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The Use of the Electro-magnetic Separator in City Refuse Disposal THE magnetic separator is now largely used in various fields of industry, and is found to be of much efficiency in saving time and labor. It is employed to separate magnetic from non-magnetic material in a mixture of the two. It is of value in handling c03;I, rock, and ore when it is essential that no large pieces of steel or iron should enter the crusher. It is also made use of for removing iron shot from molding sand, for separating brass chips from machine shop turnings, and for separating magnetic ores. This form of separator is also particularly useful in taking out the bits of iron or steel found in all sorts of junk, such as leather goods, rubber and rags, which must be removed before the material is worked over into new products, since if allowed to remain they would deleteriously affect the material or be a source of injury to the machinery. Still another application is the use of the separator in grain elevators, cereal plants and flour mills. Before its installation much damage was caused to mill stones and other apparatus by the fragments of wire found in the grain as a result of the use of modern binders amI reapers. There are various more or 1,less elaborate forms of separators, the simplest being the separator ro'ler. The roller shown in the aecompanying illustration consists of alternate coils and steel disks concentric with the shaft. The eoils are wound on steel spools doweled to the disks, and the disks are in their turn keyed to the ehaft. Each, coil is inclosed and protected by a cylindrical brass coil shield having a tight fit on each, of the two adjacent poles. Current for the coils is obtained through carbon brushes he'd by self-adjusting holders on a pair of slip rings, at one end of tle shaft. These rollers are regularly built 12 inches in diameter, in lengths from 16 to 36 inohes, and are driven by an electric motor mounted on the base of the machine. They have a current consumption of 325 to 750 watts, and capacities of 1,340 to 3,000 cubic feet per hour. They are designed to operate on any direct current voltage up to 250. They are usually installed as a part of a conveyer be t sys tem. The material falls from a hopper upon an endless moving belt below, and is carried along till it reaches the magnetized roller. The non-magnetic material being unattracted, is thrown off by centrifugal force to a bin or upon another conveyer belt, while the magnetic material attracted by the roller is held until it passes beyond the magnetic zone of the same on the under side, where it drops into another receptacle below. A novel and interesting application of this device is its use in garbage reduction plants. All city refuse can tains a very considerable percentage of iron, chiefly in the form of metal cans, etc. It is very desirable to have this eliminated both because of its own value and to rid the other material of it. The Borough of Richmond of the city of New York has recently instared a magnetic separator roller for this purpose, which has been running successfully for several weeks. It is believed to be the only one in the United States used for such a purpose, though several are in use in Great Britain. Mr. .. T. Featherstone, the superintendent of the Street Cleaning Department in Rich- mond Borough, gives some interesting data concerning the practical working of the separator. The dimensions of the separator are 24 inches by 12, all the roMers being 12 inches in diameter. The east of operation is vel y low, since one horse-power or less is sufficient to operate it, while the cost of the roller itself is not much ovcr 0 n e hundred dollars. About thirty tons of raw material daily are used. This is run through a furn ace which melts it down in t ' about twelve tons of clinkers, destroying at the same time the animal and vegetable matter. This, of course, is one of tie main objects in city waste disposal, for sanitary reasons. The clinker is then run through a crusher, and the resuting product passes onto a belt which carries it over the roller. On an average about 600 pounds of iron are recovered from the twelve tons of crushed clinker. The non-magnetic residue is used in the manufacture of concrete to take the place of broken stone and sand, and the process is especially valuable because the iron if allowed to remain would spoil the appearance of the concrete by a peculiar stain. It is probable that this process will be followed in other communities, when its simplicity and efficiency become known. A New Automobile Tire Pump ODR illustration shows a new form of portable four-cylinder hand pump especially adapted for inflating automobile or motor-cycle tires. The aim which the inventor had in view in designing this pump was to* provide a portable apparatus which. could be read ily attached to a suitable support such as the step of an automob i Ie. The pump is fur-thermore so constructed as to combine great strength with simplicitY of structure, so that it can be manufactured at a low cost, and is efficient and reliable in operation. The air passages are so formed as to avoid joints, which would be apt to become loose and to leak. With these objects in view the frame has been made in one single casting, consisting of a vertically disposed wall and cyl- inders integral therewith on opposite sides of the wall, the cylinders being disposed in axial alinement. Pistons reciprocate in these cylinders, being actuated by a handle A which is journaled centrally with respect to the cylinders in the central vertical plate; suitable valves D admit air to the cylinders for compression and permit the escape of the air when properly compressed. 