AN IMPROVED METHOD OF, AND APPARATUS FOR, SEPARATING SMALL PORTIONS OR PARTICLES OF IRON OR STEEL FROM OTHER MATERIALS to be as follows
Year: 1884

page_text: We CHARLES Frederick Hilder of 7 Upper Chadwell Street in the County
of Middlesex and of Villa Place Newcastle-on-Tyne, Journalist and ERNEST SCOTT
of Close Works Newcastle-on-Tyne Engineer and Brass Founder do hereby declare
the nature of our invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF, AND APPARATUS
FOR, SEPARATING SMALL PORTIONS OR PARTICLES OF IRON OR STEEL FROM OTHER
MATERIALS to be as follows:-
"
Our invention relates to a method of, and means for, separating iron or steel
from other metals or materials and is chiefly designed to afford the means for
recovering from the sweepings or refuse of workshops or factories portions of
comparatively, valuable metals or alloys which in such refuse are mixed with iron.
or steel filings, or the like.
For this purpose we make use of the principle of electro-magnetism That is to
say the workshop sweepings or other refuse or waste matters are brought into the
vicinity of an electro-magnet or series of electro-magnets whose coils are connected
with any suitable generator of electricity provided with contact making and
breaking devices. Contact being made the said electro magnet or magnets will
attract the particles of iron or steel and eliminate the same from the mass holding
them while carrying them away or until a suitable carrier comes into position to
remove them; the contact being then broken the electro magnets release the
particles of iron or steel and permit them to fall into a suitable receptacle or upon
the said carrier. The remaining portion of the mass of sweepings or other refuse
containing the valuable materials to be recovered is then subjected to washing or
other treatment to fit them for future use.
A convenient apparatus for our purpose is constructed as follows:--that is to say
a circular plate or disc is provided with a series of electro-magnets and arranged
to rotate in a horizontal plane above two endless travelling belts or aprons. We
term these the first and second belts; they are arranged parallel to each other and
in such position relatively to the said disc that one portion of the electro-magnets
will be over the first belt and the other portion of such magnets will be over the
second belt.
On one end of the first belt the mass of refuse sweepings or other matter is
deposited. As this mass is carried under the disc, the electro-magnets being

page_text: energized or magnetized by the electric current will attract the particles of iron
or steel and separate them from the brass, copper, or other materials constituting
the remainder of the mass. The said disc being caused to rotate on its axis while
the particles of iron or steel are collected upon the electro-magnets, will carry such
particles over the second belt. The contact making and breaking devices then open
the circuit so that the electro-magnets are demagnetized and the particles of iron
or steel are released and dropped upon the second belt or apron which carries them
to the receptacle provided for them.
יד
.
We prefer that the opening and closing of the circuit should be effected by
automatic contact devices, the latter being so arranged that as each magnet or row
or set of magnets on the disc passes from the first to the second belt the said
contact devices are operated to open the circuit, and as such magnet or set of
magnets is carried around from the second to the first belt the said devices are
operated to close the circuit.
The said contact devices are actuated by tappets or other means properly
arranged in contact with the said disc to cooperate therewith for the purpose
specified.
In the meantime the portions of the mass which have been left on the first belt,
⚫or carrier are removed therefrom directly or carried thereby to another endless
belt or apron which deposits them in a washing apparatus or leaves them to be
otherwise treated as desired.
•
It will be obvious that instead of the series of electro-magnets arranged upon a
rotary disc or plate we may use a single electro-magnet or any number of the saine
-arranged. in any convenient manner for the purpose of our invention.
Dated this 10th JTI 1004

