CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN THE FURNACES TO BE EMPLOYED FOR SUCH OR SIMILAR MANUFACTURES
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Jonn
JAMES OSBORNE, of Macclesfield, in the County of Chester, Gentleman, seud
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 Sixteenth day of January, in the eighth year of Her reign, and
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
James Osborne, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said John James Osborne, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said John James Osborne, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no other, 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 and
Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, this Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND IN THE FURNACES
TO BE EMPLOYED FOR SUCH OR SIMILAR MANUFACTURES," being a communication;
in which said Letters Patent is a proviso that I, the said John James
Osborne, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in
Her 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 James Osborne, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the
following explanation thereof (that is to say):-
The first part of my improvements consists in a peculiar mode of treating
pig or cast iron by the admixture of a certain composition to be added to it
when in a melted state; and the second part of my improvements consists in
the novel application of a peculiar furnace for refining and making cast steel.
To accomplish the first part of my improvements I proceed as follows:-If it
be merely desired to improve the quality of the iron, I add to an ordinary
charge, say three or four hundredweight of pig iron in a puddling furnace
when the same is fully melted, a mixture composed of two pounds of common
salt, two pounds of fresh burnt or quick lime in powder, and fifteen pounds of
iron scabs or schlag from the forge, commonly known as hammer scab, or
hammer schlag. These ingredients, being previously well mixed together, are
to be introduced into the furnace by means of an iron spoon or ladle in small
quantities at a time, stirring into the melted mass each successive portion. The
iron is then to be pudled and treated in the usual way when making bar iron,
and will be found to be materially improved in quality. For making shear
steel, the mode of operation is as follows:-To a charge of five hundredweight
of pig iron, melted at a white heat, I add twenty pounds of common hammer
scab or hammer "schlag" when the whole is in a liquid state. I subsequently
add six pounds of mixture composed as follows:-Two pounds of common salt,
two pounds of quicklime in powder, and two pounds of pearlash, or four
pounds of the common carbonate of soda, but I prefer the former. The
ingredients being thoroughly mixed and added in small quantities, as before
described, a violent effervescence ensues, and carbonic acid gas is discharged.
The mass, after being properly worked, is made into balls, hammered and rolled
in the ordinary way of making shear steel. When it is required to produce
cast steel, the mass is treated in the same way as regards the mixture, but not
puddled or balled; or a wind or blast furnace may be employed, the charge
being "tapped," or run out of the furnace in a melted state into a suitable bed for
making a plate of about one and a half inch thickness, when the "cinder" or
slag will rise to the surface, and being cooled by sprinkling with water, may be
separated when cold. The plate is then to be broken up and re-melted in
crucibles or melting pots in a wind or blast furnace in the following manner :-
Twenty-eight pounds of the plate, as before described, is put into a crucible
with one and a half pounds of green bottle glass, eight ounces of pearlash,

page_text: or sixteen ounces of carbonate of soda, but the former is preferred, and eight
ounces of the black oxide of manganese; the whole being well melted together
is stirred up with a clean iron rod and the slag removed, when it is cast into
ingot moulds in the usual way, and will be found converted into excellent cast
steel.
The second part of my improvements consists in the application and
employment of a peculiar blast furnace for performing the last operation,
which will be found to possess several advantages, as the process is much
shortened thereby, and a better steel results than when melted in an ordinary
wind furnace, and the pots or crucibles are much less liable to crack by the
action of cold air through the fire bars. In the accompanying Drawing
Figs. 1 and 2 represent a section and plan view of two furnaces, con-
structed and arranged as required. A is the body of the furnace, formed
of an iron pot 2 feet six inches in height and three feet in diameter,
furnished with eight holes C, to admit the blast, 4 being about six inches
from the bottom, and 4 being half way up the side, the upper holes being
pierced at equal distances between the spaces of the lower ones to secure a
more equal distribution of the blast. These pots are lined internally with a
proper thickness (about four inches) of refractory fire clay, or any suitable
substance for resisting the heat. B is a stand for supporting the crucible,
about twelve inches high, formed of fire brick. These pots are placed with
four square iron plates two feet six inches high, and three feet eight inches in
breadth, bolted together and cemented so as to form, with the circular plate at the
top, an air-tight chamber with a clear space of about three inches round the
pot, the blast being admitted into the outer case by two or more openings E.
The space D thus acts as an air chamber and distributes the blast through the
openings C to the pot or furnace in a regular and equable manner, causing a
greater equality of temperature than could be obtained by means of one or
two openings. Now it is obvious that these furnaces may be made of a size
to contain two or more crucibles, as shewn at Figure 3; they may also be
made square, rectangular, eliptical, or any other suitable form for carrying out
the principle of these improvements; but I prefer the circular form and size
herein recommended as being most easily managed, and most economical in
usc. The furnace is charged with hard cokes, as in an ironfounder's cupola,
and the blast supplied by a revolving wind fan, or other suitable blowing
machine. Two furnaces are here shewn, to exhibit the mode of joining them.
Thus any required number may be constructed in a comparatively small space,
and the furnaces being small, a soft blast will raise quickly a very high tempe-
rature; and it is obvious that furnaces may be used advantageously for refining

page_text: and melting cast steel in crucibles, though made by the old and known
process, as well as by the new mode herein described. In constructing
them it will be found advantageous to sink the mouths or top of the
furnace to the ground level, as in the ordinary pot furnaces, in order to give
the workman a greater command over the crucible. Now I would have it
understood that I do not claim the ingredients herein described separately, nor
do I restrict my claim to the exact proportions here recommended, as they
may be considerably varied with a beneficial result; but I have given the
proportions which will be found in practice most economical, beneficial, and
best calculated to produce the result herein described. I therefore claim the
use and application of the mixtures or compositions according to the mode
herein set forth and described, so long as the principle of the Invention is
preserved.
Secondly, I claim the use and application of the blast furnace for melting
and refining steel according to the modes shewn and described, whether the
same be constructed of iron, brick, or stone, or any other suitable materials, so
long as the principle of working with a close air chamber in the manufacturo
of iron and steel to soften and diffuse the blast is pursued.
In witness whereof, I, the said John James Osborne, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.