IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND TREATMENT OF RAILWAY BARS, TYRES, AND AXLES, ALSO IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES, MACHINERY, AND APPARATUS CON- NECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Weatherburn Dodds, of Rotherham, in the
County of York, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE AND TREATMENT OF RAILWAY BARS, TYRES, AND AXLES,
ALSO IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES, MACHINERY, AND APPARATUS CON-
NECTED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 29th May 1866, and dated the 1st December 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Weatherburn
Dodds at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 1st December 1865.
I, THOMAS WEATHERBURN DODDS, of Rotherham, in the County of York,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im.
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND TREATMENT OF RAILWAY BARS, TYRES, AND
AXLES, ALSO IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FURNACES, MACHINERY, AND APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-.
My Invention consists in the construction of the cementing or converting
furnaces used in steeling the wearing surfaces of railway bars or other material
to be operated upon in such a manner that uniformity of heat will be
obtained, or the heat can be increased or diminished at any required portion
of the furnaces as may be found desirable, and the railway bars or other
material operated upon may be withdrawn when the required depth of steeling
has been obtained...

page_text: For the purpose of obtaining uniformity of heat in the cementing chambers,
chimneys and dampers are applied to each side of the furnace in connection
with the side flues, the communications with which chimneys may be sepa-
rately opened or closed as required, thereby giving facilities for the regulation
of the heat not obtained by the use of a single chimney as usual. Also for
the purpose of increasing or diminishing the heat at any required portion of
the furnace a series of adjustable flue valves or regulators are applied to the
openings leading into the flame chamber.
By another arrangement the cementing furnaces are heated by the waste
heat from coke ovens, or the gases generated therein, or from the waste heat
of other furnaces, to which coke ovens or furnaces the cementing furnaces are
connected by means of communicating flues.
. For the cementation of endless tyres the cementing chambers are circular,
and constructed so that the upper portion or dome thereof can be removed or
lifted off its seat, and the tyres taken out without letting out the furnace fires or
cutting off the connection with the source from which they are heated. Ou
drawing the railway bars or other material from the cementing furnaces in a
heated state, they are to be passed at once, without reheating, through rolls
or under hammers for the purpose of condensing or closing the fibres or
crystals of the said bars or other material. The rolls are specially arranged
to condense those portions of the railway bars, tyres, or axles where the pro-
cess of cementation has been applied; for this purpose two, three, or more
rolls are or may be employed, and they are arranged as required to suit the
form of the railway bar or other article to be operated upon, some of the rolls
being adapted for holding the said bar or other article, and the other roll or
rolls being adapted to condense the cemented surface or surfaces thereof.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Weatherburn Dodds in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st June 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WEATHERBURN DODDS, of Rotherham, in the County of York, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,

page_text: the said Thomas Weatherburn Dodds, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Weatherburn Dodds, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas Weatherburn Dodds, 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
AND TREATMENT OF RAILWAY BARS, TYRES, AND AXLES, ALSO IN THE CONSTRUCTION
FURNACES, MACHINERY, AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Weatherburn Dodds, 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 per-
formed, 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 Thomas Weatherburn Dodds, 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 Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture and Treatment of
Railway Bars, Tyres, and Axles, also in the Construction of Furnaces,
Machinery, and Apparatus connected therewith," consists in the construction
of the cementing or converting furnaces used in steeling the wearing surfaces
of railway bars or other material to be operated upon in such a manner that
uniformity of heat will be obtained, or the heat can be increased or diminished
at any required portion of the furnaces, as may be found desirable, and the
railway bars or other material operated upon may be withdrawn when the
required depth of steeling has been obtained.
For the purpose of obtaining uniformity of heat in the cementing chambers,
chimneys and dampers are applied to each side of the furnace in connection
with the side flues, the communication with which chimneys may be
separately opened or closed as required, thereby giving facilities for the
regulation of the heat not obtained by the use of a single chimney, as usual.
Also for the purpose of increasing or diminishing the heat at any required
portion of the furnace, a series of adjustable flue valves or regulators are
applied to the openings leading into the side flues.

