IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND MODE OF " PROVISIONALATION OF WORKING OF APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BESSEMER STEEL
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Deighton, of Workington, in the County
of Cumberland, Designer, Draughtsman, and Roll Turner, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND MODE OF
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Deighton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th November 1873.
I, WILLIAM DEIGHTON, of Workington, in the County of Cumberland,
Designer, Draughtsman, and Roll Turner, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND MODE
OF WORKING OF APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF BESSEMER STEEL," to be as
follows:-
In manufacturing Bessemer steel by apparatus arranged and worked
in the ordinary manner time is lost while working and expensive plant

page_text: "
is inoperative, and much time is lost while the " converters are being
cooled and relined or repaired and again prepared for work, such relining
being required very frequently, and the object of my Invention is to
economise the time now lost in working and repairing by such arrange-
ment and mode of working as will keep the plant or apparatus in nearly
uninterrupted work, and thus very considerably increasing the production
with a plant of comparatively little cost, at the same time effecting a
great saving of labour.
"
My Invention consists in the arrangements and mode of working
described as follows:-The "converters are constructed and arranged
in the ordinary manner with all the gearing for operating them, but the
"converting vessel" itself is so arranged that it can be readily detached
from its actuating mechanism, and lifted bodily out of its bearings by a
suitable crane or other lifting mechanism, and I have at least two spare
converting vessels, which when not in use are placed with their trunnions
in pedestals in suitable frames or stands.
When a converter requires "relining" or repair I lift it by means of
a crane or other mechanism directly from the pedestals in which it
works, and deposit it in a suitable tank full of water to cool, and then
immediately lift one of the spare converters which has been prepared
and made ready for use into the proper working pedestals of the
converter, and then fill in the molten metal from the cupola furnace, so
that very little time is lost in effecting the change.
When the converter which has been placed in the water tank has
cooled sufficiently it is lifted out and placed upon one of the aforesaid
framings or stands, where it can be relined and repaired, then fuel is
placed in it and lighted, and a blast of air from a fan is turned into it, so
that it will be heated up ready to take the place of the converter then at
work when it requires relining or repair. I prefer to place the cupolas
which supply the "converter" with molten metal in a row or line parallel
to the axis upon which the converter turns, the converter turning
towards the cupolas when the molten steel is to be poured into the ladle,
which I prefer to suspend from a travelling crane or other lifting and
travelling mechanism, such ladle being then carried by the travelling
mechanism to any convenient part of the building for running the metal
into moulds to form ingots or castings.

page_text: When the converter has been emptied a fresh supply of molten metal
is run into it from the cupola or cupolas down a swivel trough in the
ordinary manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Deighton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th May 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
DEIGHTON, of Workington, in the County of Cumberland, Designer,
Draughtsman, and Roll Turner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Deighton, Her special
license that I, the said William Deighton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns; or such others as I, the said William Deighton, 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 ÅRRANGEMENT AND MODE OF WORKING OF APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE
OF BESSEMER STEEL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Deighton, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Deighton, do hereby declare.
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the.
following statement, and the accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
In manufacturing Bessemer sheet by apparatus arranged and worked
in the ordinary manner time is lost while working, and expensive plant

page_text: is inoperative, and much time is lost while the converters are being
cooled and relined or repaired and again prepared for work, such repairs
being required very frequently, and the object of my Invention is to
economise the time now lost in working and repairing by such arrange-
ment and mode of working as will keep the plant or apparatus in nearly
uninterrupted work, thus very considerably increasing production with
a "plant" of comparatively little cost, at the same time effecting a great
saving of labor.
My Invention consists in the arrangements and mode of working
described as follows:-The converters are constructed and arranged in
the ordinary manner with all the gearing for operating them, but the
converting vessel itself is so arranged that it can be readily detached
from its actuating mechanism and lifted bodily out of its bearings by a
suitable crane or other lifting mechanism, and I have at least two spare
converting vessels, which when not in use are placed with their trunnions
in pedestals in suitable frames or stands.
When a converter requires relining or repair I lift it by means of a
crane or other mechanism directly from the pedestals in which it works,
and deposit it in a suitable tank full of water to cool or to be acted upon
by other cooling arrangements, or it may be placed in a stand and
allowed to cool in the atmosphere simply, and then I immediately lift
one of the spare converters which has been prepared and made ready for
use into the proper working pedestals of the converter, and then fill in
the molten metal from the cupolo furnace or from the blast furnace, as
herein-after more fully explained, so that very little time is lost in a
effecting the change.
When the converter which has been placed in the tank of water, or
has been otherwise cooled sufficiently, it is lifted out and placed upon
one of the aforesaid framings or stands, where it can be relined and
repaired, then fuel is placed in it and lighted, and a blast of air from a
a fan or other mechanism is turned into it, so that it will be heated up
ready to take the place of the converter then at work when it requires
relining or repair. I prefer to place the cupolas which supply the
converter with molten metal in a row or line parallel to the axis upon
which the converter turns, the converter turning towards the cupolas 3
when the molten steel or metal is to be poured into the ladle, which I

