AN IMPROVED SYSTEM FOR FILTERING AND PURIFYING LIQUIDS WITH AN ENDLESS SPOUTING CAPILLARY FILTER
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jean François Rivier, of No. 60, Boulevart de
Strasbourg, Paris, in the Empire of France, Clerk, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED SYSTEM FOR FILTERING AND PURIFYING LIQUIDS WITH AN
ENDLESS SPOUTING CAPILLARY FILTER."
Sealed the 16th August 1864, and dated the 25th February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean François Rivier at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th February 1864.
I, JEAN FRANÇOIS RIVIER, of No. 60, Boulevart de Strasbourg, Paris, in the
Empire of France, Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED SYSTEM FOR FILTERING AND PURIFYING LIQUIDS WITH AN
ENDLESS SPOUTING CAPILLARY FILTER," to be as follows:-
By my system of filtering and purifying liquids I can produce pure,
clear, limpid, and wholesome water directly and without intermission, even
with muddy and foul waters. The filtering materials I make use of are a
capillary filter laid either over a galvanised wire cloth or perforated sheet
iron, the sides of the filtering chambers being either galvanised iron sheets,
enamelled pottery, or earthenware plates. The same perforated materials
could be used for the bottom to lay the filter on; over the latter several suc-
cessive lays of the following filtering materials are disposed, namely, sponges
prepared with iodine, charcoal, old iron scraps, gritstone pieces, and saud.
The water to be filtered runs down from an upper feeding chamber, and the

page_text: pressure of the upper column forces the liquid up through the filtering
materials, whence it runs into a delivery channel as fast as it flows from the
feeder. A brush is suitably disposed under the perforated or wire cloth
bottom of the filtering chamber to clean off once in a while the muddy
particles which might clog the capillary filter or wire cloth.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jean François Rivier in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
FRANÇOIS RIVIER, of No. 60, Boulevart de Strasbourg, Paris, in the Empire of
France, Clerk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Jean François Rivier, Her special licence that I, the said Jean
François Rivier, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Jean François Rivier, 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 "AN IMPROVED SYSTEM POR FILTERING AND PURIFYING LIQUIDS WITH AN
ENDLESS SPOUTING CAPILLARY FILTER," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Jean François Rivier, 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 1, the said Jean François Rivier, 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:-
.
With my system of filtering and purifying liquids I produce directly pure,
limped, and wholesome waters without intermission, even from muddy and

page_text: foul waters. The filtering and purifying materials used, and through which
the water is caused to run by the sole pressure of an upper liquid column, are,
firstly, a thick capillary filter, such as felt made from flock, cow or camel hair,
or other suitable material, then several combined layers of the following
filtering materials, sponges prepared with iodine, charcoal, sandstones, iron
scraps and sand.
My filtering apparatuses are so arranged that all unclean and muddy
particles mixed with the water are intercepted, and the water runs ont as
clear as crystal without interruption, and as quickly as it flows in. The
detritus of organic materials or any other filthiness which may be mixed with
water as it passes into the filter are stoppod by the filtering materials; they
are arrested by the permeable under side of the filter, and fall down to the
bottom of the mud channel or chamber, whence they are scraped off once in
awhile by brushes suitably disposed for this purpose in the said channel,
or even by the sole pressure of the upper column by merely opening the
discharge cock. My filtering apparatuses can be made of various size;
several of them may be placed near each other in a cluster, so as to contain
a great mass of water for supplying with filtered water even the most populous
cities, or they can be of the smallest size for the requirements of a single
family. My filtering apparatuses are illustrated upon the annexed Sheet of
Drawing, where I have represented several models.
The Figures 1 and 2 show in vertical section and plan a large filter
composed of several adjoining chambers; they can be in any number; this
arrangement is intended for supplying a town or any large establishment, such
as a hospital, barrack, or college.
The apparatus shewn, Figure 3, with a single filtering chamber, is intended
for the use of a single family; however, it could supply filtered water to all the
inhabitants of the same house.
Figure 1 is a sectional front view through the line X, Y, of the plan,
Figure 2, of a combined filter composed of any number of adjoining chambers
or basins; the sides thereof are made of galvanised sheet iron; they could be
also made of enamelled carthenware or pottery.
A, niain channel or conduit bringing the water to be filtered; B, B, feed
pipes above the receiving chambers or basins H, H; the water is conveyed in
the said basinis by branch pipes, which can be stopped at pleasure by the stop-
cocks R, R. From the upper chambers H the water runs down through
vertical pipes I, I, into mud chambers C, whence the pressure of the upper
column of the liquid contained in the chambers El forces the water up through
the chambers E, E, which are the actual filters, composed as follows:-The