page_text: "
We, CHARLES FREDERICK HILDER, of 7, Upper Chadwell Street, Middlesex, and
Villa Place, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Journalist, and ERNEST SCOTT, of Close Works,
Newcastle-on-Tyne, Engineer and Brass-Founder do hereby declare the nature of
our invention for AN IMPROVED METHOD OF, AND APPARATUS FOR, SEPARATING
SMALL PORTIONS OR PARTICLES OF IRON OR STEEL FROM OTHER MATERIALS and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
"
Our invention relates to an improved method of, and machinery or apparatus for,
separating iron or steel from other metals or materials.
Our said invention is chiefly designed to afford the means for recovering, from
the sweepings or refuse of workshops or factories, portions of comparatively
valuable metals, or alloys, such as copper or brass, which, in such refuse, are mixed
with iron or steel filings or the like. It is, however, applicable for separating
particles of iron or steel from sand or other substances mechanically combined
therewith; for example, it can be very advantageously applied for extracting or
separating the particles of iron from magnetic ore or from titaniferous sand, such as
the Taranaki "iron sand" found in New Zealand; or it may be employed for
separating iron ores, such as Staffordshire red ores, which can be attracted by
magnets, from other materials, the ores being previously crushed or ground.
For the purpose of our invention we make use of the principle of electro-
magnetism, that is to say, the workshop sweepings, ore, sand or other substances
to be treated are brought into the vicinity of an electro-magnet or series of
electro-magnets whose coils are connected with any suitable generator of electricity
through the medium of contact making and breaking devices.
Contact being
made, the said electro-magnet or magnets will attract the particles of iron or steel
and thus eliminate or separate the same from the mass and hold them while
carrying them away, or until a suitable carrier comes into position to receive them;
the contact being then broken, the electro-magnets will release the particles of iron
or steel and permit them to fall into a suitable receptacle, or upon the said carrier.
When workshop sweepings are treated to recover the valuable materials which
they contain, these sweepings, after the iron or steel has been eliminated therefrom,
are subjected to washing or other treatment to extract the said valuable materials..
In the accompanying drawing, we have illustrated a machine or apparatus
constructed in accordance with our invention.
Figure 1 is a plan, partly in section,
Figure 2 a side elevation, and
Figure 3 an end elevation of the said machine.
Like letters indicate the same parts in these figures.
a is the frame of the machine, which is made of wood or other suitable material.
b is a circular plate or disc provided with a series of electro-magnets c, and arranged
to rotate in a horizontal plane above two endless travelling belts or aprons d, c.
These belts are placed upon rollers f, f₁ carried in bearings g; they are arranged
parallel to each other, and in such position relatively to the disc b that some of the
electro-magnets on the said disc are over the belt d while others are over the belt c.
h is a hopper, which is arranged above the belt d near the roller f¹, and through
which the refuse sweepings or other substances to be treated are fed upon the
said belt.
The disc b may be rotated in any suitable manner. In the apparatus shown in
the drawing, we employ, for this purpose, a pulley i fixed on the axle of the

