IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARMOUR PLATES FOR SHIPS, FORTS, AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Yates, of Rotherham, in the County of York,
Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
ARMOUR PLATES FOR SHIPS, FORTS, AND OTHER PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Yates at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th January 1878.
JAMES YATES, of Rotherham, in the County of York, Esquire. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARMOUR PLATES FOR SHIPS, FORTS, AND OTHER
PURPOSES."
My Invention consists in the production of an armour plate having a backing or
foundation of iron or steel, or both combined, fronted by steel shields or bosses,
separated from each other by some intervening substance, and with or without a
facing of a layer of iron or steel.
According to one mode of carrying out my Invention I place upon the top of a
wrought-iron plate, or of a cast-steel plate, or of both combined (such iron or steel
or iron and steel plate being in a heated or fused condition), a skeleton or network
consisting of sheet iron, or other suitable material, covered with loam or other
suitable substance, and forming when placed upon the aforesaid plate a series of
boxes, moulds or cells, of any desired shape. Into these boxes, moulds, or cells, I
pour or cast steel of any required temper or hardness, such steel amalgamating or
uniting with the back or foundation plate, but not with the cell walls. Upon the
top of this I may if desirable cast a layer of steel of required temper, or place a
wrought-iron plate properly prepared. I thus form a plate with a front or middle
consisting of shields or bosses of the same shape as the boxes or cells referred to,
and a backing or foundation of iron or steel or iron and steel plates arranged in any
suitable combination.
According to another mode of carrying out my Invention I cut upon the face of
any iron or steel plate, or any combination plate, grooves or channels to any

page_text: required depth, forming thereby shields or bosses of any desired shape; and I fill
up such grooves or channels with a metallic or other suitable substance.
By my Invention I isolate the cracking or "starring" made by the impact of
shot to a small area or portion of the whole plate, whilst the shield or boss hit
by the shot, or (in the case of a front plate of iron or steel being employed) the
shield or boss beneath the part of such front plate hit by the shot, would act as a
broad punch with relation to the backing, the force of impact being distributed
laterally over a larger area than the section of the shot, and so preventing the shot
from penetrating the back or foundation plate or plates.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James Yates in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th July 1878.
"IMPROVEMENTS
JAMES YATES, of Rotherham, in the County of York, Esquire.
IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ARMOUR PLATES FOR SHIPS, FORTS, AND
PURPOSES."
OTHER
My said Invention consists in the production by the methods herein-after
described of an armour plate having a backing or foundation of iron or steel, or
both combined, fronted by steel shields or bosses separated from each other by some
intervening substance, and with or without a facing of iron.
According to one mode of carrying out my said Invention I take a wrought-iron
plate or a steel plate, or a plate consisting of iron and steel combined, and when or
while such iron or steel or iron and steel plate is in a heated or fused condition,
(that is to say) when or while the surface of such plate is in a sufficiently fused
condition to admit of amalgamation taking place between it and the steel to be
cast upon it, I place upon the top of the said plate a skeleton or network con-
sisting of bar or sheet iron, or other suitable material, covered with loam or other
suitable substance, and forming when placed upon the aforesaid plate a series of
boxes, moulds, or cells, of any desired shape. Into these boxes, moulds, or cells I
pour cast steel of any required temper or hardness, such steel amalgamating with
the back or foundation plate, but not with the cell walls. Upon the top of these
shields I may if desirable place a wrought-iron plate properly prepared. I thus
form a plate with a front or middle consisting of shields or bosses of the same shape
as the boxes or cells referred to, and a backing or foundation of iron or steel or
iron and steel plates arranged in any suitable combination, and with or without a
front plate of iron.
According to another mode of carrying out my said Invention I cut upon the
face of any iron or steel plate, or any combination plate, grooves or channels to any
required depth, with the ordinary planing or cutting tools, or with any other tool
adapted for the purpose, so as to form shields or bosses of any desired shape, having
intervening grooves or channels, which I fill up with a metallic or other suitable
substance. Or I obtain the same result by using or taking a previously prepared
foundation plate and fronting the same with steel shields or bosses also previously

