US732149A - Gold-separator. - Google Patents

Description

UNirED STATES Patented June 30, 1903. A

PATENT OFFICE.

GOLD-SEPARATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,149,-dated June 30, 1903.

ll Application filed May 17, 1902. $erial No. 107,753. (1% model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN WESTHA- VER, a subject of the King of Great Britain,

residing at Mahone Bay, in the Province of Nova Scotia and Dominion of Oanada,have invented new and useful Improvements in Gold- Separators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for separating gold from auriferous earth or gravel; and it consists in a peculiar separator, which, while simple and compact in construction, is possessed of large capacity, is calculated to save every particle of gold, and is especially efficient in separating fine and flaky gold from dirt and gravel and saving the same.

The invention will be fully understood from the following description and claim when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a longitudinal central section of an apparatus comprising my improved separator; Fig. 2, a plan view of the same; Figs. 3 and 4, transverse sections taken in the planes indicated by the broken lines 3 3 and 44, respectively, extending through Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 5, an enlarged detail perspective view illustrative of the peculiar and advantageous riftle-bars of the separator, and Fig. 6, a detail longitudinal section of a riiflebar section cast of metal.

Referring by letter to said drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 5 thereof, A is a dump-box in which the gold-bearing dirt or gravel is placed, and B my improved separator. In the present and preferred embodiment of my invention the separator comprises a sluice-box or. chute a, the upper end of the bottom of which is disposed below the lower end of the dump-box in order to make the upper sides of the rifile-bars' and plainsurface sections, presently described, flush with the bottom of the dump-box, plain-surface sections b, and riftle-bar sections 0, arranged alternately and removably on the bottom of the chute or sluice-box, side retainingstrips cl, bearing on the bottom of thedumpbox and on the bed-plates e of the riffie-bar sections at opposite ends of the riffle-bars, Fig. 3, and also in rabbets f of the plain-surface sections, and pins 9 for removably securing the retaining-strips, and consequently the plain-surface and riffle-bar sections, in their proper operative positions. The disposition of the upper sides of the plain-surface sections and rifile-bars flush with the bottom of the dump-box and the described arrangement of retaining-strips (1 leaves the surface of the separator clear and free for the passage over it of gravel, which is essential to the proper operation of the separator. When it is desired to clean up the separator, the pins 9 and strips 01 are removed and the riffle-bar sections 0 are taken from the sluicebox, and their collected. cleanings are dis charged into a receptacle, after which the said sections 0 are replaced and secured in the sluice-box, and the cleanings are panned out in the usual well-known manner.

The plain-surface sections 17 and riffle-bar sections 0 are preferably of hard wood, and

the outer sides of the riffle-bars are covered with sheet metal h in order to prevent wear thereof. Said sections 1) a may, however, be formed partly or entirely of metal, in which event the strips d and pins 9 will be unnecessary, since the sections being heavy will of themselves remain in proper position in the chute or sluice-box. It will also be noted that when the sections a are made entirely of metal the necessity of covering the outer sides of the riifle-bars with sheet metal is obviated. A riffie-bar section of cast metal is shown in Fig. 6.

In the practical operation of the apparatus gold-bearing earth and gravel are placed in the dump-box A and carried by a current of water through the separator-i. 6., over the riffle-bar sections and plain-surface sections thereof. Incident to such passage of the water and auriferous earth or gravel gold will.

be caught and held in the riffles 0 between the riffle-bars D of the first section 0, and if any fine particles of gold remain in the gravel after passing said first section the adjacent plain-surface section b will act as a concen- BlflliOf-t. (3., will permit the gravel to pass smoothly over itwith the result that the gold will settle down on saidplain-surface section and'on arriving at the next riffle-bar section will be caught and held in the riffles 0 thereof. From this point the operation described is repeated until the gravel passes from the discharge end of the chute or sluice-box as waste tailings.

