IMPROVE- MENTS IN FILTERS
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Samuel Gunn at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th March 1878.
EDMUND SAMUEL GUNN, of City Road, in the County of Middlesex "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FILTERS."
This Invention relates to improvements in the arrangement and construction of
filters which may be placed or submerged in tanks, or arranged in a filter case
or otherwise for water or other liquid being filtered in its passage to the chamber
or reservoir of the filter from which the filtered water or liquid is drawn as
required.
The chief object of my Invention is so to arrange or construct a filter, so that the
water or liquid to be filtered shall be caused to pass through a much longer course
of the filtering medium or materials (packed in a comparatively small compass)
than heretofore in filters of various forms and construction. For this purpose I
pack the filtering materials in a tube, which may be circular, semicircular, spiral, coiled,
or bent into various forms, according to the size or character of the filter required,
This tube may be arranged in combination with a vessel, chamber, or reservoir, one
end of the tube being passed through the side to the interior of the vessel or
reservoir, the other end being open for the admission of the water to be filtered
from the tank, reservoir, or case in which the filtering tube is placed or
submerged.
The inner end of the filtering tube delivers the filtered water to the interior of
the vessel or chamber acting as a reservoir for storing the filtered water from which
it is drawn through a pipe passing to the exterior of the tank or vessel.

page_text: The filtering tube may either be used in combination with a reservoir of filtered
water, or be used for filtering purposes separately therefrom, and it may be formed
in sections if desired to afford facility for cleaning.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edmund Samuel Gunn in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6ths
September 1878.
EDMUND SAMUEL GUNN, of City Road, in the County of Middlesex.
MENTS IN FILTERS."
"IMPROVE-
This Invention relates to improvements in the arrangement and construction of
filters which may be placed or submerged in tanks, or arranged in a filter, case, or
otherwise, the water or other liquid being filtered in its passage to the chamber
or reservoir of the filter, from which the filtered water or liquid is drawn as
required.
The chief object of my Invention is so to arrange or construct a filter that the
.water or liquid to be filtered shall be caused to pass through a much longer course
of filtering medium or materials (packed in a comparatively small compass) than
heretofore in filters of various forms and construction. For this purpose I pack the
filtering materials in a tube or case, which may be circular, semicircular, spiral,
coiled, or bent into various forms, according to the size or character of the filter
required. This tube or case may be arranged in combination with a vessel,
chamber, or reservoir, one end of the tube or case being passed through the side to
the interior of the vessel or reservoir, the other end being open for the admission of
the water to be filtered from the tank, reservoir, or case in which the filtering tube
or case is placed or submerged.
The inner end of the filtering tube delivers the filtered water to the interior of
the vessel or chamber acting as a reservoir for storing the filtered water from which
it is drawn through a pipe passing to the exterior of the tank or vessel.
The filtering tube or case may either be used in combination with a reservoir of
filtered water, or be used for filtering purposes separately therefrom, and it may be
formed in sections if desired to afford facility for cleaning.
And in order that my Invention may be clearly understood and readily carried
into practice, I will proceed to describe the same more fully with reference to the
Drawings hereto annexed.
Figures 1 show three views of a pocket filter arranged and constructed in
accordance with the first part of my improvements, viz., two vertical sections taken
at right angles to each other, and one horizontal section; a, a³, outer case; a³, socket
to receive india-tubber tube b; b', mouth-piece fitted to same; c, charcoal block;
d, cement.
In order to make a small and efficient pocket filter according to the first part of

page_text: my improvements, I employ a charcoal block c, and where a filter is required
sufficiently small to fit the vest pocket, means must be adopted to ensure the water
travelling through the required length of charcoal block c necessary for its proper
filtration. For this purpose in carrying out this part of my improvements, I make
an ordinary tube or case a of cylindrical or other convenient shape (as shown by
Figures 1 of the Drawings hereto annexed) of between one and two inches in
length and diameter provided with a closed end or top cover a¹. From this closed
end a small tube a rises, provided with a narrow india-rubber tube b, fitted with
mouth-piece b' in the ordinary way.
