In- PROVEMENTS IN REVERBERATORY AND OTHER FURNACES FOR HEATING AND MELTING IRON AND STEEL, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Clayton, of Wolverhampton, in the County
of Stafford, Furnace Builder and Contractor, for the Invention of "In-
PROVEMENTS IN REVERBERATORY AND OTHER FURNACES FOR HEATING AND
MELTING IRON AND STEEL, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
Sealed the 20th May 1864, and dated the 10th March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Clayton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
March 1864.
I, JOHN CLAYTON, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Furnace
Builder and Contractor, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN REVERBERATORY AND OTHER FURNACES FOR HEATING AND
MELTING IRON AND STEEL, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," to be as follows:―
My. Invention consists essentially in making the whole of the bed of the
said furnaces capable of rotation in a horizontal plane, so that by the rotation
of the said bed the whole of the ingots or masses of iron or steel placed upon
it can be exposed in their turn to the hottest part of the furnace, and the said
ingots or masses thereby heated, or the iron or steel melted upon or in the
said bed.
I will describe my Invention with reference to a reverberatory furnace.
I make the bed of the furnace of a circular form, the diameter of the said bed
being nearly equal to the width of the furnace. The said bed turns upon a
vertical shaft, and a rotary motion may be given to the said bed by level

page_text: gearing or in any other convenient way; or the said bed may be supported
upon uprights, the bottom of the said uprights carrying wheels which work
upon a circular tramway underneath the furnace. The rotary bed may either
be made capable of being removed from the furnace or incapable of removal
from the furnace. When capable of removal from the furnace, I mount
the rotary bed upon a carriage, which works upon a tramway underneath the
furnace. I either heat the furnace from two fire-places on either side the
furnace or from one fire-place only. When two fire-places are employed
the heated air and products of combustion open into the same furnace, and pass
to the stack at the back of the furnace or to a vertical steam boiler. When a
single fire-place is used with each furnace I arrange two of the said furnaces
on either side a stack or vertical steam boiler, the heated air and products of
combustion from the fire-places passing into the stack or into a vertical boiler
situated between them. The rotary bed of the furnace is supplied with piles,
ingots, or masses to be heated or melted, and the heated ingots, piles, or
masses removed from the bed through doors at the front of the furnace or
through the back or front of the furnace in the case of furnaces with single
fire-places. I arrange the piles, ingots, or masses to be heated radially on the
rotary bed, so that each of the said piles, ingots, or masses can in its turn be
exposed to the greatest heat of the furnace. Or some of the said piles or
masses may be exposed to a greater heat than the others, according to the
degree of heat to which the different piles or masses are required to be
raised.
When the furnace is to be used for melting iron and steel, I make the
rotary bed concave or of a basin form, into which concave bed the melted
metal runs, and from which it may be tapped. When the bed is to be removed
from the furnace before it is tapped, the said bed is moved on its carriage by
the tramway to the moulds or wherever else required, when it is tapped through
its hollow axis or shaft, when the bed turns upon an axis or shaft. When the
bed is tapped in the furnace it is tapped through the side of the furnace into a
ladle or other vessel. The same furnace may be used both for heating and
for melting purposes. In this case when the furnace is to be used for heating
only, the ingots or masses to be heated rest upon a temporary flat bed or
bottom placed in the concave bottom of the rotary bed.
The heated air and products of combustion from the furnaces may be
economized in the following manner :-I conduct the heated air and products
of combustion from the furnace or furnaces to a vertical steam boiler, and
heat the water in the said boiler by the said waste heat before it escapes to the
stack. I place the vertical boiler at the back of one furnace or between two

