IMPROVEMENTS IN BENDING ARMOUR PLATES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE.
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas English, of No. 2, Chancellor Villas,
West Dulwich, in the County of Surrey, and George Wilson, of
Banner Cross, Sheffield, in the County of York, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BENDING ARMOUR PLATES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
FOR THAT PURPOSE.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas English and
George Wilson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 1st June 1871.
We, THOMAS ENGLISH, of No. 2, Chancellor Villas, West Dulwich, in
the County of Surrey, and GEORGE WILSON, of Banner Cross, Sheffield,
in the County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BENDING ARMOUR PLATES, AND IN APPARATUS
EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE," to be as follows:-
In bending armour plates intended for turrets or other structures with
convex exteriors during or immediately after the process of rolling it is
desirable that the side to be made convex should be that which has been

page_text: uppermost in the furnace and therefore hottest, as in this case the
plate will bend more readily, and the greater resisting power will be
developed which an armour plate is well known to possess when the
side which has been uppermost in the furnace is the one to be exposed
to a blow.
With the machinery now employed for bending armour plates as
they pass between rolls the plates are bent or curved upwards, and the
plates have been passed through them in the position in which they
are run out of the furnace, that is, with the hottest side uppermost,
consequently the side which has been made convex has been the coolest
side.
We now propose to pass the plates through the rolls of the bending
machinery in the reverse position, that is to say, with the coolest side
uppermost. To effect this we sling the plate by a strap or chain passed
underneath it or by other suitable means to a steam travelling crane or
other hoisting apparatus, and hoist it clear of the bogie or truck on to
which it is run from the furnace, and lower it down again on to the
bogie with the original under side uppermost, and then pass the plate
through the rolls of the bending machinery; the plate can then be bent
as described in the Specification of a Patent granted to Claridge and
Jeavons on the 24th day of March 1870 (No. 869). The bogie or truck
which receives the plate as it is run from the furnace we provide as
heretofore with a series of transverse rollers ranged along its top, on to
which rollers the plate is received. To raise the plate off the bogie or
truck and turn it over, we prefer to employ a clamp or apparatus com-
posed of two frameworks of iron, pin jointed together at one of their
ends. One of these frameworks composed of two iron bars tied together
at a distance apart from one another by tie bolts is placed across the
top of the bogie, the bars being at such a distance apart from one
another that they may lie between the rollers before mentioned and
not interfere with the plate being run on to the bogie. The other
framework is similarly composed of two bars tied together by tie bolts,
and after the plate has been run on to the bogie this latter framework
is turned over so as to lie across the top of the plate, and the ends of the
two frameworks thus brought together are then attached to one another
by a pin passed through eyes formed at the ends of the bars of which
the frameworks are composed. Two distance pieces are also placed on
to this pin leaving a space at the centre of the pin for the hook of the

page_text: lifting chain to be hooked on to, and by this pin the clamp and plate are
lifted. A cylindrical distance piece is also placed around the pin of the
hinge joint, by which the two frameworks at their opposite ends are
hinged together, so that when the plate is slung in the clamping appa-
ratus the plate may rest upon this distance piece and thereby prevent
the plate becoming wedged between the two frameworks where they
are hinged together, which might render it difficult to unshackle the
connecting pin at the opposite end of the framework after the plate has
been again lowered in a reverse position on to the bogie.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas English and George Wilson in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 1st December 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
ENGLISH, of No. 2, Chancellor Villas, West Dulwich, in the County of
Surrey, and GEORGE WILSON, of Banner Cross, Sheffield, in the County
of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said Thomas English and George Wilson, Her special
license that we, the said Thomas English and George Wilson, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Thomas English and George Wilson, 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,.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BENDING ARMOUR
and Isle of Man, an Invention for
PLATES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Thomas English and George Wilson,
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

