IMPROVEMENTS IN PUDDLING FURNACES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Ferrie, of the Monkland Iron Works,
Airdrie, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PUDDLING FURNACES."
Sealed the 6th February 1872, and dated the 8th August 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Ferrie at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th August 1871.
I, WILLIAM FERRIE, of the Monkland Iron Works, Airdrie, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PUDDLING FURNACES," to be as follows,
that is to say :-
This Invention relates to mechanical puddling furnaces of the kind in
which the bed or hearth of the reverberatory chamber wherein the
puddling operation is effected is made to revolve by suitable gearing
underneath, and it consists in arranging and constructing the parts in
connection with the revolving bed in an improved manner, and so that
whilst the bed can be fitted to move with perfect freedom in the circular

page_text: opening formed for it in the bottom of the fixed part of the furnace, no
air can enter round the sides. The revolving bed has formed on or fixed
to its under side a cylindrical flange projecting downwards, and a
circular gutter is fixed to the stationary sides of the opening, so that
the flange projects down into such gutter. The gutter is filled with
water or other suitable liquid, or with sand, or a suitable powder, such
as ground fire-brick or coke, and thus seals the connection between the
fixed and moving parts without interfering with the freedom of motion.
If preferred the gutter and flange may be transposed, and the latter be
made stationary, whilst the former may be attached to the revolving
bed. When water is put in the gutter its continuous presence can be
secured by providing a constant feed with an overflow.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Ferrie in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th February 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
FERRIE, of the Monkland Iron Works, Airdrie, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Ferrie, Her special licence that I,
the said William Ferrie, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Ferrie, 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 PUDDLING FURNACES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Ferrie,
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
66

page_text: 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 Ferrie, 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 in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to mechanical puddling furnaces of the
kind in which the bed or hearth of the reverberatory chamber wherein
the puddling operation is effected is made to revolve about a vertical or
nearly vertical axis by suitable gearing underneath, and it consists in
arranging and constructing the revolving bed and parts in connection
therewith in an improved manner, and so that whilst the bed can be
fitted to move with perfect freedom in the circular opening formed for
it in the bottom of the fixed part of the furnace, no air can enter round
the sides.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
two modifications of my improved arrangements. In these Drawings
the same reference numerals are used to mark the same or like parts
wherever they are repcated.
Figures 1 and 2 are longitudinal, horizontal, and vertical sections of
one modification of my improved puddling furnace, the section in
Figure 1 being taken partly as through one of the working doors, and
partly as at a lower level; Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section of
the reverberatory chamber.
The arrangements of the fuel chamber 1 and chimney 2 are repre-
sented as being the same as in an ordinary puddling furnace, but if
preferred any improved arrangements of those parts may be adopted
along with my revolving puddling "pan," as the bottom of the re-
verberatory chamber 3 may be termed. The roof and walls of the
reverberatory chamber 3 are supported by iron pillars 4, there being
mounted immediately upon these pillars an annular series of hollow
boxes or casings 5 covered by a flat annular plate 6, which last carries
the building of the upper part of the walls and roof. A passage for
water is made round the inner edge of the plate 6, to prevent its being
overheated. The pan or revolving furnace bed 7 is carried by a vertical

page_text: shaft 8 steadied by a bearing in a frame 9, this shaft 8 having fixed on
it a wheel frame 10, shown separately in plan in Figure 4. The plates
forming the bottom and sides of the pan 7 are fixed on the wheel
frame 10, which is formed with channels to receive flanges formed on
the plates, as will be easily understood from the Drawing; and the pan
plates consist of a central plate having round it a number of sector-
shaped plates, which last are bolted together by external flanges 11.
The sides of the pan 7 are protected with the usual fettling 12. Beneath
the pan 7, and to the under side of the wheel frame 10, there is attached
a cylindrical flange 13 projecting downwards, and a circular gutter 14 is
fixed to the stationary sides of the furnace, so that the flange 13 projects
down into such gutter. The gutter 14 is filled with water or other
suitable liquid, or with sand, or a suitable powder, such as ground fire-
brick or coke, and thus scals the connection between the fixed and
moving parts without interfering with the freedom of motion. When
using water as the sealing medium in the gutter 14 (and this medium
is found most convenient in practice) its continuous presence is insured
by causing a small stream to drop continually from a pipe into the
gutter, an overflow outlet being provided for the surplus to pass off
by. The pan or furnace bed 7 is made to revolve by means of a toothed
wheel 15 fixed on the shaft 8, and driven by a pinion 16 on a horizontal
shaft 7, actuated by any suitable prime mover. The reverberatory
chamber 3 is by preference made with a working door 18 at each side,
and the rabble or puddling instrument is, by preference, of the kind
shown in vertical section in Figure 5, being tubular, and having water
led through it to keep it cool. This rabble is held stationary, and pro-
jecting inwards from the working door 18 towards the centre of the
pan 7, the rotation of which last brings the iron that is being operated
upon up against the rabble.
Figure 6 is a vertical section showing a modification of my improved
revolving furnace, which, whilst not differing essentially from that
hercin-before described, is in some respects more convenient and pre-
ferable. The sides of the pan 7 are made of segments separate from the
outer sectors forming the bed or bottom, whilst the scaling flange 13
is made partly conical, and is attached to the tops of the sides of the
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page_text: may be transposed, and the latter be made stationary, whilst the former
may be attached to the revolving pan 7.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated;
but that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,
1. The constructing and working of the beds or hearths of pud-
dling furnaces in the improved manner substantially as herein-before
described.
2. The applying of the flange (13) and gutter (14), the latter con-
taining a liquid or powder for scaling the connection between the
revolving bed or hearth and the stationary sides, as herein-before
described.
3. The using of a stationary rabble in combination with a bed or
hearth revolving about a vertical or nearly vertical axis, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Ferrie, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
WILLIAM FERRIE. (L.S.)