CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAST STEEL AND HOMOGENEOUS IRON
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gjers, of Middlesbrough, in the North
Riding of the County of York, Engineer, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAST STEEL AND
HOMOGENEOUS IRON."
Sealed the 26th May 1868, and dated the 3rd December 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gjers at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd December
1867.
I, JOHN GJERS, of Middlesbrough, in the North Riding of the County of-
York, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAST STEEL AND HOMOGENEOUS
IRON," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object certain improvements in the manufacture
of cast steel and homogeneous iron. In treating puddled steel, raw steel, and
puddled iron for the production of cast steel and homogeneous iron, the material
to be treated has usually been (at great expense) balled and shingled to clear
it from the cinder, and subsequently generally rolled into bars, cut up in
pieces, and remelted.

page_text: Now according to my Invention when crude iron or refined iron is caused
through the action of iron cinder or other additional matter to boil and to
come to nature I transfer the material under treatment from the puddling or
other furnace even before the process of balling, and by remelting or fluidifying
such material I cause it to separate from the cinder and to attain an uniform
quality ready to run into ingots. Thus I melt crude pig iron or refined iron
and work it in the usual way in a puddling furnace, and cause it through the
action of rich pure iron cinder or other additional matter to boil and to come
to nature in the manner adopted for making puddled steel or puddled iron.
At or before the stage called top boil, but before the stage when the steel or
iron is fit or ready for balling up I tap or transfer the material under treat-
ment with as much of the cinder as cannot at this period of the process be
separated, and I run or transfer it into a receptacle, receptacles, or crucibles
in an adjoining reverberatory furnace, by preference on Siemens' regenerative
principle or any other plan capable of producing a temperature sufficient to
melt steel or homogeneous iron. Here I allow it to remain at rest exposed to
a neutral or to a carbonizing heat until the steel or homogeneous iron has
acquired a state of perfect fluidity and has separated from the cinder which
will float on the top.. -The metal may now be tapped into ingot moulds or the
cinder may first be tapped and other flux if necessary may be added to protect
the metal, and to the metal may be added a certain quantity of either wrought
iron or crude iron in the shape of spiegel iron, or otherwise or other matter
(preferably manganiferous), so as to arrive at the point of carbonization and
temper desired.. But I prefer as far as possible to regulate the process so
that the transference from the puddling furnace may be made at such a
period of the coming to nature as will enable the metal after having been
made thoroughly fluid in the reverberatory furnace to be obtained without
addition at the degree of carbonization desired, but to temper and improve the
steel or homogeneous iron I prefer in most cases to add a small proportion of
manganese in some of its combinations or otherwise....
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John-Gjers' in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st June 1868.
++
TO. ALL TO WHOM THESE. PRESENTS. SHALL. COME, I, JOHN
GJERS, of Middlesbrough, in the North Riding of the County of York,
Engineer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her.
reign; did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Gjers, Her special license that I, the said John Gjers, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Gjers, 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:
tberein 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF CAST STEEL AND HOMOGENEOUS IRON," upon the condition.
(amongst others) that I, the said John Gjers, my executors or administrators,.
by an instrument in writing under my, 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 John Gjers, 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:-
:
My Invention has for its object certain improvements in the manufacture of
cast steel and homogeneous iron. In treating puddled steel, raw steel, and.
puddled iron for the production of cast steel and homogeneous iron, the material.
to be treated has usually been (at great expense) balled and shingled to clear
it from the cinder and subsequently generally rolled into bars, cut up in pieces,
and remelted.
: 1
Now according to my Invention when crude iron-or.refined. iron is caused
through the action of iron cinder or other additional matter to boil and to come.
to nature, I transfer the material under treatment from the puddling or other
equivalent furnace even before the process of balling, and by remelting,
fluidifying, or keeping fluid such material, I cause it to separate from the
cinder and to attain an uniform quality ready to run into ingots. Thus I
melt crude pig iron, or refined iron, or recarbonized puddled iron, and work.
it in the usual way in a puddling furnace and cause it through the action of:
rich pure iron cinder or other additional matter commonly used when making
puddled steel, such for instance as manganese and salt, to boil and to come to
nature in the manner adopted for making puddled steel or puddled iron. At

