A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM OF FILTER
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Victor Eugène Lecoupeur, of Rouen, in the Empire
of France, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM OF FILTER."
Sealed the 3rd August 1860, and dated the 22nd February 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Victor Eugène Lecoupeur
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd February 1860.
I, VICTOR EUGÈNE LECOUPEUR, of Rouen, in the Empire of France, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
SYSTEM OF FILTER," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to an improved system of filter. The principle upon
which these filters act is to filter the water from the bottom upwards under
the influence of pressure, for which reason I call them ascension filters. Now
I will proceed to describe these filters, as also the different modifications
which can be adopted according to the purpose to which they are applied.
The annexed Drawing will facilitate the description.
a, a, inlet tube for water; b, compartment into which the water first enters
before passing through the filtering matter; c, cleansing tap; d, partition
pierced with holes intended to sustain the filtering material to permit the water
to pass; e, filtering material (sponge, wool, sand, stone, or other suitable
material ;) 9, 9, second compartment, into which the water arrives after

page_text: having traversed the filtering material; h, h, tube serving for the overflow
and supply of the filtered water; j, cover closing the upper part of the filter;
k, rim for sustaining the diaphragm d.
The parts being thus arranged, the apparatus works as follows:-The water
to be filtered enters by the tube a, a, from an upper reservoir supplied by rain
water from the roof by a pump, or by other means, from the tube a, a; the
water enters the first compartment where the coarser impurities are deposited.
The water then traverses the filtering material,, where it is clarified, and then
arrives at the upper part, and runs off at the tube h, h, to be supplied and
distributed as may be necessary. When it is wished to clean the filter the
cock e is opened, whereby all the impurities escape; this cock is shut when
the water passing from it is clear, this being an indication that the filter is
deprived of its impurities, & this without disturbing any other part of the
Water thus clarified by the filtering matter will at times, however, in
very hot weather taste bad; to obviate this inconvenience a movable filter of
charcoal is adapted to fit into the upper receiver g, through which charcoal
the water passes before escaping at h. This filtering medium being fitted in
a frame to slide easily into the chamber g, permits of the easy renewal of the
charcoal as often as necessary. By the use of this improved filter water can
be obtained from the different taps either in the ordinary or clarified state, or
filter.
both in a clarified and purified state.
These filters can be applied to fountains, either as the simple clarifying
filter or the clarifier and purifier, according to whether or no the water has an
disagreeable taste or smell. These ascension filters can be applied to movable
filters, in which the following arrangements are adopted :-A vessel of glass,
earthenware, porcelain, india-rubber, or other material is filled with charcoal
to the neck, which presents an empty space, the top of the vessel is closed by
a suitable plug or cork; the short limb of a small syphon is passed through
the cork, which is furnished with an enlargement pierced with holes, the main
limb, which is bent, descends, and is fitted with an escape ball tap, a feed cock
is also applied to the vessel. In action this apparatus is entirely immersed in
The liquid enters by the feed cock and fills the vessel; to induce the
action of the syphon, the ball cock is acted on, whereby the flow of water is
established, which continues by the principle limb of the syphon.
water.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Victor Eugène Lecoupeur in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th August 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, VICTOR
EUGENE LECOUPEUR, of Rouen, in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Victor Eugène Lecoupeur, Her special licence that I, the said Victor Eugène
Lecoupeur, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Victor Eugène Lecoupeur, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM OF FILTER," upon the condition (amongst
others), that I, the said Victor Eugène Lecoupeur, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Victor Eugène Lecoupeur, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 Drawings, and
to the letters & figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to an improved system of filter. The principle upon
which these filters act is to filter the water from the bottom upwards under
the influence of pressure, which, in a great measure, aids the settling of the
matters held in suspension to the bottom of the filter, also requiring less
frequent cleansing and renewing of the filtering material.
I have represented-in the annexed Drawings the filter of my Invention, and
the different modifications which may be applicable thereto.
Fig. 1 shows a filter for pits, tubs, & tanks (partly in section & partly in
clevation); Fig. 2 shows the same with the various filtering apparatus.
a, a, collecting conduit in connection with an upper tank or the spouts ;

page_text: b, lower chamber communicating with the conduit a; c & d partitions
pierced with holes; e, filtering material, such as sponge, wool, shearings,
sandstone, &c.; f, upper chamber; 9, 9, tubes leading the water down into
the reservoir; h, lid; i, spout; j, tub containing the filter, the spout of which
opens from outside; k, receiver delivering the purified water through a cock l;
m, air tube; n, charcoal filter communicating with receiver k.
Fig. 3 shows the vertical section of a house fountain; Fig. 4 shows the plan
of the same; Figs. 5 & 6 show the vertical sections of two fountains of similar
description with Fig. 3. For these three fountains the same letters of
reference stand for the like parts where they recur. a, fountain or water
recipient; b, porous clay cylinder or clarifier; c, moveable sandstone or
charcoal cylinder; d, recipient; e, e, tubes through which cylinders & c
communicate with -recipient d; f, f, air tubes; 9, 9, 9, cocks delivering the
one the unfiltered water, another the clarified water, and the third one the
water both filtered & purified; h, opening for renewing the charcoal; i, handle;
k, ajutage. The water is poured into the fountain a, clarified through the
porous filter b, runs into c, where it is purified, and thence into the recipient.d,
which is completely immersed in the fountain water, and fills the office
of cooler.
Figs. 7 & 8 show the section of two small portable travelling filters, which
act chiefly as purifiers. a, vessel filled with charcoal; b, empty space;
c, enlargement pierced with holes; d, syphon; e, sucking ball or syphon
filler; f, feed cock; g, moveable plate closing the lower part of cylinder h;
h, cylinder filled with charcoal j; i, small holes for the passage of water. In
these two small apparatus the syphons are filled by either inhaling the air with
mouth, or by means of a suction ball furnished with a tap or cock. These
filters may be enclosed in a metal box or case into which the water is poured.
By soldering or fitting otherwise to the bottom of said box, a tube opening
from outside by means of a small tap or cock, which tube is at its upper part
connected with the filter by means of an india-rubber tube, the syphon is
thereby completed, and the whole will constitute a small fountain supplying a
permanent film of water. The parts being thus arranged, the first filter,
represented at Fig. 1, which I take as specimen, works as follows:-The
water enters by the tube a, a, from an upper reservoir supplied by rain water
from the roof by a pump, or by other means; from the tube a, a, the water
passes into the first compartment b, where the coarser impurities are deposited.
The water then traverses the filtering material where it is clarified, and then
arrives at the upper part and runs off through the tube 9, 9. When it is
wished to clean the filter the cock is opened, whereby all the impurities escape,

page_text: and this cock is shut when the water passing from it is clear, this being an
indication that the filter is deprived of its impurities. When the water tastes
bad it is made to pass through a moveable filter filled with charcoal, the
filtering medium being fitted in a frame to slide easily permits of the easy
renewal of the charcoal as often as necessary. By the use of this improved
filter water can be obtained from the different taps either in the ordinary or
clarified state, or both in a purified and clarified state.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of the said improved
system of filter, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details herein described, nor to the strict form of any
apparatus represented, as such may be modified without departing from the
principle of action thereof; but I claim as new and of my Invention the
improved filters herein described, which constitute a whole set of apparatus
completing each other, as and for the purposes herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Victor Eugène Lecoupeur, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of August in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
V. E. LECOUPEUR. (LS.)