IMPROVEMENTS. IN. APPARATUS FOR DRESSING ORES
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL, COME, I, WILLIAM:
BRUNTON, junior, of Pool, near Truro, in the. County of Cornwall, Engineer,:
send greeting.
-
WHEREAS Her present most. Excellent: Majesty Queen Victoria,, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the. Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing, date.
at Westminster, the Second day of November, in the eighth. year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me,.
the said William Brunton, Her especial licence, full. power, sole privilege
and authority, that. I, the said William Brunton, my exors, admors, and:
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Brunton, my exors; adñors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time:
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully,
might make, use, exercise, and. vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS. IN. APPARATUS FOR
DRESSING ORES; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that,
I, the said William Brunton, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my Invention, and in what manner the same. is to.be performed, to,
be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six.
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part:

page_text: recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Brunton, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which I perform the same, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following description thereof, reference being bad to the
Drawing hereunto annexed; and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists of an improved method of submitting ores, or materials
containing ores,, to the action of a stream of water; by distributing the ores or
materials upon an inclined table, moveable either continuously or occasionally
upward against the stream, whereby the waste is (as in the ordinary methods
practised) washed off at the bottom of the incline, whilst the clean or dressed
ore, by its superior gravity, settles upon the moving table, and with it is carried
upwards beyond the influence of the washing stream, and ultimately deposited
into a separate vessel. The means by which the same is performed is as
follows I construct the inclined moveable table of a long sheet of painted
cloth of suitable width, and unite together the two ends of the same, when it
becomes an endless band, and along each edge and upon the outer side thereof
I sew a strip of thick woollen cloth enclosing a soft hempen rope, which forms
a ledge or margin to prevent the ore or materials being washed over the edge
of the table; and for the transverse support of the cloth.I.fix slight pieces of
timber extending the whole width of the cloth inside, and at equal and short
distances, by copper nails driven through the said margin into the transverse
pieces of timber. For the support and application of the cloth thus prepared
I construct a roller or cylinder, which I call the head roller, about one inch
longer than the width of the cloth, having six or eight bars fixed upon its
periphery parallel to its axes, and at equal and such distances as will suit and
act as detents against the transverse timbers inside the cloth, and support this.
roller by its gudgeons between two strong pieces of timber or headstocks built
into and projecting from a wall or other means sufficiently strong. I also
construct a frame of timber about one foot six inches longer than the.
intended length of the inclined table, composed of two sides fixed together.
by several cross bars of timber, each about one inch longer than the width
of the cloth. Upon these cross bars are fixed four or more longitudinal
bearers upon which the tranverse pieces of timber fixed to the inner surface of
the cloth bear and slide when the table is at work. Alsó at the lower end of
this frame I construct and fix another cylindrical roller, which I call the foot:
roller, plain, that is, without detents, of the same length and parallel to the

page_text: :.
head roller already described, having its upper surface in the same plane with
the upper sides of the longitudinal bearers. The upper end of this frame I
support by and between the headstocks; and the lower end I support by a
screwed rod on each side to a fixed cross piece, by which the inclination of the
table may be adjusted to suit the nature of the materials to be operated upon.
About one third the length of the frame from the foot roller I fix another
roller, cylindrical (which I call the under roller) to the lower edge of the sides of
the frame. Upon the frame and rollers the endless cloth is applied, passing, from
the head roller along the longitudinal bearers to the foot roller, from which it
passes over the under roller, between which and the head roller it hangs in a
catanarean curve with its face downward and low enough to reach about two
inches within a cistern or coffer filled with water, wherein the ore is deposited
as the cloth revolves. At about one quarter part of the length of the table
downward I fix an inclined board with diverging channels to distribute upon
the whole width of the table the stuff to be dressed liquified with water, whilst
a stream of clear water is made to flow uniformly over the edge of a level
board upon the head or upper end of the table, and the whole of its width.
When to the apparatus thus described power is applied to turn the head
roller in the direction to move the cloth from the foot roller upward, and orey
water and clean water in proper quantities are permitted to flow upon the
table, it presents a moveable inclined table extending from the foot roller to
the head roller, upon which, by the action of the stream, the waste is separated
from the ores, which, by their greater specific gravity, resist the force of the
stream, and adhering to the cloth, are carried over the upper roller and into
the cistern or coffer where the water disengages the ore, and is there deposited.
The annexed Diagram will show the motion of the cloth or flexible table
wherein A is the head roller to which power is applied; B, foot roller';
C, under roller; D, cistern or coffer; E, head over which the ore liquified
with water is distributed over the whole width of the table; F, head over
which the clean stream of water runs; G, cloth or flexible table; the dotted
lines show the water level.
The novelty of my Invention, and what I claim is, the dressing ores upon
an inclined plane continuously or occasionally moving up against the stream,
and by the same motion depositing the dressed ores into a separate receptacle.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brunton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
WILLIAM (L.s.) BRUNTON, JUN.

page_text: .
AND BE IT REMEMBERED,, that. on, the. Twenty-eighth day. of April,
in the year of our Lord 1845; the aforesaid William Brunton came before,
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the.Specification.
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form,
above written.. And also the Specification, aforesaid was stamped: according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
1
Enrolled the First day of May, in the year of our Lord. One thousand.