Improvements in Apparatus for Hardening and Tempering Steel Wire and Tape.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Dec., 1886
Complete Left, 8th Sept., 1887
Complete Accepted, 11th Nov., 1887
Improvements in Apparatus for Hardening and Tempering Steel
Wire and Tape.
We GEORGE ASHWORTH and ELIJAH ASHWORTH of the firm of Ashworth Brothers
of the Moss Brook Works Collyhurst, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to the apparatus principally employed in the hardening and
tempering of steel wire wherein the wire is drawn through a heating flame a quenching
or hardening bath and a softening or tempering flame or is otherwise heated quenched
and re-heated or tempered in immediate succession. We have for a long time studied
to perfect the process in order to obtain the wire in as perfect a condition as possible
for use in the manufacture of wire cards and Letters Patent bearing date the seven-
teenth day of September in the year 1878 were granted to us for the improvements
which we had then effected in such wire. In the hardening and tempering of the wire
we kept the wire as much as possible from exposure to the air in order to lessen the
tendency to scaling but we have found that scaling and discoloration take place to some
extent after the wire has left the tempering flame. One of the objects of our present
invention is to keep the wire as much as possible from exposure to the oxygen of the
atmosphere until the wire is sufficiently cool to be in a condition which will not be
conducive to injury from exposure to the air. To this end we cause the wire to pass
immediately from the tempering flame or heat into a tube or tubular passage or into
a passage or chamber from which oxygen is excluded as much as is conveniently
possible and which is long enough to permit the wire to become sufficiently cooled.
The outer walls of the chamber are by preference made suitably thick so as to be
capable of absorbing heat or they may be cooled by outward exposure to water or to
a cooling medium. The said walls might be made of a good heat conductor such as
copper. In a method of construction we now consider to be suitably we plane a channel
in a metal bar and we plane a second bar to fit in the said channel and arrange for it
to be supported so as to leave a passage sufficiently large for the wires or if preferred
each wire might have a separate passage. This passage or each passage we keep
supplied with a gas or with a mixture of gases which is as near as conveniently possiblo

page_text: to us.
free from admixture with oxygen. This gas may be carbonic acid or hydrogen or a
mixture of gases such as are products of combustion or be any gas or gases suitable
to our indicated purpose. In our experiments we have used ordinary carburetted
hydrogen with good effect. The gas is supplied to the passage at such a rate as that
there shall be a slight leakage through the small apertures at each end. One end of
the passage is brought close to the tempering flame or heating medium used in
tempering. In some or in all cases we mount the part in which the passage or passages
is or are formed to turn out of the way along with the wire guides in accordance with
the invention for which Letters Patent Number 5856 of the year 1884 have been granted
In some cases the said passage might be partly curved. To increase the
efficiency of the flame and to lessen the consumption of gas in apparatus wherein gas
flames are used we heat the air which we mix with the inflammable gas. We pass the
air through a cluster of pipes or through a coil or through coils or through a chamber
or through chambers which is or are mounted above the flame used in the heating or
tempering or in both so that the heat which would otherwise be wasted is utilised to
heat the air. We prefer to deliver the air into the apparatus under pressure and we
may employ such pressure to induce the supply of gas. By preference we shield or
enclose the air heating pipes or chambers by means of casings which might be hollow
so as to be capable of being used in the heating of the air. We may attach the air
heating apparatus to radial arms or mount it so that it can be moved out of the way
to give access to the wires. Our improvements are applicable to apparatus used in
the treatment of steel tapes or ribands as well as of wires of various sections.
Dated this 7th day of December 1886.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.

page_text: We GEORGE ASHWORTH and ELIJAH ASHWORTH of the firm of Ashworth Brothers
of the Moss Brook Works, Collyhurst Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement and accompanying drawings:-
Our Invention relates to the apparatus principally employed in the hardening and
tempering of steel wire wherein the wire is drawn through a heating flame, a quenching
or hardening bath and a softening or tempering flame or is otherwise heated quenched
and re-heated or tempered in immediate succession. We have for a long time studied
to perfect the process in order to obtain the wire in as perfect a condition as possible
for use in the manufacture of wire cards and Letters Patent bearing date the fifth day
of September in the year 1878 and numbered 3513, and third day of April 1884
No. 5856 were granted to us for the improvements which we had then effected in
such wire. In the hardening and tempering of the wire we kept the wire as much as
possible from exposure to the air in order to lessen the tendency to scaling but we
have found that scaling and discoloration take place to some extent after the wire has
left the tempering flame. One of the objects of our present invention is to keep the
wire as much as possible from exposure to the oxygen of the atmosphere until the wire
is sufficiently cool to be in a condition which will not be conducive to injury from
exposure to the air. To this end we cause the wire to pass immediately from the
tempering flame or heat into a tube or tubular passage or into a passage or chamber
from which oxygen is excluded as much as is conveniently possible and which is long
enough to permit the wire to become sufficiently cooled. To increase the efficiency of
the flame and to lessen the consumption of gas in apparatus wherein gas flames are
used we heat the air which we mix with the inflammable gas.
Our Invention can be best described with reference to the accompanying drawings
which exhibit so much of the complete machine as is necessary to the proper under-
standing of our invention the parts which do not appear in the drawing being as
represented in the drawings attached to our said former inventions or being of suitable
construction. In the said drawings Fig. 1 represents a plan view of the gas burner
and of the chamber into which the wire is passed as aforesaid. Fig. 2 being an
enlarged plan view of the said chamber with the cover removed. Fig. 3 is partly a
cross section on the line A in Fig. 2. In Fig. 1 a a' is the gas burner the part a being
used for hardening and the part a¹ for tempering as in the ordinary machine. The

