IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAC- TURE OF COMMON SALT, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THIS MANU- FACTURE'
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Ransford, of 47, Buckingham Place, Brighton, in
the County of Sussex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAC-
TURE OF COMMON SALT, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THIS MANU-
FACTURE'
"
Sealed the 5th November 1878, and dated the 29th May 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Ransford at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th May 1878.
HENRY RANSFORD, of 47, Buckingham Place, Brighton, in the County of Sussex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COMMON SALT, AND IN THE APPA-
RATUS EMPLOYED IN THIS MANUFACTURE"
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of common
salt, and in the apparatus employed in this manufacture.
In the manufacture of salt it is usual to evaporite brine in shallow oblong pans
of large area heated by fires beneath, the salt as it falls is raked out of the pan.
According to my Invention, I place over these pans other pans or evaporators
which cover them, with the exception of a strip of sufficient width to admit of the
salt being raked out. The under side of the upper pan or evaporator is of a V or
roof-like form, inclined so that the moisture which condenses on it may not drip
back into the pan beneath, but trickle down to the bottom of the incline, where a
gutter is placed to receive and convey it away.
For the purpose of raking the salt out of the pans, I employ rakes or scrapers
similar to those at present in use, except that I connect the blade and the handle
of the scraper by a joint which permits the blade to fold down and ride easily over
the salt on the bottom of the pan when the workman thrusts the rake from him,
but as the rake is drawn back the blade takes such a position that it scrapes the
salt along the bottom of the pan in the same way as with a rake having the
ordinary fixed blade.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henry Ransford in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th November
1878.
HENRY RANSFORD, of 47, Buckingham Place, Brighton, in the County of Sussex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COMMON SALT, AND IN THE APPA-
RATUS EMPLOYED IN THIS MANUFACTURE.'
The first part of my Invention relates to means of and apparatus for economising
fuel in the manufacture of salt:
I evaporate the brine as heretofore in shallow oblong pans of large area, heated
by fires beneath. Over thèse pans I mount other pans or heaters in such a manner
as not to interfere with raking out the salt from the lower pan, but yet so that the
steam rising from the lower pans may play upon the bottom of the upper pans, and
impart heat to them. I confine the steam beneath the upper pan or heater by
curtains hung around its edges, and descending nearly to the surface of the brine in
the lower pan. These curtains whilst effectually confining the steam, are easily put
aside by the rake used to draw out the salt.
The bottoms of the upper pans or heaters are inclined so that the water resulting
from the condensation of steam upon them, does not return to the lower pan, but
trickles down and finds its way into gutters provided for its reception, and so is
conveyed away:
The annexed Drawing; Figure 1, shows a vertical transverse section of the
arrangement which I prefer to employ: á is the lower pan; it is such as is com-
monly used for evaporating brine for the production of common salt. This pan
may be of any convenient dimensions, say, for example, sixty feet long, twenty-four
feet broad, and one foot deep. The pan is heated by fires, ordinarily three in
number, beneath one end of it, and the flues from the fires pass beneath the pan to
the other end, where they communicate with a chimney. b, b, are the upper pans
or heaters which I mount over the pan a; they are V form in section. I support
them in any convenient manner, as by beams laid across and resting upon the
platforms on either side of the pan a. Or the pans or heaters b, b, may be
suspended from the roof of the building. The bottoms of the pans or heaters b, b,
are inclined as the Drawing indicates, so that the water condensing upon them
trickles down to the lowest part, and drips off into the gutter c, with which each
pan 6 is provided. The bottoms of the pans or heaters b, b, should be so made as to
offer no unevenness from which the water may drop back into the pan a, and con-
sequently the rivets used in its construction should be finished off flush with the
surface of the plate, the rivet holes in the plates being countersunk. The cold
brine to feed the pans should be introduced at the ends of the pans or vessels b, b,
farthest from the fires, and the heated brine should be drawn off from these at the
opposite ends by suitable channels, and conducted back to the cooler end of the pan
The whole of the surface of the lower pan a may, if desired, be covered by the
upper pans or heaters b, leaving only sufficient free space to allow the salt to be
raked out conveniently, but it is at the hot end of the pan à, where the brine is
boiling or is nearly at the boiling point, that the upper pans will perform the most
efficient duty. d, d, are curtains of woven fabric attached around the edges of the
pans or heaters b, and hanging down nearly to the surface of the brine in the pan a.
They serve to confine the steam without in any way interfering with the operation
of raking out the salt, for they yield freely when the rake touches them.
a.
Another part of my Invention relates to an improved rake for removing the salt
from the pan.
For the purpose of raking the salt out of the pans, I employ rakes or scrapers
similar to those at present in use, except that I connect the blade and the handle
of the scraper by a joint which permits the blade to fold down and ride easily over
the salt on the bottom of the pan when the workman thrusts the rake from him,

page_text: but as the rake is drawn back, the blade takes such a position that it scrapes the
salt along the bottom of the pan in the same way as with a rake having the
ordinary fixed blade.
Figure 2 is a plan, and Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of my improved rake.
A is a handle consisting of a stout stick fitted into a socket in the forked frame B,
to which in turn the horizontal bar or axis C is firmly fixed. D, D, are arms
mounted upon the axis C and free to turn upon it, but the angle through which
they can move is limited by stops. E is a scraping iron fixed upon the arms D, D.
Thus it will be seen that in the use of this rake, as the workman pushes it away
from himself, the scraping iron resting upon the bottom of the pan will assume an
inclined position, the arms D, D, folding inwards. In this position, the rake will
pass over the bottom of the pan without much disturbing the salt lying upon it.
But when the workman, having thrust out the rake to the full distance, commences
to draw it back, the scraping iron assumes the position in which it is represented
in the Drawing, and the salt is drawn in towards the side of the pan, just as when
a rake with a fixed scraping iron is employed as is now the practice.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I claim,-
-
First. The combination as herein described with open pans a of other pans or
heaters b, b, in such manner as not to interfere with raking of the salt from the
pans a, but that the steam may condense beneath the pans or heaters b, thereby
heating the brine which they contain, whilst the water resulting from the conden-
sation of the steam is intercepted and conveyed away.
Second. The construction of salt rakes with folding blades, substantially a8
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Ransford, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-third day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
HENRY RANSFORD. (L.S.)