IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES FOR MELTING STEEL
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Albert Clarke Lewis, of Brooklyn, in the State
of New York, United States of America, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES FOR MELTING STEEL.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Albert Clarke Lewis
-
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with, his Petition,
on the 25th March 1874.
!
I, ALBERT CLARKE LEWIS, of Brooklyn, in the State of New York,
3 United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES FOR MELTING STEEL," to be as
follows:
The furnaces heretofore used for melting steel are not uniform in
action; some crucibles or pots become more heated than others, and
when a number have to be poured at the same time this is a great
disadvantage.
:

page_text: I have discovered that a furnace adapted to receive a row of four or
more pots can be made so as to ensure great uniformity in the operation,
and effect a saving in fuel and lessen the time consumed in properly
melting the steel. The furnace is made of an oblong shape of a size
adapted to receive a row of four or more pots or crucibles placed at equal
distances from each other, and the distance between each pot and the
inside lining of the furnace is about equal to the distance between one
pot and the next, so that the fuel will be equal in its action around each
pot, and each pot will be exposed equally to the reflected heat from the
sides of the furnace.
The furnace itself is made of a cast-iron casing in a box shape, and
the sides should be slightly convex, and the lining of fire-brick is above
the grate bars, and the top of the furnace is closed with removable
covers.
°
The ash-pit is closed by a door and a powerful blast of air is admitted
through a side opening located near the middle, but rather nearest to the
front of the furnace to equalize the atmospheric action.
The flue for the escape products of combustion is at the back end, and
furnaces of this character are made in ranges at each side of a boiler, so
that the escape heat generates the steam for an engine.
:
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Albert Clarke Lewis in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th September 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALBERT
CLARKE LEWIS, of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, United States
of America, send greeting.
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Albert Clarke Lewis, Her special licence that
I, the said Albert Clarke Lewis, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Albert Clarke Lewis, my executors,

page_text: 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
FURNACES FOR MELTING STEEL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Albert Clarke Lewis, 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 Albert Clarke Lewis, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner tho
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained -
in and by the following statement, reference being made to the Drawing.
hereto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to.
say):
Furnaces for melting steel are usually made square or nearly so, and
receive four crucibles or pots placed quadrangularly at about cqual
'distances from cach other and from the sides of the furnace.
In practice I find that furnaces thus constructed are not reliable,
because the metal is not subjected uniformly to the action of the heat,
the pots are liable to crack and the time consumed in melting and
preparing the cast steel is so various that where the metal has to be cast'
from several crucibles at the same time, some will be ready before the
others, thus preventing uniformity in the quality of the metal. I am.
unable to account for this practical difficulty except upon the ground
that the fire is not uniform around the pots, the portion in the center
liaving to act upon four pots, while the fuel towards the angles of the.
furnace is greater in proportion, and acts in conjunction with the heat,
reflected from the walls of the furnace to render the pots the highest.
temperature at the sides that face the walls of the furnace.
My Invention is made for the purpose of equalizing the action of thic
heat upon the pots, and by the use of my improvement I find that great
uniformity in time of melting and in the quality of the metal arc

page_text: obtained, and the heat is equal or nearly so on all sides of the pot, the
pots last longer and time is saved because the metal is more rapidly
melted and there is a saving in the amount of fuel consumed.
-
I employ a long, narrow, and deep furnace adapted to receive four or
more pots in a row, and proportioned with reference to obtaining
uniformity of fuel and heat spaces all around all the pots, thereby each
part of each crucible is subjected to nearly the samo temperature, so
that the melting of the steel proceeds with uniformity and rapidity, and
the pots are not liable to be broken from inequality of temperature.
In the Drawing

page_text: diameter placed about as represented, so as to equalize the action of the
air with respect to the escape flue.
CLAIMS.
What I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent
is, the oblong steel furnace adapted to receive four or more pots in a row,
and proportioned, substantially as specified, to furnish a nearly uniform
fuel space around cach pot, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Albert Clarke Lewis, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this 21st day of August, A.D.
1874.
ALBERT C. LEWIS. (L.S.)
Witnesses,
CHA. H. SMITH, 121, Nassau St., New York.
GEO. T. PINCKNEY.
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