IMPROVED MEANS FOR ASSORTING SUBSTANCES OF DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITIES
Year: 1859

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 MEANS FOR ASSORTING SUBSTANCES
OF DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITIES."-A communication from abroad by
Désiré Marchal, of Brussels.
Sealed the 6th December 1859, and dated the 17th June 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th June 1859.
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 MEANS FOR ASSORTING SUBSTANCES
OP DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITIES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the employment of an ascending column of water
or other liquid or air for keeping in suspension and carrying off from a
mixture of substances submitted to the assorting process the particles of light
specific gravity, while those of greater specific gravity are allowed to fall into
a receptacle prepared to receive them. When using liquid as the medium of
separation, an inverted syphon pipe may be employed, the water being fed in
at one limb and the substances to be assorted at the other. The water rising
in the syphon will meet the falling solid substances, carry up the lighter

page_text: portions, and discharge them through a spout at the top of the syphon into a
sieve, where the solid substances are retained and the water is allowed to
escape; if desired, the water or other liquid thus used may be pumped up into
a cistern, and run again through the apparatus any given number of times.
Thus a salt or other substance mixed with the liquid to increase its density,
may be economically used if required. Or, instead of a syphon a single
vertical pipe or column may be used, the same being enlarged near its base to
increase its capacity at this part; a' pipe leading from a pump may enter here
and discharge water into the column, which water acting as before described,
will separate the light and heavy portions of the substance subjected to the
action of the apparatus. A valve or stop cock is applied to cut off com-
munication between the receiver for the particles of superior specific gravity,
and the upper part of the apparatus, in order to facilitate the discharging of
the same, and the like provision is made for cutting off or regulating the
supply of water or other fluid employed as the assorting medium. When
using air as the assorting medium, the single column arrangement is employed
in conjunction with a force pump or fan.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th December 1859.
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
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license 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 MEANS FOR ASSORTING SUBSTANCES OF DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITIES,"
being a communication from abroad by Désirè Marchal, of Brussels, upon the

page_text: 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, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
relates to the employment of a current of water or air passed upwards through
the apparatus to be presently described, for the purpose of meeting the
descending substances to be assorted, and holding some of the particles in
suspension, while those of greater density are allowed to descend through
the assorting medium. By this method of operating such a separation and
regularity of classification may be obtained, that the particles of each body
shall arrive in succession at the lower part of the apparatus, and take their
place in the order of their respective densities, while the foreign matters of
less density will pass off at a discharge pipe.
The dimensions of the apparatus, especially as regards its height, must be
in relation to the nature and density of the substances to be operated upon.
When the substances consist of ores of different sizes, it is desirable to bring
them first to a granular state by means of grinding or stamping, and then to
submit them to the action of the ascending current. When it is desired to
operate upon ores, sand, or certain earthy matters, a current of water will be
most commonly employed, air being preferred when it is required to clean
grain. These two media may, however, be employed either successively or
simultaneously for any kind of substance.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents in side elevation an
arrangement of syphon apparatus proposed to be used for separating or
assorting substances according to this Invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section
of the same.
a, a', are forked or syphon tubes, in the upper part of the branch or limb a
of which are introduced the matters required to be separated; and in the
upper part of the limb a¹ the liquid or separating medium is to be introduced,
bis the water reservoir which is provided with a valve for regulating
the supply of water to the tube «'; c is the discharge pipe for the lighter

page_text: particles; d is the hopper, into which the materials to be operated upon are
fed; e is a glazed opening through which the progress of the operation may be
ascertained by inspection; f is a cock for cutting off the communication
between the pipes a, a', and the receiver g, into which the washed matters
fall. This receiver is provided with a screw cap at h, which may be removed
when the washed matters are required to be discharged; i is the body or
cylinder of a pump, the piston rod k of which is worked by means of a handle
mounted in bearings on a bracket m. From this pump a pipe n leads
upwards to the reservoir or water chamber b, which is provided with a valve
or sluice o to regulate the supply of water into the syphon, and also with a
pipe at p for supplying water to the cistern from a greater elevation when the
force pump is not employed.. On referring to the sectional view, Fig. 2; it will
be seen that the water being let into the pipe a' from the cistern, will flow
down that pipe and rise up the other limb of the syphon, and meeting there
with the descending stream of pulverized matters discharged from the hopper
d, it will carry off the particles of light specific gravity discharging them at
the pipe c, while those particles of greater specific gravity will fall into the
receiver 9, the cock being open to allow of their deposit therein. The wash
water as it arrives at the top of the apparatus is conducted by means of a
discharge pipe back again into the pump reservoir, passing in its traverse
through a filter in order to clear it. By this means the same water may be
used over and over again, which permits in certain cases of its being saturated
with a salt, an alkali, or an acid, to render it more dense. For the purpose
also of cleansing certain matters, alcohol may be employed instead of water.
Fig. 3 shews in elevation, and Fig. 4 in vertical section, a modified form of
the apparatus, the principle of action being identical with that just described.
a is a tube having an enlargement at its lower extremity, the substances to
be operated upon being supplied to this tube at d above; bis a branch pipe
for the introduction of water, air, or steam at the bottom of the enlarged part
of the tube a. This introduction is effected by any ordinary means, such as a
pump for water or air; or if steam be employed, it is made to communicate
with the boiler or steam generator. The pipe 6 is provided with a cock i for
regulating the supply of water, air, or steam to the apparatus; c is the
discharge pipe; e, the glazed aperture for observing the progress of the
operation; f is a cock by which communication is established or cut off
between the tube a and the receiver 9 below, into which the heavier particles
as before stated fall. A screw cap h is fitted to the lower extremity of the
receiver for discharging from time to time its accumulating contents. When
the operation is completed on a given portion of the pulverized material

page_text: (which may be ascertained by inspection through the aperture e), the cock fis
closed. The cap h is then unscrewed, and the matters which have been
deposited in the receiver are discharged into a vessel prepared for effecting
the separation of the particles, which is easily done as the mass enters the
vessel in the form of a long cylinder with the substances composing it lying
one over the other in the order of their specific gravity. Should there be any
difficulty in discharging the substances from the receiver g, by opening the
cock f, the column of water above would exert the pressure necessary for
effecting their discharge. In certain cases, depending on the nature of the
matters under operation, the introduction of the water is stopped when the
tube is filled, in order to allow the substances fed in at d to descend in
the order of their specific gravity into the receiver g. This remark applies to
both arrangements of apparatus.
It will be understood that I do not confine myself to the form of apparatus
above shewn and described, as that may be modified according to circum-
stances, and the nature of the substances to be operated upon.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improved means for
assorting substances of different specific gravities, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, I claim subjecting the substances to be assorted to an ascending
column of water, air, or other suitable medium in the manner and for the
purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)