AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ANNEALING FURNACES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jehoiada Joseph Eagleton, of New York, in the
United States of America, but now residing at Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturer and Merchant, for. the Invention of
Sealed the 24th February 1860, and dated the 5th October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jehoiada Joseph Eagleton,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 5th October 1859.
I, JEHOIADA JOSEPH EAGLETON, of New York, in the United States of
America, but now residing at Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer and Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ANNEALING FURNACES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing and arranging the parts of an anneal-
ing furnace in the following manner :-The brickwork body of the furnace is
supported upon piers of a height somewhat greater than that of the annealing
pot to be heated in th furnace. The said brick body consists of two concen-
tric, nearly conical walls, in the space between which walls the fire plays.
The annealing pot is introduced into the furnace at bottom, the said pot being
placed on a tray or support on the top of a pillar. By raising the pillar by.

page_text: hydraulic or other power, the annealing pot, previously charged with wire or
articles to be annealed, is raised into the furnace. After remaining there a
sufficient length of time, the pot is depressed and may be received on a truck
and removed away from the furnace, and another charged pot may be
brought on another truck, and raised into the furnace. In this way the
annealing may be effected rapidly, and without allowing the fire in the furnace
to become low. In order that the contents of the annealing pot may be
uniformly heated, I make a false bottom to the said pot, so that the real
bottom is raised to a considerable height in the furnace, and the contents of
the pot are isolated from the external air. My Invention is particularly
applicable to the annealing of wire, but may also be applied to the annealing
of other articles requiring annealing. Where it is necessary or advisable to
exclude the air from the annealing pot during use, as in annealing iron and
steel wire, and articles liable to oxidation or scaling, I close the lid of the
annealing pot by a sand valve or by luting.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the, conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jehoiada Joseph Eagleton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th March 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEHOIADA
JOSEPH EAGLETON, of New York, in the United States of America, but now
residing at Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer and Mer-
chant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Jehoiada Joseph Eagleton, Her special licence that I, the said Jehoiada
Joseph Eagleton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Jehoiada Joseph Eagleton, 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 law-
fully 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT. OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ANNEALING FURNACES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jehoiada Joseph Eagleton
my executors. or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,

page_text: or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Jehoiada Joseph Eagleton do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in constructing and arranging the parts of annealing
furnaces in the manner herein-after described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing.
Figure of the drawing represents a vertical section of an annealing
furnace constructed according to my Invention, and Figures 2 and 3 repre-
sent front and side elevations of the same respectively. The same letters are
employed to indicate the same parts in the several Figures. For convenience
of description, I will describe my Invention as applied to a furnace for an-
nealing iron and steel wire. a is the brick work body or masonry of the
furnace, the said body being supported upon piers or columns b, b, of a height
somewhat greater than that of the annealing pot to be heated in the said
furnace; c, c, are the fire-bars or grate of the furnace, and d the ash-pit.
Within the dome of the furnace a and concentric therewith is a wall e, the
said wall being built upon the bed-plate a of the furnace; the height of the
said wall is one-third that of the furnace a.
The fire and ash-pit are contained
in the annular space between the said wall e, and the interior of the furnace a.
The bed-plate a² has at its middle a circular opening, nearly as large in dia-
meter as the circular wall e. The annealing pot f is introduced into the furnace
through the bottom of the said furnace, the said annealing pot being supported
on the tray g, and raised in the manner hereinafter described, through the
hole in the middle of the bed-plate a³. The said tray g constitutes a moveable
bottom to the furnace a, and when raised, closes the bottom of the said furnace..
The tray 9 is supported on the top of a pillar h, the lower end of the said
pillar h, entering the cylinder i, and constituting therewith an ordinary
hydraulic press. By forcing water into the said cylinder i of the press through
the pipe k, the pillar h may be raised, and 'the annealing pot f introduced into
the furnace, and by allowing the water to escape from the cylinder i; the pillar h
and annealing pot f may be allowed to descend. Although I prefer to raise
the tray 9, on which the annealing pot f rests, by means of hydraulic power,
yet I do not limit myself thereto, as the said tray and annealing pot may be

page_text: raised by any mechanical agent. On the edge of the tray g is a flange g³,
which when the said tray or moveable bottom is raised into the position
represented in Figure 1, encloses a flange 1 surrounding the hole in the bottom
a² of the furnace, and forming therewith a joint sufficiently tight for all prac-
tical purposes. The tray g may be fixed in the position represented in Figure
1 by means of cotters at m; as will be understood by referring to the Drawing.
In order that the contents of the annealing pot f, may be uniformly heated
I fix the bottom marked n, of the said annealing pot, at a height from the
lower edge of the said pot f about one-fourth of the whole height of the said
pot as shown in Figure 1. The coils of wire are placed upon the bottom n of
the annealing potf, and the said pot is covered with a lid or cover o, while the
said pot is external to the furnace, that is to say, in the position represented
in Figures 2 and 3. After the annealing pot has been thus charged, it is
raised into the furnace in the position shown in Figure 1. After the anneal-
ing pot has remained in the furnace a sufficient time to permit of
its contents being uniformly heated to the desired temperature, it is depressed
by first removing the cotters at m, and causing the pillar h to descend on
which the tray g is supported. I prefer to lower the tray g, and annealing pot
fon to a truck p travelling on a tramway 9, as best seen in Figures 2 and 3.
The pillar h works through a hole in the bottom of the truck p. After the
annealing pot has been received on the truck p, the said pot may be removed
upon the said truck to a convenient spot where the annealing pot and its
contents are allowed to cool. Another annealing pot charged ready for intro-
duction into the furnace, is brought on the tramway 9 over the top of the
pillar hand under the opening in the bottom of the furnace a, and by raising
the pillar h, the annealing pot is raised into the furnace into the position
represented in Figure 1. The furnace is fed at the doors r, r. The furnace
is covered with a cover s, to which the flue or chimney t is connected.
Where
it is necessary or advisable to exclude the air from the annealing pot f during
use, as in annealing iron and steel wire, and articles liable to oxidation or
scaling, I close the lid or cover of the annealing pot by a sand valve or by
luting.
Although for convenience of description, I have described my Invention
with reference to the annealing of iron and, steel wire, and to which it is
especially applicable, yet I wish it to be understood that my Invention is also
applicable to the annealing of other articles.
By the use of annealing furnaces constructed according to my Invention
articles are rapidly and economically annealed.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of carry-

page_text: ing the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same may be
varied without departing from the nature of my Invention.
But I claim as my Invention constructing annealing furnaces with moveable
bottoms, and supporting the said furnaces on piers or columns so that the
annealing pot charged with the articles to be annealed can be raised into the
furnace, and removed therefrom through the opening in the bottom of the
furnace, as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jehoiada Joseph Eagleton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
H. H. MURdoch.
.
J. J. EAGLETON. (L.B.)