IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON."-A communication
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of. 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON."-A communication."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th October 1853.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of, Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, do hereby
declare, the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON " to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the production of wrought iron direct from
the ore, by a continuous operation, and consists principally in the forma-
tion and arrangement of a series of deoxydising tables, which may be
which
either horizontal or inclined, and either perforated or not; upon
tables the iron ore, after having been pulverised by being first roasted
and afterwards pounded fine and of an even grain, is placed. The ore is
then directly exposed to the heat of the waste gases from the flourishing
hearth, as well as to add heat from furnaces placed under these tables.

page_text: The tables are preferred to be made of iron, soap stone, or other
similar material, and, if made horizontal, may have tilting bottoms so
as to readily allow the ore to drop from one table to another. The heat
is caused to pass under these tables, and will so act directly upon the
ore placed on their surfaces. The ore thus treated is deoxydized and
desulphurised, and made ready for flourishing or balling uppreparatory
to its being liammered and rolled into bars or other shapes. Ores con-
taining a large quantity of sulphur are by this process readily manu-
factured and brought into economical use. It is obvious that many
arrangements of tubes may be employed for the purpose described, and
that the same effect may be produced by arrangements of endless bands,
which may be caused to rotate or to oscillate, so as to allow the ores to
be the better acted upon, and also that arrangement for self-feeding and
self-discharging apparatus-may be advantageously employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th April 1854. .
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson,
Her special license that I the said John Henry Johnson, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I; the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,

page_text: an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON," (a
communication,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, by an instrument in writing under my hand: and
seal, 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 John Henry Johnson, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures, marked thereon,
that is to say:
This Invention relates to the production of wrought iron direct from
the ore by a continuous operation, and consists principally in the forma
tion and arrangement of a series of deoxydising tables, which may be
either horizontal or inclined, and either perforated or not; upon which
tables the iron ore,. after having been pulverised by being first roasted
and afterwards pounded fine and of an even grain, is placed. The ore
is then directly exposed to the heat of the waste gases from the flourish-
ing hearth, as well as to additional heat from furnaces placed under
these tables. The tables are preferred to be made of iron, soap stone,
or other similar material, and, if made horizontal, may have tilting
bottoms so as to readily allow the ore to drop from one table to another.
The heat is caused to pass under these tables, and will so act directly
upon the ore. placed on their surfaces. The ore thus treated is deoxy-
dised and desulphurised, and made ready for flourishing or balling up,
preparatory to its being hammered and rolled into bars or other shapes.
Ores containing, a large quantity of sulphur are by this process readily.
manufactured and brought into economical use. It is obvious, that
many arrangements of tables may be employed for the purpose, de-
scribed, and that the same effect may be produced by arrangements of
endless bands, which may be caused to rotate or to oscillate, so as to
allow the ores to be the better acted upon, and also that arrangements
3

page_text: fór self-feeding and self-discharging apparatus may be advantageously
employed.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1, of the Drawings is a plan of a combined fur-
nace for applying the improved method of reducing ores; Figure 2, is a
front elevation thereof; Figure 3, a side elevation, with the side wall of
the furnace removed to shew the inside arrangement; and Figure 4, is
á vertical section of the same along the line a, a, of Figure 1. Figure 1,
on Sheet 2, of the Drawings is a vertical section in the line y, y, of
Figs. 1, and 3; and Figure 2, represents a vertical section in the line
2, z, in Figs. 1, and 3. Corresponding letters designate corresponding
parts in all the Figures. A, is a reverberatory furnace of the ordinary
construction (except that it is considerably longer than the common
puddling furnace, and has an additional reverberatory projection from
the top about midway,) for balling and welding the deoxydated and
desulphurated metal; E, is the grate where the fuel is applied for
heating the furnace. This furnace is combined directly with the
furnace B, containing the reducing tables (herein-after directed), and
an auxiliary grate or furnace G, which is employed to furnish additional
heat to the ore if the surplus heat from the furnaces A should not be
sufficient for that purpose, or whenever it may be convenient to employ
it. Within this furnace is arranged a series of any suitable number of
tables h, h, and i, i, in an inclined position as shewn in the Drawings.
They may be horizontal, but a certain degree of inclination is most
suitable for managing the ore thereon, and finally discharging it there-
from. The ore is introduced, properly prepared and mixed with the
proper proportions of any good carbonaceous material and flux, by means
of hoppers m, m, and n, n, at the top of the furnace; the former
conducting to the lower tables h, h, and the latter to the upper tables
i, i. The heat and gases from the furnace A are conducted into the
space K, below the tables through the flue b, and flues'c, c, which latter
also conducts the flames and gases from the auxiliary furnace G to the
same destination. From the space K, the heat and the gases from
both furnaces are conducted through the spaces d, d, between the plate
9. (which covers the furnace G, and flues C, C, and b,) and the lower
table h, h, thence up by the flues j, j through the tables into the