page_text: or before the stage called top boil, just before the metal begins to thicken and
to come to nature, but before the stage when it is fit or ready for balling up,
I tap or transfer the material under treatment with as much of the cinder
as cannot at this period of the process be separated; and I run or transfer it
into a receptacle, receptacles or crucibles, in an adjoining reverberatory furnace
by preference on Siemen's regenerative principle, or it may be run on to the
open hearth of a reverberatory gas furnace which may either be on Siemen's
regenerative plan or on the blowpipe plan in which gas is used in conjunction
with a hot blast. The essential feature of the furnace to be employed is that
it should be capable of producing a temperature sufficiently high to melt steel
or homogeneous iron, and it is also important that the flame should be capable
of regulation to either an oxidising or a carbonising flame. Here in the
reverberatory furnace I allow the transferred metal in a fluid state to remain
at rest for a length of time exposed to a neutral or to a carbonising or an
oxidising heat according as the crude steel metal requires more or less decar-
bonising, the heat being sufficient to keep it perfectly fluid until the metal has
thoroughly separated from the cinder, which will float on the top, and until it
has arrived at the requisite point of carbonisation to form the steel or homo-
geneous iron which may now be tapped into ingot moulds, or the cinder may
first be tapped or removed and other flux (by preference oxides of iron and
manganese in the shape of pure ores of those metals) may if necessary be
added to assist in decarbonising and to protect the metal, and to the metal
may be added a certain quantity of either wrought iron or crude iron, the
shape of spiegel iron or otherwise or other matter (preferably manganiferous)
as well understood so as to arrive at the point of carbonisation and temper
desired. But I prefer as far as possible to regulate the process so that tho
transference from the puddling furnace may be made at such a period of the
coming to nature as will enable the metal after having been made thoroughly
fluid and remained so sufficiently long, to decarbonise in. the reverberatory
furnace to be obtained without addition of malleable iron or ore at the degree
of carbonisation desired. If the proper precautions are taken to boil and to
work the iron well in aisuitable cinder in the puddling furnace it will generally
be pure enough for steel. At the last stage of fluidity, while it is yet fluid
enough to run, and just when it is about to congeal or come to nature, but still
it contains about two per cent (more or less) too much carbon, now by trans-
ferring it and exposing it, say for three or four hours (more or less), in the
reverberatory furnace in a liquid state as herein-before mentioned to a neutral
or slightly oxidising flame under a cover of oxidising cinder, this excess of carbou
gradually works off, and when it has worked down to the point desired (which
11

page_text: may be ascertained by testing samples) I tap it into ingots. Or to temper
and improve the steel or homogeneous iron, I prefer in most cases before so
tapping the metal to add a small proportion of manganese in some of its com-
binations or otherwise. I have found it beneficial to let the metal decarbonise
to an extent slightly below the desired degree of carbonisation of the steel or
homogeneous iron and then to improve and recarbonise the metal by adding a
small proportion of spiegel iron amounting to about one per cent. of the whole."
The carbon may in some cases be partly reduced by the addition of-wrought
iron, or it may be other malleable iron in any. form containing less carbon than
the desired steel. In practice I have found it advantageous for this purpose
to make use of scrap bars, blooms, or balls preferably in a heated state, which
are gradually introduced and melted with the fluid metal tapped from the
puddling furnace. Or in some cases I make cast steel or homogeneous iron
by using ordinary puddle balls in combination with the fluid metal tapped-
from the puddling furnace as before described, for which purpose it may be
found convenient to partially tap or transfer the contents of the puddling
furnace at the tinie indicated (that is just before the metal therein contained
congeals or comes to nature) and to allow say one half less or more of its
contents to run out into the reverberatory melting furnace, and the rest may
be allowed to continue working in the puddling furnace until it has thoroughly
come to nature, and has become malleable, and the cinder has dropped, when it
may be transferred either by shovels or in lumps and added to the fluid metal
previously tapped from the puddling furnace according to my Invention on to
the hearth of the reverberatory melting furnace. The whole of the metal
thus mixed after being thoroughly fluidified and brought to the desired point
of carbonisation in the reverberatary steel melting furnace may then be run
into ingots. Or say four or more puddling furnaces may be employed to one
melting furnace, and the entire contents of one or more of the puddling
furnaces may be transferred before the period of coming to nature while yet'
fluid, and the contents of the remaining furnaces may be transferred after such
contents have got into nature, the entire contents of the whole of the puddling
furnaces may then be melted together in the steel melting furnace. Or the
crude steel metal tapped from the puddling furnace at the period named may,
particularly when it is desired to treat it in crucibles, be run into moulds as
flat cakes, which being broken in pieces may be remelted in crucibles (or in
the reverberatory furnace) in conjunction with malleable iron or with iron ore
to form steel.
I would here observe that I do not claim the use of any of the materials
herein-before specified to be mixed and worked with the sounds steal

page_text: but I claim as my Invention for certain improvements in the manufacture of
cast steel and homogeneous iron, tapping or removing the crude steel metal
from the puddling or equivalent furnace at or about the last stage of fluidity;
and transferring and treating such crude steel metal in another furnace capable
of giving a greater heat sufficient to keep it perfectly fluid, and capable of
continuing so to do until such metal has lost a further portion of carbon and
has become converted into fluid steel or homogeneous iron of the carbonisation
required substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gjers, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
TATT
CUTBRa