IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF TREATING IRON ORES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaac Rogers, of North Haverstraw, in the County
of Rockland and State of New York, in the United States of America,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF TREATING IRON ORES."
Sealed the 10th September 1855, and dated the 20th March 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isaac Rogers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
March 1855.
I, ISAAC ROGERS, of North Haverstraw, in the County of Rockland and
State of New York, in the United States of America, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF TREATING
IRON ORES" to be as follows:-
I construct a suitable metallic cylinder with closed ends, set to revolve on
suitable journals attached to the ends, one of which journals is hollow and
extends to a hopper into which pulverized iron ore mixed with a proper
proportion of pulverized carbon (charcoal) is placed, and the same is fed
through the hollow journal by the use of a screw worm or similar means. The
carbon and iron thus fall into the inside of the cylinder, wherein is a worm
screw or spiral division that, as the said cylinder revolves, passes the iron and
carbon along to the back end, from which it falls out of an opening in the

page_text: cylinder into a hopper that conveys it to the hearth of a reverberatory or
other suitable furnace, where the metal is melted.
The cylinder before mentioned is surrounded by a suitable casing, so that
the same can be subjected to the requisite heat, which causes the iron and
carbon to combine at the same time that the ore is deoxydized and delivered
in a form suitable for fusion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Isaac Rogers in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th September 1855.-
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ISAAC
ROGERS, of North Haverstraw, in the County of Rockland and State of New
York, in the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth-day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of' Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Isaac Rogers, Her special license that I, the said Isaac Rogers,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Isaac
Rogers, 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 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF
TREATING IRON ORES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Isaac Rogers, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.
157
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12.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the, said Isaac Rogers, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
5.1
I
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of my apparatus, complete, and Fig. 2 is

page_text: a cross section of the same at the line 1, 1, of Fig. 1. Similar marks of
reference indicate the same parts.
The nature of the said Invention consists in the use of a revolving de
oxydizing; cylinder, heated to, the required degree by. the caloric from a
reverberatory or other furnace, into which cylinder the ore is. introduced,
in a. pulverized, state, with a sufficient admixture of carbon to combine
with, the metallic oxyd while heated and mixed in said cylinder away
from contact, with, the atmosphere, so as to deprive the ore of a. portion of
oxygen that, passes off as a vapor combined with carbon, and, the carbonated,
ore drops away from the end of said cylinder into a furnace.to be immediately
melted.
'
t
a. is the fire-place of any usual character of reverberatory or smelting
furnace 6 is the hearth of the same, and 2, 2, are the doors, all of which parts.
are to be constructed in any ordinary or convenient manner. 3 is a flue
leading from said furnace to a chimney c, fitted with any common damper (4)
to regulate the draft; d is a chamber supported on columns 5, 5, or in any
other suitable manner, and said chamber d is to be constructed of brickwork,
and sustained by tie rods and braces 6, 6, as usual; 7, 7, are flues running in.
the lower part of the chamber d on each side thereof, and fitted with openings
8, 8, to pass the heat out of said flues into the chamber d; and 9 are suitable.
doors or openings through which said chamber can be cleared out. The flues
7, 7, connect to the flue 3, so that when the damper 4 is shut, the heat will
pass along said flues 7, 7, and out into the chamber d, through the openings
8, 8, to heat the same, and the deoxydizing cylinder placed therein; and 14
is a flue to a second chimney h,, with a suitable damper 15, so that the de-
oxydising chamber can be heated the requisite amount, or the same coolea
down by opening the damper 4 and closing the damper 15, when the heat
from the furnace will pass off by the chimney c. 18, 18, are dampers
regulating the amount of draft in the flues 7, 7.
supported by journals 10 and 11, that set in bearings extending from one side
of the chamber d to the other, and resting on the tops of the end columns 5,5,
so as securely to receive the cylinder e, and allow of its free rotation by means
of power applied to the wheel or pulley f. The journal 11 is hollow, and should
be so fitted that it can slide endways in its bearings to allow for expansion
under the degree of heat to which the cylinder e is subjected; and the said
hollow journal opens into a hopper g, and receives a feeding screw 12, driven
by a pulley or wheel 14, and extending into the interior of the cylinder e, so
that the carbon and iron ore in a pulverized state are passed through said
hollow journal into the cylinder e, in which they are thoroughly mixed by
e
is
a metallic cylinder

page_text: the rotation of said cylinder, and passed gradually from one end to the other
of the same by means of a helical or screw-formed division 16, and the ore and
carbon are passed away by an opening 17, at the back end into a hopper or
shoot i, conducting the same to the hearth 6 below, where the mass is melted,
puddled, or worked in any usual manner. 19 is a slide to the shoot i.
By the method which I adopt of fitting and working the cylinder e, it will
be apparent that I exclude the atmosphere as much as possible, for the mass
of pulverized ore and carbon in the hopper 9 prevents the access of air through
the journal 11; and the operation of the heat on the mass of ore and carbon
as it rolls down the lifting side of the cylinder while the same revolves, is such
as to bring the carbon into intimate contact with the metallic oxyde, and form
a gaseous product, which in escaping through the opening 17 also keeps away
the atmosphere, the result of which is an almost perfect deoxydation of the
ore and a partial carbonation of the same, so that it readily melts and can be
worked in the furnace below.
I do not claim deoxydizing metallic ores by means of carbon in a closed
vessel, as this is well known; but what I claim is, the revolving cylinder (e),
fitted with the helical or screw-formed division 16, to receive the metallic ore
in a pulverized state, and submit the same to heat and constant agitation by
the revolution of the cylinder, while the ore is gradually passed from one
end of the cylinder to the other by the division 16 as specified, the metallic ore
being supplied through the hollow journal 11, or its equivalent.
I also claim the arrangement of the flues 7, 7, in the chamber d, with the
flues 3 and 14 to heat the cylinder e, when combined with the dampers 4 &
15, or their equivalents, to regulate the direction of the draft and the
consequent heat of the cylinder e, as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isaac Rogers, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of August, A.D. One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witnesses,
LEMUEL W. SERRELL,
289, Broadway, New York.
THOMAS G. HAROLD,
289, Broadway, New York.
ISAAC ROGERS. (L.S.)