AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON."
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Taylor, of Haughton, near Shiffnal, in the
County of Salop, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left. by the said. William Taylor. at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st November 1855.
I; WILLIAM TAYLOR, of Haughton, near Shiffnal, in the County of Salop,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON " to be as
follows
My Invention' consists in the method herein-after described of treating iron
in that stage of its manufacture in which the cast iron is converted into wrought
iron. The cast iron is melted in the usual way in the puddling furnace, and
puddled until it acquires a semi-fluid consistence; the said' iron is then dis-
charged from the puddling furnace through a door in the back of the said
furnace, the said discharged iron being received in a vessel or reservoir of
water. By this treatment the iron- is cooled in the shape of a spongy mass

page_text: without loss by oxidation in the air. The iron is removed from the water,
and by rolling, grinding, or stamping is 'reduced to a granular powder, and
by sifting it is separated into portions of different degrees of fineness. The
powders are then washed, and the several portions. are separately treated in
a second furnace. In this second furnace the: iron... is "balled" into various
sized balls to suit the purposes to which the iron is to be applied. The
various sized powders produce iron of different qualities, the finest powders
producing the best."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Taylor in the Great. Seal Patent Office on the
30th April 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
TAYLOR, of Haughton, near Shiffnal, in the County of Salop, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Taylor, Her special licence that I, the said William Taylor, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Taylor, 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
yend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Taylor, 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 Taylor, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,

page_text: to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof; that is to say:
My Invention consists in treating iron. by the method herein-after par-
ticularly described at that stage of its manufacture in which cast iron is
converted into wrought iron. The cast iron is introduced into. the puddling
furnace, and melted and puddled until it acquires a semi-fluid or pasty con-
sistence. The iron. when. in the state last described is discharged from the
puddling furnace into a vessel or reservoir of water. The discharge of the
iron into the water may be conveniently effected through a door in the back
of the furnace.. By the treatment described the iron is cooled in the shape of
a spongy mass, the water at the same time cooling the iron, and preventing its
oxidation by the air during the said cooling. The iron after removal from the
water is reduced to a granular powder by being passed through rolls, by being
ground in a grinding mill, or by stamping. The granular powder is separated
into portions of different degrees of fineness by sifting; the several powders
are then washed, and each portion is separately treated in a furnace. In the
last-named furnace the iron is balled in balls of sizes suitable to the purposes
to which the iron is to be applied. The several powders into which the
powdered iron has been separated by sifting produce iron of different qualities,
the finest powder producing the best. The balls are hammered into blooms
or other forms in the ordinary way, and afterwards rolled into the various sizes
by the ordinary rolling process.
The processes of puddling, balling, and rolling, herein referred to, are well
known and commonly practised, and constitute no part of my Invention; and
I do not think it necessary to describe the same, neither do I think it necessary
to describe or represent the puddling and balling furnaces and the rolls used
in carrying my Invention into effect, as the said furnaces and rolls resemble
those used in the ordinary manufacture of iron, excepting that I prefer to have
a door at the back of the puddling furnace, through which to discharge the
iron into water. I do not confine myself to the use of the said door, as the
iron may be removed from the puddling furnace into water in any other
convenient manner.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied without
departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim as my Invention,
the improvement or improvements in the manufacture of iron herein described,
whereby iron of better quality can be made from the same cast iron than by

page_text: the ordinary. process;: that is: to: say, cooling the partially puddled iron by
immersing it in water, and afterwards reducing to powder the said iron before
subjecting it to the balling process.
i. In witness whereof, I; the said William Taylor; have hereunto set my
hand and seal; this Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our-Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six:
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM TAYLOR. (L.s.):