IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR SEPARATING SUB- STANCES OF DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITY
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,-
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR SEPARATING SUB-
STANCES OF DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITY."-A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd April 1855.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR SEPARATING
SUBSTANCES OF DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITY" to be as follows:--
This Invention relates to improvements on what is known as the hand jig,
which consists of a box open at top and bottom, and with a sieve or per-
forated diaphragm, on to which the substances to be separated are supplied.
The box thus charged is moved in a vessel of water with a quick up and
down motion (from which it derives its name of the "jig"), the effect of
which is to carry up the light particles, whilst the particles of ore from their
superior gravity descend through and against the current of water, and finally
pass through the meshes of the sieve into the water trough below.

page_text: This apparatus as heretofore constructed and charged was necessarily
imperfect in its operation, and the working of it attended with much labor,
for at the end of each charge the upper portion of the charge in the box
had to be taken out and the box recharged, requiring much labor and loss
of time; not simply to discharge and recharge, but by reason of the necessity
of continuing the operation for a great length of time to ensure the entire
separation for each charge.
To remedy these defects and render the machine continuous in its operation,
the Inventor provides the box with apertures on one or more sides above the
sieve, or, as the equivalent thereof, he makes the upper edge on one or more
sides so low relatively to the height of water in the trough or tank, that in
moving up and down, by a positive and quick motion, the water and particles
of light matter carried up by the upward currents of water as the box descends
shall flow through such apertures or over such edge or edges, and thus effect
the separation continuously, so that fresh matter can be supplied continuously
and in due proportion.
-The water trough or tank he also provides with one or more partitions in
combination with the sieve box, and fits the one to the other in such a manner
that as the sieve box works up and down, the light matter which is washed over
shall be deposited or carried off on one side of the said partition or partitions,
and separate from the substance that passes through the meshes of the sieve.
It is important to the effective working of the improved apparatus that the
substances composing the charge be suitably sifted and sorted in size; as, for
instance, the lumps first charged on the sieve must be larger than the meshes
of the sieve, so that they shall not enter or stick therein; and the substances
to be separated must be crushed, if required, and sifted, so that all the particles
shall be so much smaller than the meshes of the sieve as to pass freely
through them.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office 3
on the 23rd October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 35
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of April, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Iler special licence that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR SEPARATING SUBSTANCES OF DIFFERENT SPECIFIC
GRAVITY," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to improvements on what is known as the hand jig,
which consists of a box open at top and bottom, and with a sieve or perforated
diaphragm, on which the heavier lumps larger than the meshes accumulate,
and on which the substances to be separated are supplied; this box when thus
charged is moved in a vessel of water with a quick up and down motion,
from which it derives its name of the "jig." The up and down motion of
the box in the water causes the large heavy lumps on the sieve to act as
so many valves which permit the water to pass through as the box descends,
the effect of which is to carry up the light particles, whilst the particles of ore
from their superior gravity descend through and against the current of water,
and finally pass through the meshes of the sieve into the water trough below.
This apparatus as heretofore constructed and charged was necessarily
imperfect in its operation, and the working of it attended with much labor,
for at the end of each charge the upper portion of the charge in the box had
to be taken out and the box recharged, requiring much labor and loss of
time, not simply to discharge and recharge, but by reason of the necessity
of continuing the operation for a great length of time to ensure the entire

