IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CAST AND WROUGHT IRON
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Henry Newby, of Cheapside, in the City of
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
CAST AND WROUGHT IRON."-A communication from abroad by Anthony
Leonard Fleury, residing at New York, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 8th August 1865, and dated the 14th February 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Henry Newby
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th February 1865.
I, EDWIN HENRY NEWBY, of Cheapside, in the City of London, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CAST AND WROUGHT IRON," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in adding to pig or cast iron the alloy and flux
hereafter described for the purpose of increasing its strength, and rendering
it less liable to corrosion.
I melt (for every 100 lb. of cast iron) 1 lb. of copper, 1 lb. of tin, 6 lb. of
zinc, lb. aluminium, with a flux of lb. of borax, to which 1 lb. per-
manganate of potassa is added in a separate vessel, and when throughly
melted introduce the same into the melted pig or cast iron through a.clay
tube provided with a valve to hinder the repulsion of the alloy or the escape
of zinc vapours. When large masses of iron are treated a hood with a funnel
leading into a chamber of cloth should be placed over the reservoir, into

page_text: which the alloy is poured in order to gain the vapours of zinc and its oxide
that pass off during the pouring of the alloy. To free the iron of sulphur and
silicon I add to the cast iron while melted per cent. of carbonate of baryta,
and lb. of fluorspar or cryslite. The strength of cast iron is thereby nearly
doubled, and a thoroughly equal texture of the pieces obtained. For cannons,
machinery, tyres, rails, wheels, shafts, ship machinery, buildings, and
columns, all of which can be reduced in weight by nearly one-third without
losing their intended strength, this composition iron is of great value.
The Invention also consists in the addition of the ingredients here below
specified to cast iron while the same is in a molten state in a converting or
puddling furnace. I make a mixture for every 100 lb. of cast iron, 1 lb. of
black oxide of manganese, 3 lb. of oxide of zinc, lb. of chloride of tin, 1 lb.
of carbonate of baryta, and lb. of fluorspar, and make the whole into small
balls, with lb. iron filings, and 1 lb. of gas tar or asphaltum, and throw these
balls or pieces into the iron before balling during the state of boiling. The
strength and texture of the wrought iron produced is very great, and the
same is more pliable and less liable to be corroded by acids.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edwin Henry Newby in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th August 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
HENRY NEWBY, of Cheapside, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edwin Henry Newby, Her special licence that I, the said Edwin
Henry Newby, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Edwin Henry Newby, 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 CAST AND WROUGHT IRON," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Anthony Leonard Fleury, a person
resident at New York, in the United States of America, upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that I, the said Edwin Henry Newby, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the' said Edwin Henry Newby, 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:-
This Invention consists in adding to pig or cast iron the alloy and flux
hereafter described for the purpose of increasing its strength, and rendering
it less liable to corrosion.
The alloy is composed of copper, tin, zinc, and aluminium. The flux is
composed of carbonate of baryta and fluorspar or cryolite.
The following is the manner in which it is preferred to proceed :-The
melted iron is tapped from the blast or other furnace into a ladle, into which
has first been put the flux, viz., for 1000 lbs. of cast iron 5 lbs. of carbonate of
baryta and 5 lbs. of fluorspar or cryolite. This flux tends to remove from the
iron sulphur and silicon, both of which are injurious to its quality. The iron
having been tapped into the ladle on to the flux, the ladle is covered closely
with a hood of sheet iron, from which a pipe or flue leads off any zinc
fumes which may be generated, and these may be collected if desired. There
also passes through this hood an earthenware pipe, and its end dips just
below the surface of the melted iron in the ladle. The alloy of which the
preparation is herein-after described, is then poured down the clay pipe into
the ladle, and the pipe is then immediately closed by a valve or stopper at the
top. At the time of pouring in the alloy the iron should not be too hot, but
at about the heat suitable for casting into sand moulds. After the alloy has
been added, and when any boiling or action which results has subsided, the
iron is cast into pigs, and these are re-melted for use in a cupola furnace,
and castings are made from it as from ordinary foundry iron.
The alloy is prepared in the following manner :-If the quality of the iron
be that known as "white iron," for each 1000 lbs. of iron there is melted in
a closely covered crucible '25 lbs. of zinc, 2½ lbs. of tin, 5 lbs. of copper, and
th of a pound of aluminium, 2 lbs. of borax, and one pound of permanganate
of potash being added as a flux.
iron is poured in until, say, four or
When the whole is fused melted cast
five times the weight of the charge in the

page_text: crucible has been added, and the whole is then together poured into the cast
iron in the ladle in the manner already described. If the iron to be treated
be grey cast iron, the alloy should by preference be composed as follows:-
From 30 to 60 lbs. of zinc, 5 lbs. of tin, 5 lbs. of copper, and of a pound of
aluminium.
It is preferred to employ in combination as herein set forth the two pro-
cesses of treating cast iron, first, with the flux of carbonate of baryta and
fluorspar or cryolite; and, second, with the alloy of copper, tin, zinc, and
aluminium. The processes may, however, be used separately.
The improvements in the manufacture of wrought iron consist in the
addition to the iron in process of manufacture, and whilst it is in the converting
or puddling furnace of a mixture of black oxide of manganese, oxide of zinc,
chloride of tin, carbonate of baryta, iron filings, and fluorspar. These materials
are made into small balls with gas tar or asphaltum, and are thrown in during
the boiling of the iron and before it is balled. For a 1000 lbs. of cast iron
there are employed 10 lbs. of oxide of manganese, 30 lbs. of oxide of zinc,
5 lbs. of chloride of tin, 10 lbs. of carbonate of baryta, 5 lbs. of fluorspar,
5 lbs. of iron filings, and 10 lbs. of gas tar or asphaltum. The wrought iron
produced is very strong and pliable, and little liable to be corroded by acids.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Henry Newby, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of August, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
year
of
EDWIN HENRY NEWBY. (L.B.)