CERTAIN MEANS OF SEPARATING INSOLUBLE SUBSTANCES FROM FLUIDS IN WHICH THE SAME ARE SUSPENDED
Year: 1814

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
CHARLES HOWARD, of Nottingham Place, in the Parish of St. Mary-le-bone, in
County of Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS I, the said Edward Charles Howard, did by my petition
humbly represent to His present most Excellent Majesty that I had, after
much study and labour, found out and invented "CERTAIN MEANS OF SEPARATING
INSOLUBLE SUBSTANCES FROM FLUIDS IN WHICH THE SAME ARE SUSPENDED," which
I conceived would be of great public utility, that in regard I was the first and
true Inventor thereof, and that the same had not been practised by any other
person or persons to the best of my knowledge and belief, I humbly prayed
His said Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
His Royal Letters Patent under His Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland for the sole use, benefit, and advantage of my said
Invention within that part of His said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland called England, His Dominion of Wales, and Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all His Colonies and Plantations abroad, for the
term of fourteen years, pursuant to the Statute in that case made and pro-
vided; and His said Majesty, being willing to give encouragement to all arts
and inventions that might be for the public good, was graciously pleased to
condescend to my request, and thereof, by His Royal Letters Patent, bearing
date at Westminster, the Fourth day of August, in the fifty-fourth year of His
reign, of His especial grace, certain knowledge, and meer motion, did, for Him.

page_text: self, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Edward Charles
Howard, my executors, administrators, and assigns, His especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Edward Charles Howard,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, by myself or
themselves, and such other persons as I, the said Edward Charles Howard, my
executors, administrators, or assigns, should agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend my said
Invention, within that part of His said Majesty's said United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, His Dominion of Wales, and
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and all His Colonies and Plantations abroad,
in such manner as to me, the said Edward Charles Howard, my executors,
adiñiors, and assigns, or any of them, should in my or their discretion seem
meet, and that I, the said Edward Charles Howard, my executors, administra-
tors, or assigns, should and lawfully might have and enjoy the whole profits,
benefits, and advantage from time to time coming, growing, accruing, and
arising by reason of my said Invention for and during the term of years therein
mentioned; to have, hold, exercise, and enjoy the said licence, powers, privileges,
and advantages therein-before granted or mentioned to be granted unto me, the
said Edward Charles Howard, my executors, adñiors, and assigns, for and
during and unto the full end and term of fourteen years from the date of the
said Letters Patent next and immediately ensuing, according to the Statute in
such case made and provided; in which said Letters Patent is contained a pro-
viso, that if I, the said Edward Charles Howard, should not particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and
all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, should utterly cease,
determine, and become void, as in and by the said Letters Patent, relation
being thereunto had, may more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Charles Howard, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described in manner following (that is to say) :-
In the Drawing hereunto annexed, the same numerical and alphabetical
characters or letters do everywhere denote the same things respectively; and
Fig. 1 in two outlines shews, by section, a vessel wherein the said fluid in which

page_text: insoluble substances are or may be suspended, is to be put. The inner circle
b, b, Fig. 1, plan, denotes a pipe, having many small perforations through the
sides thereof, and of such length that the upper end thereof shall exend above
the fluid contained in the vessel f. g, and the lower end shall pass through and
be properly, but not immoveably fixed in the bottom of the vessel at p, p, as is
more fully shewn in Fig. 1, section. The space between the circles c, c, and
d, d, is occupied by a float, which environs the pipe aforesaid; and the same,
having openings at o, o, and being at liberty to rise and fall along with the
fluid, does admit the said fluid through the said openings into the pipe b, b;
and in order that the said fluid may pass wholly or for the most part a
little below the surface of the fluid, through the said openings, a tubular bag,
kept distended by rings r, r, r, r, r, r, is fastened to the float at top, and to the
vessel or the pipe at bottom p, p; and farther, the letters e, e, represent a pipe
or cage, or other similar contrivance, for preventing the access of coarse im-
purities from arriving at o, o; the pipe b, b, terminates below at h, where there
is an opening for occasionally drawing off the contents of the vessel; but in the
act or process of separation of insoluble substances, the fluid is allowed to pass
through the side pipe and cock i, through l, into the receptacle or filter,
Fig. 2, with more or less of velocity, as the said cock may be more or less open;
and the said velocity is ascertained or practically estimated by means of the
stand pipe k, k, which has communication with l, and shews the elevation of
the column of pressure by the float m, and a small counterweight n attached to
a line or cord passing over a pully, which serves as an index. The filter, Fig. 2,
is closed on all sides excepting at the cocks x, y, and z, of which a suffers the
escape of included air, and shews when the filter is filled, and is thereby in the
best state for working or beginning to draw off at the cock y, which draws off
the fluid after filtration with a velocity which is greater the greater the pres-
sure may be, as indicated by the float m. Fig. 3 shews the construction of the
filter, the externl part which is a strong case, box, or vessel, contains a large or
considerable number of filtering frames, which are represented by an end section
in Fig. 8, Numbers 9 and 10; and in Figures 3, 4, No. 14, and in part of the
full size by an horizontal section in Fig. 6, where the forms are varied; the
external lines in Fig. 8 and the dotted lines in Fig. 6 indicate a covering of
linen, cotton, woollen, leather, silk, or other flexible material, permeable or
made permeable to fluids, and closed at the edge or side 9, and at the two
other adjacent sides of the frames, but attached to the fourth edge or side at
10 by lacing or otherwise, and covered compleatly round the flat side or
border 28 (but not the edge) with list or other elastic coating. The interior
lines shew, by a section, the frame or platform upon which the covering of

