IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES FOR SMELTING AND MELTING
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to. John Thomas, of the Town and County of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FURNACES FOR SMELTING AND MELTING."
Sealed the 15th January 1869, and dated the 18th July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thomas. at the-
Office of the: Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the-
18th July 1868:
I, JOHN THOMAS, of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, do.
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FURNACES FOR SMELTING AND MELTING," to be as follows:-
The chief object of my Invention is to construct air or blast furnaces.
which will the better withstand the action of heat and scouring fluxes.
in the melting of iron, copper, or other metals, or in the smelting of
iron ores, copper ores, or other ores or slags or scoria containing metals.
The main features of my Invention in addition to the general arrange-:
ment or combination of the parts are the construction of water boshes...
as hereafter described, and the employment of spikes on the water
boshes, as hereafter described,

page_text: These improvements will be fully understood by the following
description of a furnace constructed according thereto.
For a cupola or blast furnace I first make a foundation, which may
be of brick, stone, or concrete, or any other suitable material, and I fix
or fit therein a water pipe which passes all round the furnace except the
front. There is a branch to this pipe to let the water in, the branch
being provided with a valve and a valve well. There is also a branch at
each corner of the pipe upon which I fix hollow columns; these hollow
columns are stopped or closed at the top, and an entablature is fixed
on them on which to build the chimney. The water is let into the
foundation pipe from a high level, so as to rise and fill the columns,
the uses of the columns being to hold water and carry the chimney.
Brackets are cast on the columns to carry the plates which hold the
upper brickwork of the furnace. Upon the foundation I build, as usual,
up to the bottom of the furnace. I then place water boshes, which may
be of cast or wrought iron, or any other material, all round the furnace
except the front, where there is a door, as is usual in cupola furnaces,
or a dam, as in blast furnaces; these boshes are set back, say, 4½ inches
from the face of the furnace inside to allow of this thickness of lining,
which may be of fire-brick or other fire-resisting material. I then place
another tier of water boshes above those just described; these upper.
boshes go all round the furnace on all four sides. They have spikes
cast all over their inner side similar to ironfounders' loam plates; these
spikes may be of any suitable length, but 1 inches is sufficient for most
purposes. I line the upper boshes against the spikes with stiff mortar
made of refractory material, such as ganister and fire-clay, or road grit
and fire-clay, or other suitable material. On the brackets of the columns
I place iron plates which enclose the four sides; these plates reach
nearly to the charging door of the furnace. On the bottom edge of
these plates there is a flange for carrying the brickwork of the furnace
independently of the boshes, so that if a bosh fail it can be taken out
and another introduced without pulling down the brickwork. I next
build up the inside of the furnace from the top of the boshes with fine
brick or other refractory material. The boshes are filled with water
drawn from the columns by a pipe connected with the bosh and
columns; each of these pipes has a tap to regulate the supply. A
hole is cast through the side boshes for inserting the tuyeres; there are
water tuyeres also supplied from the columns. I make the inside of the
furnace similar in form to a blast furnace, larger at the upper part than

page_text: at the bottom, and I prefer to make the crucible or lower part tapered.
This form of furnace is best adapted to hold up the material under
treatment in order that it may be melted above the blast, and fall like
rain drops and gravitate through the fluxes. If it is desirable the lower
boshes may be spiked and brought forward to the face of the furnace
and lined against the spikes the same as the upper boshes.
.
The principal novelty in this Invention is the spiked boshes which
hold up the lining, which lining cannot be fluxed away on account of
the water in the boshes keeping the back of the lining comparatively
cool. These furnaces may be made round or square, or of any other
desired form. For air or reverberatory furnaces for smelting copper ores
or other ores of metals I build the bed of the furnace in the usual way
up to and within 4 or 6 inches of the bottom, and then set the spiked
water boshes around the sides and bridge of the furnace and line up
against the spikes as in the cupola or blast furnace. For a puddling
furnace for puddling cast iron into wrought iron I set the spiked water
boshes around the sides and bridge of the furnace, as in the copper
smelting furnace. The spiked water boshes also apply to gas and steam
furnaces.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Thomas in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
THOMAS, of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Thomas, Her special licence that
I, the said John Thomas, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Thomas, 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