page_text: furnaces. The vertical boiler has a flue in its axis, the bottom of which fluo
opens into a flue at the back of the furnace, or between the furnaces and the
top of the said boiler flue opens into the stack. The boiler and stack aro
supported on columns. I regulate the draught of the furnaces by means of a
damper at the top of the stack; this damper is supported by chains passing
over pulleys on either side the stack. The damper can be raised or lowered
by acting upon one or other of the chains at the sides of the stack. Or the
draught may be regulated by a door at the end or side of the furnace.
My improved furnaces may be heated in the ordinary way, or by the com-
bustion of gas or gaseous compounds, and jets of steam may be introduced
into the furnace.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Clayton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th
September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CLAYTON, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Furnace Builder and
Contractor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Clayton, Her special licence that I, the said John
Clayton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Clayton, 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
REVERBERATORY AND OTHER FURNACES FOR HEATING AND MELTING IRON AND STEEL
AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said John Clayton, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Clayton, 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 :-
My Invention consists essentially in making the whole of the bed of the said
furnaces capable of rotation or oscillation in a horizontal plane, so that by the
said rotation or oscillation of the said bed the whole of the ingots or masses of
iron or steel placed upon it can be exposed in their turn to the hottest part of
the furnace and the said ingots or masses thereby heated, or the iron or steel
melted upon or in the said bed.
I will describe my Invention with reference to a reverberatory furnace.
I make the bed of the furnace of a circular form, the diameter of the said bed
being nearly equal to the width of the furnace. The said bed turns upon a
vertical shaft, and a rotary motion or a motion of partial rotation may be
given to the said bed by bevil gearing or in any other convenient way; or
the said bed may be supported upon uprights, the bottom of the said uprights
carrying wheels which work upon a circular tramway underneath the furnace.
The rotary or oscillating bed may either be made capable of being removed
from the furnace or incapable of removal from the furnace. When capable
of removal from the furnace I mount the rotary or oscillating bed upon a
carriage which works upon a tramway underneath the furnace. I either
heat the furnace from two fire-places on either side the furnace or from one
fire-place only. When two fire-places are employed the heated air and
products of combustion open into the same furnace and pass to the stack at
the back of the furnace or to a vertical steam boiler. When a single fire-
place is used with each furnace I arrange two of the said furnaces on either
side a stack or vertical steam boiler, the heated air and products of combustion
from the fire-places passing into the stack or into a vertical steam boiler
situated between them. The rotary or oscillating bed of the furnace is
supplied with piles, ingots, or masses to be heated or melted, and the heated
ingots, piles, or masses removed from the bed through doors at the front of
the furnace or through the back or front of the furnace in the case of furnaces
with single fire-places. I arrange the piles, ingots, or masses to be heated
radially on the rotary or oscillating bed, so that each of the said piles, ingots,
or masses can in its turn be exposed to the greatest heat of the furnace;
or some of the said piles or masses may be exposed to a greater heat than
the others, according to the degree of heat to which the different piles
or masses are required to be raised.
When the furnace is to be used for melting iron and steel I make the

page_text: rotary or oscillating bed concave or of a basin form, into which concave bed
the melted metal runs, and from which it may be tapped. When the bed is
to be removed from the furnace before it is tapped the said bed is moved on
its carriage by the tramway to the moulds, or wherever else required, when it
is tapped through its hollow axis or shaft when the bed turns upon an axis or
shaft. When the bed is tapped in the furnace, it is tapped through the side
of the furnace into a ladle or other vessel. The same furnace may be used
for heating and for melting purposes. In this case when the furnace is to be
used for heating only, the ingots or masses to be heated rest upon a temporary
flat bed or bottom placed in the concave bottom of the rotary bed.
The heated air and products of combustion from the furnaces may be
economized in the following manner :-I conduct the heated air and products
of combustion from the furnace or furnaces to a vertical steam boiler, and
heat the water in the said boiler by the said waste beat before it escapes to
the stack. I place the vertical boiler at the back of one furnace or between
two furnaces. The vertical boiler has a flue in its axis, the bottom of which.
flue opens into a flue at the back of the furnace or between the furnaces, and
the top of the said boiler flue opens into the stack. The boiler and stack are
supported on columns. I regulate the draught of the furnaces by means of a
damper at the top of the stack; this damper is supported by chains passing
over pulleys on either side the stack. The damper can be raised or lowered
by acting upon one or other of the chains at the sides of the stack; or the
draught may be regulated by a door at the end or side of the furnace.
My improved furnaces may be heated in the ordinary way, or by the com-
bustion of gas or gaseous compounds, and jets of steam may be introduced
into the furnace.
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 in horizontal section a reverberatory furnace for heating
ingots or masses of iron and steel, or for melting iron, steel, and other metals,
constructed according to my Invention, the said furnace being combined with a
vertical steam boiler. Figure 2 is a front elevation of the furnace and boiler;
Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section of the same taken through the lino
A, B, Figure 1. Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical section of the furnace'
taken through the line C, D, Figure 1. Figure 5 is a side elevation of the
same, and Figure 6 is a transverse section of one of the fire-places, taken
through the line E, F, Figure 1. The same letters indicate the same parts in
This 100 A 5 and 6

