IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FILTERING, WHICH IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO DISSOLVING OR EXTRACTING CONSTITUENTS FROM MINERALS OR OTHER SUBSTANCES BY SOLVENTS OR CHEMICAL AGENTS."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Juan Francisco Nepomuceno Macay, of Charapotó, in
the Republic of Ecuador, South America, and at present of 53, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR FILTERING, WHICH IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO DISSOLVING OR EXTRACTING
CONSTITUENTS FROM MINERALS OR OTHER SUBSTANCES BY SOLVENTS OR
CHEMICAL AGENTS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Juan Francisco Nepomuceno
Macay at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th May 1881.
JUAN FRANCISCO NEPOMUCENO MACAY, of Charapotó, in the Republic of
Ecuador, South America, and at present of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex. "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FILTERING, WHICH IS ALSO APPLICABLE
TO DISSOLVING OR EXTRACTING CONSTITUENTS FROM MINERALS OR
SUBSTANCES BY SOLVENTS OR CHEMICAL AGENTS."
OTHER
My Invention relates to the separation of soluble substances from insoluble
substances in chemical and metallurgical processes, and to apparatus for bringing
substances which are comparatively insoluble into solution or into a soluble form
by chemical action. The filtering apparatus is specially constructed so as to
prevent the filtering surface from becoming clogged or coated with insoluble or
undissolved matters, and the solution or chemical action is or may be assisted by
agitation produced by rotating the apparatus. The liquid is not drawn off from
the apparatus until it has reached the desired strength or effected the necessary
chemical changes. The filtering surface is during all this time washed or cleaned
from the insoluble matters by the return of the liquid from the outer to the inner
space.
I construct my apparatus as follows:-I make a barrel or shell of wood or
earthenware or other substance not acted upon by the solvents or chemical agents
which I employ, or I line the barrel or shell with some such suitable substance.
Inside this barrel or shell I construct an inner barrel or prismatic or polygonal

page_text: shell (which may be fluted or corrugated longitudinally to increase the filtering
area), made of or covered with material not acted upon by the solvents or chemical
agents used, and sufficiently hard to withstand the friction of the substances being
treated. I leave an annular space between this inner barrel or shell and the outer
barrel or shell, and in some cases I divide this annular space by longitudinal
divisions. The ends of the two barrels are closed by suitable heads, one or both of
which are or may be provided with pipes and suitable connections, such, for
instance, as centre valves for blowing steam or air or gas into either the internal
or the external barrel or shell, or for exhausting the air or any gases which may
be given off, or for passing in the liquids to be used, or for drawing these
liquids off.
The outer barrel or shell is provided with draw off cocks, which may commu-
nicate with the centre valve. The inner barrel or shell is the foundation or basis
of the filter, and is perforated with a large number of holes of a suitable size. One
surface of this barrel, preferably the internal one, is covered with asbestos, cloth,
or other suitable incorrodible filtering material. It is often advantageous to put a
packing or bed of coarse porous fabric, preferably made of asbestos, between the
filter cloth and the surface of the inner barrel or shell, as this largely increases the
effective filtering area.
Sometimes I prefer to use porous sandstones or artificial silicates or unglazed
earthenware as the filtering medium. When this is the case it is often advantageous
to construct the inner barrel or shell entirely of the filtering material itself, which
may be covered or not with a layer of asbestos, cloth, or pulp.
It is sometimes advantageous to reduce the annular space between the inner and
outer barrel or shell to very small dimensions, especially when the apparatus is to
be used for amalgamation of auriferous or argentiferous ores and separation of the
amalgum by filtration through the filtering stone.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Juan Francisco Nepomuceno Macay in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th November 1881.
JUAN FRANCISCO NEPOMUCENO MACAY, of Charapotó, in the Republic of
Ecuador, South America, and at present of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex. "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FILTERING, WHICH IS ALSO APPLICABLE
TO DISSOLVING OR EXTRACTING CONSTITUENTS FROM MINERALS OR OTHER
SUBSTANCES BY SOLVENTS OR CHEMICAL AGENTS."
My Invention relates to improvements in the apparatus for which Letters
Patent were granted to me, bearing date the Twenty ninth day of November 1880,
No. 4968, for effecting the separation of soluble substances from insoluble substancs
in chemical and metallurgical processes, and to the employment of such apparatus
for bringing substances which are comparatively insoluble into solution, or into a
soluble form by chemical action. The filtering apparatus is specially constructed
so as to prevent the filtering surface from becoming clogged or coated with insoluble
or undissolved matters, and the solution or chemical action is or may be assisted by
agitation produced by rotating the apparatus. The liquid is not drawn off from the
apparatus until it has reached the desired strength or effected the necessery
chemical changes. The filtering surface is during all this time washed or cleaned
from the insoluble matters.
I construct my apparatus as follows:-I make a barrel or shell of wood or.
earthenware or other substance not acted upon by the solvents or chemical agents
which I employ, or I line the barrel or shell with some such suitable substance.
Inside this barrel or shell I construct an inner barrel or prismatic or polygonal
shell (which may be fluted or corrugated longitudinally to obstruct as little as
possible the filtering medium), made of or covered with material not acted upon by
the solvents or chemical agents used, and sufficiently hard to withstand the friction
of the substances being treated. I leave an annular space between this inner barrel
or shell and the outer barrel or shell, and I generally divide this space by longi-
tudinal divisions. The ends of the two barrels are closed by suitable heads, one
or both of which are or may be provided with pipes and suitable connections, such,
for instance, as centre valves for blowing steam or air or gas into either the internal
or the external barrel or shell, or for exhausting the air or any gases which may be
given off, and the outer barrel or shell is provided with draw off cocks.
The inner barrel or shell is the foundation or basis of the filter, and is provided
with a large number of holes of a suitable size. One surface of this barrel,
preferably the internal one, is covered with asbestos, cloth, or other suitable
incorrodible filtering material. It is often advantageous to put a packing or bed of
coarse porous fabric, preferably made of asbestos, between the filter cloth and
the surface of the inner barrel or shell, as this largely increases the effective
filtering area.
Sometimes I prefer to use porous sandstones or artificial silicates, or unglazed
earthenware as the filtering medium. When this is the case it is often advantageous
to construct the inner barrel or shell entirely of the filtering material itself.

