IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE FORGES, AND IN BLOWING APPARATUS FORMING PART OF THE SAME, BUT APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER USES."
Year: 1879

page_text: 38
LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Bromley Holmes (Secretary of Andrew
Handyside and Company, Limited) of the Britannia Ironworks, Derby, in the
County of Derby, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE
FORGES, AND IN BLOWING APPARATUS FORMING PART OF THE SAME, BUT
APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER USES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Bromley Holmes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th December 1879.
ARTHUR BROMLEY HOLMES (Secretary of Andrew Handyside and Company,
Limited), of the Britannia Iron Works, Derby, in the County of Derby.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE FORGES, AND IN BLOWING APPARATUS FORMING
PART OF THE SAME, BUT APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER USES."
This Invention has for its object improvements in portable forges and in blowing
apparatus forming part of the same, but applicable also to other uses. Portable
forges as at present constructed are very liable to breakage in transit, and the
blowing apparatus with which they are fitted is expensive. According to my
Invention the hearth plate and the lower frame of the forge are both constructed of
malleable cast iron, and they are connected together by legs or uprights of wrought
iron tube. The blowing apparatus is in some cases of the same class as the well
known "Root's" blower, that is to say, it consists of two rotating and interlocking
piston abutments enclosed in an oval or semicircular case, and revolving in opposite
directions. In order to obtain a sufficiently air tight fit between the rotating
abutments or blowing blades and the interior of the case I provide within the case
strips of soft metal, which are adjustable by set screws, and these strips are
reduced or turned to a true fit by rotating the "abutments" or blowing blades,
which then cut away any superfluous portions of the soft metal strips and reduce
them accurately to the forms required. Or the packing or closing strips may be
adjusted into their places whilst the circumferential part of the case is removed,
and this part of the case is then formed with V projections entering into cor-
responding grooves in the backs of the packing or closing strips, and the joints
between the two are rendered air tight by means of composition or india rubber
..

page_text: or other suitable packing material; the grooves are filled with this composition or
material before the circumferential part of the casing is applied and fixed in its
place. Or the fit between the rotary abutments or blowing blades and the case
may be obtained by casting an easily fusible metal into grooves provided in the
case, a block or "dummy" being at this time introduced into the case in the
position to be occupied by the blowing blades. Or the whole casing, the periphory
together with the ends, may be cast in one piece, and the fit to the rotary abutment
or blowing blade may be obtained by mounting an axis in the bearings prepared
for the rotary abutment, and fixing on this axis an arm carrying tools to true up
the case in the parts required. For trueing the ends of the case the cutter is so
arranged that it may be traversed along the arm, but for trueing the interior
periphory of the case the axis itself is traversed in its bearings.
The blower may also be constructed in the following manner:-It may consist
of a drum or casing containing two radial partitions; these partitions are fixed
upon two axes, one of which is tubular, and the other passes through it. There are two
passages, an inlet and an outlet, passing through the periphory of the drum or casing.
The axes are both driven by elliptical gear or in other such like manner, so that
for part of the revolution they rotate or travel at high velocity, but they complete
the revolution at a much lower speed. The gear is so arranged that the partitions
travel slowly whilst passing over the space between the inlet and the outlet
passages, whilst the remainder of the revolution is accomplished at a higher speed.
Thus the radial partitions divide the drum or casing into two compartments, which
are continually varying in dimensions. The compartment which is increasing in
capacity from the separation of the partitions on the sides which bound it is
always in communication with the inlet passage, whilst the compartment which
is diminishing in capacity from the approach of the sides of the radial partitions by
which it is bounded is in communication with the outlet passage.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Arthur Bromley Holmes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
June 1880.
ARTHUR BROMLEY HOLMES (Secretary of Andrew Handyside and Company,
Limited), of the Britannia Ironworks, Derby, in the County of Derby.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE FORGES, AND IN BLOWING APPARATUS FORMING
PART OF THE SAME, BUT APPLICABLE ALSO TO OTHER USES."
This Invention has for its object improvements in portable forges and in blowing
apparatus forming part of the same, but applicable also to other uses.
Portable forges as at present constructed are very liable to breakage in transit,
and the blowing apparatus with which they are fitted is expensive. According to
my Invention the hearth plate and the lower frame of the forge are both constructed
of malleable cast iron, and they are connected together by legs or uprights of
wrought iron tube. The blowing apparatus is in some cases of the same class as
the well known "Root's" blower, that is to say, it consists of two rotating and
interlocking piston abutments enclosed in an oval or semi-circular case, and
revolving in opposite directions. In order to obtain a sufficiently air tight fit
between the rotating abutments or blowing blades and the interior of the case I
provide within the case strips of soft metal, which are adjustable by set screws, and
these strips are reduced or turned to a true fit by rotating the "abutments" or
blowing blades, which then cut away any superfluous portions of the soft metal
strips and reduce them accurately to the forms required. Or the packing or closing
strips may be adjusted into their places whilst the circumferential part of the case
is removed, and this part of the case is then formed with V projections entering
into corresponding grooves in the backs of the packing or closing strips, and the
joints between the two are rendered air tight by means of composition, or india
rubber, or other suitable packing material; the grooves are filled with this
composition or material before the circumferential part of the casing is applied and
fixed in its place. Or the fit between the rotary abutments or blowing blades, and
the case may be obtained by casting an easily fusiblo metal into grooves provided
in the case,ja block or "dummy" being at this time introduced into the case in the
position to be occupied by the blowing blades. Or the periphery of the casing may
be cast with closing strips or ridges upon it in one piece, and the fit to the rotary
abutment or blowing blade may be obtained by an axis in the position to be
occupied by the rotary abutment carrying tools to true up the case in the parts
required.
In order to facilitate this method of construction I cast two cases together,
and separate them only after the tooling operations have been performed upon
them.
The blower may also be constructed in the following manner :—
It may consist of a drum or casing containing two radial partitions; these
partitions are fixed upon two axes, one of which is tubular, and the other passes
through it. There are two passages, an inlet and an outlet, passing through the
periphery of the drum or casing. The axes are both driven by elliptical gear or in
other such like manner, so that for part of the revolution they rotate or travel at
high velocity, but they complete the revolution at a much lower speed. The gear
is so arranged that the partitions travel slowly whilst passing over the space
between the inlet and the outlet passages, whilst the remainder of the revolution is
accomplished at a higher speed. Thus the radial partitions divide the drum or
casing into two compartments, which are continually varying in dimensions. The
compartment which is increasing in capacity from the separation of the partitions
on the sides which bound it is always in communication with the inlet passage,
whilst the compartment which is diminishing in capacity from the approach of the