page_text: a is the circular bed of the furnace, the diameter of which is nearly equa
to the width of the furnace, as represented. The bed a turns upon a vertica
shaft or axis b, the said axis working in a bearing or block c on the fixed
foundation plate d. A rotatory motion or an oscillatory motion may be giver
to the said bed a by means of the bevil gearing e, axis f, toothed gearing g, and
winch h, the said winch h being worked from the front of the furnace. The bel a
may however be moved in any other convenient way. Instead of making the
bed a turn upon an axis b, as represented in the Drawing, the said bed may be
supported upon uprights, the bottom of the said uprights carrying wheels
which work upon a circular tramway underneath the furnace. The furnace is
heated by the fire-places i, k, on either side the bed a. The fire and heated
air from the said fire-places after heating the ingots or masses of metal 1, 1
situated radially on the bed a, pass by a flue m to the central flue n of
the vertical steam boiler o at the back of the furnace and heat the water
in the said boiler. The waste heat after traversing the flue n of the boiler
escapes by the stack p forming a prolongation of the said flue n. The boiler
o and stack p are supported upon the columns q. The draught of the furnace
is regulated by means of the damper r (see Figure 2) at the top of the stack p.
The damper r is supported by chains & passing over the pulleys t, the said
pulleys turning in the cross bar u. The chains from the damper hang on
each side of the stack. By acting upon one or other of the chains & the
damper can be raised or lowered and the draught through the furnace
regulated; or the draught may be regulated by a door at the end or side
of the furnace. The front of the furnace is closed by counterbalanced
sliding doors v, w. In feeding the bed, a with the ingots or masses to be
heated the sliding doors v, w, are raised and the ingots or masses placed
through the said open doors upon the bed in a radial position. The bed is
then turned by the winch h so as to bring an unoccupied part of the bed in
front of the furnace, and other ingots or masses are placed thereon and so on.
The doors v, w, being closed the ingots or masses are heated by the fire
from the fire-places i, k, each of the said ingots or masses in its turn being
by the partial rotation or oscillation of the bed a exposed to the greatest heat
of the furnace and the ingots or masses are thereby uniformly heated. Or
some of the ingots or piles on the bed a may be exposed to a greater heat than
the others, as may be required. The furnace described and represented may be
used both for heating ingots or piles of iron, steel, or other metals, and for
melting iron, steel, or other metals. For this purpose the bed of the furnace
is made hollow or of a basin form, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 3,
and when the furnace is used for melting purposes, the matter to be melted

page_text: is placed in the said hollow bed and fused therein by the heat of the
furnace. The melted metal is removed from the bed by being tapped through
the side of the furnace into a ladle or other vessel. Or the axis b upon which
the bed a turns may be made hollow and the bed may be tapped of its
contents through the said hollow axis. When the furnace is used for heating
ingots or masses of iron or steel, a temporary flat bottom or bed a³ (see
Figure 3) is placed on the top of the hollow bed a and upon the said
temporary flat bottom, the ingots or piles / to be heated rest as represented.
Figures 7, 8, and 9 represent another furnace combined with a steam
boiler constructed according to my Invention, in which said furnace the rotary
or oscillating bed is capable of being removed from the furnace for receiving
the matter to be heated or melted and for delivering the heated or melted
matter, Figure 7 representing the furnace and steam boiler in side elevation,
Figure 8 the same in longitudinal vertical section, and Figure 9 a horizontal
section of the same. In this furnace a single grate or fire-place is used, the
waste heat and products of combustion from the furnace escaping to a boiler
situated at the back of the furnace.
a is the rotary or oscillating bed; b, the axis on which it turns; and c the
bearing or block in which the said axis works. The said bearing or block c
is supported on a carriage & provided with wheels e, the said wheels working
on a tramway funderneath the furnace. When the furnace is to be used for
heating ingots or masses of iron or steel, the bed a is removed from the
furnace by the carriage & working on the tramway f, and the matters to be
heated placed thereon; it is then placed in the furnace and the ingots or
masses raised to the required heat, after which they are removed on the said bed
by the tramway to the rolls or elsewhere. When the furnace is used for melting
purposes the temporary top of the bed is removed and the matter to be melted
placed in the hollow bed and fused by the heat of the furnace. The bed is
afterwards removed from the furnace and the melted metal tapped therefrom
through its hollow axis.
Figure 10 represents in horizontal section a double furnace provided with
rotary or oscillating beds constructed according to my Invention, the said
furnaces opening into a vertical steam boiler situated between them, and
Figure 11 represents a front elevation of the same. The arrangement of the
parts of the said furnaces is so fully represented in the Drawings that I do not
consider further description necessary.
Figures 12 and 13 represent in horizontal section and vertical longitudinal
section respectively a double furnace of the same construction as the furnace
Figures 10 and 11, to be used for heating or annealing cast steel shot. In

