Im- PROVEMENTS IN PUDDLING IRON AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREFOR.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Foulis, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN PUDDLING IRON AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED
THEREFOR.
"
Sealed the 5th December 1875, and dated the 10th October 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Foulis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th October 1874.
I, WILLIAM FOULIS, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PUDDLING IRON AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED
THEREFOR," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention which relates to a new or improved machine for
operating the "rabbles" used in puddling iron is designed to imitate by
mechanical means the action of the human arm in manipulating iron
during the act of converting it from the state of molten pig iron to that

page_text: of malleable iron in a reverberatory furnace, and which operation is
commonly known as "puddling."
The mechanism consists of an hydraulic cylinder and ram or piston
carried in trunions or an universal joint, and arranged so as to be easily
moveable in any direction in a light framing in which it is held. The 5
framing is provided with wheels so that the entire apparatus can be
easily moved about on the floor in front of the puddling furnace. The
"rabble" is connected by a cotter or pin to the outer end of the piston
rod, and so that it can when hot be quickly removed and replaced by
another "rabble."
A two-way cock or its equivalent is provided by which water is
admitted to and discharged from each end of the cylinder alternately,
whereby the reciprocation of the "rabble" which is essential to the
puddling operation is effected.
1
In place of a two-way cock a short cylinder fitted with a piston and 1
piston rod and provided with a slide valve may be employed, the upper
and lower ends of such cylinder being connected by passages or pipes to
the forward and backward ends of the cylinder by which the "rabble"
is operated.
A chain attached to the piston rod of the short hydraulic cylinder, 2
connects it to the rear end of the cylinder carrying the rabble. By this
arrangement the operator in alternately moving the slide valve upwards
and downwards for the purpose of admitting the water to alternate ends
of the cylinder, by which the "rabble" is reciprocated, first allows the
water to enter the short hydraulic cylinder, wherein acting alternately 2
at opposite sides of the piston the latter is reciprocated also%; the
motion of this piston being communicated to the cylinder which carries
the "rabble" it together with the "rabble are moved upwards and
downwards on the trunions or universal joint simultaneously with being
moved inwards and outwards, and thus the action of the human arm is {
closely imitated.
"
The rear end of the "rabble" cylinder is provided with a handle, by

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Foulis in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
FOULIS, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britian, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the 38th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Foulis, Her special license
that I, the said William Foulis, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Foulis, 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 PUDDLING IRON AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREFOR,” upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Foulis, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Foulis, 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 following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
My said Invention relates to a new and improved machine for
operating the "rabbles" in puddling iron, and is designed to imitate by
mechanical means the action of the human arm in manipulating molten
iron in a reverberatory furnace while being converted from the state of

page_text: molten pig or crude iron into that of malleable iron, and which operation
is commonly known as "puddling."
The mechanism consists of a hydraulic cylinder fitted with a ram or
piston and piston rod, and carried on trunnions or on an universal joint,
and so arranged as to be easily moveable in any direction in a framing in 5
which it is held. The framing is provided with wheels so that the entire
apparatus can be easily moved about on the floor in front of the
puddling furnace, or otherwise, the frame and wheels may be dispensed
with, and the mechanism clamped or otherwise fixed to the front of the
furnace. The "rabble" is connected to the outer end of the ram or 1
piston rod by a cotter or pin, so that it can be easily removed when
hot and replaced by another "rabble.”
A two-way cock, piston, or slide valve, or an equivalent arrangement
is provided by which water under pressure is admitted to and discharged
from each end of the cylinder alternately, whereby the reciprocation of 1
the "rabble" is effected.
The "rabble" cylinder is caused to turn or swing upon a pivot or
upon an universal joint by another hydraulic cylinder or by equivalent
mechanism, which is moveable, and whereon is formed or fixed a rack,
the teeth of which gear with a pinion upon the axis or pivot of the 2
"rabble" cylinder, but this arrangement may be dispensed with and the
direction of the cylinder adjusted by means of a handle on the rearward
end thereof.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood,
I now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or 2
manner in or under which the same is or may be used or practically
carried into effect, reference being had to the annexed Sheet of
Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
Bay :-
Figure 1 on the annexed Sheet of Drawings is a plan of the apparatus 8
constituting my said Invention, shown in working position in front of a
puddling furnace A, represented in horizontal section.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1, the puddling furnace A being
shewn in vertical section at the line a, b, Figure 1. The "rabble"
cylinder B is provided with a piston rod C and piston, the piston being 3
indicated in dotted lines at a near the rearward end of the cylinder B,

