AN IMPROVED METHOD OF TREATING CAST STEEL OR OTHER INGOTS PREPARATORY TO ROLLING, HAMMERING, OR FORGING THEM INTO ANY DESIRED FORM.
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bernard Edward Cammell, of Sheffield, in the County
of York, and James Duffield, of Dronfield, in the County of Derby, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF TREATING CAST STEEL OR OTHER
INGOTS PREPARATORY TO ROLLING, HAMMERING, OR FORGING THEM INTO
ANY DESIRED FORM.
"
Sealed the 30th November 1877, and dated the 21st September 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bernard Edward Cammell
and James Duffield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
21st September 1877.
BERNARD EDWARD CAMMELL, of Sheffield, in the County of York, and JAMES
DUFFIELD, of Dronfield, in the County of Derby. "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
TREATING CAST STEEL OR OTHER INGOTS PREPARATORY TO ROLLING, HAMMERING,
OR FORGING THEM INTO ANY DESIRED FORM.
و"
The object of our improved method of treating cast steel or other ingots is to
equalize and utilize the heat contained therein while in a heated state. This
effected by immersing them in a bath of or surrounding them with some non-
conducting material immediately after they are released from their moulds. The
object of thus surrounding the ingots while in a heated state with some non-
conducting material is to exclude the air and to allow the heat from the interior of
the ingot to radiate towards the exterior so as to equalize the heat throughout. By
so equalizing the heat we are enabled to roll, hammer, or forge the ingots into "bars,"
"rails," "plates," or other forms without having to subject them to the action of a
reheating furnace, as is now the usual practice.
following manners:-When an ingot
has been cast it is allowed to cool a little on its outer surface by allowing it to
remain in contact with the mould for a few minutes. It is then released (from its
Thould)
charcoal, sand, or any other suitable non-conducting material. It is then com-
as soon as possible and put into an iron box or other receptacle containing
pletely covered with a similar substance, and there remains for the space of about

page_text: 508.
fifteen minutes, when it will be found that the inner part of the ingot has given up
a portion of its superfluous heat to the colder outside, thereby causing a more uniform
distribution of the heat contained in it. The ingot is now at such an uniform tern-
perature throughout that it can be hammered, rolled, or forged direct into bars,
plates, rails, or other forms without any further reheating.
It will be understood that any convenient number of ingots can be placed in the
same receptacle and treated in this manner at the same time.
Another method of carrying out our Invention consists in placing a number of
ingots in a close chamber or vessel lined with fire-brick or other suitable non-
conducting material, and piling them up therein in close contact, then closing up the
vessel for a few minutes in order to exclude the air and allow time for the heat to
become equalized throughout the mass.
The vessel may then be opened and the
ingots removed and subjected to the rolling, hammering, or forging operation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Bernard Edward Cammell and James Duffield in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 21st March 1878.
BERNARD EDWARD CAMMELL, of Sheffield, in the County of York, and JAMES
DUFFIELD, of Dronfield, in the County of Derby.
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
TREATING CAST STEEL OR OTHER INGOTS PREPARATORY TO ROLLING, HAMMERING,
OR FORGING THEM INTO ANY DESIRED FORM."
Steel ingots are usually cast in iron moulds from which (when they are suth-
ciently solid) they are turned out and allowed to cool down.
In so doing it has
been found that the outer part of the ingot by being in contact with the air: wy
cool very rapidly while the internal part will still remain in a liquid state, or at any
rate at a very high temperature for some time. The consequence is that the crystal-
lization of the central part of the ingot will present (when the ingot is broken) a
very different appearance from that of the parts nearer the surface. If therefore an
ingot (just as it comes from the iron mould) were subjected to either of the
sheets, plates, rails, bars, or other forms, the result would be very unsatisfactory.
owing to the want of uniformity in the heat and crystallization of the metal
throughout the ingot. This is well known to iron and steel manufacturers, and
therefore the usual practice is to submit the ingots to a preparatory heating in
a furnace provided for the purpose. By thus heating the ingot its temperature
is rendered uniform or practically so throughout the whole mass, and it is ready for
the operations of rolling, hammering, or forging. This preparatory heating however
not only involves the consumption of a considerable amount of fuel, but also an
increase of plant, thereby adding materially to the manufacturing expenses.
bring them to an uniform temperature (throughout their mass) suitable for rolling
hammering, or forging without resort to the before-mentioned preparatory heating
The object of our improved method of treating cast steel or other ingots is to
This is effected by burying the hot ingots in some pulverized material which is a bad
conductor of heat. The hot ingots being thus protected from the action of the air,

