on
a circular rail. It carries at one end a vertical cylinder A, which can
receive steam alternately at top and at bottom, and the height of
which is regulated by the depth of the heating vessels P, so that
the tool can reach their bottom and rise a few inches above their.
edge; this cylinder effects all the vertical movements. Inside the
cylinder is a piston, the rod B of which is hollow and gives passage to
a central rod C which carrics the tool D. The tool rod C has an
enlargement bearing on the piston, so that when the latter rises the tool
is lifted; this rod is prolonged through the top of the cylinder, and
carries a bevil wheel E which is feathered thercon, so that all rotary
movement given to the wheel is imparted to the rod and consequently
to the tool at whatever height the tool may be. The rotary movement
of the rod is obtained by means of a pair of small steam cylinders Lat
the side of the beam; the cylinders are provided with slides which allow
of interverting. the movement; their connecting rods work the cranks
of a horizontal shaft O, on which is keyed a bevel wheel U which imparts
rotary motion through a corresponding wheel to a shaft U; this shaft
carries at its other end a wheel F gearing with the wheel on the tool
rod C. Motion is also transmitted from the shaft U' by means of bevel
gearing G, H, to a vertical shaft J, which carrics at its lower end a
pinion in gear with a wheel within the base K of the apparatus, so that
the whole apparatus is caused to turn on its central pivot. A break
is attached to the base, and is stretched by a weight in order to regulate
the rotary movement of the beam. The steam for working the three
cylinders is conducted to the centre of the beam by a pipe M, provided :
with packing which permits of the rotation. Three secondary pipes
with regulators unite the cylinders at this central point. The tool,
represented in vertical section and plan in Figures 3 and 4, is composed
of a horizontal plate formed with small holes and with (say) six
grooves R. Below each groove is an inclined wing or knife $ rivetted:
to the plate, the lower face of which has the same curve as the bottom
of the heating vessels P. The object of these wings is to detach the
crystals which form at the bottom of the vessel and to cause them to
pass above the plate by the grooves R as soon as rotary motion is

page_text: imparted to the tool. To keep the crystals thus detached above the
plate its edge has (say) six curved vertical segments or wings V having
some analogy to the floats of a turbine, and leaving between them at
their ends a vertical groove T, so that when the tool is forced with a
turning motion into the leaden mass the crystals and the liquid enter
at once by the grooves R and T. Between the vertical wings V and
the plate is a space about a third of an inch high, by which the liquid
lead projected by the centrifugal force when great speed is given to the
tool flows. The attendant, who stands at one side of the beam and turns
with it, has all the necessary parts within his reach. The vessels Pare
heated by means of a flue Y, and the products of combustion escape
by a flue Z, which after having passed below the vessels and the flue Y
terminates in a chimney outside the building.
When the heating vessels are arranged in a straight line, as represented
in vertical section and plan in Figures 5 and 6, the apparatus is modified
in order that it may receive a to-and-fro instead of a circular movement.
It consists of a strong cast-iron frame borne at one side on a rail N¹ fixed
to the wall of the building, and at the other side by a railway N. This
frame carries the vertical cylinder A for raising the tool D, also the small
cylinders L, the transmission shafts, and a tubular boiler M, the weight of
which is calculated to give the wheels of the frame sufficient adhesion to
the railway N. The small cylinders L impart rotary motion to the shaft U'
whch carries the gearing T and G, the former of which transmits rotary
motion to the tool shaft C, while the latter through the wheel H, shaft J,
and wheel K² causes the wheels of the frame to travel on the railway N.
To explain the action of the apparatus let us suppose that it is desired
to work by thirds. There will be a set in which there is alternately a
full vessel which is to be impoverished, and at the side of it a vessel con-
taining only a third of lead. All the full vessels have their fire covered
and are cooling, all the vessels two-thirds empty are being heated. The
attendant brings the tool above a full vessel, and causes it to descend
therein by allowing steam to escape from the bottom of the vertical
cylinder; he then by means of the small cylinders and gearing rotates
the tool, which is forced into the mass by its own weight and by the
steam admitted at the top of its cylinder; the tool in turning divides the
crust which is formed by the cooling at the surface of the bath or the
crystals which become attached to the sides of the vessel; the whole
takes a pasty form, the crystals enter the tool by the vertical and lateral
grooves, and when the tool has reached the limit of its travel, which is at

page_text: •
the bottom of the vessel, the attendant stops its movement, it being
charged; the attendant then admits steam to the bottom of the vertical
cylinder, the tool rises carrying a quantity of crystals, and the liquid
lead runs out by the holes; when the tool is above the bath without
having passed beyond the edge of the vessel he imparts a rotary move-
ment to it, slight at first, then more and more rapid according as the
mass becomes dry; the rich liquid_lead projected by the centrifugal force
escapes in a continuous film which falls into the vessel or congcals
against its side; the draining is thus finished. The attendant now
stops the rotary movement, raises the tool above the vessel, gives a partial
rotary motion to the apparatus to bring it above the adjoining vessel
two-thirds empty; and causes the tool to descend into it; he then
imparts rotary motion to the tool, the hot lead penetrates the crystals
and melts them in a few seconds, and the tool is discharged ;- he then
moves the apparatus, to another vessel, which. undergoes the same
operation, and so on successively until he has removed a ladleful from
cach vessel. During this time an assistant detaches the crust which has
formed on the edge of the vessel, returns it into the mass, and at times
hastens the cooling by throwing water on the bath. The attendant
having returned to his first point therefore finds the vessels sufficiently
cooled to enable him to take a new charge of crystals, and the operation
continues thus until there remains in the vessels which were originally
full only a third of lead. During this time the vessels two-thirds empty
are filled and we have a fresh set to be operated upon by heating tho
vessels which were cooled and cooling those which were heated. By this
operation there is produced at one side of the set a poor lead which may
be cast into pigs or ingots, and at the other a rich lead which is also
kept separato or which is left in the vessels for future operations.
La
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as
my "Improvements in Apparatus for the Treatment of Argentiferous
Leads,"
First. The general combination or combinations of parts of apparatus
arranged and acting substantially as herein-before described and repre-
sented in the accompanying Drawings.-
Second. The circular arrangement of the heating or melting vessels,
་ ་་

page_text: Third. Constructing the tool, substantially as herein-before described
and represented in Figures 3 and 4.
Fourth. Constructing apparatus so that the tool is made to enter the
heating or melting vessels, is charged and discharged by rotation, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
Fifth. Constructing apparatus so that the draining or discharge of the
liquid lead from the tool is effected by centrifugal force, substantially as
hercin-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Gustave Dumont, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June One thousand
eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
ALBERT CAHEN,
Civil Engineer,
GUSTAVE DUMONT. (L.S.)
Boulevard Magenta, No. 32,
Paris.