page_text: W
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figures 1 and 2 show an elevation partly in section and a back view of a
portable forge made according to my Invention. The hearth plate A and lower
frame B of the forge are of malleable cast iron, as is also the bracket C, which
supports hand wheel D and the hand wheel itself. The three legs or uprights
E, E, E, are formed of wrought iron tube. The parts A, B, and C are fixed in their
places on the legs E by keys or by tap screws. The blower is shown in its place
upon the lower frame B.
Figure 3 shows a transverse section of the blower to a larger scale with details
of the way in which a sufficiently air tight fit is secured between the casing F and
the rotating abutments or blowing blades G.
The three ways in which this object may be attained are shown as follows:-
(1.) At H, H, where strips of soft, metal J, J, are provided, which are adjustable
by the set screws K, K, and feeding screws L, L. The metal strips J, J, are
reduced or turned to shape by rotating the blowing blades G.
When a true
surface is obtained the set screws K, K, are tightened up, and the feeding screws
L, L, dressed off.
(2.) At M, where N is a loose closing strip adjusted to fit nearly to the circum-
ference of blowing blades between the end casings of the blower whilst the
circumferential part of the casing F is removed. When the adjustment of the
strips N is completed a pitch or asphalte composition, or india rubber, or other like
packing is placed in the V groove O at the top of the packing strips N, and the
casing F being lowered down on to the same an air tight fit is thus produced.
(3.) At P is shown a third way in which an air tight fit may be secured;
Qis a dovetailed groove cast in the casing F. The blowing blades or blocks of
like form are placed in position, and an easily fusible metal is run in as shewn
at R.
Figure 4 shows the way in which the casing of the blower may be machined up
to a sufficiently accurate fit to the blowing blades. Two casings are cast
together; S, S, is the casing of one blower, and T, T, the casing of a second blower;
U, U, are boring heads working on spindles with the necessary traversing action
not shown in the Drawing. A nick is formed at # where the two cases are joined
so that they may readily be broken apart when finished, much time and trouble
however is saved in setting the work and otherwise by keeping the two cases
in one piece during the tooling operations. As represented by the Drawing the
cases are cast separately from the ends, and the first of the tooling operations is to
face the end flanges and turn them to a gauged diameter. The two cases are
then taken to another machine, in which are two boring bars set parallel the one with
the other, and with their centres at a distance apart exactly equal to the distance
between the axes of the rotary abutments or blowing blades which the casing is
intended to receive. The cases are placed in this machine so that the boring bars
pass through them, and the turned flanges resting upon fixed supports to which
they are fixed by bolts, the work requires no setting beyond bringing the
notches to range in a vertical line. The arrangement of the boring heads with
the tools on the boring bars is similar to that employed by engineers for
boring cylinders, except that as the boring heads work closer together provision is
made for the clearance of the tools by removing a portion from the back of each
head. The boring heads are traversed along the boring bars from end to end of
the work by the usual means.

