IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL."-A communication from abroad by
Alexander Lyman Holley and John B. Pearse, both of Swatara,
Pennsylvania, United States of America.
Sealed the 10th November 1868, and dated the 16th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th May 1868.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," a communication, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to apparatus employed in the manufacture of
iron and steel by the Bessemer or pneumatic process; and its chief object

page_text: is to facilitate the repairing of the linings of converters. The tuyeres
which are generally made of fire-clay, cylindrical in shape, and perforated
with longitudinal air holes and the refractory lining in the lower part of
the converter in which the tuyeres are set (the whole being called the
"bottom") are usually so much burned or worn away after five or six
heatings as to require renewal.
The practice has heretofore been to knock the tuyeres out of the lining,
to insert new ones from without into the old holes in the lining, and
to make the lining good around the tuyeres either by pouring granulated
refractory material made semi-liquid by water into the mouth of the
converter, and allowing it to settle around the tuyeres, or to wait from
twelve to twenty-four hours until the converter should be cooled
sufficiently for workmen to enter and work in it, and then to make the
bottom good by ramming the refractory material around the tuyeres,
The former method does not often make a good bottom, and the latter
method wastes much time and reduces the product of a given plant.
In some cases a duplicate removeable bottom has been used. The old
bottom including the tuyeres having been removed from the converter
a new bottom with the tuyers previously rammed and dried is inserted.
When the old bottom is pulled away from the lining in the sides of the
converter it sometimes carries away some of the said lining with it,
and sometimes a part of the bottom is left sticking to the lining and
must be knocked out, in any case the fracture is irregular, so that
when the new bottom is inserted there remains an irregular and often
large space to be filled and made sound with refractory material. This
space cannot be filled till the converter is cool. To pour semi-fluid
refractory material into the large and irregular space thus formed may
produce unsoundness as in the case above mentioned, when similar
material is poured around the tuyeres,
Another method heretofore used in some cases of facilitating the
repairs of converter bottoms consists in removing the whole top of the
converter. The old tuyeres may then be knocked out and new ones
rammed by men working from without while the converter is still very
hot. The great defect of this method is the uncertainty of making a
good joint when the top part of the converter is replaced. The joint
cannot be inspected nor made good from within the converter without
waiting for it to cool.
My improvements consist, first, in means and apparatus for making a

page_text: sound joint between a removeable bottom and the lining of the body
of the converter. When the old bottom is removed leaving the irregular
fracture in the converter lining I insert a mould into the bottom of the
converter and fasten it there, preferably by means of three or four of
the bolts which hold the bottom when it is inserted into the converter.
I then ram the space between the mould and the lining with refractory
material, and when it is set remove the said mould. The removeable
bottom is prepared by forming or inserting new tuyeres, placing a mould
around them, and ramming refractory material between the said mould
and the tuyeres and then removing the mould. I make the interior of
this mould either of the same or of a slightly larger diameter and of
the same shape as the exterior of the mould inserted in the bottom
of the converter, so that when the bottom is inserted into the lower
part of the converter it will either exatly or almost exactly fit the
opening or scat in the lining. By properly proportioning and fitting
the male and female moulds the joint between the bottom, which thus
forms a stopper, and the lining which thus forms a seat for the said
stopper, will be perfectly closed. To further insure a perfect joint I
prefer either to cover the sides of the bottom before it is inserted into
the converter with a paste made of firc-clay or any suitable refrac-
tory material, or to pour semi-fluid refractory material, such as ground
silicious stone and fire-clay mixed with water, into the converter after
the bottom is inserted, so that the semi-fluid material thus poured in
shall run into any opening there may be between the bottom and the
lining. I sometimes use both these methods of securing a perfect
joint. The worn bottom may be removed and the new bottom inserted
by means of a screw or a hydraulic lift, or in any other suitable
manner. After it is inserted the converter is dried and heated by
means of a fire made in it in the usual manner, and is then ready
for use.
Workmen can stand outside of the converter and place
of the converter is
In order to protect
and ram the refractory material while the interior
so hot as to prevent their working inside of it.
the workmen against the heat radiated from the lining, thus enabling
them to repair it while the interior of the converter is red hot, I employ
a shield by preference made of two discs of sheet iron with an air
space between and attach the same to the male mould. I sometimes
prefer to prepare the lining of the converter to receive the new
bottom when the converter is turned bottom upwards, so that the
workmen can ram the refractory material around the mould more