page_text: By another arrangement the cementing furnaces are heated by the waste
heat from coke ovens, or the gases generated therein, or from the waste heat
of other furnaces, to which coke ovens or furnaces the cementing furnaces are
connected by means of communicating flues.
For the cementation of endless tyres the comenting chambers are circular,
and constructed so that the upper portion or dome thereof can be removed or
lifted off its seat, and the tyres taken out, without letting out the furnace
fires or cutting off the connection with the source from which they are heated.
The railway bars (or metal in other forms) after undergoing the process of
cementation are to be drawn from the cementing furnaces in a heated state,
and are then to be passed at once, without reheating, through rolls or under
hammers for the purpose of condensing or closing the fitres or crystals of the
said bars or other material. The rolls are specially arranged to condense those
portions of the railway bars, tyres, or axles where the process of cementation
has been applied; for this purpose two, three, or more rolls are or may be
employed, and they are arranged as required to suit the form of the railway
bar or other article to be operated upon, some of the rolls being adapted for
holding the said bar or other article, and the other roll or rolls being adapted
to condense the cemented surface or surfaces thereof.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention I will proceed to
describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be performed by
reference to the accompanying Drawings, in which are represented cementing
furnaces and condeusing rolls of the construction and arrangement re-
ferred to.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figures 1 to 8 represent a cementing furnace for railway bars and axles.
Fig. 1 is is a vertical section taken through the centre of the furnace in the
line C, D, of Fig. 3, shewing one end of the furnace; Fig. 2 is a similar
section taken in the line A, B, of the same Figure, shewing the other end of
the furnace; Fig. 3. is a transverse section on an irregular line; Fig. 4 is a
horizontal section taken on the line L. M; Figures 5 and 6 are similar
sections taken respectively on the lines F, G, and H, I, of Fig. 3; and Fig. 7
is an end view of the furnace. In these several Figures the same letters of
reference indicate corresponding parts.
a, a, are the walls and main brickwork of the furnace; bis the fire-place;
c, c, are the cementing chambers, which extend from end to end of the furnace,
and are closed only by doors at each end, being otherwise open to admit of
the railway bars or other articles being withdrawn after the process of

page_text: cementation has been completed; d, d, are flues, which it will be seen on
reference to Fig. 3 surround the cementing chambers and communicate with
slide flues e, e, leading to the chimneys f. f. These chimneys f, f, are arranged
on each side of the furnace, as shewn in the horizontal sections, Figs. 4, 5,
and 6, and they are provided with dampers g, g, as shewn in Fig. 7, for the
purpose of regulating the draft and the heat in different parts of the furnace
as required. By this means uniformity of heat in the cementing chambers
may be obtained. h, h, are adjustable flue valves, which are applied to the
openings leading into the slide flues. One of these valves is shewn detached
in Fig. 8, and is represented as capable of the required adjustment by means
of a curved rack; k, k, are iron binders, by which the brickwork a, a, is bound
together in order to resist expansion. In other respects besides those above
referred to the construction of the cementing furnaces is well known, and
needs no further description, except to state that in some cases the furnaces
may be heated by the waste heat of coke ovens, or the gases generated therein,
or by the waste heat of other furnaces. In such cases the heat may be
conveyed from the coke ovens or other furnaces by means of flues passing into
the fire-place or chamber underneath the flues of the cementing furnace.
Figures 9 to 14 represent a cementing furnace for the cementation of
endless tyres. Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section of the furnace, shewing a series
of cementing chambers c, c, with a number of endless tyres and cementing
material contained in one of them; Fig. 10 is a horizontal section on the
line A, B, of Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a similar section on the line C, D, and
Fig. 12 is a similar section on the line E, F, on the same Figure; Fig. 13 is
a plan view, shewing the top of one of the cementing chambers; and Fig. 14
is a transverse section of the furnace on the line G, H, of Fig. 9. The mode
of inserting the tyres in the cementing chambers c, c, will be seen on reference
to Figures 9 and 12, and also the arrangements of the flues. d, d, are flues
surrounding the cementing chambers, which flues receive the heat from the
horizontal flues e, e, leading from the fire-places, and both the flues d, d,
and e, e, lead into a circular flue e¹ (see Fig. 12), and thence into the general
flue e leading to the chimney f. The cementing chambers c, c, in these
furnaces are circular, and are fitted with moveable tops 1, l, as shewn. These
tops may be lifted off their seat when required by means of a crane or hoist
by inserting a hook in the ring m. The working and heating of these furnaces
are similar to those previously described.
I will now proceed to describe the arrangement of rolls for condensing and
hardening the wearing surfaces of railway bars or other articles after they
have been withdrawn from the cementing surfaces.

