AN IMPROVED MODE AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING AND CONDENSING THE VOLATILE PORTIONS OF ORES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT. to. William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING
AND CONDENSING THE VOLATILE PORTIONS OF ORES."-A communication
from abroad by Ferdinand Formhals, of San Francisco, California,
United States of America.
Sealed the 2nd June 1868, and dated the 13th February 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 13th February 1868.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING
AND CONDENSING THE VOLATILE PORTIONS OF ORES," a communication, to
be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention, which is more especially designed for

page_text: the treatment of ores containing quicksilver, consists chiefly in the
combination of a furnace for roasting ores with apparatus for con-
densing the volatile substances expelled from the same. The said
Invention also consists partly in the means for creating a draught
or current of air, whereby the combustion in the furnace is increased,
and the said volatile products are carried from the furnace to the
condensing apparatus. The ore or rock as it is taken from the
mine is placed in the furnace and roasted. The said furnace is
closed and provided near the top with an eduction pipe which
conducts the volatile products and smoke into a column,-whose upper
part is provided with vertical tubes surrounded with water. The lower
portion or base of the column is also filled with water, a chamber
being left between the said base and the part containing the tubes.
A pipe extends from this chamber into the upper part or cover of a
box or tank which contains an inclined screw or worm with a broad
or deep blade surrounded by a cover. The said screw revolves on a
central shaft supported in bearings in the tank. At the lower end
of this screw is a chamber in which is inserted a curved pipe with
its mouth upward; this pipe extends through the end of the box
into the condensing tank, where it is bent downward. The furnace
is closed at the top and has a feed opening at one side which may
be fitted with a suitable cover or door. The escape or eduction
pipe leading to the condensing column is. placed at the opposite side
of the furnace. The upper part of this column is divided from the
lower part and provided with a series of vertical tubes which are
kept surrounded with water; these tubes extend nearly to the top of
the column. The pipe leading from the chamber in the column to
the screw tank or box is arranged just below the lower end of the
tubes which open into the said chamber. The tank or box which is
formed of wood and made air-tight is stationed near the column.
The upper end of the screw shaft passes through the tank and carries
a driving wheel, or pulley, or a crank. The screw is constructed
with a broad continuous spiral blade which should be made of wood,
iron being too readily acted upon by acids, and the difficulty of con-
structing such a screw of metal being too great, as the blade should
be geometrically correct, and so placed around the axis or shaft that
the curvatures and openings are of the same proportions, and the
screw is evenly balanced during its revolution; the said screw is

page_text: arranged at an incline to the base of the tank and is surrounded by
a wooden drum, over which is placed a sheet-iron cover of such a
length as to leave an air chamber at its lower end. The cover of
the tank is arched and rests in grooves formed round the upper part
of the said tank, which grooves are kept supplied with water to condense
the volatile substances and prevent their escape. The screw and the
whole interior of the tank is submerged in hot asphaltum before being
used in order to fill up any apertures and render the apparatus air and
water tight. The screw shaft passes through a central aperture in the
iron cover which also admits a stationary pipe, whose end is fixed with
its mouth upward. This pipe passes through the end of the tank into
the condensing tank where it is bent downward into water. A little
below the surface of the water in this condensing tank is placed a
perforated plate of sufficient size to cover the entire surface; the said
tank is provided with a close fitting cover furnished with an escape
pipe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th August 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her Most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, 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,

