IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES USED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON, AND ALSO IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF MANUFACTURING IRON
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
BENJAMIN THORNEYCROFT, of Wolverhampton, Ironmaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Thirty-first day of January, in the sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Benjamin Thorneycroft, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said George Benjamin Thorneycroft, my exors,
admiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Benjamin Thorney-
croft, my exors, admors, 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
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 FURNACES USED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON, AND ALSO
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF MANUFACTURING IRON;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said George Benjamin Thornoycroft,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Benjamin Thorneycroft, do hereby declare that the nature of my
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully

page_text: described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say :-
The first part of my Invention relates to admitting air through the bridges
used in reverberatory furnaces when puddling, boiling, reheating, or balling
iron; secondly, my Invention relates to a mode of cutting sheet iron; thirdly,
my Invention relates to a mode of making boiler and other plate iron, when of
a width of eleven inches and upwards; and, fourthly, my Invention relates to a
n:ode of manufacturing iron for the making of files and other instruments for
which steel is generally used. And, in order that my Invention may be most
fully understood and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the
Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of a reverberatory furnace suitable
for puddling, boiling, reheating, or balling iron. Figure 2 is a plan of the
furnace in section; a is the fire place; b, the bridge, which is hollow to allow
of air passing upwards at a point between the fire and the furnace c, and an
advantage is obtained by letting streams of air above or at the sides of the fire,
in addition to what comes through between the fire bars; and it will be found,
by these arrangements, the heat of the furnace will be maintained with less
fuel, and there will be less smoke pass through and away from the furnace;
and the heat thus obtained will be found more suitable for conducting either of
the processes of puddling, boiling, reheating, or balling iron; and I have found
that less waste of iron takes place by this arrangement; and the bridge of such
furnace will be found to be more lasting when the means of applying air above
described is resorted to in the processes of puddling, boiling, reheating, or balling
iron. By admitting air, as above mentioned, the flame becomes much whiter
and hotter, which renders it necessary to narrow the passage from the body of
the furnace to the flue or chimney used to obtain a draft; and I construct the
furnace with every possible care in order to exclude air passing into the furnace
c at any point beyond the bridge b, other than what unavoidably passes through
the hopper hole or door used by the workman. I would remark, that when
constructing the furnace, if flues be formed along the two sides to allow of a
current of air entering and passing through them and under the bottom of the
furnace, as is sometimes practised, in order to keep the sides and bottom of the
furnace cool, I cause the air so heated to pass to and through the flue bridge
and under the fire of the furnace, and the heated air will materially aid the cold
air passing under the grate of the fire.

page_text: I will now describe the second part of my Invention, which relates to a
mode of cutting sheet iron, and consists of moving the upper cutter by means
of a rotatory axis, as herein-after explained. Figure 3 shows a machine con-
structed according to this part of my Invention, for cutting wide sheets of iron,
but the width of the machine may be varied according to the work it has to
perform; Figure 4 is a transverse section of the machine; Figure 5 is a view
of the upper or moving cutter separately; Figure 6 is a view of the under or
fixed cutter separately; and Figure 7 shows sections of the upper and
under cutters; d, d, is the framing of the machine, the uprights or ends of
which will be placed further from or nearer to each other according as the
cutters are longer or shorter; e, e, the lower fixed cutter; and f, f, is the upper
or moveable cutter, the edge of which is inclined or at an angle to the other.
This upper cutter is suspended by straps g, g, on excentrics formed or affixed
on the revolving axis h; by this means the upper cutter will be raised and
lowered, and the required pressure will be obtained to the upper cutter by
means of the excentrics i, i, i, formed or affixed on the revolving axis h; by
this arrangement the cut will be more advantageously and readily performed
than by ordinary shears, and the scrap which is cut off will be nearly straight
and readily formed into piles to be heated, and again rolled, or drawn under
the hammers.
I will now describe the third part of my Invention, which relates to rolling
iron for boiler and other plates or sheets. It is well known that in making
boiler and other plates of iron, of a width of eleven inches or upwards, the
process of rolling is performed by means of plain rollers, which causes the edges
to be rough and unequal, and the two edges are not parallel; it is therefore
necessary, in order to obtain boiler or other plates of a width equal to eleven
inches or upwards, to roll the plates wider than the width required, and
then to cut or shear off the edges to obtain the width desired, which mate-
rially adds to the expence of obtaining boiler and other plates of the widths
above mentioned. Now this part of my Invention consists in making or rolling
such plates by means of grooved in place of plain rollers at the same time;
or, in place of finishing such sheets in grooved rollers, a great advantage will
be obtained in rolling the slabs, and nearly finishing the sheets, and then to
finish the sheets in plain rollers.
I would remark, that I am aware that grooved rollers have been and are
extensively used for rolling bar iron, each bar being successively passed through
or between several grooves formed in rollers. In rolling boiler and other plate
which is required to be eleven inches or upwards wide, it is important that
the slab of iron should be well formed, having good edges, and it is to be
slightly less in width than the grooves in the rollers used; and I form the