page_text: separation for each charge. It will be seen that the separation is completed
much sooner at and near the top of the charge than at and near the bottom,
but to avoid waste it was necessary to continue the operation until the sepa-
ration was completed to the very bottom of the charge. And in addition to
all this, from the want of a proper system of sifting and sorting, the meshes of
the sieve soon became clogged or closed up to an extent which prevented the
efficient working of the apparatus. By the present improvements the defects
above enumerated are avoided, and the operation of the machine is rendered
continuous.
This Invention consists in making the box with apertures on one or more
sides above the sieve, or, as the equivalent thereof, making the upper edge on
one or more sides so low relatively to the height of water in the trough or
tank, that in moving up and down, by a positive and quick motion, the water
and particles of light matter carried up by the upward currents of water as
the box descends shall flow through such apertures or over such edge or edges,
and thus effect the separation continuously, so that fresh matter can be supplied
continuously and in due proportion.
And the Invention also consists in providing the water trough or tank with
one or more partitions in combination with the sieve box, and so fitted the one
to the other, that as the sieve box works up and down, the light matter which
is washed over shall be deposited or carried off on one side of the said partition
or partitions, and separate from the substance that passes through the meshes of
the sieve. But it is important to the effective working of the said improved appa-
ratus that the substances composing the charge be suitably sifted and sorted in
size; as, for instance, the lumps first charged on the sieve must be larger than
the meshes of the sieve, so that they shall not enter or stick therein, and the
substances to be separated must be crushed, if required, and sifted, so that all
the particles shall be so much smaller than the meshes of the sieve as to pass
freely through them.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine,
with the surrounding water trough in section; Fig. 2 is a vertical section, taken
in the plane of the axis of the crank shaft; Fig. 3 is a vertical section,
taken at the line A, a, of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a horizontal section, taken at the
line B, b, of Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the water trough or
tank. The same letters indicate like parts in all the-Figures.
a represents a four-sided box, open at top and bottom, and provided at the
ends with slides b, b, fitted to work in ways c, c, attached to the side standards
of the frame, and it is also suspended by connecting rods d, d, to two short
cranks on the crank shaft e above, by means of which it receives a quick up.
.

page_text: and down motion. This box is provided at about the middle of its height
with a diaphragm f of woven wire, or the equivalent thereof, suitably sustained
on cross bars g to prevent it from sagging too much in the middle. Between
this sieve fand the upper edge of the box a series of holes h (all on the same
level) are formed in the front of the box. This box is surrounded by a trough
or tank i, containing water to or nearly to the height indicated by the line j,
(that is to say,) the water should be a little above the level of the lower edge
of the apertures or holes h when the box is at its greatest height.
The tank or box i is furnished with a partition for separating the matter
which passes through the meshes of the sieve from what flows through the
apertures h, and the front part of the box a is made double, as represented
at l, to straddle and work up and down over the partition, the said partition
being cut out, as at m, m, near the sides of the tank, to permit the water to
flow over and keep at or near the same level on both sides, but this should be
sufficiently far from the ends of the box to permit the matter washed over to
subside in the water before reaching these passages.
The large lumps, as already indicated, are piled on the screen, and the
substances to be separated, and of smaller size than the meshes of the screen,
are supplied regularly during the operation from a suitable hopper on to an
inclined board n, which delivers them on to the sieve near the back of the box,
and by the jigging or up and down motion a kind of pumping operation goes
on, the layers of large lumps acting as valves to the meshes of the sieve, which
cause the upward currents of water as the sieve descends to carry up the
lighter particles, whilst the heavy particles from which they are thus separated
descend against the upward currents, and finally pass through the meshes;
and as the box is lifted the meshes are mainly closed, which lifts the water
in the box above the level in the tank, so that it flows over, carrying with it
the lighter particles. In this way the operation may be continued as long as
desirable without the necessity of stopping to change the charge. It is pre-
ferred to have the sieve so that it will be a little higher at the back edge than
the front edge, to facilitate the operation of separation.
From the foregoing it will be obvious, that instead of the series of holes
in front they may be made at the sides also, and that instead of the series
of holes the edge of the box may be let down to the required height to
insure the discharge of the water with the lighter substances. The up and
down motion may be given by other and equivalent means, and so with
regard to the separation of the lighter discharged substances from those that
pass through the sieve, any other equivalent means may be substituted for
the working of the double part of the front of the box on the partition.

page_text: It will be obvious, that instead of moving the sieve box in the water tank
"this may be stationary, and the water tank or the water in the tank be made
to move up and down, as in either case the mode of operation is the same.
Having thus pointed out what distinguishes this Invention from the old
and well-known hand jig, the mode of construction which has been tried with
success, and the modifications which I have contemplated, the better to dis-
tinguish the character of the Invention from merely formal changes, what I
claim as the Invention secured to me by the above in part recited Letters
Patent is, making the sieve box, which has an up and down motion, with
apertures above the sieve, or the equivalent thereof, when acting in and in com-
bination with water in a surrounding tank or trough, substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
And I also claim in combination therewith the partition, or its equivalent,
in the water tank, substantially as specified, to keep the matter which is
washed over separate from the substances which pass through the meshes of
the sieve, as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)