AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING OR SHAPING METALS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Job Wotton, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING OR SHAPING METALS."
Sealed the 31st August 1859, and dated the 20th April 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Job Wotton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition, on the 20th
April 1859.
I, JOB WOTTON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
do. hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING OR SHAPING METALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the following method of forming sheets of metal
into globular or nearly globular shaped vessels, for the manufacture of tea pots
and other similar articles therefrom, and for such other purposes as the said
globular vessels may be applicable to. I take a sheet of metal of a rectan
gular shape, and bend it into a cylindrical form, and join the opposed edges
by soldering or brazing. I place a core of a nearly cylindrical shape in the
interior of the cylinder of metal, the said core having at its bottom a flange,
which fits the said cylinder of metal. I then cast a mixture of lead and tin
in the space between the core and cylinder, which cast metal constitutes on
the removal of the core a support or lining to the cylinder of metal. The said
cylinder with its lining or support is then subjected to the action of dies in a

page_text: stamp or press, by which its upper and lower ends are cupped or forced
inwards, and the cylinder of metal made into a globular or nearly globular
form, according to the shape of the dies by which it is operated upon. The
support or lining of lead and tin is afterwards removed by heat or otherwise.
The said lining or support prevents the puckering of the ends of the cylinder
during their cupping or contraction by the action of the dies.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Job Wotton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOB
WOTTON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Job Wotton, Her special licence that I, the said Job
Wotton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Job Wotton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 OR IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING OR SHAPING METALS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Job Wotton, 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 Job Wotton, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of the method or methods herein-after particularly
described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, of forming sheets of

page_text: metal into globular or nearly globular shaped vessels, for the manufacture
of tea pots, coffee pots, cream jugs, and sugar basins therefrom, and for such
other purposes as the said globular or nearly globular vessels are or may be
applicable to.
My Invention is applicable to the manufacture of globular or nearly globular
vessels from sheet copper, brass, German silver, and iron, and such other metals
or alloys as can be raised or formed into globular vessels by the process or
processes herein-after described. In carrying my Invention into effect for
the manufacture of globular or nearly globular vessels I proceed as follows:-
I take a sheet or plate of metal of a rectangular figure, and bend it into a
cylindrical form, and join the opposed edges of the same by soldering or
brazing; or the said cylinder may be made in any other convenient manner.
Figure 1 of the Drawing represents in elevation and section a hollow
cylinder of metal, to be raised or formed into a globular vessel. I place the
cylinder, Figure. 1, upon the exterior of a metal core c, represented in vertical
section in Figure 2, the said core c being of a nearly cylindrical form and
having at its bottom a flange a, upon which flange the cylinder b rests, as
represented. The said core c is of less diameter than the cylinder b, and in
the annular space a², between the said core and cylinder, I cast a mixture or
alloy of tin and lead, or other soft metal or alloy, which cast metal constitutes
on the removal of the core c a support or lining to the cylinder b. The fused
metal or alloy to be cast in the cylinder b is poured in at the top or open end
of the said cylinder. The cylinder of metal b, with its support or lining cast,
therein, is represented in section in Figure 3. In casting the metal lining
in the interior of the cylinder I prefer to embed the core c, and cylinder b
placed thereon, in a box or vessel of sand, and to place a collar round the said
cylinder, as will be understood by the explanation and representation herein-
after given, so that the cylinder and core may not be disturbed from the
relative positions represented in Figure 2 during the casting of the said metal
lining or support. I take the cylinder, Figure 3, and after having slightly
cupped or bent inwards the top and bottom edges of the same, I place it
upon the lower die d of the pair of dies, Figure 4, the said lower die d being
fixed on the bed of an ordinary stamp or press, and the upper die e being
By the descent of
fixed to the ram or plunger of the said stamp or press.
the upper die e upon the lower die d the upper and lower edges of the
cylinder placed in the lower die are cupped or forced inwards, and the cylinder
made into a globular or nearly globular form. Figure 5 represents in section
and elevation a globular vessel made by the action of the dies, Figure 4.
The metal lining or support is afterwards removed from the raised vessel by

