IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES AND RABBLES FOR PUDDLING
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gay Newton Alleyne, Baronet, of Butterly
Iron Works, Alfreton, in the County of Derby, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES AND RABBLES FOR PUDDLING."
Sealed the 4th September 1874, and dated the 3rd July 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gay Newton
Alleyne at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 3rd July 1874.
I, JOHN GAY NEWTON ALLEYNE, Baronet, of Butterly Iron Works,.
Alfreton, in the County of Derby, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES AND RABBLES FOR
PUDDLING," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the construction and working of puddling ·
furnaces having beds of the rotating basin kind and rabbles suited for
such furnaces.
I mount the rotating bed, which may be of any known kind, or of the
kind described in the Specifications of Patents granted to me, No. 473,

page_text: of 1865; and No. 1409, of 1867; and in a Provisional Specification filed
by me on the 12th January 1874, No. 161. Within a cylindrical casing
or furnace chamber of refractory material, domed over in the usual
manner, and under or near the furnace, I provide four regenerative
chambers with suitable flues and valves for altering the directions of the
ingoing and outgoing currents. Two of these chambers are employed
alternately for heating the gas supplied to the furnace, and two are
employed alternately for the heating the air. While a gas and air
regenerative chamber are thus employed for heating the gas and air
supplied to the furnace, the products of combustion pass on their way
from the furnace to the chimney through the other pair of chambers,
heating them, and this action is alternated in the known manner of
working what are known as Siemen's regenerative gas furnaces. The
heated air and gas enter the one throat of the furnace together and
form a flame, which plays on the metal in the basin and issues by the
other throat of the furnace.
The two throats may be arranged on opposite sides of the furnace. I
prefer however to place them side by side so that the flame entering by
the one throat has to wheel round the furnace and issue by the other
throat near where it entered. By this arrangement the flame acts for
a longer period on the material in the basin, more space is left in the
furnace wall for access by working doors, and the channels to and from
the regenerative chambers are more conveniently situated.
.
One form of rabble which, according to my present Invention, I
employ for a rotating basin furnace, consists of a bar of iron having a
shank which passes in a horizonal position through a hole in the side of
the furnace chamber, and which within the chamber bifurcates into two
prongs which may be tied together at the end so as to form a loop, the
prongs being so formed that when the rabble is caused to rotate on the
axis of its shank they alternately dip into the molten metal on
the furnace bed, nearly touching the bed, and thus agitating the metal
as it is carried round by the rotation of the bed. Outside the furnace
wall I place a column or frame in which is mounted an upright shaft
worked by bevil gearing from a shaft under the floor, which may be the
same shaft as is imployed to work the rotating bed. . The upright shaft
works by bevil gearing a sleeve or tubular shaft mounted on the column
or frame, and the shank of the rabble is inserted into this sleeve, and
..

page_text: secured therein by a set screw or key, so that when the latter is made
to revolve the rabble revolves with it and its prongs agitate the metal
in the revolving basin.
The rotating rabble which I have described, instead of being a bar
of solid iron bent into a loop, may be an iron tube of like form, the two
ends of which, constituting a double shank for the rabble, are secured
into the tubular shaft in a water-tight manner. The tubular shaft
having two internal compartments, one communicating with the one
end of the tube and with a water cistern or pump, and the other com-
municating with the other end of the tube and with a waste pipe, water
may be caused to circulate through the tubular rabble so as to keep it
cool.
The rabble consisting of a bar or tube bent into a loop, such as I have
described above, is convenient, as it can be supported and inserted at
one side of the furnace. The bar or tube may however be simply bent
into the form of a crank passing quite through the furnace chamber and
revolving in bearings on each side thereof, the cranked part in every
revolution dipping down into the metal in the basin, and agitating the
same as it rotates with the basin.
Rotating rabbles, such as I have described, may be employed with
any rotating furnace of the basin kind, such as those heated directly
by fuel burnt on a grate, as well as with those which are worked as
regenerative gas furnaces.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Gay Newton Alleyne in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 2nd January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN GAY
NEWTON ALLEYNE, Baronet, of Butterly Iron Works, Alfreton, in the
County of Derby, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-

