IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL RODS AND WIRE, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL RODS
AND WIRE, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR."-A communication from
abroad by Benjamin Augustus Mason, of the City and State of
New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 1st March 1872, and dated the 21st December 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st December 1871.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF METAL RODS AND WIRE, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR," a communication,
to be as follows:-

page_text: properly scarfed is next firmly secured in a recess formed for that
purpose in the forks of a holder. The holder containing the ends of the
metal rods is then placed upon the hearth of a furnace with a piece of
charcoal or any other suitable material. Gas is conducted to the hearth
through a pipe, and being ignited at the mouth of the same a blow
pipe within the gas pipe is set in operation, and by the force of its blast
the flame at its hottest point is concentrated upon the ends of the metal
to be welded. As soon as sufficient heat has been imparted to the
metal it is lifted with the holder to place the heated ends quickly
within a groove or recess in the face of a die in an anvil block. At the
same instant a vibrating arm carrying the top die being set in motion
descends rapidly, and by several short quick blows welds the metal
ends together. This being accomplished the metal on the drum is
unwound and wound upon another drum. A new coil is then placed
upon the first drum, the ends united in the same manner to the end
upon the other drum, and so on until the desired quantity is united in
one continuous length. The required quantity of metal having thus
been prepared the reel is transferred by any suitable means to the end
of the furnace or placed within the furnace.
The metal to be reduced is preferably first placed upon a spindle in a
block or blocks, which are provided for the purpose of sustaining the
reels holding the metal and allowing them to revolve when desired. The
metal first passes through a heated chamber or passage way and around
a drum at the end of the passage, entering a chamber parallel with the
first chamber, and continuing until it reaches another drum around
which it passes. Then entering the second chamber it proceeds until
it again passes around the first drum, entering again the first chamber,
through which it moves, passing out of the said chamber to the rolls or
reducing mechanism.
The reel is placed upon a spindle, as above described, the wire
however entering the furnace is carried once or several times according
to its size around the reel in the centre of the furnace, thence it is
withdrawn through a suitable aperture and carried to the rolls, by which
it is made to unwind and pass through the furnace at such relative rates
of speed as the section or area of the groove requires.
If I do not wish to pass the metal through the furnace I introduce
the reel containing the metal to be worked at once into a cylindrical
furnace, placing the same upon a spindle where it will remain until the

page_text: metal has received the required degree of heat; it will then be with-
drawn by the action of the rolls, as above described.
These furnaces are heated by gas, carburetted or otherwise, which I
burn in the following manner:-In the double-chambered furnace I
make use of a series of branch pipes projecting laterally from four
longitudinal pipes. The said longitudinal pipes are placed two on
either side of the furnace, one above the other but close together, and
about six inches from the exterior walls of the furnace. From these
four pipes the said branch pipes project inward toward the chambers
through angular openings. The lower pipes carry the gas which is
ignited at the ends of the pipes in the angular spaces. The upper pipes
convey a current of air, which mingling with the ignited gas drives the
burning gas into the chambers of the furnace, where it is consumed and
maintains an intense heat free from sulphur and other deleterious
matter. In like manner burning gas is forced into the aforesaid
cylindrical furnace. In this case however the air and gas pipes are
bent to conform to the exterior shape of the furnace, while the branch
pipes form radial lines pointing inward through the angular spaces, as
in the furnace previously described. The angular spaces in the walls
of the furnaces are in the same plane as the hearth of the furnace.
The furnaces are preferably constructed with arched or hollow fire-
bricks or slabs to permit the flame to play upon the bottom of the
crucibles and reach the centre of the same more rapidly than when the
crucible rests upon the hearth of the furnace. I sometimes use a nest
or group of furnaces cylindrical in form and heated in the manner
already described. The flow of gas and the current of air or blast are
regulated at each furnace by simple cocks or valves.
I am aware that gas has been and is now used for heating and
smelting metals, but not in the manner above described, as I ignite the
gas at a point near the exterior of the furnace and apply the blast at
the same point, forcing the ignited gas through the ordinary atmosphere
into the interior of the furnace; the angular spaces through which the
ignited volume passes are of such a form as to induce the flow of an
additional current of oxygen into the furnace, where it is consumed,
thereby creating an intense heat with a smaller consumption of fuel
than would be otherwise practicable.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st June 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert
Lake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 MANUFACTURE OF METAL RODS AND WIRE, AND IN
APPARATUS THEREFOR," a communication to him from abroad by Benjamin
Augustus Mason, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Robert Lake, 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 Robert Lake, 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 accom-
panying Drawings forming a part of this Specification, and in which,--
Figure 1 is a horizontal section of a cylindrical furnace on the
line x, x, of Figure 2.