'he passages for conveying the compressed air from the cylinders to the point of consumption are formed directly in the casting constituting the frame of the [Jump. Valves G are arranged in 'these passages for the purpose of preventing the return of the compressed air to the cylinders, and these vahes as well as the intake valves D are so constructed that the use of ample lubricating oil in ¦ the cylinders will not result in the incomplete closure of the valves. The air inlet. valves D are mounted upon each of the pistons and are automatically opened by suction by a friction-operated piston ring E, during the return stroke of the piston. All four cylinders are arranged in opposite pairs with separate head plates. A powerful screw clam, is formed integral with the cylinder casting by which means the pump is readily attached to the running board. The pistons are operated by means of pinions C, C, which have twice the number of teeth as the intermediate pinion B. so that the clamp motion is geared down to the ratio of two to one. Each of the driving gar wheels is screwed to a crank shaft and from the crank pins, connecting rods secured to pistons on opposite cylinders. The two crank pins are arranged at right angles to each other, so that when one pair of pistons is at the end of the stroke the other pair is approximately at mid stroke. The gears are cut gears. The connecting rods are made of manganese bronze. The bore of the cylinders is 1'4 inches and the stroke 2 inches, equivalent to an 8-inch single stroke, and as the pump is so arranged that the compression strokes come at equal intervals, the pump is remarkably easy to operate, especially since the crank handle is quite long. Notes for Inventors The Money in Little Things. -The profits resulting from patents af limited scope frequently come to the notice of patent attorneys in active practice. The writer recalls an instance in which the patentee of a harvester knife grinder submitted the patent for an opinion as to its scope. When told that the patent waa limited very closely to the structure it presented and that almost a “Chinese copy” would have to be made to infringe it he said “That may be so, but I have made seven thousand dollars out of that patent in the last three months in the territory west of the Mississippi.” Possibly his wits had been sharpened by the grinding operation, for we recall an itinerant scissors grinder of the Irish persuasion who opened the office door one day and called out “Has yez anything to sharpen up to-day?” to which one of the office force replied, “No! unless you can sharpen up our wits,” and the answer came quickly back, “I have no stones small enough for that." The One Millionth Patent. -Patent number one million will issue shortly, probably about the middle of August. The first patent of the present series was issued July 28th, 1836, to John Ruggles (antedated July 13th, 1836) of Thomas-ton, Me., for a locomotive engine. One hundred and nine of the patents or the present issue were issued prior to January 1st, 1837, but these one hundred and nine patents were not regularly numbered on the patents themselves, although the original drawings and the specification in the Patent Office are regularly numbered. On January 1st, 1837, however, the patents began to be regulally numbered with pabt one hun dred and ten issued on that day , and the numbering has con- 86 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN July 22, 1911 tinued until the present time. It will thus require only a little over seventy-fve years to complete the issue of one million patents. Prior to July 28th, 1836, 9,957 patents had 'been granted. These 'patents have never been officially numbered but were numbered in their order by Examiner-in·Chief Skinner when he was in charge of the elassification division of the Patent Office. It has been suggested, th.at some ceremony be attached to the delivery of the one millionth patent, but nothing definite along this line has as yet been decided. A Woman's Patent.-Patent No. 838,053 should be of interest to women because it is for a com bined bread toaster and warming oven for use on gas stoves. Apart from any particular interest in the invention itself, the patent is notable because it was issued to a woman inventor, Minnie Agnes Phelps of Chicago, prosecuted by . a woiman attorney of Chicago and witnessed by two women. Storing Patent Assignments.