IMPROVEMENTS IN CON- VERTERS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL AND OTHER METALS, AND REFINING OIL AND OTHER LIQUIDS."
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Webster, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CON-
VERTERS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL AND OTHER METALS, AND REFINING
OIL AND OTHER LIQUIDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Webster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th May 1870.
I, JAMES WEBSTER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN CONVERTERS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL AND OTHER METALS,
AND REFINING OIL AND OTHER LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
The improvements which constitute this Invention relate to the mode
of constructing, mounting, and fitting converters, for the manufacture
of steel and other metals, and refining oil and other liquids, and have
for their object,―
TAL
M
..

page_text: Secondly. To dispense with the hollow trunnion and connecting pipe
as used in the Bessemer converters.
And thirdly. To provide a means for inspecting the tuyeres, and
obtaining access thereto, while the metal is in the converter, or at any
time when required, without detaching any of the parts.
And also for emptying the converter without capsizing it in case of
accident.
In carrying out the said Invention instead of forming the converter
with hollow trunnions and driving the blast through the same and
through a connecting pipe and side of the tuyere box, and closing the
latter with a fixed cover in the usual way, form the converter with a
circular flange or belt, and make the trunnions solid, and drive the blast
through a jacket in which the flange or belt works air-tight. I form the
tuyere at the bottom of the converter in this belt and make the jacket
in which the belt works rather more than a quadrant extending above
the centre at the side, and beyond the centre at the bottom.
When it is required to obtain access to the tuyeres or to inspect them
the converter is turned upon the trunnions until the tuyere opening is
clear of the jacket either at the side or bottom. By turning the converter
a few inches till the tuyere opening is clear of the jacket at the bottom
the metal can be quickly discharged in case of accident.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Webster in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES 2
WEBSTER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty- 3
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Webster, Her special licence that I,
the said James Webster, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Webster, my executors, administrators,

page_text: 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, usc, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONVERTERS FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF STEEL AND OTHER METALS, REFINING OIL AND OTHER LIQUIDS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Webster, 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 James Webster, 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 :-
The improvements which constitute this Invention relate to the mode
of constructing, mounting, and fitting converters for the manufacture of
steel and other metals, and refining oil and other liquids, and have for
their object,―
Firstly. To dispense with the fixed cover of the tuyere box.
Secondly. To dispense with the hollow trunions and connecting pipe.
as used in the "Bessemer converters."
And thirdly. To provide a means for inspecting the tuyeres and
obtaining access thereto, while the metal, &c., is in the converter or
at any time when required, without detaching any of the parts.
And also for emptying the converter, without capsizing it in case of
accident.
In carrying out the said Invention instead of forming the converter with
hollow trunnions and driving the blast through the same and through a
connecting pipe and side of the tuyere box, and closing the latter with a
fixed cover in the usual way, (and thereby preventing access to the said
tuyere box without removing such cover), I form the converter with solid
trunnions and with a circular and flanged belt and segmental hollow
jacket, through which jacket the blast is driven and in which the flanged
belt is fitted to work air-tight, In this belt and at the bottom of the

page_text: converter I form the tuyere box and make the jacket in which the belt
works rather more than a quarter of a circle, so as to extend above the
centre at the side and beyond the centre at the bottom, and thus inclose
the open mouth of the tuyere box in the belt when the converter is in a
vertical, horizontal, or any intermediate position.
When it is required to inspect or obtain access to the tuyeres the
converter is turned upon the trunnions until the tuyere opening is clear
of the jacket at the side or at the bottom. By turning the converter
when in a vertical position a few inches in the opposite direction to that
in which it is intended to work for emptying it when in perfect order, or
until the tuyere opening is clear of the jacket at the bottom, the metal or
contents can be quickly discharged in case of accident.
Fig. 1 is a sectional plan of a converter formed, mounted, and fitted,
as herein described; Fig. 2 is a side elevation; and Fig. 3, a longitudinal
section through the centre line A, A, at Fig. 1.
The following reference applies to cach Figure where the index letters
appeara is a bed plate; b, b', standards, in which the bearings of the
solid trunnions c, c³, which carry the converter and upon which it turns
are fitted; d is a toothed wheel fixed to the end of the trunnion c¹, and
in gear with the screw e; this screw is fixed to the shaft f, mounted in
the bearings g, g¹, and g², and turned by the wheel h, for moving the
converter as required; i is the body of the converter; j,
the belt; and k,
the belt flange turned to a true circle at the periphery and also turned on
both edges; is the jacket turned or bored interally to receive the flange
of the belt, and in which the periphery of the latter works air-tight;
and, are adjusting side plates, the inner faces of which are turned
true and fitted to the turned edges of the belt flange, and thus form a
rebate in which the said flange may work air-tight; m is a channel in
the jacket, extending along the rebate and round the flange of the belt
from n to n in order that the blast may remain on while the con-
verter is moving from its vertical towards its inclined position for
discharging its converted contents; o is an opening in the side of the
jacket to which the blast pipe is attached; p is a transverse channel
connecting the opening o with the channel m; q is the tuyere box; r, the
66
"

page_text: mouth of the converter, which is shewn upon the Drawing as turned over
upon its trunnions until the open end of the tuyere box is raised clear of
the jacket, and in which position the tuyeres can be examined at each
discharge if required, and be repaired or renewed when necessary without
disconnecting any of the other parts.
What I claim as my said Invention, and desire to secure by the before-
mentioned and in part recited Letters Patent is, the construction of con-
verters for the purposes herein mentioned with a flanged or other similar
belt, open tuyere box and solid trunnions, and fitting such converters
to work air-tight in a hollow jacket through which the blast is driven.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Webster, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.