The charcoal block o is advantageously cylindrical in shape (although other forms
may be used), and formed with a passage d in the direction of its axis, that is to
say, a cylindrical (or other shaped) passage d in the direction of its greatest length.
This passage d is of such diameter as agrees with the diameter of the charcoal
block c, somewhere between one-third and one-fourth thereof, and so arranged as to
leave a channel of suitable dimensions on either side of the central part d in the
middle of the block. These hollow blocks d of charcoal are placed in the before-
mentioned tubes or cases a in such way that the greatest length of the hollow"
charcoal block lies in the diameter of the encasing tube a. In placing this charcoal
block c in its case, Portland or other adhesive cement is used in such quantities
that the central tube is filled with it, likewise the spaces left between the curvature
of the block c and the walls of the encasing tube a so as only to leave a line of
exposed surface of the charcoal of suitable dimensions along the greatest length of
charcoal block c on its under side, and an uncemented surface immediately under
the small tube a² rising from the top plate a' enclosing the tube in the higher end,
to which small tube a² the india-rubber piping b has been fitted as before described.
In action this portable filter is lowered into the water to be filtered, the water
thereupon enters the exposed surface of the charcoal, being drawn up by the person
sucking at the mouth-piece b', and as the water cannot pass straight up by reason of
the impervious cement or other adhesive substance occupying the centre, it has to
go round it to get to the charcoal on the other side of the centre through the
charcoal at the side, and is thus led through a lengthy course of filtration.
Other methods of making or forming charcoal blocks of various shapes
and of building them together with cement may be employed in accordance with
this part of my improvements, the cement serving the double purpose of uniting
the blocks one within the other, or otherwise to guide the water through more
tortuous paths of charcoal or other filtering medium for use where special filtration
is required.
The arrangement of filters previously described may also be used in connection
with filters for other uses than vest filters, viz., the filters for various special
purposes herein-after mentioned.
The mud or other dirt which collects on the surface of the charcoal can readily be
removed by scraping, or the charcoal block may be dug out or otherwise removed
for more thorough cleaning or substitution of a new one.
The above-described vest filter can be placed with its india-rubber tubing and
mouth-piece in a small box and worn in the vest pocket or elsewhere.
These improved filters can be made to act on the syphon principle in the usual
way.
The case or tube for holding the charcoal may be made of earthenware, tin, or
other suitable material, and the case for holding same can be made of tin properly'
coated, or other suitable material properly prepared and not readily oxidisable.
What I claim as novel, according to the first part of my improvements, is the use
and application of impervious materials in combination with filtering mediums for
the purpose of causing the water to take circuitous or tortuous courses through the
filtering medium, substantially as and for the purposes herein-before described and
shown by Figures 1 of the Drawings annexed.
Figure 2 shows a vertical section of a tubular table and chamber, filter, arranged,
and constructed in accordance with the second part of my improvements; “a, outer

page_text: vessel or case; a³, socket to receive charcoal block b; a³ nozzle to receive cork,
through which is passed pipes c, c'.
The pipe c has a hollow india-rubber ball applied to it to force air into vessel a;
the pipe c¹ is to draw off filtered liquor. These filters consist of a small upright
vessel or case a advantageously of glass and circular in form; its exterior shape is a 5
matter of taste and allows of much variety of outline, thus, a castle, a lighthous, a
barrel, or it may be of any form appealing to the fancy. Its internal arrangements
consist of a tube a¹ containing the charcoal filtering block b; the tube a¹ rises from
the bottom, or it may descend therefrom..
From the top plate enclosing a vessel in that direction rises a neck a³; in this i
neck a a cork is fixed having two tubes c, c¹³, passed through it, a short one c
merely extending in and outside the cork; its external end, being fitted with an
india-rubber ball, which when compressed, forces air into the vessel a to discharge
the filtered water through the tube c'. The tube c' passes down to the bottom of
the bottle and externally arches out over the ornamental decorative part forming 1
the walls of the vessel a.