page_text: Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES FOR SMELTING AND
MELTING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Thomas, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Thomas, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 here-
unto annexed, that is to say:-
The chief object of my Invention is to construct air or blast furnaces
which will the better withstand the action of heat and scouring fluxes
in the melting of iron, copper, or other metals, or in the smelting of
iron ores, copper ores, or slags, or scoria, or other ores containing metals.
The main features of my Invention in addition to the general
arrangement or combination of the parts are the construction of water
boshes, as hereafter described, and the employment of spikes on the
water boshes as hereafter described.
These improvements will be fully understood by the following
description and Drawings hereunto annexed, of which Figure 1 is a
sectional elevation, Figure 2 a similar view at right angles to Figure 1,
and Figure 3 a sectional plan of a furnace constructed according
thereto.
For a cupola or blast furnace I first make a foundation A, which
may be of brick, stone or concrete, or any 'other suitable material,
and I fix or fit therein a water pipe B, which passes all round the
furnace except the front. There is a branch to this pipe to let the
water in, the branch being provided with a valve and a valve well D.
There is also a branch at each corner of the pipe upon which I fix
hollow columns E, E; these hollow columns are stopped or closed at
the top and an entablature is fixed on them on which to build the
chimney. The water is let into the foundation or base pipe B from
high level so as to rise and fill the columns E, E, the uses of the
columns being to hold water and carry the chimney. Brackets a, a,

page_text: are cast on the columns to carry the plates O which hold the upper
brickwork of the furnace. Upon the foundation I build, as usual, up
to the bottom of the furnace, as shown at F. I then place water
boshes M, M, which may be of cast or wrought iron, or any other
material, all round the furnace, except at the front, where there is a
door R, as is usual in cupola furnaces, or a dam, as in blast furnaces;
these boshes are set back, say, 4 inches from the face of the furnace
inside to allow of a thickness of lining G, which may be of fire-brick
or other fire-resisting material. I then place another tier of water
boshes N above those just described; these upper boshes go all round
the furnace or on all four sides. They have spikes b, b, cast all
over their inner side similar to ironfounders' loam plates; these spikes
may be of any suitable length, but 1 inches I find sufficient for
most purposes.
I line the upper boshes against the spikes with
stiff mortar H, H, made of refractory material, such as ganister
and fire-clay, or road grit and fire-clay or other suitable material.
On the brackets a, a, of the columns I place iron plates O, O, as
before mentioned, which enclose the four sides; these plates reach
nearly to the charging door J of the furnace. On the bottom edge
of these plates 0, 0, there is a flange for carrying the brickwork I
of the furnace independently of the boshes N, so that if a bosh fail
it can be taken out and another introduced without pulling down the
brickwork. I next build up the inside of the furnace from the top of
the boshes with fire-brick or other refractory material. The boshes M
and N are filled with water drawn from the columus E, E, by a pipe
connected with the bosh and the columns; each of these pipes has
a tap to regulate the supply. A hole is cast through the side boshes
for inserting the tuyeres c, c; there are water tuyeres also supplied
from the columns E, E, as shown in Figure 3. I make the inside
of the furnace similar in form to a blast furnace, larger at the upper
part than at the bottom, and I prefer to make the crucible or lower
part tapered. This form of furnace is best adapted to hold up the
material under treatment in order that it may be melted above the
blast, and fall like rain drops and gravitate through the fluxes. If
it is desirable the lower boshes may be spiked and brought forward
to the face of the furnace and lined against the spikes the same as
the upper boshes.
The principal novelty in this Invention is the spiked boshes which
hold up the lining, which lining cannot be fluxed away on account of

page_text: the water in the boshes keeping the back of the lining comparatively
cool. These furnaces may be made round or square, or of any other
desired form. For air or reverberatory furnaces for smelting copper
ores or other ores of metals I build the bed of the furnace in the
usual way up to and within 4 or 6 inches of the bottom, and then
set the spiked water boshes around the sides and bridge of the furnace,
and line up against the spikes, as in the cupola or blast furnace. For
a puddling furnace for puddling cast iron into wrought iron I set the
spiked water boshes around the sides and bridge of the furnace, as in the
copper smelting furnace. The spiked water boshes also apply to gas
and steam furnaces.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. The general arrangement and combination of the furnace
as herein-before described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Second. The construction of a hollow foundation or water pipe
surmounted by hollow water columns in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before described.
And, third. The construction and arrangement of water boshes having
spikes cast or otherwise formed on their inner side in the manner and
for the purpose herein-before described and represented in the Drawings
hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thomas, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Sixteenth day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-nine.