IMPROVEMENTS IN THE. MANUFACTURE OF CAST METAL, IRON, AND STEEL
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MOSES.
POOLE, of Lincoln's Inn, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twentieth day of July,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Moses Pole, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Moses Poole, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others, as I, the said Moses Poole, my.
exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey,.
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE.
MANUFACTURE OF CAST METAL, IRON, AND STEEL," communicated to me from.
abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said.
Moses Poole, shall cause a particular description of the nature of the said.
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument.
in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Moses Poole, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:
The first part of the Invention consists of certain modes of improving the
quality of cast iron, which generally is charged with an excess of carbon, silica,
sulphur, phosphorus, and other injurious matters, which tend to reduce the
quality of the metal. The character of this part of the Invention consists not
only of its capability of removing the injurious matters, but also of removing
just those quantities, so as to have the metal in that state suitable for the
purposes for which it is intended.
I will now describe the mode of operation, not limiting myself to the precise
details, so long as the character of the Invention be retained. And I would
remark that it is when the metal is in the state of fusion that I operate, and
when in the crucible of the furnace the injurious matters will be destroyed by
forcing air either hot or cold over the surface of the liquid metal whilst in the
crucible. My Invention consists in introducing other oxidizing matters in;
whilst the metal is in a state of fusion. When it is to be introduced into the
blast furnace I place it in a state of powder in the twyere hole and allow it to
be carried on with the blast. The oxides I use are of iron, powdered iron ore,
chromate iron ore, oxides of manganese, nitrates, chlorates, chlorides, carbo-
nates, and oxides of potassium, calcium, baryta, and the proportion of these
materials will have to be regulated with care, and by taking a small quantity
from the crucible occasionally the workman will be able to ascertain, whether
the fibre is sufficiently close, and whether the metal is in the state required, or
instead of throwing in these matters in a state of powder, they may be mixed
in a separate vessel and mixed with the metal previous to its being run into
the moulds. This process may be applied equally well to the first process in
the blast furnace and also to the second fusion of the metal in the foundry.
In using the materials in a solid state that are to act upon the metal, they a
are to be placed in a vessel near the furnace and the metal run into them in
the ordinary manner; the proportion of materials to be mixed with one hundred
parts of oxide of iron is from one to five parts of manganese or the other
materials mentioned above to close the grain of the metal. Instead of the
metallic oxides and the other oxidizing matters alone, they may be used with
old iron in the proportion of from ten to fifty parts to one hundred parts of old
iron. The cast metal produced as above explained will be found particularly
applicable for the manufacture of articles, such as small wheels, pulleys, and
various other parts of machinery, which articles when manufactured may be

page_text: tempered and rendered hard by any of the well-known processes of hardening
metal.
The second part of the Invention consists of a method of rendering pieces
of cast metal iron hard; either throughout the whole piece or partly so, and it
will be. found more economical and advantageous than the system now
employed when the moulds are required to be made of a thickness to stand the
pressure of the metal, when in a state of fusion. I have found it advantageous
to make the moulds of thin metal and to cool the external surfaces of them by
applying refrigerating matters to them, either in a solid, liquid, or gaseous state.
If the metal is to be made very hard, I use for the moulds that metal which
is the greatest conductor of heat; thus. with solid bodies I prefer to use filings.
of copper or iron, or moist sand, or fusible metals, or alloys of metal, or ice, or
cold liquids may be employed. These metallic moulds in one or several parts
may be placed in a frame of the ordinary description as those employed. with
sand moulds, and the pulverized matters are placed around it; the gates and
pailings of the moulds are made in the ordinary manner, and the flowing of.
the metal takes place in the ordinary manner. When it is desired that parts
of the article should be soft, these portions of the mould are to be made of.
sand, and when parts of the article should be hard, those portions of the moulds
should be metal; for example, in making cylinders or shafts, the ends would be
run in the ordinary way into the sand mould, whilst the other parts would be
run into the metal moulds. When I employ fusible metal or liquids as the
refrigerating medium, I construct the, moulds with double sides.and place the
cooling liquid between such, or in some cases the moulds may be immersed in.
a bath of liquid, or when water is used it will be easy to establish a constant
current of water around the mould at the time the metal is flowing in; by the
use of these metal moulds pieces may be formed hollow or plain, and large
pieces may be cast in this matter as with the ordinary sand moulds.. The
solidity of the articles may also be increased by putting into.the mould a core
of cast metal, on to which the liquid metal is poured, and thus becomes incor-
porated with the mass again. When making. cylinders I introduce into the
mould a cast metal shaft, on to which the metal is caused to flow, and by,
which the shaft will form the axis of the cylinder, and by which the metal will
be found to be well tempered in the centre, and it will be more solid. I
claim these improvements in the modes of running out the cast metal..
The third part of this Invention comprises two new processes for the ex-
traction of iron; by the first process I am enabled to obtain pure iron
precipitated in a state of powder, or in very small crystals. The principle of
this process rests upon the action of zinc upon a solution of concentrated salts

