IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH BESSEMER CONVERTERS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Lyman Holley, of Brooklyn, in the County of
Kings and State of New York, United States of America, but temporarily of
Morley's Hotel, Charing Cross, London, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN AND CONNECTED WITH BESSEMER CONVERTERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Lyman Holley
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th October 1881.
ALEXANDER LYMAN HOLLEY, of Brooklyn, in the County of Kings and State
of New York, United States of America, but temporarily of Morley's Hotel,
Charing Cross, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH BESSEMER
CONVERTERS."
My Invention relates to improved apparatus for removing Bessemer converter
shells, by which means repairs of the lining are greatly facilitated.
According to my present Invention I make the shell readily detachable from the
trunnion ring, preferably in the mode described in my Patent, number 2024, dated
the Eighteenth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and eighty. Instead
however of removing the shell in the manner therein described I proceed as
follows:-
I run under the vessel a strong vessel car provided with three arms or brackets,
which are preferably capable of adjustment by screws or hydraulic jacks, so as to
clasp firmly and support the converter when in a vertical position.
The bolts holding the shell and trunnion ring together are then loosened, and
the whole trunnion ring, including the trunnions and pinion or worm wheel, is
lifted vertically off the shell, either by a wire rope running over a block or wheel
fixed over the converter trunnion, or by two hydraulic jacks placed under the
trunnions, or by any equivalent device. The shell being thus left free, supported
by the car, is run out backwards to the repairing shop.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alexander Lyman Holley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th April 1882.
ALEXANDER LYMAN HOLLEY, of Brooklyn, in the County of Kings and State
of New York, United States of America, but temporarily of Morley's Hotel,
Charing Cross, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH BESSEMER
CONVERTERS."
Bessemer converters have hitherto been generally constructed so as to be fixed
in their position permanently, having only a movement of rotation on their
trunnions. It has however been proposed to remove them for repairs by lifting or
otherwise displacing the converter and trunnion ring together. In Specification
No. 2024 of 1880 it has also been proposed that the shell should be made readily
detachable from the trunnion ring, which should remain in its supports, and the
shell be lowered out of it upon a car and removed for repairs. This arrangement
requires that the converter shall be hung high above the general ground level of
the plant, or else that there shall be a deep pit under the converter in order to
give room to lower the shell out of the trunnion ring and to remove it laterally.
The object of my present Invention is to secure the advantage of the removeable
shell without elevating the converter to a great height, which is costly, and without
lifting or lowering the great weight of the shell. For this purpose I make the
trunnion ring and the removeable shell readily detachable, but instead of dropping
the shell out of the trunnion ring I raise the trunnion ring, so that the shell can
be removed laterally without being lowered. The accompanying Drawings illus-
trate the manner in which I prefer to construct my apparatus.
Fig. 1 represents a front view; Fig. 2 represents a side view of Fig. 1; and
Fig. 3 represents a plan of the arrangements I make for lifting the trunnion ring
by means of overhead ropes or chains; Fig. 4 represents a front view, Fig. 5 repre-
sents a plan, and Fig. 6 represents a side elevation of the arrangements I make
when the trunnion ring is lifted by means of hydraulic lifts or jacks. The
converter A is detachably connected to the trunnion ring a, c, by means of cotter
bolts m, m. When it is desired to remove the converter shell a car is run under
it, which may be raised by means of a bydraulic lift, screws, jacks, or by other
convenient means, until it takes the weight of the shell off the trunnion ring. I
prefer to make a short hydraulic lift a part of the car, water under pressure being
brought to it by means of a hose, or 3 hydraulic jacks may be employed. The
receiving table of the lift or car is provided with suitable brackets or supports to
receive and hold the shell. The weight of the shell being taken by the car, the
trunnion ring a, c, is disconnected by knocking out the cotter bolts m, m³, and the
ring is lifted to the dotted position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 by means of a rope or
chain running over the sheave B, and attached to said ring at b, b. The brackets
d, d, guide the trunnion ring when it is raised or lowered, and wedges are
employed to hold the trunnion caps down when the converter is in use.
In Figs.
4, 5, and 6, the weight of the shell being taken on the car or lift, the trunnion ring
is disconnected and raised by means of the hydraulic lifts C, C, the entire operation
being as follows:-When it is desired to replace a shell the converter bottom
containing the tuyeres is removed in the ordinary manner (or it may be removed
with the shell and afterwards disconnected therefrom) by means of a lift and car
or a traveller. The shell A is then turned down, as shown, so as to be in a conve-
nient position for repairs (or it may be removed nose up, if preferred). The car is
run under, and by means of the lift or jacks takes the weight of the shell. The
cotters m, m', and the wedges are then removed, leaving the trunnion ring detached

page_text: from the shell and free to rise. Power then being applied to the wire ropes, or
water under pressure being applied to the hydraulic lifts C, C, the trunnion ring is
lifted to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The car and the shell are then
removed laterally to the repair shed. Here the shell may remain in the car while
being repaired, but by means of the lift on the car I prefer to raise the shell
enough to run an angle ring over a suitable frame to hold the shell up while it is
undergoing repairs. The car then takes a repaired shell from the frame, and carries
it under the trunnion ring, the trunnion ring being then let down and fastened to
the shell by the cotters m, m', and the wedges, the blast joint being also screwed
up. The repaired shell may be heated, and may also receive the converter bottom
before being attached to the trunnion ring, if preferred.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the same may be
practically employed,
What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,―
The herein described apparatus, consisting of the combination of the trunnion
ring of a Bessemer converter with the apparatus described, or its equivalent, for
lifting the trunnion ring, and with a converter shell detachable from the trunnion
ring, and with a car and lifting or adjusting arrangement under the converter, the
combination being for the purpose of lifting the trunnion ring off the shell, so that
the shell may be removed laterally, and a repaired shell may be placed in the
trunnion ring in the manner described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Lyman Holley, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
Signed, sealed, and delivered,
in the presence of
ALLEN P. JONES,
14, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, London,
W.C.
A. L. HOLLEY. (L.S.)