page_text: These furnaces are heated by gas, carburetted or otherwise, which I
burn in the following manner:-In the double-chambered furnace,
Figure 5, I make use of a series of branch pipes i projecting laterally
from four pipes h placed longitudinally with the furnace. The said
longitudinal pipes are placed two on each side, one above the other, but
close together and about six inches from the exterior walls of the
furnace. From these four pipes h the branch pipes i, Figure 5, project
inward toward the chambers G and I through angular openings L.
These pipes or tubes are all of the same length and size, and one of
each series rests upon a tube of the same dimensions projecting from
the lower horizontal pipes, both of which enter the angular space about
one inch. The lower pipes convey the gas, which is ignited at the ends
of the pipes in the angular spaces. The upper pipes convey a current
of air, which mingling with the ignited gas drives the burning gas into
the chambers of the furnace, where it is consumed and maintains an
intense heat free from sulphur and other deleterious matter. In like
manner burning gas is forced into the aforesaid cylindrical furnace, as
shown in Figure 1. In this case however the air and gas pipes are bent
to conform to the exterior shape of the furnace, while the branch
pipes form radial lines pointing inward through angular spaces L,
as in the furnace previously described. The angular spaces in the walls
of the furnaces are in the same plane as the hearth of the furnace; but
I do not confine myself to introducing the burning gas at this point,
nor do I limit myself to the form of the furnace described, as the gas may
be introduced at other points with good results, and any known form
of furnace may be used.
The furnaces shewn in Figures 3 and 4 are heated in like manner,
though the arrangement of pipes is not shewn. In Figure 3 at k are
seen in section arched or hollow fire-bricks or slabs constructed to
permit the flame to play upon the bottom of the crucibles 1, thereby
allowing the heat to reach the centre of the crucibles more rapidly than
when a crucible rests upon the hearth of a furnace.
In Figure 10 are seen a nest or group of furnaces, four in number
(though I do not limit myself to this number). These, like those shewn
in Figures 1 and 2, are cylindrical in form and heated in the manner
already described.
In operating these furnaces the cover M is first
raised. The reel containing the metal is placed by any mechanical
appliance in the furnace upon the spindle, as in Figure 1, upon which

page_text: it revolves. The cover is then put in place. The flow of gas and the
current of air or blast are regulated at each furnace by simple cocks or
valves arranged under the plate n. As soon as the metal is heated
sufficiently in either furnace the end is withdrawn, as shown by dotted
lines m, through a suitable door and put in the rolls N, which revolve
at a high speed, and in a few moments empty the reel of its load of
heated wire. The metal from another furnace is in like manner with-
drawn, another reel with wire is placed in the furnace just emptied, and
so on; thus a sufficient supply of heated metal is maintained to keep
the rolls, continually reducing the same.
Ordinary illuminating gas, gasoline, or any of the products of coal
oil can be readily used, carburetted or not, as may be desired, for fuel,
but the best results are obtained by using gas or gasoline and applying
it to such mechanism as I have described.
I am aware that gas has already been used for heating and smelting
metals but not in the manner above described, as I ignite the gas at a
point near the exterior of the furnace and apply the blast at the same
point, forcing the ignited gas through the ordinary atmosphere into the
interior of the furnace; the angular spaces through which the ignited
volume passes are of such a form as to induce the flow of an additional
current of oxygen into the furnace, where it is consumed, thereby
creating an intense heat with a smaller consumption of fuel than
would be otherwise practicable.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing
the same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. The holder A, Figure 11, for the purpose of securing the ends
of bars or rods of metal while they are subjected to a welding process,
as herein described and for the purposes set forth.
Second. The air pipes h in combination with gas pipes i when they
are used in connection with furnaces for the purpose of smelting,
heating, or annealing metals, as herein described and for the purpose
set forth.
Third. In combination with a drum or reel within the furnace and
the rolls, the drum or reel outside of the furnace between the latter
and the rolls, as herein described and for the purpose set forth.

page_text: Fourth. Placing crucibles, as shown in Figure 3, upon arched or
hollow bricks within a heating furnace, as herein described.
Fifth. The above described process of manufacturing metal rods or
wire by means of apparatus employed for the several purposes specified
and operating as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
W. J. LOWE.
WN. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)