page_text: flexible material is supported, and the said frame or platform is constructed in
such manner as to render the parts which support the surface of the said
flexible and permeable material as small as possible; and the said frame is also
perforated in such directions, 29, or left open in parts, as to allow any fluid
which shall or may pass into the said framed structure to flow freely down-
wards and out from the lower part of the same. Fig. 3 shews the filter with
a due charge or quantity of frames; Fig. 4 shews the manner and method of
putting the said frames in their places when numerous; Fig. 5 is a piece or
implement consisting of a small number of battens; 26, 26, 26, 26, and 27
is a shallow upright ledge, covered with list or other elastic coating, and the
said piece or implement serves to support a number or set of the filtering
frames; and the sides and end of the receptacle or filtering vessel being cloathed
or cushioned at and round the lower part 31 of the interior surface with list
or other elastic material so as to fit the filtering frames, it follows, that when
a number of the said frames is strongly compressed together, the communication
between the spaces left between frame and frame, and above the said frames,
and between the space which shall or may be left below the said frames, will
be intercepted and cut off, excepting so far as such communication shall or
may continue to take place through the said covering or coverings of flexible
and permeable material, or the pores thereof. In Fig. 2, the pipe / delivers
the turbid liquor or fluid into the space first above mentioned, and the cock y
delivers the fluid after percolation through the filter, by which the said fluid is
rendered clear in consequence of the separation of the insoluble substances,
and the said substances are retained and preserved upon the filter or covering
of the frames, and the cock communicates with the space so appropriated for
turbid liquor, and is used occasionally for drawing off the same. Fig 4 shews
the method of forcing the frames by sets of about ten at a time to their due
situation by strong pressure. 23 is a strong board, having the face thereof
nearly as long as the width of the filtering frame, and provided with a metallic
rack of ratchet teeth 20; 22 is a claw piece or bar, resting by one of its
notches 20, 18, 21, upon the fulcrum in the lever bar 17, 19, which is hooked
upon the hinge pin 19 and revolves thereon. At 17 is an adjustable con-
nection between the upper end of the lever 17 and the extremity of one of the
coupling bars of another lever, as seen at 13, a, in Fig. 7. It is manifest that
by drawing home the lever 16, a, an immense pressure will be gained, and the
frames will be thereby pressed home and made securely tight below; and so
suon as the last set of frames is nearly in its place, clothed wedges are driven
in at the corners, where it would be inconvenient to make the clothing or
cushion of the receptacle as aforesaid sufficiently full, because the shutting of

page_text: the door might be thereby impeded, and the door or fourth side of the said
filter is drawn home. 12, Fig. 3; represents one of the lower hinges of the
door, which last may be hooked on or taken off as required; 12, 12, represent
the connection between the lower hinges and the upper hinges or closing
hooks, and the said hooks are seen in Fig. 7, as drawn up or to be drawn up by
the levers 16, 16, 16, and when the whole are so drawn up, the door may con-
veniently.be secured by locking the said levers fast in their respective places,
and, if need be, made more secure by the wedges 32. The method which I
commonly use by preference for clearing and washing the said filtering frames
and the coverings thereof is shewn in Fig. 8, where 24 represents a box, having.
a chamfered opening at top, wherein the frame 9, 10, may be put, and the
lower or listed part will stick tightly therein; and 25 is a cock, which affords
steam for the purpose of blowing out the cloth, or cleaning the filtering
material, whereby it becomes more easy to scrape, and to preserve when required
the insoluble substance adherent thereto, and part of the steam becoming
condensed does serve to wash and more effectually to clean the said cloth or
material, and to facilitate the use of a scraper or brush; 30 denotes a plug to
draw off the condensed steam. And I do farther declare that my said Inven-
tion doth consist of a method of filtering, by exhibiting within a very moderate
space a very large surface of flexible material, and that the practice thereof
is seen in the machinery or apparatus, and in the said annexed Drawings
herein described and shewn, and subject to be varied according to the
several exigencies attendant on the use and application thereof, and in the
manipulations expressly set forth or clearly indicated as constituting that use
and application, and that with regard to the nature and description of the
flexible and permeable material to be used, or the addition of various sub-
stances to close or obstruct the pores thereof, or the apportionment of
temperature and agitation or repose, together with sundry other particulars in
the art of percolation, the same are well known, and cannot be better set
forth than by reference to the experience of any operator of competent skill in
works of this or the like description.
Signed, sealed, and delivered (being
first duly stamped), in the pre-
sence of
H. HEWLINGS, Chancery Public Office.
(L.S.)
VAKD.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the First day of December, in
the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Edward Charles Howard came
before our Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same First day of December, in the year above written.