CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF METALS AND OTHER SOLID SUBSTANCES. PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles François Leopold Oudry, of 39, Rue de
l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France, and of 4, South Street,
Finsbury, London, Gentleman, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF METALS AND OTHER SOLID SUBSTANCES.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles François Leopold
Oudry at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 12th January 1856.
I, CHARLES FRANÇOIS LEOPOLD OUDRY, of 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in
the Empire of France, and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention for CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PRESERVATION OF METALS AND OTHER SOLID SUBSTANCES, to be as follows, that is
to say:
My Invention consists in preserving wood, metals, paper, cardboard, stone,
and substances of like nature, from the injurious action of water, the atmo-.
sphere, or other destructive agents, by first covering them with a coat of paint
composed of metallic or other matters, combined with essential and fat oils,
or wit resinons, gummy, bituminous substances, according to the nature of
the material; which coat, when dry, is afterwards covered with a coating of

page_text: copper or any other metal or alloy, by means of electric or galvanic agency.
The thickness of the coating must be regulated by the nature of the article.
This Invention is suitable for covering the hulls of vessels with copper or
other metallic sheathing prepared by the above process.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles François Léopold Oudry in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
FRANÇOIS LEOPOLD OUDRY, of 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire
of France, and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Ier heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles François Léopold Oudry, Her special license, that I, the said
Charles François Léopold Oudry, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Charles François Léopold Oudry, 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 ex-
pressed, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF
METALS AND OTHER SOLID SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Charles François Léopold Oudry, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles François Leopold Oudry, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to ba particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:
My Invention consists in the application of copper or other metals on iron,
zinc, and other metals and their alloys, and also upon wood, paper, cardboard,
and stone, having first covered them with an isolating coating of a composition
susceptible also of preserving, waterproofing, metallizing them, and which

page_text: coating is a conductor of electricity. The copper is applied to any :desired
thickness by ordinary electro-chemical means, and serves to preserve the metal.
or other substances thus covered from oxidation by the action of the air, water,
or the humidity of the earth..
This new process may be most advantageously applied. to covering the hulls
of iron and wood boats of any dimensions: The isolating composition may be
variously composed, according to the nature, thickness, and. proportions of.
the articles to be operated upon; thus, for covering the hulls or other parts
of an iron boat, either plate by plato before: being set together, or-in a single
piece, and by one operation, after being united,. I. use the composition much.
thicker than when covering statues, vases, and: other delicately chased articles.
The composition may. .be made of metali or metallic salts;. combined. with
essential oils or greases, and resins, gums, bitumen, or asphalte, according to
the nature of the articles to be covered over,.and: I give to it the property of
a conductor of electricity; by adding copper, graphite, or other metallic powder..
It is therefore upon the said isolating coating, which is proof to the action-of
sea water; or water strongly acidulated, that the copper or other metal is
precipitated direct by means of electricity. Although the adherence: of the
isolating coating to the metal and of the deposited metal to the coating thus
obtained is satisfactory, to ensure a more perfect result, especially in the case
of iron vessels, on which copper is to be deposited, holes are pierced at
intervals in the united plates, in which, after the copper deposit is effected, I
introduce rivets, which are countersunk and bolted, by means of nuts, to the
interior of the wrought iron plates. These rivets tend to prevent any parts of
the deposited copper from being removed by the pitching or rolling of the
vessel. I place under the head of each-of the rivets a washer, made of caout-
chouc or other waterproof material, which, after the rivet has been fixed down,
prevents sea water from entering.
The articles having received a coating of the composition, are immersed in
a bath of sulphate of copper, and allowed to remain there from two to ten days,
or even a longer time. In the event of the isolating coating on the metals
not being perfect, the copper deposited by electricity would become pulveru-
lent, of an earthy brown, and removeable without difficulty, and the coated
metal would not be protected. I also employ other means to keep the
copper in juxta-position with the isolating composition; thus, in lieu of
holes for the reception of rivets, as herein-before described, it is optional,
before any operation has been effected, to fix at intervals on the united
iron plates, copper rivets with screw heads, adjusted and prolonged with
a barb steun, so as to cause the deposited copper to adhere strongly to the

page_text: stems or rivets, and be held by them. The adherence of the copper to the,
iron may be increased by making cavities on the external part of the edge of:
the united plates, so that the copper deposited in these cavities may be kept.
firmly held in them. Iron vessels covered with this composition, and after-
wards with a deposit of copper, will last a much longer time, and will
combine the advantages possessed by wooden vessels with copper sheathing.
In case of casualties at sea, by which the copper coating on the hull of a ship
might be partially removed, the isolating coating will prevent the galvanic.
action, which would rapidly destroy the iron from taking place, and will enable
the repairs to be easily effected.
The mode of applying my process to other articles that it may be desirable
to cover and preserve, varies according to the nature, form, dimension, or. kind
of article on which I have to operate.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details herein laid down; but what I claim is,
the preservation of metals, alloys of metals, wood, and other solid substances,
by means of a metallic deposit, effected by electro-chemical processes, on the
articles to be preserved, having previously received a coating of an isolating
and protective composition, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles François Léopold Oudry, havo
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
L
LEOPOLD OUDRY. (...)