IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING OR CLEANSING
Year: 1857

page_text: YERS PATENT
to Edmund Edwards and Edward Beacher, of the
Thorncliffe and Chapeltown Iron Works, near Sheffield, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING OR CLEANSING
TUT
Thorncliffe and Chapeltown Iron Works, near Sheffield, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING OR CLEANSING
MINERAL AND OTHER SUBSTANCES."
Scaled the 6th October 1857, and dated the 8th April 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Edwards and
Edward Beacher at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 8th April 1857.
We, EDMUND EDWARDS and EDWARD BEACHER, of the Thorncliffe and
Chapeltown Iron Works, near Sheffield, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING
OR CLEANSING MINERAL AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in arranging screens or gratings over or within
cisterns or vessels containing water. The mineral or other substances or
materials to be washed or cleansed are placed or permitted to fall upon the
screens in a suitable quantity or to a suitable depth, and the water is by means
of a suitable pump or pumps and valves caused at each pulsation to rise and
fall within the cistern or vessel, of which there may be two or more connected
or worked together, and upon the water being driven upward through the
gratings or screens amongst the mineral or other substances or materials
supported or resting thereon, the whole becomes disturbed, and the lighter

page_text: particles are washed over, whilst the heavy particles & impurities becomeing
disengaged fall through the gratings or screens, and this action is facilitated
by the fall of the water produced by the return pulsation.
Instead of continuing the washing or cleansing for a sufficient time on one
set of screens, or over one cistern or vessels two or more sets of these screens or
cistern may be arranged one above the other, and the materials to be washed,
say, for instance coal, may by the displacement and fall of the water through
the screens be caused to rise up and flow over the edge of the upper screen on
to the next lower screen, and so on, parting at each removal or step in the
process with some portion of the earthy matter or impurities which were
combined therewith; these heavier particles or impurities are allowed to
collect in the bottom of the cistern or vessel from which they may be removed
at convenience.
When metallic ores are treated by this process the lighter parts or particles
are those which it is or may be desirable to remove, in which case they are
washed away or over the edge of the screen, whilst the large & heavy or more
valuable parts of the materials under treatment are retained on the screens,
and may be removed by means of a door or shoot when the washing has
ceased.
It is preferred for certain purposes to close the orifice of the pump barrel or
connecting pipe within the cistern by means of an air-tight flexible bag or
other similar contrivance for preventing the water and the impurities contained
therein from entering the pump barrel, and so injuring or impairing the working
of the piston.
Considerable economy is effected by this Invention in the quantity of
water required to, wash and in the time occupied in washing a given quantity
of materials, as such washing can be, continued for a considerable time without
a supply of additional water being necessary.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions, of the Letters Patent,, filed
by the said Edmund Edwards and Edward Beacher in the Great Seal 3
Patent Office on the 8th October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDMUND
EDWARDS and EDWARD BEACHER, of the Thorncliffe and Chapeltown Iron
Works, near. Sheffield, send greeting,
WHEREAS, Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Edmund Edwards and Edward Beacher, Her special licence that we, the
said Edmund Edwards and Edward Beacher, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Edmund Edwards and Edward Beacher,
our executors, adminstrators, 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 MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR WASHING OR CLEANSING MINERAL AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Edmund Edwards and Edward Beacher,
by an instrument in writing under our or their, or one of their 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 we, the said Edmund Edwards and Edward Beacher,
do hereby declare the nature of our 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 Drawing:-
This Invention consists in arranging screens or gratings over or within
cisterns or vessels containing water. The mineral or other substances or
materials to be washed or cleansed are placed or permitted to fall upon the
screens in a suitable quantity or to a suitable depth, and the water is by means
of a suitable pump or pumps and valves caused at each pulsation to rise and
fall within the cistern or vessel, of which there may be two or more connected
or worked together, and upon the water being driven upward through the
grating or screens amongst the mineral or other substances or materials
supported or resting thereon, the whole becomes disturbed, and the lighter
particles are washed over, whilst the heavy particles and impurities becoming
disengaged fall through the gratings or screens, and this action is facilitated by
the fall of the water produced by the return pulsation.
Instead of continuing the washing or cleansing for a sufficient time on one
set of screens or over one cistern or vessel, two or more sets of these screens
and cisterns may be arranged one above the other, and the material to be
washed, say, for instance, coal, may by the displacement and force of the water
through the screens be caused to rise up and flow over the edge of the upper

