A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OF REFINING AND CONDENSING IRON OR OF CONDENSING STEEL,. AND NEW OR IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR CARRYING OUT SUCH PROCESS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
PROCESS OF REFINING AND CONDENSING IRON OR OF CONDENSING STEEL,.
AND NEW OR IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR CARRYING OUT SUCH
PROCESS." A communication from abroad by William Sellers, of the City.
and County of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, United States,
America.
Sealed the 19th December 1876, and dated the 12th July 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th July 1876.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OF REFINING AND CONDENSING
IRON OR OF CONDENSING STEEL, AND NEW OR IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS
FOR CARRYING OUT SUCH PROCESS." A communication from abroad by William
Sellers, of the City and County of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania,
United States, America.
This Invention relates more particularly to the treatment of puddled iron, but it
may be advantageously used in the treatment of blooms which have not been
puddled, and also in the treatment of ingots of steel.
In the manufacture of iron the necessity for removing mechanical impurities
inherent in a puddled product has long been recognized, but this has only been
attempted hitherto by reducing, piling, and welding; and although a large pro-
portion of impurities are thus expelled yet each piling and welding introduces a
certain amount of additional impurities, and is attended with lines of welding or
division in the mass, upon which lines separation is liable to take place.
Now the object of this Invention is to refine and condense iron in mass by a
short process, and to produce an homogeneous ingot, not only purer and denser than
a similar mass formed by the piling and welding process, but also free from the
lines of division incident to that process, and without the loss of heat incident to
piling and welding; and it consists in the employment of a method or mode of
treatment which alternately reduces and expands the cross section of the metal,
[Price 6d1

page_text: correspondingly increasing or diminishing the length of the mass, so producing these
effects as to permit a free escape of impurities between the stages and during the
greater part of each operation, and with a rapidity tending to maintain the heat to
the termination of the process; and the Invention further consists of special
apparatus in which this process is conducted.
In carrying out this Invention as applied to the treatment of puddled iron, for
example, the puddled ball is transferred from the puddle to a squeezer which
shapes the irregular mass into a cylinder with flat ends. It is then subjected to
the action of rolls which receive the puddle ball in the form that it has from the
squeezer, and by a series of passes through grooves formed in them convert it into a
square bar which the final pass delivers upon a table. A valve is then opened
which admits low-pressure water upon the plunger of a lifting carriage upon which
a condensing chamber is carried, whereby the chamber is elevated to a position in a
line with the table. The condensing chamber is cylindrical in form and is carried
upon wheels for the purpose of turning it conveniently, as may be required, from
time to time for cooling or other purposes. A charging and discharging cylinder is
employed provided with a plunger which is made of two different diameters and
projects through both ends of its cylinder. At or near its centre it is provided with
a piston which is fitted with hydraulic packing to prevent any escape of water
from the larger toward the smaller diameter of the plunger. Upon the small end
of the plunger a cross head is placed, to the ends of which are attached rods having
a length about twice that of the cylinder, and sliding freely in the guides cast with
or firmly attached to the same. The ends of the rods opposite the cross head are
formed as one half of a rule joint, to which by a corresponding half joint is attached
a charging hook. The ends of the cylinder are provided with stuffing boxes which
fit the respective ends of the plunger and prevent the escape of water at these
points. The larger end of the plunger is provided with a wire swab to brush out
the scale from the condensing chamber, and the plunger itself has a hole passing
through it from the smaller to the larger end, and at this end communicating
laterally with the swab for the purpose of supplying the interior of the condensing
chamber with plumbago and oil.
When the square bar has been deposited upon the table and the condensing
chamber has been raised, as before mentioned, another valve is opened which admits
low-pressure water behind the piston of the charging and discharging cylinder,
when the larger end of the plunger will be carried forward through the condensing
chamber until its motion is arrested by the piston coming in contact with the other
end of the charging and discharging cylinder. In this movement of the plunger
the rods with the charging hook will be carried forward, and during this movement
the hook must be raised to pass over the square bar upon the table; when this is
accomplished the valve last mentioned is reversed, which opens its exhaust port,
and the constant pressure from a low-pressure accumulator upon the piston will
force back the plunger, and if the hook is at the same time lowered the square bar
from the rolls will be carried forward by the hook into the condensing chamber.
