IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Dawes, of Bromford Iron Works,
West Bromwich, in the County of Stafford, Iron Master, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON."
Sealed the 29th August 1863, and dated the 17th June 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Dawes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th June 1863.
I, WILLIAM HENRY DAWES, of Bromford Iron Works, West Bromwich, in
the County of Stafford, Iron Master, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in introducing such a quantity of refined iron
in a melted state into the puddling furnace as will be sufficient to make only
one ball of iron (say, of about one hundred and twenty pounds weight, more
or less); the skill and labour of the puddler required to separate the larger
quantity commonly made use of (of about four hundred and eighty pounds in
weight) into four, five, or six balls is in great part dispensed with.
My Invention consists, secondly, in the combination of the processes of the
blast furnace, the refinery, and the puddling furnace, so that the iron from
the blast furnace may be run direct into the refinery, and when sufficiently
refined conveyed into the puddling furnace by means of ladles or other means
suited to the purpose.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Dawes in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th December 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY DAWES, of Bromford Iron Works, West Bromwich, in the County of
Stafford, Iron Master, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, 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 William Henry Dawes, Her special licence that I, the said
William Henry Dawes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Henry Dawes, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Henry Dawes, 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 William Henry Dawes, 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, firstly, in introducing such a quantity of refined iron
in a melted state into the puddling furnace as will be sufficient to make only
one ball of iron (say, of about one hundred and twenty pounds weight, more
or less); the skill and labour of the puddler required to separate the larger
quantity commonly made use of (of about four hundred and eighty pounds in
weight) into four, five, or six balls is in great part dispensed with.
My Invention consists, secondly, in the combination of the processes of the
blast furnace, the refinery, and the puddling furnace, so that the iron from the
blast furnace may be run direct into the refinery, and when sufficiently refined

page_text: conveyed into the puddling furnace by means of ladles or other means suited
to the purpose.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe the
manner in which the same is to be performed.
In carrying into effect the first part of my Invention I proceed as follows:-
I refine in an ordinary refinery the iron which is to be converted into wrought
or malleable iron. The refinery process is conducted in the usual manner, and
when the iron has been sufficiently refined I run a quantity of the refined iron
from the refinery into a large ladle of the kind commonly used in iron foundries.
The melted refined iron is poured from the said large ladle into smaller ladles,
the said smaller ladles being sufficiently large to hold the quantity of melted
refined iron required to make a ball of wrought or puddled iron of the ordinary
size. The quantity of melted refined iron which I pour from the larger ladle
into each of the smaller ladles is about one hundred and twenty pounds (more
or less). The melted refined iron in each of the smaller ladles is conveyed
to a separate puddling furnace of the ordinary kind, where the puddling
process is performed upon it, and it is converted into wrought or malleable
iron in the ordinary manner. As the quantity of iron operated upon at one
time in each puddling furnace is only sufficient to make one ball of the
ordinary size, and as the said iron has been to a great extent decarbonized in
the refinery before its introduction into the puddling furnace the puddling
operation occupies but little time. The wrought or malleable iron produced
is of better and more uniform quality than that produced by the ordinary
method of conducting the puddling process. More wrought or malleable iron
is produced in a given time and less skilled labour is required in its production
than in the ordinary method of puddling.
In carrying into effect the second part of my Invention, that is, the combi-
nation of the blast furnace, the refinery, and the puddling furnace, I build the
blast furnace and refinery in such proximity and on such different levels that
the cast iron smelted in the blast furnace may run direct from the blast
furnace into the refinery, from whence, after it has been properly refined, it
may be conveyed to the puddling furnace in a melted state by means of ladles,
and converted into wrought or malleable iron, as herein-before described. I
build the puddling furnace where convenient in such proximity to the refinery
that the distance through which the melted refined iron has to be carried from
the refinery to the puddling furnace is made as short as possible. By thus
combining the blast furnace, refinery, and puddling furnace, the manufacture
of wrought or malleable iron from cast iron may be conducted with great
rapidity, and with a minimum amount of skilled labor.

page_text: 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, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my
Invention,―
Firstly, manufacturing wrought or malleable iron by puddling refined iron
conveyed in a melted state from the refinery to the puddling furnace, the
quantity of the melted refined iron operated upon at one time in each puddling
furnace being only sufficient for the manufacture of one ball of wrought or
malleable iron.
Secondly, combining the blast furnace and refinery and puddling furnace
used in the manufacture of iron substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Dawes, 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,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM HENRY DAWES. (L.S.)