IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John Gedge
and Son, No. 4, Wellington Street South, Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agents, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF STEEL."-A communication from abroad by Claude
Joseph Perinel, of Fourvoiry, Departement de l'Isère, in the Empire of
France. Iron Master
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th May 1859.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, No. 4,
Wellington Street South, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL," communicated to me from abroad by Claude
Joseph Perinel, of Fourvoiry, Departement de l'Isère, in the Empire of
France, Iron Master, to be as follows:-
I propose in puddling steel to use wood free from humidity but not
carbonised, it may be dried in stoves or galleries heated by the waste caloric
from the puddling furnace. I charge the fire-place with the wood through
a furnace mouth, consisting of a case with double moveable bottom placed in
front of the fire-place, or it may be placed immediately upon the fire-place.

page_text: Combustion is hastened by a blast from one or two or more pipes or tue-irons
placed at the bottom of the fire-place. The flames and gases crossing an altar
or floss bridge enter at once into the laboratory or puddling furnace; the hot
blast pipe should be placed in the arch immediately above the altar on the
side towards the fire-place, and be furnished with six or more tubes with
circular mouths. In their passage over the altar the gases and flames are
thus mingled and their combustion increased by the hot blast; in entering
the laboratory the caloric attains its maximum. The hot blast pipe is
moveable, the laboratory or puddling furnace, properly so called, has one or
more doors; two doors are preferable as economising fuel. In puddling by
the use of wood, from the great purity of the fuel, a superior quality of steel is
obtained than when using coal. It will be found advantageous to substitute
at will a gas generator to each furnace, or common to one, two, or more
puddling furnaces. The gas generator in this case is independent of the con-
struction of the furnace communicating only by the conduct pipe; the gases
arriving in this case in a non-flammable state are on their arrival in the
puddling furnace set in combustion by the hot blast. The generator may be
placed on either of the three free sides of the puddling furnace, and like the
fire-place above mentioned may work with or without a blast. The form of
the generator may be circular, square, or oblong, and of greater or lesser
dimensions, according to the number of furnaces it is to feed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th November 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, No. 4, Wellington
Street South, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Gedge, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Gedge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Edward Gedge, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all

page_text: 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 STEEL," a communication from abroad
by Claude Joseph Perinel, of Fourvoiry, Département de l'Isere, in the
Empire of France, Iron Master, upon condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Edward Gedge, 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 Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Gedge, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed and forming part of this my Specification, whereon several Figures or
Diagrams are drawn illustrative of the Invention with letters of reference :-
In effecting the improvements in the manufacture of steel, instead of
mineral coal or charcoal, I use in that part of the process of manufacture,
termed puddling, wood, which wood is used dry but not carbonized, and to
prepare it for my purpose such wood should be dried in stoves or be stored in
such localities as will ensure a perfect dryness when the wood is required to
serve in the puddling process.
I have shewn in the Drawing at Figure 1, a plan view of a drying depart-
ment, but any mode which will effectually dry up the sap or humidity, but
not carbonize the wood, can be used; Figure 2 is a sectional view of the
furnace B, shewing the plan of the hearth; C, the disposition of the ordinary
bricks; and D, D, that of the refactory bricks; Figure 3 is a side elevation
(in section) of the apparatus of furnace and puddling furnace. The fire-place
is charged with the wood through a throttle or furnace mouth consisting of a
casing with double moveable bottom placed in front of the throttle, or it can
be placed at once on the hearth if found desirable so to do. Combustion is
maintained by blasts passing through one, two, or more twyers placed near the
bottom of the hearth; the flames and gasses cross a floss bridge or altar of
the same width as the hearth, and enter at once into the puddling furnace.
The hot blast pipe is placed as shewn at Figures 3 and 5 of the Drawing, the
opening being in the roof or at the spring of the arch over the altar or floss
bridge; the blast pipe is furnished with six or more tubes with circular

page_text: orifices. In this wise the gasses and flames become intermingled in their
passage over the altar, and their combustion intensified by the hot blast; the
greatest amount of caloric is attained at the entrance of the puddling furnace;
it may here be observed that the hot blast pipe is moveable. The laboratory
or puddling furnace, properly so called, has one or more doors, two doors are
shewn as preferable, such disposition economising fuel. From the greater
purity of the combustible, puddling by the use of wood produces steel of much
better quality than that produced by the use of mineral coal. An advantage
is obtained by substituting at will a gas generator to each furnace or one
common to one, two, or more puddling furnaces. The gas generator in this
case is independant of the construction of the furnace, communicating only by
the conducting pipes, the gasses passing in a non-flammable state attain com-
bustion on their arrival in the puddling furnace. The generator may be
placed on either of the free sides of the puddling furnace, and like the fire-
place before mentioned may work with or without a blast. The form of the
generator may be circular, square, or oblong, and of greater or less dimensions
according to the number of furnaces it is to feed; excepting as to size, it is
categorically the same as the gas generators used when charcoal is employed
for puddling.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of November, in the year
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
JOHN GEDGE,
4, Wellington Street South,
Strand, London.
W. E. GEDGE. (L.S.)