IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE USED IN PROCESSES CONNECTED WITH THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN METALS AND SALTS
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HUNT, of Dodder Hill, in the County of Worcester, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirteenth day of June, in the eleventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Hunt, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Hunt, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said William Hunt, my executors, administrators,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned,
should aud lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVED
APPARATUS TO BE USED IN PROCESSES CONNECTED WITH THE MANUFACTURE OF
CERTAIN METALS AND SALTS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said William Hunt, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Hunt, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of "Improved Apparatus to be Used in Processes connected
with the Manufacture of certain Metals and Salts," consists of improvements
in the construction of reverberatory furnaces used in such processes, by means of
which improvements, manufacturers using such reverberatory furnaces are
enabled to substitute coal of low market value for the high priced coal hitherto
consumed in such furnaces, and thereby to effect an important economy.
will firstly describe my improvements as applied to such reverberatory furnaces
as are used for the well-known operation of puddling iron.
I
Fig. 1 is a plan view in section. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section,
and Fig. 3 is a front view of such a furnace exhibiting the construction of my
improvements, and their application thereto. In these several Figures the
same letters of reference are used to indicate similar parts. A; A, are the
B is a bed or floor of brickwork,
grate bars supported in the usual manner.
supported on an iron bearer K. D, D, are openings in the front of the
furnace, provided for the introduction of rakes C, C. The heads of these rakes
are made of such dimensions that when drawn into the position shewn in the
Figures 1 and 2, the openings D, D, are nearly closed. E is an opening
(provided with an iron door) for the introduction of coal on the bed or floor
B. F is an opening (provided with a brick door) for gaining access to the
fire on the grate bars A for the purpose of loosening clinkers, and regulating
the fire. G, G, are openings for the admission of air into the furnace.
These openings are provided with a regulating damper H (sliding in grooves),
by means of which the admission of air through the openings G, G, may be
regulated. L is the flue leading from the furnace to a chimney. M is the
iron bottom of the furnace. The chamber of the furnace in which the puddling
operation is performed is of the usual and well-known construction. The
kind of coal which I use by means of my improvements is the small coal
produced in mining, such quality of coal as has not sufficient cohesive
property when heated to form a good coke; and this small coal has conse-
quently been found unfitted to be used in the grates of reverberatory furnaces

page_text: when these are constructed in the ordinary manner. In working with my
improvements I introduce a supply of small coal on the bed or floor B (it
being supposed that the grate bars A are previously covered with burning
coal), and this coal being exposed to heat radiating from the burning coal in
the grate, gives off a considerable portion of its gaseous contents, and becomes
slightly coherent and porous. It is then pushed forward by means of the
rakes C, C, and falls on the grate bars A, A, in such a loose and porous state
as to admit of air getting through it to complete its combustion. The rakes
C, C, being drawn back to the position shewn in Figures 1 and 2, a fresh
supply of small coal is thrown on the bed or floor B. The gaseous matters
evolved from the coal on the bed B require a supply of air to effect their
proper combustion, which is admitted through the apertures G, G, and by
means of the regulating damper I these apertures may be increased or
diminished in size, and thereby the workman is enabled to admit more or less
air into his furnace, accordingly as he may consider this desirable. The
furnace is bound together by means of iron plates and bracings in the usual
manner. The construction of my improvements, as exhibited in the Drawings
hereunto annexed and herein-before described, is suitable to be applied to
reverberatory furnaces used for other processes connected with the manufacture
of iron beside the process of "puddling," also to reverberatory furnaces used
for processes connected with the manufacture of copper, lead, and zine, and to
reverberatory furnaces used for processes connected with the manufacture of
the salts of soda and of potash.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the means by which
I prefer to carry the same into practical operation, I would have it understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein-before defined, as the
same may be varied to some extent without deviating from the nature of my
Invention, which consists in the peculiar construction of reverberatory furnaces
to be used in processes connected with the manufacture of the metals and
salts herein-before particularly mentioned, which construction provides for the
coal used being exposed to heat on a bed or floor, and thus becoming partially
carbonized previously to its being transferred to the grate for combustion; also
provides for a regulated admission of air into the furnace to effect the com-
bustion of the gaseous matter evolved from the coal.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hunt, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.
WILLIAM (L.s.) HUNT.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Eleventh day of Decem-
ber, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid William Hunt came before our
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Twelfth day of December, in the year above written.