IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN MELTING, REFINING, CONVERTING, AND PUDDLING IRON
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Middleton, of Leeds, in the County of
York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS
EMPLOYED IN MELTING, REFINING, CONVERTING, AND PUDDLING IRON."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Middleton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd May 1875.
I, WILLIAM MIDDLETON, of Leeds, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN 'MELTING, REFINING, CONVERTING, AND
PUDDLING IRON," to be as follows:―
My Invention has reference to an arrangement of a melting, refining,
or "converting" furnace, in combination with a puddling furnace,
whereby a great saving of time and fuel is produced, at the same time
consuming the smoke and effecting an improvement in the quality of
the iron, and is as hereafter described.

page_text: The puddling furnace may be constructed in a similar manner to
those now in use, but between it and the heating furnace I provide a
retort or chamber in which is placed the cast metal preparatory to it
being melted and passed into the puddling furnace.
The heat from the fuel in the heating furnace previous to its entering
the puddling furnace comes in contact with the metal in the retort or
chamber. This heat being so intense melts the metal in the retort or
chamber, and thereby brings it into a fit state for the puddling furnace,
to which it is conveyed by a trough or other suitable means.
When in
the puddling furnace it is worked in the ordinary manner.
When the metal is required to be refined or "converted " I introduce
a blast into the retort or chamber, or in such a position as to produce
the required effect upon the metal for melting, refining, or converting
purposes.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said William
Middleton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th November
1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MIDDLETON, of Leeds, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said William Middleton, Her special
licence that I, the said William Middleton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Middleton, 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, excrcise, and
yend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN MELTING, Refining, ConvERTING, AND
PUDDLING IRON," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Middleton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument

page_text: 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 on or before the Eighth of
December One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Middleton, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
:-
My Invention has reference to an arrangement of a melting, refining;
or "converting" furnace, in combination with a puddling furnace,
whereby a great saving of time and fuel is produced, at the same time
effecting an improvement in the quality of the iron, and is as hereafter
described.
The puddling furnace is constructed in a similar manner to those now
in use, but between it and the heating furnace I provide a retort or
chamber in which is placed the cast metal preparatory to it being melted
and passed into the puddling furnace.
The heat from the fuel in the heating furnace previous to its entering
the puddling furnace comes in contact with the metal in the retort or
chamber. This heat being so intense melts the metal in the retort or
chamber, and thereby brings it into a fit state for the puddling furnace,
to which it is conveyed by a trough or other suitable means.
the puddling furnace it is worked in the ordinary manner.
.
When in
When the metal is required to be refined or "converted" I introduce
a blast into the retort or chamber, or in such a position as to produce
the required effect upon the metal for melting, refining, or converting
purposes.
Jan that my Invention may be more completely understood

page_text: The puddling furnace is shewn at a, and is of a similar construction
to puddling furnaces of ordinary construction, but between it and the
heating furnace 6 I provide a retort or chamber, c, in which is placed the
cast metal preparatory to its being melted and passed into the puddling
furnace. The melting operation is performed in the retort or chamber c,
the required heat being obtained from the heating furnace b, which
heat is obtained from the ignited fuel therein, and comes in contact with
the metal in the retort or chamber o previous to entering the puddling
furnace a.
This heat being so intense melts the metal in the retort or
chamber c, and thereby brings it into a fit state for the puddling
furnace a, to which it is conveyed by a trough d or other suitable
means. When in the puddling furnace the metal is worked in any
ordinary manner. e shews the outer casing of the furnace and f the
lining thereof, all of which are of ordinary construction.
"
When the metal in the chamber or retort c is required to be refined 1
or " converted I introduce "blast" into the retort or chamber c
which may be conveyed into the interior through any required number
of pipes or tubes g to which air is conveyed through any required
number of pipes or tubes h from a blast engine or other equivalent
means.
I
In order to prevent the pipes or tubes being damaged by the heat
of the furnace I surround them with the water boxes i, the supply of
water being obtained from any convenient source. The effect of the
blast pipe is to intensify the heat as well as to throw it down amongst
the metal in the chamber or rotort c.
In order to intensify the heat when required in the puddling furnace
a I also introduce a blast in the same manner as described for the
chamber or retort c. The blast being admitted through any number of
pipes or tubes g¹ which are enclosed within water boxes i¹, as shewn.
2
2
By utilizing the heat as it passes from the heating furnace 6 to the 8
puddling furnace a a great saving of fuel and time is produced, and at
the same time an improvement in the quality of the iron is effected.
Having now described the nature of my Invention of "Improvements
in the Means or Apparatus employed in Melting, Refining, Converting,
and Puddling Iron, and shown how the same may be carried into 8