Improvements in Separating and Concentrating Apparatus.
Year: 1893

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Separating and Concentrating Apparatus.
We, BASIL JOHN ATTERBURY of 50 Saltoun Road, Brixton S. W. Gentleman
and PAUL EWENS of 20 Bucklersbury London E.C. Civil Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:--
The object of this invention is chiefly to provide a machine or appliance which
will enable cement and other similar material which must be treated in an
absolutely dry state, to be separated, graded and collected after the same has been
passed through a grinding mill at a much less cost and more effectively than can be
done by the machines or appliances at present used for that purpose and also to
provide a machine or appliance which will enable gold, tin or other metals or
minerals held in suspension in water or other liquid in the condition technically
known as "slime to be collected, deposited, concentrated and graded more cheaply
and effectively than can at present be done by the machines or appliances used for
that purpose.
"
The essential feature of this invention consists of a series of tanks or chambers
the smaller being placed inside the larger, the inner tanks each having one or more
zones or belts of wire gauze or other grating of suitable mesh or openings. The
material to be treated enters the outer tank through feed pipes having an
inclination with the horizontal and the vertical planes. The vehicle (whether air,
gas or liquid) containing the material to be treated then passes through the
various gratings and at the bottom of each tank forms an eddy and deposits the
material in the different tanks according to its size and gravity. The vehicle is
thus practically filtered and cleansed while the solid matter remains in the
separator and concentrator. Each tank has fitted on the bottom inside, a valve
through which the material deposited is swept or scraped into a suitable receptacle.
The invention may be used, as above stated, either as a dry separator or as a con-
centrator of minerals held in suspension. In the latter case a slightly different
arrangement of the central or inmost tank or chamber for the escape of the clarified
liquid as hereinafter referred to is requisite. The drawings herewith are views
of the invention as designed for use as a dry separator for cement and other similar
materials.
Referring to the accompanying drawings―
Figure 1 is a meation
Figure 2 is a plan,
Figure 3 is a detail shewing the scraper and clearing valve,
Figure 4 is a detail shewing the action of same,
Figure 5 is a vertical section of the main feed pipe and its branches, and
Figure 6 is a section of the central or inmost tank or chamber as required for
the treatment of material held in suspension in liquid.
The same letters of reference in each figure apply to the same parts of the
invention.
The material to be treated is fed into the chamber or tank A through the feed
pipes N N N and strikes against the flange or inclined shelf D which encircles the
tank B by which it is deflected around and towards the bottom of the tank as
shewn by the arrows in Fig. 1. The heaviest and largest of the material is
deposited at the bottom of the tank A and the remainder is carried up and through
the grating E into the tank B. The remainder of the material held in suspension
is deposited in the inner tanks or chambers according to its size and gravity, the
lighter the material, the nearer to the centre is it deposited. By the time the
[Price]

page_text: vehicle passes away through the escape W, it is quite clear. If necessary a cover
such as QQ having an outlet R leading to a second separator can be used. The
gratings are kept clear by means of brushes revolving around them on the
arms LL to which are also attached the scrapers II which are formed of rubber
or other flexible material. These are driven from any suitable power such as that
which drives the grinding mill. The material deposited is continually being swept
or scraped through the valves V V V Fig. 2 which are opened for the passage of
the material by the scrapers as shewn in Fig. 4. and it drops into the hoppers S S.
To permit of the passage of the crossbar L and yet prevent the material from
going into the inner tanks except through the gratings, india-rubber flaps or
curtains M M M are hung around the upper rims of the tanks as shewn in Fig. 1.
The main feed pipe may be divided as in Fig. 5 or it may be carried around the
outer tank with outlets at the points marked N N N in Fig. 2.
These drawings depict for the sake of convenience of illustration and explanation
merely, a separator composed of three cylindrical concentric tanks, but they may
be of any other suitable shape and need not be concentric.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is―
1. A gravity separator and concentrator consisting of a series of different sized
tanks or chambers placed the smaller within the larger, the inner ones each having
one or more zones or belts of grating for separating, depositing and grading ground
cement or other ground material in a dry state substantially as and for the purposes
herein described and explained and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2. A gravity separator and concentrator consisting of a series of different sized
tanks or chambers placed the smaller within the larger, the inner ones each having
one or more zones or belts of grating for collecting depositing concentrating and
grading gold, tin or other metals or minerals held in suspension in liquid sub-
stantially as and for the purposes herein described and explained and as illustrated
in the accompanying drawings.
3. In a gravity separator and concentrator the automatic emptying process by
the arrangement of the valve and scraper substantially as and for the purposes
herein described and explained and as illustrated in Figures 3 & 4 of the accom-
panying drawings.
Dated this Thirtieth day of May 1893.
BASIL J. ATTERBURY.
PAUL EWENS.