IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING SUBSTANCES OF DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITIES, ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO THE SEPARATION OF METALS, ORES, OR PRECIOUS PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Heatherington, of Fleet Street, in the
I
City of London, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING SUBSTANCES OF DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITIES,
ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO THE SEPARATION OF METALS, ORES, OR PRECIOUS
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Heatherington
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd October 1873.
I, ALEXANDER HEATHERINGTON, of Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention.
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING SUBSTANCES OF DIFFERENT
SPECIFIC GRAVITIES, ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO THE SEPARATION OF METALS, ORES,
OR PRECIOUS STONES FROM EARTH OR OTHER IMPURITIES," to be as follows:-.
My Invention relates to apparatus used for the purpose of separating
aubatanans of different anasific osition bre manne of washing thism

page_text: stream of water after they have been crushed or otherwise reduced to
fragments of a uniform or nearly uniform size. It has for its objects a
greater economy in the space occupied, compared with such apparatus
as ordinarily constructed and used; also greater facility for securing its
contents from being tampered with or stolen whilst in the apparatus;
also greater simplicity of construction and a more complete mechanical
separation or concentration of the substances operated upon than in such
apparatus as heretofore constructed and used.
My improved apparatus consists of a chest or case preferably rectan-
gular, and constructed of wood or other suitable material, and of any
required dimensions, and closed at its sides, ends, and top by doors,
which can be safely and securely locked and fastened when required.
Within this chest I arrange a series of inclined planes running from end
to end of the chest and horizontal transversely, but inclined at a suitable
angle (which may be made variable if required) in side view. These
inclined planes are made to slope alternately in opposite directions, so
that water (or other fluid) admitted upon the higher end of the topmost
will flow down it to its lower end, whence it will fall either through a
suitable opening across it or through a space left between its end and
the end of the box upon the higher end of the next inclined plane, back
to the lower end of which it will flow in the same manner, then falling
upon the higher end of the third inclined plane, down which it will flow
forward, and so on over as many inclined planes as the chest contains
until it reaches the lower end of the lowest inclined plane, whence it
escapes through a suitable aperture, which may be opened or closed by
a moveable door if required:
The several inclined planes described, or some of them, instead of
being made as continuous planes, may each consist of a series of steps or
overlaps, and may be constructed of wood, or metal, or of wood and
metal, or of any other suitable material, and where advisable the inclined
planes or some of them may be covered with blankets, hides, or other
fibrous material for the purpose of retaining the heavy particles which
settle on them, or with copper plates in cases, where mercury is used, for
the purpose of separating metals by amalgamation, in which case I
prefer to divide the inclined planes by one or more longitudinal vertical
copper plates, reaching from the top to the bottom of the chest, and to
line the sides, ends, top, and bottom of the chest with copper plates
readily removeable:
',

page_text: The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-The substances to be
separated or concentrated, such as earthy matter mixed with gold, silver,
platinum, or other metal or precious stones, or with metallic ores or
other substances heavier than itself, are first "sized" or reduced to
fragments of a uniform or nearly uniform size, and are then admitted,
mingled with a stream of water, through a suitable opening in the chest
to the higher part of the highest inclined plane, whence after passing
over all the inclined planes the mixture escapes at the lower end of the
lowest one.
In its passage the fragments or particles of the heaviest
substances settle and accumulate upon the upper inclined planes, whilst
those of less specific gravity settle upon the lower ones, and the waste
carthy matter runs away and escapes with the water. The heavy frag.
ments may be removed from time to time as they accumulate through
the doors already described in the chest, which are unlocked for the
purpose.
i
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Heatherington in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
HEATHERINGTON, of Fleet Street, in the City of London, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Heatherington, Her
special licence that I, the said Alexander Heatherington, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander
Heatherington, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING SUBSTANCES OF
DIFFERENT SPECIFIC GRAVITIES, ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO THE SEPARATION OF
METAL ORES OR PRECIOUS STONES FROM EARTH OR OTHER IMPURITIES," upon the,

page_text: condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Heatherington,
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 montlis next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Heatherington, 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:-
This Invention, which I term Heatherington's Patent amalgamator
and ore separator, for separating by washing substances of different spe-
cific gravities, is especially applicable to washing metallic gold, silver,
platinum, or metallic ores or precious stones from the earth and matrix
with which they are mixed.
And in order that my said Invention may be known and understood I
will proceed to particularly describe and ascertain the nature thereof,
and in what manner the same may be performed, by referring to the
accompanying Drawings as follows:-

page_text: the lower end, called the tail, does not quite reach the inner face of the
apparatus, but rests upon it by one, two, or more pins, pegs, or bolts,
which fit into spaces or holes cut for the
.
purpose.
i, i, spaces for the overflow of the descending current.

page_text: copper plate; or of wood or metal faced on each side with copper plates.
When used simply as a concentrator this partition is unnecessary.
The method of operating with the apparatus is as follows:-When set
in front of a Stamp's battery or crusher rolls the tailings or crushed
material and water are conducted by means of a short sluice or launder
on to the grating d, d, through which they pass to impinge against the
inclined board f,f, and strain through the fine sieve g, g, dropping them on
to the head of the uppermost sluice or plane h, h, over the end (i, i,) of
which they flow on to the head of the next inclined plane, and so on
until the undermost sluice or plane is reached, which conducts them to
the outlet m, m, where there should be a launder to receive and guide
them to settling pits, or if wholly valueless to some waste heap.
. The inclination of the several planes must depend upon the quantity
of water at disposal, and their number upon the height available and
inclination given.
The greater the frequency of the steps the more thorough will be the
separation. In practice three or four inches will be a good breadth, and
one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch sufficient depth.
The spaces i, i, need not be more than one inch from the tail end of
the sluice to the face of the false end or inner end of the apparatus. The
depth of fall between the tail of one sluice and the head of the next need
not be greater than will admit of ready inspection of the underlying
sluice and removal of plates when required.
The surface of the sluices may be covered with blankets or hides
instead of copper plates when used for saving gold.
When used simply for washing substances of small intrinsic value or
where the contents are never left unguarded, the doors and top may be
dispensed with..
-
The undermost sluice or stay and plate may extend direct to the
aperture m, m, without pins, pegs, screws, or bolts, but if such are used
an outwardly sloping partition of wood or other material should be
placed immediately underneath the tail end of said sluice or stay and
plate across the apparatus to guide the downflow out through m, m, and
prevent its reflux on to the bottom of the apparatus.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I

page_text: hereby declare that I claim the said Invention of improvements in appa-
ratus for separating substances of different specific gravities, especially
applicable to the separation of metal ores or precious stones from earth
or other impurities, as herein-before set forth and described, wherein the
following are important points :-
First. The use of the chest a, b, c, d, e, in combination with all its
parts, substantially as and for the purposes described and shown in the
Drawing.
Secondly. The use of the inclined planes h, h, arranged one above the
other, and consisting of movable or immovable supports for amalga-
mable or amalgamated plates or trays of wood or other suitable material,
which may be lined with amalgamable or amalgamated plates, or of
moveable or immoveable sluices or trays of wood or other material, with
stepped, corrugated, or plain surfaces, and intended to carry amal-
gamable or amalgamated plates when the apparatus is used as an
amalgamator, substantially as and for the purposes described and shewn
in the Drawing.
The use of the partition 9, g, consisting of one or more metal plates,
or of wood or metal lined with an amalgamable surface on one or both
sides, substantially for the purpose described and shewn in the
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Heatherington, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of April,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
Witness,
C. PALMER.
ALEXANDER HEATHERINGTON. (L.S.)