-The neeessity of fireproof storage faciliUes for the assignment records of the United States Patent Office was called to rttenHon in our issue of May 27th. The Fire Marshal, P. W. Nicholson, of the District of Columbia has just submitted to the Distriot Commissioners an extended report on the hazardous conditions existing practically throughout the Patent Office building. As to the general conditions in the Patent Office, the Fire Marshal has this to say: "'rIle vYorst conditions are on the third floor, lth Street wing. The entire floor and conidOl'S arc taken Ull with comlmstible matter, wood shelving, fijled with official docnments. The corridor is used by the puhlic in the examination of records and the position of the clerical foreps is obstructed by dfsks and tables. "There are two balconies extending from the floor to the ceiling filled with” wood shelving, in which are stored official documents with small aisles hardly wide enough for one per80n to pass. the conditions arc n1uch COlgested. In the event of a fre the fre depat'tment would be much hampered by tho obstructions from the corridors, besides encountering a regular wall of fre. The stairways are hidden from view by the wood shelving and are not properly located. There are two wit'e gates In this corridor, separating two different bureaus, that are kept locked at night. This should not be allowed." ConcernIng the storage Df gasoline in a manner prohibited by the District regula tions, the report says: mhere is a small l'oor in the basement, 7th Street wing, which is used for the storage of oils. I found in this room two wooden barrels, oue containing kerosene and one containi:1g gasoline. The manner in which gasoline is stored should be abolished at once, as it is vpry dangerous. A leak is liable to occur at any time, and if some person, not knowing the volatile conditions, should strike a match, a fre and probably an explosion would he the result. The regulations prohibit the storage of gasoline iI this manner." New Westinghouse Brakes.-A brake meehanism has been prt,ted which has two winding drums. One of the drums takes up the slack in the chain and applies the brake shoes to the wheels, while the other drum applies the brake shoes to the wheels, with the maximum braking power. Means are provided which are operated at a predetermined degree of braking pressure to cut the first drum out of action. The patent, No. 994,286, was issued to the Westinghouse Air Brake Oompany as- assignor (f Richard C. Swartzwelder of Edgewood, Pa, In a patent, No. 994,220, Walter V. Turner of Edgewood, Pa., assignor to the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, provides an air brake in which a number of brake valves act in connection with a single equalizing discharge valve device for the train pipe, which is adapted, to be operated by either brake valve, the brake va'ves having ports and connections so they can .control the pressure in Ithe .equalizing chamber. Caffeinless Coffee. -Three reissues, Nos. 13,261, 13,262 and 13,263, have been granted of original patent, No. 897,84(, for the preparation or treatment of coffee in which the urubroken green cofee beans originally containing caffeln, but freed therefrom, have their remaining natural constituents substantially unimpaired. In removing the eaffein, the green coffee beans are treated with dry steam to loosen the molecular structure, then treated with gaseous chemicals to liberate the caffein from its salts, wHer which the caffein is extracted by a volatile solvent and the beans are subjected to eurrents of dry steam at different pressures. The Cuspidors in the Patent Office.- 'hose who have visited the Patent Office will remember the large cuspidors that adorn the halls at intervals. It is told of a prominent Philadelphia lawyer of the old time that on one Dccasion he was sitting on the steps of the Patent Office nursing a lame foot. A Washington attorney asked what was the matter. He replied that he had been in and had a very unsatisfactory interview with a Patent Office examiner and it had been his habit when discussing patent matters before CongreSSional committees, if the results were unsatisfactory, to kick the rubber cuspidors then in use of the U. S. Capitol along the halls. On leaving the examiner's room after the unsatisfactory interview, he pursued the same tactics, thinking that the cuspidors in the Patent Office halls were also rubber, but he said with an exclamation: “I found them to be cast iron and almost broke my foot." The Need of an Easily Set Rat Trap.- Wasn't it Jay Gould who laid the foundation of a great fortune by the sale of rat traps? If so, and you have ever trier to set one of these five or ten cent affairs they sell in the department stores, you .may well wonder why sOime one does not follow his example with a mouse trap that ean be set without losing all one's religion. Ross Turner as a Patent Office Draftsman.