As will be readily observed by reference to Figs. 1 and 6, the parallel transversely-disposed riffle-bars D of the sections are of peculiar form in cross-sectiou-that is to say, they have their upper sides 1', which are presented to and face the current of water disposed at an angle of thirty degrees from the perpendicular, while their lower or opposite sidesj are inclined in the same direction, but

at an angle of forty degrees from the perpendicnlar. By virtue of this formation of the riffle-bars it will be observed that the intervening riffles O are wider at the top than at the bottom; also, that the riffle-bars will cause a reflux of water in the riffles G, which will eject stones and gravel through the wide upper portions of the riffles and at the same time keep the sand and gravel in the riffles in constant and lively agitation. This agitation enables the gold to sink through the sand to the lower portions of the riffles O, which, being of acute-angle form in cross-section, are calculated to retain the gold. The freedom with which stones and large gravel may be forced by the reflux of the water through the wide upper portions of the riffles O effectually prevents such stones or gravel from collecting in the separator and offering an obstruction to the incoming pulp and water. The riffles, shaped as shown in cross-section,cause reflux of the water and enable the same to eject gravel and small stones from the riffles and keep the sand and gravel in the riffies in constant and lively agitation or motion, thereby permitting the gold by reason of its superior specific gravity to settle through the sand to the bottoms of the riffles and there remain. Said riffles C are by preference about fiveeighths (it?) of an inch wide at the top and foureighths (a) of an inch wide at the bottom, this in order to assist the reflux action in ejecting small stones and gravel and keeping the remaining gravel and sand in motion. Moreover, the riffles of the peculiar form and size stated arewide enough to permit fine gold and nuggets to drop therein, but notwide enough to admit stones too large for the refiux action to eject. The plain-surface sections act as concentrators-4'. e., concentrate the gold down on their smooth surfaces,where the motion of the water is less than on top, so the gold passes slowly along, and hence drops into the first riffle it reaches. The arrangement of the surfaces of the plain-surface sections and the riffle-bar sections in the same plane and level is advantageous, because no obstruction is offered to the free and easy passage of stones and gravel over the surfaces and out at the end of the sluiceboX as waste tailings. In constructing the riffle-sections the exact width of the rifflebars is immaterial. It made of wood,the riffle-bars should be about half an inch wide, and consequently five-eighths of an inch wide at the bottom, to form the proper bevels and to afford sufficient substance for securely nailing them to the bed-plates and for ironplating on top. If the riffle-bar'sections are made of iron, then the riffle-bars may be oneeighth g) of an inch wide on top, and consequently two-eighths of an inch wide at the bottom, to form the proper bevels, as before, and to obviate great weight. Said riffie-bars are integral with a bed-plate oneeighth (g) of an inch thick, as shown in Fig. 6. The plain-surface sections are preferably of wood for the sake of lightness and are plated with boiler-plate.

For ordinary hand-workings the dump-box and sluice-box are each made about one foot wide and for larger operations wider in proportion. sluice-box are both placed in the same plane with a minimum grade or pitch of one-half inch or a maximum grade of three-quarters of an inch to a foot, according to the rapidity of the working desired and the judgment of the practical miner.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that my separator is very simple and light and susceptible of being conveniently carried 'from place to place and set up and operated;

also, that the separator is efiectual in operation and saves every particle of gold.

I have entered into a detailed description of the construction and relative arrangement of parts embraced in the present and preferred embodiment of my invention in order to impart a full, clear, and exact understanding of the same. I do not desire, however, to be understood as confining myself to such specific construction and arrangement of parts, as such changes or modifications may be made in practice as fairly fall within the scope of my claim.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is v The separator described comprising the dump-box A, the chute or sluice-box, removable, plain-surface sections arranged in the chute or sluice-box, and having rabbets f, removable riffle-bar sections arranged in the chute or sluice box, alternately with the plainsurface sections, and flush with said plainsurface section and the bottom of the dumpbox; said riffle-bar sections each havingabedplate, and parallel, transverse riffle-bars, the upper and lower sides of which are straight, and also having riffles, between the bars, the bottoms of which riffles are straight and parallel to the surfaces of the riffle-bars, the upper and lower sides of the bars being inclined in a common direction from the riffle-bottoms, the upper sides in a less degree than the lower sides, whereby spaces of acute-angle shape are formed between the rifile-bottoms and the upper sides of the riffle-bars to retain gold, and the riffles are rendered wider at the top than at the bottom to permit of the In operation the dump-box and free escape of pebbles and the iike, retainmy hand in presence of two subscribing witing-strips bearing on the bottom of the dumpnesses. box, in the rabbets of the plain-surface sections and on the riffle-bar sections at the ends I BENJAMIN WESTHAVER' 5 of the riflie-bars, and pins removably seour- Witnesses:

ing said strips in the chute or sluice-box. HENRY (J. HALL,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set ELLIOTT J. HEWLINGS.

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