page_text: directly, and without being so much exposed to the heat of the interior
of the converter. For this purpose I suspend a mould centrally in the
inverted bottom of the converter by any suitable means, and ram the
refractory material directly down into the space around the mould.
In case the lining is so much broken away that the refractory material!
thus rammed in would fall through the said space down into the con-
verter, I stop the bottom of the space by any suitable means for instance,
by means of an adjustable stopper which consists of a piece of plate
iron attached to a suitable handle. This stopper is inserted and rests
on the ring which is suspended from the mould. By means of the
handle a workman adjusts the stopper to the lining so as to stop the
lower part of the annular space around the mould. When the space
over the stopper has been rammed full the stopper is removed and laid
upon another part of the ring until the whole of such space has been
rammed full. In order to make the space in the lining after the old
bottom has been pulled out of it so true and regular that the mould
will nearly fit the space, and so that the said space will require but
little fresh refractory material, I sometimes prefer to cut out the lining
for the insertion of the mould by means of a cutter fastened to a hand
lever, the fulcrum of which is pivoted upon a beam laid across the
bottom of the converter for that purpose. By this means a workman
by moving the said lever up and down and around the circle formed from
its centre can cut the hole in the lining comparatively smooth and
regular. I sometimes prefer to make the joint between the lining and
the bottom inside of the tuyere box. This joint may be made above
the tuyere box so that the latter is removed together with the bottom,
and so that the joint in the air pipe leading from the trunnion of the
converter to the tuyere box is broken whenever a bottom is removed,
and must be made good whenever a bottom is inserted. In this case
a tuyere box is required for each duplicate bottom, and the bottom
must be inserted with the air pipe always in the same position. I prefer,
however, that the duplicate bottom should consist simply of a plate or
plates with the tuyeres and surrounding refractory material. The said
bottom may then be removed withuot breaking the air pipe or removing
the tuyere box, and may be replaced without reference to the position
of the air pipe. The plate must fit tightly against the bottom of the
tuyere box to prevent the escape of air, and for this purpose I prefer
to face the interior of the flange and the top of the plate to form a
tight joint.

page_text: The bottom may be inserted and held in place by any suitable means.
I prefer to use screws with heads projecting through the walls of the
tuyere box so as to be easily accessible. Should the bottom stick so fast
as not to come out easily it may be started by setting up a screw.
In
some cases I use only a single plate for the removeable bottom to rest
upon, but in order to keep the said plate from being warped by the heat
of the lining and at the same time to leave a space for any air that leaks
from the tuyere box to pass into the atmosphere instead of blowing up
into the lining, I sometimes employ another plate leaving an air space
between the plates. The removeable bottom and the opening in the
converter into which it is inserted are moulded as herein-before described
or in any other suitable manner by means of corresponding male and
female moulds.
My improvements further consist in arranging openings in the
converter through which men standing outside the converter can see
and work upon the bottom and around the tuycres while the converter is
hot, and by preference so that when such an opening is closed its joint
with the lining can be seen and made good on the inside by men
standing on the outside of the converter. The converter is mounted
upon trunnions. I form a hole in the upper part of the said converter
by preference directly over the bottom, and of such dimensions that
workmen stand upon or around the nose of the converter can work
through the hole upon the bottom and lining by means of long rammers
and other suitable tools. I close the hole by a stopper made by
preference of plate iron and having a flange lined with suitable refractory
material. When the said stopper has been removed and replaced there
will be a ragged annular opening around it similar to that herein-before
described between the bottom and the lining. By turning the converter
into the proper position a workman can see and make good the annular
opening through the mouth of the said converter. In case an opening
that requires stopping is made for any purpose in the converter at a
place where it cannot be conveniently stopped by working through the
mouth of the converter, I stop the said opening by moulding the hole
and moulding the stopper to fit the hole by means of suitable moulds,
thus forming a seat for the stopper.

