Iм- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PUDDLING IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Harrison, of Tudhoe, near Ferry Hill, in the
County of Durham, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PUDDLING IRON AND STEEL."
Sealed the 18th March 1864, and dated the 8th December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Harrison at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th December 1863.
I, THOMAS HARRISON, of Tudhoe, near Ferry Hill, in the County of
Durham, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PUDDLING IRON AND STEEL," to be
as follows:-
This Invention consists in an improved method of applying mechanical
power to the process of puddling iron and steel as a substitute for and
auxilliary to manual labour.
In the year 1886 (the 13th June, No. 7117), Letters Patent were granted
to Charles Schafhautl, of Dudley, for "Certain Improved Apparatus for
Puddling Iron," and which apparatus, as described in his Specification,
consisted in part of a combination of wheels, levers, and cranks, which were
to be put in motion by any convenient prime mover, and whereby it was pro-
posed to impart a compound motion longitudinally and transversely to the
puddling tool. The apparatus was exceedingly complex and its operation
imperfect and unsuccessful.

page_text: Now my Invention has for its object the simplication and perfection of that
in which the said Charles Schafaut failed, and consists in an improved
method of imparting, by mechanical means, motion laterally and transversely
to the puddling tool, such lateral and transverse motion being produced simul-
taneously, being continuous, and also, as regards the transverse motion, being
reversible by means of self-acting gear. Instead of obtaining the requisite power
from a separate prime mover and transmitting the same through wheels or
pullies, I construct a small engine and apply its power directly to the apparatus;
the engine consists of a cylinder and piston, with suitable valves of any approved
kind, and it may be worked either by steam, by compressed or heated air, or
by water, but I prefer water wherein it can be obtained economically at a
suitable pressure. The engine is placed immediately over or upon the roof of
the puddling furnace and in a line with the centre of the furnace door. It is
mounted on a pivot in such manner that the cylinder may be turned round
horizontally upon its centre to any required angle. To the sides or bed plate
of the engine a bracket or projecting arm is attached of such dimensions that
its extremity will overhang the front of the furnace. From the point of the
projecting arm a bar is suspended (which I will call the suspension rod) of
such length that its lower extremity will hang opposite the working hole of the
furnace door. The piston rod of the engine is attached to a connecting rod
lying in the same line, and the end of which is connected by a pin or other
coupling or a parallel motion to the suspension rod, so that when the engine is
put in motion the suspension rod will be made to vibrate to and fro. The
lower end of the suspension rod which hangs before the working hole in the
furnace door is provided with a hook, ring, or cross bar, upon which the
outer end of the puddling tool is made to rest and by which it is retained in its
proper position, the other end of the tool being introduced into the furnace
amongst the melted metal. The vibratory motion of the suspension rod thus
communicates a corresponding motion to the tool, which is made to work back-
wards and forwards over the hearth or bottom of the furnace. This is the
longitudinal motion. The pivot on which the cylinder rests is surrounded by
a circular detent wheel or ratchet with pawls. At each stroke of the piston
the pawls are raised, and the detent wheel or ratchet, made to move forward
one tooth. By this means the cylinder is caused to rotate horizontally on its
pivot, carrying along with it the projecting arm, suspension rod, and tool, and
thus transverse motion is imparted to the tool simultaneously with the longitu-
dinal motion, and thereby every part of the bottom of the furnace is successively
brought under its operation. The cylinder is permitted to describe a segment
of a circle sufficiently large to allow the tool to traverse the whole of the

page_text: furnace bottom, and on arriving at either extremity the action of the pawls in
the detent wheel or ratchet is reversed by any approved method commonly used
by machinists for producing self-acting reversible motion. The form of the
puddling furnace may, if desired, be modified and the size increased, so as to
receive a working tool on each side alternately, in which case both ends of
the piston rod must be furnished with connecting rod, suspension rod, and
projecting arm, as above described.
In some cases, when it is not convenient to place the engine on the roof of
the furnace, it may be mounted on a portable trolly or carriage of a suitable
elevation, and may then be placed opposite the working door of the furnace, the
attachment of the connecting rod being made directly to the working tool, or, if
preferred, to an intermediate bar, a suspension rod, or a parallel motion. The
metal may be melted in the usual manner, or in a separate furnace, and after
being worked and stirred by the tools until it comes to nature it is to be balled
and withdrawn from the furnace by manual labour in the mauner commonly
practised.
My Invention applies only to the facilitating of that part of the process
of puddling which can be done whilst the iron is in a fluid or semi-fluid
state.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Harrison in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 8th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
HARRISON, of Tudhoe, near Ferry Hill, in the County of Durham, Mechanical
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Harrison, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Harrison, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Thomas Harrison, 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 migh
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain

page_text: $6
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PUDDLING IRON AND STEEL," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Harrison, 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 5
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 Thomas Harrison, do hereby declare 1
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 fol-
lowing statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in an improved method of applying mechanical
power to the process of puddling iron and steel, as a substitute for and 1
auxilliary to manual labor.
In the year 1886 (the 13th June, No. 7117) Letters Patent were granted
to Charles Schafhautl, of Dudley, for "Certain Improved Apparatus for
Puddling Iron," and which apparatus, as described in his Specification,
consisted in part of a combination of wheels, levers, and cranks, which were 2
to be put in motion by any convenient prime mover, and whereby it was
proposed to impart a compound motion longitudinally and transversely to the
puddling tool. The apparatus was exceedingly complex, and its operation
imperfect and unsuccessful.
Now my Invention has for its object the simplification and perfection of
that in which the said Charles Schafhautl failed, and consists in an improved
method of imparting by mechanical means motion laterally and transversely
to the puddling tool, such lateral and transverse motion being produced simul-
taneously, being continuous, and also, as regards the transverse motion, being
reversible by means of self-acting gear.
Figure 1 is a side view; Figure 2, a front view; Figure 3, a back view;
and Figure 4, a plan of the apparatus which I employ. It will be seen that
instead of obtaining the requisite power from a separate prime mover and
transmitting the same through wheels or pullies, as was before suggested, I
construct a small engine and apply its power directly to the apparatus.
The engine consists of a cylinder a and piston, with suitable valves of any
approved kind, and it may be worked either by steam, by compressed or
heated air, or by water, but I prefer water wherever it can be obtained
economically at a suitable pressure. The engine is placed immediately over
{

page_text: or upon the roof of the puddling furnace 6, and in a line with the centre of
the furnace door 6'. It is mounted on a pivot c in such manner that the
cylinder a may be turned round horizontally upon its centre to any required
angle. To the sides or cylinder of the engine a bracket or projecting arm d
is attached, of such dimensions that its extremity will overhang the front of
the furnace b. From the point of the projecting arm da bar e is suspended
(which I will call the suspension rod) of such length that its lower extremity
will hang opposite the working hole 6 of the furnace door. The piston rod a¹
of the engine is attached to a connecting rod f³, lying in the same line, and the
end of which is connected by a pin or other coupling, or a parallel motion to
the suspension rod e, so that when the engine is put in motion the suspension
rod will be made to vibrate to and fro. The lower end of the suspension rod e,
which hangs before the working hole in the furnace door, is provided with a
hook e, or it may be a ring or cross bar, upon which the outer end of the
puddling tool g is made to rest, and by which it is retained in its proper
position, the other end of the tool being introduced into the furnace 6 amongst
the melted metal. The vibratory motion of the suspension rod thus commu-
nicates a corresponding motion to the tool g, which is made to work backwards
and forwards over the hearth or bottom of the furnace; this is the longitudinal
motion. The pivot c, on which the cylinder rests, is surrounded by a worm
wheel h, and a worm i gears therewith; the bearings of this worm are fixed
to the cylinder; k is a ratchet wheel on the axis of the worm; it is driven by
the lever, mounted loosely on the same axis, and receiving motion from the
rod m, which at its further end is pin jointed to the suspension rod e; n, n, are
pawls, carried by a pin on the lever l, and furnished with a tumbling weight o,
which acts constantly to press one or other of the pawls into the teeth;
the weight is on one side of its pin or axis it keeps one pawl in action, and
when on the other side the other pawl, so that the direction in which the
worm i is rotated is reversed by throwing over the weight o from one side to
the other; this is conveniently done by a tappet o' upon it, with which a
finger p on the axis of the worm comes in contact, when the motion is to be
reversed. The finger p may be fast upon its axis, as the Drawing shews, or,
if a longer range of motion be required, the finger may be arranged to turn
freely on its axis for a portion of a revolution, and then to come against a
stop; similarly any desired length of motion may be obtained. Or a circular
detent wheel or ratchet, with pawls, may be substituted for the worm wheel h,
and then at each stroke of the piston the pauls are raised, and the detent
wheel or ratchet made to move forward one tooth. By this means the
cylinder a is caused to rotate horizontally on its pivot c, carrying along with it
when

page_text: the projecting arm d, suspension rod e, and tool g, and thus transverse motion is
imparted to the tool simultaneously with the longitudinal motion, and thereby
every part of the bottom of the furnace 6 is successively brought under its
operation. The cylinder a is permitted to describe a segment of a circle
sufficiently large to allow the tool g to traverse the whole of the furnace
bottom, and on arriving at either extremity the action of the pauls in the
detent wheel or ratchet is reversed as described, or by any approved method
commonly used by machinists for producing self-acting reversible motion.
The valve is conveniently worked by a projection m³ on the rod m coming
against tappets 9, q, on the valve rod. The form of the puddling furnace
may, if desired, be modified, and the size increased so as to receive a working
tool on each side alternately, in which case both ends of the piston rod must
be furnished with a connecting rod, suspension rod, and projecting arm, as
above described.
In some cases, when it is not convenient to place the engine on the
roof of the furnace, it may be mounted on a portable trolly or carriage
of a suitable elevation, and may then be placed opposite the working door
of the furnace, the attachment of the connecting rod being made directly
to the working tool, or, if preferred, to an intermediate bar, a suspension rod,
or a parallel motion. The metal may be melted in the usual manner, or in a
separate furnace, and after being worked and stirred by the tools until it
comes to nature, it is to be balled and withdrawn from the furnace by manual
labor, in the manner commonly practised.
My Invention applies only to the facilitating of that part of the process of
puddling which can be done whilst the iron is in a fluid or semi-fluid state.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Harrison, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
THOMAS HARRISON. (L.s.)