IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BARS, SHEETS AND PLATES OF HARD AND SOFT STEEL APPLICABLE TO REAPER KNIVES, SAFE PLATES AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1884

page_text: We GEORGE VIRGIL FRANKISH of Number 121 Spring Vale Road Sheffield
(Steel Manager) and JOHN THOMAS BRUFTON of 50 Tasker Road Sheffield (Joiners
Tool and Reaper Knife Manufacturer) in the County of York do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
BARS, SHEETS AND PLATES OF HARD AND SOFT STEEL APPLICABLE TO REAPER
KNIVES, SAFE PLATES AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the manufacture of hard and soft steel plates by
casting an ingot of mild steel or ingot iron reducing the same to a bar by_rolling
or forging and subjecting the same to the action of charcoal in a converting Furnace
the part or parts of the bar intended to be hard being exposed to the action of the
charcoal and the part or parts required to be soft being protected from the action
of the charcoal by being coated with clay or a silicious or aluminous substance.
The bars in the converting furnace are subjected to the action of heat in the
ordinary manner.
Dated thin abth in 100
E, EDWARDS. HÉWETT,
Agent for the Applicants.

page_text: We GEORGE VIRGIL FRANKISH, of 121 Spring Vale Road, Sheffield, Steel
Manager; and JOHN THOMAS BRUFTON, of 50 Tasker Road, Sheffield, Joiners
Tool and Reaper Knife Manufacturer; both in the County of York-do hereby
declare the nature of our Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
BARS, SHEETS AND PLATES, OF HARD AND SOFT STEEL; APPLICABLE TO REAPER
KNIVES SAFE PLATES AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:―.
"
"
"This Invention consists in the manufacture of hard and soft steel plates; by
Casting an Ingot, of mild steel or ingot iron, reducing the same to a bar, by
"rolling or forging, and subjecting the same to the action of Charcoal, in a
Converting Furnace, the part or parts of the bar intended to be hard, being
exposed to the action of the Charcoal, and the part or parts required to be soft,
being protected from the action of the Charcoal, by being coated with clay or a
"silicious or aluminous substance-The bars in the Converting furnace are
subjected to the action of heat in the ordinary manner."
The essential feature of this Invention, is the process by which Bars, Slabs, or
other Merchantable uses and material, made from mild steel or Ingot Iron, may
have one or more sides, faces or edges, made hard, whilst the other sides, faces, or
edges may remain soft and ductile, such bars, slabs, or other merchantable uses and
material, being specially adapted for the manufacture of certain classes of articles
ás hereinafter described..
The process by which this Invention is carried into effect, is similar to the old
process, by which Bar Iron is converted into steel, by cementation or carburization
in a Converting Furnace, with this difference, that instead of the whole surface
of the material being exposed to the carburizing action of the Charcoal; by our
process, only such portion of the Bars, slabs or other uses or material, are allowed
to come into contact with the Charcoal as are afterwards required to be hardened,
the other parts being protected by a coating or layer of clay, or a silicious or
aluminous substance-By our process the charge in the converting, Chest or pot is
made up as follows:
'
Inside.and on the bottom of the Converting pot is spread a thin layer of Charcoal
or its equivalent, on this are placed as many slabs, bars, or other uses or material
(made as herein previously described;)--as can be conveniently laid, so as to leave
spaces between the ends and sides of each.
By preference one class only would be placed in each layer or row, say for
example the first row may be composed of slabs, the face or side of the slab required
to be made hard, being placed down on to the layer of Charcoal, then a coating or
covering of Clay, or Silicious or Aluminous substance, say for example Clay, is laid
into all the spaces between as well as on and over the said Slabs. Then another or
second row of slabs, are laid on the last named layer of clay, with that portion of
the slab required to remain soft and ductile next the clay, and placed as in the first
instance, so as to leave spaces between each, such spaces being also filled up with
clay, level with the top or uppermost side or face of the Slab, but so as to leave it
clear and clean. Then another thin layer of Charcoal is spread' on and over the
exposed faces of the Slabs, and afterwards a third row of Slabs is placed face to the
Charcoal in the same manner as the first row herein described, and so on, one layer
after another until the charge has been made up.
The charge may be composed of Slabs as above described, for a certain number of
layers, and of Bars for another portion of the charge, or the successive layers may
be alternated as convenient; As a modification of the above, when two. or more
faces, sides or edges are required to be made hard the layers or coatings of Clay

