AN IMPROVEMENT IN UTILIZING TIN PLATE SCRAPS OR CLIPPINGS, AND IN SEPARATING THE TIN AND IRON CONTAINED THEREIN."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick George Morton, of No. 16, Lynton
Street, Bermondsey, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the
Invention. of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN UTILIZING TIN PLATE SCRAPS OR
CLIPPINGS, AND IN SEPARATING THE TIN AND IRON CONTAINED THEREIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick George
Morton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 8th June 1872..
I, FREDERICK GEORGE MORTON, of No. 16, Lynton Street, Ber-
mondsey, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN UTILIZING TIN PLATE SCRAPS
OR CLIPPINGS, AND IN SEPARATING THE TIḍ and IRON CONTAINED THEREIN," to be
as follows:
This Invention relates to the treatment of tin plate scraps or clippings
in such manner as to separate the tin from the iron, and to enable the
products, tin and iron, to be utilized with greater advantage than
hitherto. For this purpose the tin plate scraps or clippings are sub-
mitted to the action of muriatic acid of the ordinary full commercial
strength (say about 32° Twaddle), thereby removing the tin from the
iron. The iron plates having been allowed to. drain are then cleansed
by washing or immersion in water, and the moisture is removed by

page_text: means of lime or other suitable absorbent substance. The muriate of
tin is allowed to settle in order to deposit any iron it may contain, after
which the pure muriate of tin is drawn off by a syphon into suitable
receivers and transferred into a suitable vessel, in which more tin may
be added to it in a granulated form so as to increase the saturation.
The mixture is then heated to a temperature of about 120 degrees
Fahrenheit, and kept at about this temperature for some hours, after
which the mixture is allowed to cool and settle. The tin product thus
obtained is of great purity and may be utilized for paper foil and other
purposes. The iron product may also be utilized in the ordinary manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick George Morton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th December 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
GEORGE MORTON, of No. 16, Lynton Street, Bermondsey, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-fifth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Frederick George Morton, Her special license
that I, the said Frederick George Morton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I,. the said Frederick George Morton, 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 IMPROVE-
MENT IN UTILIZING TIN PLATE SCRAPS OR CLIPPINGS, AND IN SEPARATING THE TIN
AND IRON CONTAINED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Frederick George Morton, 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 Scal 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 Frederick George Morton, 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 thereof, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to the treatment of tin plate scraps or clippings
in such manner as to separate the tin from the iron, and to enable the
products, tin and iron, to be utilized with greater advantage than
hitherto. For this purpose the tin plate scraps or clippings are sub-
mitted to the action of muriatic acid of the ordinary full commercial
strength (say about 32 degrees Twaddle), thereby removing the tin from
the iron. The iron plates having been allowed to drain are then
cleansed by washing or immersion in water, and the moisture is removed
by means of lime or other suitable absorbent substance. The muriate of
tin is allowed to settle in order to deposit any iron it may contain, after
which the pure muriate of tin is drawn off by a syphon into suitable
receivers, and transferred into a suitable vessel, in which more tin may
be added to it in a granulated form so as to increase the saturation. The
mixture is then heated to a temperature of about 120 degrees Fahrenheit,
and kept at about this temperature for some hours, after which the
mixture is allowed to cool and settle. The tin product thus obtained
is of great purity and may be utilized for paper foil and other purposes.
The iron product may also be utilized in the ordinary manner.
In carrying out my Invention I first open the tin plate scraps or
clippings and cut them into suitable lengths, and free them from dirt
and other impurities by sorting on a lattice or in a revolving drum.
The scraps or clippings when sorted are placed (say in quantities of
about one cwt.) in a suitably perforated box or receptacle of any con-
venient shape, made of wood to withstand the action of the acid, and
provided with axles or trunnions and with a door or cover for the
purposes of filling and emptying. This box or receptacle having been
charged with scraps or clippings is then lowered into a suitable vessel
containing, say about 20 cwt. of muriatic acid (otherwise called hydro-
chloric acid) of the ordinary full commercial strength (say about 32
degrees Twaddle), and at a temperature of about 60 degrees Fahrenheit,
and in this acid the perforated box or receptacle, with its contents, is
caused to rotate. In about half an hour by the action of the acid the
tin is removed from the iron plate of the scraps, and remains in solution
in the acid, leaving the iron plates of the scraps in the perforated box