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 14th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first 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 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 APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND
STEEL," 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 accompanying
Drawings forming a part of this Specification:-
This Invention relates to apparatus employed in the manufacture of
iron and steel by the "Bessemer" or pneumatic process, and its chief
object is to facilitate the repairing of the linings of converters. The
tuyeres which are generally made of fire-clay, cylindrical in shape, and

page_text: perforated with longitudinal air holes, and the refractory lining in the
lower part of the converter in which the tuyeres are set (the whole being
called the "bottom") are usually so much burned or worn away after
five or six heatings as to require renewal.
The practice has heretofore been to knock the tuyeres out of the
lining, to insert new ones from without into the old holes in the lining,
and to make the lining good around the tuyeres either by pouring
granulated refractory material made semi-liquid by water into the
mouth of the converter, and allowing it to settle around the tuyeres,
or to wait from twelve to twenty-four hours until the converter should
be cool enough for workmen to enter and work in it, and then to make
the bottom good by ramming the refractory material around the tuyeres.
It is difficult to make a good bottom by the former method, and the
latter method wastes much time and reduces the product of a given
plant.
In some cases a duplicate removable bottom is employed, as shown in
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 representing
the lower part of a converter in section, and Figure 2 the removable
bottom with the tuyeres A and tuyere box B in section. The old
bottom, including the tuyeres, having been removed from the converter,
Figure 1, a new bottom, Figure 2, with the tuyeres previously rammed
and dried is inserted. When the old bottom is pulled away from the
lining D in the sides of the converter it sometimes carries away some
of the said lining with it, and sometimes a part of the bottom is left
sticking to the lining, and must be knocked out; in any case the
fracture is irregular, so that when the new bottom, Figure 2, is inserted
there remains an irregular and often large space to be filled and made
sound with refractory material. This space cannot be filled until the
converter is cool. To pour semi-fluid refractory material into the large
and irregular space thus formed may produce unsoundness, as in the
case above mentioned, when similar material is poured around the
tuyeres.
Another method heretofore used in some cases for facilitating the
repairs of converter bottoms is shown in Figure 3, which is a section
of a converter. In practising this method I remove the whole top of
the converter E at the joint F, G. The old tuyeres may then be knocked
out and new ones rammed by men working from without while the

page_text: converter is still very hot. The grand defect of this method is the
uncertainty of making a good joint when the top part of the converter
is replaced. The joint cannot be inspected nor made good from within
the converter without waiting for it to cool.
My improvements consist, first, in the means for making a sound
joint between a removable bottom and the lining of the body of the
converter.
To enable others to construct and use my Invention I have shewn
several forms of it in the Drawings which form a part of this Specifi-
cation, and in which Figure 4 is a section of the lower part of a
converter, and Figure 5 is a removable bottom. When the old bottom
is removed, leaving the irregular fracture in the converter lining, as
shown at C, Figure 1, I insert a mould H, Figure 4, into the bottom
of the converter, and fasten it there in any suitable manner, preferably
by means of three or four of the bolts I which hold the bottom when
it is inserted into the converter. I then ram the space J between the
mould H and the lining D with refractory material, and when it is
set I remove the mould H. The removable bottom, Figure 5, is prepared
by forming or inserting new tuyeres, placing the mould K around them,
and ramming refractory material between the mould K and the tuyeres,
and then removing the mould K. I make the interior of this mould K
either of the same or of a slightly larger diameter, and of the same
shape as the exterior of the mould H, so that when the bottom, Figure 5,
is inserted into the lower part of the converter, Figure 4, it will either
exactly or almost exactly fit the opening or seat in the lining D, J.
By properly proportioning and fitting the male and female moulds H
and K the joint between the bottom, which thus forms a stopper, and
the lining, which thus forms a seat for the said stopper, will be perfectly
closed. To further insure a perfect joint I prefer either to cover the
sides L of the bottom before it is inserted into the converter with a
paste made of fire-clay or any suitable refractory material, or to pour
semi-fluid refractory material, such as ground siliceous stone and fire-
clay mixed with water, into the converter after the bottom is inserted,
so that the semi-fluid material thus poured in shall run into any
opening there may be between the bottom and the lining D, J. I
sometimes use both of these measures of securing a perfect joint.
The worn bottom may be removed and the new bottom inserted by
means of a screw or a hydraulic lift, or in any suitable manner. After

