IMPROVEMENTS IN SETTING OUT AND MARKING THE RIVET HOLES IN THE PLATES USED IN CONSTRUCTING IRON SHIPS, BOATS, BOILERS, AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Archibald Thomson, of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, Iron Ship Builder, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SETTING OUT AND MARKING THE
RIVET HOLES IN THE PLATES USED IN CONSTRUCTING IRON SHIPS,
BOATS, BOILERS, AND OTHER VESSELS."
Sealed the 20th June 1854, and dated the 20th December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Archibald Thomson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 20th December 1853.
I, ARCHIBALD THOMSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Iron Ship Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SETTING OUT AND MARKING THE RIVET
HOLES IN THE PLATES USED IN CONSTRUCTING IRON SHIPS, BOATS, BOILERS,
AND OTHER VESSELS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved arrangement of an adjustable
template for setting out and marking the rivet holes in iron plates used

page_text: in the construction of iron ships, boats, boilers, and other vessels.
This template may be made of wood or plate iron, but the latter
material is preferable, as it may be bent without injury when necessary.
When the instrument is intended for the iron plates forming a ship's
side, it consists of top and bottom parallel horizontal side plates, cach
side being made up of a number of lengths jointed together by means
of small slots and screw pins. Each of these lengths corresponds to
about the horizontal distance between two adjacent ship frames or ribs,
but the slot jointed affords a means of increasing or diminishing the
entire length of the side to suit various distances apart of the frames.
These top and bottom plates are pierced with one or two rows of
holes corresponding to the rivet holes to be made in the top and bottom
sides of the iron plate. The top and bottom plates are connected by
vertical cross plates corresponding in number and position to the
frames which occur in the extent of the plate for which the template is
to be adjusted.
The vertical cross plates are united to the horizontal top and bottom.
plates by slots and screw pins, and can be adjusted to different widths
of plate. They serve chiefly to carry a series of short template pieces
for marking the rivet or bolt holes on the ship frames. Each of these
pieces is adjusted by screw pins at one end in a slot on the vertical
cross plate, whilst the other end has a hole for marking the bolt holo
on the plate, and the piece may be set obliquely if necessary.
When all the parts of the template are adjusted upon the ship's
side, one or more diagonally disposed plates may be screwed upon it to
preserve the angle of the various parts, if the stiff friction of the several
joint screws is not sufficient for this purpose.
The same general arrangement of template will likewise answer for
boiler plates, and in all similar cases of structures made up of framing
or metallic plates.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Archibald Thomson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th June 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ARCHIBALD THOMSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Iron Ship Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in
the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Archibald Thompson,
Her special license that I, the said Archibald Thomson, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Archi-
bald Thomson, my executors, administrators, or 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SETTING OUT AND MARKING THE RIVET HOLES
IN THE PLATES USED IN CONSTRUCTING IRON SHIPS, BOATS, BOILERS, AND
OTHER VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Archibald Thompson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
scal, 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 Archibald Thompson, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say):
My said Invention relates to an improved arrangement of adjustable

page_text: template for setting out and marking the rivet holes in iron plates used
in the construction of iron ships, boats, boilers, and other vessels. This
template may be made of wood or plate iron, but the latter material is
preferable, as it may be bent without injury when necessary. When
the instrument is intended for the iron plates forming a ship's side,
it consists of top and bottom parallel horizontal side plates, each
side being made up of a number of lengths jointed by means of
small slots and screw pins. Each of these lengths corresponds to
about the horizontal distance between two adjacent ship frames or ribs,
whilst the slot joint affords a means of increasing or diminishing the
entire length of the side to suit various distances apart of the frames.
These top and bottom plates are pierced with one or two rows of holes
corresponding to the rivet holes to be made in the top and bottom
sides of the iron plate. The top and bottom plates are connected by
vertical cross plates or bars corresponding in number and position to
the frames which occur in the extent of the plate for which the template
is to be adjusted. The vertical cross plates are united to the horizontal
top and bottom plates by slots and screw pins, and can be adjusted to
different widths of plate. They serve chiefly to carry a series of short
template pieces for marking the rivet or bolt holes on the ship frames.
Each of these pieces is adjusted by screw pins at one end in a slot on
the vertical cross plato, whilst the other end has a hole for marking the
bolt hole on the plate, and the piece may be set obliquely if necessary.
When all the parts of the template are adjusted upon the ship's side,
one or more diagonally disposed plates may be screwed upon it to pre-
serve the angle. of the various parts, if the stiff friction of the several
joint screws is not sufficient for this purpose. The same general
arrangement of template will likewise answer for boiler plates, and in
all similar cases of structures made up of framing or metallic plates.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood,
I shall now proceed to describe the several Figures on the Sheet of
-Drawings hereunto attached. The Sheet of Drawings contains four
Figures, each representing a modification of adjustable template con-
structed according to my Invention, and the same letters refer to
corresponding parts in the several Figures. The template represented