page_text: prepared (and separately from the plate), and uniting them by casting or fusing
between them an intervening metallic substance.
The accompanying Sheets of Drawings illustrate several methods of carrying my
said Invention into effect.
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 (Sheet 1), illustrate a mode of casting steel shields or
bosses upon a foundation plate while the said plate is in a horizontal position. Of
these Figures the upper and under halves of Figure 1 represent plans of half of the
under and upper sides respectively of the top casting box, herein-after referred to;
Figure 2 is a vertical section taken through the casting apparatus and through a
foundation plate, with the steel shields or bosses cast upon the latter; Figure 3 is
a plan, and Figure 4 is a vertical section of an armour plate, illustrating in opposite
halves of the Figures two respective modes of construction in accordance with my
said Invention.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 (Sheet 2) illustrate a mode of casting steel shields or bosses
on to a foundation plate while the said plate is in a vertical or inclined position,
Figure 5 being a longitudinal vertical section taken one half along the line 1, 2,
and the other half along the line 3-4 (Figure 6), which latter Figure is a trans-
verse vertical section taken along the line 5, 6 (Figure 5); whilst Figure 7 is a
transverse vertical section taken along the line 7-8 in that Figure.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a is the top casting box, provided with a loam
lining b; c is a skeleton or network composed of sheet iron or other suitable
material, covered with loam or other substance adapted for the purpose, the said
network being attached by wires c¹, or otherwise, to the casting box a, and forming
with the sides of the said box when placed upon the foundation plate d a series
of boxes, moulds, or cells at e, in which the steel for forming the shields or bosses
upon the said plate is to be cast. The foundation plate d is carried upon the loam
lining of the bottom casting box g, and the casting box a is provided with runners
h and with cores i for bolt holes, and with any other usual or suitable accessories.
In order to produce an armour plate in accordance with my said Invention when
using a previously prepared foundation plate d, and making my casting in a hori-
zontal position, I place the plate d upon the layer of loam f resting upon the bottom
plate in a suitable furnace. I prefer to use for f a decarbonizing loam, as
described in the Specification to Letters Patent granted to me dated the 19th
September 1877, No. 3526, but do not confine myself to this. After the foundation
plate has been raised to a proper heat I, either within the furnace or after removing
the foundation plate from the furnace, place upon it the top casting box a lined
with loam b, and containing the skeleton or network forming the cells at e. Into
these cells through the runners h I pour or cast the required steel forming the
shields or bosses, as shewn at e in Figure 2; and after it has sufficiently cooled I
remove the top casting box a, leaving the skeleton interposed between the several
shields or bosses. Or I also remove the skeleton, and either leave the spaces void
to allow of lateral expansion of the shields under pressure, or I fill up the spaces
with a suitable metallic substance. Upon these shields I may place a front plate k
of iron, as shewn on the right hand side of Figures 3 and 4. I prefer to use for b
(Figures 1 and 2) a carbonizing loam, as described in the Specification to my said
former Letters Patent; but I do not confine myself to this; I prefer the cells to be
hexagonal in plan, as shewn; but I do not confine myself to this shape, as a cubical,
or rhomboidal, or wedge shaped, or other formed shield or boss can be produced.
The top of the boss l, m, Figure 4, may be made flat, as shewn on the right hand
side of that Figure, or convex, as shewn on the left hand side thereof, or of any
other required form, by suitably moulding the loam in the top box.
When forming the foundation plate of steel, at or about the same time as the
supervening shields, I avail myself of the method described in the Specification to
Letters Patent granted to me, dated the 9th March 1876, No. 1028, and first cast my
foundation plate, and then upon it when sufficiently cool cast my shields or bosses.

page_text: When casting my shield plate vertically, or at an inclined angle, I place the
foundation plate d in the corresponding position, say vertical, for example, as shewn
in Figures 5, 6, and 7 (Sheet 2), and within the furnace or outside it I bring up
and secure to its side the box a containing the skeleton c. I then through the
series of loam runners run the required steel into the cells, casting thus vertically.
I may make two or more plates at ono operation by placing two series of cells
between each two vertically arranged foundation plates, and casting through
runners suitably arranged.
In lieu of the arrangements illustrated in my Drawings I may cut upon the face
of any suitable iron or steel plate, or combination plate, grooves or channels to any
required depth, forming thereby shields or bosses of any desired plan, with inter-
vening grooves or channels, which I fill up with a metallic or other suitable
substance. Or I use or take a previously prepared foundation plate and front it
with steel shields or bosses, also previously prepared and separately from the plate,
and unite them to the plate and to each other by casting or fusing between them
when in a horizontal, or vertical, or other position, an intervening metallic
substance.
I use the armour plates thus made without further working, excepting the
ordinary shop manipulation; or I roll, press, or hammer them, in order to increase
their strength, preferring to employ for this purpose hydraulic pressure, as men-
tioned in the Specification to Letters Patent granted to me dated the 26th February
1863, No. 542.
By my Invention I more effectually isolate the cracking or straining produced by
the impact of shot to a small area or portion of the whole plate, whilst the shield
or boss struck by the shot, or (in the case of a front plate of iron being employed)
the shield or boss beneath the part of such front plate struck by the shot, acts as a
broad punch with relation to the backing, the force of impact being distributed
laterally over a larger area than the transverse section of the shot, and so preventing
the shot from penetrating the back or foundation plate.
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 would observe in conclusion that I am aware that it has previously been
proposed to construct armour plates in such a manner as to isolate the effects of
impact to a small area, and therefore to this in itself lay no claim; but what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited letters Patent is,-
1st. The method of constructing armour plates by casting upon the face of a
foundation plate steel shields or bosses, separated from each other by permanent or
removable loamed partitions, and faced or not faced by a front plate, substantially
as herein-before described.
2nd. The method of constructing armour plates by the combination of a founda-
tion plate and steel shields or bosses fronting it, and separated by casting or fusing
between them an intervening metallic substance, substantially as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Yates, have to this my Specification
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and sortant sight
JAMES YATES. (L.S.)