IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL AND WROUGHT IRON
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Nevill, of Llanelly, in the County of
Carmarthen, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF STEEL AND WROUGHT IRON."
Sealed the 27th October 1859, and dated the 26th May 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Nevill
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th May 1859..
I, WILLIAM HENRY NEVILL, of Llanelly, in the County of Carmarthen,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL AND WROUGHT IRON," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists of a mode of decarbonizing or purifying cast iron
which is intended to be converted into steel or wrought iron. For this
purpose I cause the melted metal from a blast or other furnace to run or
descend from a suitable elevated position on to a conical or other formed
surface, such as will cause the fluid metal to be thrown off into the surrounding
atmosphere, divided into small globules or parts. The conical or other.
formed surface being elevated from the bottom or surface below on which the
purified iron falls. The space surrounding the conical or other formed surface.

page_text: may, for convenience, be enclosed, and the pavement or covering at the
bottom should be such as to admit of the decarbonized or partly decarbonized
iron being collected free from dirt or impurities.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Nevill in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th November 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY NEVILL, of Llanelly, in the County of Carmarthen, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Henry Nevill, Her special licence that I, the said William Henry
Nevill, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Henry Nevill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL AND WROUGHT IRON," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Henry Nevill, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 William Henry Nevill, 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:-
My Invention consists of a mode of decarbonizing or purifying cast iron
which is intended to be converted into steel or wrought iron. For this
purpose, I cause the melted metal from a blast or other furnace to run or
descend from a suitable elevated position on to a conical.or other formed

page_text: surface such as will cause the fluid metal to be thrown off into the surrounding
atmosphere, divided into small globules or parts, the conical or other formed
surface being elevated from the bottom or surface below on which the purified
iron falls; the space surrounding the conical or other formed surface may, for
convenience, be enclosed, and the pavement or covering at the bottom
should be such as to admit of the decarbonized or partly decarbonized iron
being collected free from dirt or impurities.
Having thus stated the nature. of my Invention, I will proceed more fully
to describe the manner of performing the same. The arrangement of the
apparatus may be varied so long as it is suitable for dividing the fluid iron,
and for throwing or projecting it in a divided state into the surrounding
atmosphere; I, however, prefer that the arrangement should be as follows:-
I pave the floor or bottom of a space with cast iron-plates, which space I
prefer to be enclosed to the height of several feet, but this is not essential.
In the centre I place a cone, which is about eighteen inches in diameter at
the base and nine inches high. It is mounted on a standard, so that the cone
is about three feet six inches above the floor; directly over the cone, and
about fifteen feet from the floor, is a pouring place, so that the fluid metal in
descending falls on the cone, and is thereby thrown off into the surrounding
atmosphere, and the iron will thereby be much purified and fall on the floor;
or in place of the arrangement above described, other means may be used for
dividing the fluid metal, and throwing it in a divided state into the surrounding
atmosphere. The purified metal is then heated in a suitable furnace, where it
may be decarbonized to the requisite degree, and made up into a ball.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Nevill, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
WN. HY. NEVILL. (L.S.)