IMPROVE- [MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TIN AND TERNE PLATES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Morewood, of Rock Cottage, Briton
Ferry, in the County of Glamorgan, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
[MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TIN AND TERNE PLATES."
Sealed the 20th July 1869, and dated the 4th February 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Morewood
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th February 1869.
I, EDMUND MOREWOOD, of Rock Cottage, Briton Ferry, in the County
of Glamorgans do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TIN AND TERNE PLATES," to be as
follows:―
In coating with tin or terne metal I cause the sheets or plates which
are to be coated to pass through a flux of such nature (chloride of zinc,
for example as gives them a tendency to rust if it remains on their
surface after they have obtained their coating. Such flux causes the
[Price 8d.]

page_text: surface of the iron to take a coating with melted metal very readily, but
the difficulty of getting rid of it has been hitherto an objection to its use,
and the object of my Invention is to prevent the injury from the use of
flux of this nature by getting rid of it before the plate obtains its finished
coating. With this object I arrange so that the surface of the plate in
process of coating shall come into contact with liquid or vapourous
matter, as water or steam, so as to dissolve, neutralize, or remove the flux
or traces of flux which may adhere to the sheet or plate after its travel
through the flux and after it has obtained a preparatory or first coating.
Having then dissolved or removed the flux as aforesaid I proceed to
rectify or finish the coating. This I do by bringing it afresh into con-
tact with melted coating metal, which is to be kept free from flux of the
before-mentioned rusting tendency; or I rectify or finish the coating by
passing the plates between rollers or suitable surfaces which are in
contact with grease, or by bringing the surface of such plates into contact
with hot greasy or fatty matter.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edmund Morewood in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th August 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
MOREWOOD, of Rock Cottage, Briton Ferry, in the County of Glamorgan,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edmund Morewood, Her special
licence that I, the said Edmund Morewood, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edmund Morewood,
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, exer-
cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN

page_text: THE MANUFACTURE OF TIN AND TERNE PLATES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Edmund Morewood, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Edmund Morewood, 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 coating with tin or terne metal I cause the plates which are to
be coated to pass through a flux of such nature (chloride of zinc, for
example, or other soluble metallic salt heretofore employed) as gives
them a tendency to rust if it remains on their surface after they have
obtained their coating. Such flux causes the surface of the iron to take
a coating with melted metal very readily, but the difficulty of getting
rid of it has been hitherto an objection to its use, as in the process of
coating the iron plate it is apt to enter and to become embedded or
buried in the hollows or pores of the iron or of the coating, and when
the flux is so buried or embedded brushing or rubbing the surface of the
coated plate will not insure its removal. Any trace of such flux which
remains has a natural tendency to draw moisture gradually from the
atmosphere or from any neighbouring source of dampness, and the flux
thus becomes damp or moist, causes more or less rusting to commence at
the point where such flux has lodged although under the surface of
the coating or iron, and in such slight quantity as not to be detected by
the eye.
The object of my Invention is to prevent injury from the use of flux
of this nature by getting rid of it before the plate obtains its finished
coating. For this purpose I arrange so that the plate in process of
coating shall, after it has received a preparatory coating of metal, come
into contact with liquid or vaporous matter, as water or steam, so as to
dissolve or remove the flux or traces of flux which may adhere to the
sheet or plate when the preparatory or first coating of tin or terne metal
is given to it, and having dissolved or removed the flux as aforesaid I

page_text: proceed to rectify or finish the coating. This I do by bringing it afresh
into contact with melted coating metal, which is to be kept free from
flux of the before-mentioned rusting tendency.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood
and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the manner in
which I prefer to conduct the manufacture.
The plates having been prepared by pickling in the usual manner
I give the first coating of tin or terne metal by passing the plates one at
a time as they come slightly moist from the pickling through the flux
into the melted tin or terne metal contained in a suitable bath or vessel,
and I withdraw the plates between rollers coated with the tin or terne
metal, and whose nip is close to the surface of the melted metal, and by
preference slightly above it, so that the coated plates emerge with but a
light coating of the tin or terne metal on their surfaces. The flux which
I prefer to employ is chloride of zinc of a syrupy consistency, or I some-
times use a mixture of chloride of zinc and sal-ammoniac. I provide
about six inches in depth of flux on the entrance side of the bath, and
either no flux at all or a mere film of flux on the exit side of the bath.
My object in using rollers to reduce the thickness of the coating is that
the liquid or vaporous matter which I next apply may more easily and
readily be attracted to and follow and disolve all trace of such flux as
aforesaid, whether it be on the surface or in the hollows or pores of the
iron or of the coating. The rollers which I employ are of wrought iron
or steel, such as are now commonly used in the manufacture of tin and
terne plates. I take the plates, having received their preparatory coating
as above described or in other convenient manner, and submit them to
a stream of running water, or in place of water moist steam or other
solvent of the oxidizing flux may be used, but I prefer to employ water.
I arrange the plates so that they rest on their edges in the trough of
water. Upright pins rise up from the bottom of the trough and keep
the surfaces of the plates somewhat apart so that every part of their
surface may be exposed to the action of the water. If I use hot water,
say at about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, I allow the plates to remain about
eight hours in the water, but if the water be cold I leave the plates in
the water from twelve to twenty-four hours. The more open and porous
the iron the longer the time I allow it to remain in the water. I allow
the plates to become cold before exposing them to the water, and I

page_text: prefer to have an inflow and outflow of water into and from the trough
or vessel; if, however, this should be unattainable, and if there be little
or no inflow or outflow, I dissolve a very small quantity of carbonate of
soda in the water, say one quarter of a pound of soda in thirty gallons of
water, or I place small pieces of zinc therein, so as to neutralize any acid
which may be dissolved from the plate. I do not find the aforesaid
immersion of the plate in water to interfere with the after process of
finishing and rectifying the coating, but if they are left too long, say for
fifty hours or more in the water, I consider that there is risk of their
becoming rusted, or so far affected as to interfere more or less with the
proper finishing of them. If steam is to be used the trough is covered
at the top, and the waste steam from an engine (or other steam) is
admitted at one end of the chamber and allowed to escape freely at the
other end. I let the plates remain ten or twelve hours in the moist
steam and then immerse them for a couple of hours in water before
proceeding to finish them. After thus drawing out and dissolving the
flux I proceed to rectify or finish the coating. I pass the plates as with-
drawn from the water or steam in a wet or damp state through grease or
oil into melted coating metal. In order to avoid spluttering or explosion
I confine the grease or oil to a depth of five or six inches in a flux box
on the surface of the coating metal, and I pass the plates singly through
such deep flux of grease or oil into the melted coating metal, from which
the plates are then removed and finished by any convenient mode; thus
they may be drained in hot grease in the usual way, or they may be
brought into contact with coating metal in any suitable way by being
passed into grease and withdrawn therefrom through metal-coated
rectifying rollers and finishing rollers, as is well understood. By
thus applying the water or solvent for the flux in the midst of the
process before the finishing I ensure for the plate both appearance and
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that what
I claim is, the manufacture of tin and terne plates by applying to the
plate a preparatory coating of tin or terne metal by means of chloride
of zinc or other such like flux, which if allowed to remain would be
liable to rust and destroy the plate, then removing such flux with water
or other solvent, and afterwards completing the coating by bringing the

page_text: plate again into contact with melted tin or terne metal, as above
described.
..!
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Morewood, have hereunto
1.'
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
EDMUND MOREWOOD. (L.S.)