Steel-making patentIn 1857, a U.S. patent was issued to William Kelly for Manufacturing of Iron and Steel (No. 17628). Although he had been experimenting with the steel-making process for a few years, he had not patented it until he heard that Henry Bessemer had been granted a patent on a like process. Kelly had not filed first, but he was able to convince the patent office that he was the first to invent the air-blast method of forming steel from iron in a cupula. Kelly thus held rights of priority for his patent. However, Bessemer had important additional steps worked out to mass-produce steel. Bessemer was a businessman and industrialist who made the Bessemer process profitable, but Kelly still benefitted from his share, though smaller, of the vast profits.«[Image: Kelly's converter illustrated from patent diagram, Red arrows indicate the tuyeres through which an air blast is introduced.] |