Another and cheaper arrangement is to dispense with the hole in the bottom of
the vessel, and making the neck of the bottle answer the purpose of the tube for
containing the charcoal block and cork with tubes. In this method the neck must
be wide and high, and the block provided with a central hole for the insertion of a
cork containing the above-described tubes c, c¹, as will be readily understood on
examining Figure 3, which shows a similar filter to that shown at Figure 2, except
that the cork for holding pipes c, c', is fitted into charcoal block b, the whole being
held in one nozzle or socket a².
In action the filtering vessels (Figures 1, 2, and 3) are placed in the water to be 2
filtered, and the water in Figures 1 and 2 ascends, and in Figure 3 descends into
the bottle, and is withdrawn therefrom by compressing the india-rubber ball, which
by suddenly throwing pressure on the surface of the stored filtered water causes it
to flow out of the long tube c' into a vessel or receiver.
It will be evident that this construction of filter admits of various methods of g
carrying out the combination of inlet and outlet tubes.
It may be added that the bottle or vessel a must have sufficient weight of glass
or other material in it to ensure its not floating in the water. The block is cleaned
as previously described for pocket filters.
What I claim as novel in accordance with the second part of my improvements is,
the combination with and insertion of the filtering apparatus in the reservoir a, thus
rendering it unnecessary to use any other particular vessel for holding sanio; also
the method of placing the filtering block and tubes c, c', together in one passage,
forming part of the filtering vessel and reservoir, all substantially as and for the
purposes herein-before described and represented in Figures 2 and 3 of the Drawings
annexed.
The third part of my improvements relates to an adaptation of the principle of
the chamber or table filters previously described, as will be found in the following
arrangement for the construction of cheap house filters, viz., by taking a case which
may be similar in form to a bottle, and fitting a charcoal block into a tube or
socket in the bottom or side dependent or extending into the bottle, or by causing
the neck of the case to act the part of the tube for holding the charcoal block, the
same neck in such case being wide and high. If the latter plan is adopted the
charcoal block must be provided with a hole for a cork to hold the tap to be
inserted therein.
This part of my improvements will be readily understood on examining Figures
4 and 5 of the Drawings annexed, which show sections of household filters arranged
in accordance with the third part of my improvements.
Figure 4 shows a section of a household filter arranged and constructed in
accordance with the third part of my improvements; a is the outer case; a¹, socket
into which charcoal block b is fitted; a, socket to contain a cork, into which is
fitted the cock c and vent tube d.

page_text: Whether the cork and filtering block bare fitted together in the same tube or
provided with separate places, the water similarly enters the bottle a through the
block b, and is withdrawn therefrom.by means of a tap cwhich is fitted into a
hole in the side of the filter, case, or vessel a containing the water in which the.
above-named bottle a with block b is submerged, this tap c.being. screwed in and
embedded in the cork filling the hole in the outer case in the usual way, and by the
same method passing into the bottle a to draw therefrom the filtered water therein
collected.
A vent tube d is inserted in the cork in the bottle a, and rising above the
general level of the water in which the bottle a is submerged, is requisite when the
bottle communicates with the exterior by means of a hole in the side of the outer
vessel as above mentioned.
⋅
The bottle a may be on its side in water passing in and out of the same hole, or
pass in at one hole and out at another; or when standing upright acts on the
ascension principle and discharge its water by a syphon tube or otherwise.
The method of cleaning- the block, removing it for more thorough cleaning, or
substituting a new one, is the same as that described with reference to table and
pocket filters previously described.
What I claim under the third part of my improvements is, the improved arrange-
ment and combination of household filters in which the bottle or case constitutes
the holder of the filtering apparatus or reservoir, together with the method of
inserting a cork in the centre of the charcoal block for receiving the tap, all
arranged to act substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein-before
described and represented in Figures 4 and 5 of the Drawings annexed.
