AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Armitage, of Farnley Iron Works, and
Henry Lea, Manager to the Farnley Iron Company, both of Farnley,
near Leeds, in the County of York, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Armitage and
Henry Lea at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 16th April 1856.
..
We, WILLIAM ARMITAGE, of Farnley Iron Works, and HENRY Lea,
Manager to the Farnley Iron Company, both of Farnley, near Leeds, in the
County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON," to be as follows:-
This improvement relates, firstly, to the manufacture of cast iron as reduced.
from its ores; and secondly, to the purifying of pig iron, and consists in intro-
ducing steam into a box in which a blast of atmospheric air is forced by any
of the known means, so that the steam, mixing with the blast, passes into the-

page_text: furnace, and by these means the quality of the iron is improved in a more
simple and inexpensive manner than by the means heretofore practised in the
manufacture of iron.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Armitage and Henry Lea in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th October 1856.
TO ALL TO. WHOM, THESE, PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
ARMITAGE, of. Farnley Iron Works, and HENRY LEA, Manager to the Farnley
Iron Company, both of Farnley, near Leeds, in the County of York, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
William Armitage and Henry Lea, Her special licence that we, the said
William Armitage and Henry Lea, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said William Armitage and Henry Lea, our executors,
administrators, or 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said William Armitage and Henry
Lea, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our,
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 we, the said William Armitage and Henry Lea,
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, that is to say:-
The first part of our said Invention relates to the manufacture of cast iron
as reduced from its ores, and consists in combining and introducing steam

page_text: along with cold blást into the smelting furnace, for the purpose of getting rid
of a great portion of the sulphur, phosphorus, carbon, and other impurities,
contained in iron, and thus purifying the same during the smelting thereof..
The second part of our said Invention relates to the further purification of
the iron, smelted as above stated, after it has been run into pigs, and consists
in operating upon the pigs in a refinery furnace with steam and cold blast, as
above stated, for the purpose of preparing the iron for the puddling furnace;
and we would here observe that our Invention applies specially to the manu-
facture of iron intended to be rolled into plates for the use of boiler makers,
in the manufacture of locomotive and other steam boilers, and other vessels
required to stand great pressure, and for these purposes we have found our
Invention well adapted, as the iron thus manufactured is free from blisters, is,
tougher and denser, and in all respects better adapted for the use of boiler.
makers, than boiler plates as heretofore manufactured.
In order to explain our said Invention as completely as possible, we now
proceed to describe the. best means we are acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Sheets of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of refer-
ence marked thereon respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Sheet 1 exhibits a transverse and vertical section of an ordinary smelting
furnace, shewing the mode of adapting, our Invention thereto. At Sheet 2,
Figure 1 exhibits a transverse and vertical section of an ordinary refinery
furnace, also shewing the adaptation of our Invention thereto. Figure 2 is a
detached portion herein-after referred to. At each of the foregoing Figures
we employ similar letters of reference to denote corresponding parts, in so far
as such parts appear or can be seen at each of such said Figures respectively.
At Sheet 1, a is a steam pipe for conveying steam from a boiler into a steam
chest or receiver b, b, from whence the steam passes by the pipe c, c, into the
air pipe d, in which the steam, as it enters, mixes with and is taken up and
along with the blast, and is forced into the blast furnace through the nozzle
pipe e, by a fan blast or other suitable means; fis an ordinary tuyere; g, the
furnace; h, stop-cock for regulating the supply of steam into the air pipe;
i, a pipe for drawing off the condensed steam from the chest b. In operating
upon the ores of iron, during the smelting thereof in the furnace in the first
stage of manufacturing cast iron, we have found in practice that the best
results are obtained when the pressure of steam to the blast is in the pro-

page_text: portion of about 7 lbs. more or less of steam per square inch to about one:
pound and three quarters more or less of blast per square inch.
We now proceed to describe the mode of adapting our Invention to the
refinery furnace exhibited at Sheet 2, as follows:-a, a, is the steam pipe for
conveying steam from a boiler into a steam chest or receiver.b; c, c, a steam
pipe conveying the steam from the chest 6 to the air box d, by the branch
pipes c, c, c', (shewn at Figure 2,) fixed air-tight into the top of said box;
the bottom of the box d is fitted with a valve e, opening inwards, and imme-
diately beneath such said valve the air pipe f is fixed, and is connected by its
opposite end the fan blast; g, g, g, are leather pipes connected by one end 1
to openings in the box d, and by their opposite ends to three nozzle pipes h, h, h,
only one of which is shewn by the Drawing; i, an ordinary tujere; k, ordi-
nary water boxes for keeping the tuyeres cold; 1, the tuyere plate; m, water
box for supply of water; n, water pipe for supplying the tuyeres; o, waste
water pipe; p, p, hearth of the furnace; q, waste pipe for condensed steam;
r, stop-cock for regulating supply of steam to air pipe.
The mode of operating with the steam and blast is precisely similar in this
furnace to that before-mentioned in reference to the blast furnace, the steam
and blast mixing together in the box d, and passing into the furnace. When
the metal thus operated upon by the blast has been sufficiently blown and
adjusted by the bar and cinder, the workman then taps the furnace and the
metal flows therefrom into iron moulds, the metal when cold is then broken up
and removed to the puddling furnace, there to be converted into malleable
iron in the manner well known and commonly practised.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of our said
Invention of "An Improvement in the Manufacture of Iron, together with the
best means we are acquainted with, and which we have found answer well for
carrying the same into practical effect, we would remark in conclusion, that wo
áre aware of steam and atmospheric air having heretofore been separately.
employed in the manufacture of iron; we do not therefore claim as our Inven-
tion the use of steam and atmospheric air or blast when introduced separately..
into blast furnaces and refinery furnaces; but what we do claim as our Inven-
tion, intended to be secured to us by the above in part recited Letters Patent is,
firstly, the combining and admixing of steam with atmospheric air or blast,
and the employment thereof in blast furnaces used in the manufacture of iron,
as above particularly described, so that the blast and steam shall enter the
furnace in combination.
And secondly, we claim the use of steam mixed with the blast as abovo
>

page_text: stated, and the employment thereof combined in refinery furnaces for still
further purifying the iron which has been smelted in the above-mentioned
blast furnace, as above stated, and thereby constituting "An Improvement in
the Manufacture of Iron."
In witness whereof, we, the said William Armitage and Henry Lea,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fifteenth day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
WILLIAM ARMITAGE. (L.B.)
HENRY LEA.
(L.B.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named William Armitage and Henry
Lea, in the presence of
BENJ* BROWNE,
Chief Clerk to Messrs. Prince & Comp',
Patent Office, 4, Trafalgar Square, .
Charing Cross. London.