IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCTION, MANUFACTURE, AND UTILI- ZATION OF CASTINGS PRODUCED FROM THE METALLIC SLAGS AND BI-PRODUCTS ARISING FROM THE TREATMENT OF METALLIC ORES AND METAL IN FURNACES." AL
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis John Bolton, of No. 4, Broad Sanctuary, in the City
of Westminster, Frederick Edward Blackett Beaumont, of No. 2, Westminster
Chambers, Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster, and William Henry
Ashwell, of Number 6, Westminster Chambers, Westminster, aforesaid, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCTION, MANUFACTURE, AND UTILI-
ZATION OF CASTINGS PRODUCED FROM THE METALLIC SLAGS AND BI-PRODUCTS
ARISING FROM THE TREATMENT OF METALLIC ORES AND METAL IN FURNACES."
AL
T
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis John Bolton, Frederick
Edward Blackett Beaumont, and William Henry Ashwell at the Office of the
Commissoners of Patents on the 21st August 1870.
FRANCIS JOHN BOLTON, of No. 4, Broad Sanctuary, in the City of Westminster,
FREDERICK EDWARD BLACKETT BEAUMONT, of No. 2, Westminster Chambers,
Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster, and WILLIAM HENRY ASHWELL, of
Number 6, Westminster Chambers, Westminster, aforesaid. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE PRODUCTION, MANUFACTURE, AND UTILIZATION OF CASTINGS PRODUCED FROM
THE METALLIC SLAGS AND BI-PRODUCTS ARISING FROM THE TREATMENT OF
METALLIC ORES AND METAL IN FURNACES."
It is well known that the slag of iron is an abundant but waste or comparatively
waste product of smelting and other operations, and that even when run into blocks
or forms in the ordinary manner, its brittle character has rendered it almost in-
applicable to any useful purpose. Our object is to render it applicable for various
purposes, such as building blocks or bricks, paving and tramway blocks, slabs, and
other castings, by so treating or dealing with it in the process of casting as to
reduce the actual brittleness of the castings produced, and by so forming, adapting,
and applying these as in degree to neutralize or overcome this objectionable
quality.
To reduce the actual brittleness of castings produced from slag the moulds must
be heated, and the heating the moulds and allowing the castings very gradually to
cool and anneal has already been practised with some success. One feature of the
[Price d

page_text: present Invention has reference to such a process, and is as follows:-We sling the
mould or moulds for the blocks from any convenient support, so that all contact
with the bottom or sides of the foundry pit shall be avoided, and so that on pouring
the molten or fluid slag into the pit it may riso freely under and around the
moulds, and heat then equally and uniformly before it enters the interiors by or
through orifices at or near the tops of the moulds provided for the purpose.
Sometimes instead of slinging the moulds within the pit we first fill the pit and
then slowly lower or dip the moulds into the fluid mass, which as the moulds sink
will properly heat them without admitting the fluid to the interiors until the necks
or openings are permitted to sink below the surface. After an interval the moulds
may be withdrawn and the slag castings placed in a closed chamber to cool
gradually. Other moulds are treated in succession in the same manner in the same
pit, which, if desired, may have a furnace beneath it for sustaining a constant
heat. The moulds may likewise be heated by a current or blast of air or by any
other suitable means.
With a similar object we sometimes prepare the hearth or lower part of a cupola
or furnace and place moulds therein or contiguous thereto, so that the slag as it
is formed shall immediately drain away into the moulds, the ordinary sinelting
operation being taken advantage of to heat the moulds and maintain them heated
for a sufficient time. When thin slabs or hollow castings are desired, whether for
lightness or other reason, we sometimes strengthen them by stretching wires or
wire network over a moulding table or within a mould, and completely surrounding
the network with the molten slag in a somewhat similar manner to that described
with reference to structures of concrete or cement in the Specification of Brannon's
Patent No. 2703 of 1871. The strands of the network may in cross section be of
any desired form or arca.
When the casting has partially solidified on reaching a certain temperature it
may be subjected to inechanical pressure for the purpose of consolidation or im-
pression of patterns or devices whether in relief or in mosaic.
With the view of preventing adhesion of the slag to the moulds and for other
purposes it is intended sometimes to line the moulds with metal of different con-
.ductability to that of which the mould is composed.
With the object of neutralizing or overcoming the brittle character of castings
produced from slag, in addition to or independently of the dealing with them in
the mode or modes above set forth, we form, adapt, and apply the castings as
follows-Selecting as an example the employment of blocks of slag for the forma-
tion of a tramway, we mould and cast them so as to admit of the application to
them of any convenient form of rail and sleeper; and we also cast recesses in their
sides so as to permit the paving blocks or materials of the general roadway to
project into and break joint with the specially formed blocks which constitute the
tramway; we also cast them so as to admit of the application to them of longi-
tudinal stringers, or plates, or bars of wood or metal, or other materials of various
sections, and dispose them so that the separate blocks may break joint or dovetail
into each other, and that the stringers, or plates, or bars, may bond or unite them
into a system. The stringers, plates, or bars to be disposed vertically or horizontally,
or it may be at an angle, as required.
The application of the said castings to piers, breakwaters, and fortifications, may
be cited as another example. For such structures we propose, as a foundation and
for hearting the employment of balls or spherical castings of slag to be piled liko
shot to interlock or arrangen themselves in consequence of their weight and form,
while for the superstructure and facing we employ blocks or castings of slag having
the faces or such of them as come against the spherical castings so shaped as to
cap upon and fit against the spherical castings, and thus tie or consolidate the
castings or a number of them into a mass.
The outer or exposed surfaces of the superstructure may present an even face,
and when the material is used as ashlar or facing slabs the outer sido may be cast;

