Portable Gold - Washer Page: 2 of 3
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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.
FELIX KAHN, OF LAREDO, TEXAS.
PORTABLE GOLD-WASHER.
SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 594,255, dated November 23, 1897.
Application filed April 15, 1897. Serial No, 632,215, (No model.)To all whom it 77nCay concern'-
Be it known that I, FELIX KAHN, of La-
redo, in the county of Webb and State of
Texas, have invented a new and Improved
5 Portable Gold-Washer, of which the following
is a specification.
It is the object of my invention to provide
an improved substitute for the crude forms of
portable gold-washing apparatus frequently
to employed, more especially such as are adapted
for rotary or oscillatory motion by hand and
from which earth, gravel, stones, or other ma-
terial of less specific gravity than gold or gold
ore are thrown or washed out by the effect of
15 centrifugal action and thus separated from
the gold, which remains in the bottom of the
washer.
I employ two rotatable basins of conical or
hemispherical form, which are mounted one
20 above the other on a rotary spindle or shaft
held in suitable bearings in a small tank or
receptacle. Means are provided for break-
ing up clods and stirring the pulverized ore
as the basins rotate, and also for discharging
25 the liquid contents of the tank as occasion re-
quires. The basins, spindle, and connected
parts are adapted to be easily removed from
the water-tank in which they are contained
when in use. Mercury may be placed in the
30 basins to amalgamate the free gold.
The invention is applicable not only for
separating foreign matter from free gold, but
also pulverized ores of different densities. It
is particularly adapted for use by prospectors
33 and in laboratory work.
In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is
a side view of my improved apparatus. Fig.
2 is a vertical central section of the appara-
tus. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line 3 3
40 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the
upper basin or cup. Fig. 5 is an enlarged de-
tail section of a side portion of such basin.
The sheet-metal tank or receptacle 1 is an
oblong cylinder open at the top Within it
45 are arranged the two hemispherical basins or
enlarged cups 2 3, which are arranged one
above the other on a spindle or shaft 4, set
vertically in the center of tank 1. The pointed
lower end of said spindle is stepped in a bear-
50 ing 5 and the upper end is journaled in a
transverse bar 6, whose ends are fitted detach-
ably between ears or studs 7, projectingver-tically from the rim of the tank at diamet-
rically opposite points.
The means shown for rotating the spindle 55
4 and the attached basins or cups 2 3 is a
crank 8, consisting of a bar having a vertical
handle 9 and which is removably fastened on
the reduced and screw-threaded upper end of
the spindle. I do not, however, propose to 6o
restrict myself to this means of rotation, but
to utilize any other which may be preferred.
It will be noted that the upper basin or cup
2 is smaller-i. e., has less diameter-than the
lower one, 3, so that water and solid matters 65
thrown out of it may fall into the lower one.
As shown in Fig. 2, I provide each basin
with a device 11 for rocking and stirring the
contents of the same, as well as breaking up
compacted masses of sand, mud, or other soil 70
that may be thrown into the basin. The rake
11 is formed of a series of stout wires or small
rods depending from a transverse bar 12 and
curved to conform to the general contour of
the basins. The ends of the rake-support- 75
ing bars 12 are held detachably in socket 13,
attached to opposite sides of the tank 1.
The upper basin 2 is provided with an es-
cape or discharge pipe 14, whose enlarged or
funnel-shaped mouth proper, 14', is on the in- 8o
ner side of the basin near the top of the same,
and its discharge end (see Fig. 4) located be-
neath the bottom of the basin contiguous to
spindle 4. The mouth 14' of said pipe ex-
tends horizontally and parallel to the side of 85
the basin from an opening 15 (see Fig. 5) in
the side of the latter. The pipe proper, 14,
communicates with said opening 15 and ex-
tends past the same and is provided with a
second mouth 16, exterior to the basin 2, for 90
the purpose of admitting water, which, as the
basin 2 rotates, becomes a current of consid-
erable force.
Gold-bearing sands or quartz to be treated
in this apparatus should be finely crushed or 95
pulverized and sifted thoroughly in order to
render the product as uniform as practicable.
The product is deposited in the upper basin
2 and the tank nearly filled with water. Then,
the basins being rotated about sixty revolu- 1oo
tions a minute, the lighter particles of the pul-
verized mass are carried upward and outward
by centrifugal action and enter the mouth 14'
of pipe 14 and pass down into the larger lower
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Kahn, Felix. Portable Gold - Washer, patent, November 23, 1897; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth514596/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.