page_text: grooves of the width I desire to have the boiler or other plate, making them so
<leep that, in commencing, they may be sufficiently wide apart to receive the slab
or pile of iron, and as the process progresses, the rollers are made to approach
each other till the desired thickness is obtained to the boiler or other plate;
and it is desirable to pursue this practice in the rolling of boiler and other
plates when with grooved rollers, as the expense would be materially encreased
by having many grooves, each pair of grooves having narrower spaces between
them; as is the practice when rolling flat bars and narrow plates of iron; at the
same time I do not confine myself to use only one groove in a pair of rollers,
or to the using of one pair of rollers, in carrying out this part of my Invention;
and I use soft rollers for rolling the plates, or hardened rollers when I wish to
obtain smooth-finished surfaces to the boiler or other plate; and, in order that
the space between the rollers may at all times be equal and parallel, I cause
the two ends of the upper roller to be moved by screws actuated by cog-wheels
moved by a common cog-wheel, as is shewn in the Drawing at Figures 8 and
9 Figure 8. being a front view of a pair of rollers, having two grooves therein;
and Figure 9 is a transverse section thereof; a, b, being the two rollers; c, c,
are cog-wheels, on the upper parts of the screws e, the upper parts of the
stems of the screws sliding through the wheels c, the wheels c being retained
in their places by the forked bearings f, f, as is shown; g is a cog-wheel which
takes into and drives the cog-wheel c, such wheel g having handles h to enable
the workmen to set up his rollers, as the space between them is required to be
gradually less and less. In carrying out this part of my Invention it is of
great importance that the piles of iron should be so formed as to offer good
edges to the sheets produced therefrom; and, for this purpose, I construct
what. I call box piles, that is to say, on either side of each pile I place a bar on
e:lge so as to close each side of the pile, thus avoiding irregular edges to the
piles and to the sheets produced therefrom; and this construction of piles, com-
bined with the use of grooved rollers, will be found highly useful in making
boiler or other sheet iron of considerable width.
I will now describe the fourth part of my Invention, which relates to a mode
of making iron for the manufacture of files and other instruments for which
steel is generally used. The object of this part of my Invention is to save
foreign iron. In the manufacture of files, as heretofore practised, it is usual to
employ foreign iron converted into steel, and the whole substance of each file
is made of steel from such iron. In carrying out this part of my Invention I
cause the outer surfaces only to be of foreign iron plated on English iron; and
this I perform by applying slabs of foreign iron to the outer surfaces of the
piles, the interior of of each pile being composed of more common iron; and,
haeing rolled such piles into the sizes of. bars or rods desired for making the

page_text: various sizes required, I convert the same into steel according to the ordinary
practice of making steel. The iron thus made and converted into steel is
then to be made into files and other instruments for which steel is generally
employed or used.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I am
acquainted with for performing the same, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details shewn, provided the peculiar charac-
ter of either part of my Invention be retained. But what I claim is :-
First, the application of air through the bridges, and also, when desired, at
ends, sides, or roof of the grate of reverberatory furnaces when puddling,
boiling, reheating, or balling iron.
Secondly, I claim the mode of cutting iron by giving motion to the upper
cutters by means of rotatory axes and excentrics, as above described.
Thirdly, I claim the mode of manufacturing boiler and other plate by means
of grooved rollers eleven inches wide and upwards, for rolling such boiler or
other plate, and preparing the slab for the same, as above described. And I
also claim the mode of manufacturing such wide boiler and other plate by
combining the use of grooved rollers with the mode of preparing piles, as above
described; and,
Fourthly, I claim the mode of manufacturing iron for making files and
other instruments for which steel is generally used or employed, as above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Benjamin Thorneycroft, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
G. B. (L.S.) THORNEYCROFT.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-ninth day of July, in
the year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid George Benjamin Thorneycroft
came 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.
Enrolled the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand cight hundred and forty-three.
Enrolled the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand cight hundred and forty-three.