IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PUDDLING IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Griffiths, of Derby, Manager of Iron Works,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PUDDLING IRON
AND STEEL."
Sealed the 12th December 1863, and dated the 26th June 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Griffiths at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
June 1863.
I, JOHN GRIFFITHS, of Derby, Manager of Iron Works, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
PUDDLING IRON AND STEEL," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the mechanical arrangements, herein-after described,
for performing the process called puddling, in the conversion of cast iron into
wrought iron or steel. The said puddling process consists in stirring the
melted cast iron on the bed of a reverberatory furnace, so as to expose it to
the action of the air. This is usually performed by means of a stirring tool
called a rabble, by which the workman stirs the melted iron. By means of
my Invention the same or nearly the same motion is given to a rabble as is
given to it by the puddler, and the puddling is effected without or nearly
without manual labour. On the top of the furnace plates two cross bars are
fixed, which said bars support a circular bed plate over the highest point of
the arch of the furnace. A vertical shaft is supported by the said bed plate;
the lower end of the said haft passes through the said bed plate, and carries

page_text: at bottom a pulley by which rotatory motion is given to the said shaft. On the
shaft, a short distance above the bed plate, is another plate of the same size as
and parallel to the bed plate; the said plate is loose upon the shaft. The last
described plate is supported on the bed plate by means of spheres or balls rolling
in a groove in the bed plate. The plate loose on the shaft receives a recipro-
cating rotatory motion through about a quadrant, as herein-after described.
I will call the plate on the shaft the moveable plate; to the said moveable plate
a jib is jointed, which jib is set about midway between a vertical and horizontal
position, and projects about eighteen inches beyond the furnace door. To the
projecting end of the said jib a bar or hanger is suspended, the lower end of
the said hanger being jointed to the puddling tool or rabble. At the top of
the vertical shaft is a crank and a horizontal connecting rod from the said
crank is jointed to the hanger about two feet from the point where it is
suspended from the jib. A bevil toothed wheel is fixed on the vertical shaft a
short distance below the crank; the said wheel gears with another bevil
toothed wheel of larger diameter. The latter is fixed on one end of a hori-
zontal shaft, working in bearings on the moveable plate. On the other end of
the said horizontal shaft is a pinion, which works into a hollow curved rack
fixed to the cross bars which carry the machine. The said rack is of the form
of a quadrant, and is situated in a horizontal plane. An opening is formed in
the quadrant through nearly its whole length, and both the upper and lower
edges of the said opening are provided with teeth. The pinion in traversing
the rack passes first along its lower edge up the end, and returns along the
upper edge down the other end to the bottom, and so on, the pinion being
guided by a plate situated between the upper and lower rows of teeth. In
this way the rotatory motion of the shaft is made to communicate a recipro-
cating motion to the moveable plate. The action of the machine is as
follows:-Motion being given to the vertical shaft the puddling tool is worked
backwards and forwards across the furnace by means of the crank and
connecting rod. The pinion working in the double quadrant rack commu-
nicates a reciprocating motion to the moveable plate, and the jib jointed to the
said plate, and by the combined motions the puddling tool is made to travel
up and down and across the furnace, and the iron is stirred very nearly in the
same manner as by the manual operations of the puddler. The machine may
be driven by friction gear; hot or cold air may be introduced through the
puddling tool to facilitate the process.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Griffiths in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th December 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GRIFFITHS, of Derby, Manager of Iron Works, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Griffiths, Her special licence that I, the said John
Griffiths, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Griffiths, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PUDDLING IRON AND STEEL," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Griffiths, 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 Griffiths, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of the mechanical arrangements herein-after described
for: performing the process called puddling, in the conversion of cast iron into
wrought iron or steel. The said puddling process consists in stirring the
melted cast iron on the bed of a reverberatory furnace, so as to expose it to
the action of the air. This is usually performed by means of a stirring tool
called a rabble, by which the workman stirs the melted iron. By means of
my Invention the same or nearly the same motion is given to a rabble as is.
given to it by the puddler, and the puddling is effected without or nearly
without manual labour. On the top of the furnace plates two cross bars are
fixed, which said bars support a circular bed plate over the arch of the furnace.

