A Method of Sorting Minerals or other Bodies and Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Oct., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 29th July, 1889-Accepted, 31st Aug., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Method of Sorting Minerals or other Bodies and Apparatus
therefor.
I, GEORGE KILGOUR, M.I.C.E. Civil Engineer, 2 Victoria Mansions, Victoria Street,
Westminster do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
:-
This invention is founded on that described in my Provisional Specification
No. 63488. In place of employing a vessel with a revolving bed or bottom and
containing a body of fluid comparatively at rest; I now employ a vessel with a
stationary bottom and a stationary spiral upon it and the body of fluid I put into
rotary motion by means of a stirrer with vanes, spiral wall radial arms or other means.
The result is a circulation of the fluid.
The minerals particles or other bodies to be sorted according to specific gravity or
according to mass are introduced into the fluid near the circumference of the vessel
and sink more or less rapidly, the lighter particles are carried to the centre where
they fall through an aperture provided for the purpose.
Dated this 27th day of October 1888
CARPMAEL & Co.,
Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION:
A Method of Sorting Minerals or other Bodies and Apparatus
therefor.
I GEORGE KILGOUR, M.I.C.E. Civil Engineer, 2 Victoria Mansions, Victoria
Street, Westminster do hereby declare the nature of this 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 is founded on that described in the Specification of a former
Patent granted to me No. 6348 in the year 1888. In place of employing a vessel
with a revolving bed or bottom and containing a body of fluid comparatively at rest,
I now employ a vessel with a stationary bottom and a stationary spiral upon it, and
the body of fluid I put into rotary motion by means of a stirrer with vanes, spiral
wall, radial arms or other means. The result is a circulation of the fluid.
The minerals particles or other bodies to be sorted according to specific gravity
or according to mass are introduced into the fluid near the circumference of the
vessel and sink more or less rapidly, the lighter particles are carried to the centre
where they fall through an aperture provided for the purpose.
The drawing annexed shows a vertical section of apparatus, constructed as above
described.
A is a circular tank. B a fixed horizontal disc having on its upper surface a
spiral channel C. Da vertical spindle mounted in bearings which are situated
centrally above the top of the tank. E are horizontal blades extending radially
from the spindle just above the top of the spiral channel C. G is a shoot also
carried by the spindle by which the crushed ore to be operated on may be fed on
to the outer portion of the disc.
B is an opening through the centre of the disc B. When the apparatus is at
work the refuse tailings descend through this opening on to an inclined shoot which
conveys them to the bottom of an endless chain elevator H and by this elevator
they may from time to time or continuously be raised up and discharged from the
tank. is an inclined shoot by which material discharged from the outer circum-
ference of the disc is conveyed to another side of the tank or vessel. M is a scraper
D

page_text: carried by one of the radial blades E. It is free to slide along the arm and can be
lowered to make it descend into the spiral channel C. If it be lowered into the inner
end of the channel and the axis B is revolved in a direction to carry the scraper in a
direction towards the outer extremity of the channel the deposit in the channel will
be discharged from the outer circumference of the disc. Or other means might be
adopted for removing deposit from the channel.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein described method of sorting or dressing mineral or other bodies
consisting in supplying the body in a pulverised state on to a spiral channel immersed
in fluid made to revoive above the top of the spiral channel concentrically or
approximately so with its centre in such a direction that the matters of least specific
gravity will be carried along the channel and discharged at its inner end through a
central hole, whilst the heavier matters will remain at rest on the bottom of the
channel.
2. The construction of the tank, the fixed horizontal spiral channel immersed in
fluid contained in the tank, means for causing the fluid in the tank to revolve around
the centre of the spiral channel or approximately so and for supplying material in a
pulverized state on to the channel near its outer extremity and opening at the centre
of the spiral channel for the discharge of the lighter matters.
3. The construction of apparatus for sorting or dressing ores substantially as herein-
before described.
GEORGE KILGOUR.