IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PUDDLING, BALLING, AND OTHER SORTS OF REVERBERATORY FUR- NACES, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENABLING ANTHRACITE, STONE COAL, OR. CULM TO BE JSED THEREIN AS FUELs
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MANBY, of Parliament Street, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Thirtieth day of January, in the fourth year of Her reign, lid give and
grant unto Charles Schafhoutl, of Munich, in the Kingdom of Bavaria, then
and now residing at Swansea, in the County of Glamorgan, Doctor of Medicine,
Edward Oliver Manby, of Parliament Street aforesaid, Civil Engineer, and
me, the said John Manby, our exors, adññiors, and assigns, Her special license,
full power, , sole privilege and authority, that they, the said Charles Schafhout],
Edward Oliver Manby, and I, the said John Manby, our exors, adñiors, and
assigns, and every of them, and such others as we, the said Charles Schafhoutl,
Edward Oliver Manby, and John Manby, our exors, adiñors, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick upon Tweed, their Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF PUDDLING, BALLING, AND OTHER SORTS OF REVERBERATORY FUR-
NACES, FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENABLING ANTHRACITE, STONE COAL, OR. CULM TO BE
JSED THEREIN AS FUEL;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a
proviso that the said Charles Schafhoutl, Edward Oliver Manby, and John

page_text: Manby shall cause a particular description of the nature of their said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in
writing under their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of
them, to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, reference being thereunto had, may more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE;
YE; that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Manby, do hereby declare -the nature. of my Invention, and the manuer
in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and ascer
tained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to 'tlic figures and letters marked thercon
(that is to say) —
Reverberatory furnaces, as. at present, constructed, consist of a single fire-
place at the extremity opposite the chimney, by which disposition the flames
are made, to pass from the fire over the substances to be acted upon to the
chimney in one direction only, and our improvements consist in surrounding
the substances to be acted on by the fire and flames (except at, such.places.as
are necessary for the introduction of the substances themselves and the tools
for working them, and for the eduction of the flames or products of com
bustion from the, furnace to the stack or chimney,) in. such manner as that
the flames: and products of, combustion are made to act on the substances in
the furnace from all sides, instead of from one point only, by which means
anthracite or.stone coal and culm, and other short-flamed fuels that heretofore
have been considered inapplicable to the process, may be used, as well as
bituminous coal and other long-flamed fuels.
.
In order that the Invention may be more fully understood, I shall describe
it with reference to the Drawing, which. contains plans, and sections of
a furnace constructed on the principles of our Invention... Figure .No. 1
represents a longitudinal section through the centre of the furnace; No. 2 is
a transverse section, also through the centre of the furnace; and No. 3, a
sectional plan above the puddling. hearth. or bottom. It will be seen, by
reference to these three,sections, that instead of the usual single fire-place or
grate; as in the reverberatory furnace, as at present constructed, our fire-place
or grate surrounds the working hearth or bottom, on which the metals, ores, or
other substances to be acted on are placed, except only where interrupted by
the working door and the canal leading to the chimney, the one being placed
opposite-to the other. By this disposition the ores or metals introduced into
the furnace are acted on by the heat and flames from all sides, instead of from
.

page_text: one side only, as in reverberatory furnaces of the present known construction,
and by it fuels giving out shorter and less flames than bituminous coal, such as
anthracite or stone coal or culm, may be advantageously and effectually used
for all-purposes. to which reverberatory furnaces are at present applied. In
other respects this furnace does not essentially differ from those now in use.
No. 4 represents a front view, shewing the working door; No. 5, a side view
of the furnace; and No. 6, a top view, shewing openings to be used when
anthracite or stone coal or culm is employed as the fuel for the purpose of sup-
plying the fire-places, as it will be found convenient and economical (although
not essential) to place the anthracite or stone coal or culm on the reverberatory
arch to heat it prior to its use, in order to prevent the decrepitation which
is known to take place when this fuel is suddenly submitted to a high
temperature. The Drawing subjoined to this Specification represents more
particularly what is termed a boiling furnace, in which iron is puddled without
being previously refined in the finery fire. It is provided with hollow sides
and back, in which a circulation of air is allowed or maintained. Our improve-
ments, however, are equally applicable to furnaces working in fine metal, to
those which are only used for foundry purposes, or to those used for the
reduction of ores, such as copper, and other furnaces; in short, to every
kind of reverberatory furnace. Either cold or heated air may be used;
if cold, the ash-pits are left open, as in' the Drawing; if heated, these
should be closed, and converted into warm air chambers or reservoirs. In
this latter case we admit the air by the opening under the working door,
pass one portion through the hollow sides and back, and the remainder by
channels built round the stack or chimney, from whence it passes to the ash-
pits, so that the air is heated partly by the hollow sides, partly by the heat
passing away through the chimney, and partly by the radiation which takes
place in the ash-pits themselves. We have hitherto found this the most
advantageous manner of working, and we consequently recommend it; but at
the same time any other method of heating the air may be resorted to, or the
furnace worked with cold air. We do not make this an essential part of our
Patent. A draft may be created by a stack or chimney, or a forced blast may
be used. When anthracite, stone coal, or culm is used we recommend a
rather stronger draft than is usually used in puddling with bituminous coal.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, we claim as our improvements the surrounding
of the metals, ores, or other substances in the puddling, balling, or other rever-
beratory furnaces by the fire and flames by means of a furnace constructed
on the plan or principles of the furnace herein-before described, the dimensions

page_text: and details of which may be varied according to circumstances, as is the case
with the reverberatory furnaces now in use. And we claim this particularly
as a mode of rendering available in reverberatory furnaces anthracite or stone
coal and culm or other short-flamed fuels, as well as bituminous coal or other
long-flamed fuels, heretofore in use.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Manby, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of July, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-one.
Inrolled the Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-one.