page_text: bottom is formed of a thick capillary .filter, usually, felt, included either
between two pieces of galvanised wire gauze or of perforated sheet iron, or
betwixt enameled earthenware or glass plates. Above the said upper plate. I
place successive beds of sponges in small pieces previously submitted to iodine
vapours, then fragments of gritstones, charcoal, sand, iron scraps, and again
sponges; these several beds are suitably and methodically arranged, and
above all I place a. galvanised metallic cloth, or perforated sheet or plate, as
bottom, for the purpose of holding the filtering materials. After running
through all the permeable beds just described the water arrives pure and
clear into the channels or chambers G, G, whence it flows into the basins or
reservoirs J fit for use. All the muddy or filthy particles contained in the
water, and which are stopped by the capillary filter, either partly stick
under the said filter D, or fall down in the mud chamber C in the form of
slime; as it is necessary from time to time to take away this slime, the
accumulation of which in the said chamber would become an impediment to
the passage of the water, the discharge_cock. M. at the end of the mud
chamber C can be opened, and the pressure of the upper column will. force off
all the slime, causing it to fall into a basin N and run off through the drain O.
But in order to clean off in the best manner the mud chamber, and to pick
out all the filthy particles sticking either to the under metallic gauze or sheet,
or to the felt, I have contrived a cleaning apparatus composed of a brush K,
as shewn, Figures 2 and 3, placed in the mud chamber; a similar brush is
placed in each one of the mud chambers; they are carried by rollers; the
horsehair, whalebone, or any other pliable material of which they are made
touches the metallic cloth, and in their to-and-fro motion they remove and
take off the particles sticking upon it.. The said brushes are provided with a
cylindrical handle running through a stuffing box intended to prevent the
passage of the liquid when the cleaning off is required; a rod L is screwed
upon the end of the brush handle, and the brush is moved backwards and
forwards several times in the mud chamber C, while the discharge cock M is
open, and a complete cleansing is thus effected.
Figure 8 shews in vortical section a filter of sinaller size, to supersede the
home-filtering fountains used in many large towns in every family; the
outsides of this filter can be of galvanised sheet iron, marble, earthenware,
pottery, or any other impervious material; it is arranged in a similar manner
in regard to the filtering organs, as each compartment of the above described
filter it can be made to contain from 10 to 50 gallons of water, which are
poured as usual into the upper chamber. II; the said water flows down
through the upright pipe I to the mud chamber C; it is filtered.through the