page_text: Figure 13 one of the beds is represented as being capable of removal from
the furnace, and the other is represented as being incapable of removal
from the furnace. In using the furnace for heating or annealing cast stcel
shot I introduce into the bed with the shot a quantity of lead in order to
protect the surface of the shot from the action of the heat and to prevent the
said shot from scaling. When the shot have beon sufficiently heated the bed
is removed from the furnace on the tramway, the lead is tapped therefrom
into another rotary bed containing shot, and the heated shot are then brought
to the required temper by being immersed in oil or other liquid. Instead of
lead coarsely powdered charcoal may be used for protecting the shot while in
the furnace.
Figure 14 represents in horizontal section a single furnace with a rotary or
oscillating bed, the said furnace being heated by means of a fire-place having
a double grate instead of a single grate as in the furnaces before described and
represented. Although the furnaces described and represented in the Drawings
are constructed to burn ordinary fuel, yet the said furnaces may be heated by
the combustion of gas or gaseous compounds and jets of steam may be.
introduced into the furnaces.
The improvements described and represented are applicable to other than
reverberatory furnaces.
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 in the accompany-
ing Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
of my Invention, but I claim as my Invention constructing the rotary or
oscillating beds of reverberatory furnaces, and other furnaces, and combining
the said beds with the said furnaces substantially in the several ways
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Clayton, have hereunto set my hand
aud seal, this Fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOHN CLAYTON (L.S.)

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Clayton, of Wolverhampton, in the County
of Stafford, Furnace Builder and Contractor, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN REVERBERATORY AND OTHER FURNACES FOR HEATING AND
MELTING IRON AND STEEL, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
Sealed the 20th May 1864, and dated the 10th March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Clayton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
March 1864.
I, JOHN CLAYTON, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Furnace
Builder and Contractor, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN REVERBERATORY AND OTHER FURNACES FOR HEATING AND
MELTING IRON AND STEEL, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
My. Invention consists essentially in making the whole of the bed of the
said furnaces capable of rotation in a horizontal plane, so that by the rotation
of the said bed the whole of the ingots or masses of iron or steel placed upon
it can be exposed in their turn to the hottest part of the furnace, and the said
ingots or masses thereby heated, or the iron or steel melted upon or in the
said bed.
I will describe my Invention with reference to a reverberatory furnace.
I make the bed of the furnace of a circular form, the diameter of the said bed
being nearly equal to the width of the furnace. The said bed turns upon a
vertical shaft, and a rotary motion may be given to the said bed by level