page_text: .
spaces e, e, between the tables h, h, and i, i, then around the open ends
of the latter tables, through the spaces f, f, above them, and so on
around any number of tables, and finally out by the chimney D. The
whole course is indicated in Fig. 3, by arrows. A damper a, regulates
the supply of heat and gases from the furnace A, to the furnace B, or
entirely excludes them, and all superabundance of them is conducted.
off by the chimney C, which should have a damper p, at the top to
regulate its draught. The chimney D, is also furnished with dampers
0, 0, for a similar purpose. The flames and highly heated carburated
gases generated on the furnaces pass along in direct contact with the
prepared ore which is spread on the tables, and thus act most efficiently
to deoxydate the oxide of the metal and desulphurate the sulphurets, &c.
At the same time a high degree of heat is imparted to the under sides
of the tables as tlic flames pass beneath them, and thereby greatly assist
in heating the strata of ores thereon. By this means I secure all the
advantages to be derived by acting upon the ores in their strata through
enclosing or supporting walls or tables, and also of the direct chemical
action of the highly heated carburated gases from the furnaces upon
the ores without the injurious effect of a too great supply of air in
consuming the said gases and re-oxydating the metal. When the
contents of the tables have been reduced to the proper condition they
are conducted directly to the welding furnace A, down the transverse
inclined plane of the reservoir S, which is arranged so as to receive the
contents of all the tables, as represented in the Drawings, there being
a sufficient space I to allow the metal to pass readily down. It is then
received on the long welding hearth, where the entire process of making
wrought iron is completed without interruption. There are working
doors, and c, to the several deoxydating tables, and an extrá
working door g, at the side of the furnace through which to control the
transfer of the reduced metal from the reservoir or the tables to the
welding furnace. The passage Z may also serve to convey a portion
of the heat and gases from said furnaces direct to the tables. The
principles of the above method of treating iron ores are also applicable
to the reduction of many of the ores of other metals such as galena,
the ores of copper, &c.; and I contemplate the application of the

page_text: method in the smelting of such ores. In manufacturing by this furnace
the iron ore employed is first mixed with a proper quantity of carbon
(say about twenty per cent. in weight), either charcoal, mineral coal,
coke, or other suitable carbonaceous matter. The material thus mixed
is in any suitable apparatus reduced to a fine powder, in order that the
deoxydising influence may more readily act with rapidity and uniformity.
upon the entire mass placed in the furnace, and thus prevent more
effectually a final loss of metal in the slag. The ore and carbon thus
prepared is taken by the necessary: appliances to the hoppers (on the
top of the deoxydizers) which conduct it to the several tables, where, by
its own gravity or a moment's labour, it is spread uniformly over them.
The depth of the ore upon the tables is to be governed by their size and
form; it being desirable to have it of such thickness, as; to force the
deoxydising flames and gases to immediate and close contact with the
orė, and that a higher degree of heat. may be absorbed and retained by
the ore in their passage both over and under the tables. The furnace
being up or sufficiently liot, the dampers and blast are regulated so as
to cause the flames or gases to be forced out from every opening in the
furnace to exclude the entrance of all air that has not passed through
the grate and thus been deprived of its oxygen, thereby securing the
ore treated from reoxydising. The ore is now kept at a bright red
heat from two to twenty hours until thoroughly deprived of its oxygen,
when it is caused to descend into the reservoir or transverse inclined
plane, thence into the welling hearth, where the same
e exclusion of air
is continued. This hearth is prolonged to insure with some ores more
certainty of deoxydization. The ore being now-subjected to a greater
heat is brought forward by the operators to the middle or "flourishing'
door, where the process of "naturing" or separation of the iron from
the earthy and foreign substances, and decarbonization of the metal,
takes place, (in' completion is carried forward to the baller.), when the
opération of balling up is still carried on by the workman through the
balling door at this hottest part of the furnace. The ball in its
agglomeration is stirred, kneaded, and worked over and over in the
melted cinder at this point. This bath of melted cinder is necessary to
preserve, the loop or ball from the oxygen necessarily present when

page_text: "
there is the requisite heat to melt all the earthy matter and to "cook
the ball perfectly, which process is complete when the ball has become
sufficiently heated so as by compression under the hammer or other-
wise to allow the slag to be thoroughly expressed, and the metal to weld
through all its parts, leaving it pure, wrought, or malleable iron, in
such merchantable shape as may be desired.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not
confine or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which
I have had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations may be
made therefrom without deviating from the principles or main features
of the said Invention; but what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent, is,
First, the causing the deoxydating and desulphurating flames and
gases generated in the furnace to act directly in contact with properly
prepared ores placed upon suitably arranged tables, while at the same
time a high degree of heat is imparted to the under sides of the tables.
Second, the so arranging the deoxydating and desulphurating tables
either horizontal or at such an inclination that their contents, when in
a proper condition, can be directly discharged into the welding furnace,
but that this discharge shall be entirely under the control of the
workman, substantially as herein set forth.
Third, the combination of an auxiliary furnace G, with the deoxy-
dating tables and welding furnace, substantially in the manner and for
the purpose herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of April, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)