page_text: it is inserted the converter is dried and heated by means of a fire made
in it in the usual manner, and is then ready for use.
Workmen can
stand outside of the converter and place and ram the refractory
material J, Figure 4, while the interior of the converter is so hot as to
prevent their working inside of it. In order to protect the workmen
from the heat radiated from the lining, and to enable them to
repair it while the interior of the converter is red hot, I employ a
shield M, N, by preference made of two discs of sheet iron with
an air space between them, and attach the same to the mould H.
I sometimes prefer to prepare the lining of the converter to receive
the new bottom when the converter is turned bottom upwards, so
that the workmen can ram the refractory material around the mould
more directly, and without being so much exposed to the heat of the
interior of the converter. For this purpose I suspend the mould H',
Figure 7, centrally in the inverted bottom of the converter by the
beara P or any other suitable means, and ram the refractory material
directly down into the space J'. In case the lining D₁ is so much
broken away that the refractory material thus rammed in would fall
through the space J' down into the converter I stop the bottom of the
Said space J by any suitable means, for instance, by the adjustable
stopper R, which is shown in plan by Figure 9, and consists of a piece
of plate iron attached to a suitable handle. This stopper is inserted
in one of the spaces S and rests on the ring a which is suspended from
the mould H'. By means of the handle a workman adjusts the stopper
to the lining so as to stop the lower part of the annular space J¹.
When the space over the stopper has been rammed full the stopper is
removed and laid upon another part of the ring a until the whole
space J has been rammed full. In order to make the space in the
lining after the old bottom has been pulled out of it so true and regular
that the mould H¹ will readily fit the space J, Figure 7, and so that
the space J will require but little fresh refractory (material, I some-
times prefer to cut out the lining for the insertion of the mould by
means of the cutter c, Figure 6, fastened to the hand lever b, the
fulcrum of which is pivotted upon the beam e laid across the bottom
of the converter for that purpose. A workman by moving the lever b
up and down and around the circle formed from the centre d can cut
the hole in the lining comparatively smooth and regular.
It will thus be seen that by employing my said improvements a
om is set in a converter rapidly and soundly. By means of the