page_text: chamber E, "per ascensio," as before described, and ingresses in the uppe
chamber G, whence it is drawn out through the stop-cock Q. The cleaning
out is performed in the same manner by means of a brush K, after taking of
the stopper N screwed upon the filter to hide the brush's handle. The filters
5 of this last type can be used with a great advantage to feed the large
establishments where the water..flows in a regular and constant manner, as in
the one.shewn, Figures 4 and 5.
Figures 4 and 5 shew in elevation and vertical section a kerbstone fountain;
its internal arrangement is the same as already described, Figure 3; the water
is conveyed within. through the pipe S, which can be stopped when required
by means of a stop-cock. C, mud chamber; D, lower filtering board, com-
posed of a capillary filter included between two wire gauzes; E, space con-
taining: the filtering materials; G, chamber containing the filtered water,
which is drawn off through the stop-cock Q. The water to be filtered flowing
into the upper chamber H runs down through the pipe I into the mud
chamber containing the brush K, for cleaning the filtering plate or surface D,
the brush handle runs through a tubular aperture stopped up by a plug N,
which is unscrewed for the free passage of the handle on which the hand rod L
is screwed up, as before described. A floating piece V' regulates the outflow
of water into the chamber H, by opening or stopping the stop-cock R' at the
end of the ascending pipe R. The small tube T, which is jointed through a
tubular aperture to the descension pipe I, is for aerating the water, and a small
safety. tube a, b, is for establishing a communication between the chamber of
filtered water G and the outside, so as to let the air escape when the said
chamber is getting filled with water. I will observe that the pipe I conveying
the water from the upper chamber H to the mud chamber C could be placed
outside of the filter by joining it compactly with tubular apertures embodied
with the outside of the said chamber.
י די
My system of filter is suited to the requirements of armies in campaign, for
the navy, and special manufactories where great quantities of water are
required:
i Figure 6 shews "a side view of a portable filter, mounted and shaped as an
ammunition waggon; Figure 7 is an end view, in which the filtering
chambers' are shewn in section; the said filter is arranged as those shewn,
Figures 3 and 5. The water to be filtered' is poured in the upper chamber II
by means of a pump or any other suitable means'; it runs down the pipe I
into the mud chamber C, whence the upper pressure of the liquid column
forces it up through the filtering materials at E into the chamber G, whence
it runs into the receiver 'J through a pipe which can be shut when required

page_text: by a stop-cock R. From the receiver J, which is the actual case or bouy or
the waggon, the water is drawn out through the stop-cock Q when required;
a siniilar stop-cock can be fixed on each side of the waggon. The cleaning
out is always effected by means of a brush K placed in the mud chamber,
the handle of this brush being hid by a screw, stopper, or plug N, which when
screwed down prevents the water from running out, whilst when taken off to
suffer the handle L to be screwed upon the brush, tho water runs out through
the space left free, carrying away the obstructive particles, which are
disengaged from the capillary filter by the brush. The receiver J is mounted
upon wheels similarly to a common ammunition waggon, as shewn, with a
seat for the driver; on the top of the receiver J is a small tube provided with a
stop-cock U, which is turned open to let out the air, in order to prevent its com-
pression hindering the free passage of the liquid through the filtering materials.
A very short time is required for cleaning out the filters of small size by ineans
of the brush, as described, but for the filters of large size, which I prefer
making of a round shape; -the cleaning-out-would-be-a-rather difficult job,.
because the brush is so fitted that it can move only in a straightforward and
backward, direction, and of course cannot touch every part of the lower
permeable partition to rub off the adhesive particles, which are a hindrance to
the free passage of the liquid; I have therefore contrived another mode of
actuating the brush, adopting the system shewn, Figures 8 and 9, which
allows an easy and perfect cleaning.
Figure 9 is a vertical section made in the middle of a filtering apparatus of
large size; Figure 8 is a horizontal section made just above the brush; the
said brush J is composed of two parts, which are strongly attached to a
vertical shaft by means of rods and a ring concentric to the shaft, the pipe
conveying the water to be filtered to the mud chamber is in the centre of the
apparatus, the shaft carrying the brushes stretches up above the central pipe,
and this shaft can be actuated by means of a hand crank when the cleaning
out is required.
By reading with care the following description of the Drawing, the
arrangement of the apparatus and the working of the brushes will be easily
understood..
A, pipe conveying the water within the apparatus; B, upper chamber, a
kind of hopper into which is pouring the water conveyed by the pipe A;
on the
C, vertical shaft, which runs, firstly, in a socket bearing a attached
bottom; secondly, in a collar fixed at the top; the brushes J, J, are attached
by means of rods b, b, to the lower part of the shaft; they are made fast by
the ring O; the shaft C is actuated by the hand crank D, to perform the