-A celebrity who was at one li mej an attache of the Patent Office is Mr. Ross Turner, the prominent water color-lst. Prior to his European studies, Mr. Turner was a draftsman in the draftsmen's division. This, of course, was many years ago, but Mr. Turner is well remembered by some of the older officials. Legal Notes Color and Trade-marks.-ln ex parte Austin, Nichols&Co., the CommissiDner of Patents has held, affirming the decision of the trade-mark examiner, that where the applicant states that the color of the trade-mark is not claimed, the special lining of the drawing to indicate color should be omitted. Also that coffee and .ocoa are goods of the same descriptive properties. An Unfair Competition Decision.-The Supreme Court O'f the United States by Mr. Justice Holmes has delivered an opinion in the unfair competition case of Jacobs vs. Beecham, affirming the dedsion below and holding that the burden rests upon the defendant when sued for an unfair use of uhe plaintiff's name to justify his use Of the name; also that the use of the name of a manufacturer of pills under a secret formula upon pills made by a competitor is not saved from being unfair because the name of the manufacturer is accompanied by a statement that the competitor makes the pills,' even H it be conceded that he is using the ouher's formula. The dedsion also refers to the use of the word “patent” as applied to proprietary medicines and holds that the use of the word “patent” to indicate a medicin! made by a secret formula when the medicine- is in fact not patented, is not such a fraud as defeats the right of the manufacturer to lielief in equity against unfair competition. In the decision it is said “l'he use of the word 'patent' to indicate medicines made by secret formulas is Wide spread and 'Well known. It is mentioned in the die-tionaries and it occurs in the plaintiff's circulars." RECENTLY PATENTED INVENTIONS. 'hese columns are open to all patentees. ''he notices are inserted by special arrangement with the inventors. Terms on application to the Advertising Department of the Scientific American. Pertaining to Apparel. HAT.-D. SteRn, New York, N. Y. ''his invention relates to hats, and it has for its object the provision of one having a separate crown membcl', which lllay be readily mounted on a brim member, So that hats of many different styles may he quickly provided by the selcction of the desired crown member, to be used with the brim member which has been previously selected. Electrical Devices. SIGNALING DEVICE FOJ TEI,EPI-NE SYSTEMS.-A . ,T. Dunron, Ketchikan, Alaska. ''he main objec. here is to provide a signaling system in which the signals may be sent to a considerable distance, as far as the line is likely to be used for talking purposes. A fHrther object is to provide a system with simple apparatus, including a relay for producing audible signals. Of Interest to Farmers. AFETY CHECK FOR CUTTER BARS OF MOWING MACHINES.-N. Rogers, Wolfboro, N. H. The object of this inventor is to provide novel means for automatically and instantly stopping the action of the cutter bar while the mowing machine is progressively moved, at the time the driver vacates the seat on the machine when said vacation is effected purposely or accidentally. LEGAL NOTICES Of Heneral Interest. MARKING STAKI-M. F. NoGrse, Cement, Wash. 'he intention of this invention is to provide a stake having a weight near its pointed end for steadying the stake, and so arranged that it cannot slip on the stake, even should it become loosened. A further object is to provide an improved holding means for the stake when not iI use, with which the stakes may bc easily connected and disconnected. PACKEH 1,'OR WELLS.-A. C. Graham, Oilfields, Cal.-One object here is” to provide a packer which may be inserted within the casing already in position and which is left in place in the casing after the insertion of the cementing material. The cementing material will firmly lock the packer in place, and the lowering device may be disconnected from the packer without disarranging it in its position at the end of the casing. DISprAY STAND.-Wal'J'er GllbeUt, St. Louis, Mo. Among the principal objects which the - present invcntion has in view are : To provide a revolving stand arranged and constructed to facilitate the handling and display of merchandise packed in cartons ; to provide a simple and efficient means for deliver- ing the cartons so that the same may be handled for the delivery of the goods therein contained; and to provide a display stand the construction of which is simple, economical, durable, and efficient. The illustratiol herewith, shows a perspective view of a vertically disposed rotary stand constructed and arranged in accordance with, the invention descrihed. TRUSS.-p. S. Haehn, Youngsville, Pa. In this invention the construction confers resilient support for single or double ruptures in the inguinal region, adapts the truss for yielding conformity in the movements of the body, avoids excessive pressure upon the tissue neal' the rupture, but exerts such a constrneting pressure upon the defining wall of the hernia as will have a tendency to dose the edges ther
