IMPROVEMENTS IN. APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING COAL
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Preston Lumb, of Vauxhall, in the County,
of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN.
APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING COAL."
Sealed the 29th January 1853, and dated the 13th October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Preston Lumb at-
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 13th October 1852.
I, PRESTON LUMB, of Vauxhall, in the County of Surrey, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR CLEANSING COAL" to be as follows:→
My Invention consists in cleansing coal in a particular apparatus,
consisting of an outer cylinder or vessel containing water and an inner
vessel to contain the coal. The inner vessel is provided at bottom with
a grated and perforated plate, and is caused to ascend and descend in
the water contained in the outer vessel by any suitable arrangement of
machinery. The inner vessel is supplied from a shoot adapted to the
purpose, and is so constructed as to enable the contents to be readily
emptied.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Preston Lumb in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
PRESTON LUMB, of Vauxhall, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of October,..in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Preston Lumb, Her special licence
that I, the said Preston Lumb, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as J, the said Preston Lumb, 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 CLEANSING COAL," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Preston Lumb, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 Preston Lumb, 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 thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:
My Invention consists in a counterpoise, apparatus for cleansing
coals by causing them to be alternately forced into and withdrawn from
a trough or other reservoir containing water.
Figure 1, of the Drawing hereunto annexed is a side elevation of

page_text: trunnions
al,
an apparatus constructed according to my Invention. A, is a pillar or
support firmly secured to a base plate B, by the screw and nut C, or by
any other convenient means. "D, D', are reservoirs or washing troughs
fixed to the base plate B, and pillar A, by the flange and bolts E, E!
F, F, are square boxes or receivers, into which the coals to be washed
are placed. G, G, are rods, the lower ends of which are attached to
the four sides of the receivers F, F. These rods unite together at top
in the form of a dome, and are connected through the links H, by
the rods I, I, to the beam K. This beam K, is 'centred upon the
and is made hollow for the purpose herein-after explained!
L, L, are guide rods, which are attached to the sides of the washing
troughs D, D', and are passed through the guides M, M, upon the
sides of the boxes F, F', for the purpose of preserving them in their
perpendicular motion, and for preventing the boxes from coming. in
contact with the sides of the washing troughs. Figure 2, is a section
of one of the boxes F, shewing the manner in which it is formed:
b, b, b, b; are the four sides of the box; the side ', is hinged to the
sides b, b, at d, and is capable of being folded down, 'as indicated by
the dotted lines, for the purpose of emptying the box of the coal after
it has been cleansed. The bottoms of the boxes are, composed of iron
rods or bars e, over which is placed a sheet of wire cloth or perforated
metal f. 9, 9, are bars or rods of metal, which are placed a short
distance above the bars, and on which the coals to be cleansed are
placed. Figure 3, is a cross section of the beam K, made hollow, so as
to allow a ball of metal to traverse from end to end of the beam, and
act as a counterpoise to the boxes F, F, when in or out of the water.
W, W, are rods attached to the two ends of the beam K, terminating
in cross handles Z, Z, for the purpose of working the machine. The
action is as follows: the reservoirs or washing troughs D, D', are
filled with water, and the boxes F, F, charged with the coals to be
cleansed. The beam is set in action by the rods W, and cross handles
Z, whereby a reciprocating motion is communicated to the boxes, and
whereby one of them is alternately driven into and drawn out of the
water. Each successive plunge of the boxes carries down a quantity of
the impurities and small coal from the coal contained on the bars 9, 9,

page_text: on to the wire cloth f, where small coal is again intercepted and dust
allowed to pass through into the reservoir. When the coals have been
sufficiently washed, the box is brought flush with the top edge of the
reservoir, as shewn in Figure 1, and there fixed by means of pins or
other similar contrivances on each side. The hinged side is then let down
and the washed coals raked out, when the box will be ready for being
refilled and the process repeated. The purpose of the ball in the hollow
beam K, is to alternately counterpoise the greater specific gravity of
the box of coals out of the water. In each of the two ends of the beam
is placed a cushion of indian-rubber or other suitable material, which
serves as a buffer to receive the concussion of the ball in its traverse
from end to end of the beam. In the bottom of the washing trough is
placed a plug, so as to draw off the water when unfit for further use.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, I declare that I
claim-
The apparatus herein-before described, and represented in the
Drawings hereunto annexed, for cleansing coal.
In witness whereof, I, the said Preston Lumb, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of April, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.