IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- TRA Annin TARD זרזתמ
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John James Bodmer, of Newport, in the County
of Monmouth, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
TRA
Annin
TARD
זרזתמ
"
Sealed the 22nd November 1870, and dated the 30th August 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John James Bodmer at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 30th August 1870.
I, JOHN JAMES BODMER, of Newport, in the County of Monmouth,
5 do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND APPARATUS USED THEREIN," to be as
follows:-
One part of my Invention relates to the puddling process and consists
in the use of revolving drums or cylinders within a furnace either in
connection with a stationary hearth or furnace bottom or without the
latter. The outer surface of the cylinder or cylinders is exposed to the
heat, and on to that surface which I call the working surface the iron
is charged in the whole length of the cylinder, and in preference through

page_text: the roof of the furnace from a pair of measuring rolls outside. This
working surface is fettled through intermittent or continuous feeding
The iron in
during the puddling operation or before or after the same.
a subdivided condition (however the subdivision be obtained) is fed
either intermittently or continuously on the cylinder or drum. The
necessary oxide and admixtures are fed on to the same surface in the
required proportion in one or more streams in front or behind the stream
of iron, one layer covering the other as the drum revolves; or the iron,
or the oxide and admixtures, or all the ingredients together are fed in a
solid subdivided condition (however the subdivision be obtained), or in
a more or less pasty or liquid condition, or in the form of the compound
named in Specification of my Patent, No. 2684, 14 Septr., 1869. Iron
alloys, oxides, chemical reagents, or any mixtures or compounds of such
may be fed on to any part of the apparatus or of the furnace bottom
during any convenient part of the process. The heating and in some
cases the partial or total melting of the charge takes place on the working
surface of a drum, and the completion of the process is performed on the
stationary furnace bottom; or more than one drum in connection with
a stationary bottom is used, or one or more working surfaces of any of
the drums are used instead of a stationary furnace bottom, or the whole
operation is carried out mechanically. The drums may have convex
or concave, or flat working surfaces according to circumstances, and
may be made to revolve or to move in any direction intermittently or
continuously, or some of them may be used in a stationary position.
Stationary or revolving scrapers are employed to deliver the charge
from one surface to another, rolls with differential speed are used to
perfectly incorporate or amalgamate the heated materials dropping from
one heating surface before they shall fall on the next. Moveable bottoms
or moveable bridges may be used where any part of the operation is to
be carried out by hand. Rolls working with equal speed are employed
to receive the material when it drops from the working surface of the last
drum. These rolls squeeze out a portion of the cinder from the puddled
iron or steel, and deliver the same in the whole length of the last drum
or rolls in the shape of a sheet accumulating and forming a bloom on
the discharging door or trap. This door or trap is so arranged that it
shall drop the bloom as soon as the same shall have reached a certain
weight. Instead of a stationary door or trap, I also use two or more
revolving drums on which the bloom forms itself. The bloom then falls
direct into a compressing apparatus, or it drops on a series of forwarding

page_text: rolls projecting over the floor line and moving the bloom to a com-
pressing apparatus, the flcor: rolls or forwarding rolls nearest to the
compressing. apparatus rest on a table, and may be lifted by hydraulic
power to the height of the compressing apparatus, and from there the
bloom is forwarded towards & charged into a heating furnace in a
similar manner,.or in any convenient way.. Or the bloom may from the
trap or last rolls drop on to a coach and be wheeled off to any convenient
compressing apparatus. Stationary or rotating surfaces are also em-
ployed to keep the working surfaces of the drums or cylinder smooth
and of a uniform diameter. Some or all of the parts of the apparatus
which are exposed to the heat may be kept cool by having water
circulated through them.
Part of the above described arrangements
apply also to the manufacture of cast steel, the materials being charged
as above described melted on one or more working surfaces, and from
there flowing into a bath.
Another part of my Invention relates to the manufacture of oxide
of iron which is used when particularly pure oxides are required in the
puddling process for iron or steel, or more especially so for the manufac-
ture of cast steel. The apparatus of which I make use in the manufacture
of such oxide is described in the Specification of Patent No. 1499, for
fire-grates, granted to R. Bodmer, J. J. Bodmer, and L. R. Bodmer,
in May, 1869, and I prefer the arrangement there explained under the
designation of roller grate. The rolls enclosed in a furnace or shell
form the travelling bottom. The subdivided iron (however the sub-
division be obtained) whilst the flame is travelling over it is gradually
forwarded on and reaches the required degree of heat by the time it has
arrived at the end of the first roller grate; there the heated iron drops
in a second similar grate, or in preference on a chain or wire rope, the
frame still travelling over it at the same time steam or vapour being
made to pass over and through the heated iron, the latter takes up the
oxygen, and allows the hydrogen gas to escape and discharges itself
into any convenient receiver. In this manner. the manufacture of
oxide of iron is made continuous in all these operations, viz., in puddling
melting, or oxydizing, any convenient system of supplying heat may be
applied.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John James Bodmer in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th February 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
JAMES BODMER, of Newport, in the County of Monmouth, send
grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John James Bodmer, Her special
licence that I, the said John James Bodmer, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns,_or_such-others-as-I,-the-said John James Bodmer,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, AND APPARATUS USED
THEREIN, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
James Bodmer, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patént.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John James Bodmer, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:
:-
In the Specification of my Patent, No. 2684, dated 14th September,
A.D. 1869, I described and claimed the manufacture of a compound of
iron and admixtures in a subdivided condition, not limiting myself to
any specific method of obtaining such subdivision, the uses and appli-
cations of iron subdivided by the process described in the Specifications
of my Patents No. 1041, dated 12th April, A.D. 1866, and No. 905,

