AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANUFACTURING 99
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANUFACTURING
99
T
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th December 1855.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for 'AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANUFACTURING
WROUGHT-IRON CANNON, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, first, to a novel mode of constructing the faggots
from which the barrels of cannons are to be wrought. For this purpose, a
mandril is provided, and loose collars are set thereon at a distance apart some-
what greater than the length required for the barrel of the cannon. Round
this mandril a cylinder of parallel bars is laid, the extremities of the bars rest-
ing upon the collars. To keep these bars in position, a ring is slipped over
them at either end. The mandril being mounted in a lathe is now slowly
rotated, and a strip of iron is coiled round the bars. Over this a second coil is

page_text: laid, and over this again another, until the required thickness of metal is
attained, care being taken that the coils break joint with each other. The
faggot thus produced is heated & "upset" to close up the coils, and the ends
of the faggot are cut off to release it from the mandril. A plug to form the
breech of the cannon is then inserted in one end of the faggot, and the faggot
is brought to a welding heat, and subjected to pressure between rolls, whereby
all the joints are securely closed, and that without injury to the fibres of the
metal. The taper form may be given to the cannon by means of rolls suitably
prepared, or by a tilt hammer, and it will then be ready to receive the trun-
nions, which may be welded on at a forge fire. The cannon is then ready for
undergoing the boring operation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th June 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED 1
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of December, in the year of our
of Her
year
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license, that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANUFACTURING WROUGHT-IRON CANNON," being a com-
munication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, con-
sists in an improved mode of preparing the faggot or pile from which the
cannon is to be made, and an improved process of treating the mass, in order
effectually to weld and unite the parts together.
In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and use this improve-
ment, I proceed to describe the process of manufacturing wrought-iron guns,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, wherein Fig. 1 repre-
sents a side view of the mandril, on which is formed the pile or faggot out of
which the cannon is made; Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the same;
Fig. 3 represents the mandril, with the two end rings fitted to it; Fig. 4 is a
vertical transverse section of the same; Fig. 5 is a side view of a series of
central longitudinal bars, arranged in a cylindrical form around the mandril to
form the core or interior of the cannon; Fig. 6 represents a vertical transverse
section of the same; Fig. 7 represents a side view of the faggot or pile out of
which the cannon is to be made, in the second stage of preparation, shewing a
series of iron bands wrapped helically around the central bars of Figs. 5 and 6;
Fig. 8 represents a side view of the faggot or pile, turned off at its ends, and
having a plug or piece inserted to form the breech; and Fig. 9 is a vertical
longitudinal section of the same; Fig. 10 being an end view thereof.
The operator first takes a mandril of round iron, about one-half larger than
the bore of the cannon is intended; this is shewn at A, B, in Figs. 1 and 2.
Centres are bored in each extremity of this mandril at C and C', and upon this
mandril, and near each of its extremities, bands D, E, and D', E¹, are placed.
The distance D, D', between these bands must be a little greater than the
entire length intended to be given to the pile for the cannon, and the thickness
of these bands must be such that the outer diameter of the band shall be
The mandril A, B,
less than the intended bore of the pile for the cannon.
thus prepared, is placed in a lathe, the mandril being supported at its centre C
and C¹ by the points of the lathe in the usual manner. A series of longitudinal
5 bars F, F', are fitted upon the rings D, E, and D', E', as shewn in Figs. 5
and 6. These bars F, F, are curved transversely into the form of segments of
a circle, as shewn by the end view (Fig. 6), and are carefully fitted together
around the mandril. They extend in length just beyond the rings D, E, and