page_text: gearing or in any other convenient way; or the said bed may be supported
upon uprights, the bottom of the said uprights carrying wheels which work
upon a circular tramway underneath the furnace. The rotary bed may either
be made capable of being removed from the furnace or incapable of removal
from the furnace. When capable of removal from the furnace, I mount
the rotary bed upon a carriage, which works upon a tramway underneath the
furnace. I either heat the furnace from two fire-places on either side the
furnace or from one fire-place only. When two fire-places are employed
the heated air and products of combustion open into the same furnace, and pass
to the stack at the back of the furnace or to a vertical steam boiler. When a
single fire-place is used with each furnace I arrange two of the said furnaces
on either side a stack or vertical steam boiler, the heated air and products of
combustion from the fire-places passing into the stack or into a vertical boiler
situated between them. The rotary bed of the furnace is supplied with piles,
ingots, or masses to be heated or melted, and the heated ingots, piles, or
masses removed from the bed through doors at the front of the furnace or
through the back or front of the furnace in the case of furnaces with single
fire-places. I arrange the piles, ingots, or masses to be heated radially on the
rotary bed, so that each of the said piles, ingots, or masses can in its turn be
exposed to the greatest heat of the furnace. Or some of the said piles or
masses may be exposed to a greater heat than the others, according to the
legree of heat to which the different piles or masses are required to be
raised.
When the furnace is to be used for melting iron and steel, I make the
rotary bed concave or of a basin form, into which. concave bed the melted
metal runs, and from which it may be tapped. When the bed is to be removed
from the furnace before it is tapped, the said bed is moved on its carriage by
the tramway to the moulds or wherever else required, when it is tapped through
its hollow axis. or shaft, when the bed turns upon an axis or shaft.
When the
bed is tapped in the furnace it is tapped through the side of the furnace into a
ladle or other vessel. The same furnace may be used both for heating and
for melting purposes. In this case when the furnace is to be used for heating
only, the ingots or masses to be heated rest upon a temporary flat bed or
bottom placed in the concave bottom of the rotary bed.
The heated air and products of combustion from the furnaces may be
economized in the following manner:-I conduct the heated air and products
of combustion from the furnace or furnaces to a vertical steam boiler, and
heat the water in the said boiler by the said waste heat before it escapes to the
stack. I place the vertical boiler at the back of one furnace or between two

page_text: furnaces. The vertical boiler has a flue in its axis, the bottom of which fluo
opens into a flue at the back of the furnace, or between the furnaces and the
top of the said boiler flue opens into the stack. The boiler and stack are
supported on columns. I regulate the draught of the furnaces by means of a
damper at the top of the stack; this damper is supported by chains passing
over pulleys on either side the stack. The damper can be raised or lowered
by acting upon one or other of the chains at the sides of the stack. Or the
draught may be regulated by a door at the end or side of the furnace.
My improved furnaces may be heated in the ordinary way, or by the com-
bustion of gas or gaseous compounds, and jets of steam may be introduced
into the furnace.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Clayton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th
September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CLAYTON, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Furnace Builder and
Contractor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said. John Clayton, Her special licence that I, the said John
Clayton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Clayton; 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
REVERBERATORY AND OTHER FURNACES FOR HEATING AND MELTING IRON AND STEEL
AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said John Clayton, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Clayton, 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 :-
My Invention consists essentially in making the whole of the bed of the said
furnaces capable of rotation or oscillation in a horizontal plane, so that by the
said rotation or oscillation of the said bed the whole of the ingots or masses of
iron or steel placed upon it can be exposed in their turn to the hottest part of
the furnace and the said ingots or masses thereby heated, or the iron or steel
melted upon or in the said bed.
I will describe my Invention with reference to a reverberatory furnace.
I make the bed of the furnace of a circular form, the diameter of the said bed
being nearly equal to the width of the furnace. The said bed turns upon a
vertical shaft, and a rotary motion or a motion of partial rotation may be
given to the said bed by bevil gearing or in any other convenient way; or
the said bed may be supported upon uprights, the bottom of the said uprights
carrying wheels which work upon a circular tramway underneath the furnace.
The rotary or oscillating bed may either be made capable of being removed
from the furnace or incapable of removal from the furnace. When capable
of removal from the furnace I mount the rotary or oscillating bed upon a
carriage which works upon a tramway underneath the furnace. I either
heat the furnace from two fire-places on either side the furnace or from one
fire-place only. When two fire-places are employed the heated air and
products of combustion open into the same furnace and pass to the stack at
the back of the furnace or to a vertical steam boiler. When a single fire-
place is used with each furnace I arrange two of the said furnaces on either
side a stack or vertical steam boiler, the heated air and products of combustion
from the fire-places passing into the stack or into a vertical steam boiler
situated between them. The rotary or oscillating bed of the furnace is
supplied with piles, ingots, or masses to be heated or melted, and the heated
ingots, piles, or masses removed from the bed through doors at the front of
the furnace or through the back or front of the furnace in the case of furnaces
with single fire-places. I arrange the piles, ingots, or masses to be heated
radially on the rotary or oscillating bed, so that each of the said piles, ingots,
or masses can in its turn be exposed to the greatest heat of the furnace;
or some of the said piles or masses may be exposed to a greater heat than
the others, according to the degree of heat to which the different piles
or masses are required to be raised.
When the furnace is to be used for melting iron and steel I make the