page_text: screen on to the next lower screen, and so on, parting at each removal or stop
in the process with some portion of earthy matter or impurities which were
contained therein; these heavier particles or impurities are allowed to collect
in the bottom of the cistern or vessel, from which they may be removed at
convenience.
When metallic ores are treated by this means the lighter parts or particles
are those which it is or may be desirable to remove, in which case these are
washed down or over the edge of the screen, whilst the large and heavy or
more valuable parts of the material under treatment are retained on the screens,
and may be removed by means of a door or shoot when the washing has
ceased.
It is prefered for certain purposes to close the orifice of the pump barrel or
connecting pipe within the cistern by means of an air-tight flexable bag,
diaphragm, or other similar contrivance, for preventing the water and the
impurities contained therein from entering the pump barrel, and so injuring
or impeding the working of the piston.
Considerable economy is effected by this Invention in the quantity of
water required to wash, and in the time occupied in washing a given quantity
of materials, whereby such washing can be continued for a considerable time
without a supply of additional water being necessary.
In illustration of this Invention, the accompanying Sheet of Drawings
contains several Figures exhibiting some of the variations of form and arrange-
ment which it may be convenient to give to machines constructed according to
our Invention.
Fig. 1 exhibits an arrangement of machinery intended for washing coals,
and represents a sectional elevation of two of the machines combined and
worked together. A is a shaft, caused to revolve by any suitable power; but if
by a steam engine it may be attached to and form part of the machine, or the
machine may be worked by straps and pulleys or any other convenient means.
This shaft by means of eccentrics or cranks drives a piston or plunger working
in a cylinder attached to each machine, or to each side of a double machine.
The chamber or box B open to the piston is filled with water, which is caused
by each stroke of the piston to rise or fall through a certain space, dependant
upon the relative areas of the piston and of the chamber or box B. In the
upper part of each chamber or box is placed a plate C, pierced with numerous
perforations or a screen frame, and upon this screen frame or plate the coals
or other substances to be washed are placed. The action of the water soon
causes the heavier particles to descend to the lower part of the mass, the

page_text: lighter (and in the case of coal the purer) ones remaining at the top. With
coal, this upper portion is that which is valuable and required. In ores, the
lower layer would be the valuable material. In any case we remove the upper
portion by raking or scraping, and by reference to Figure 1 it will be observed
that a series of hinged scrapers having a slow horizontal motion backwards
and forwards are shewn driven by the same power employed to drive the
pistons or plungers; these scrapers gradually remove the upper stratum of
material by thrusting, driving, or forcing it over the sides E, whence it falls or
is conveyed into waggons or other convenient recepticles, a fresh supply being
continually admitted from the hoppers D, D. A door at the side, as shown at
M, admits of the removal from time to time of the heavier particles gradually
accumulating upon the screens or perforated plates C, and a similar door Lat
the bottom of the box will admit of the removal of the finer portions, which
will in the course of time collect there.
Another method is shewn at Fig. 2, where the coal and water at the surface
of the mass are delivered at each stroke of the pistons (which are similar to
Fig. 1) over the side F into a supplementary chamber or box G, which contains
screen bars, screen frames, or a perforated plate H (near the bottom), similar
to that in the principal chamber or box; on this screen frame or plate the
washed material collects, whilst the water delivered with it is withdrawn at
cach return stroke of the piston through the perforated plate H and the valves
T, which may be constructed of vulcanized india-rubber, leather, or other
suitable material. The washed material or substance is withdrawn when
necessary through the opening K into waggons or other receptacles, and a
door similar to that described in Fig. 1 admits of the occasional withdrawal of
the accumulation of heavier matter upon the plate C.
As a modification of the arrangement of the parts of the machines to render
them better suited for the particular purpose for which they are required, we
place the cylinders vertically instead of horizontally, and work their pistons or
plungers by means of a beam or levers, and by a vibratory instead of rotatory
motion, as shewn in Fig. 3, where the barrels of the pumps O project
outwardly from the chambers and stand vertically, the pistons or buckets being
worked by vibrating connecting rods or links connected to each end of a beam
fixed upon a shaft A, and which may be actuated by a crank or eccentric
working the end of the tail bar. In this view the two chambers or boxes are
shewn filled with water, but not washing materials; the screen bars or plates
G and the door L at the bottom are also shewn.
"
In Fig. 4 is exhibited a variation in the position and arrangement of the

