IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL." MENTS IN THE MANACTURE OF AND
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bessemer, of Queen Street Place, New
Cannon Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL."
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bessemer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
January 1857.
I, HENRY BESSEMER, of Queen Street Place, New Cannon Street, in the
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in manufacturing sheets, plates, bars, and other
forms direct from fluid malleable iron or steel, in place of allowing the same
first to cool and set in moulds. For this purpose it is preferred to fix a pair
of rolls with their axes in a horizontal position in a suitable frame, the rolls
being placed side by side on the same level; one of the rolls may, however, if
desired, be placed at a higher level than the other, so that the lower one may
receive the molten metal upon its upper surface. It is preferred that the
diameter of the rolls should be large, and that they should have flanged ends
so made as to form stops, and thus to determine the breadth of the sheet, or
plate, or bar, or other form produced thereby; or the rollers used may be
provided with several grooves of the desired form. The relative position of
the rolls is regulated by any convenient means, and they are kept cool by
water. The rolls being suitably arranged, the fluid malleable iron or steel
is poured or allowed to flow from a ladle or crucible, or from a converting

page_text: vessel or furnace in which such metal has been caused to pass from the
crude to the refined or malleable state into the space between the rollers,
which are constantly moved slowly during the flow of the metal between
them. The cool surfaces of the rolls will be found rapidly to solidify the
fluid metal, and the same will be powerfully pressed and solidified by the
pressure of the rolls, and will be of a sectional form, depending on the form of
the space between the rolls. The forms of iron or steel thus produced may, if
necessary, be passed at once through between other rolls, in order further to
perfect the manufacture, or the same may be reheated either in the forms
produced or when cut up and piled.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Bessemer in the Great Scal Patent Office on the
24th July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BESSEMER, of Queen Street Place, New Cannon Street, in the City of London,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Bessemer, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Bessemer,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Bessemer, 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 THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Henry Bessemer, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Henry Bessemer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof:-
My Invention consists in manufacturing sheets, plates, bars, and other forms
direct from fluid malleable iron or steel, in place of allowing, the same first to
cool and set in moulds. For this purpose it is preferred to fix a pair of rolls
with their axes in a horizontal position in a suitable frame, the rolls being
placed side by side on the same level, as represented in vertical section at
Figure 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings, where a, a, represents the rolls;
and a, openings in the centre of them, for the purpose of allowing a stream of
water to pass through for the purpose of absorbing a portion of the heat com-
municated to them by the molten metal. In addition to this method of cooling
the rolls, I also provide a means of lowering the temperature of them by the.
application of water to their external surfaces, for which purpose the pipes b,b,
are made to extend from end to end of the rolls; they are each united to a
supply pipe, not shewn in the Drawings, by means of which the pipes bare
made to communicate with an elevated tank or other source of water supply.
On that side of the pipes 6 which are nearest to the rolls numerous perforations
are made, through which jets of water will escape, and be projected against the
rolls as they revolve, the water afterwards falling on to the inclined surfaces c*
of the enclosed boxes or chambers c, c, whereby the water after acting on the
rolls will be made to flow into the waste pipes d, d, and escape. On the upper
side of the chamber c, c, grooves or channels e, e, are formed, into which blocks
of wood fare fitted, one side of them being curved to fit against the rolls; the
side so fitted is to be covered with felt or other suitable material, for the pur-
pose of removing any drops of water which may adhere to the surface of the
rolls. At the back of the blocks f there are springs g, for the purpose of press-
ing the blocks tightly against the rolls; but in lieu of this mode of removing
the water from the surface of the rolls, a plate or brush may be employed, if
preferred. In order to prevent the fluid metal from soldering to or uniting
itself to the rolls, it will be found advantageous to allow the surface of them to
become rusty; they may also be blackleaded or greased from time to time,
either by hand, or by allowing them to revolve against or in contact with the
blacklead, grease, or other material, in any convenient way.
And in order to remove the plate or bar of rolled metal from the rolls in case
of any adhesion thereto, I use two steel bars or scrapers W, W, which extend
the entire length of the rolls, and having their ends let into suitable slots
formed in the side frames of the roller mill, and are to be kept in contact with
them by adjusting screws or wedges acting in these slots, or by other conve-
nient means, the object being to keep the scrapers in contact with the rolls, and