page_text: rotary or oscillating bed concave or of a basin form, into which concave be
the melted metal runs, and from which it may be tapped. When the bed is
to be removed from the furnace before it is tapped the said bed is moved or
its carriage by the tramway to the moulds, or wherever else required, when i
is tapped through its hollow axis or shaft when the bed turns upon an axis o
shaft. When the bed is tapped in the furnace, it is tapped through the side
of the furnace into a ladle or other vessel. The same furnace may be used
for heating and for melting purposes. In this case when the furnace is to be
used for heating only, the ingots or masses to be heated rest upon a temporary
flat bed or bottom placed in the concave bottom of the rotary bed.
The heated air and products of combustion from the furnaces may be
economized in the following manner:-I conduct the heated air and products
of combustion from the furnace or furnaces to a vertical steam boiler, and
heat the water in the said boiler by the said waste heat before it escapes to
the stack. I place the vertical boiler at the back of one furnace or between
two furnaces. The vertical boiler has a flue in its axis, the bottom of which
flue opens into a flue at the back of the furnace or between the furnaces, and
the top of the said boiler flue opens into the stack. The boiler and stack are
supported on columns. I regulate the draught of the furnaces by means of a
damper at the top of the stack; this damper is supported by chains passing
over pulleys on either side the stack. The damper can be raised or lowered
by acting upon one or other of the chains at the sides of the stack; or the
draught may be regulated by a door at the end or side of the furnace.
My improved furnaces may be heated in the ordinary way, or by the com-
bustion of gas or gaseous compounds, and jets of steam may be introduced
into the furnace.
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 in horizontal section a reverberatory furnace for heating
ingots or masses of iron and steel, or for melting iron, steel, and other metals,
constructed according to my Invention, the said furnace being combined with a
vertical steam boiler. Figure 2 is a front elevation of the furnace and boiler;
Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section of the same taken through the line
A, B, Figure 1. Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical section of the furnace
taken through the line C, D, Figure 1. Figure 5 is a side elevation of the
same, and Figure 6 is a transverse section of one of the fire-places, taken
through the line E, F, Figure 1. The same letters indicate the same parts in
Figures 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. and 6.

page_text: a is the circular bed of the furnace, the diameter of which is nearly equal
to the width of the furnace, as represented. The bed a turns upon a vertical
shaft or axis:6, the said axis working in a bearing or block c on the fixed
foundation plate.d. A. rotatory motion or an oscillatory motion may be given
to the said bed a by means of the.bevil gearing e, axis f, toothed gearing 9, and
winch h, the said.winch h being worked from the front of the furnace. The bed a
may however be moved in any other convenient way. Instead of making the
bed a turn upon an axis b, as represented in the.Drawing, the said bed may be
supported upon. uprights, the bottom of the said uprights carrying wheels
which work upon, a circular tramway underneath the furnace. The.furnace is
heated by the fire-places i, k, on either. side the bed a. The fire and heated
air from the said fire-places after heating the ingots. or masses of metal 1, 1,
situated radially. on. the. bed. a, pass by a flue. m to the central flue n. of
the vertical steam. boiler. o at the back. of the: furnace and heat. the water
in the said. boiler. The waste heat after traversing the flue n of the. boiler
escapes by the stack p forming a prolongation of the:said flue n. The boiler
o and stack p are supported. upon the: columns q. The draught of the furnace
is.regulated by. means. of the damper r (see Figure 2) at the top of the stack p.
The damper r is supported by chains s passing over the pulleys t; the said
pulleys turning in the cross bar u. The chains from the damper hang on
each side of the stack. By acting upon one or other of the. chains & the
damper r can be raised: or lowered and. the draught through the furnace
regulated; or the draught may be regulated by a door at the end or side
of the. furnace. The front of the furnace is closed by counterbalanced
sliding doors u, w. In feeding. the bed, a with the ingots or masses to be
heated the sliding doors v, w, are raised and the ingots or masses placed
through the said open. doors upon the bed in a radial position. The bed is
then turned by the winch.h so as to bring an unoccupied part.of the. bed in
front of the furnace, and other ingots or masses are placed thereon and so on.
The doors v, u, being closed the ingots or masses are heated by the fire
from the fire-places i, k, each of the said ingots. or masses in its turn being
by the partial.rotation or oscillation of the bed a. exposed to the greatest heat
of the furnace and the ingots or masses are thereby uniformly, heated. Or
some of the ingots or piles on the bed a may be exposed to a. greater heat than
the others, as may be required. The furnace described and represented may be
used both for heating ingots or piles of iron, steel; or other metals, and for
melting iron, steel, or other. metals. For this purpose the bed of the furnace
is made hollow or of a basin form, as indicated by the dotted lines in. Figure 3,
and when the furnace is used for melting purposes, the matter to be melted
'