page_text: Figures 15 to 17 represent an arrangement of rolls for condensing and
hardening the wearing surfaces of railway bars. Fig. 15 is an end elevation,
Fig. 16 is a plan view, and Fig. 17 a side elevation of a suitable frame, in
which are mounted a pair of vertical rolls A, A, and a pair of horizontal
rolls B, B; the upper vertical roll and the two horizontal rolls are adjustable
by means of screws, as shewn. In the arrangement shewn the two horizontal
rolls and the bottom vertical roll are caused to act as holding and supporting
rolls, and the vertical roll alone is adapted for condensing the upper wearing
surface of the railway bar C, which is represented as being passed through
the rolls after having been drawn from the cementing furnace. It will be
seen on reference to Fig. 15 that the upper roll A is capable of being adjusted
by means of the screws D), D, so as to regulate the degree of pressure to be
applied to the surface of the bar C, in order to condense the cemented portion
of the bar and produce the required density of the same.
The object of this arrangement of rolls is not to give the required sectional
form to the railway bars which are passed through them, but only to condense
and harden the cemented or steeled surfaces of such bars by the action of the
upper vertical roll A, the arrangement of the remaining rolls being adapted
for holding and supporting the bar under operation in such a manner as to
secure the bar against alteration in its sectional form by the condensing action
of the upper roll.
From the foregoing description of my Invention it will be readily understood
that the operation of steeling and hardening the wearing surfaces of railway
bars, tyres, and axles consists in first placing these articles in the cementing
chambers of the furnaces containing a mixture of any carbonaceous matter,
as charcoal, by preference, potash, or other alkaline matter, and carbonate or
bicarbonate of lime, or matter containing lime. The proportions in which I
prefer to use these ingredients are ninety-six parts of charcoal, one part and a
half of alkaline matter, and two parts and a half of lime by admeasurement,
but I do not confine myself to these exact proportions. Then after the railway
bars or other articles have been treated so as to receive the required depth of
steel on their surface, they are withdrawn without letting down the heat to
any great degree, while the operation of charging and discharging the furnaces
is going on, and are introduced without reheating between the sets of rolls A
and B, by the action of which rolls the wearing surfaces become condensed
and hardened as required.
Instead of using rolls as described, the said wearing surfaces may, if
preferred, be condensed by hammering with any convenient arrangement of
hammers. Also in some cases it may be necessary to have recourse to.

page_text: reheating the railway bars or other articles after they are withdrawn from the
cementing furnaces. I mention this in order to shew that while the said
furnaces according to my Invention are constructed so as to admit of the
railway bars or other articles being withdrawn and condensed without
reheating, these articles may when necessary be reheated.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I claim as of my
Invention is,
First, the manufacture and treatment of railway bars, tyres, and axles so
as to produce the steeling and hardening of the wearing surfaces by the com-
bined use of the cementing process and the condensing rolls or hammering,
as herein-before described.
Secondly, the use of cementing surfaces for railway bars and axles, with an
arrangement of chimneys, dampers, and adjustable flue valves, as herein-before
described.
Thirdly, the use of cementing furnaces for tyres constructed as herein-before
described.
Fourthly, the use of cementing furnaces as described, whether heated by
their own fire-places, or by the waste heat of coke ovens, or of other furnaces.
And, lastly, the arrangement of rolls for condensing the railway bars or
other material without reheating after having been previously treated in the
cementing furnaces, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Weatherburn Dodds, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
THOS. REED,
Masbro',
Clerk.
T. W. DODDS. (LS.)