page_text: (Figure 2). The piston rod O is hollow and elliptical in cross section so
as to prevent it from turning in the cylinder B. In order to keep it
cool when in operation water is admitted from the back of the piston to
the interior of the piston rod O, through a pipe or passage (shewn in
dotted lines at Figure 2), which extends throughout its length and
through which cold water is constantly flowing, the warm water passing
off through the space in the hollow piston rod which surrounds the pipe.
A. circulation of water is thus kept up and the piston rod C prevented
from becoming overheated. The "rabble" D is fixed by a cotter c to
the forward end of the piston rod C. The "rabble " D is shewn with its
nose resting upon the ordinary working hole ledge of a puddling furnace
the said ledge being shewn in dotted lines at Figure 1.
Water under pressure is admitted to and discharged from the front
and rearward ends of the "rabble" cylinder B through pipes E, E',
which connect the cylinder with a valve box F, wherein are situated two
slide valves, one of which, that is to say, the valve connected to the valve
spindle G admits the water to or discharges it from either end of the
"rabble" cylinder B, accordingly as it is operated by the handles H fixed
on the shaft I. Those portions of the connecting pipes E, E¹, marked d,
(Figure 1), are made of an elastic material so that they may yield when
the "rabble" cylinder is swung upon the pivot. The whole apparatus is
held upon a carriage J running upon wheels K, and a step or bearing L
is bolted or otherwise fixed upon the frame J, which step or bearing L
constitutes a support for the pivot P. The pivot P has an arm M fixed
to its upper extremity, and near its lower end it carries a pinion N.
The "rabble" cylinder B is supported in bearings in a jaw O, which is
attached to that end of the arm M opposite from the pivot shaft P. The
"rabble" cylinder B is supported in bearings in a jaw O, which is
attached to that end of the arm M opposite from the pivot shaft P. The
"rabble" cylinder B and arm M are thus supported by and are free to
turn with the shaft P, and the jaw O is also capable of being moved
round upon the bearing in the arm M.
The valve box F is also supported by and fixed to the moveable frame
J, and that end nearest the "rabble" cylinder B is furnished with two
fixed hollow piston rods Q, R, the interiors of which are in communi-
cation with ports governed by a slide valve operated by the valve
spindle S, from the handles T and shaft U. The said hollow piston rods
QR, enter a cylinder V and are attached to a piston W, as shewn at

page_text: Q
Figure 3, which is a horizontal section of the cylinder V, piston W, and
piston rods and R. The cylinder V is not fixed to the framing but is
moveable upon the piston rods Q, R, and piston W, so that when water
under pressure is admitted to the back of the piston W through the
hollow piston rod Q, or to the front thereof through the hollow piston |
rod R, the cylinder V is reciprocated in one or the other direction, and
the teeth of the rack fixed to or formed on the side thereof, engaging
with the teeth of the fixed pinion N, the pivot shaft P, and consequently
the arm M and "rabble" cylinder B are swung round in one or the
other direction.
"
In operating my Invention the apparatus is placed opposite the
puddling furnace, and the "rabble" D directed into the working hole
thereof as shewn on the Drawings. The valve attached to the spindle G
is then moved by the lever H, and water under pressure admitted to the
rearward end of the "rabble" cylinder B through the pipe E, whereby
the piston and piston rod are caused to advance and thrust the "rabble"
into the furnace. To withdraw the "rabble or to reciprocate it within
the furnace the valve is again manipulated, allowing the water in the
rearward end of the cylinder to flow back through the pipe E, and
admitting the water under pressure in front of the piston through the
pipe E. The direction of the "rabble" may be changed by operating
through the handle or lever T the valve attached to the valve spindle S,
whereby the cylinder V is caused to move in one or the other direction,
and actuate the pinion N fixed upon the pivot shaft P, through the rack
attached to or formed on the side of the cylinder V. The dotted lines
on Figure 1 indicate positions into which the "rabble" cylinder B
and attachments may be thrown by operating the last referred to
mechanism, but it is to be understood that this mechanism may be
dispensed with, and the direction of the "rabble" cylinder and "rabble"
changed, by means of a handle at the rear end of the cylinder (shewn in
dotted lines at Figure 2) or by equivalent mechanism. The "rabble"
cylinder and "rabble" may also be moved in a vertical plane on the
bearings formed in the jaw O by means of the said handle, or this may
be effected by the employment of another hydraulic cylinder not shewn
on the Drawings, to the ram or piston rod of which a chain is attached
connecting it to the rear end of the "rabble" cylinder, by which
arrangement the "rabble" is raised or lowered in the furnace in a
vertical plane,

page_text: It is also to be understood that the frame J, and wheels K, may be
dispensed with and the apparatus clamped or otherwise fixed in front or
to the side of the working hole of the furnace, and being so arranged it
may be swung out of or into working position as required by the
attendant, or by mechanism provided for the purpose.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the system, mode, or manner in or under which the
same is or may be used, or practically 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 arrangement and construction of
bydraulic machinery or apparatus for operating "rabbles" or analogous
tools employed in the puddling of iron, and mounted on a carriage or to
the side or front of the puddling furnace, substantially as herein-before
described and shewn on the appended Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Foulis, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of April, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-five.