IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONVERSION OF CAST IRON INTO STEEL AND IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Heaton, of Widnes, near Warrington, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONVERSION OF CAST IRON INTO STEEL AND IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Sealed the 14th September 1866, and dated the 17th March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Heaton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th March 1866.
I, JOHN JIEATON, of Widnes, near Warrington, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONVERSION OF CAST IRON INTO STEEL AND IN THE MEANS OB
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
The improvements relate to obtaining steel direct from cast iron by acting
upon the iron whilst it is in a molten state by means of nitrate of potash or
nitrate of soda.
In carrying out my improvements I employ apparatus constructed on the
principle of a barrel churn or horizontal cylinder containing a number of
small chambers for bolding the nitrates to be mixed and mixing them with
the melted iron when the apparatus revolves. The cylinder is lined with

page_text: fire-brick or fire-clay, it is sufficiently large to be capable of holding the iron
and the nitrate under operation, and it is caused to revolve, in order by such
revolution to cause an intimate mixture or combination of the nitrate with
the iron when in a molten state. The proportions which I have found to
answer are one hundredweight of nitrate to twenty hundredweight of cast
iron, but these may be varied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Heaton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th
September 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN HEATON,
of Widnes, near Warrington, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
•
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of Marcb, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Heaton, Her special licence that I, the said Juhn Heaton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Heaton, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN. THE
CONVERSION OF CAST IRON INTO STEEL AND IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Heaton,
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 1, the said John Heaton, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
The improvements relate to obtaining steel direct from cast or pig iron by
acting upon such. iron whilst it is in a molten state by means of nitrate of

page_text: within the receiver of the molten metal, or in position to be acted upon by
such molten métal.
But that the Invention may be fully understood I will by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings proceed to describe means pursued by me in carrying
the same into effect.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section, and Figure 2 a transverse section;
Figures 3 and 4 are corresponding external views of apparatus which I have
found to answer in carrying out my Invention.
a, a, is a cylinder or vessel formed with axes a', which are supported in
suitable framing, so that the cylinder may be capable of a rotary motion.
This rotary motion I prefer to be a slow one, and it is obtained according to
the arrangement shown by a worm wheel b, driven by a steam engine or
other suitable power acting upon the screw wheel c, affixed on one end of the
axis a. The vessel or cylinder a contains a series of small chambers d, each
of which is received into a recess as formed for it in the cylinder a. The
chambers & are each formed by tubes of sheet iron closed at one end by a
lump of fire-clay, and perforated with numerous holes in order to admit of
the free action of the contained nitrate on the molten iron. The chambers d
are introduced into or removed from the recesses as through apertures a³ in
the vessel a, which apertures are closed by covers a. The one end of each
chamber d is closed by the application thereto of fire-clay before that chamber
with its nitrate is introduced into its recess a³, and that fire-clay projecting
and sticking to the end of its recess a³, aids in holding the chamber d in
position. When the chamber d with the nitrate therein has been applied to
a recess a', the other end of that chamber is then stopped up with fire-clay
so as to prevent the escape of the gas or molten metal therefrom, or the
action of them on the covers a*. This change of chamber d may be readily
effected, whilst in the slow motion of the vessel'a a 'recess a' is for the time.
uppermost; a, a, are openings in the vessel or cylinder a for the supply of the
molten metal by the aid of a trough or funnel e, represented by dotted lines,
and also for the escape of the gases generated; f is a door for
of the molten metal when it has been acted upon by the nitrate. The opening
within this door is also in use, plugged by the application thereto of fire-clay.
The cylinder or vessel a is formed of metal lined with fire-brick or fire-clay aº.
It should be sufficiently large to be capable of holding the quantity of iron
and of nitrate under operation, and it is caused to revolve in order by such
the discharge

page_text: revolution to cause an intimate mixture or combination of the nitrate with
the iron when in a molten state.
Figure 5 represents a section through the line C, D, Figure 2. The
proportions which I have found to answer are one hundredweight of the
nitrate to twenty hundredweight of cast iron, but these proportions may be
varied.
Having thus described my Invention, and means which I have found to
answer in carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that I
do not confine myself to the method of working herein stated, as the same
may be varied without departing from the peculiar character of the Invention,
and the chambers containing the nitrates may be applied to the under side
of a vessel similar to a crane ladle, except that I prefer it to be of a square
in place of a circular form, and to have a flat bottom, such vessel being
used as a receiver for conveying the molten metal from the melting furnace
to the moulds; but what I do claim is the use of nitrate of soda or nitrate of
potash to act upon cast or pig iron when such iron is in a molten state, for
the purpose of converting the same into steel, and the means or apparatus
employed therein, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Heaton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JOHN HEATON, (L.S.)