IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MAKING STEEL BY THE BESSEMER PROCESS to be as follows:
Year: 1885

page_text: I, ALFRED DAVY, of Sheffield in the County of York, Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of my said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MAKING
STEEL BY THE BESSEMER PROCESS to be as follows:-
"
My Invention relates to apparatus for making steel by the Bessemer process and
has for its object to provide arrangements for enabling the operation of steel making
to be carried on in a converter which is portable in the sense of being suspended
from a crane or traveller and which answers the double purpose of foundry ladle
and converter so that the loss of heat by the transfer of the metal from one vessel to
another is avoided.
The invention consists essentially in the combination with a portable converter
provided with air inlets in one of its gudgeons and their bearings, of stand pipes
adapted to support the converter during the blow and to make connection with the
air inlets to the tuyere said stand pipes being either fixed or mounted on a bogie
according as the operation of blowing is or is not carried on within the radius of
the crane and being either permanently or temporarily in connection by a pipe with
the air main for conveying the blast to the tuyeres.
The converter is suspended by gudgeons fitted to turn in bearings on a pair of
side rods connected by a cross bar and slung from an ordinary foundry crane or
traveller. The converter is provided with the usual tipping gear and may in other
respects be similar to a Bessemer converter. It has a tuyere or tuyeres in the bottom
or it may be in the side and the tuyere box is in communication by a pipe with one
of the gudgeons of the converter which is made hollow and communicates by radial
orifices with a circumferential passage made in the bearing in which the gudgeon is
mounted. These bearings are adapted to be seated upon a pair of standards upon
which the converter is thus supported during the operation of blowing and the
bearing of the hollow gudgeon is provided with an inlet leading into the circum-
ferential passage at the underside which when the converter is thus supported
coincides with an orifice in the top of the standard on which it rests. This standard
is tubular and is either permanently or temporarily connected by a pipe with the
air main. When the operation of blowing is carried on within the radius or reach
of the crane the standards are fixed, and the connection with the air main is
permanent and the converter may always remain attached to the crane although
Price Sd1

page_text: resting on the standards as above mentioned but in other cases when the blowing is
performed out of reach of the crane the standards are fixed upon a bogie carriage
and the converter after heing placed thereon is detached from the crane and
conveyed by the bogie to the blowing stack where temporary connection is made
by a flexible or jointed pipe between the hollow standard and the air main..
I am aware that converters permanently mounted on a bogie either directly or
on stand pipes thereon are not new but such converters can only be moved about
upon their bogies of which they form as it were a part whereas mine is entirely
separate and distinct and can be lifted on and off and be dealt with independently
by a crane and be blown, and poured therefrom as an ordinary foundry ladle which
is an essential feature of novelty in my invention.

page_text: PICCODD.
I ALFRED DAVY of Sheffield in the County of York, Engineer do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My Invention relates to apparatus for making steel by the Bessemer process and
has for its object to provide arrangements for enabling the operation of steel making
to be carried on in a converter which is portable in the sense of being suspended
from a crane or other overhead movable support and which answers the double
purpose of foundry ladle and converter so that the loss of heat by the transfer of
the metal from one vessel to another is avoided.
The invention consists essentially in the combination with a portable converter
provided with air inlets in its gudgeons and their bearings, of stand pipes adapted to
support the converter during the blow, and to make connection with the air-inlets to
the tuyere, said stand pipes being either fixed, or mounted on a bogie, according as
the operation of blowing is, or is not, carried on within the radius of the crane, and
being either permanently, or temporarily, in connection by a pipe with the air-main
for conveying the blast to the tuyere.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this Specifi-
cation, which represents in Figure 1. a vertical section of a converter, as supported
on standards, in communication with the air main, and in position for blowing.
Figure 2. shows the converter raised off the standards, which, in this case, are
mounted on a bogie.
The converter a is suspended by gudgeons b b¹, fitted to turn in bearings, c c¹ in
a pair of side rods d connected by a cross-bar e, and slung from an ordinary foundry
crane, or traveller. The converter is provided with the usual tipping gear. f and
may, in other respects, be similar to a Bessemer converter. It has tuyeres, g in the
bottom, and the tuyere-box h is in communication, by a pipe i with one of the
gudgeons 6 of the converter which is made hollow, and communicates by radial
orifices with a circumferential passage 7 made in the bearing c in which the
gudgeon turns. The bearings c c', are jointed to the side-rods d, and are faced up
on the underside in order to adapt them to be seated upon the correspondingly faced
upper ends of a pair of standards, m m¹ upon which the converter is thus supported
during the operation of blowing, and the bearing c is provided with an inlet n,
leading into the circumferential passage at the underside; the said inlet n, when
the converter is thus supported, coinciding with an orifice o in the top of the
standard m on which it rests, and the bearing c making an air-tight joint with the
said standard, so that the blast may be kept on whilst the converter is being raised,
from the inclined position in which it is brought from the furnace, to the upright
position for blowing, and tilted back again after blowing; This standard is tubular,
and is either permanently, or temporarily connected with the air-main by a rigid,
or flexible pipe, as the case may be. I have described one only of the gudgeons,
and standards, as being hollow, for the conveyance of air to the tuyere-box, but it
will be obvious that both gudgeons, and standards, may be similarly constructed

page_text: and placed in connection with the tuyere-box. When the operation of blowing is
carried on within the radius, or reach, of the crane, the standards are fixed, and the
connection with the air-main is permanent, and the converter may, or may not
always remain attached to the crane, although resting on the standards, as above men-
tioned, but, in other cases, when the blowing is performed out of reach of the crane,
the standards are fixed upon a bogie-carriage as shown in Figure 2, and the converter,
after being placed thereon, is detached from the crane, and conveyed by the bogie
to the blowing-stack, where temporary connection is made by a flexible, or jointed
pipe between the hollow standards m and the air-main I am aware that converters,
permanently mounted on a bogie, either directly, or on stand pipes thereon, are not
but such converters can only be moved about upon their bogies, of which
they form, as it were, a part; whereas mine is entirely separate, and distinct, and
can be lifted on, and off, and be dealt with, independently, by a crane, and be blown,
and poured therefrom as an ordinary foundry ladle, which is an essential feature of.
novelty in my Invention.
new;
Having now particularly described, and ascertained, the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare, that what
I claim is
1st The combination with a converter, mounted to oscillate on gudgeons, and
provided with air-inlets therein, and in their bearings (or one of them) communi-
cating with the tuyere, or tuyeres, of a pair of hollow standards for the gudgeon
bearings to rest on, said standards being adapted to support the converter during
the blow, and to establish communication between the air-main, and the hollow
gudgeon bearing, or bearings, and of means of suspending the converter, and
lifting it on, and off the standards, substantially as herein described, for the purpose
specified.
2nd The combination with a converter provided with air inlets in one, or both
gudgeons, and in the bearings thereof in connection with the tuyeres, of standards,
fixed upon a carriage, and adapted to support, and to make connection with the
bearings (one or both) of the converter during the blow, of a flexible, or jointed,
and detachable pipe connection between the air main, and the said standard, or
standards, and of means of suspending the converter, and lifting it on, and off
the standards substantially as specified.
3rd The combination of a converter having a hollow gudgeon, and a bearing,
adapted to be connected with a traveller, or crane, and having an inlet on its under-
side, with a hollow separate and independent support, or seat, for the said bearing,
the bearing and its seat being adapted to make an air-tight joint, by the former
merely resting on the latter, the orifice in the seat coinciding with that in the
bearing for the conveyance of air through the hollow gudgeon substantially as
specified.