page_text: 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 George Wilson, on behalf of
myself and the said Thomas English, 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:―
In bending armour plates intended for turrots or other structures
with convex exteriors, during or immediately after the process of
rolling it is desirable that the side to be made convex should be that
which has been uppermost in the furnace, and therefore hottest, as
in this case the plate will bend more readily, and the greater resisting
power will be developed which an armour plate is well known to
possess when the side which has been uppermost in the furnace is
the one to be exposed to a blow.
With the machinery now employed for bending armour plates as
they pass between rolls the plates are bent or curved so as to be
concave upwards, and as the plates have been passed through the rolls
in the position on which they are run out of the furnace, that is, with
the hottest side uppermost, it follows that the side which has been made
convex has been the coolest side.
We now propose to pass the plate through the rolls and apparatus
employed to bend it so as to be concave upwards in the reverse position,
that is to say, with the coolest side uppermost. To effect this we sling
the plate by a strap or chain passed underneath it or by other suitable
means to a steam travelling crane or other hoisting apparatus, and
hoist it clear of the bogie or truck on to which it is run out from
the furnace or rolls and lower it down again on to the bogie with
the original under side uppermost, and then pass the plate through
the rolls and other apparatus employed to make it concave upwards.
The bending machinery we prefer to employ is similar to that described
in the Specification of a Patent granted to Claridge and Jeavons on
the 24th day of March 1870 (No. 869).
The apparatus we prefer to employ for turning over armour plates
previous to passing them through the rolls and bending machinery is
shewn on Sheet 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed.

page_text: Figure 1 shews a plan view of an armour plate resting on a bogic or
truck with the clamp or apparatus in the position which it would assume
after the reversal is completed; Figure 2 is a vertical section through
the line C, D, Figure 1; and Figure 3, a vertical section taken through
line A, B, Figure 1.
X is the bogie or truck on to which the plate is as heretofore received
as it comes from the furnace or from the rolls of the rolling machinery;
Y is the armour plate; A, A, are two rectangular bars of wrought iron,
each formed at one end with a fixed hook B, and at their opposite end
carrying a moveable hook C; the bars at this end are circular in section
and have attached to them lifting hooks D. The two bars are connected
each end to hook into the
by a cross piece E, formed with a hook at
lifting hooks D. At the centre of the cross piece is an eye bolt F, to which
the hook of the lifting chain of a crane may be attached. The moveable
hooks C are, as shewn at Figure 2, formed to fit over the rectangular
bars A, and yet capable of being slipped on to or off their circular ends;
this allows of the moveable hooks being quickly put on to the bars or
taken off therefrom. In order to take hold of an armour plate by the
clamping apparatus the bars A are placed across the top of the bogic
or truck with their hooked ends B pointing upwards. The plate is then
passed through the rolls and on to the bogie or truck passing over the
bars A, and the moveable hooks C are then slipped on to the bars A
and slid along them to grapple the plate; the clamp and plate can then
be lifted by the crane until the plate is clear of the bogie or truck.
The plate can then be again lowered on to the truck in a reversed
position, and when the clamp has been detached from the plate, the plate
is ready to be passed through the rolls and bending machinery.
In place of lifting the armour plates by the apparatus shewn on
Sheet 1 of the Drawings, the apparatus shewn on Sheet 2 may be
employed. Figures 1, 2, and 3 on this Sheet shew views similar to the
views of the apparatus on Sheet 1.
The apparatus consists of two frameworks of iron bars A, connected
at their ends by hinge joints B with a strong pin passing through the
joint. The wrought-iron bars of each frame are kept apart by cast
distance pieces C and the bolts D; the end to which the lifting hook is
to be attached has block castings E, E, which are made to slide easily
on the centre pin F, so as to enable the lifting hook to be placed under
One of the frameworks is
and prevent it from sliding cither way.

page_text: placed across the top of the bogie before the armour plate is run on to
it. When the plate has been run on to the bogie the other framework
is turned over on to the top of the plate, and the two ends thus brought
together are secured to one another by the pin F. The chain of the
crane is then hooked on to this pin, and the plate can be lifted off the
bogie, and then again lowered on to it in a reversed position to be passed
between the rolls of the bending machinery.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention and the manner
in which we prefer to carry the same into effect, we would have it
understood that what we claim as our improvement in bending armour
plates and in apparatus employed for that purpose are,—
1. The passing armour plates through the rolls and bending machinery
with the hottest side of the plate downwards, so that the hottest side
of the plate shall form the convex side of the bent plate, as herein
described.
2. The combined arrangement of apparatus, substantially as herein
described, for raising armour plates off a bogie or truck and lowering
them down again in a reversed position on to the truck to allow of their
being passed through the rolls and bending machinery with the hottest
side downwards, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Wilson, have hereunto set
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
my