Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Dec., 1886.
Complete Left, 5th Feb., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 8th Mar., 1887.
1, WALTER ALFRED BARLOW of 6 St. Pauls Church Yard in the City of London,
Patent Agent and Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for object new or improved means for the manufacture of fine
steel from coarse grain steel (Bessemer and such like) and for the regeneration of
burnt steel.
Steel which serves for the manufacture of tools and certain mechanical parts in
machinery, as is well known, is submitted to special preparation of somewhat costly
character with the object of rendering its structure and texture homogeneous and of
fine grain which characteristic distinguishes it from steel of coarse grain such as
Bessemer steel and so forth. These refining process are principally, fusion, refining,
cementation and so forth. According to this invention the transformation of the
coarse grain steel to fine steel will be effected by this new process at slight cost.
The main point upon which this Invention is founded is the employment of bodies
simple or compound which are good conductors of heat, and subjecting the steel to be
refined to the action of fire.
As the bodies which are good conductors of heat are known and indicated in the
tables according to conductibility it is unnecessary to give here a list of such matters
to be employed according to the quality of steel to be treated for obtaining the new
industrial result above indicated.
Having thus pointed out the essential character of the agents employed I will now
proceed to describe in detail the manner of proceeding in indicating by way of example
the composition of one of my baths.

page_text: Example. I bring the pieces of steel to be refined to a temperature varying from
dull red to white heat according to the quality of the steel to be treated and I then
immerse it in a bath composed of 500 grammes of salts of protochloruret of tin
and 500 grammes of acetate of lead dissolved in a litre of water. The steel is to be
left in the bath until completely cooled. When the steel is drawn from the bath
a complete molecular transformation will have taken place throughout the mass
whatever may be its dimensions, and its structure is such that it possesses all the
qualities of the best steel known.
The steel is then annealed and will be ready for use. After the foregoing treatment
the transformation is definite and the fine grain obtained is permanently indestructable.
It has been pointed out that the bath above specified is given as an example
In effect its composition may be varied almost indefinitely without departing from
the fundamental principal of this invention which is the transformation of coarse grain
steel (Bessemer and the like) into fine steel by their immersion whilst in a heated state
in a bath composed essentially of bodies which are good conductors of heat.
There are specially to be mentioned as bodies to be employed in this sense the
metals in fusion (lead tin and antimony) the oxides of these metals, the metallic salts
dissolved in water, in acids, or in a mixture of these two liquids (salts of tin, of copper,
of lead, of mercury, of zinc, of antimony, of chrome and so forth,) the acids (nitric
acid nitrous acid, hypoazotic acid, acetic acid, chlorhydric acid,) All these substances
may be employed either alone or in mixture in variable proportions.
It has been stated that the steel obtained after immersion in the bath such as before
indicated acquires a fine grain permanently indestructible but it may be stated further
that the process may be employed for regenerating steel that has been over burnt or
over heated either by negligence of the operative or because it may have been
necessary to bring it to a high temperature for welding that is to say for bringing it
to its primitive state by restoring to it all its qualities. The process is in all cases
exactly the same.

page_text: the Seine, in the Republic of France, Engineer.
I, WALTER ALFRED BARLOW of 6 St. Paul's Church Yard in the City of London,
Patent Agent and Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This Invention has for object new or improved means for the manufacture of fine
steel from coarse grain steel (Bessemer and such like) and for the regeneration of
burnt steel.
Steel which serves for the manufacture of tools and certain mechanical parts in
machinery, as is well known is submitted to special preparation of somewhat costly
character with the object of rendering its structure and texture homogeneous and of
fine grain which characteristic distinguishes it from steel of coarse grain such as
Bessemer steel and so forth. These refining processes are principally, fusion, refining,
cementation and so forth. According to this invention the transformation of the
coarse grain steel to fine steel will be effected by this new process at slight cost.
The main point upon which this Invention is founded is the employment of bodies
simple or compound which are good conductors of heat and subjecting the steel to be
refined to the action of fire.
As the bodies which are good conductors of heat are known, and indicated in the
tables according to conductibility, it is unnecessary to give here a list of such matters
to be employed according to the quality of steel to be treated for obtaining the new
industrial result above indicated.
Having thus pointed out the essential character of the agents employed I will now
proceed to describe in detail the manner of proceeding in indicating by way of example
the composition of one of my baths..
Example I bring the piece of steel to be refined to a temperature varying from
dull red to white heat according to the quality of the steel to be treated and then
immerse it in a bath composed of 500 grammes of salts of tin or protochloruret of tin
and 500 grammes of acetate of lead dissolved in a litre of water. The steel is to be
left in the bath until completely cooled. When the steel is drawn from the bath a
complete molecular transformation will have taken place throughout the mass whatever
may be its dimensions, and its structure is such that it possesses all the qualities of the
best steel known.
The steel is then annealed and will be ready for use.

page_text: After the foregoing treatment the transformation is definite and the fine grain
obtained is permanently indestructable.
It has been pointed out that the bath above specified is given as an example:-
In effect its composition may be varied almost indefinitely without departing from
the fundamental principle of this invention which is the transformation of coarse grain
steel (Bessemer and the like) into fine steel by their immersion, whilst in a heated
state, in a bath composed essentially of bodies which are good conductors of heat.
There are specially to be mentioned as bodies to be employed in this sense the metals
in fusion (lead, tin and antimony); the oxides of the metals; the metallic salts dissolved
in water, in acids, or in a mixture of these two liquids, such as salts of tin, of copper,
of lead, of mercury, of zinc, of antimony, of chrome and so forth; the acids (nitric
acid, nitrous acid, hypoazotic acid, acetic acid, chlorhydric acid). All these substances
may be employed either alone or in mixture in variable proportions.
It has been stated that the steel obtained after immersion in the bath such as before
indicated acquires a fine grain permanently indestructible but it may be stated further
that the process may be employed for regenerating steel that has been over burnt or
over heated either by negligence of the operative or because it may have been
necessary to bring it to a high temperature for welding that is to say for bringing
it to its primitive state by restoring to it all its qualities. The process is in all cases
exactly the same.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :--
Firstly -The conversion of steel of coarse grain (Bessemer and such like) to fine
steel having all the properties of the best steel, by heating the steel to be converted
and then plunging the same into a bath composed of acetate of lead (500 grammes)
dissolved in (a litre of) water and having in mixture therewith salts of tin (protochloruret
of tin) (500 grammes) in which bath the treated steel will remain until cold as and for
the purpose herein set forth.
Secondly-The conversion of steel of coarse grain (Bessemer and such like) to
fine steel by means of the immersion of the steel previously brought to required heat
in a bath composed either exclusively of good conductors of heat, or essentially of
such conductors, to which may be added as dissolvent a bad conductor of heat (such
as water for example) as and for the purpose herein set forth.
Thirdly-The application of the above claimed process, and its modification, for
reconverting or regenerating fine steel when same has been brought to too great heat,
and as so lost its qualities, as and for the purpose herein set forth.
WALTER A. BARLOW,
6, St. Paul's Churchyard, E.(.