page_text: of iron, more particularly of the protoxide of iron. If in a concentrated
solution of protoxide of iron of the ordinary temperature, you immerse a piece
of zinc, it will be covered by a thin film of iron, which soon puts a stop to the
action of the zinc upon the solution. It happens sometimes, by reason of the
element of the pile formed by the superplacing of two metals, that the water
of the solution is decomposed slowly, the coating of iron changes color, and
is oxidised; but if instead of heating this solution of iron at an ordinary
temperature, you raise it to a temperature varying from eighty to two hundred
degrees Fahrenheit, and subjected it at the same time to violent agitation,
the iron on the surface of the zinc will be mechanically detached in a state of
powder, and leave the zinc free to act upon the solution, and by keeping up
this continued agitation, no oxidation can take place; I take a solution of
chloride of iron, which has been evaporated, and whilst it is heated to about
one hundred and seventy degrees of Fahrenheit, I put it into contact with a
small piece of zinc of a round cylindrical form; the whole is then placed in a
wooden or other suitable vessel, and after having been subject to contact for a
few minutes it is then submitted to violent agitation and continued for about
an hour until the mixture shall have become cool; it is then allowed to rest
for the time to deposit itself and the liquor is drawn off and the deposit is
washed with boiling water. The powder of iron is readily separated by means
of a sieve of metallic cloth from the cylinder of zinc; when the washing of the
iron has been completed, it is afterwards washed with alcohol, and then dried
rapidly by bringing it in contact with a current of air or by a distilling apparatus;
the iron thus obtained is pure, and in a state suitable for the employment of
the medical uses; when this operation is finished, I have obtained about half
the quantity of iron contained in the chloride employed; there remains then
a residue composed of chloride of iron and chloride of lime in solution.
is evaporated to dryness, and afterwards heated in a distilling apparatus in order
to separate the two chlorides, the zinc passing away from the distilling apparatus
and the chloride of iron remaining to be employed for a new operation, and the
zine would be again readily obtained by the addition of lime and carbon as is
well understood.
This
The second operation consists of the dry method of obtaining iron by the
employment of lime in the obtaining the same; I have said before that in the
reduction of a double combination of iron, that the zinc is employed, and the
reduction takes place at a temperature considerably lower than that of the blast
furnace; I attribute this, first, to the affinity that the zinc has to the body with
which it is combined again from the instant of the combination which takes
place, which are sometimes volatile, and often very easy to reduce, properties

page_text: which allow of the zinc being removed after the operation. The following
illustration will shew one of the applications of this system:-I take a metal
or clay vessel, having the form or nearly so of a crucible, which is to be fixed
solidly in a furnace, and I then fill it about half full of dried chloride of iron,
and cover it over with charcoal or powdered coke for about one inch in
thickness (this charcoal may be dispensed with, but I prefer to use it). I then
add a quantity of zinc, a quantity somewhat less than the quantity of iron
contained in the chloride of iron employed. The whole being thus mixed together
the crucible is to be closed with a cover in the form of an ordinary distilling
apparatus, having the end lengthened, which is to be pressed into a vessel or
receiver for the condensation of the chloride of zinc which will escape; then
part of distilling apparatus should be so arranged in regard to the furnace as to
become heated. The crucible is to be heated to redness and kept at that heat
for about one hour, when the iron will be found to be reduced to a spongy or
crystalline state. I have also operated upon the chloride of iron by causing
the melted zinc to flow upon the dried iron at a temperature of from four
hundred degrees to six hundred degrees Fahrenheit in such manner that the
liquid zinc will mix with the dry iron. The chloride of zinc thus formed and
the zine in excess should be as in the preceding case collected in the distilling
vessels. It is better that the chloride of iron should be in excess with the zinc,
so as to avoid the formation of an alloy of zinc and iron; the iron obtained
by these processes will be found to be applicable to all the ordinary purposes
when iron is employed. In these two methods of obtaining iron, I claim
the use of zinc as herein described, whether in the wet or dry state.
The fourth part of the Invention relates to the manufacture of steel, and is
divided into two processes. The first consists of the use of prussiates or ferro-
cyanides and their component parts in the manufacture of steel, either by
themselves or mixed with coal, during the concentration or added during the
fusion of the steel; the quantities of these ferrocyanides may be varied
according to the quality of the metal it is desirable to obtain, but generally I
use for every one hundred parts of iron from one to five parts of prussiate of
potash. The second process consists of a method of obtaining wrought steel
in casting malleable iron, or by preference old iron with coke or charcoal in
blast furnaces; this opperation is very simple and may be performed in the same
manner as the casting in an ordinary foundry, only it will be requisite that the
furnace should be previously heated to a white heat before introducing the
charge of iron, and when charged the blowing machine should be put into
active operation, so as to raise the temperature of the furnace as quickly as
possible, so as to prevent the iron remaining in contact with the coal as little

page_text: time as possible; the steel thus produced is to be run into ingots according to
the ordinary method. In this part of the Patent, I claim the use of prussiates
and ferrocyanides in the manufacture of steel.
In witness whereof, I, the said Moses Poole, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord. One
thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.
MOSES (L.S.) POOLE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twentieth day of January, in
the year of our Lord 1848, the aforesaid Moses Poole came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her. Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.