IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PUDDLING, AND IN PUDDLING AND OTHER FURNACES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Whitham, of Perseverance Iron Works,
Kirkstall Road, Leeds, in the County of York, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PUDDLING, AND IN PUDDLING AND OTHER
FURNACES."
Sealed the 28th February 1868, and dated the 7th September 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Whitham at the
Office of the Commissioners. of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th September 1867.
I, JAMES. WHITHAM, of Perseverance Iron Works, Kirkstall Road, Leeds,
in the County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PUDDLING, AND IN PUDDLING AND OTHER
FURNACES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for puddling,
and in puddling and other furnaces.
In arranging apparatus for puddling iron and steel I employ a double
furnace, and erect over the top of the furnace a suitable frame which carries a

page_text: "
vertical axis, having at its upper end two inclined jibs or armis on opposite
sides. At the end of each of these jibs or arms there is a ring or socket
capable of working on axes; through this socket a bar is passed, and a collar
on the bar comes against the under side of the socket, whilst a coiled spring
carried by the bar bears against the top of the socket so that the bar is able
to play longitudinally through the socket a short distance; this bar at its
lower end carries the holder for the "rabble or puddling tool, and it receives
a to-and-fro movement by means of a connecting rod linking it with a crank
on the upper end of a vertical axis, which passes down through the axis of the
armis or jibs, which is made hollow for the purpose. On the crank axis there
is a spur wheel, which is driven by a pinion on a vertical axis carried by the
frame, and which also has upon it a bevilled wheel gearing with a similar
wheel on a horizontal shaft passing across the top of the furnace and driven
in turn from a main shaft passing along the back or front of the furnances.
The horizontal shaft also has a worm upon it driving a worm wheel on a
vertical axis, and this has at its upper end a crank, which by a connecting rod
is linked with the arms or jibs at a distance from their axis, which thus
receives a partial rotation to and fro, and this gives the required traverse to
the tools within the furnace. The last-mentioned connecting rod has a slotted
end, and a spring catch retains the jibs for a time at either end of their course
whilst the pin on the jibs is passing from end to end of the slot, thus an
additional amount of work is given to the metal at the sides or jambs of the
furnace. When the furnace is single I mount but one jib or arm on the axis,
and then one rabble or tool only is worked. The fire-bars for puddling,
steam boiler, and other furnaces I form with a hollow central rib and arms on
each side. The bars are mounted so that they can turn in bearings at their
ends, and they are arranged parallel the one to the other, and at such a
distance apart that the arms on the one bar penetrate between those on the
other nearly to the full length of the arm. Each of the arms of the fire-bars
has a slot through it for the admission of air to the fire, and the narrow
spaces left between the bars serve the same purpose. Each bar is arranged
to receive a lever handle at its end, exterior of the furnace, so that it may be
rocked to clear the fire, or, if desired, the bars may be turned so far round as
to drop the fire. The bars may be all linked together so as to rock or turn
simultaneously.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Whitham in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th March 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WHITHAM, of Perseverance Iron Works, Kirkstall Road, Leeds, in the County
of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of September, 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 James Whitham, Her special licence that I, the said James Whitham,
my exécutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Whitham, 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 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 " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PUDDLING, AND IN PUDDLING AND OTHER FURNACES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Aam,
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 Whitham, 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 :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for puddling,
and in puddling and other furnaces.
In arranging apparatus for puddling iron and steel I employ a double
furnace, and erect over the top of the furnace a suitable frame which carries
a vertical axis having at its upper end two inclined jibs or arms ou opposite
sides. At the end of each of these jibs or arms there is a ring or socket
capable of working on axes. Through this socket a bar is passed and a collar
on the bar comes against the under side of the socket, whilst a coiled spring
carried by the bar bears against the top of the socket, so that the bar is able

page_text: to play longitudinally through the socket a short distance. This bar at its lower
end carries the holder for the "rabble" or puddling tool, and it receives a to-
and-fro movement by means of a connecting rod linking it with a crank on the
upper end of a vertical axis which passes down through the axis of the arms
or jibs which is made hollow for the purpose. On the crank axis there is a
spur wheel, which is driven by a pinion on a vertical axis carried by the frame,
and which also has upon it a bevilled wheel gearing with a similar wheel on a
horizontal shaft passing across the top of the furnace, and driven in turn from
a main shaft passing along the back or front of the furnaces. The horizontal
shaft also has a worm upon it driving a worm wheel on a vertical axis, and
this has at its upper end a crank, which by a connecting rod is linked with the
arms or jibs at a distance from their axis, which thus receives a partial
rotation to and fro, and this gives the required traverse to the tools within the
furnace. The last-mentioned connecting rod has a slotted end, and a spring.
catch retains the jibs for a time at either end of their course whilst the pin
on the jibs is passing from end to end of the slot, thus an additional amount
of work is given to the metal at the sides or jambs of the furnace. When the
furnace is single I mount but one jib or arm on the axis, and then one rabble
or tool only is worked. The fire-bars for puddling, steam boiler, and other
furnaces I form with a hollow central rib and arms on each side. The bars are
mounted so that they can turn in bearings at their ends, and they are arranged
parallel the one to the other, and at such a distance apart that the arms on
the one bar penetrate between those on the other nearly to the full length of
the arm. Each of the arms of the fire-bars has a slot through it for the
admission of air to the fire, and the narrow spaces left between the bars serve
the same purpose. Each bar is arranged to receive a lever handle at its end
exterior of the furnace, so that it may be rocked to clear the fire, or if desired
the bars may be turned so far round as to drop the fire. The bars may be all
linked together so as to rock or turn simultaneously.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood, and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
onnaved