page_text: A vertical shaft is supported: by the said bed plate; the lower end of the said
shaft passes through the said bed plate and gears with a horizontal shaft,
which latter shaft carries a pulley, by which rotatory motion is given to the said
shafts. On the vertical shaft, a short distance above the bed plate, is another
plate, of the same size as and parallel to the bed plate. The said plate is loose
upon the shaft. The last-described plate is supported. on the bed plate by
means of spheres or balls rolling in a groove in the bed plate. The plate
loose on the shaft receives a reciprocating rotatory motion through about a
quadrant, as herein-after described. I will call the plate on the shaft the
moveable plate. To the said moveable plate a jib is fixed, which jib is set
about midway between a vertical and horizontal position, and projects about
eighteen inches beyond the furnace door. To the projecting end of the said
jib a bar or hanger is suspended, the lower end of the said. hanger being
jointed to the puddling tool or rabble. At the top of the vertical shaft is a
crank, and a horizontal connecting rod from the said crank is jointed to the
hanger about two feet from the point where it is suspended from the jib. A
bevil toothed wheel is fixed on the vertical shaft a short distance below the
'crank. The said wheel gears with another bevil toothed wheel of larger
diameter. The latter is fixed on one end of a horizontal shaft working in
bearings on the moveable plate. On the other end of the said horizontal shaft
is a pinion, which works into a hollow curved rack fixed to the cross bars
which carry the machine. The said rack is of the form of a quadrant, and is
situated in a horizontal plane. An opening is formed in the quadrant rack
through nearly its whole length, and both the upper and lower edges of the
said opening are provided with teeth. The pinion in traversing the rack
passes first along its lower edge, up the end, and returns along the upper edge,
down the other end to the bottom, and so on, the pinion being guided by a
plate situated between the upper and lower rows of teeth. In this way the
rotatory motion of the shaft is made to communicate a reciprocating motion to
the moveable plate.
The action of the machine is as follows:-Motion being given to the
vertical shaft, the puddling tool is worked backwards and forwards across the
furnace by means of the crank and connecting rod. The pinion working in
the double quadrant rack communicates a reciprocating motion to the moveable
plate and to the jib carried by the said plate, and by the combined motions the
puddling tool is made to travel up and down and across the furnace, and the
iron is stirred very nearly in the same manner as by the manual operations of
the puddler. The machine may be driven by friction gear. Hot or cold air
may be introduced through the puddling tool to facilitate the process.

page_text: Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents a front. elevation of a puddling machine constructed
according to my Invention, the said puddling machine being represented in
connection with a puddling or reverberatory furnace of the ordinary kind.;
Figure 2 represents the said machine in side elevation (the furnace being
shown in vertical transverse section); and Figure 3 is a plan of the said
machine. The same letters and figures of reference indicate the same parts
in the several Figures of the Drawings.
.
a, a, are the two cross bars fixed on the top of the furnace.b, on which said bars
a circular bed plate c is fixed. Above the bed plate c, and parallel thereto, is
another circular plate d. The said plate d is moveable, and has a reciprocating
motion through about a quadrant imparted to it in the manner herein-after
explained. The moveable plate d is supported on the bed plate c by means of
the spheres or balls e, the said spheres working in a groove in the said bed-
plate c;f is a vertical shaft working at bottom.in. a bearing g in the bed plate c;
and at top in a bearing g³ formed in the curved end of the upright. h. The
said shaft fis also supported by the moveable plate d, but the said shaft works
loosely through the said moveable plate. The lower end of the shaft ƒ passes
through the bed plate c, and carries a bevil toothed wheel i, which gears with
another bevil toothed wheel k on the horizontal shaft l, from which said
horizontal shaft the several motions of the machine are derived. Rotatory
motion is communicated to the shaft / by a. chain or band from a prime mover
passing over the loose clutch pulley m. On the said shaft 7 is a fixed clutch n;
but capable of sliding on a feather on the shaft, and by means of. the forked
lever o and rod p the said fixed clutch n can be thrown into. and out of gear
with the clutch pulley m, and a rotatory motion thereby communicated to the
said shaft 7, or the motion of the said shaft / arrested. . To the moveable plate d
a jib g is fixed, the said jib having the angle best seen in Figure 2, so as to
project about eighteen inches beyond the furnace door 6. To the projecting
end of the said jib q a bar or hanger is suspended by a socket joint s,
which socket joint permits. the said hanger r to move both longitudinally
and transversely. The lower end of the hanger r is made into two forks t, u,
one on each side, into one or other of which forks the puddling tool or rabble v
can be jointed by the axis won, the said tool or rabble being dropped into
either of the said forks t. or u. The object of the double hook to the hanger r
is berein-after explained. The hanger r, to which the puddling tool or
rabble v. is jointed, has a backward and forward motion given to it in com-

