IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ANCHORS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bessemer, of Queen Street Place, New
Cannon Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ANCHORS."
Sealed the 11th April 1856; and dated the 17th October 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bessemer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
October 1855.
I, HENRY BESSEMER, of Queen Street Place, New Cannon Street, in the
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for “ IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ANCHORS" to be as follows:-
The form generally given to malleable iron in its manufacture renders it
necessary that the welding and combination of several pieces should be made
in the forging of anchors from such materials. The effect of a long continuation
of a welding heat, and the powerful hammering which is necessary in the
process of forging, is found to be more or less productive of injury to the
fibrous texture of the iron; while the union of the various parts of which
the anchor is composed cannot always be relied on, and hence it is that an
anchor apparently sound is found sometimes to give way under a comparatively
small strain. Now, the object of my Invention is to insure an union of every
part, by forming the anchor in one piece, by founding it in steel or molten

page_text: scrap or malleable iron, whereby I also am enabled to form ribs or webs upon
it, and to give such shape to the various parts as will increase its power to resist
the peculiar strains to which it is subjected. In carrying this Invention into
practical operation, I form a mould in dry sand or loam or otherwise, of the
intended form of the anchor; into this mould molten steel, or molten scrap or
malleable iron, is to be run or poured. When, the mould is filled, it may remain
in the mould until it is reduced to a red heat, when it may be taken out
and transferred to an annealing oven, where about the same temperature may
be maintained for three or four days, after which it should be allowed to cool
slowly. In some cases it will be found more convenient to cast the anchor in
an iron ingot mould in lieu of the sand or loam mould before described.
Although the annealing process adds much to the strength and toughness of
the casting, yet these properties may be still further increased by hammering
the metal at a moderate heat; I, therefore, in some cases, cast the anchor more
massive in its proportions than it is intended to be when finished, and having
heated it to a red heat I proceed to forge or hammer it as evenly as possible,
in which process the mass is extended and made more slender in its proportions,
and the desired form given to it by the hammer, but without the necessity of
the high degree of heat necessary where the welding of several separate pieces
are effected, as in the mode of making, anchors at present practised.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Bessemer in the Great Seal Patent Office' on the
17th April 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BESSEMER, of Queen Street Place, New. Cannon Street, in the City of London,
send greeting
'
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent,, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year, of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Bessemer, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Bessemer,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Bessemer, 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
507
+21

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention' for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUPAC-
TURE OF "ANCHORS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said 'Henry
Bessemer, 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 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 Henry Bessemer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, 'to be' particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:
The form generally given to malleable iron' in its manufacture renders 'it'
necessary that the welding and combination of several pieces should be made
in the forging of anchors from such materials. The effect of a long "continuation"
of a welding heat, and the powerful hammering' which is necessary in the
process of forging is found to be more or less productive of injury to the fibrous
texture of the iron, while the union of the various parts of which the anchor is
composed cannot always be relied on, and hence it is that 'an anchor apparently
sound is found sometimes to give way under a comparatively small strain,
Now, the object of my Invention is to insure an union of every part by forming
the anchor in one piece, by founding it in steel or molten scrap or malleable.
iron, whereby 'I also am enabled to form ribs or webs upon it, and to give
such shape to the various parts as will increase its power to resist the peculiar
strains to which it is subjected.
+
In order that this mode" of strengthening an anchor by casting ribs or
webs thereon may be fully understood, I have hereunto annexed' a Sheet of
Drawings, in which Figure" 1 represents a side elevation of an anchor so
formed; and Figure 2, an end view of the same. a is the shank, provided
with an eye and ring at "a" in the usual manner at the opposite end of the
shank two curved arms b'are formed, the outer ends of which are provided with
flukes c, c, of the usual form. The spaces between the arms b, b, and the
shank a, are occupied by ribs or web's d,'d, which unite the arms and the shank
together in such a manner that the arms cannot be bent and made to form a
more obtuse angle to the shank without overcoming the cohesive force of the
metal forming the ribs or webs d,'d, and so in like manner will' the shank be
prevented from bending in the direction of either of the flukes by the inter-
position of the webs d, d, and thus a greater degree of rigidity and strength

page_text: will be afforded in proportion to the quantity of metal used; and here I would
observe, that although the form of the webs may be considerably varied,. I prefer
in all cases that the face of the flukes should project beyond the webs, as shown
in the Drawing..
In carrying this Invention into practical operation, I form a mould in dry
sand or loam, or otherwise, of the intended form of the anchor; into this mould
molten steel, or molten scrap or malleable iron, is to be run or poured. When,
the mould is filled it may remain in the mould until it is reduced to a red heat,;
when it may be taken out and transferred to an annealing oven, where. about
the same temperature may be maintained for three or four days, after which it
should be allowed to cool slowly..
If it is preferred to cast the anchor in an iron ingot mould. in lieu of the
sand or loam mould before described, the iron ingot mould may be made to.
open in two or more parts, the joints being made to fit closely, and the parts
secured by iron bolts and nuts, the bolts passing through flanges formed at.
those parts where the different pieces of the mould unite; the interior of the
mould should be made. smooth, and its surface smoked or covered with a
coating of soot, as-is generally practised in preparing iron moulds for casting
ingots of cast steel..
Although the annealing process adds much to the strength and toughness of
the casting, yet these properties may be still further increased by hammering.
the metal at a moderate heat. I, therefore, in some cases, cast the anchor more
massive in its proportions than it is intended to be when finished, and having
heated it to a red heat I proceed to forge or hammer it as evenly as possible, in
which process the mass is extended and made more slender in its proportions,
and the desired form given to it by the hammer, but without the necessity of.
the high degree of heat necessary where the welding of several separate pieces
are effected, as in the mode of making anchors at present practised.
In carrying into practical operation the manufacture of anchors by forging
or hammering a single ingot, or mass of iron or steel, I first prepare a mould
of loam or sand, such as is commonly used by ironfounders, or I take an ingot,
mould made of iron, as herein-before described, but of such a form as will
produce an ingot or mass of iron of the form shewn in side elevation in Figure 3;
and in end elevation at Figure 4, of the annexed Sheet of Drawings. The
molten steel or molten malleable iron is then to be run or poured into the
mould, and when the casting is sufficiently solidified it is to be removed to the
forge hammer, and be there fashioned into the form desired, the mass being.
reheated from time to time as required. The flukes may be formed out of the
solid mass; the equal forging of the mass will be somewhat facilitated by making

page_text: the arms straight, and allowing them to project at right angles from the shank,
as represented in Figures 5 and 6; the desired amount of curvature being
given to them after they are reduced by hammering to the required size. The
proportions given to these cast masses of iron or steel will vary with the
intended form of anchor, and with the amount of forging which it is intended
to give them. The greater the extension of the mass under the hammer the
more fibrous will the metal become, and the closer will the particles of metal
be brought in contact, which will increase the cohesive force of the metal, and
render it more suitable for resisting the powerful strains to which anchors are
subjected.
Having thus described my said Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim
any particular mode of making or melting iron or steel for the purposes of my
said Invention, nor do I confine myself to the precise details herein-before
described, so long as the peculiar character of my Invention be retained; but
what I do claim is,―
Firstly, the founding or casting of anchors in molten steel.
Secondly, I claim the founding or casting of anchors in molten scrap iron or
molten malleable iron.
Thirdly, I claim forming anchors by hammering or forging a mass of iron
or steel that has been previously cast, more or less, the shape of an anchor.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bessemer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
B. GOBEY,
4, Old Square, Lincoln's Inn.
HENRY BESSEMER. (L.S.)