page_text: the new bottom immediately or very soon after the old bottom is
removed.
Another arrangement of the removable bottom which I sometimes
prefer to employ is shewn in Figure 3, where the joint between the
lining and the bottom is made inside of the tuyere box B'.
In Figures 4 and 5, previously described, this joint is made above the
tuyere box, so that the said box is removed together with the bottom,
and so that the joint in the air pipe g and g¹ leading from the
trunnion of the converter to the tuyere box is broken whenever a
bottom is removed, and must be made good whenever a bottom is
inserted.
In the arrangement illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 a tuyere box is
required for each duplicate bottom, and the bottom must be inserted with
the air pipe g always in the same position to fit the air pipe g; but
in Figure 3 the duplicate bottom consists simply of a plate k or of the
plates and n, the tuyeres A', and surrounding refractory material f.
and may be removed without breaking the air pipe g¹ or removing the
tuyere box B', and may be replaced without reference to the position
of the air pipe. The plate k must fit tightly against the bottom of
the tuyere box to prevent the escape of air, and for this purpose I prefer
to face the interior of the flange m and the top of the rim p of the
plate to form a tight joint. The bottom may be inserted into its
place by any suitable means, such as a crane, for letting it down into
the converter when bottom upwards, or a lift for raising it into place
when the converter is mouth upwards, as shown.
In some cases
The bottom may be held in place by any suitable means. I prefer to
use screws h, as shewn in Figure 3, with heads projecting through the
walls of the tuyere box so as to be easily accessible. Should the
bottom stick so fast as not to drop or come out easily it may be started
by setting up the screw i after slackening the screws h.
I use only a single plate k for the removable bottom to rest upon, but
in order to keep the plate k from being warped by the heat of the
lining, and at the same time to leave a space in the usual manner for
any air that leaks from the tuyere box to pass into the atmosphere
instead of blowing into the lining, I sometimes employ the plate n,

page_text: also leaving the air space o between the plates. The removable bottom
and the opening in the converter into which it is inserted are moulded
as herein-before described, or in any suitable manner by means of
corresponding male and female moulds. The bottom which is removed
from the converter may be refurnished with tuyeres or air openings,
and made ready to be replaced, while the lining in the body of the
converter is being moulded or repaired. I prefer, however, to use one
of several interchangeable bottoms, prepared and thoroughly dried and
heated beforehand. The converter may be taken apart at other places
than those specified, and the lining made good by means of suitable
moulds, substantially in the manner herein-before described.
The said improvements further consist in arranging openings in the
converter through which men standing outside the same can see and
work upon the bottom and around the tuyeres while the converter is
hot. I prefer that when such an opening is closed its joint with the
lining can be seen and made good on the inside by men standing on
the outside of the converter. This part of my improvements is illus=
trated by Figure 3, which is a section of a converter mounted on
trunnions and standing upright, and by Figure 8 which is a section
of the upper part or nose of the converter turned down, so that the part
of the lining T is in a nearly horizontal position. I form a hole in
the upper part of the converter by preference directly over the bottom,
as shown in Figure 3, and of such dimensions that workmen standing
upon or around the nose of the converter can work through the hole
upon the bottom and lining by means of long rammers and other
suitable implements. I close the hole by a stopper made by preference
of a plate-iron cap V and flange W lined with suitable refractory
material U. When the stopper has been removed and replaced there
will be a ragged annular opening around it similar to that herein-
before described between the bottom, Figure 2, and the lining D,
Figure 1. By turning the converter into the position shewn in Figure 8,
a workman can see and make good the annular opening by looking
In case an
and working through the mouth ✗ of the converter.
opening that requires stopping is made for any purpose in the
converter at a place where it cannot be conveniently stopped as above
described by working through the mouth of the converter I stop
the said opening in the same manner as that employed for stopping
the opening in the lining D, D, Figure 4, as previously described, tho

page_text: hole and stopper being moulded, and the stopper fitted to the hole by
means of suitable moulds.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, and shown how the same may be con-
veniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,-
First. The combination of a converter with a moulded stopper and
seat, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Second. The combination of a shield with a converter for protecting
the workmen, substantially as described.
Third. The combination with a converter and mould of the adjustable
stopper R or equivalent device, substantially as and for the purposes
described.
Fourth. The combination with a converter of the cutter c, substantially
as and for the purposes described.
Fifth. A tuyere box in combination with a converter bottom, when
the latter is so constructed that it may be introduced into the converter
through the tuyere box, substantially as described.
Sixth. An aperture in the converter so located with respect to the
mouth and to the bottom of the converter that the bottom can be
worked upon through it, and can be stopped through the mouth of the
converter, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
THOS. N. PALMER,
Clerk to Messrs. Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
8, Southampton Buildings,
W.C.