CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Haden Richardson, of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "CERTAIN:
Sealed the 15th May 1868, and dated the 20th November 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Haden Richardson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th November 1867.
I, WILLIAM HADEN RICHARDSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," to be as:
follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates in the first instance to a mode of treatment whereby
crude or pig iron is converted into improved malleable iron in a more rapid
and efficient manner than by the puddling process at present practised, and
the several parts of the present Invention are based upon and constitute.
extensions of the several processes comprised under Letters Patent granted to
William Haden Richardson bearing date the 4th day of December 1866,

page_text: No. 8189, the 3rd day of June 1867, No. 1685; the 29th June 1867,
No. 1905, as well as under Provisional Protection applied for on the
14th day of November 1867, No. 8226.
66
"
In carrying out the first part of this Invention crude molten iron reduced
from the ore in a blast furnace, or pig iron molten in a cupola, reverberatory,
puddling, or other furnace, is run into a refinery or other similar receptacle,
wherein it is operated upon either by blowing jets of atmospheric air into or
upon it as at present practised in the operation of making what is known as
finery iron
or "plate metal," or by blowing steam into or upon it, or by
using jets of air and steam combined, or with or without other gases added
thereto, until the metal is sufficiently treated, after which, in place of con-
tinuing the finery process as at present, the refinery or vessel is tapped and
the metal is discharged into a puddling or other similar furnace, wherein it
is finished as puddled iron by being balled and afterwards treated by
shingling, rolling, re-heating and re-rolling.
In the second instance this Invention relates to partly refining iron in the
vessel known as the Bessemer converter, or other analogous thereto, and
in place of finishing it therein by oxidising out the carbon, silicon, and some
other impurities, the iron is discharged while still in the fluid state into a
puddling or other similar furnace which has been previously "fettled" to
receive it, wherein it is "brought to nature" and finally worked up into balls
in a manner analogous to puddled iron, the object of this modification being
to effect the dephosphorization and desulphurization of the metal in place of
finishing the iron with the two elements, phosphorus and sulphur, combined
therein, thus affording the means of utilising the commonest ores for making
a high class of finished iron, and avoiding the drawbacks to producing
malleable iron which the Bessemer process has failed to effect, besides
producing such finished iron in a shorter time with less loss, and of a quality
superior to what is obtained by existing practical processes.
The third part of this Invention consists in producing steel, for which
purpose the iron is partly refined in any of the vessels herein-before referred
to by blowing air, steam, or other gas or gases, separately or combined in any
proportion into or upon the molten metal until sufficiently treated, immediately
after which, or at a later stage, the metal is discharged into a puddling or other
furnace, wherein it is worked up as puddled iron until it " comes to nature,"
at which stage spiegel eisen, carbon, or other compound of iron and carbon is
added in quantity sufficient to combine with the iron in proportion to produce
the quality of steel sought after. In lien however of adding carbon in the

page_text: puddling or other furnace wherein the iron is finished, it may be added to
the charge previous to being discharged from the finery, converter, or other
similar vessel; or if the metal is conveyed to the puddling furnace in ladles
the compound of iron and carbon may be added to the molten metal while in
the ladles. When using a Bessemer converter or other analogous vessel wherein
the metal is treated for producing improved iron or steel in either manner herein-
before described, it will be found convenient to discharge the partly treated metal
into a ladle suspended to and moved by a crane placed in the centre of a circle
of puddling or other similar furnaces, the proportion of the charge which each
furnace is capable of having treated within it being discharged from the ladle;
in this manner blooms or slabs of any required dimensions may be directly
produced by taking the balls from the different furnaces and welding them
together as they are brought under the hammer.
Another part of this Invention relates to making an iron of still purer quality,
this being effected by adding spiegel eisen or other compound of iron and
carbon to the molten metal at any of the stages herein-before referred to, and
exposing the iron in the puddling or other similar furnace so as to again take
out the carbon and other impurities, it having been found that by repeating
the carbonisation and oxidisation of iron, a metal of increased purity is
obtained.
In connection with this Invention, as well as with those herein-before
referred to, metallic oxides or alkalies may be added for producing special
qualities of metal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Haden Richardson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th May 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HADEN RICHARDSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Haden Richardson, Her special license that I, the said
William Haden Richardson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,

page_text: such others as I, the said William Haden Richardson, my executors,
administrators, or 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF IRON AND STEEL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Haden Richardson, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 Haden Richardson, 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 :-
My said Invention relates, in the first instance, to a in de of treatment
whereby crude or pig iron is converted into improved malleable iron in a
more rapid and efficient manner than by the puddling process at present
practised, and the several parts of the present Invention are based upon and
constitute extensions of the several processes comprised under Letters Patent
granted to me bearing date the 4th day of December 1866, No. 3189, the
3rd day of June 1867, No. 1635, the 29th day of June 1867, No. 1905, and
the 14th day of Nov. 1867, No. 3226.
In carrying out the first part of this Invention crude molten iron reduced
from the ore in a blast furnace or pig iron molten in a cupola, reverberatory,
puddling, or other furnace is run into a refinery or other similar receptacle
wherein it is operated upon either by blowing jets of atmospheric air or other
gas or gases into or upon it as at present practised in the operation of making
what is known as "finery" iron or "plate metal," until the metal is suffi-
ciently treated, after which, in place of continuing the finery process as at
present the refinery or vessel is tapped and the metal is discharged into a
puddling or other similar furnace wherein it is finished as puddled iron by
being balled and afterwards treated by shingling, rolling, re-heating, and re-
rolling, that is to say, this part of the Invention consists under one head in
making finished malleable iron in a direct manner so that no cooling takes
place from the time the metal is reduced in the bast furnace until it is
finished as malleable iron; and under the second head, in place of re-melting