page_text: Ingots.
the heat from the interior of the ingot will radiate towards the exterior and
thereby raise the temperature of the cooler parts and equalize the heat throughout
In carrying out the Invention we proceed as follows:-When an ingot has been
5 cast by pouring the molten metal into the iron mould in the usual manner, it is
allowed to remain in the mould a short time, that is, until it has become sufficiently
solid to handle. It is then released (from its mould) and immediately placed in an
iron box or other receptacle containing charcoal or other suitable non-conducting
material in a pulverized state and covered with this substance so as to completely
0 exclude the air therefrom. The buried ingot is left for some fifteen minutes, more
or less, when it will be found that the inner part of the ingot has given up a portion
of its superfluous heat to the exterior, thereby causing an uniform distribution of the
heat throughout the mass.
The ingot is now ready to be hammered, rolled, or
forged into bars, plates, rails, or other articles without any further preparatory
5 treatment.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal
vertical section of one form of apparatus which we employ for carrying our Invention
into effect.
1
It consists of a rectangular metal box a, a, mounted on wheels b, b, for the con-
O venience of moving it about either on rails or otherwise. It may also be provided
with an air-tight cover c, if desired. The box is subdivided into compartments by
the vertical partitions d, d, each compartment being capable of containing two
ingots e, e, together with their packing of pulverized charcoal or equivalent
material ff ff f², f2. When a cast ingot has become solid enough to admit of
handling it is removed from its mould and placed quickly in one of the compart-
ments of the box a, on the bottom of which a layer of pulverized charcoal or any
other suitable pulverized non-conducting material f¹ has been previously placed as
a bed to receive it; as quickly as possible another ingot is placed on the first, and
the spaces between the ingots and the sides a and d of the compartment having
been filled with the same pulverized non-conducting material, as shown at f,f, the
two ingots are covered in with a layer f2 of the pulverized material. When all the
compartments of the box have thus been filled and the ingots covered up with char-
coal so as to prevent the access of air thereto, the box may be closed if desired by
means of the cover c. The contents are then left for about fifteen minutes, as before-
mentioned, to allow the greater heat of the central part of ingots to radiate towards
the cooler parts and raise their temperature, after which the ingots may be removed
one by one as required and subjected to the processes of rolling, hammering, or
forging in the usual manner.
It will be seen that we have divided the chamber a into compartments by means
of the fixed vertical partitions d. This is done for the sake of convenience, so that
the workman can remove the ingots from one compartment without disturbing or
interfering with those in the adjoining one.
If desired however these partitions may be dispensed with altogether, and the
box may be a simple rectangular vessel of suitable nice to contain a convenient
number of ingots.
size
An arrangement of this kind is shown at Figures 3 and 4, Sheet II., Fig. 3 being
a plan view, and Fig. 4 a longitudinal vertical section of the vessel, which is made
by preference of sheet iron with a framing of angle iron.
It
may be lined at the sides and bottom with tiles or slabs made of fire-clay or
other refractory material which is a bad conductor of heat, and before placing the
ingots therein the bottom should be covered as in the other instance with pulverized
charcoal or its equivalent f', f¹, to form a bed to receive the ingots, which may be
placed close together in a mass, provided care be taken that they be so arranged
that they
completely surrounded on all sides with the air-excluding pulverized substance.
The metal ingot box, shewn at Figures 3 and 4, may if desired be mounted on
wheels for the convenience of moving it about upon rails or otherwise, as in the
can be removed from the vessel with facility and the mass of ingots be

page_text: 18.
of
former instance, but it may sometimes be found more convenient for the box to be
stationary and for the ingots to be brought to it and carried from it by means
In laying out new works (where any desired space for the requisite plant or appa-
ratus can be obtained), we make the ingot boxes stationary; or, by preference, we
construct in some convenient part an ingot pit capable of receiving a number of
ingots. This pit which is constructed of or lined with fire-bricks or slabs made of
fire-clay, will be situated between the Bessemer converters (or the spot where the
ingots are cast) and the rolling mechanism.
In works that are already laid out, or where there is not available space for a
number of swinging cranes, the ingot boxes mounted on wheels, as shewn in
Figures 1 and 2, may be used, or overhead travelling cranes may be employed.
An arrangement of this kind is shown at Sheet III., in which Fig. 5 is a ground
plan, and Fig. 6 an elevation of the apparatus and plant complete for rolling rails or
bars direct from the cast ingot.
g, g, are two Bessemer converters, and h, a central lift provided with a horizontal
arm for carrying the ladle i from either converter to the ingot moulds j for the
purpose of filling the same with the molton metal from the converters. When the
metal in the moulds j has become sufficiently solid to be handled the moulds are
transferred by one of the swinging cranes k or k¹ to the press 7, by means of which
the ingots are knocked out of the moulds. The ingots as they are thus released are
picked up by the travelling crane m and are deposited in the stationary ingot box
or pit n, where they remain until the heat has had time to become equalized
throughout the mass of the ingot. The ingot is then picked up again by the
travelling crane m and carried from the pit to the rolling mechanism o.
way steel may be cast into ingots treated according to our Invention and rolled into
rails, bars, or plates within less than half an hour, and this work may be continued
as long as a supply of molten metal can be maintained for producing the ingots.
In this 2
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "An Improved Method of
Treating Cast Steel or other Ingots Preparatory to Rolling, Hammering, or Forging S
them into any desired Form," and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, we wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
which it contains when discharged from the mould, and thus rendering the ingot fit
without further treatment to undergo the operations of rolling, hammering,
into shape, such process consisting in protecting the hot ingot from the action of the
air by burying it in pulverized charcoal or other bad conductor of heat reduced to a
granular or pulverized state.
or forging
In witness whereof, I, the said Bernard Edward Cammell, have hereunto set
35
my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord #
One thousand eight hundred and
BERNARD E. CAMMELL