page_text: air supplied to the furnace the products of combustion pass on their
way from the furnace to the chimney through the other pair of
chambers, heating them; and this action is alternated in the known.
manner of working what are known as Siemen's regenerative gas
furnaces. The heated air and gas enter the one throat of the furnace
together and form a flame which plays on the metal in the basin and
issues by the other throat of the furnace.
The two throats may be arranged on opposite sides of the furnace, I
prefer however to place them side by side so that the flame entering by
the one throat has to wheel round the furnace and issue by the other
throat near where it entered. By this arrangement the flame acts for
a longer period on the material in the basin, more space is left in the
furnace wall for access by working doors, and the channels to and from
the regenerative chambers are more conveniently situated.
One form of rabble, which according to my present Invention, I
employ for a rotating basin furnace, consists of a bar of iron having a
shank which passes in a horizontal position through a hole in the side
of the furnace chamber, and which within the chamber bifurcates into
two prongs which may be tied together at the end so as to form a loop,
the prongs being so formed that when the rabble is caused to rotate on
the axis of its shank they alternately dip into the molten metal on the
furnace bed, nearly touching the bed, and thus agitating the metal as it
is carried round by the rotation of the bed. Outside the furnace wall I
place a column or frame in which is mounted an upright shaft worked
by bevil gearing from a shaft under the floor, which may be the same
shaft as is employed to work the rotating bed. The upright shaft works,
by bevil gearing a sleeve or tubular shaft mounted on the column or
frame, and the shank of the rabble is inserted into this sleeve and'
secured therein by a set screw or key, so that when the latter is made
to revolve the rabble revolves with it, and its prongs agitate the metal in
the revolving basin.
The rotating rabble, which I have described, instead of being a bar of
solid iron bent into a loop may be an iron tube of like form, the two
ends of which, constituting a double shank for the rabble, are secured:
into the tubular shaft in a water-tight manner. The tubular shaft
having two internal compartments, one communicating with the one:
end of the tube and with a water cistern or pump, and the other

page_text: flue 1. The valves e and having been set so as to cause combustible
gas and air to pass respectively into the regenerative chambers h² and h²,
the gas and air, after becoming highly heated on their passage through
such chambers, issue through the flues g² and g³ into the throat 9, where
they mingle and produce intense flame. This flame enters the furnace
chamber.b, and playing round therein over the rotating bed a, issues
from it by the other throat g¹, and the products of combustion thence
pass by the flues and through the other pair of regenerative
chambers and (which they heat in passing), and through the
valves e and to the chimney flue 7. When the one pair of regenerative
chambers have become sufficiently heated by the passage of the hot
products of combustion, and the other pair have become sufficiently
cooled by the passage of air and gas, the position of the valves e and ƒ
is reversed, so as to alter the direction of the ingoing currents of gas
and air and of the outgoing currents of products of combustion, causing
the former to pass through the second pair of regenerative chambers,
and the latter to pass through the first pair according to the usual
manner of working regenerative gas furnaces.
"
.
Fig. 4 shews a vertical section of the rotating bed of a puddling
furnace with one arrangement of my improved rabble applied thereto;
Fig. 5 shews a sectional plan. The rabble n consists of a bar of iron
formed into a loop with a shank n' by which it is attached to a shaft ọ
carried in the horizontal arm of a tubular framing which is fixed to
the floor g. A shaft (which may be the same shaft that drives the
rotating bed a) drives a vertical shafts inside the framing p by means
of bevil gear r¹, r², the pinion being loose on the shaft but capable of
being made to revolve therewith by a clutch ³ which is thrown out of
gear when it is desired to stop the puddling apparatus. The shaft 8
drives a horizontal shaft t by means of bevil gearing s¹, s², and the
shaft t drives the shaft o by bevil gear t¹, t2. By this means the rabble n
is made to rotate on the axis of its shank n, whereby its prongs
alternately dip into the molten metal on the furnace bed, nearly touch-
ing the bed, and thus agitating the metal as it is carried round by
the rotation of the bed. The upper part p¹ of the framing p is
› capable of turning upon the lower part, being provided with a bevilled
flange p² turning in a circular guide p³. Thus when the operation of
puddling is completed the rabble n is disconnected from the shaft o, and
the upper part of the framing is turned round on the lower part so as
*...

page_text: to assume the position shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 5, thus leaving the
working door of the furnace free for access. The rabble n is then with-
drawn from the furnace through the door. When the framing p, p², is
in position for working it is secured in position by means of a stay
bar u connected thereto, and hooked into a ring u¹ fixed to the furnace
wall.
As before stated the rabble instead of being made of a solid bar may
be made as a tube for the circulation of water therein. In this case
the shank n¹, constituting a double tube, is fitted into the shaft o, made
hollow with two compartments. The one compartment communicates
with the one end of the tube and with a water cistern or pump, and
the other communicates with the other end of the tube and with a waste
pipe.
-
Figs. 6 and 7 shew respectively a sectional elevation and a sectional
plan of another arrangement of the framing for carrying the rabble.
In this arrangement the tubular framing p is suspended from the
driving shaft carried upon overhead girders v, so that when not in use
the framing can be turned upon the shaft so as to assume the horizontal
position shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 6, a counterpoise w being attached
to its upper end so as to keep it in such horizontal position; when at a
work the framing is kept in position by the stay bar u hooked into a
ring u in the furnace wall. The shaft » is driven continuously by a
pulley, and its motion is imparted by a clutch ³ to a sleeve r³ fitted
loose upon the shaft; this sleeve drives the shafts by bevil gearing ¹, ²,
and the shaft & drives the shaft o carrying the rabble n by means of bevil 2

page_text: Third. Making rabbles, such as are above referred to, hollow or
tubular for the circulation of water therein, substantially as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gay Newton Alleyne, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of
December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-four..
JOHN GAY NEWTON ALLEYNE. (L.S.)