page_text: When two pairs of closing strips or ridges have thus been brought to a true
form the work is turned round upon its supports over an angular distance
measured by the distance between two lines scribed upon the flange, and then the
other pairs of closing strips are tooled in the same manner. The cases when
separated are mounted on rectangular base frames, as is indicated in Figure 2.
The ends of the case are similarly cast, two together, and they are faced and the
bearings are bored out before they are separated.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 6 is a transverse section of a
blower of another construction which I have invented.
W, W, is a drum or casing containing two radial movable partitions X and Y.
The partition X has a tubular axis X', through which passes the axis Y' of the
other partition Y.
Motion is given to the radial partitions X and Y from the driving pulley Z
through elliptical gearing Y, Y, for the partition Y, and X and X³ for the
partition X. By this means each abutment is alternately catching up or receding
behind the other. At the point shown in the Drawing the partition Y is moving
more quickly than the partition X, air is consequently drawn in at inlet A and
forced out at outlet B.
The driving pulley Z is attached to the elliptical wheels X, Y, and is carried
loose on the fixed axle Z. Each partition moves more slowly when it is passing
between the passages B and A than it does whilst travelling over the remainder of
its course, and so each partition in turn is being overtaken by the other partition
during the time that it is between the passages.
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 construction of portable forges with the hearth plate and the lower
frame of malleable cast iron, and the uprights of wrought iron tube, substantially as
described.
Second. In the manufacture of blowing apparatus obtaining a sufficiently air
tight fit between the rotating abutments or blowing blades and the case by meana
of strips of soft metal upon the case which are set against the rotating abutments
or blowing blades, and are reduced by them to the proper form, substantially as
described.
Third. In the manufacture of blowing apparatus obtaining a sufficiently air
tight fit between the rotating abutments or blowing blades and the case by first
adjusting the packing or closing strips to their places, and then applying the
circumferential part of the case, the joints between it and the packing or closing
strips being formed with soft composition of cement, substantially as described.
Fourth. In the manufacture of blowing apparatus obtaining a sufficiently air
tight fit between the rotating abutments or blowing blades and the case by casting
a readily fusible metal into grooves provided in the case whilst the said grooves
are closed by a block introduced into the case in the position to be occupied by
the blowing blades, substantially as described.
Fifth. In the manufacture of blowing apparatus obtaining a sufficiently air
tight fit between the rotating abutments or blowing blades and the case by casting
closing strips or ridges upon the case, and reducing these strips or ridges to the
true form corresponding to the form of the rotary abutments or blowing blades by
cutting tools mounted upon axes occupying the positions of the axes of the rotary
abutments or blowing blades, substantially as described.
Sixth. In the manufacture of blowing apparatus casting two cases together and
of a piece with the closing strips or ridges upon them, and reducing these strips or
ridges to the true form by cutting tools mounted upon axes occupying the positions
of the axes of the rotary abutments or blowing blades, substantially as described.
Seventh. The improved blower with two radial partitions upon concentric axes
revolving within a cylindrical case having an inlet and outlet passage, the
partitions being so driven that they move comparatively slowly when passing over

page_text: the comparatively short distance between the passages, and at a higher speed
whilst passing over the rest of their course to complete a revolution, substantially
as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Bromley Holmes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this 22nd day of June, in the year of our Lord One ♬
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
ARTHUR BROMLEY HOLMES. (L.S.)