A NEW OR IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF HOOKS AND EYES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Cornforth, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of A NEW OR IMPROVED
MANUFACTURE OF HOOKS AND EYES."
Sealed the 28th December 1855, and dated the 4th October 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Cornforth at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
October 1855.
I. HENRY CORNFORTH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Mann-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF HOOKS AND EYES" to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists in manufacturing hooks and eyes in the following
manner, that is to say, I make the said hooks and eyes of iron or steel wire,
and I afterwards coat the same first with copper and afterwards with silver.
By this method of manufacture, the said hooks and eyes are prevented from
corroding, and have a ornamental appearance. I carry my Invention into
effect in the following manner:-I effect the coating of the hooks and eyes
with copper by means of a hot solution of cyanide of copper in conjunction
with an electrical current, and I effect the coating with silver by means of a.
solution of cyanide of silver, with or without an electrical current. The said
hooks and eyes when in the solutions by which they are coppered or silvered
Price 8d1

page_text: are contained in a revolving metallic cage o: case, or in a metallic sieve, or they
may be threaded on wire, or other appropriate means must be resorted to, to
effect an electrical communication between them. Although I have described
the solutions which I prefer to use, yet I do not limit myself to the same, as
other solutions may be employed with the same or nearly the same effect.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Cornforth in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd April 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, HENRY
CORNFORTH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Cornforth, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Cornforth,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said Henry
Cornforth, 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 MANUFAC
TURE OF HOOKS AND EYES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Henry Cornforth, 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 Henry Cornforth, 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 in manufacturing hooks and eyes used as dress
fastenings in the manner herein-after explained, that is to say, I make the said

page_text: hooks and eyes of iron or steel wire, and I afterwards coat the said hooks and
eyes with copper or brass and afterwards with silver. I carry my Invention
into effect in the following manner, that is to say:-I effect the coating of the
hooks and eyes with copper by means of a solution of cyanide of copper, which
solution I prefer to use at a boiling or nearly boiling heat, the said solution
being used in conjunction with an electrical current, according to the well-
known art of depositing metals by electricity. I afterwards effect the coating
of the hooks and eyes with silver in the following manner:-I immerse the
said hooks and eyes coated with copper in a solution of cyanide of silver, either
with or without the application of an electrical current. If I wish only a thin
coating of silver, 1 do not employ an electrical current; but if I wish a thick
coating of silver, I use an electrical current, by the use of which a coating of
any desired thickness may be obtained. The hooks and eyes should be cleaned
by immersion in dilute sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, or otherwise, before
being coated with copper; and when an electrical current is employed, I prefer
to place the hooks and eyes in a revolving metal cage or case, or in a metallic
sieve, or I thread them on a wire, which said cage or case, sieve, or wire must
be immersed in the solution. The use of the said cage or case, sieve or wire
is to establish that metallic communication between the hooks and eyes and
the wire conveying the electrical current which is necessary in the electrical
deposition of metals. In all other respects the process of coating the hooks
and eyes is conducted according to the ordinary methods of coating metals by
electricity.
Although I have described the solutions and methods I prefer in carrying
my Invention into effect, yet I do not limit myself thereto, as other solutions
may be employed with the same or nearly the same effect. And although I
prefer to coat the iron or steel hooks and eyes with copper prior to silvering
them, yet I do not limit myself thereto, as a deposit of brass or zinc upon the
said hooks and eyes answers as well or nearly so as copper. And although I
prefer to use a layer of some other metal or alloy between the iron or steel
and silver, yet the silver may be applied direct to the hooks and eyes without
an intermediate layer.
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
the new or improved manufacture of hooks and eyes herein described, that is
to say, the manufacture of hooks and eyes made of iron or steel and afterwards

page_text: plated with silver, whether by the method or methods herein described or any
modification of the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Cornforth, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw.
HENRY CORNFORTH. (...)