A METALLURGICAL FURNACE
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Paschall Morris Tasker, of the City and
County of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, in the United States
of America, for the Invention of "A METALLURGICAL FURNACE."
Scaled the 7th August 1874, and dated the 24th June 1874.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Stephen Paschall Morris
Tasker at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition and Declaration, on the 24th June 1874, pursuant to the
9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
PASCHALL MORRIS TASKER, of the City and County of Philadelphia,
State of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "A METALLURGICAL
FURNACE," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the
same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the true and first
Inventor thereof.
J

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Stephen Paschall Morris Tasker,
do hereby declare that the following Complete Specification, under my
hand and seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed in and by
the following statement :—
The object of my Invention is such a construction of the furnace as
will localize a much greater degree of heat at a certain part of it than is
admitted to the rest of the heating chamber for the purpose of adapting
the heat to articles which require a higher heat at one part than
throughout the remainder thereof. As, for instance, in the manufacture
of metal tubes it is desirable to heat the edges of the skelp for the
welding process much hotter than the other portion, or in other words
while the edges are required to be brought to a welding heat the rest of
the skelp requires only a low red heat merely sufficient for rounding it.
up during the welding of the joint, or it may remain black hot, and for
it to be brought to a higher heat is positively injurious as it distorts its
form, causing it to be flattened by its own weight, especially in tubes
of large diameter.
The Invention relates to a furnace having a central chamber through-
out its whole length for the reception of the bent skelp or other article,
and side chambers or flues, one on each side of said central chamber,
cach side flue being separated by a wall from the central chamber,
having an open communication at top with the same throughout its
whole length, and communicating at different points through ports in
the walls at the floor of the furnace, so that the flames may be brought
over the walls directly upon the edges of the skelp, which are uppermost
for that purpose, and no flame being permitted to pass into the central
chamber except through the above-named ports. The passage of the
flames through these ports is regulated by refractory plugs or other
suitable device by which they may be diminished in area or entirely
closed in accommodation to the amount of heat required for the lower
portion of the skelp or other article.
.
In the accompanying Drawings which make a part of this Specifica
tion Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved furnace; Figure 2 is a
vertical longitudinal section at the line y, y, of Figure 1; Figure 3 is
an end view, with a bent skelp in position for being heated; Figure 4 is
a cross section at the line z, z, of Figure 1.
Like letters of reference in all the Figures indicate the same parts.

page_text: A represents a central chamber throughout the whole length of my
improved furnace of such dimensions as required for the largest tubes or
other article to be welded, the doors to the ends of the chamber being
omitted in the Drawings.
B, B, are side flues for conveying the heat to the furnace. They are
separated vertically from the central chamber A by means of the walls
C, C. They have an open communication at a, a, with it at the top of
the walls throughout their whole length. They also communicate with
the bottom of the chamber by any desirable number of ports b. The
heat is passed up through one of the flues as represented by the arrows,
the flames passing over the top of the first wall C and coming in contact
with the edges c, c, of the skelp D to be welded, and over the top of the
opposite wall for bringing the edges to a welding heat. A portion of
the heat and flames may pass through the ports 6 into the central
chamber A, and thence through the opposite ports of the other wall
into the other flue, the waste heat being carried down through said flue
to the chimney or exit flue. I control the amount of heat which passes
through the ports 6 to the central chamber A by means of refractory
plugs or other suitable device, the plugs being withdrawn when it is
desired to admit the heat through the whole area of the ports, or partly
closed to vary it, or entirely closed when no heat is required to pass
directly to the bottom of the chamber A. When desired the ports b
may be omitted.
The operation is as follows:- -I introduce the skelp or other article,
being careful to keep the portion to be heated on top; the flames
passing over from either one of the flues to the other will strike against
the portion on top which is exposed, heating it to the same temperature
as the flame, the other portion being below the walls is not acted upon
by the flame except through the openings b, these I propose to control
by means of refractory plugs or other convenient device, so that I can
either have them closed entirely, partially, or open all of the way, so as
to keep the body of the article entirely cool or at any desirable tem-
perature..
When the tube or other article is of the proper temperature it is
passed out and another one introduced.
The walls C, C, I construct of any size and shape to suit the article to
be heated, and the openings b, b, of any number and size desired. The

page_text: advantage I gain in heating tube skelps of large diameter over the
method now generally adopted, which is to heat the entire tube skelp at
one heat, i.e., that of welding, at which heat the skelp is liable of its
own weight to flatten and bad work results therefrom, is this, by using
my improved furnace this is avoided, as the body of the skelp can be
heated to any temperature desired between that which is necessary for
welding and a black heat; my furnace can also be used for any other
metallurgical operation where a local heat is required, as the chamber A
can be made to suit in size and shape the article to be heated; this
chamber can be applied to any suitable form of furnace.
What I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent
is, the central chamber A in combination with the side flues B, B,
which have an open communication therewith at the top of the walls
C, C, the said walls being with or without the ports b, substantially. in
the manner and for the purpose described.
In testimony whereof, I, the said Stephen Paschall Morris Tasker
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.