page_text: exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain -and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Islo of Man, an Invention of "AN
IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING AND CONDENSING THE
VOLATILE PORTIONS OF ORES," upon the condition (amongst others), that I,
the said William Robert Lake, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, 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 William Robert Lake, 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 accompanying Sheet of Drawings, forming a part of this
Specification ==
The nature of my Invention, which is more especially designed for
the treatment of ores containing quicksilver, consists chiefly in the
combination of a furnace for roasting ores with apparatus for condensing
the volatile substances expelled from the same. The said Invention
also consists partly in the means for creating a draught or current of
air, whereby the combustion in the furnace is increased, and the said
volatile products are carried from the furnace to the condensing
apparatus. The ore or rock as it is taken from the mine is placed in
the furnace and roasted; the said furnace is closed and provided near
the top with an eduction pipe, which conducts the volatile products
and smokę into a column provided with vertical tubes surrounded with
water. The lower portion or base of the column is also filled with
water, a chamber being left between the said base and the part con-
taining the tubes. A pipe extends from this chamber into the upper
part or cover of a box or tank which contains an inclined screw or worm
with a broad or deep blade surrounded by a cover.
The said screw
revolves on a central shaft supported in bearings in the tank; at the
lower end of this screw is a chamber in which is inserted a curved pipe
with its mouth upwards; this pipe extends through the end of the box
into the condensing tank, where it is bent downward.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the furnace and screw, showing
the position of the screw in the tank or box, with cover partially
removed and the condensing tank at its lower end.
sectional view of the screw and tank.
Figure 2 is a
A represents the furnace closed at the top and having a feed opening
B at one side, which may be provided with a suitable cover or door;
O is an escape or eduction pipe placed at the opposite side of the
furnace, which pipe leads into a condensing column D; this column is
provided with vertical tubes a, a, surrounded with water. These tubes
extend nearly to the top of the column, and below the said tubes is
a pipe E leading into a box, the base of the column D is filled
with water. The air-tight wooden tank F is stationed near the
column in which is the screw G which turns on its axis G' at the
ends of the tank, the upper end of the shaft passing through the tank,
to which shaft a pulley or crank is attached. The construction of this
screw is such as to form a continuous spiral flange or blade c, c, c,
which should be made of wood, as iron will not answer on account of
its being too readily acted upon by acids, and the difficulty of con-
structing such a screw of metal being too great, as the blade should be
geometrically correct and so placed around the axis or shaft that the
curvatures and openings are of the same proportions and the whole
evenly balanced during its revolution. The said screw is arranged at
an incline in the tank, and around the whole is placed a wooden drum b
over which is a sheet iron cover d of such dimensions as to leave an
air chamber H at its lower end. The screw is provided with four
openings at the upper end to admit vapor from the space above, the
vapor entering at each revolution at four points each leading into the
spiral opening around the shaft. The screw shaft passes through the
iron cover, and above it is made a hole for the stationary pipe I, which
is fixed with its mouth upwards. The chamber at the foot of the screw
is filled with water nearly to the mouth of the curved pipe I. From
the space above this pipe the vapor from the furnace is forced through
the pipe. The pipe I passes through the end of the tank F into the
condensing tank J, where it is bent downwards into water. A little
below the surface of the water in this tank is placed a perforated
plate K of sufficient size to cover the entire surface. The tank

page_text: is provided with a close fitting cover furnished with an escape pipe
L.. The arched cover F¹ placed over the tank F rests in grooves F
at the top, which grooves are kept supplied with water to condense
or prevent the escape of the volatile substances. The screw and
the whole interior of the tank is submerged in hot asphaltum before
being used in order to fill up any holes and render the whole air and
water tight.
The operation of my Invention is as follows:-The ore is placed in
the furnace above the fire-grate, and water is introduced into the tank F.
The water is allowed to rise. a little above the upper end of the screw
shaft, and the screw being set in motion by the pulley or crank draws
the heat up through the ore with the volatile matter and smoke. At
the same time fresh supplies of oxygen or atmospheric air to keep up
combustion are admitted through the door or grate of the furnace at the
bottom and pass through the pipe C into the column D down the
tubes a which are, surrounded by water and out through the pipe E
into the top of the tank F as shown by the arrow; thence by the
action of the covered revolving screw. they are forced around down the
opening between the spiral blades the screw acting at each revolution.
as a blast or forcing power to drive the volatile matter down the spiral
opening into the chamber at the foot of the screw and out through the
curved pipe into the condensing tank. The perforated plate K in the
tank serves to spread the fumes and keep them longer submerged,
thereby causing a more rapid condensation of globules to the bottom
whence they are drawn into flasks, these tanks may be extended and
the acid arising from the ores saved. An occasional cleaning up may
be made from the base of the water column, and also from the bottom
of the box in which the screw operates, as well as from the grooves F².
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent and the manner of performing the
same, I claim,—
First. In combination with the furnace A the vertical column D
and the screw G constructed of wood substantially as described.
Second. Drawing the volatile substances from the furnace into the
column D and thence into the spiral openings of the screw G and
forcing them by pressure blasts produced by turning and submerging

page_text: tanks J.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and sixty-eight.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)