page_text: cleaning out of the mud chamber; E, waste pipe for keeping a constant level;
F, central column or pipe conveying the water from the upper chamber B to
the lower or mud chamber I under the filtering materials; G, chamber of the
filtered water, where it flows up after running through the filtering and
purifying materials H, H, which are composed as aforesaid of a capillary filter,
or felt, sponges, sand, pieces of gritstones, or pebbles, iron scraps, and
charcoal. When the brushes J, J, are actuated for the cleaning out of the
filter, the stop-cock K is turned open and the foul water runs out through the
pipe I by the pressure of the upper column; M, stop-cock for issue of the
filtered water; N, N, rollers carrying the brushes to help their rotatory
motion on the bottom P of the apparatus; the upper chamber or hopper B is
maintained by the rods Q; the first pervious floor, composed of a piece of felt
betwixt two pieces of wire gauze, is held suspended by means of rods R, tho
otlier intermediate floors, composed merely of felt or thick cloth laid betwixt
the several beds of filtering materials are suspended by the rods S.
As filters of large size, such as the one just described, are intended for
filtering a great quantity of water liable to carry along slime produced by
floods, a preparatory or rough filter can be arranged within the upper chamber
in order to prevent the quick clogging of the main filter, this rough filter
consisting of a tolerably thick bed of sponges fitted betwixt two gratings to
permit their easy removal for cleaning, which can be done very quickly.
By the foregoing description it will be easily understood that the filters of
my Invention can be modified in their shape, size, and arrangements,
according to the requirements or the nature of the liquids to be filtered or
purified without deviating from the principle of my Invention; they are
especially intended for filtering water, but they can also be advantageously
applied to filtering wines and spirits, and no-doubt they would be fit also for
filtering liquids of siropy and oily nature.
The several kinds of filters herein-before described are all composed
according to the principle of my Invention; there exists in all of them the
same arrangement of the parts, the same filtering and purifying materials,
and the same mode of action, that is to say, pressure operated by the liquid
contained in an upper chamber, which forces the lower liquid to run per
ascensio" through the filtering materials, the effect being to produce a constant
supply of clear and pure water, which water may flow out as fast as it is
poured in; there is also in all of them the same easy and quick process for
cleaning by means of a brush the pervious lower floor of the filter when it is
clogged up by mud, slime, or any heterogeneous particles.
All the filters before described are by their form, size, or peculiar arrange-

page_text: ment, appropriate to the several requirements and duties for which they are
designated; in. short, I claim as of my Invention the herein-before. describedl
arrangement and combination of apparatuses for filtering and purifying liquids,
and I wish it to be well understood that I do not confine or restrict. myself to
the precise details which have been herein. described or referred to, so long as
I do not deviate from the main feature of the said Invention, namely, pressure
operated by the liquid contained in an. upper.chamber, which forces the lower
liquid to ascend through the!filtering' materials, but in its application I reserve
the right of making such modifications as may be necessitated by the nature
of the liquid or any other requirements, either for domestic, public, military,
or industrial purposes, employing in my filters a capillary filter or felt
inserted between metallic plates or wire gauze, and above: the said capillary
filter several. beds, one above the other, of sponges prepared with iodine,
fragments of gritstone, sand, iron scraps, and charcoal, 'the bottoms over which
the filtering materials are laid being either galvanised wire gauze or perforated
sheet iron, or else. perforated enameled earthenware or pottery, the said
materials or filtering organs being suitably and methodically arranged in
chambers composed of. impervious sheets or plates either of 'galvanised
metal, enameled earthenware, or pottery, the whole substantially as before
described.
: t
In witness' whereof, I, the said Jean François Rivier, have hereunto
set my hand 'and seal, this Twelfth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Signed and sealed in the
presence of
L. D'AUBREVILLE, C.E.
RIVIER. (L.S.)