IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN FURNACES AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Thomas, of Middlesbrough-on-Tees, in the
County of York, William Bacon, of the Town and County of
Newcastle-upon-Tync, and Harrison Groves, of Redcar, in the
County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN FURNACES AND APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Scaled the 14th September 1869, and dated the 19th March 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thomas, William
Bacon, and Harrison Groves at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 19th March 1869.
We, JOHN THOMAS, of Middlesbrough-on-Tees, in the County of York,
WILLIAM BACON, of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
and HARRISON GROVES, of Redcar, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN FURNACES AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," to be as follows:-
Our Invention primarily consists of a new method or process of making
refined iron, wrought iron, and also steel from melted metal run direct

page_text: from the blast, cupola, or other furnace used for melting iron. We refine
the molten metal as it comes from the blast furnace; or the metal, if
in pigs or in cast scrap, may be melted in a cupola, air furnace, or any
other furnace used for melting iron, and if the ground is practicable
we prefer to build such furnace, which may be of any required capacity,
at such a level that the metal may run direct from the blast or melting
furnace into the air or refining furnace by gravitation, such air or
refining furnace being contiguous or near to the blast or melting
furnace. The refining furnace has a high crown, and on the top of
the crown we form a well with one or more holes leading through the
crown into the furnace; we heat the furnace up to the necessary heat
for melting iron and fluxes, and we first melt ores or oxides of iron
with carths, alkalics, salts, or any other material used for cleansing or
improving iron; when the fluxes are properly melted we run or pour
the molten metal into the well on the top of the crown and let it run
into the furnace through the holes. About half way down the furnaco
side we make apertures opposite to the stream or streams of falling
metal, and we insert into these apertures immediately under the falling
metal paddles or flattened bars of iron, which are protected with a
coating of fire-resisting material. The metal falling on the flat bars or
paddles is scattered into a very divided state, or we scatter the molten
metal with a jet of air, or steam, or gas, so arranged as to strike against
the stream of falling metal as it enters the furnace. Previous to
letting the metal into the furnace we take care to have a good firo
in the grate, and we open the damper at full so as to draw the gases
through with rapidity, and if the metal requires an excess of oxygen
we either open some holes near the bridge of the furnace to let in air,
or we introduce through a pipe a small portion of superheated steam.
The heated gases will have a powerful effect on the divided metal by
attacking and burning out the impurities, while the liquid oxide or other
fluxes in the bottom will receive, protect, and hold the silicious or other
dross given off from the metal. When the metal is all in the furnace
under the slag we draw the paddles out, stop all holes on the top and
sides, and if necessary to make the metal more pure we leave it to stand
a while, but with most metals it may be tapped out without loss of time
if the operation has been properly performed, and refined iron will be
the result.
In making wrought or malleable iron we tap and run the metal from
the refinery furnace into a large ladle resting on bearings on a carriage,

page_text: and if the puddling furnaces are higher than the ladle we raise the
metal carriage and ladle up to a railway which we construct on or near
to a level with the top or crown of the puddling furnace, on the crown
of which we form a well or basin with a hole through the crown. We
fettle the puddling furnace in the usual way, get it up to a high heat,
and melt the oxides or fluxes previous to charging the furnace with
metal; we then pour into the well on the top of the crown a sufficient
quantity of metal for a puddling charge and let it run down into the
furnace. Through the side of the furnace we insert a flat bar or paddle
similar to that used in refining, and let the liquid metal fall on the
same, so as to scatter or divide the metal, and as in the refinery process
we take care to have a good fire in the grate with a full open damper
while the metal is running into the furnace, so that by the aid of the
hot gases the iron may be further cleansed of its impurities; when the
metal is all in the furnace we close the holes and puddle in the usual
way. When the iron in the puddling furnace is balled we take out
the balls, shingle them, and roll them off into puddled bars. If we
want to make bolts or bars we run the puddled bar while hot on to
a mandril of a round, or oval, or other form, and then hammer the
doubled up iron flat; we insert these while hot into a reheating furnace
and when welding hot draw them and roll them into the required
size, but we prefer to weld the doubled iron with a hammer before
rolling.
In making steel we pour the melted metal into a well on the crown of
an air furnace as in refining. Previous to pouring in the metal we melt
the fluxes, which may be of oxides of iron mixed with earths, alkalies,
salts, manganese, or any other suitable flux, and we scatter or divide
the melted metal as in refining. When the metal is all in the furnace,
if we find it is not properly refined we tap and run it out into a ladle,
raise the ladle up, and pour the metal into the well again on the top
of the furnace, letting it run through and scattering it as before; we
repeat this scattering process as often as may be deemed necessary to
burn out impurities in the metal, and we change the gases from
carbonizing to oxidizing, as may be required, by regulating the fuel,
the damper, and the gases to support combustion; we then work the
charge, dissolve wrought iron in the same, or add more fluxes as becomnes
necessary, and when the charge is ready we tap it out and cast it into
the forms required.

