AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN SHAPING AND ORNAMENTING METALS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Cornforth, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN SHAPING AND ORNAMENTING METALS."
.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Cornforth at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
May 1854.
I, HENRY CORNFORTH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
5 facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVE-
MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN SHAPING AND ORNAMENTING METALS" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the application of hydraulic or pneumatic pressure
to the shaping and ornamenting of metals. The sheet or plate of metal to be
shaped or ornamented is placed upon the die or mould into which it is to be
0 forced, and instead of being forced therein by the descent of a second die, I
apply water pressure, or the pressure of steam or condensed air, to the said
plate or sheet of metal, and thereby force it to enter and take the shape of the
die into which it is forced.
5:
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Cornforth in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th November 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CORNFORTH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,-send-
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Cornforth, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Cornforth,
my executors, administrators, and, assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Cornforth, 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 IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS
IN SHAPING AND ORNAMENTING-METALS," upon the-condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Henry Cornforth, 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 Henry Cornforth, 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):-
My Invention consists in the application of hydraulic or pneumatic pressure
to the shaping and ornamenting of metals. The sheet or plate of metal to be
shaped or ornamented is placed upon the dic or mould into which it is to be
forced, and instead of being forced therein by the descent of a second die, I
apply water pressure, or the pressure of steam or condensed air, to the .said
plate or sheet of metal, and thereby force it to enter and take the shape of the
die into which it is forced.
"
The accompanying Drawing illustrates the method of carrying my Inven-
tion into effect. Figure 1 represents in elevation (partly in section) a
machine for making dish covers according to my "Invention; and Figure 2.
represents the same machine, partly in elevation and partly in section, the
moving parts being in different positions in the two Figures. The same
letters indicate the same parts in both Figures. a is the die into which the
plate or sheet of metal is to be forced.; b.is a cover to the said die, which said s
cover is raised and lowered by the screw c. The plate or sheet of metal to be
forced into the die a is placed upon the shoulder d of the die a'; the cover b
is brought down upon the shoulder d, as represented in Figure 2. The said
plate or sheet of metal may either be held by its edge between the cover b and

page_text: the shoulder d, or the said plate or sheet may be so small as not to be held by
the plate 6, but may rest in the upper part of the die a. When the cover b' is
in the position represented in Figure 2, a pipe connected with a hydraulic press
is connected with the hole e in the said cover; the water from the said press
being forced through the said bole e on the upper surface of the plate or sheet
of metal, the said plate is forced into the die a, and is made to assume the
form of the said die. When the plate or sheet of metal is not held between
the cover band shoulder d, but is simply laid in the die a, a portion of water
may escape around the edge of the said plate into the die a, and on the under
side of the said plate. Any water so escaping round the edge of the plate.
runs off by the hole f in the bottom of the die a. The escape of the said water
may be prevented or diminished by the use of a temporary packing between
the edge of the plate or sheet of metal; the said temporary packing may be
effected by smearing the upper edge of the die with well tempered clay, or
other soft or plastic substance. If the surface of the die a be ornamented by
engraving or otherwise, the plate or sheet of metal forced into the said die
takes an impression of the said ornament.
Instead of applying hydraulic pressure at the hole e of the cover b, the
pressure of steam or condensed air may be applied with the same or nearly
the same effect.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise methods herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim as my
Invention, shaping and ornamenting metals by forcing metallic plates into
suitably formed moulds or dies by the pressure of water, air, or steam, as
herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Cornforth, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
HENRY CORNFORTH. (L.s.)