page_text: roller f, and a belt j passed around the said pulley and also around a pulley k fixed
on the vertical shaft which carries the disc b. A crank-handle m is fixed on the
axle of the roller f so that the movement of the belts d, e, and the rotation of the
disc b can be effected simultaneously by hand. We may, however, provide a pulley
instead of the crank-handle on the said shaft and arrange for driving the machine
by steam or other power.
n, n, are pulleys for guiding the belt j
We provide a contact making and breaking device which consists of two rings.or
collars p', p², fixed on the shaft but insulated therefrom and from each other.
The ring p is electrically connected by conductors q (passing through the ring p²
but insulated therefrom), with one end of each of the circuits in which the electro-
magnets are included, and also (by means of a brush or contact piece p³ and a
suitable conductor q¹) with one pole of the generator of electricity, which is placed
at G. The other ends of the said circuits are connected by conductors.q* with the
ring or collar p² which is made of two or more segments insulated from each other.
The disc b is divided into a corresponding number of segments, the magnets on
each of these segments being included in a separate electric circuit. One end of
each of these circuits is connected with a separate segment of the ring or collar p².
We may, however, employ any other suitable device for making and breaking the
circuits.
The operation of this apparatus is as follows, that is to say:-The materials are
fed upon the belt d in a thin layer; as this layer is carried by the belt under the
disc b, the circuit, in which are included the electro-magnets cabove the said belt, is
closed and the magnets are energized or magnetized by the electric current. These
magnets, therefore, attract the particles of iron or steel or other material capable of
being thus attracted, and separate them from the brass, copper, silica, gangue or
other materials constituting the remainder of the said layer, and hold the said
particles, until, by the rotation of the disc b on its axis, such particles are carried
over the belt e. The contact making and breaking device or commutator then
opens the circuit in which the electro-magnets carrying the said particles are
included so that these magnets are demagnetized and the particles of iron or steel
are released and allowed to fall upon the belt e. The belt e carries the magnetic
particles towards the receptacle r into which they fall by gravity.
The alternate closing and opening of the circuits and consequent magnetization
and demagnetization of the magnets in each circuit, are repeated as each row' or
section of the magnets enters and leaves the space immediately above the belt d so
that the separation of the material is continuous during the operation of the
machine.
The copper, brass or other substances, which have been left on the belt or
carrier d, are carried forward thereby and fall therefrom into a receptacle 8, or
they are carried by the said belt to another endless belt or apron which deposits
them in a washing apparatus or elsewhere to be washed or otherwise treated as
desired.
We usually arrange the disc b so that the magnets, when attracting the iron or
steel, will move in the same direction as the belt d, as indicated by the arrows in
Figure 1, and so that the magnets midway between the centre and circumference of
the disc will move at the same speed as the belt and will, therefore, for a short
time be stationary relatively to the said belt; the whole of the particles of iron or
steel are thus subjected to the magnetic attraction under circumstances most
favourable to ensure their separation from the materials with which they may be
combined.
We prefer that the opening and closing of the circuit should be effected by
automatic contact devices as above described, but these operations may be otherwise
performed, if desired. We prefer, moreover, that the magnets should be arranged
in say, six or eight series, each occupying a segment of the disc b, and that the said
contact devices should be so adjusted that, before either of these segments is moved
into the space over the belt d, the circuit will be closed and the magnets in the

page_text: said segment energized or magnetized by the current, and, as the said segment is
moved into the space over the belt e, the circuit will be opened and the said
magnets demagnetized.
The said contact devices are in some cases actuated by tappets or other means
properly arranged in connection with the said disc to cooperate therewith for the
purpose specified.
It will be obvious that, instead of the series of electro-magnets arranged upon a
rotary disc or plate, we may use one or more electro-magnets arranged 'to be
alternately magnetized and demagnetized in any convenient manner for the
purpose of our invention.
For example, we sometimes employ a single endless belt arranged to travel
beneath a hopper (through which the material to be treated is fed on to the said
belt), and place the magnets upon a cylinder so arranged that they will attract the
particles of iron or steel from the mass just before the latter is in position to fall
from the belt into a receptacle provided for the purpose. The said magnets would
then be arranged to be demagnetized by the breaking of the circuit and thus
caused to release the particles of iron or steel and either permit them to fall into a
receptacle, or project them thereinto by centrifugal force.
We wish it understood that we do not claim generally or irrespectively of the
improvements herein specified the use of magnetic attraction for the separation of
iron or steel from workshop refuse or other inaterials and especially that we make
no claim to this principle of separation otherwise than in a machine or system
in which electro-magnets are alternately magnetized and demagnetized for the
purpose specified.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is:-
First. The above described improved method of eliminating or separating iron
or steel from other metals or materials (that is to say, magnetic from non-magnetic.
materials) by electro-magnetism, which method comprises the alternate making
and breaking of the circuit or circuits in which the magnets are included,
substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Second. A machine or apparatus wherein one or more electro-magnet's carried by
a dise or otherwise are arranged in combination with one or more travelling belts
or aprons and connected with a generator of electricity through the medium of
contact making and breaking devices, substantially as, and for the purpose,
set forth.
Third. The improved machine or apparatus consisting of the parts constructed
and combined, substantially as described with reference to the accompanying
drawing and operating as, and for the purpose, specified.
Tandth: 53 Namba 1001
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
For the Applicants.