IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE FUSION, MANUFACTURE, PRODUCTION, AND REFINING OF METALS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Astley Paston Price, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE FUSION, MANUFACTURE, PRODUCTION, AND
REFINING OF METALS."
Sealed the 25th September 1863, and dated the 2nd April 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Astley Paston Price at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd April 1863.
I, ASTLEY PASTON PRICE, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE FUSION, MANUFACTURE, PRO-
DUCTION, AND REFINING OF METALS," to be as follows:-
My improvements consi-t in so constructing cupolas, crucibles, or other
similar vessels employed for the fusion and production of cast iron, steel, or
other metals, or for the conversion or refining of cast iron in the manufacture
and production of iron or steel by the injection of air, or that process known
as the atmospheric process, in such a manner as that they shall be surrounded
entirely or partially with a hollow casing of cast iron, or of malleable iron, or of
other suitable metal, and shall be so constructed that a current of water, or jet
of steam, or a blast of air may circulate freely through and around such hollow
casing. by which means the sides of the cupola, crucible, or other similar vessel
may be cooled, and the lining of the cupola, crucible, or other similar vessel

page_text: may be preserved from the destructive action of the heat and fluxes.
When
this casing is applied to crucibles or converting vessels used in the conversion
of cast iron into steel or iron, and require to be moveable, I prefer to construct
the casing in such a manner that it shall be closed with the exception of
suitable inlet and outlet pipes, so that no water, steam, or air shall escape
except by such outlets when the vessel is moved for the purpose of discharging
its contents. The inner surface of the casing may be lined with fire-brick or
clay, or any other suitable material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Astley Paston Price in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd October 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, ASTLEY
PASTON PRICE, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of April in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Astley Paston Price, Her special license that I, the said Astley Paston
Price, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Astley Paston Price, my executors, administrators, or 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
APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE FUSION, MANUFACTURE, PRODUCTION, AND REFINING OF
METALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Astley Paston
Price, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, 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 Astley Paston Price, 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

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention consists in so constructing cupolas, blast furnaces, or
other similar furnaces employed for the manufacture, fusion, or in the pro-
duction of cast iron, steel, or other metals, and of crucibles or other similar
vessels employed in the conversion or refining of cast iron in the manufacture
and production of iron or steel by the injection of air or gases, or by that
process known as the atmospheric process, in such a manner as that they shall
be surrounded either entirely or partially with a hollow casing of cast iron, or
of malleable iron, or of other suitable metal, and shall be so constructed that
a current of water, or jet of steam, or a blast of air may circulate freely
through and around such hollow casing, by which means the sides of the
cupola, blast furnace, crucible, or other similar converting vessel may be
cooled, and the lining of the cupola, blast furnace, crucible, or other similar
converting vessel may be preserved from the destructive action of the heat and
the fluxes. When this casing is applied to crucibles or converting vessels
used in the conversion of cast iron into steel or iron, and require to be move-
able, I prefer to construct the casing in such a manner that it shall be closed
with the exception of suitable inlet and outlet pipes, so that no water, steam,
or air shall escape except by such outlets when the vessel is moved for the
purpose of discharging its contents. The inner surface of the casing may be
lined with fire-brick or fire-clay, or any other suitable material.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the Figure on the Drawing hereunto annexed, which represents the
application of the casing to au ordinary cupola, blast, or smelting furnace.
A is a cylindrical or other shaped closed or open jacket of wrough or cast
iron, or other suitable metal, forming, when lined with fire-clay or fire-brick B,
the lower part of the cupola, blast, or smelting furnace, the jacket being, by
preference, applied to that part of the furnace only where the greatest heat is
generated. This jacket or casing may be formed of one or moro pieces, as
preferred. The furnace may be constructed and combined with the jacket in
various ways, but I prefer to construct it as shown in the Drawing. The upper
part or brickwork C rests upon a stout ring or annular bed plate D, of iron or
other material, which may be itself partly supported upon the closed or open
top of the jacket or casing, and partly by the outside columns E, E, or the
upper part of the furnace may be entirely supported by the columns and ring
or bed plate D. F. F, are tubular openings in the jacket or casing for the
reception of the nozzles of the tuyeres or blast pipes G, G, a similar passage H

page_text: being made at or near the bottom of the upper jacket or casing, or below the
same, to be used as the tap hole. The base or bottom of the cupola may or
may not be composed of another water jacket I, which may be either
distinct from or in one piece with the upright, or cylindrical, or other shaped
jacket or casing. In these jackets or casings a constant circulation of air,
steam, or water is maintained by the inlet and outlet pipes K and L. When
water is employed in a closed jacket or casing, I prefer to bend upwards the
exit pipe L, in order to ensure that the jacket or casing be constantly and
'perfectly full of water.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the application and use to and in
cupolas. and blast furnaces employed for the fusion, manufacture, and pro-
duction of metals, and also the application and use to and in crucibles or
converting vessels employed in the refining or conversion of cast iron into steel
or iron, of a hollow metallic casing lined with fire-bricks, fire-clay, or other
good heat-resisting material, such casing or jacket being so constructed that a
'current of water, or jet of steam, or blast of air may circulate freely through
the same, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Astley Paston Price, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three.
ASTLEY PASTON PRICE. (L.S.)