IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF STEEL, AND IN THE STEELING OR MANUFACTURE OF TYRES, SHAFTS, AXLES, AND OTHER FORGINGS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, E.C., Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF STEEL, AND IN THE STEELING OR
MANUFACTURE OF TYRES, SHAFTS, AXLES, AND OTHER FORGINGS."-A com-
munication.
Sealed the 10th November 1857, and dated the 12th May 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 12th May 1857.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, E.C., Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF STEEL, AND IN THE STEELING OR
MANUFACTURE OF TYRES, SHAFTS, AXLES, AND OTHER FORGINGS," (communicated
to me by a foreigner residing abroad,) to be as follows:-
I take bars of steel and arrange them in bundles or faggots, more or less
voluminous, according to the intended use of the steel after preparation, and
place them in a reverberatory furnace, similar in form to a puddling furnace.
As soon as the bundles commence to heat, that is to say, in about half an hour
after they are placed in the furnace, I close the damper, in order to concen-
trate the heat, and that the interior of the bundles may become thoroughly

page_text: heated. I shut off all direct communication of blast to the bundles, as the
oxidizing action of the air upon the metal would be prejudicial, and care must
be taken that the surface of the metal be protected from the action of any
considerable quantity of pure air, which entering and getting at the metal
without being decomposed, would increase the loss in the operation. When
the bundles reach a white heat I raise the damper, in order to obtain a higher
degree of heat, which quickly raises the metal to a proper welding heat; I
then introduce a preparation of silica and iron scales, with which, when in a
state of fusion, I cover the bundles of metal, which, preserving them from
contact with the air, enables the temperature to be raised to a very high
degree of heat without danger of injuriously affecting the nature or quality of
the steel. When the bundles have attained such a heat that the metal will weld
perfectly they are placed under a hammer, and the whole mass being at the
same heat, and being subjected at the same time to the hammer, a perfect
weld is the result. It is advisable, however, that the blows of the hammer
should at first be slow and light, amounting to little more than gradual
pressure, and as the heat in the mass diminishes, the speed and force of the
blows should be increased. On being removed from the hammer while still
in a red state, I place the metal again in the furnace, where it soon attains a
welding heat, and I again cover it with a preparation of silica and iron scales,
always with the view to prevent loss and injury from the action of the atmo-
sphere upon the metal, and then expose it again to the hammer to be reduced
to masses suitable for the purposes for which it is to be employed.
The improvements in the steeling or manufacturing of tyres, shafts, axles,
and other forgings consists in forming them partly of iron and partly of steel,
prepared as above, by introducing such steel into them at those parts most
subjected to friction and wear. By way of example, I proceed to shew the
manner in which I manufacture a tyre. I take, say, three layers of good iron,
lay on the top thereof a band of the prepared steel, and place, at the sides
thereof other blocks of iron: Over the top I place a thin layer of iron, which
is not absolutely essential, but I find it advantageous to protect the steel from
the injurious action of the air-during the welding. The whole mass is now
welded, then hammered and rolled; or made otherwise into the form of an
ordinary tyre. The metals' are thus. best disposed to suit their respective
requirements, the steel to bear the friction and wear, and the iron to give a
slight elasticity to prevent injury from shocks, and from the effect of vibration,
&c. Rails may be rolled from faggots of combined iron and prepared steel;
the steel being retained on the surface of the rail between two sides of iron, or
the whole upper surface may be of steel, as desired. Axles and shafts are

page_text: also formed of iron and prepared steel combined, the steel being applied by
welding, and the axle or shaft being finished under rolls, hanımers, or
otherwise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, E.C., Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF STEEL, AND IN THE STEELING OR
MANUFACTURE OF TYRES, SHAFTS, AXLES, AND OTHER FORGINGS," (a communication
from a foreigner residing abroad) upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to
be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that. I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly. described and ascertained in, and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
I take bars of steel and arrange them in bundles or faggots, more or less
voluminous, according to the intended use of the steel after preparation, and