page_text: Figures 3 and 4 are respectively a part longitudinal section and half cross
section of the apparatus as constructed partly of wood and partly of other materials
not liable to be acted on by the solvents or chemical agents employed.
For the general construction of the apparatus and details not here shown reference
should be made to the Specification of my other Patent before referred to.
In Figures 1 and 2 A is the outer barrel or shell constructed in circular form of
staves of wood, "jointed" together and bound with hoops, and provided with
heads, as in my former Patent; B is the inner cylinder or shell of prismatic or
polygonal form constructed of staves, "jointed" together and supported by the
rings C, also as in my said former Patent; d are longitudinal divisions, which in
this case extend through both the inner and outer shells, they being built into the
outer shell A, and the staves of the inner shell built in between them. The inner
shell is lined with asbestos cloth For other suitable incorrodible filtering
fabric.
The staves of the inner shell are perforated with rows of holes b as before, but
for the sake of strength the holes are made as small as convenient, and in Figure 1
they are countersunk on the inner side so as to obstruct as little as possible of the
cloth, which is thus supported only by the narrow surfaces left between the
countersinks.
X is a packing or bed of coarse porous fabric, preferably asbestos, interposed
between the filter cloth F and the staves of the inner barrel to still further increase
the effective filtering area.
In Figure 2 the inner surfaces of the staves B are fluted or grooved longitudinally,
and the cloth F is supported by the intervening angular ridges, as shown, to avoid
obstructing the filtering surface. The holes make the necessary communication
with the outer space.
Referring to Figures 3 and 4 the outer barrel is constructed of wooden staves A,
"jointed" together and hooped as before, with longitudinal divisions d of earthen-
ware, porcelain, glass, or other material not acted on by the solvents or chemical
agents used built up with them. The outer barrel is preferably a true cylinder on
the inside, the staves being shaped to give the necessary bulge for driving the
hoops, and it is lined with slabs or tiles Z of the same material as the divisions d,
curved to the internal radius of the barrel, laid upon a bed of felt or other soft
material (represented by the dotted line), and the joints, which are purposely made
wide, caulked with asbestos steeped in boiled linseed oil. Some of the slabs have
sockets mounted on them passing through holes in the wood staves to receive the
necessary acid cocks for drawing off the contents. The slabs might or might not
extend the whole length of the barrel, and would be as long as they can be con-
veniently made true.
The inner barrel or shell is constructed of slabs B, which if perforated would be
of the same or similar material to the lining Z, but which might be unperforated,
and would in that caso be of porous sandstone or artificial silicates, or unglazed
earthenware, and might then either be used with or without the asbestos
cloth.
These slabs are moulded with feet at back, which bear against the lining Z (with
a packing of asbestos cloth between the two), and maintain the necessary
intervening space or chamber in which to collect the filtrate. These slabs B are
built in between the divisions d, and their joints, which are also made wide, are
caulked with asbestos in the same way as the lining, leaving however sufficient
depth in the joints for afterwards caulking in the edges of the filtering fabric.
The slabs B of non-porous material are perforated, and may either be counter-
sunk and have a bed of coarse fibrous fabric X laid under the filtering fabric, as in
the upper part of Figures 3 and 4, or grooved, as in the lower part of the same
Figures. In Figure 3 the filtering cloth F is removed in part to show the
perforated slabs.
The heads of the outer barrel may be lined with a slab or slabs of glass, having
inouth pieces formed on them to line the doorway in the head, the doors being also

page_text: slabs of glass secured as in my former Patent, the asbestos joint being made
between the door and the face of the mouth piece.
The floats and their supporting frames, shewn in my said former Patent, may be
omitted in this case.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1st. In the apparatus herein referred to the means of increasing the effective
filtering area of the asbestos cloth, substantially as described and represented in
Figures 1 and 2.
2nd. The construction of the apparatus partly of wood and partly of earthen-
ware, porcelain, glass, or other material not acted on by the solvents or chemical
agents employed, substantially as described and shewn in Figures 3 and 4.
3rd. The application and employment of apparatus of the kind herein described,
whether constructed wholly of wood or other material, or partly of wood and partly
of other materials for bringing substances which are comparatively insoluble into
solution, or into a soluble form by chemical action, as well as for separating soluble
from insoluble substances in chemical and metallurgical processes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Juan Francisco Nepomuceno Macay, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty sixth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
J. FRANº. N. MACAY. (L.S.)