IMPROVED MEANS OF GRINDING VARIOUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Balmain, of Saint Helen's, in the
County of Lancaster, Manufacturing Chemist, and TвомAS COLBY, of
Saint Helen's aforesaid, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED MEANS OF GRINDING VARIOUS SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 9th January 1857, and dated the 12th November 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Balmain
and Thomas Colby, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 12th November 1856.
We, WILLIAM HENRY BALMAIN, of Saint Helen's, in the County of Lancaster,
Manufacturing Chemist, and THOMAS COLDY, of Saint Helen's aforesaid,
Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED MEANS OF GRINDING VARIOUS SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to an improved means of grinding various substances,
which may with advantage and without detriment be submitted to the operation
hereafter described, and consists in grinding the substances by agitating
them in a liquid, together with a quantity of loose pebbles or small pieces of
other hard substance. The plan we prefer for carrying out our Invention
is to place the substance to be ground, together with the pebbles or hard
substances mixed with water or oil, in an iron cylinder, which is caused to
revolve slowly by any suitable and convenient arrangement of machinery.
Instead of causing the vessel containing the pebbles, water, and substances
to be ground to rotate as aforesaid, the pebbles or other hard substances may
be agitated in the water or oil, together with the substance to be operated
upon, by means of a screw, or paddles, or other agitating or stirring apparatus,

page_text: which may be actuated by any suitablo mechanism. This mode of operating
may, perhaps, be found the best plan when working on very large quantities
of material; but whatever mechanical arrangements are employed, we propose
to employ a number of unattached pebbles, or other convenient hard substances,
as a means of grinding or triturating by their motion in a liquid.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Balmain and Thomas Colby in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 12th May 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
HENRY BALMAIN, of Saint Helen's, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturing
Chemist, and THOMAS COLBY, of Saint Helen's aforesaid, Manufacturing
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victorin, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of 1er reign,
did, for Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
William Henry Balmain and Thomas Colby, Her special licenso that we,
the said William Henry Balmain and Thomas Colby, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Henry Balmain
and Thomas Colby, our exccutors, 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
OP GRINDING VARIOUS SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said William Henry Balmain and Thomas Colby, by an instrument
in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of
us, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the saine 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 William Henry Balmain (on behalf
of myself and of the said Thomas Colby), 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 (that
is to say) :-

page_text: Our Invention relates to an "Improved Means of Grinding various Sub-
stances," which may with advantage and without detriment be submitted to the
operation herein-after described. Our Invention consists in grinding, pul-
verizing, or levigating the substances by agitating them in a liquid, together
with a quantity of loose pebbles or small pieces of other hard substance.
The plan we prefer for carrying out our Invention is to place the substance
to be ground, together with the pebbles or hard substances, in a cylinder
made of iron, wood, or other suitable material. This cylinder is supplied
with a convenient quantity of water, oil, or other suitable liquid, and is.
mounted in bearings, in which it is made to rotate slowly by means of any
suitable and convenient arrangement of machinery, which will readily suggest
itself to any intelligent mechanic.
Instead of causing the vessel containing the pebbles, water, and substances
to be ground to rotate as aforesaid, the pebbles or other hard substances may
be agitated in the water or oil, together with the substance to be operated
upon, by means of a screw, or paddles, or other agitating or stirring apparatus,
which may be actuated by any suitable mechanism.
This mode of operating may, perhaps, be found the best plan when working
on very large quantities of material; but whatever mechanical arrangements
are employed, we propose to employ a number of unattached pebbles, or other
convenient hard substance, as a means by their motion in a liquid of grinding
or triturating the substance that is to be operated upon.
When the grinding operation is complete the substance ground is separated
from the pebbles by simply running it off in suspension in the water or oil.
The separation of the ground or pulverized materials from the pebbles or
triturating substance may be more effectually done by adding more water
or oil to the mass in the cylinder after the grinding operation has been
completed, but during the process of grinding we find it best to use only a
small quantity of liquid in the grinding vessel. The substance ground may
also be removed continuously by letting a stream of water or liquid flow over
the pebbles. When the substance is in lumps and of a sufficiently hard
nature the pebbles may to a certain extent be dispensed with, by simply
placing lumps of the hard substance itself in the revolving cylinder or grinding
vessel. These lumps may be of any shape to commence with, as the pieces
will in time work into the form of pebbles. In this case the lumps of the
substance will have to be renewed from time to time, as they will grind
themselves down; but when siliceous pebbles are used to grind a softer material,
they do not require renewing. The size of pebbles which we find work best
is a variety from that of a pea to that of a walnut.

page_text: Having now described our Invention of improved means of grinding various
substances, we would observe that water, oil, or other liquids must be used
as the liquid in which the grinding or triturating operation is to take place,
according to the nature of the substance to be operated upon, and therefore
the choice of the particular liquid must be left to the person using the process,
and we would also observe that we have not considered it necessary to shew
any particular form or arrangement of apparatus to be used for the purposes
of our Invention, as the apparatus we propose to use does not possess any
peculiar features of novelty, such apparatus having been very frequently
employed for other and somewhat analogous purposes, such as for washing
ores, we do not therefore mean to claim any particular form of apparatus,
nor do we intend to confine ourselves to that above-mentioned and described,
as other mechanical arrangements will doubtless suggest themselves to any
intelligent mechanic. In conclusion, we claim as our improved means of
grinding various substances, and for which we have obtained Letters Patent,
as aforesaid, the grinding or triturating the substance to be operated upon
in any suitable liquid in such a manner that such substance may be reduced
by the friction or rubbing of the lumps of the material against each other,
assisted by pebbles or other hard substances, when required.
In witness whereof, I,.the said William Henry Balmain, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eighth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
W. H. BALMAIN (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
said William Henry Balmain in
the presence of
H. GASKELL TAYLOR,
A Commissioner to administer Oaths
in Chancery in England.