page_text: and Charcoal may be laid in or on, to correspond; and in the case of slabs or bars
requiring two sides, at right angles to each other, making hard, they may be laid
with their faces at an angle instead of in parallel lines, as hereinbefore described,
the clay and Charcoal being laid in or on as previously described.
A charge may also be made up as just described in a Converting chest or pot so
as only partly to fill it, the remainder of the charge (forming either the first or the
second part), may be made up as in the old process for the conversion of Iron bars
into steel, in any case the whole series of rows and layers comprising the charge,
being covered with a thick final layer of Clay or wheel swarf or other equivalent
substance, the whole being then subjected to the action of heat, until the required
degree of Carburization has been attained. Trial bars may be previously inserted
with their ends protruding, so that they may be drawn out from time to time
during the course of the operation, so as to ascertain the progress and to test the
temper, as is the custom in the ordinary process of Conversion, care being taken as
in that process, that the chests or pots when duly charged are made everywhere.
as impervious to air as possible.
The accompanying drawings illustrate the manner in which our Invention is
carried out, with regard to the treatment of certain classes of material, and also
show the effect on certain articles manufactured from material so treated.
Figure 1, represents a transverse section of an ordinary converting chest or pot,
the sides and bottom which are made of firestone, are marked A, the charge inside
this pot is made up of slabs and bars as hereinbefore described, in which the slabs
are represented by the rectangular figures lightly shaded in section, each row or
layer of which is marked B; The bars are represented by similar figures darkly
shaded, each row of which is marked C; the charcoal is represented by the black
lines, each layer of which is marked D, and the clay is represented by the blank
unshaded spaces between the slabs and bars, marked E, the charcoal layers and the
sides of the converting pot; the final or top layer of clay or wheel swarf being
represented by the dotted lines in section.
As a modification of the manner of making up the charges, a row of slabs is
represented at L. M. with two sides or faces exposed to the charcoal, the edges only
being in contact with the clay.
Figure 2, represents another modification of the manner of laying in a charge or
part of a charge.
Figure 3, represents a further, modification of the same.
Figure 4; represents one form of Machine Knife called a Reaper Knife.
Figure 5, being a section of the same through the line A. B. in which the shaded
portion represents the mild, soft, or ductile material, and the thin black line
represents the hard face which makes the cutting edge.
Figure 6, represents the section of a plate, bar, or sheet, the hard and soft parts
being shown as in the figure last described.
Amongst a variety of other purposes and uses to which mild and hard steel, made
by our improved process, may be put; the following may be named.
Bars, plates, Sheets and Angles, Cutting Tools and implements, such as Reaper
Knives, Reaper Sections, Lawn Mower, blades, Plane Irons, Machine Knives of all
kinds, shear blades, punch beds, Anvil and Hammer faces, Skate Irons, and other
useful articles.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
(1) Improvements in the manufacture of Bars, Slabs, or other merchantable
uses and material of hard and mild or soft steel, made from mild steel or
Ingot Iron, by an improved process of conversion, cementation, or Carburi-
zation or partial conversion, cementation or Carburization, by which one or
more sides, faces, or edges may be made hard and of varying degrees of
temper, whilst the remaining side or sides, face or faces, edge or edges, may
remain mild, soft and ductile.

page_text: (2) The application of the material so made, to the manufacture of a variety of
useful articles more particularly to such as are herein before mentioned, in
the manner hereinbefore described and illustrated by the accompanying
drawings as shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Dated this 21st day of November 1884, and signed on behalf of George Virgil 5
'Frankish and self, Co-Applicants."