page_text: place them in a reverberatory furnace, similar in form to a puddling furnace.
As soon as the bundles commence to heat, that is to say, in about half an hour
after they are placed in the furnace, I close the damper, in order to concen-
trate the heat, and that the interior of the bundles may become thoroughly
heated. I shut off all direct communication of blast to the bundles, as the
oxidising action of the air upon the metal would be prejudicial, and care must
be taken that the surface of the metal be protected from the action of any
considerable quantity of pure air, which entering and getting at the metal
without being decomposed, would increase the loss in the operation. When
the bundles reach a white heat, I raise the damper, in order to obtain a still
higher degree of heat in, the furnace, which quickly raises the metal to a
proper welding heat; I then introduce a preparation of silica and iron scales,
with which, when in a state of fusion, I cover the bundles of metal. These
preserving them from contact with the air, enables the temperature to be
raised to a very high degree of heat without danger of injuriously affecting
the nature or quality of the steel. When the bundles have attained such a
heat that the metal will weld perfectly, they are placed under a hammer, and
the whole mass being at the same heat and being subjected at the same time
to the hammer, a perfect weld is the result. It is advisable, however, that the
blows of the hammer should at first be slow and light, amounting to little
more than gradual pressure, and as the heat in the mass diminishes, the speed
and force of the blows should be increased. On the metal being renoved
from the hammer while still in a red state, I place it again in the furnace,
where it soon attains a welding beat, and I again cover it with a preparation
of silica and iron scales, always with the view to prevent loss and injury from
the action of the atmosphere upon the metal, and I then expose it again to
the hammer to be reduced to masses suitable in form and dimensions for the
purposes for which it is to be employed.
The improvements in the steeling or manufacturing of tyres, shafts, axles,
and other forgings consist in forming them partly of iron and partly of steel
prepared as above, by introducing such steel into them at those parts most
subjected to friction and wear. By way of example, I proceed to shew the
manner in which I manufacture a tyre. I take, say, three layers of good iron
a, b, a', b', a, b, Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings, lay on the top thereof
a band c, d, of the prepared steel, and place at the sides thereof other blocks
of iron e, f. Over the top I place a thin layer of iron g, h, which is not
absolutely essential, but I find it advantageous to protect the steel from the
injurious action of the air during the welding. The whole mass is now
welded, then hammered and rolled, or made otherwise into the form of an

page_text: ordinary tyre. The metals are thus best disposed to suit their respective
requirements, as shown in Figure 2, the steel to bear the friction and wear,
and the iron to give elasticity, to prevent injury from shocks, and from the
effect of vibration, &c. And these conditions are better satisfied by a tyre
steeled as represented in Figure 2, than if formed as represented in Figure 3.
The method of manufacture before described may be applied to the tyres of
carriage wheels intended for common roads. Figure 4 represents, the cross
section of a faggot for such a forging. a, b, is a bar of wrought iron; c, d, a
bar of steel prepared as already described; e, f, is a thin protecting layer of.
iron, which may, if required, be formed as in Figure 5, to protect the edges as
well as the upper surface of the steel bar. This protecting piece is so thin as
to disappear in the process of forging.
If experience should prove it advantageous to employ on railways rails with
steel surfaces, the processes of this Invention may be applied to the manu-
facture of such rails. The cross section of a faggot prepared for this manu-
facture is represented in Figure 6. In the middle are three (or, if preferred, a
greater number) of bars of iron, as a, b. On the top a bar of steel c, prepared
as already described, is supported on the two sides by the two bars of iron d,
and e; f, g, is a thin protecting layer of iron, so thin as to disappear in the
process of forging. The faggot is heated and subjected to the action of the
hammer or of rollers, and thus receives its proper form, as in the case of the
other forgings. Figure 7 represents the cross section of such a rail when
finished. If the rail is to be fortified with steel on both edges, the faggot
must be made up as represented in Figure 8, with a bar of steel at the bottom
as well as on the top, and the middle bars of iron will of course require to be
narrower; and there will be two thin plates of iron, one above and one below,
to protect the steel from oxidizing gases. The section of such a rail when
finished is represented by Figure 9. The same method of steeling may be
applied in the manufacture of axles, shafts, and all other description of forgings.
It will be sufficient to shew how the method is applied to the axletrees of
railway engines and carriages. A faggot of iron, of dimensions fitted to the
production of the required axle, is formed, and is represented in Figure 10;
this is heated and forged under the hammer, and the operation finished by
rounding the pieces and reducing its extremities sufficiently for a collar of
steel previously heated to be placed on each end, as shewn in Figure 11. A
stroke or two of the hammer fixes the collars on the axle, which is then
brought by hammers or rollers in the required form, as in Figure 12. To
finish the extremities of the axletree they are separately heated, and formed
by tools or dies under the hammer into the shape represented in Figure 13.

page_text: In applying the collars of steel the ends of the axle may be drawn out, and
.the collars placed as represented in Figure 14, in which case the finished
article will be as represented in Figure 15.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First, the preparation of steel as herein-before described.
Second, the steeling or manufacture of tyres, shafts, axles, and other
forgings; as herein-before described and represented in the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal; this Twelfth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)