The valve first mentioned is then reversed, opening its exhaust port, and the con-
densing chamber will descend by its own weight, forcing out the water which
raised it until it reaches a position in which the axes of the condensing chamber
and of an upsetting cylinder, which is also employed are in one line. The upsetting
cylinder is provided with a drawback cylinder which is in constant communica-
tion with the low-pressure accumulator, so that a constant pressure is exerted
upon the draw-back piston, and by means of a hollow connecting piston rod upon a
innin piston to draw this piston back as far as it can travel within the upsetting
cylinder. The main piston has upon its outer side a plunger which is of a size to
fit loosely within the condensing chamber, and it slides freely through and is guided
by a head securely bolted to the outer or front end of the upsetting cylinder.
When the condensing chamber is in the position last described the low-pressure
water is admitted by means of a valve to the draw back cylinder, and passing
through the hollow piston rod will escape into the upsetting cylinder through

page_text: grooves provided for that purpose in the main piston; at the same time the water
pressing upon the draw back piston the pressure upon the opposite side of this
piston will be eliminated, and the plunger with which such main piston is provided
will be carried forward with a force due to the water pressure upon the whole area
of the upsetting cylinder. Upon opposite sides of the upsetting cylinder are pro-
vided heavy lugs for the attachment to the cylinder of heavy T headed bolts, the
other ends of which bolts are attached in a similar manner to an upsetting block.
As the plunger of the main piston is carried forward by the water pressure the
square bar in the condensing cylinder will be upset between the end of such plunger
and the upsetting block, and if the pressure is sufficient and is continued sufficiently
long the square bar will assume the shape of the condensing chamber, but until it
has assumed this shape, that is, until the condensing chamber is full, there is room
for the escape of cinder at the flat sides of this bar.
For economical use of the power low-pressure water is admitted upon the main
piston until the plunger has commenced to operate upon the square bar in the con-
densing chamber. The valve last mentioned is then closed and another valvo
opened which admits water from a high-pressure accumulator upon the main piston.
This pressure is graduated to promptly complete the upsetting operation.
When the forward motion of the plunger of the main piston has been arrested,
either by the resistance equalling the water pressure, or by shutting off the water
supply by closing the valve last opened at an indicated pressure upon the upsetting
cylinder, an exhaust valve is opened, permitting the escape of water from the up-
setting cylinder, when the constant pressure from the accumulator upon the draw
back piston will retract the plunger from the condensing chamber and drive out
the water from the upsetting cylinder. When this has been accomplished the valve
first mentioned is opened and the condensing chamber will be again raised. The
valve secondly mentioned is then opened, and the discharging plunger will force
the condensed ingot out of the condensing chamber upon the table and the opera-
tion is completed. From this point the ingot may be carried to the finishing train,
which gives the shape required for the finished product; or it may again be passed
through the rolls and the condensing operation repeated as often as the character of
the iron under treatment may require.
In some cases an upsetting plunger may be employed at each end of the con-
densing chamber. This chamber may also be made of other than of a cylindrical
form, as herein-before described, and the operation of condensing may be accom-
plished without changing the form of the metal under treatment.
It is obvious also that hammering may be substituted for rolling in squaring the
metal whilst extending it longitudinally.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th
January 1877.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OF REFINING AND CONDENSING
IRON OR OF CONDENSING STEEL, AND NEW OR IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS
FOR CARRYING OUT SUCH PROCESS." A communication from abroad by William
Sellers, of the City and County of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania,
United States of America.
The said Invention relates more particularly to the treatment of puddled iron,
but it may be advantageously used in the treatment of blooms which have not
been puddled, and also in the treatment of ingots of steel. As being the most com-
prehensive application of the Invention I shall proceed to describe the improved
process as used in treating puddled iron.

page_text: .
.
In the manufacture of iron the necessity for removing mechanical impurities
inherent in a puddled product has long been recognized, but so far as my foreign
correspondent is aware, prior to the date of the said Invention, this has only been
attempted by reducing, piling, and welding, and although a large proportion of
impurities are thus expelled, yet each piling and welding introduces a certain,
amount of additional impurities, and is attended with lines of welding or division
in the mass, upon which lines separation is liable to take place.
Now the object of the said Invention is to refine and condense iron in mass by a
short process, and to produce a homogeneous ingot not only purer and denser than a
similar mass formed by the piling and welding process, but also free from the lines
of division incident to that process, and without the loss of heat incident to piling
and welding, and it consists in the employment of a method or mode of treatment
which alternately reduces and expands the cross section of the metal, correspon-
dingly increasing or diminishing the length of the mass, so producing these effects
as to permit a free escape of impurities between the stages and during the greater
part of each operation, and with a rapidity tending to maintain the heat to the ter-
mination of the process, and the said Invention further consists of special apparatus
in which this process is conducted.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed
particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to the several
Figures on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, which represent in detail the
apparatus which is employed to accomplish the objects of the Invention.