page_text: In the
wires pass from the flame of the burner a¹ immediately into the chamber B which in
the example is made large enough to contain a carrier wheel c seen in Fig. 2 wherein
the wires are indicated by d. The said chamber is made in the form of a shallow box
which is provided with a lid b which is made gas tight in any suitable manner.
example the lid is formed with a projecting bead which enters a groove at e this groove
containing asbestos or fine sand or other suitable packing material which will prevent
the escape of gas at the joint between the lid and the box. This construction enables
the operator to lift off the lid at any time when access to the wires is required. The
wires enter the chamber through a slit or through perforations at f and leave through
a slit or through perforations at g. The chamber is supplied by means of a pipe h
with a gas or with a mixture of gases which is as near as conveniently possible free
from admixture with oxygen. This gas may be carbonic acid or hydrogen or a mixture
of gases such as are products of combustion or be any gas or gases suitable to our
indicated purpose. In practice we use ordinary carburetted hydrogen. The gas is
supplied to the passage at such a rate as that there shall be a slight leakage through
the small apertures at f and g. The chamber is carried by the shaft i which is the
shaft marked a in the drawings attached to the specification of a former invention for
which Letters Patent number 5856 of the year 1884 have been granted to us. When
the said shaft is turned in its bearings to withdraw the wires from the flames the
chamber B moves with the wires. As the wires pass through the chamber they are
cooled by the gas with which the chamber is supplied the cooling being expedited by
the transmission of heat to the walls of the chamber so that when the wires leave the
chamber they are sufficiently cool to bear exposure to the oxygen of the atmosphere
without injury. We may vary the shape of the chamber as for example we may plane
a channel in a metal bar and plane a second bar to fit in the said channel and arrange
for it to be supported so as to leave a passage sufficiently large for the wires or if
preferred each wire might have a separate passage as indicated in Fig. 4. Figs. 5
and 6 illustrate the means we have adopted for heating the air previous to admixture
with the gas. Above the burners a. a¹ we mount a cluster of air tubes k through
which air can flow in the direction indicated by the arrows into a chamber whence
the air descends through a pipe 11 into a casing m which encloses the gas supply
pipe n and the delivery nozzles o. o. The inductive force of the gas draws air through
the pipes which air becomes heated in its passage and is thus supplied in a heated
state to mingle with the gas. We enclose the heating pipes in a casing open at the
top and bottom for the passage of the products of combustion from the burners. The
pipes may be formed or arranged to give the air a circuitous course as for example
the air may pass through U shaped pipes so that it flows through the upper part of the
cluster toward the right hand in the drawing and passes through the lower part to
the chamber or we may pass the air through coils or heating chambers of any suitable
form so long as they are arranged above the gas burners or exposed to the heat arising
therefrom. We may force the air through the pipes by means of a pump or blower
or we may use a blower or forcing apparatus to obtain a sufficiently high and regular
pressure of gas and if preferred we may heat the gas as well as the air. In the example
the casing of the air heating pipes is hinged at pp to pillars rr so that the pipes may
be turned out of the way when access to the wires is required. To permit of this
movement of the pipes the end air chamber is not attached to the pipe " but simply
rests upon the mouth of the pipe when the cluster of tubes is lowered into position.
Our improvements are applicable to apparatus used in the treatment of steel tapes or
ribands as well as of wires of various sections.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we claim is :—
(1) The combination of the chamber B with the parts of a machine for hardening
and tempering steel wires or ribands for the purpose set forth.
(2) In apparatus for hardening and tempering steel wire or ribands a chamber or
covered channel into which the wires or each wire is passed immediately from the
tempering flame the said chamber or channel being supplied with a gas or mixture

page_text: of gases free or nearly free from oxygen substantially as and for the purpose set forth
and indicated.
(3) In apparatus for the specified uses air heating pipes or chambers applied above
the
gas burners and the passages for the flow of the heated air into a casing wherein
it mingles with the gas to constitute the mixture to be burnt substantially as and for
the purpose set forth and indicated.
(4) In apparatus for the specified uses forcing the air which is to be mingled with
the inflammable gas through air heating pipes or chambers or through an air heating
chamber such air heating appliances being mounted above the flames so as to utilise
the waste heat to some extent substantially as set forth and indicated.
(5) The combination of parts substantially as and for the purpose set forth and
indicated with reference to Figs. 5 and 6 of the attached drawings.
Dated this 7th day of September 1887.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester,
Agents.