page_text: pig or crudė iron in and treating it entirely in a puddling furnace by what is
known as "the Richardson process," described and set forth in the Specifi-
cation of Letters Patent bearing date the 4th day of December 1866, and
numbered 8189, the metal is under the present Invention re-melted, purified,
and brought to that condition known as the "boil" in a separate vessel, and
is either boiled in the separate vessel, and after being boiled is discharged into
and finished in the puddling furnace, or after having been purified by the
"Richardson process" as above referred to and in the state prepared for
boiling it is discharged from the vessel wherein it has been so prepared and
then boiled and finished in the puddling furnace.
" as in
In the second instance this Invention relates to partly refining fluid or
molten iron in the vessel known as the "Bessemer converter"
or other
analogous thereto, and in place of finishing it therein by oxidising out the
whole of the carbon, silicon, and other impurities the iron is discharged while
still in the fluid state into a puddling or other similar furnace which has been
previously "fettled" to receive it, wherein it is "brought to nature
the ordinary manner of puddling, and finally worked up into balls in a
manner analogous to puddled iron; the object of this modification being to
effect the dephosphorization and desulphurization of the metal in place of
finishing the iron with the two elements, phosphorous and sulphur, combined
therein, thus affording the means of utilizing the commonest ores for making
a high class of finished iron, besides producing such finished iron in a shorter
time with less loss and of a quality superior to what is obtained by existing
or hitherto practised processes.
The third part of this Invention consists in producing steel, for which
purpose the iron is partly refined in any of the vessels herein-before referred
to by blowing air or other gas or gases separately or combined in any proper-
tion into or upon the molten metal until sufficiently treated, immediately
after which or at a later stage the metal is discharged into a puddling or
other furnace wherein it is worked in the ordinary manner as puddled iron
until it "comes to nature," at which stage or period of the manufacture
spiegel eisen, carbon, or other compound of iron and carbon is added in
quantity sufficient to combine with the iron in proportion to produce the
quality of steel sought after. In lieu however of adding carbon in the
puddling or other furnace wherein the iron is finished it may be added to the
charge previous to being discharged from the finery, converter, or other
similar vessel, or if the metal is conveyed to the puddling furnace in ladles
the compound of iron and carbon may be added to the molten metal while in

page_text: the ladles, in either case the necessary temperature of the furnace is regulated
by the damper in the ordinary manner. When using a "Bessemer convertor "
or other analogous vessel wherein the metal is treated for producing iron
or steel in either manner herein-before described, it will be found con-
venient to discharge the partly treated metal into a ladle suspended to and
moved by a crane placed in the centre of a circle of puddling or other similar
furnaces, the proportion of the charge which each furnace is capable of having
treated within it being discharged from the ladle, in this manner blooms or
slabs of any required dimensions may be directly produced by taking the
balls from the different furnaces and welding them together as they are
brought under the hammer, this part of my Invention being particularly
applicable for the manufacture of armour plates.
Another part of my Invention relates to making an iron of still purer
quality, this being effected by adding spiegel eisen or other compound of iron
and carbon to the molten metal at any of the stages herein-before referred to,
and exposing the iron in the puddling or other similar furnace so as to again
take out the carbon and other impurities, it having been found that by
repeating the carburization and oxidization of iron, a metal of increased purity
is obtained. In connection with this Invention, as well a with those herein-
before referred to, metallic oxides or alkalies may be added for producing
special qualities of iron.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, I would
observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original, and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The manufacture of improved malleable iron in a direct manner
without cooling after the metal leaves the blast furnace; or by purifying re-
melted metal in a separate vessel and afterwards finishing it in a puddling
furnace, the metal not being allowed to cool from the time it is first melted or
re-melted until finished as malleable iron as herein-before described.
Second. Purifying crude molten iron in a Bessemer converter, but in place
of finishing it therein stopping the injection of blast or other oxidizing agent
before the iron is completely carburised, and in place of casting the purified
iron into ingots or moulds from the converter, discharging it into a puddling
or other similar furnace and therein finishing it as malleable iron.
Third. The process of manufacturing steel consisting of refining iron by
oxidizing the impurities in a separate vessel and afterwards treating it in a

page_text: puddling furnace and adding carbonaceous matters thereto at any of the points
of such manufacture as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Haden Richardson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of April, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
WILLIAM HADEN RICHARDSON. (LS.)