page_text: The plan or arrangement of our manufactory for carrying out the
process of making iron and steel, herein-before described, is as follows:-
We place our refining furnace near the smelting or melting furnace,
and (except where the metal runs from the blast furnace into the well
on the crown of the air or refinery furnace by gravitation, as before
described) when the metal for a charge is in the ladle we raise it with a
steam or other hoist up to the level necessary to pour the iron into the
well on the crown of the furnace; next in order is a double row of
puddling furnaces, and we tap and run out the metal from the refinery
furnace into a ladle which we raise to a rail or railway that runs between
the puddling furnaces, and is so placed that we can pour the melted
metal into the furnace to the right or left; next to the puddling
furnaces we place the hammers for shingling, and then the rolls to
roll the puddled bars. If the puddled bars be intended for small iron
they aro then rolled up as already described; then follows the reheating,
and then the rolls to roll finished iron; if necessary we place small
hammers between the reheating furnaces and the rolls to weld the
doubled iron or piles under the hammers before rolling; then come the
shears or saws for cutting off the rough ends.
It will be understood from the foregoing description that in our
process for making iron or steel we begin with the molten metal and
pass the product of each operation forward up to the finished bar of iron
or of cast steel before letting it cool.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Thomas, William Bacon, and Harrison
Groves in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th September
1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JoпN
THOMAS, of Middlesbrough-on-Tees, in the County of York, WILLIAM
BACON, of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and HARRISON
GROVES, of Redcar, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Ier heirs and successors,

page_text: give and grant unto us, the said John Thomas, William Bacon, and
Harrison Groves, Her special licence that we, the said John Thomas,
William Bacon, and Harrison Groves, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said John Thomas, William Bacon,
and Harrison Groves, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND
IN FURNACES AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said John Thomas, William Baçon, and Harrison
Groves, or one of us, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, or one of our, 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 we, the said John Thomas, William Bacon,
and Harrison Groves, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
Our Invention primarily consists of a new method or process of
making refined iron, wrought iron, and also steel from melted metal
run direct from the blast, cupola, or other furnace used for melting iron.
We refine the molton metal as it comes from the blast furnace; or the
metal, if in pigs or cast scrap, may be melted in a cupola, air furnace,
or any other furnace used for melting iron, and if the ground is
practicable, we prefer to build such furnace, which may be of any
required capacity, at such a level that the metal may run direct from
the blast or melting furnace into the air or refining furnace by gravi-
tation, such air or refining furnace being contiguous or near to the
blast or melting furnace. The refining furnace has a high crown, and
on the top of the crown we form a well-with one or more holes leading
through the crown into the furnace; we heat the furnace up to tho
necessary heat for melting iron and fluxes, and we first melt the orcs or

page_text: oxides of iron, with earths, alkalies, salts, or any other material used for
cleansing or improving iron; when the fluxes are properly melted we
run or pour the molten metal into the well on the top of the crown and
let it run into the furnace through the holes. About half way down
the furnace side we make apertures opposite to the stream or streams
of falling metal and we insert into these apertures immediately under
the falling metal, paddles or flattened bars of iron, which are protected
with a coating of fire-resisting material. The metal falling on the flat
bars or paddles is scattered into a very divided state, or we scatter
the molten metal with a jet of air, or steam, or gas, so arranged as to
strike against the stream of falling metal as it enters the furnace.
Previous to letting the metal into the furnace we take care to have a
good fire in the grate, and we open the damper at full so as to draw the
gases through with rapidity, and if the metal requires an excess of
oxygen we either open some holes near the bridge of the furnace to
let in air, or we introduce through a pipe a small portion of superheated
steam. The heated gases will have a powerful effect on the divided
metal by attacking and burning out the impurities, while the liquid
oxide or other fluxes in the bottom will receive, protect, and hold the
silicious or other dross given off from the metal. When the metal is
all in the furnace under the slag, we draw the paddles out, stop all holes
on the top and sides, and if necessary to make the metal more pure we
leave it to stand awhile, but with most metals it may be tapped out
without loss of time if the operation has been properly performed, and
refined iron will be the result.
In making wrought or malleable iron, we tap and run the metal from
the refinery furnace into a large ladle resting on bearings on a
carriage, and if the puddling furnaces are higher than the ladle we raise
the metal carriage and ladle up to a railway which we construct on or
near to a level with the top or crown of the puddling furnace, on the
crown of which we form a well or basin with a hole through the crown.
We fettle the puddling furnace in the usual way, get it up to a high
heat and melt the oxides or fluxes previous to charging the furnace
with metal; we then pour into the well on the top of the crown a
sufficient quantity of metal for a puddling charge and let it run down
into the furnace. Through the side of the furnace we insert a flat bar
or paddle similar to that used in refining, and let the liquid metal fall
on the same, so as to scatter or divide the metal, or the metal may be