Figure 1 represents an end view of a roll train, in which the section of the iron is
reduced, and the length increased in the usual manner, a vertical section through
the axis of the condensing chamber and the cylinder, which raises and lowers the
same, and a vertical section through the axis of the upsetting cylinder, its drawback,
and the charging and discharging cylinder.
Figure 2 represents a longitudinal section of the plunger and piston for the
charging and discharging cylinder.
Figure 3 represents a plan of the parts shewn in Figure 1.
Figure 4 represents a front elevation of the hydraulic valves, which admit and
discharge the water to and from the several cylinders.
Figure 5 represents a side elevation of the valves shown in Figure 4, and their
operating levers.
Figure 6 represents an end elevation of the upsetting cylinder and of the charging
and discharging cylinder.
Figure 7 represents a side elevation of the roll train, and a cross section of the
condensing chamber and its carriage.
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the Figures.
In connection with the hydraulic mechanism illustrated on the Drawing there are
provided for economical working two accumulators, one for high the other for low
pressure water, the latter having a pressure of, say, six hundred pounds per square
inch, but as these are merely the reservoirs of power, and form no part of these
improvements, and as their construction and operation are morever well understood,
any further description of them herein is deemed unnecessary.
The puddle ball is transferred from the puddler to a squeezer, which shapes the
irregular mass into a cylinder with flat ends. The rolls A, A, receive the puddle
ball in the form which it has from the squeezer, and by a series of passes through
the grooves a and a¹ convert it into a square bar, which the final pass delivers upon
the table B. The valve is then opened, which admits the low-pressure water
upon the plunger of the lifting carriage A¹, upon which the condensing chamber C
is carried; this raises the chamber to the position shewn by the dotted lines in
Figure 1.
The condensing chamber C is cylindrical in form, and is carried upon the wheels
c, c, c, c, for the purpose of turning it conveniently, as may be required, from time to
time, for cooling or other purposes. The charging and discharging cylinder D is
provided with a plunger Di (shown detached in Figure 2), which projects through

page_text: both ends of the chamber, and has a piston d near its centre, which is provided with
hydraulic packing to prevent any escape of water from the larger toward the smaller.
diameter of the plunger. Upon the small end of the plunger there is placed a cross
head d, to the ends of which are attached the rods e, e, having a length, say, about
twice that of the cylinder D, and sliding freely in the guides f, ff, cast with or
firmly attached to the cylinder D. The rods e, which are attached at one
extremity to the cross head d³, as before mentioned, are formed at their opposite
ends as one-half of a rule joint, to which by a corresponding half joint is attached
the charging hook g, g. The ends of the cylinder D are provided with stuffing.
boxes, which fit the respective ends of the plunger, and prevent the escape of water
at these points; the larger end of the plunger is provided with a wire swab e' to
brush out the scale from the condensing chamber, and the plunger itself has a hole
passing through it from the smaller to the larger end, and at this end communicating
laterally with the swab for the purpose of supplying the interior of the condensing
chamber with plumbago and oil.
When the square bar has been deposited upon the table B, and the condensing
chamber has been raised to the point indicated by the dotted lines (see Figure 1, as
before mentioned) the valve h is opened, which admits low-pressure water (through
the pipe ) behind the piston of the cylinder D, when the larger end of the plunger
will be carried forward through the chamber C until its motion is arrested by the
piston coming in contact with the other end of the cylinder D. In this move-
ment of the plunger the rods e, e, with the charging hook g, g, will be carried
forward, and during this movement the hook g, g, must be raised to pass over the
square bar upon the table B. When this is accomplished the valve h is reversed,
whereby its exhaust port is opened, and the constant pressure from the low-pressure
accumulator upon the piston d through the pipe j will force back the plunger D¹,
and if the hook g, g, is at the same time lowered the square bar from the rolls will
be carried forward by the hook into the condensing chamber C (see Figure 7, in
which a cross section of the square bar is shown in position in the condensing
chamber). The valve b is then reversed, opening its exhaust port, and the con-
densing chamber will descend by its own weight, forcing out the water which
raised it until it reaches the position shown by the full lines in the Drawing,
Figure 1. In this position the axes of the condensing chamber, and of the upsetting
cylinder E are in one line. The upsetting cylinder E is provided with a drawback
cylinder F, which is in constant communication with the low-pressure accumulator
by the pipe k, so that a constant pressure is exerted upon the drawback piston E¹,
and by means of the hollow piston rod upon the main piston G to draw this
piston back as far as it can travel within the upsetting cylinder E. The main
piston G has securely bolted upon its outer side a plunger G, which is of a size to
fit loosely within the condensing chamber C, and it slides freely through and is
guided by a head H securely bolted to the outer or front end of the upsetting
cylinder E.
