IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING- UP SHEARINGS OR OTHER PIECES OF IRON OR STEEL
Year: 1878

page_text: "
LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Rogers, of Highfield House, Llanolly, in
the County of Caermarthen, for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING-
UP SHEARINGS OR OTHER PIECES OF IRON OR STEEL."
Scaled the 10th July 1878. and dated the 10th May 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Rogers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th May 1878.
JOHN HENRY ROGERS, of Highfield House, Llanelly, in the County of Caer-
marthen. "IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING-UP SHEARINGS OR OTHER PIECES OF IRON
OR STEEL."
This Invention has for its object improvements in working-up shearings or other
pieces of iron or steel.
The shearings or pieces of iron or steel are placed in a box or mould with an
opening or openings into which a wedge or suitable compressor can be placed, and
when the box or mould with its contents are placed under a steam hammer or other
suitable power the wedge or compressor is driven down, causing the shearings or
pieces of iron or steel to be bound together closely and compactly into one mass; or
the shearings or pieces of iron or steel may be placed in a box or mould and a steam
press or other suitable machine may be employed for compressing the contents of
the box or mould and binding them together, as named above.
From a hole or opening in this box or mould I cause the mass of iron or steel
thus compacted or bound together to be withdrawn. I then place the mass, either
alone or with other pieces of iron or steel in a suitable furnace, and when heated to
a proper temperature I consolidate the mass under a steam hammer or in other con-
venient way.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Henry Rogers in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
November 1878.
JOHN HENRY ROGERS, of Highfield House, Llanelly, in the County of Caer-
marthen. "IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING-UP SHEARINGS OR OTHER PIECES OF IRON
OR STEEL."
This Invention has for its object improvements in working-up shearings or other
pieces of iron or steel.
Thin shearings or pieces of iron or steel; such, for example, as the scrap from
cutting iron sheets for tin plato making, and from other operations in which thin
sheet iron or steel is employed; are frequently reworked with other metal either in
the puddling furnace or in the refining furnace. In some cases the scrap has been
placed loose in the puddling or refinery furnace, but more commonly it is made into
bundles. In any case the binding only servos to keep the material together whilst
heating up, for the bundle then falls apart, allowing the metal-to pix with the
remainder of the charge upon the bed or hearth of the furnace. Tliere is much loss
in this process of reworking, 30 cwt. of this scrap not producing more than a ton of
remanufactured metal.
According to my Invention the shearings or waste pieces of thin iron or steel are
compacted together into masses or blocks, and these either alone or together with
other pieces of iron or steel'are placed in a reheating furnace, and when heated to a
proper temperature are consolidated under a steam haminer or in other convenient
way. In this manner I can obtain a ton of remanufactured metal from 23 cwt. of
shearings.
In order to form the shearings or pieces of iron or steel into masses or blocks ready
for heating I place them in a box or mould, and by a steam press or other suitable
machine I compress the contents of the box or niould until a compact block is
obtained. The mass thus compacted is withdrawn from the box or inould by an
opening provided for the purpose, and which is closed by a door whilst the material
is being moulded.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and readily carried
T
13
Figure 1 is a front elevation of steam apparatus which I employ for compacting
shearings into passes or blocks ready for reheating; Figures 2 and 3 are vertical
sections of the same.
•
A is a cylinder similar to that of a steam haminer, and B is the piston working
within it; C, C, aro piston valves; they are fixed upon a tubular rod serving to convey
the steam, which is first admitted above the upper piston valve C to the space below
the lower piston valve. The space between the piston valves is in connection with
an exhaust or outlet pipe. The piston valves when they are at mid-stroke cover
ports or passages communicating with the two ends of the cylinder A, and the move-
ment of the piston valves opens one end of the cylinder to the steam and the other to
the exhaust.
..
The port for the admission of steam to the lower end of the cylinder I make of
small size so that the piston may rise quietly, and it is checked at the top by a spring
buffer which is represented in Figure 2. D is the box or mould to receive the shear
ings or pieces, and it also forms a support for the cylinder A, which is secured to it
by lugs and rings shrunk on; E is a wrought-iron door closing the box or mould in
front. The door is hung upon hinges F, F, and when closed it is secured in its
place by the cross bars G and the screws H, H. The stems of the screws are
inserted into holes in the door, and they are there held in such manner as to be free

page_text: to turn. The screws serve to carry the cross bars when the door is open, and when
it is shut the notched ends of the cross bars catch upon the heads K, K; then by
turning the screws the door is closed home and securely held.
The heads K, K, are formed at the ends of bars which pass around three sides of
the box or mould and are held in their places by pins. L is the hammer head; it is
made of a size to enter casily into the box or mould D; M is the anvil upon which
the box or mould stands.
In order to lessen the wear which would take place if the cast-iron sides were left
unprotected the mould is lined with plates of steel secured with rivets. The heads
of the rivets on the inner side are received into countersunk holes.
The box or mould is made with a taper from front to back of about one
inch in ten inches, which latter will be found a convenient length to which to
mould the blocks.
In working the apparatus, the box or mould being filled with scraps or
pieces by the open doorway in front, the door is closed, and then by repeated
blows the contents of the mould is beeaten down as far as possible.
To discharge the moulded mass or block the box or mould is opened, and
by means of a bar inserted at the hole N it is forced out in a condition to go into
the reheating furnace.
In the furnace, and in the subsequent hammering, the blocks or masses are treated
in the same way as piles or blooms, with all the care possible, to prevent the
oxidation of the metal.
In place of employing steam pressure and impact to mould the shearings and
pieces into masses or blocks, it is in some cases convenient to employ hydraulic
pressure, but usually in works where these shearings are produced steam power will
be more conveniently applied.
In place of using a steam hammer to consolidate the reheated masses or blocks
hydraulic squeezers or other compressing apparatus may in some cases be con-
veniently employed.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I claim,―
First. The means described for working-up shearings or other pieces of thin iron
or steel by moulding them into masses or blocks, heating the said masses or blocks,
and hammering or otherwise consolidating them, substantially as described.
Second. The apparatus for moulding shearings or scraps of thin iron or steel
into masses or blocks, substantially as described, and represented in the annexed
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Rogers, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
JOHN HENRY ROGERS. (L.S.)