page_text: scattered with a blast of steam, air, or gases, and as in the refinery
process we take care to have a good fire in the grate with a full open
damper while the metal is running into the furnace, so that by the aid
of the hot gases the iron may be further cleansed of its impurities;
when the metal is all in the furnace we close the holes and puddle in
the usual way.
When the iron in the puddling furnace is balled we
take out the balls, shingle them and roll them off into puddled bars. If
we want to make bolts or bars we run the puddled bar while hot on to a
mandril of a round, or oval, or other form, and then hammer the doubled
up iron flat; we insert these while hot into a re-heating furnace and
when welding hot draw them and roll them into the required size, but
we prefer to weld the doubled iron with a hammer before rolling.
In making steel we pour the melted metal into a well on the
crown of an air furnace as in refining; previous to pouring in the
metal we melt the fluxes which may be oxides of iron mixed with earths,
alkalics, salts, manganese, or any other suitable flux, and we scatter or
divide the melted metal as in refining. When the metal is all in the
furnace if we find it is not properly refined we tap and run it out
into a ladle, raise the ladle up and pour the metal into the well again
on the top of the furnace, letting it run through and scattering it as
before; we repeat this scattering process as often as may be deemed
necessary to burn out the impurities in the metal, and we change the
gases from carbonizing to oxidizing as may be required by regulating the
fuel, the damper, and the gases to support combustion. We then work
the charge, dissolve wrought iron in the same, or add more fluxes as
becomes necessary, , and when the charge is ready wo tap it out and cast
it into the forms required.
The plan or arrangement of our manufactory for carrying out the
process of making iron and steel herein-before described, is as follows:-
We place our refining furnace near the smelting or melting furnace, and
(except where the metal runs from the blast furnace into the well on
the crown of the air or refinery furnace by gravitation as before described)
when the metal for a charge is in the ladle we raise it with a steam or
other hoist up to the level necessary to pour the iron into the well on
the crown of the furnace; next in order is a double row of puddling
furnaces, and we tap and run out the metal from the refinery furnace
into a ladle which we raise to a rail or railway that runs between the
puddling furnaces, and is so placed that we can pour the melted metal

page_text: into the furnace to the right or left; next to the puddling furnaces we
place the hammers for shingling, and then the rolls to roll the puddled
bars. If the puddled bars be intended for small iron they are then rolled
up as already described, then follows the reheating, and then the rolls
to roll finished iron; if necessary we place small haminers between the
relicating furnaces and the rolls to weld the doubled iron or piles under
the hammers before rolling; then come the shears or saws for cutting off
the rough ends.
It will be understood from the foregoing description that in our
process for making iron or steel we begin with the molten metal and
pass the product of each operation forward up to the finished bar of iron
or of cast steel before letting it cool.
The accompanying Drawings represent an arrangement of four puddling
furnaces constructed according to our Invention.
Figure 1 is a plan; Figure 2 a front elevation partly in section; and
Figure 3 an end elevation also partly in section. In cach furnace A is
the foundation and B the iron bottom of the same; C, is the bridge;
D, the fire-place; A, D, the furnace crown; E, neck leading to the
fluo E, F, G, the scattering chamber; II, blast pipe for scattering, or
instead of a blast pipe a paddle or flat bar as seen at X, Figure 3, may
be employed for scattering; II, I, is the well or basin in the crown of
the furnace and having one or more holes leading down into the scatter-
ing chamber. This well receives the molten metal from a runner J
leading from a ladle L, the ladle is mounted on a carriage B, A, which
travels on a railway I, T; M, M, are air or steam pipes for supplying
the blast pipes II; N, is a boiler in the middle of the four furnaces, and
K is a staging round the boiler; 0, 0, are binding plates for the
furnaces; P, P, are the charging doors, and Q, Q, the fire holes. The
mode of working the furnace has been already fully explained herein.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim as
our Invention, the scattering of molten metal within the furnaces. We
also claim applying this scattering process in the refining of molten
iron, in the puddling of molten iron, and in the converting of molten
iron into steel. We also claim allowing the metal to run into the furnaces
through apertures in the crown or in any other part or parts of the
furnace or furnaces that may be most convenient for scattering the
same. We also claim scattering the molten iron by the use of a paddle

page_text: or paddles or flattened bars or by a jet of steam, air, or gases, any of
them separately or combined. And we also claim constructing furnaces
and apparatus for effecting this scattering process, all substantially as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Thomas, Harrison Groves,
and William Bacon have hereunto set our hands and scals, this
Fourteenth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-ninc.
JOHN THOMAS.
H. GROVES.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)
WILLIAM BACON. (L.S.)