page_text: or impressed with any desired device or pattern, while the inner side may be
provided with projections of any convenient form for attaching the facing to the
structure. The several facing blocks should generally break joint with each other.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Francis John Bolton, Frederick Edward Blackett Beaumont, and
William Henry Ashwell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th February
1877.
FRANCIS JOHN BOLTON, of No. 4, Broad Sanctuary, in the City of Westminster,
FREDERICK EDWARD BLACKETT BEAUMONT, of No. 2, Westminster Chambers,
Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster, and WILLIAM HENRY ASHWELL, of
No. 6, Westminster Chambers, Westminster, aforesaid. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PRODUCTION, MANUFACTURE, AND UTILISATION OF CASTINGS PRODUCED FROM THE
METALLIC SLAGS AND BI-PRODUCTS ARISING FROM THE TREATMENT OF METALLIC
ORES AND METAL IN FURNACES."
It is well known that slag is an abundant but waste or comparatively waste
product of smelting and other operations, and that when run into blocks or forms
by casting its brittle character has rendered it almost inapplicable to any useful
purpose. Our object is to render it applicable for the sleeper blocks of tramways
and for the foundation and hearting of piers, breakwaters, fortifications, and like
structures which we effect in the following manner :-
For sleepers of tramways we cast the slag in blocks of the form shewn in the
accompanying Drawings, of which Fig. 1 represents a cross section of one of the
blocks, and Fig. 2 shows a plan of a series of blocks as laid for a tramway.
The blocks A are of rectangular form having, firstly, a longitudinal recess B on
the upper face for the reception of the longitudinal tram rail and sleeper; secondly,
a recess Con the under side, in order to enable the foundation to key into the
blocks; and thirdly, recesses or toothings D, D, D, at distances apart on the sides
into which fit the ends of the paving blocks, so as to cause the pavement to break
joint and interlock with the blocks. The recess B is by preference formed
somewhat under cut, as shewn, so that when the sleeper E and rail F are inserted
and the side spaces run in with asphalt or cement, the sleeper and rail will be
securely held in the blocks. The blocks are made in convenient lengths and fit
with a butt joint against each other. In casting these blocks we warm the moulds
to prevent the sudden chilling of the slag as it is poured into them, and preferably
for the same reason we line the sides and tops of the moulds with loam, and after
the slag has set we remove the moulds in parts and place the cast blocks in a
closed chamber where they are allowed to cool gradually.
For the foundation and hearting of piers and other structures we employ balls
or sperical castings of slag, which are cast in heated iron moulds, and when set
and removed from the moulds are rolled into and through a long chamber kept
hotter at one end than at the other. In this chamber they undergo a certain
amount of annealing, so that when they are taken out at the cooler end they are
comparatively hard and strong. These balls are piled like shot so as to interlock
or arrange themselves in stable form, serving as a foundation or middle for the
structure, which may be faced with masonry or with flat faced bricks of slag, and
the latter may be cast of such form on their inner side as to fit themselves to the
spherical blocks adjoining them.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, we hereby declare that we make no general claim to the
casting of slag into blocks of various forms or annealing the same, but we claim,-
First. The use for tramways of slag blocks cast with recesses to receive the rails

page_text: and toothings to bond with adjacent paving, as herein described with reference to
the accompanying Drawings.
Second. The use of slag cast in spherical blocks to form the foundation and
hearting of piers and other structures, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Ashwell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
WILLIAM HENRY ASHWELL. (L.S.)