page_text: heat or otherwise. By the use of the metal lining or support in the interior
of the cylinder the puckering of the ends of the said cylinder during their
cupping or contraction by the action of the dies is prevented.
In manufacturing, according to my Invention, globular or nearly globular
vessels with contracted tops or necks I proceed as follows:-Instead of em-
ploying a cylinder or tube having the same diameter throughout as herein-
before described, I employ a conical tube as represented in Figure 6 of the
Drawing, the said tube being formed from sheet metal in the ordinary manner. I
place the tube, Figure 6, upon a conical core f, represented in section in Figure 7,
the said core being of less diameter than the tube, as represented. The said
tube is marked g, and rests upon or against the flange h of the core f. The
core with the tube g are placed in the tub or vessel i, and sand or loam,
marked k, is packed against the sides of the tube so as to embed a part of the
tube and core therein, as represented. When the sand or loam has been
packed against the tube, a collar is placed over the tube and brought against
the surface of the sand or loam, the said collar embracing tightly the tube g.
By these means the tube and core are kept in the relative positions repre-
sented in Figure 7, during the casting of the support or lining in the space m
between the said core and tube. The fused soft metal or alloy is poured into
the space m through the open end or top of the tube g. Figure 8 represents
in section the conical tube after the metal support or lining has been cast
therein. After removing the rough edges from the bottom of the tube and
lining, I place the said tube in a draw-through bed or die of the form repre-
sented in section in Figure 9, and by the descent of a suitably shaped plunger
into the said die, the tube is forced through the die or bed, and made to
assume the form represented in Figure 10, that is to say, the widest part of
the conical tube is made cylindrical. I take the partly conical and partly
cylindrical tube, Figure 10, and inverting it place its cylindrical part n upon
the cylindrical block or support represented in section in Figure 11, the said
tube fitting tightly the said support. I place upon the bed of an ordinary
stamp or press the block or support, Figure 11, with the tube placed thereon,
the said block being so placed upon the bed that it shall be concentric or
nearly concentric with the upper die of the stamp or press. To the bolt or
ram of the stamp or press I attach the upper die o of the pair of dies, Figure 12.
By the descent of the said die o, Figure 12, the conical or upper part p of
the tube is contracted or necked, the said part p being made to take the
figure of the said die o. I afterwards remove the block, Figure 11, from the
bed of the stamp or press, and fix on the said bed the lower die g of the pair
of dies, Figure 12. I place upon the lower die g. the cylindrical portion n of
9

page_text: the partially formed vessel, and by the descent of the upper die o, the said
part n is forced into the lower die q, and made to assume a cup-like figure,
that is, the figure of the lower die.
The partially formed vessel is next operated upon by the pair of dies repre-
sented in Figure 13. The cupped part of the partially formed vessel being
placed in the lower die r, the upper die s descends, and the vessel is made to
assume the figure of the said dies. The upper die o, Figure 12, forms a pair
both with the die q, Figure 12, and the die 1, Figure 13; that is to say, the
die o, Figure 12, and die s, Figure 13, is one and the same die. There is thus
formed a globular or nearly globular shaped vessel, the upper portion of which
has a neck or contracted part t, as represented in elevation in Figure 14. By
changing the shape of the upper die of the pair of dies, Figure 13, for another
of less diameter the neck t of the vessel may be contracted to a different
degree.
The metal support or lining is removed from the raised vessel by heat or
otherwise. Before casting the metal lining in the interior of the cylinder or
tube, the said cylinder or tube is well annealed, and when vessels having
narrow necks are being made the said lining may be temporarily removed
during the raising process, and the tube or partially formed vessel annealed;
the lining is then dropped in again and the raising process continued. Figures
15 and 16 represent in side elevation vessels raised according to my Inven-
tion, the said vessels slightly varying in shape from that represented in
Figure 14. The globular or nearly globular vessels made according to my
Invention do not fly or split when annealed or heated for the finishing
processes.
Although the method I have described of making the soft metal lining, that
is to say, by casting the same in the cylinder or tube in which it is to be used,
answers well in practice, yet I do not limit myself to any particular method of
making the said lining, as the said lining may be made by any convenient
method, and inserted in the tube or cylinder to be shaped.
The vessels made according to my Invention are manufactured into tea pots,
coffee pots, and such like articles in the ordinary manner.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim as my Invention, the improvement or improvements in raising or
shaping metals herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say, raising or shaping sheet metal into globular or nearly

page_text: globular shaped vessels by bending the said sheet metal into a cylindrical or
conical tube, and casting or inserting in the said tube a support or lining of
tin and lead, or other soft metal or alloy, the said tube being raised into a
globular or nearly globular vessel by raising dies, the said lining or support in
the interior of the tube preventing the puckering of the edges of the metal
during the raising process.
In witness whereof, I, the said Job Wotton, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOB WOTTON. (L.S.)