page_text: thereby prevent the plate or bar of rolled metal from being carried round with
the rolls; when grooved rolls are used, the bars W are to be notched, so as to
fit the grooves. The distance apart of the rolls may be regulated by set
screws acting on the bearings in which the rolls revolve, as generally practiced
in rolling mills. It is desirable that the rolls should be in close contact
before commencing to pour the fluid metal between them in order that
it may not fall through; I therefore prefer to use a weighted lever or other
suitable contrivance, to cause the rolls to come in contact at all times
when there is nothing between them to prevent it, but which weighted lever
will be allowed to rise whenever the solidified metal accumulates between
the rollers, which will thereby be forced asunder until their bearings find a
firm support against the end of the set screws, the position of which will
determine the thickness of the sheet or bar formed between the rolls. The
mode of regulating the thickness of the plates or bars of metal by the use of
set screws, and the use of weighted levers to force them in contact, as well
as the gearing by which the rolls are driven, as above explained, will be
readily understood by the manufacturers of plate and bar iron, though they are
omitted in the Drawings in order that other parts may be more clearly shown;
and although I have shewn and described the rolls as being placed in the
frame at the same horizontal level, it will be understood that one of the rolls
may, however, if desired, be placed at a higher level than the other, so that
the lower one may receive the molten metal upon its upper surface. It is
preferred that the diameter of the rolls should be large, and that they should
have flanged ends, so made as to form stops, and thus to determine the breadth
of the sheet, or plate, or bar, or other form produced thereby. As the metal is
to be used in a molten state it becomes necessary to prevent it from flowing
away at each end of the rolls; for this purpose I form at each end of one of
the rolls a large flange, and the other roll, forming the pair, is made without
any flanges, and of such a length as to fit in between the flanges of the roll, as
before-described. One of the flanges used to form a stop is shewn at a',
Figure 1, but may be better understood by reference to Figure 2 of the
Drawings, which represents a plan of a pair of rolls in the relative position
they would occupy when in use. i, i, are the flanges; and j, the body of the
roll; k, k, the axis or bearings, shewn broken off'; n is the plain roll fitting in
between the flanges i, i; and m shews the space between them, which determines
the thickness and breadth of the sheet or plate of metal formed between them,
the end flanges serving to close the ends and form a sort of trough between
the rolls for the reception of the fluid metal; it will be obvious, that in lieu of
having both flanges on one roll, that one flange may be formed on opposite

page_text: a
ends of each roll; and so also instead of using any flanges at all a stop may be
formed, as shewn in Figures 3 and 4; Figure 3 being a plan, and Figure 4 a
cross section, of a pair of rolls without flanges. p, p, are grooves formed in
the body of the roll q; and r, r, are segmental plates fitting into the grooves p,
and thereby forming stop, and retaining the molten metal in the trough or
cavity formed between the rolls; or the rollers used may be provided with several
grooves of the desired form. The relative position of the rolls is regulated by
any convenient means, and they are kept cool by water, as before described.
For the purpose of making bars of iron or steel, the surface of the rolls should
have grooves formed around them in addition to the flanges or other stops, as
represented at Figure 5, which shews a pair of bar rolls in plan, the spaces s, s,
representing the sectional area of the bars that would be formed by them; and
so in like manner round, triangular, or other sectional forms may be made by
giving a corresponding form to the grooves formed upon the rollers, and which
may be used either for producing plain parallel prisms, plates or rods, for
producing raised or depressed parts thereon of any required shape or con-
figuration by forming a counterpart of such forms or configurations on one or
both of the rolls, as may be required. And here I would observe, that by
making raised ribs on the rolls parallel to the axis of them, that the plates or
other forms may be cut off or so indented as to be easily broken into such
lengths or sized pieces as may be required for various purposes, such as the
division of steel into small strips, for the convenience of remelting, in lieu of
pouring the fluid steel into water, and forming it into shot, as heretofore
practiced by me in the manufacture of cast-steel ingots, or the division of iron
in convenient pieces for conversion, or other purposes. The rolls being suitably
arranged, the fluid malleable iron or steel is poured or allowed to flow from a
ladle or crucible, or from a converting vessel or furnace in which such metal
has been caused to pass from the crude to the refined or malleable state, into
the
space between the rollers, which are constantly moved slowly during the
flow of the metal between them. The cool surfaces of the rolls will be found
rapidly to solidify the fluid metal, and the same will be powerfully pressed and
solidified by the pressure of the rolls, and will be of a sectional form, depending
on the form of the space between the rolls. The forms of iron or steel thus
produced may, if necessary, be passed at once through between other rolls in
order further to perfect the manufacture, or the same may be reheated either
in the forms produced or when cut up and piled.
In carrying into practice this mode of rolling plates, bars, or other form
of iron and steel, I have found it preferable in all cases to set the roller mill
in motion previous to pouring the metal between the rolls, and also to allow

page_text: the rolls to make one or more revolutions before bringing the water in contact
with their surfaces, so that they may be sufficiently heated to dry off the
moisture left on them after passing the blocks f. If a wide sheet of metal
is to be rolled I prefer to use a wide-lipped pouring vessel, or one that has
several openings at intervals on the same level, so as to get the metal as
uniformly distributed as may be along the length of the rolls. I also prefer
to have an accumulation of metal between the rolls, so that the stream of
molten metal may fall into a trough of fluid metal instead of pitching on to
the rolls, the speed of which should be under the control of the workman
in charge of them, so that he may apportion the speed of the rolls to the
thickness of the plates or bars he is making. The solidification of a sufficient
body of metal to form a thick plate requiring more time than for a thin one,
will render it necessary to move the mill more slowly for thick plates and
more rapidly for thin ones, a proper knowledge of which will be easily acquired
in practice. The continuous sheets or bars thus formed may be used in the
state in which they are thus made, or they may be re-rolled at the same heat
in a mill placed near the apparatus; or the bars or plates may if desired be
cut up and piled, or otherwise treated, according to the purpose for which
they may be required.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same may be carried into effect, I desire it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details herein described, provided the peculiar
character of my said Invention be retained.
**In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bessemer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
B. GOBEY, 12, Cursitor Street,
Chancery Lane.
HENRY BESSEMER. (L.S.)