A NEW OR IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF STAIR RODS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Rooke, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
MANUFACTURE OF STAIR RODS."
Sealed the 15th July 1856, and dated the 2nd May 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Rooke at the..
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
May 1856.
I, SAMUEL ROOKE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF STAIR RODS," to be as follows:-
Stair rods, as ordinarily manufactured, consist of rods of iron, over which a
thin tube of brass is drawn, the ends of the said rods being furnished generally
with ornamental terminations.
My Invention consists in making stair rods of rods of iron, to which a brass-
like appearance is communicated in the following manner :-I treat the said
iron rods with a solution of a salt of copper, so as to communicate thereto a
thin film or coating of copper. I afterwards varnish or laquer the coppered rod
with laquer of a suitable colour, to give the stair rod the appearance of brass.
Where I wish to manufacture stair rods having a white or silver appearance,
I coat them with tin, and draw them through a draw plate.

page_text: I do not think it necessary here to describe the details of the coppering,
laquering, and tinning processes. Stair rods are more economically manu-
factured according to my Invention than by the ordinary process.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Rooke in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
ROOKE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
1
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the, said
Samuel Rooke, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel Rooke, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel.
Rooke, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED MANUFACTURE
OP STAIR RODS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel
Rooke, 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 Samuel Rooke, do hereby declare the
nature of the said. Invention, and. in.what manner the same is, torbe per
formed, to be particularly described, and ascertained, in and, by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists.in. manufacturing, stair rods, according to the methods
herein-after described,.so. as. to give the said stair rods, the appearance of brass
or silver.
In the ordinary manufacture. of stair rods a thin tube, offibrass, is

page_text: drawn, over a rod of iron; the ends, of, the said, rod are generally furnished
with ornamental terminations, and the appearance of the. said rod is similar to
that of a rod made wholly of brass.
In manufacturing stair: rods according to my Invention, I proceed as
follows: When I wish the said stair rods, to have a brass-like appearance,
I take iron rods having, a suitable shape and size, and I treat the said iron
rods with a solution of a salt of copper, so as to give to the said rods a thin
coating of copper; the said coppered rods may be afterwards drawn through
a draw plate to make them smooth. I afterwards varnish or lacquer the
coppered rods with a lacquer of a suitable colour, to give the coppered rods
the appearance of brass. When I wish to manufacture stair rods having
a white or silver appearance, I. coat them with tin, and draw, them through a
draw plate.
...
:
I do not think it necessary to describe the details of the coppering, lacquer-
ing, and tinning processes, as the said coppering, lacquering, and tinning may
be effected by processes which are well known and commonly practised, and
constitute no part of my Invention. For example, the coppering of the iron
may be effected by immersing the cleaned iron rods in a solution of sulphate
of copper or other salt of copper, or by rubbing the solution of a copper salt
upon the said rods by means of a piece of rag, or a pellet of wool or tow.
The lacquer to be used in carrying my Invention into effect may be any of
the highly coloured yellow lacquers of commerce. The tinning may be
effected by immersing the cleaned iron rods in a bath of melted tin, as is
practised in the manufacture of tin plate. I draw the tinned rods through
a draw plate, in order to give a smoothness to the surface of the tin. Stair
rods having the appearance of brass or silver are more economically manu-
factured by my Invention than by the ordinary processes.
Having now described the nature of my said 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, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim as my
Invention,―
Firstly, the new or improved manufacture of stair rods herein first described,
that is to say, coating iron rods with copper by immersing the same in a
solution of a salt of copper, or by rubbing the said solution thereon, and
afterwards drawing through a draw plate, and finally lacquering the coppered
rods with a highly coloured yellow lacquer.
Secondly, the new or improved manufacture of stair rods herein described,

page_text: having a white or silver appearance, that is to say, coating iron rods with
tin, and making the same smooth by drawing them through a draw plate.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Rooke, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Twenty-seventh day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw.
SAM ROOKE. (L.S.)