page_text: in Figuro 1 of the Drawings is adapted for plates which have only one
row of rivet holes along the top and bottom sides. The top and bottom
sides of the template consist of a number of plates or bars A, of thin
plate iron. The ends of these plates are curved backwards, and have
longitudinal slots B, for the purpose of being jointed together by means
of screw pins C. The rivet holes are marked by rows of holes D, in
the plates A, and those rivet holes which occur at the joints of the
plates A, are marked by adjustable pieces E, which are formed
with a hole at one end corresponding to a rivet hole, and with a
slot at the other. for adjustment on one of the screw pins C, of the
joint. The ends of the plates are curved away, as already mentioned,
to allow the piece E to be properly adjusted to the rivet hole
which occurs at that part. The sets of plates A, forming the top
and bottom or longitudinal sides of the template, are connected'
together by the cross bars F, which are attached to the plates A,
by scrow pins at G. The bars F correspond to the frames of the
ship, and carry marker pieces H, similar to the marker pieces E, for
marking the bolt holes on the frames, the bars being slotted for the
adjustment of the marker pieces at any required point. To the cross
bar at one end of the template is screwed an adjustable angle piece I,
the edge J, K, of which is set to the edge of the plate, so that the
line of the edge may be accurately defined. The template represented
in Figure 2, is adapted for plates which have two rows of holes along
their top and bottom sides. The plates A have two lateral projections
L at each end, and these projections are formed with longitudinal slots
B, for the purpose of jointing the plates A together with screw pins C.
Adjustable marker pieces E, are provided at the joints for three of the
rivet holes, one of which three holes lies in the space M, between the
plates, whilst the other two will lie within the slots N. The remainder
of the details are the same as in the template represented in Figure 1,
except that the plates A are formed with two rows of holes for marking
the rivets by, instead of only one. The template represented in
Figure 3 is also adapted for plates which have two rows of rivet holes
on their top and bottom sides, and differs from that represented in
Figure 2, in the mode of forming the joints of the plates A. In the

page_text: form of template represented in Figure 3, these plates A. are of equal
width throughout their entire length. The plates overlap each other;
and are jointed together by pins O, screwed into slots P. On one of
these pins is fixed a inarker piece E, for marking the rivet hole, which
occurs at the joint, and a space Q is cut out of the overlapping ends of
the plates A, so that the marker may be properly adjusted to the rivet
hole. The template represented in Figure 4 is adapted for plates which
have a double row of rivet holes longitudinally along their centres, in
addition to the rows of holes along the top and bottom, this arrange-
ment being sometimes required in building iron ships. In this template
the top side has only a single row of holes, and is constructed exactly
like the corresponding portion of the template represented in Figure 1.
A double row of holes may, however, sometimes be required at the top,
in which case the top of the template will be formed of plates A, similar
to those represented in Figure 2. The bottom of the template has a
double row of rivet holes, and is constructed like, that represented in
Figure 2. In addition to the top and bottom plates A, a longitudinal
central bar R is screwed to the cross bars F. This bar R is formed
with slots S, for adjustment to the cross bars F, and a row of slots T,
for the adjustment of a series of marker pieces U, similar to the marker
piece E, already described. These marker pieces U are of different
lengths, being arranged to mark the respective rivet holes of the doublo
row running along the middle of the plate. It will be obvious to tho
practical ship-builder that various other combinations may be formed
of the several parts represented and described herein, according as
circumstances may call for them. It may also be remarked that the
form of plate A, represented in Figure 3, may be employed, with a single
row of rivet holes, instead of the double row, as shewn, if desirable.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not
confine or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which
I have had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations may be
made therefrom without deviating from the principles or main features
Invention; but what I consider to be novel and original, and
of
.my

page_text: therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general arrangement and form of mechanism or apparatus
for setting out and marking the rivet holes of plates used in con-
structing iron ships, boats, boilers, and other vessels, as herein-before
described.
Second, the application and use in templates of main frame or
longitudinal bars, made in overlapping or sectionally divided lengths,
for the purpose of adjustment.
In witness whereof, I, the said Archibald Thomson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of June,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four.
A. THOMSON. (L.B.)