page_text: and.a. are bearers connecting the frames a³ and as over the centre of the
furnace; they support the hollow axis 6 at its upper and lower ends. To the
head: 6 of the hollow axis, b the two inclined jibs or arms 62, 62; are fixed;
63 are rings or sockets at the outer ends of the jibs or arms; they are mounted
so that they can rock on horizontal axes or studs. c, c, are bars passing through
the sockets 63; a coiled spring c¹ encircles each bar at its upper end and rests
on a key passed through the bar, and the lower end of the spring bears on a
loose washer resting on the top of the socket, so that the spring tends to keep
the bar c constantly in its highest position, or with the collar c³ resting against
the under side of the socket; the bar is nevertheless able to yield downwards
should the rabble or puddling tool come against the top of the working or
stopper hole. The bar c is made in two parts fitting the one to the other with
a socket, as is shewn, and the lower part c³ is also made with a T head locking
into a double hook on the upper part, so that the joint may be quite rigid and
also adinit of the lower end of the bar. being readily taken away so as not to
be in the way of the workman as he collects the charges into balls or blooms
for the hammer or squeezers. At the lower end of the part is also a double
hook, which receives into it studs which are formed on the sides of the rabble
or puddling tool. d is the rabble or puddling tool with its end entering the
furnace by the working or stopper hole at the side; e, e, are connecting rods
jointed to the bars c, and actuated by a crank pin on the toothed wheel f.
The axis f¹ of the wheelf is received into and turns in the hollow axis b. g
is a pinion driving the wheel f, and having an axis g¹ carried at its upper end
by the bearer a, and at its lower end by another bearer a, also extending
between the frames or castings a² and a³; 92 is a bevilled pinion on the axis g¹
gearing with a similar pinion on a horizontal axis h, supported near one end
by the bearer a, and near the other by the frame or casting a¹; h¹ is another
levilled pinion on the outer end of the axis h, it gears with a pinion i¹ on the
main shaft i, which runs along horizontally at the back of the furnaces, being
supported by a bracket a* fixed to the frame or casting a¹ of each furnace.
The pinion is loose on the axis, and has a clutch formed on its boss, and
there is a corresponding clutch able to slide on the axis with a key and feather
so as to render the pinion i¹ fast on the axis when it is required to drive the
pinion h. By this train of gear the bars c receive a swinging motion causing
them to move the rabbles or puddling tools across the bed of the furnace from
side to side. In order that the puddling action of the rabbles or tools may be
properly distributed over the bed of the furnace at the same time.that the
swinging action is going on the jibs or arms b² are carried partly round, first
in one direction and then in the other by their axis b. This axis receives its

page_text: movement from a crank pin carried by an arm on the axis k; a connecting
rod links the crank pin with a pin 6* on the head b¹ of the axis 6, and the
axis & has a worm wheel on it, which is driven by a worm 2 on the horizontal
axis h. The motion of the jibs or arms 6 is not continuous, for the end of the
connecting rod which embraces the pin 6* is slotted, so that at the end of
each vibration the connecting rod does not act to reverse the motion until the
rod has moved so far that the pin 6* is brought to the opposite end of the
slot, and during this time the jibs or arms 62 are held stationary by the spring
catch m falling into inclined recesses in the head b¹. When it is desired to
work a rabble or puddling tool on one side only of the furnace, as in single
furnaces, one of the jibs or arms 62 and its bar c is dispensed with, but the
arrangement is in other respects the same. In Figure 4 my improved fire-
bars, are shewn as applied to the puddling furnace, but it will be understood
that they are also applicable to other furnaces. These bars and the parts con-
nected therewith are shewn more in detail and to a larger scale in the Figures
5, 6, and 7. Each of these bars consist of a central tubular rib with arms
springing from it on either side in which air slots are formed. The bars.at
their ends are supported in semicircular notches or half bearings in plates set
into the brickwork of the furnace, and the ends of the bars are secured in
these notches by caps at one end; each bar projects through the furnace to
the outside and has a handle or lever keyed upon it, by means of which the bar
can be rocked. n, n, are projections on the casing of the furnace for securing
these handles or levers when the bars are set level; a pin passing through the
handle or lever enters the projection. It will be seen that the arms of the
adjacent fire-bars pass the one between the other. In the case of the outer-
most bar on either side of the grate a complete grid or grating is formed on
one side of the fire-bar. By forming slots or air passages in the arms of the
bars a free supply of air is given to the fire, and the arms are kept cool
notwithstanding that the arms are of considerable width, as is necessary to
prevent them warping out of shape and so soon ceasing to be serviceable.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
arranging puddling machinery, substantially as herein-before described.
I also claim the mounting the jib or arm on which the bar or holder for
the rabble or puddling tool swings on a hollow upright axis, supporting within
it the axis with which the said bar or holder is connected, and from which it
receives its swinging motion.
I also claim the communicating a partial rotary motion to and fro to the
jib or arm by means of a crank on an upright axis.

page_text: I also claim the arrangement of arresting the motion of the jib or arm at
either end of its course.
I also claim the constructing fire-bars, as above described, with arms having
slotted air passages in them, and arranging such bars so that the arms
interlock, and so that the bars are capable of being rocked.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Whitham, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
JAMES WHITHAM. (L.S.)