IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN MANUFACTURING MALLEABLE IRON
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CONDIE, of Glasgow, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifteenth day of October
(One thousand eight hundred and forty-six), in the tenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Condie, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said John Condie, my exors, adñors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Condie, my exors, adiñors, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the. term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED
IN MANUFACTURING MALLEABLE IRON;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that I, the said John Condie, should cause a particular description
of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be
inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Condie, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:
My Invention consists, first, of improvements in steam hammers, and
secondly of improvements in anvils, hammers, and squeezer faces.
In the arrangements of steam hammers described respectively by Watt under
his Patent of One thousand seven hundred and eighty-four; by Deverell,
under his Patent of One thousand eight hundred and six; and by Nasmyth,
under his Patents of One thousand eight hundred and forty-two and One
thousand eight hundred and forty-three, the steam cylinder employed has been
fixed, and the piston moveable, and the hammer has been fixed or applied to
the piston rod. Now my improvements in steam hammers consist of so
arranging the same that the hammer is applied to or forms part of the steam
cylinder employed, and the steam cylinder is caused to move, by which arrange-
ment the steam cylinder gives weight to the hammer, and in fact the steam
cylinder is the hammer suitably constructed for having hammer faces affixed
thereto, and, the nature of such hammer faces will be varied according to the
nature of the work to be done.
It is well known that anvil, hammer, and squeezer faces are liable to become
very highly and injuriously heated when being used in the manufacture of
malleable iron, and they are usually constructed solid. Now the second part
of my Invention consists of casting forge anvils and hammer and squeezer
faces with wrought-iron tubes therein, so that water may be caused to circulate
freely through the same, and thus keep the anvils and hammer and squeezer
faces cool when being used. And in order that my Invention may be fully
understood and readily carried into effect I will proceed to describe the means
pursued by me.

page_text: fixture, and the cylinder the moving part, its pressure against the cylinder
cover will raise the cylinder or hammer until the steam valve cuts off the
supply of steam, and at the same time opens the port so as to allow its escape
into the atmosphere through the exit pipe D (this being the position shewn),
consequently the hammer will fall by its weight, when the steam may be again
admitted, and the same operation repeated. F is a port or ports (as shewn
also at the transverse section, Figure 4) which allows the air under the piston
to escape while the hammer is being raised, and also the air to return while
the hammer is falling. When the hammer is required to strike with more
force than its weight alone, by giving the throttle valve full opening the
ports F will pass the piston and thereby compress the air under the piston,
by which additional recoil is given to the fall of the hammer. The steam tube
B, B, may be made of brass or malleable iron, and is made with a small
flange at top for the purpose of making a steam-tight joint, which is here
effected by introducing a ring of vulcanized india rubber above and another
below the flange, and the whole is screwed tight up by the bolts and
collar G, G. By the introduction of this elastic packing any bad effects from
vibration will not be felt at the joint. I also provide against any side vibration
that might take place in the cylinder by making the body of the piston
somewhat less in diameter than the cylinder, so by this means the packing
rings alone are affected. And I would state that although I use a cylinder
for the hammer, the steam vessel may be of another figure than cylin-
drical, so long as it moves on a proper fixed or stationary piston as herein
described.
Figures 1 and 2 shew different views of the hammer and geering. a, the
cylinder or hammer with face b, which may be varied. c, c, guides for the
hammer, which guides can be made to bear up exactly against the grooves in
the sides of the hammer by keys d, d. e, e, is a vertical shaft carrying the arm
f, which is furnished with a friction roller g. h is a part projecting forward
on the guide part of the hammer, which acts as a tappet in moving the
valve gear when the hammer reaches the required height.. The motion given
to the arm is communicated to the back of the framing by the toothed
mitre segments i, i, and from thence to the valve through the rod ; and levers
k, k. is a rod attached to a strong spring at the lower end for the purpose
of pulling down or opening the piston valve when the hammer has given its
blow. m is a bar, passing through a guide hole at each end, and suspended
on a spiral spring at top, and made to vibrate freely up and down from its
momentum when the hammer strikes its blow. The downward motion given
to the bar m throws out the point of the small crank n, which strikes the

page_text: vertical bar o (see also horizontal section Figure 6), when the arm p gives
a forward impulse to the two radius rods q, q, which serve as gags for holding
the steam valve shut while the hammer is falling. The radius rods move
freely on the handle r, and on the rod s, and when thrown a little back off the
straight (as shewn at Figure 6), by means of a spring acting on a slight
projection from the centre or knuckle joint q', the rods 9, 9, act as a rigid
bar to gag or fix the valve gearing in that position, until the next impulse is
given from behind by the arm p, when the hammer strikes. To make the
hammer long or short in stroke, as may be required, the arm f is made to
slide up or down on the vertical shaft e, guided by a groove and feather, and
fixed by a pinching screw, as shewn. I also propose to alter the stroke of the
hammer while at work by placing a vertical screw parallel to the shaft e, and
this screw is to be furnished with a nut, which shall embrace the collar part
of the arm f, so that on turning the screw by a handle at the bottom the
arm can be made to move up or down at pleasure, without stopping the
hammer. In this mode the pinching screw is dispensed with. t, t, is a bent
lever or handle turning freely on the shaft e. The use of this lever t is to
force the radius rods outwards, and thereby prevent the radius rods q, q,
gagging up the steam valve when such is not required. u is a double beat or
equilibrium throttle valve, which is worked by the handle v.
.
I likewise propose to work my hammer without the air ports at the bottom
of the cylinder. In this mode I make the cylinder somewhat longer; and the
air under the piston gets compressed as the hammer is raised, until its density
has reached about half that of the steam, then the steam is allowed to escape,
when the compressed air pent up in the lower part of the cylinder will give
additional force to the blow of the hammer, 'and, if desired, slides and ports
might be so arranged as to admit steam under the fixed piston, and thus to
force down the hammer.
The second part of my Invention consists of the introduction of malleable
iron tubes into forge anvils, haminer, and squeezer faces, through which tubes
I cause water to pass, by which means the anvils and the hammer and
squeezer faces are kept cool, and made much less liable to crack and break
from the strong heat to which they are submitted: The wrought-iron tubes
are to be cast within the anvil or hammer or squeezer face, and so bent or
shaped as to traverse or wind through it several times, the connection being
made to the water supply pipe by means of a leathern tube or otherwise,
similar to what are employed in the water twyers now generally used in hot
blast smelting furnaces.
I would remark, that I am aware that before the date of my Patent steam

page_text: engines have been constructed the cylinders of which have been caused to
move, the piston rod being fixed or stationary; I do not therefore claim the
same when not arranged suitable for steam hammers.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the details herein shown and described so long as the
peculiar character of either part of my Invention be retained. But what I
claim is,
First, the so arranging or constructing steam hammers that the steam
cylinders have the hammer faces applied thereto and move therewith.
And, secondly, I claim the introduction of malleable iron tubes into anvils
and hammer and squeezer faces.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Condie, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
JOHN (L.S.) CONDIE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighth day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid John Condie cane before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.