page_text: or receptacle, which is raised with its contents out of the acid and
allowed to drain for the purpose of saving such acid as may be adhering
to the plates. After draining I immerse the perforated box or receptacle
with its contents in water (either hot or cold), in order to remove all
acid from the surface of the plates, and then discharge the plates from
the perforated box or receptacle into lime or some other suitable
material for absorbing all the moisture from the plates. I prefer to
use lime as the absorbent because it is beneficial in fluxing the iron and
destroying the sulphur.
In order effectually to remove lead in cases in which it is present, I
place the iron plates in a reverberatory furnace, wherein I submit them
to a temperature of about from 700 degrees to 800 degrees Fahrenheit,
or a dull red heat after the process above described.
The muriate of tin, composed of the muriatic acid containing in
solution the tin which it has removed from the iron plates as above
described, is now allowed to stand so as to allow of the settlement of
any iron and impurities that may have been removed by the acid from
the plates, and which may have remained in the solution. About
12 hours will generally suffice for this operation at the ordinary tem-
perature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit. A syphon is then introduced into
the clear solution above the level for iron and other deposit, and the
pure muriate of tin is thereby drawn off into suitable receivers. At
this stage the muriate of tin will be of a strength of about 60 degrees
Twaddle (this strength varying with the temperature according to the
season of the year), and will contain only about half the quantity of
tin it is capable of saturating. And in order to carry on the process
with advantage commercially for the manufacture of paper foil it is
desirable that the acid should be made to saturate as much tin as is
possible without forming crystals. For this purpose, in order to enable
it to saturate a farther quantity of tin than it contains at this stage, I
place the muriate of tin in a suitable vessel (made by preference of
copper or earthenware), and add additional tin in a granulated form,
and I heat the mixture by a furnace, or by steam (not free steam), or
otherwise to a temperature of about 120 degrees Fahrenheit, taking
especial care not to exceed this temperature. This temperature having
been kept up for about 5 or 6 hours (if in an ordinary atmospheric
temperature of about 60 degrees Fahrenheit), I allow the compound to
settle, its strength being about 120 degrees Twaddle. It now resembles
"

page_text: the muriate of tin ordinarily prepared from ingots of tin for the manu-
facture of paper foil, and may be similarly utilized for that purpose, the
process being as follows:-The muriate of tin is diluted with water and
plates of zinc are introduced into the solution. The free acid remaining
in the diluted muriate of tin dissolves the zinc, and precipitates the tin
in the proportion of about 32 parts by weight of zinc dissolved by
every 54 parts by weight of tin thrown up. The tin thus precipitated
is collected and washed, and thereby the acid and the zinc are neutralized.
The tin that has been precipitated and washed is then mixed with animal
size, and is spread on paper by means of brushes, and the paper
coated with tin and called paper foil is then passed between heated
friction rolls, whereby the tin surface is calendered or finished so as to
give it a polish or brilliant appearance ready for the market.
thus
The muriate of tin prepared as above described may be used for other
purposes than paper
foil.
•
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not claim as of my Invention or the exclusive use of any of the several
processes herein-before described and referred to, except when the same
are used in and for the purposes of my said Invention, which I hereby
declare to consist in the treatment of tin plate scraps and clippings,
and the obtaining therefrom of useful products in the manner herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, tho said Frederick George Morton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
twin
Witness,
W. LLOYD WISE,
FREDERICK GEORGE MORTON. (L.S.)
Patent Agent,
London.