page_text: dated 25th March, A.D. 1869, and also the feeding of such materials
into any furnace or apparatus by mechanical means either intermittently
or continuously.
Now my present Invention relates to several operations in connexion
with the manufacture of iron and steel, to the manufacture of oxide of
iron by a continuous process, and to the uses and applications of the
disintegrated materials mentioned in the various Specifications above
referred to.
And in order that the several parts of my Invention may be the more
easily understood and the more readily carried into practical effect I
will now proceed to.describe more particularly the various parts of my
Invention, reference being made when desirable to the Sheet of Drawings
which accompanies this Specification
Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section of the improved apparatus 1
employ in carrying out parts of my Invention, and Fig. 2 is an end
elevation, similar letters of reference being employed at each of the fore-
going Figures to denote corresponding parts in so far as such parts
appear at or are common to each of such said Figures respectively.
.
My Invention relates, 1stly, to improvements in the puddling of iron
and steel, and to modes of forming a bloom. The charge in a subdivided
condition is fed through measuring rolls or other suitable apparatus fixed
in the roof of the furnace upon the fettled drum A, and may either
consist of one compound or of several separate materials. In the latter
case more than one pair of measuring rolls or other feeding apparatus
may be used, and the different materials may by this means be deposited
on the drum A in layers one over the other. A, B, C, and K, are
hollow iron drums or cylinders fettled on their circumferences as
hereafter described; D, E, F, G, H, and I, are plain hollow iron rolls.
-
Having ascertained by working subdivided iron and oxide. in a
common puddling furnace that a layer of about two inches thickness is
puddled and balled up in from twenty to twenty-five minutes time, I
propose to rotate the drums A, B, and C at a speed which will allow
the charge to travel from the point upon which it falls ou the drum A
to the contact point of the drum C with roll G in from twenty to twenty-

page_text: five minutes, more or less, according to the nature of the charge and the
thickness of the layer thereof, the same being exposed to the flame or
heat which travels from the grate to the flue on top of the furnace. The
roll D takes the charge off from the drum A, the former having at least
equal surface speed with the latter. The charge is thereby turned over
and transferred upon the circumference of the drum B, the surface of
the charge which was lying on the fettling of the drum A now being
exposed to the heat on the drum B. The roll E, in the same manner,
takes off the charge from the drum B, the materials passing. between.the
rolls E and F (the latter rotating at a greater speed and having a
reciprocal lateral motion imparted thereto) are thoroughly worked into
one another, amalgamated, and then deposited on the drum C, on which
the charge receives the final puddling beat. G.and H are squeezing
rolls rotating with equal or differential surface speeds, the distance
between their circumferences or working surfaces-being-made-capable-
of adjustment, thereby regulating the thickness of the iron falling and
gathering upon the drum K, and squeezing out the cinder more or less
completely as may be found desirable. The liquid cinder runs off over
the left side of the drum K, and out through a tap hole at W at the
same time continually washing the iron on the drum. The trap T being
now in the position indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. The drum K
rotates slowly towards the roll I, the latter turning in the same direction
as the former, thereby causing the iron to gather into a bloom of a
cylindrical shape, and gradually exposing all parts of the circumference
of the same to the heat. An indicator worked by or attached to any
of the drums or rolls, marks the moment at which the bloom has
reached the desired weight or size when the apparatus is stopped. The
drum K, by a quarters turn to the left, then discharges the bloom upon
the trap T, which also by a quarters turn and without admitting any
air into the furnace, will deliver the bloom upon a table or coach, or
direct into a compressing apparatus. The moment the bloom is deposited
on the trap T, the apparatus is again set in motion. I prefer to make
use of a separate small grate by the side of the furnace grate for the
purpose of keeping the balling space between the rolls G, H, I, and the
drum K in a mild soaking heat, and to be able to regulate the same at
will, and independantly of that of the furnace grate. The soaking flame
enters through the flue F, travels lengthways all round the forming
bloom, and escapes from the opposite end through a separate stack.
The