I will now describe the fourth part of my improvements which relates to the
arrangement and construction of cistern, household, and general filters of large-
capacity.
In filters arranged for these purposes in accordance with my improvements, the
water may be made to flow through a long course of filtering material by being
made to pass through the length of the tube or case, or to circulate in the space-
obtained by inserting one tube within another, this space being tightly packed with
charcoal. Of these two methods of using the tubular principle I have found that
for cistern and other large filters the diameter of the vessel usually being con-
siderable, sufficient length of filtration is ensured by allowing the water to flow the
length of the circumference, being guided in this circuitous course by the tube.
occupying the centre, whose outer surface forms with the inner surface of the outer
tube a tube in itself; the central tube also acts as a reservoir receiving and storing'
the filtered fluid.
Where the diameter is small the course of the fluid may be made to be in but
one direction by a suitable barrier preventing the water flowing in either direction,
and causing it to flow all round the central drum, entering it by perforations behind
the barrier.
Where the diameter is sufficiently large the water entering the filtering apparatus
from without will (no barrier being present) divide itself into two streams, each of
which after going half way round (the two completing the circuit) enter central
tube at a point most removed from its exterior, the outer cylinder or tube by means
of the perforations running the length of the same. Similar perforations exist in
the central cylinder. The two tubes are so placed the one within the other as to
cause these perforated parts to be further removed from each other.
Where the diameter of the tube is considerable the length of the charcoal bed
through which the water shall flow can be fixed at pleasure by barriers fastened
across the path of the water-like radii proceeding from the centre of the circum-
ference, their number being determined by the length of the filter bed desired and
the size of the filter. In this case too the perforations in the inner and outer-
cylinder are made to match and work together.
This part of my improvements will be more clearly understood by reference to
Figures 6 and 7 of the Drawings. -

page_text: Figure 6 shows vertical and horizontal sections of a cistern and general filter
arranged and constructed in accordance with this part of my improvements; a, outer
case; b, inner caso; o, charcoal. The water enters the filter at d and is delivered
at e
Figure 7 is very similar to Figure 6, only that the water is caused by partition
a* to take a longer course.
Where no barriers are required, earthenware is the best material to use, in which
case 1 find the cheapest way is to make a jar or case with a collar, and if a very
cheap filter is desired have a hole placed on any part of the circumference, which
when in position, can be closed in with a piece of cotton wool.
The internal tubo is made as a bottle with a wide mouth perforated down the
side as before mentioned, and cemented in the jar or case with cement.
The hole is fitted with cork in which the pipe is secured, drawing therefrom the
filtered water either by causing the pipe to act as a syphon or otherwise.
The filter is fitted with a vent tube where necessary.
Where barriers are to be used, pure tin, zinc, or galvanized iron should be
employed.
An easy means of thoroughly cleaning the same is to remove the cotton wool or
cleaning cork, scrape out the charcoal with a knife into a basin, agitate well with
fresh water, constantly changing same, replace, and repack.
It will be seen that this filter can readily act on the ascension principle.
Where instead of cotton wool, the external tube is perforated, a hole at one end
in the space between the inner and outer cylinder must be provided for the above-
named cork for packing or unpacking.
What I claim under the fourth part of my improvements is the improved
arrangement and construction of filters, whereby the water is caused to traverse
the circumference, dividing the same into convenient lengths of filter bed, and
the mode of reservoiring filtored fluid, substantially in the manner and for
the purposes herein-before described and represented in Figures 6 and 7 of the
Drawings annexed.
I will now describe my improvements for filtering water on a large scale.
A filter cart or vehicle may be constructed according to the fifth part of my
improvements for the purpose of having a large movable filter capable of filtering
considerable quantities of water rapidly for sanitary, manufacturing, or other
purposes; being also suitable for camps and military purposes.
