A MACHINE FOR ROLLING, SQUEEZING, OR COMPRESSING PUDDLED BALLS OF IRON, AND ALSO FOR CRUSHING OR GRINDING OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
BENJAMIN THORNEYCROFT, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford,
Ironmaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-eighth day of December, in the seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Benjamin Thorneycroft, Her especial license, full power, sole privi-
lege and authority, that I, the said George Benjamin Thorneycroft, my exors,
admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Benjamin Thorneycroft,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A MACHINE
FOR ROLLING, SQUEEZING, OR COMPRESSING PUDDLED BALLS OF IRON, AND ALSO FOR
CRUSHING OR GRINDING OTHER SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso, that I, the said George Benjamin Thorneycroft, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
George Benjamin Thorneycroft, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, (that is to say),
My Invention consists, first, in an improved machine for rolling, com-
pressing, and squeezing puddled balls of iron, whereby the balls, as they are
taken from the puddling furnace, are worked, compressed, and elongated into
blooms or pieces of iron of a proper shape for passing between the rolls for
the purpose of making bar iron, as is well understood.
And, secondly, my Invention relates to an improved machine, for the pur-
pose of crushing or grinding sandstone, clay, or other substance.
And in order that the Invention may be understood, and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 is a section, Fig. 3 is a plan, and Figure 3*
is a plan, with the wheel removed, of a machine, constructed according to the
first part of the Invention. a, a, are the side framings of the machine, which
are firmly bolted together, as shewn; b is a wheel or roller, the axis of which
is in a horizontal position, and turns in suitable bearings formed in the
framing, this roller or wheel has projecting ribs upon its periphery or face;
c, c, is a curved or excentric surface extending the distance from (1) to (3), it
also having projecting ribs; and between the surface c, c, and the roller or
wheel 6, the ball of puddled iron is worked; d, d, are two side plates or guards
affixed to the framing of the machine, and extending from (1) to (2); the
distance between these side plates is narrower than the breadth of the face of
the wheel b, and the application of these side plates, as above described, forms
an important part of the Invention, by preventing the iron extending laterally
too much; during the first portion of its passage between the wheel b and the
surface c, it will be more compressed than it would be, were the side plates
d, d, placed the width of the face of the wheel b apart; e, e, are openings in
each side of the framing, to allow the scoria and other impurities to be
removed. The operation of the machine is as follows:-A ball of iron from the
puddling furnace is introduced between the wheel b and the surface c, at the
part (1), and by the revolution of the wheel, which is driven by a steam engine
or other suitable power, the ball of iron is drawn under the wheel, and com-
pressed and worked, until it reaches the end (2) of the side plates d, when it

page_text: will be about six inches diameter, and about 15 inches long; and by the con-
tinued rotation of the wheel it will be further worked and elongated, until it
reaches the part (3) where it will escape and fall down the inclined plane f.
The ball having been reduced to a bloom of about five inches diameter, which is
a size suitable for passing between the rolls to be made into bar iron. The
balls from the puddling furnace not being all of the same size, it may some-
times happen that the piece of iron will be too large to pass through the
passage formed by the surface c and the side plates d, d, at the part (2), the
consequence of which would most likely be that the machine would break, or
the driving power be brought to a stand; to obviate which, the springs 9 are
introduced between the glands h and the upper part of the bearing of the axis
of the wheel b, which allows the wheel to rise and the piece of iron to pass,
and thus prevents the inconvenience above alluded to; the lower part of the
framing forms a receptacle for water, which serves partially to cool the
apparatus.
The second part of the Invention consists of a machine similar in its
construction to the one above described, but modified to suit the nature of
the substances it has to operate upon; these substances are passed between the
surface of a revolving wheel or roller and a fixed surface, by which means, the
substances are reduced to the required state. Figure 4 shews a section, and
Figure 5 an end view, of a machine constructed according to this part of the
Invention. a, a, is the framing of the machine; 6 is a roller, the axis of which
turns in bearings in the framing, and is actuated by any suitable power; c is a
fixed metal surface or plate. The substances to be operated upon are placed
in the hopper d, and by the rotation of the roller they are ground or crushed
between it and the fixed surface c. I sometimes apply two or more rollers, in
which case, the roller which first operates upon the substances is placed more
distant from the fixed surface than the roller which last grinds or crushes the
substances; this modification of the machine is shewn at Figures 6 and 7.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I am
acquainted with for performing the same, I wish it to be understood, that I do
not intend to confine myself to the precise details shewn, so long as the peculiar
features of my Invention be retained. And I am aware, that a machine some-
what similar (but having the axis of the wheel or roller in a vertical position)
to the one described as the first part of my Invention, has been before used for
the purpose of rolling and compressing balls of puddled iron; I do not,
therefore, claim the passing of puddled balls between the face of a wheel or
roller and a fixed curve or excentric surface; but I claim,-
First, the application of side plates, to prevent the too great elongation of

page_text: the metal when first placed between the wheel b and the fixed surface c; also
the forming openings for the removal of the scoria and other impurities; and
also the supporting the axis of the wheel or roller in a horizontal position, and
in such manner that it may move to allow pieces of iron of various sizes to
pass between it and the fixed surface, as above described.
And, secondly, I claim the grinding or crushing of sandstone, clay, &c., by
passing them between the surface of a roller or rollers and a fixed surface, as
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Benjamin Thorneycroft, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.