When the condensing chamber is in the position last described the low-pressure
water is admitted through the pipe m by means of the valve n to the drawback
cylinder F, and passing through the hollow piston rod & such water will escape into
the upsetting cylinder through grooves provided for that purpose in the piston G;
at the same time the water pressing upon the drawback piston E³, the pressure
upon the opposite side of this piston will be eliminated, and the plunger G¹ will be
carried forward with a force due to the water pressure upon the whole area of the
upsetting cylinder E. Upon opposite sides of the upsetting cylinder E are provided
heavy lugs K, K¹, (see Figures 3 and 6), by means of which the heavy T headed
bolts L, L', are securely attached to this cylinder, the other ends of these bolts
being attached in a similar manner to the upsetting block M. As the plunger G¹
is carried forward by the water pressure the square bar in the condensing cylinder
will be upset between the ends of the plunger G¹ and the block M, and if the
pressure is sufficient and is continued for a sufficient length of time the square bar
will assume the shape of the condensing chamber, but until it has assumed this

page_text: shape, that is, until the condensing chamber is full there is room for the escape of
cinder at the flat sides of this bar.
For economical use of the power low-pressure water is admitted upon the piston G
until the plunger has commenced to operate upon the square bar in the condensing
chamber; the valve n is then closed, and the valve o opened, which admits the
high-pressure water through the pipé m upon the piston G; this pressure is
graduated to promptly complete the upsetting operation.
When the forward motion of the plunger G has been arrested, either by the
resistance equalling the water pressure, or by shutting off the water supply by
closing the valve o at an indicated pressure upon the upsetting cylinder, the exhaust
pipe p is opened, permitting the escape of water from the upsetting cylinder, and
the constant pressure from the accumulator upon the drawback piston E¹ will
retract the plunger G₁ from the condensing chainber C, and expel the water from
the upsetting cylinder. When this has been accomplished the valve b is opened,
and the condensing chamber will be again raised to the position shown by the
dotted lines in Figure 1. The valve his then opened, and the discharging
plunger D will force the condensed ingot out of the condensing chamber upon the
table B, and the operation is completed. From this point the ingot may be carried
to the finishing train, which gives the shape required for the finished product, or it.
may again be passed through the rolls A, and the condensing operation repeated as
often as the character of the iron under treatment may require. In practice it has
been found that three condensations are sufficient, and if the iron has been well
treated in the squeezer one condensation only is necessary.
I have described the condensing chamber as performing its function in conjunc-
tion with an upsetting plunger and an upsetting block as the most economical
method, and one which is sufficiently effective when the ingot is of moderate
length, but in any case when it is desirable or necessary to condense ingots of
extraordinary lengths an upsetting plunger may be used at each end of the con-
densing chamber.
I have also described the condensing chamber as a cylinder which changes the
form as well as the area of the cross section of the metal upon which it operates,
and this is found most convenient in practice, but the form of this chamber is not
essential, nor is it essential in condensing to change the form of the metal under
treatment.
I have described the squaring of the metal with its longitudinal extension as
being effected in rolls, this being the most economical method of accomplishing this
result with the desirable uniformity, but this stage of the process may be conducted
under a hammer, as is well understood.
In condensing steel the ingot is delivered to the rolls or subjected to the hammer,
and treated in the manner herein-before described for the puddle ball after it has
passed from the squeezer.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect,
I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original, and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is,-
First. The process of refining and condensing iron or of condensing steel by
alternately extending the mass by lateral compression, and condensing it in a chamber
by longitudinal compression, the area of its cross section being alternately reduced
and enlarged at each stage of the process, substantially as and for the purposes
herein-before described.
Second. The combination with a roll train and its table of a condensing chamber,
substantially as and for the purposes herein-before described.
Third. The combination with the roll train, the table, and the condensing chamber
of a device for raising and lowering the condensing chamber, substantially as and
for the purposes herein-before described.

page_text: Fourth. The combination of the upsetting plunger, the upsetting block, and the
raising and lowering condensing chamber, substantially as herein-before described.
Fifth. The combination with the condensing chamber of a charging and dis-
charging apparatus, substantially as herein-before described.
Sixth. The combination with the charging and discharging apparatus of the swab
and cleaner.
Seventh. The combination of the condensing chamber and carrying rollers, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this my Specifi-
cation set my hand and seal, the Tenth day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)