Ar IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL WIRE
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Baron Dickinson Webster, of Penns, in the County
of Warwick, and James Horsfall, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturers and Co-partners, for the Invention of "Ar
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL WIRE."
Sealed the 14th January 1859, and dated the 6th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Baron Dickinson Webster
and James Horsfall at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 6th November 1858.
We, BARON DICKINSON WEBSTER, of Penns, in the County of Warwick,
and JAMES HORSFALL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturers and Co-partners, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL WIRE," to be as follows :-
Our Invention consists of the method hereinafter described of tempering
steel wire, whereby great tenacity is communicated to the said wire, which
tenacity admirably fits it for use in the construction of pianofortes, ropes and
other purposes where great strength is required. After having hardened the
wire by first heating it,to redness, and suddenly cooling it by any well known

page_text: We allow the hardened wire to remain in the said bath until it has
acquired the temperature of the said bath, the requisite length of time varying
with the thickness of the wire. We then withdraw the wire from the bath,
and immediately sprinkle it with or throw over it cold water.
We prefer to
treat the wire by the tempering process described immediately before the final
drawing of the wire; but we do not limit ourselves thereto, as the said tem-
pering process may be applied at any stage of the drawing process, or after
the final drawing if the wire is not required to have a bright surface.
We do not limit ourselves to the precise proportions of the metals composing.
the tempering bath, as the same may be somewhat varied, without materially
affecting the action of the said bath. We prefer to use the tempering bath at
a temperature but little higher than that at which it is maintained in a state
of fusion. By the use of the tempering bath described a physical change is
produced in the steel wire, whereby the tenacity of the wire is greatly increased.
The essence of our Invention consists in tempering hardened steel wire by the
method herein described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Baron Dickinson Webster and James Horsfall in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 29th April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, BARON.
DICKINSON WEBSTER, of Penns, in the County of Warwick, and JAMES
HORSFALL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers and
Co-partners, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her rèign;

page_text: did, for Herself; Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
.Baron Dickinson Webster and James Horsfall, Her special licence that we,
the said Baron Dickinson Webster and James Horsfall, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we; the said Baron Dickinson
Webster and James Horsfall, our 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 "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL WIRE," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Baron Dickinson Webster and James Horsfall, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their
hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, should
particularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Baron Dickinson Webster and
James Horsfall, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
Our Invention consists of the method hercinafter particularly described of
tempering hardened steel wire, by which method of tempering great tenacity
is communicated to the said wire. The tenacity which is communicated to steel
wire manufactured according to our Invention admirably fits the said wire for
use in the construction of pianofortes and other musical instruments in which
sounds are produced by the vibration of wires in a state of tension, as well as
for the manufacture of wire rope and for other purposes where wire of great
strength is required.
In carrying our Invention into effect, we proceed as follows:-We harden
the steel wire by first heating it to redness, and then suddenly cooling it by
any of the various well known processes employed for hardening steel. After
the steel wire has been hardened, we plunge it into a bath of fused metals, the
said bath having the following composition, that is to say, every one hundred
parts by weight of the said bath consist of forty parts by weight of lead, twelve
parts by weight of zinc, twenty-six parts by weight of antimony, twenty-one
parts by weight of tin, and one part by weight of bismuth. We allow the
hardened steel to remain immersed in the said bath until it has assumed the
temperature of the said bath. The exact time necessary for the purpose

page_text: depends upon the diameter of the wire; the greater the diameter of the wire
the longer the time during which the wire must remain in the bath in order
to acquire the temperature of the said bath. We find in practice that an
immersion in the bath during ten minutes is sufficient for wire of a diameter
not exceeding one quarter of an inch; as, however, immersion in the bath
longer than is requisite to communicate to the wire the temperature of the
bath is not attended by any injurious results, we prefer rather to exceed than
to fall short of the time which is judged necessary. After the hardened steel
wire has been immersed in the bath sufficiently long it is withdrawn, and
immediately sprinkled with cold water, or cold water is poured over it. By
the use of the tempering bath described, a physical change is produced in the
hardened steel wire, whereby the tenacity of the said wire is greatly increased.
We prefer to treat the wire by the hardening and tempering processes
described immediately before the final drawing of the said wire, that is to say,
before that drawing process by which the manufacture of the wire is finished.
We do not, however, limit ourselves to the application of our method of tem-
pering hardened steel wire to any particular stage of the process of drawing
the wire, as the hardening and subsequent tempering may be applied at any
stage of the drawing process, or after the final drawing. As, however, the
hardening and tempering destroys the brilliant or polished surface produced
on the wire by drawing, we only apply the hardening and tempering after the
final drawing in those cases where a polished surface is not required in the
finished wire.
Although we have described those relative proportions of the several inetals
of which the metallic bath we employ is composed, which we believe to be the
best, and which in practice answer very well, yet we do not limit ourselves to
the precise proportions described, as they may be somewhat varied without
materially affecting the action of the said bath. We prefer to use the
tempering bath of fused metals at a temperature but little higher than that at
which it is maintained in a state of fusion.
We do not think it necessary to describe the various processes which may
be resorted to for the purpose of effecting the hardening of the steel wire
which must precede the use of our Invention, as the said processes are well
known and commonly practised, and constitute no part of our Invention ;
neither do we think it necessary further to describe the metallic bath, the use
of which for tempering hardened steel wire constitutes the essence of our
Invention, as the metals composing the said bath only require to be put into'
a suitable vessel of iron or other material capable of bearing the requisite
heat, and heated until they are perfectly fused. The bath having been well

page_text: stirred after fusion of the metals for the purpose of thoroughly mixing the
metals, the said bath is ready for use.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not
limit ourselves to the precise details herein described, as the same may be
varied without departing from the nature of our Invention; but we claim, as
our Invention, the improvement in the manufacture of steel wire herein-before
described, that is to say, tempering hardened steel wire by the use of a fused
metallic bath, having essentially the composition described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Baron Dickinson Webster and James
Horsfall, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-eighth
day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-nine.
Witness,
CHARLES LEAN.
BARON D. WEBSTER. (L.B.)
JAMES HORSFALL.
(L.B.)