page_text: bination with a reciprocating motion of partial rotation. The backward and
forward motion of the hanger r is effected in the following manner :-On the
top of the vertical shaftf a crank a is keyed, the said crank being connected
to the hanger r through the connecting rod y. The pin of the crank
which connects the rod y thereto passes through a slot in the said crank and
can be adjusted in the said slot for the purpose of adjusting the stroke of the
connecting rod y. On the hanger r is a socket joint, to which joint the
forked end of the rod y is jointed by means of two pins or. studs, one on either
side. These studs are made fast in the socket joint r³, but loose in the fork of the
rod y, thus allowing the said rod to change its horizontal position to the circle
described by the hanger, the socket joint moving freely round the hanger,
when a semi-rotary motion is given to the said hanger, which motion of the
hanger is guided by the bow 2 fixed to the moveable plate d, the said bow 2
being so shaped that the puddling tool or rabble v carried by the said hanger
is made to travel round the jamb of the puddling furnace. The reciprocating
motion or partial rotation of the hanger r is effected as follows:-Near the
upper part of the vertical shaft f, and below the crank x, a bevil toothed wheel
8 is fixed, the said wheel 3' gearing. with another and larger bevil toothed
wheel 4 on the end of the horizontal shaft 5. The end of the said hori-
zontal shaft works in a long bearing 6 in the standard h, carried by and fixed
to the moveable plate d. The horizontal shaft 5 is provided with an universal
joint 7. On the opposite end of the shaft a pinion is fixed (not shown in the
Drawings), which pinion works into a hollow curved rack 8 fixed to the cross
bars a, a, which carry the machine. The said rack 8 is nearly in the form of
a quadrant, and is situated in a horizontal plane. The quadrant shape of the
rack is best seen in the plan Figure 3. An opening is formed in the quadrant
rack 8 nearly through its whole length, and both the upper and lower edges
and ends of the said opening are provided with teeth, as best seen in Figure 1.
The pinion on the end of the shaft 5 in traversing the rack 8 passes along the
lower edge, up the end, and returning along the upper edge down the other
end to the bottom, and so on, the pinion being guided in its motion by the
guide plate 10 (see Figure 1) between the upper and lower rows of teeth.
By means of the double quadrant rack 8 the rotary motion of the shaft 5 is
made to communicate a reciprocating motion of partial rotation to the
moveable plate d, and thence to the hanger r and puddling tool v, the plate d
being made to travel with or follow the motion of the said shaft 5 by mears
of the bar 11, situated directly under the said shaft. One end of the bar 11
is connected to the plate d, and the other end 11* is forked a short distance
from the rack to enable the shaft 5 to work in it (see Figures 2 and 3). The

page_text: universal joint 7 in the shaft 5 allows the said shaft to deviate from a
horizontal position caused by the pinion traversing the rack. By the com-
'bined motions which are communicated in the manner explained through the
hanger.r to the puddling tool or rabble v, the said tool is made to travel up,
and down, and across the bed of the furnace, the said tool describing in its
motion a figure somewhat resembling that of an ellipse, and the iron is stirred
up very nearly in the same manner as by the manual operations of the
puddler. By the said motion of the puddling tool or rabble the iron is drawn
at each stroke of the said tool from the back of the furnace, and is at the same
time stirred or agitated, whereas if the said tool had only a backward and
forward motion in the furnace, it would push the iron against the back of the
furnace and leave it there. When the furnace with which my Invention is
used has recently undergone the process called "fettling," the puddling tool v
is worked in the fork u of the hanger r, as represented in the Drawing;
when, however, the fettling of the furnace is worn, the puddling tool vis
worked in the fork t. In the latter case an increased length of stroke is given
to the hanger r, and the increased size of the furnace by loss of fettling
thereby compensated for. The increased stroke of the hanger r is effected by
adjusting the pin z in the slot in the crank . By changing the tool or
rabble from the fork u to the fork t, when an increased stroke has been
given to the hanger, the said tool or rabble has only an increased advancing
motion to the back of the furnace, there being no fettling at the front of the
furnace, the increased stroke of the hanger would cause the puddling tool to
have a corresponding retiring motion but for the changing of the said puddling
tool from the fork u to the fork t. The hanger r and jib q can be made
longer or shorter so as to enable the puddling tool to describe the figure
which the shape of the puddling furnace bottom may require. I prefer to
make the hanger r below the part where the connecting rod y is jointed
of puddled or other steel for the purpose of giving it elasticity and enabling it,
should any part of the fettling or pieces of brick get into the middle of the
furnace, to overcome the increased resistance without giving way. In order
to facilitate the process of puddling, and also to refine the iron, I substitute at
the
proper times during the process a hollow puddling tool or rabble for the
solid puddling tool or rabble represented in the Drawing, and convey to the
iron, through the said hollow tool or rabble, atmospheric air either hot or cold.
The blast is supplied to the hollow tool by a flexible tube capable of ready
attachment to and detachment from the tool, the blast being obtained from
any convenient source. The puddling tool or rabble may be worked through

page_text: a doorway either at the back or front of the furnace, and in either double or
single furnaces.
Although I have only described my Invention as used for the puddling of
iron, yet my said Invention is equally applicable to the puddling of steel.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the
same may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention ; but
I claim as my Invention, combining or arranging the parts of machinery for
puddling iron and steel, substantially in the manner herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Griffiths, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
THOMAS GILLOTT,
Derby.
JOHN GRIFFITHS. (L.S.)