page_text: shields S, S, S, are kept more or less close to the working surfaces of
the drums A, B, and C, by which adjustment the temperatures necessary
for properly cooling and hardening the fettling is regulated or maintained.
Currents of steam, air, or water, are made to pass through the drums or
cylinders and rollers for the purpose of keeping the same at the respec-
tive desirable temperatures. Water boshes and scrapers e, revolving
or stationary, are applied wherever required. I do not restrict myself to
the number of drums or cylinders and rolls herein described and shewn,
they may be augmented or reduced as circumstances may dictate. Onc
drum only and one rubbing roll may be used in connexion with a
stationary furnace bottom on which the puddling process may be com-
pleted on one or more levels, but by preference I conduct the process
mechanically throughout. The mode of forming and discharging the
bloom may be modified and diversified; for example, instead of drum K
and roll I, a hinged trap may be used and the bloom dropped direct
upon a coach or into a compressing apparatus, the trap may be con-
nected with a weighted lever to regulate the weight of the bloom prior
to its discharge. When the bloom is discharged in its whole length
(from four feet six inches to five feet) I prefer to cut it in half
under a hammer, and to shingle out each half for itself, the cut parts
being kept heavy enough to form one-half or one-third of the section

page_text: as the charge. It is evident that the fettling can be renewed in the
same manner whenever desirable, without admission of air into the
furnace, and without in any way interfering with its temperature.
3rdly. Improvements in melting iron and in producing cast steel.
The charge in either operation is fed on the drum A in manner herein
before described. One or more drums may be used without the rolls D,
or E and F. When the working surface of the drum A is composed of
refractory material the rolls may be dispensed with. The iron or the
cast steel is allowed to drop upon a stationary furnace bottom forming a
bath, and the liquid metal is tapped without any interruption in the
feeding and melting operations.
Siemens' mode of heating is particularly applicable to the above
described processes of puddling and melting.
The use and application_of_subdivided-iron,-and-the-use-and-appli
cation of subdivided compounds as described, are especially suitable
when the said operations are carried on in a pressure furnace.
4thly. To an improvement in the mode of producing oxide of iron.
In carrying out this improvement I avail myself of the system of feeding
and forwarding described in the Specification of R. J. J., and L. R.
Bodmer's Patent, No. 1499, dated 17th May, A.D. 1869, by preference
using the roller system therein described, and causing the rolls or discs
severally to touch one another, so forming one continuous cylindrical
surface. Two parallel sets or series of rolls separated by a distance
slightly in excess of a diameter of a roll are arranged one over the other
within a brick flue or oven, the flame or heat being made to travel
throughout the whole length of such flue or oven. The subdivided
iron is fed through a hopper on to the rolls in a layer of about 2 inches
in thickness, from which feeding point to the end of the first series of
rolls the charge is made to acquire a red heat; it then drops upon the
second layer of rolls where it encounters a slight jet of steam caused
to play between the two series or layers of rolls in the direction of the
end of the oven. The oxygen of the steam now unites with the heated
iron, the hydrogen escaping, and the resulting oxidised iron drops from
the last roll on to a strap or into a truck or other suitable receiver. By
the use of this apparatus the manufacture of oxide of iron is made
continuous. All descriptions of iron when sufficiently subdivided to

page_text: be capable of conveniently travelling over the grate and of thoroughly
oxidising may be used, but for producing pure qualities best scrap is to
be preferred.
Having now fully described the nature of my said Invention, together
with the best means with which I am acquainted for carrying the same
into practical effect, I would have it understood that what I claim as
my Invention and desire to have secured to me by the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent is,-
ད
1st. The use of one or more hollow drums or cylinders rotating on
horizontal axes either intermittently or continuously, within a furnace,
their peripheries or circumferences being the working surfaces thereof,
without or in conjunction with a stationary furnace bottom, for the
several purposes of puddling iron, of puddling steel, of melting iron,
and of producing cast steel.
2nd. Fettling drums or rollers on their peripheries or circumferences
when used in the manufacture of iron or steel.
3rd. The use of carrying rolls for the purpose of transferring from
one surface to another either the charge or the fettling material, and
the use of such rolls for the purpose of maintaining uniform diameters
of the drums herein described for the puddling operation.
4th. Working rolls at differential speeds, and imparting to them a
horizontal reciprocating motion in the direction of their length, for the
purpose of incorporating and amalgamating the materials composing the
charge, and also for the purpose of causing the same to act as scrapers
to their respective surfaces.
5th. The use of rolls within a furnace for the purpose of squeezing
out the cinder from the charge and for delivering the puddled iron or
steel upon rolls or a trap, as described.
6th. The use of a trap or rolls or other receiving apparatus within
a furnace for the purpose of collecting a charge or bloom of any desired
weight of puddled iron or steel.
7th. The use of a trap or receiving apparatus to receive the said
charge or bloom inside, and to deliver the same outside the furnace
without admitting air into the latter.

page_text: stantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John James Bodmer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
JOHN JAMES BODMER. (L.S.)