page_text: D', E', and are held in place by two temporary rings or clamps G and G¹,
(Fig. 5). The operator next takes flat iron of any convenient width, either
square on the edge or bevilled, and having heated this banding soft enough to
prevent springing, he commences at one end of the prepared pile of bars,
shewn in Fig. 5, and winds the band of iron helically around the pile of longi-
tudinal bars, as shown at H, H, H2, H3, &c. in Fig. 7. This helical winding
is effected most conveniently by revolving the mandril A, B, upon the centres
C and C. The edges of the band H, H1, H2, composing the helix, are to be
fitted in close contact. The longitudinal bars having been covered from end to
end with the coil, a second coil, precisely like the first, is in like manner wound
upon the first one, from end to end of the pile, and upon the second coil a
third coil is in like manner wound, until the required thickness of metal to
form the cannon is obtained. Each succeeding coil is so wound as to cover
the series of joints in the preceding coil. The ends of the coil are then cut off
square in the lathe at the lines X, X, Y, Y, (Fig. 7,) which is just inside of
the rings D, E, D, E, and G and G¹, and the mandril A, B, being thus
released, is withdrawn. The pile then presents the appearance shown exter-
nally at Fig. 8, and internally at Fig. 9, being composed of a series of longi-
tudinal bars F, F, F1, F¹, and a series of overlapping helical coils H, K, and L.
A plug of iron M is then inserted into one end of the bore or central hole, to
form the breech. If the cannon be of small size, this end piece can be inserted
without being first heated; but if the cannon be of large size, then the piece
M should not be inserted until both it and the rest of the cannon have been
brought to a welding heat. The piece M should always project outwards
sufficiently to form the knob of the
gun.
The pile for the gun, arranged and made as above described, is placed in a
heating furnace, and the entire mass brought to a high welding heat. The
mass is then "upset," as it is technically termed, by placing a heavy mass of
iron against one end and striking a series of heavy blows against the other end,
by this means the abutting edges of the coils are brought firmly into contact, S
and partially welded. The pile or faggot is then withdrawn from the furnace
and passed rapidly through a series of grooves formed between pairs of large
rolls, similar to those ordinarily used for rolling iron, thus welding the mass
and reducing it to its proper size. The taper may then be given to the cannon,
either by rollers especially prepared for the purpose, or by the tilt hammer. S
The cannon is then ready to receive the trunnions, which may be welded on at
a forge fire, or by a heating furnace prepared for that purpose; and the finishing
of the gun is effected by the ordinary turning and boring operations to bring it

page_text: to shape and to the desired calibre. The longitudinal bars, it will be under-
stood, form the interior surface of the bore, and the fibres of these bars remain
in a direction parallel with the bore, and thus give smoothness to the bore,
while the fibres composing the enveloping coils run nearly at right angles to
the direction of the bore, and thus give transverse resisting strength to the
cannon, and the coils are wound one above another so as to cover the joints,
and thus additional strength is given.
Numerous attempts have been made to manufacture wrought-iron cannons,
but they have hitherto been unsuccessful, either from the defective mode of
preparing the pile, or treating the prepared mass in welding its parts together,
or they have been defective from both these causes.
The peculiar features of the present Invention are the employment of a
series of longitudinal bars to form the bore, (which bars may be made of cast
or other steel, if desired, to diminish the wear or injury to the bore by the
ball,) in combination with a series of comparatively thin bands wound around
the central bars; and the welding of the entire mass at one operation between
rollers, instead of by a series of blows under the tilt hammer. The advantage
of this mode of preparing the pile is, that it is specially adapted to the novel
mode above described of welding cannon. The pieces of iron composing the
bars and coils, being of comparatively small dimensions, also admit of careful
examination, to ascertain their quality and condition; and the effect of the
rolls is to cause the welding force to be so applied as to unite perfectly the
contiguous edges and surfaces composing the mass, and thus to produce a
homogeneous and entire mass. At the same time there is avoided the neces-
sity for successive heating and reheating of the whole mass, which is required
when the welding is effected by means of the tilt hammer or forge. For the
complete welding of cannons of considerable size, prepared in the manner above
described, one or two passages through each groove of the series of rolls will
be found in general to suffice. The faggot will then present a homogeneous
mass throughout, no injury to the molecular arrangement of the iron having
been effected.
•
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved Mode
of Manufacturing Wrought-Iron Cannon," as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent I do not desire to claim the above-described mode of preparing the pile
or faggot, when the faggot so prepared is welded by blows or under the
hammer; but what I claim is, the manufacture of wrought-iron cannon by

page_text: ming the faggot or pile of longitudinal bars, surrounded by a series of bands
of iron, and the welding together of the whole mass, by passing the same
between rollers.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane,
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)