IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF METALLIC BOATS AND OTHER VESSELS HAVING CURVED SURFACES
Year: 1845

page_text: DETMOLD'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULIUS
ADOLPH DETMOLD, of the City of London, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day of May, in the eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Julius Adolph Detmold, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Julius Adolph Detmold, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Julius Adolph Detmold, my
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF METALLIC BOATS AND OTHER VESSELS HAVING CURVED SURFACES,"
being a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Julius Adolph Detmold,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Julius Adolph Detmold, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,

page_text: and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thercon (that is to say):
This Invention of Improvements in the Construction of Metallic Boats and
other Vessels having Curved Surfaces, consists in bending sheets of metal into
any required form (which they shall permanently retain) without stretching or
materially changing the thickness of the metal, by the employment of peculiarly
shaped dies, suitably mounted and worked by bydraulic or other power. In
making boats according to this Invention sheets of metal are brought into the
form of the sides or parts of the sides of a boat by subjecting them to great
pressure between concave and convex moulds or dies, shaped according to the
fashion of the boat to be constructed. Upon the convex die ribs or raised
surfaces are formed, and in the concave die are depressions corresponding
exactly with the ribs on the convex die, or vice versa. The width, curvature,
and length of these ribs, and their number and distance apart, will be regulated
according to the surplus metal resulting from the change of a plane or flat
surface (the form of the sheet of metal before being operated upon) to the curved
surface which the metal is caused to assume in forming the irregular curves in
the different parts of the boat, the object being to take up or form into ribs
the metal which would otherwise wrinkle and buckle up irregularly during
the compressing operation, and at the same time to afford strength and stiffness
wherever it is required in the sides of the boat.
The manner in which those improvements are carried into effect will be
more clearly understood by reference to the accompanying Drawings, in
which Fig. 1 represents in elevation a pair of dies mounted in suitable
framework, and intended to form the side of a boat; and Fig. 2 is an elevation
of the same. A is the convex die, and B the concave die. a, a, a, are the
ribs or raised surfaces, and b, b, b, the corresponding depressions. C, C, are
standards, or strong framework, which support the dies and the other parts of the
machinery. D and D¹ are cross heads, connected together by rods E, E, and
between these the dies are placed. Upon cach of the lower cross heads D
(seo Fig. 1) an hydraulic press F is affixed, which by its action forces up a
longitudinal beam G, which carries the concave die B. The upper die A is
attached by bolts or otherwise to a longitudinal beam H, which is itself sup-
ported by iron straps and cross pieces attached to a cross bar of the framework C,
and carries the upper cross heads D'. It will now be seen that if a sheet of
metal is placed between the dies and the power of the hydraulic press is applied
to bring them together, the sheet will be made to take the shape of the dies

page_text: without any important straining or attenuation of the metal. For the gunwale
there is a reverse rib and flanch to give stiffness to the side at that part, as is
represented at a, a, Fig. 3, which is a section of a pair of dics for forming
that part of the boat. Fig. 4 represents, in edge view, a pair of cast iron dies,
the convex die being in three picces, A, B, and C. The side pieces B and C
are attached to the centre pieco A by screw bolts c, but they are allowed to
move upwards and act upon the plate, independent of each other, by slots being
provided in the side picces, as shewn by dots in the Figure. After the sheets
are brought to the required shape they may be attached to a common keel
of wood or iron from stem to stern. From the above description it will be
evident that if the dies are varied in shape, and provided with ribs and grooves
capable of taking up or crimping those portions of the sheet metal which are
not wanted for forming the surface of the vessel to be constructed, this
process may also be applied for producing any vessels, whether for navigation
or otherwise, if such vessels are to be made from sheet metal. The mode of
actuating the dies, and the arrangement of the machinery generally, may be
varied according to circumstances or convenience. But that which I consider
as new, and desire to secure under the above in part recited Letters Patent is,
corrugating plates or sheets of metal for forming boats and other vessels having
curved surfaces, so that the corrugations shall take up the metal not required
to be brought into the contour of the vessel by which means irregular curves of
great strength may be readily and economically produced.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julius Adolph Detmold, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of November, in the