Figure 8 shows an end view and plan of a filter for filtering on a large scale;
a, tank or receptacle for containing filter.
Water enters filter from end a' of tank by spaces b, the sides of which are per-
forated, and filters through filtering medium b₁, and flows out through other outlet
spaces c into opposite end a³ of tank.
A tube d (preferably of galvanized iron) say, 3 fect diameter and length, if fitted
in the tank a of a water cart in such way as to leave about a foots space a¹, a³, at
either end. Within this tube d a smaller once (two feet) is so placed as to leave
about six inches space all round. Within this second tube e another one f of the
diameter of 15 inches is placed. These tubes are kept in the position named by
thin pieces of galvanized iron acting as barriers running the entire length, per-
forated with pin holes over their entire surfaces placed in pairs, their sides being
securely fastened to the outer surface of the lower tube, and the inner surface of the
upper one and the ends of the pairs opening alternately in either end of water box.
The space between the outer tube and the second one can thus be split up into
8 compartments of not less than one foot in depth the entire length of the tube,
and about 6 inches wide. The space between the second tube and the innermost
tube can thus be split up in 4 such sections, same depth and length, but with 4
inches width.
The ends of the tubes are provided with plates so that there is a complete box at
either end of the tube, preventing the water from passing from a¹ to a³, except
through the filtering medium. There is also the central tube with a diameter of 15

page_text: inches, which forms part of the reservoir for the filtered water being connected with
the box or tank at one end of the tube, filling the office of reservoir.
In one of the plates at the end of the tube above mentioned are holes fitted with
cork bungs providing access to the charcoal for packing and unpacking, and for
cleaning. In action the water flows into the tank at the end a' of the tube, and
therefrom enters between the pairs of barriers open at that end for reception of the
water to be filtered, which percolates through the pin holes in them through the
space tightly packed with charcoal to a plate of a pair not opening in the inlet tank,
but into the reservoir a² for filtered water, and proceeds thereto, meeting in its way
down the channel water from the other plate of the pair not so opening into the
inlet which has come up through charcoal in a compartment which it entered in a
similar
way.
A tap is inserted into the filtered water tank for drawing off the filtered
water.
What I claim under the fifth part of my improvements is the improved arrange-
ment and construction of filters so as to cause the water to traverse the circum-
ference, dividing the same into convenient lengths of filter beds, and the mode of
reservoiring filtered fluid, substantially as and for the purposes herein-before
described and represented in Figure 8 of the Drawings annexed.
I will now describe the sixth part of my improvements which relates to an
improved method of filtering water in public reservoirs.
In order to make a long filter bed of cheap materials suitable for public filtration
and the same not to occupy much space, and to possess the advantage of direct
filtration, I propose to build an arched way or tunnel of bricks of suitable dimensions
with a suitable pipe in the centre provided with perforations running its length on
its under side, the space between the inner and outer tubes to be filled with suitable
filtering medium, the upper part of the external tunnel to be built with perforated
bricks, through which the water enters from the reservoir above and gravitates
down through the bed on either side of the central tube, finding its way therein
through the holes in the pipe as described above, and be thus conveyed
away.
Another method is to cause the water to find its way to the outlet pipe by de-
scending into a pit in the reservoir, having a grating on the two opposite sides, the
same being the entrance to the tunnels, which after suitable ramifications so as to
keep down the space occupied by the tunnel having a similar grating affixed to the
outlet pipe. These tunnels to be of suitable size so as to cause a proper quantity of
water to pass through.
The reason for having two large tunnels is to ensure the full action of the
arrangement at all times, whilst one is shut off, for cleaning the other to be in full
action. The base of reservoirs could thus be utilized with a number of the above
for cheaply filtering most thoroughly large quantities of water.
What I claim under the sixth part of my improvements is the method of causing
the water to traverse the circumference, bisecting same where necessary, and storing
filtered fluid; also in taking the water through a long course of filtering material,
substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Samuel Gunn, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.