IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEET IRON
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Alexander Morris, of Pittsburgh, Penn-
sylvania, in the United States of America, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEET IRON."
Sealed the 7th June 1861, and dated the 21st December 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Alexander Morris
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st December 1860.
I, DAVID ALEXANDER MORRIS, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEET IRON," to be as follows:-..
.I
The object of this Invention is to incorporate with the surface of the sheet
iron an enamel consisting of the proto-carbide of iron, which is a compound
consisting of one equivalent each of oxygen, carbon, and iron, (or symbolically
represented Fe, O, C) for the purpose of lessening its tendency to corrosion
and giving it a greatly improved finish.
My process is substantially as follows, viz. :-I take sheets of iron smoothly
rolled with a thin uniform coat of the ferrate of iron on them. This ferrate
of iron is a compound of protoxide of iron and sesqueoxide of iron, (symbolically.
represented Fe, Fe, or Fe 0+2, Fe, 30, the former being the base and the
latter the acid,) and is commonly called "iron scale" or "black oxide of
iron." Now by converting this ferrate of iron into the proto-carbide of iron
(Fe, O, C), which is accomplished by liberating a portion of the oxygen and
substituting carbon therefor, a compound is produced almost as incorrodible

page_text: as platina or gold. To effect this change I take smoothly rolled sheets of
iron, as above stated, with a thin uniform coating of the ferrate of iron on the
surface, and apply thereto a thin coat of carbon (I use petroleum or coal oil,
but carbon in any form that can be easily applied will answer the same
purpose). I then take as many of these said sheets so prepared as can con-
veniently be handled (say from twenty-five to thirty), and place them in a
rectangular shallow case or box, and after putting on another sheet to constitute
a lid or cover, I turn over the top edges of the sides of the said shallow case so
as to form a close box. I then place the whole in a "muffle" to be heated to
about 900 degrees Fahrenheit, and having removed the box or pack of sheets
I hammer the same with a large faced hammer, which should strike a blow
of about 500 pounds per square inch of surface, and about 100 blows per
minute. The hammering should be continued for about 20 or 25 minutes, or
until the package has ceased to be red in the centre, when it will be found
that all of the inside sheets have received a fine glossy enamel of the character
above described, which will be so thoroughly incorporated with the surface of
the iron that the sheets may be worked into intricate shapes without scaling off
the enamel. The hammering so hardens the iron that it requires annealing,
and it also requires considerable practice to enable a man to hammer-a-heavy
pack of sheets so as to be free from "buckles" or "kinks," I therefore place
a number of sheets in a case (the same as for hammering), and as soon as the
package is properly heated for annealing (which can be done without affecting
the appearance of the enamel) I place it in a powerful press to cool. By
these means I anneal the sheets much quicker and cheaper than it is done by
the old method, and I make them perfectly straight and flat at the same
time.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Alexander Morris in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
ALEXANDER MORRIS, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States of
America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto

page_text: me, the said David Alexander Morris, Her special licence that I, the said 'Dávid*
Alexander Morris, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said David Alexander Morris, my executors, administrators, 'and assignis,
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 night
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain'
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,' an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEET IRON," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said David Alexander Morris, my executors or adminis
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their handls
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 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 David Alexander Morris, 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 follow-
ing statement in writing, that is to say :-
.:
The object of this Invention is to incorporate with the surface of the sheet
iron an enamel consisting of the proto-carbide of iron, which is a compound'
consisting of one equivalent each of oxygen, carbon, and iron, or symbolically.
represented Fe, O, C, for the purpose of lessening its tendency to corrosion,
and giving it a greatly improved finish.
the
My process is substantially as follows, namely:-I take sheets of iron
smoothly rolled with a thin uniform coat of the ferrate of iron on them. This
ferrate of iron is a compound of protoxide of iron and sesqueoxide of iron
(symbolically represented Fe, Fe, or Fe, O +2 Fe, 30, the former being
the base and the latter the acid), and is commonly called "iron scale".or
black oxide of iron." Now by converting this ferrate of iron into the proto-
carbide of iron (Fe, O, C,) which is accomplished by liberating a portion of
oxygen and substituting 'carbon therefor, a compound is produced almost
as incorrodible as platina or gold. To effect this change I take smoothly
rolled sheets of iron, as above stated, with a thin uniform coating of the 'ferrate
of iron on the surface, and apply thereto a thin coat of carbon (I use petroleum
or coal oil, but carbon in any form that can be easily applied will answer the
same purpose). I then take as many of these said sheets so prepared as can
conveniently be handled (say from twenty-five to thirty), and place them in a
rectangular shallow case or box, and after putting on another sheet to con-
stitute a lid or cover, I turn over the top edges of the sides of the said shallow

page_text: "
case so as to form a close box. I then place the whole in a "muffle to be
heated to about nine hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and having removed the
box or pack of sheets, I hammer the same with a large faced hammer, which
should strike a blow of about five hundred pounds per square inch of surface,
and about one hundred blows per minute. The hammering should be con-
tinued for about twenty or twenty-five minutes, or until the package has
ceased to be red in the centre, when it will be found that all of the inside
sheets have received a fine glossy enamel of the character above described,
which will be so thoroughly incorporated with the surface of the iron that the
sheets may be worked into intricate shapes without scaling off the enamel.
The hammering so hardens the iron that it requires annealing, and it also
requires considerable practice to enable a man to hammer a heavy pack of
sheets so as to be free from "buckles" or "kinks," I therefore place a number
of sheets in a case (the same as for hammering), and as soon as the package
is properly heated for annealing (which can be done without affecting the
appearance of the enamel), I place it in a powerful press to cool. By these
means I anneal the sheets much quicker and cheaper than it is done by
the old method, and I make them perfectly straight and flat at the same time.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for
Improvements in the Manufacture of Sheet Iron," together with the manner
in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect,
I would remark in conclusion that I claim as my Invention,-
66
Firstly, the application of carbonaceous material at the time and for the
purpose above specified.
Secondly, I claim preparing the sheets of iron and heating them in the
manner above described.
Thirdly, I claim the hammering of sheet iron, substantially as and for the
purpose herein-before specified.
And, fourthly, I claim annealing and straightening or flattening sheet iron,
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Alexander Morris, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
D. A. MORRIS. (L.S.)