page_text: prefer to suspend from a travelling crane or other lifting and travelling
mechanism, such ladle being then carried by the travelling mechanism
to any convenient part of the building for running the metal into iron
moulds to form ingots.
When the converter has been emptied a fresh supply of molten metal
is run into it from the cupola or cupolas down a swivel trough in the
ordinary manner.
Instead of manufacturing Bessemer iron or steel from pig iron which
has to be melted in cupolas my Invention also consists in taking the
molten metal directly from the blast furnace to the converter, in which
case I prefer to arrange the Bessemer plant in a line at a right angle to
a row of two of more blast furnaces, and place a vessel to receive the
molten metal tapped from two or more blast furnaces to get a better
average of metal which will be more suitable for making Bessemer steel
or metal of uniform quality, the vessel or receiver being placed on a
weighing machine so that any required weight may be drawn or tapped
from it and charged into the converter.
Instead of lifting the coverters from their position when in use by a
travelling crane, each converting vessel may be mounted on a wheeled
carriage to run on a railway, and by means of one or more turntables
the converters could be brought opposite to and connected with the
blast pipe and the gearing for turning them upon their trunnions, and
removed when requiring to be repaired, and there might be so many
spare converters as would be required to give time to cool them naturally,
or they might be cooled by a rain bath formed by a great number of fine
jets of water on all sides and within the converter acting simultaneously
upon it, or by envelope or casing lowered over the converter and its
carriage, in which steam, vapour, and spray could be injected so as to
act upon all parts of it at the same time.
In place of the travelling crane to lift and carry the ladle with the
molten metal from the converter the ladle may be mounted in the
ordinary manner, the central axis being carried on a frame having
wheels to run on a railway, but I prefer to use a travelling crane for
lifting and carrying the converters and ladles, as herein-before described.
Fig. 1 is a plan and Fig. 2 a sectional elevation upon the line A, B,
Fig. 1, shewing my improved arrangement of plant for the manufacture

page_text: of Bessemer metal from pig iron. a is the converter with its gearing
for turning and arrangements for the air blast, as usual, except that the
caps of the pedestals for the trunnions are hinged so as to be quickly
removed when the converter is to be lifted out of them, and the trunnion
for the blast is arranged so as to be readily connected or disconnected
with the blast pipe by any suitable arrangement, such as a sliding double
packing box, see Fig. 3, in which 6 represents the trunnion of the
converter; c, the blast pipe; d, the sliding box, having two recesses for
packing rings like those for the rams of hydraulic presses. When the
box is slided entirely on the end of the pipe c the converter can be
removed, but when the sliding box is in the position shown in Fig. 3 the
connection is complete between the blast pipe and converter. a¹, a², are
spare converting vessels placed on stands e, and arranged so as to be
readily connected with a blast pipe f when the fire is lighted in them
and they are to be heated up ready for use. i is the cistern or vessel in
which the converters are placed to be cooled; h are three cupola furnaces
for melting the pig iron; and i are the cupola furnaces for the speigel eisen.
From each cupola there is a channel which leads to a swivel trough j,
which reaches to the mouth of the converter (a) when turned into the
position in which it is shewn in Fig. 2. k is the crane of ordinary
construction, which travels on rails carried by one beam secured to the
side wall on one side, and another beam mounted on columns. This
crane will lift and move the ladle for the molten metal, and lift and
carry the converters when required.
Fig. 4 is a plan and Fig. 5 sectional elevation on the line C, D,
Fig. 4, shewing my improved arrangement of plant for manufacturing
Bessemer metal directly from the smelting furnace. a is the converter in
its position when in use, which converter is capable of being readily lifted
from its pedestals and disconnected with the blast pipe c, as herein-
before described. a¹, a³, are the spare converters in stands e, under
repair, or in preparation for use, as before explained; g, the water tank
for cooling the converters; i are cupolas for the speigel eisen; j, swivel
spout for conveying the molten speigel eisen from the cupolas to the
converter; x3, x³, shows the position of two smelting furnaces, Nos. 2
and 3, and two other furnaces are supposed to be in the same line, one
by the side of No. 2, and the other by the side of No. 3 furnace; y¹, y³,
y, y, are gates or channels from the molten metal from each furnace,

page_text: which channels lead to a receiving vessel m, which is placed low enough.
to give fall for the molten metal to flow from the blast furnaces to this:
receiver m, which forms a receptacle for mixing the molten metals from
two or more of the smelting furnaces. From the receiver m the mixed
molten metal is tapped, and flows down the swivel trough n into the
converter (a). By placing the vessel m on a weighing machine it can be
readily ascertained when the exact quantity required has been tapped
from it into the converter. When the vessel m requires repair it is
replaced by another kept ready for use. When from any cause the
converters are not at work the metal from the blast furnaces can be run
into pigs, the space (9) on each side of the building for the converters
being formed into casting beds. Fig. 5 shows the railway (p) for the
travelling crane (4) the beams for which are carried on the side walls W,
shown in Fig. 4.
I have now particularly described the nature of my Invention, and the
mode of carrying the same into effect, and claim as my Invention,-
Firstly. The system or mode of arranging and working Bessemer plant
by which there are one, two, or more spare converting vessels, so that the
vessel in use may be readily removed from its pedestals or working
position and replaced by one of the spare vessels which has been repaired
and heated ready for use, substantially as herein-before described.
Secondly. The system or mode of working whereby the converter is
taken from its working position to a stand or other suitable position to
be cooled, repaired, or relined, and prepared for use, or to a tank of
water or other position where it can be acted upon to promote rapid
cooling by steam, rain bath, or spray, and then repaired, relined, and
prepared for use substantially as herein-before described.
Thirdly. The use and arrangement of a travelling crane for lifting
and carrying the ladle in which the molten metal from the converter is
poured to the ingot moulds, substantially as herein-before described.
Fourthly. The arrangement of the cupolas (h), the converting vessel
(a), and the spare converting vessels a¹, a², and water or cooling tank
(9), and travelling crane k, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2 of the Drawings.
Fifthly. The system or mode of arranging and working Bessemer plant
in connection with one, two, or more blast or smelting furnaces, sub-