page_text: cylinders, the elbow pipes of which they are formed being placed within the
chambers, and curving downwards, so that by a continual contact either with a
body of air separating it from the water, or with an unchanging quantity of
water, as also from its position the piston may be preserved from injury by the
particles of matter while falling or in motion within the chamber; in other
respects the apparatus is similar.
Fig. 5 exhibits a longitudinal elevation, shewing sectional views taken at
various parts; and Fig. 6 is a plan, with sections taken at various lines in the
height of Fig. 5 of four sets of screens, rake apparatus, chambers, and pumps,
mounted together and connected or geared to and worked by a steam engine
placed within the covered way or space formed by the junction of the two sets
of apparatus. The screens are shewn as more inclined than in the previous
views, and a portion of the screen is hinged and made to open for the.
purpose of permitting the upper face of the screen to be cleared when
necessary.
Fig. 7 is a sectional view of an arrangement which we prefer to employ in
certain cases instead of a piston or bucket working in a cylinder, as shewn in
the several Figures herein-before described; thus, in adapting and applying our
machines to the washing of emery, and for washing other materials, minerals,
or articles of a gritty character, such gritty particles would, if allowed to come
in contact with the working surfaces of the pistons or buckets, and the
cylinders or barrels, rapidly destroy them. Now, for certain of the purposes
mentioned, instead of covering the inner ends of the of the cylinders or barrels
with a protective bag, or elastic water or water and air proof material,
we substitute the arrangement shewn in Fig. 7, which consists of an elastic
diaphragm or disc of vulcanized india-rubber, or any other suitable material,
which is attached to the side of the lower part of the chamber or box containing
the water. To the back of this disc or elastic diaphragm is secured a plate
fitting or nearly fitting the opening made in the side of the chamber, and the
connecting rods by which the pressure and motion is communicated may be
attached in the manner shewn, or in any other suitable manner, by which the
disc is fairly acted upon for the purpose of causing a displacement of the water,
and a corresponding alteration in its level, by which it rises and falls or washes
through amongst the screen bars or plates and the materials contained
therein.
Where the coal to be treated is of large size, it is necessary to break or
reduce it to "nuts" or "small," for the purpose of properly more thoroughly
washing out or separating the earthy and other foreign matter or impurities,

page_text: and this may be done by any of the ordinary means or apparatus in use or at
present employed.
The framing work of the machines, and the chambers or tanks, as also the
other parts thereof,,may be constructed of iron, or of any other suitable material
or materials.
Having now described our said Invention, and the manner in which it is
intended to be employed and worked for the purposes for which the said
machines are designed and intended to be employed, we wish it to be under-
stood that we do not claim the washing of coals, ores, or other mineral, metallic
or earthy substances, or other materials of a similar character, by means of
water allowed to run on to or over and through amongst such materials,
whether upon a washing floor, or in a "floom," or in cradles, or resting on or
supported upon screens, screen plates, sieves, or riddles, which latter may be
stationary, or be kept in motion either in the manner of working cradles in
washing quartzose, detritus, or auriferious sand for gold, or by a vibratory
motion, as in machines commonly employed for the purpose of disintegrating
the materials under treatment, and separating the parts which it is desired to
disentegrate, liberate, or seperate therefrom, or where materials are placed
within agitators or agitating machine through which and amongst the
materials therein the water is permitted to pass freely; but we claim as our
Invention,-
1st, the novel combination of the several parts of the machines herein
described for the purpose of washing mineral and other substances or materials,
as herein-before set forth.
2nd, the novel application of pumps, or their equivalents, in manner described,
for the purpose of producing pulsations or variations in the level of the water
used for separating, washing, cleansing, or purifying substances or materials, as
aforesaid.
3rd, the combination with such pumps or their equivalents when employed
for the purpose before mentioned, of screens, screen plates, or riddles employed
in conjunction with rakes of the kind herein described, or of any other suitable
form or arrangement, and whether there are more than one series of cisterns or
vessels fitted with screens, and with more than one set of rakes combined
within, and forming part of the same machine.
4th, in the arrangement for operating or working by steam or other power,
in the manner herein described, machines for separating, washing, cleansing,
or purifying substances or materials by the repeated pulsations or alterations in
the level of water contained within suitable tanks, chambers, or vessels, by

page_text: which action the same water can for a considerable time be employed for
performing the duty for which it is required instead of permitting it to escape
continuously.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Edwards, have, on behalf of
myself and Edward Beacher, hereunto set my hand and seal, this 5
Eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
GEORGE CHURCHILL,
10, Salisbury Street, Adelphi.
EDMUND EDWARDS. (L.S.)