page_text: is placed in the said hollow bed and fused therein by the heat of the
furnace. The melted metal is removed from the bed by being tapped through
the side of the furnace into a ladle or other vessel. Or the axis b upon which
the bed a turns may be made hollow and the bed may be tapped of its
contents through the said hollow axis. When the furnace is used for heating
ingots or masses of iron or steel, a temporary flat bottom or bed a³ (see
Figure 3) is placed on the top of the hollow bed a and upon the said
temporary flat bottom, the ingots or piles to be heated rest as represented.
Figures 7, 8, and 9 represent another furnace combined with a steam
boiler constructed according to my Invention, in which said furnace the rotary
or oscillating bed is capable of being removed from the furnace for receiving
the matter to be heated or melted and for delivering the heated or melted
matter, Figure 7 representing the furnace and steam boiler in side elevation,
Figure 8 the same in longitudinal vertical section, and Figure 9 a horizontal
section of the same. In this furnace a single grate or fire-place is used, the
waste heat and products of combustion from the furnace escaping to a boiler
situated at the back of the furnace.
a is the rotary or oscillating bed; b, the axis on which it turns; and c the
bearing or block in which the said axis works. The said bearing or block c
is supported on a carriage d provided with wheels e, the said wheels working
on a tramway f underneath the furnace. When the furnace is to be used for
heating ingots or masses of iron or steel, the bed a is removed from the
furnace by the carriage d working on the tramway f, and the matters to be
heated placed thereon; it is then placed in the furnace and the ingots or
masses raised to the required heat, after which they are removed on the said bed
by the tramway to the rolls or elsewhere. When the furnace is used for melting
purposes the temporary top of the bed is removed and the matter to be melted
placed in the hollow bed and fused by the heat of the furnace. The bed is
afterwards removed from the furnace and the melted metal tapped therefrom
through its hollow axis.
Figure 10 represents in horizontal section a double furnace provided with
rotary or oscillating beds constructed according to my Invention, the said
furnaces opening into a vertical steam boiler situated between them, and
Figure 11 represents a front elevation of the same. The arrangement of the
parts of the said furnaces is so fully represented in the Drawings that I do not
consider further description necessary.
Figures 12 and 13 represent in horizontal section and vertical longitudinal
section respectively a double furnace of the same construction as the furnace
Figures 10 and 11, to be used for heating or annealing cast steel shot. In

page_text: Figure 18 one of the beds is represented as being capable of removal from
the furnace, and the other is represented as being incapable of removal
from the furnace. In using the furnace. for heating or annealing cast steel
shot I introduce into the bed with the shot.a. quantity of lead in order to
protect the surface of the shot from the action of the heat and to prevent the
said shot from scaling. When the shot have been sufficiently heated the bed
is removed from the furnace on the tramway, the lead is tapped therefrom
into another rotary bed containing shot, and the heated shot are then brought
to the required temper by being immersed in oil or other liquid; Instead of
lead coarsely powdered charcoal may be used for protecting the shot while in
the furnace..
:
Figure 14 represents in horizontal: section a single furnace with. a rotary or
oscillating bed, the said furnace being heated by means of a fire-place having.
a double grate instead of a single grate as in the furnaces before described and
represented. Although the furnaces described and represented in the Drawings
are constructed to burn ordinary fuel, yet the said furnaces may be heated by
the combustion of gas or gaseous compounds and jets of steam may be
introduced into the furnaces.
.
The improvements described and represented are applicable to other than
reverberatory furnaces.
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 in the accompany-
ing Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing. from the nature
of my Invention, but I claim as my Invention constructing the rotary or
oscillating beds of reverberatory furnaces, and other furnaces, and combining
the said beds with the said furnaces substantially in the several ways
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
.In witness whereof, the said John Clayton, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
. thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOHN CLAYTON (L.S.)