AN IMPROVE.MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN DEPOSITING METALLIO ALLOYS BY ELECTRICITY
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Jabez Goode, of Aston, near Birmingham,in
the County of Warwick, Machinist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE.
MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN DEPOSITING METALLIO ALLOYS BY ELECTRICITY."
Sealed the 19th June 1857, and dated the 31st March 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Jabez Goode at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st March 1857.
I. SAMUEL JABEZ GOODE, of Aston, near Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN DEPOSITING METALLIC ALLOYS BY ELECTRICITY,"
to be as follows:-
In the ordinary method of depositing metallic alloys by electricity,asolution
of the alloy is made, and the surface on which the alloys is to be deposited is
suspended in the solution, a plate of the alloy being also suspended in the said
solution. The surface on which the alloy is to be deposited is connected with
the zinc, and the plate of alloy is connected with the copper or negative
element of a voltaic battery.
My Invention consists in using plates of the metals of which the alloy is
composed, instead of a plate of the alloy itself in the solution from which the
alloy is being deposited. For example, when I wish to deposit brass, I
suspend in the solution a plate of copper and a plate of zinc, the said plates
being connected with the negative element of the battery. By immersing one
or more of the plates to a greater depth, or by bringing one or other near to
17

page_text: the surface on which the alloy is being deposited, the composition and colour
of the deposited alloy can be regulated at pleasure. My Invention is appli-
cable to the deposition of alloys in general by electricity, whether the alloy be
composed of two or more metals.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Jabez Goode in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
JABEZ GOODE, of Ashton, near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Samuel Jabez Gnode, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel Jabez
Goode, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Samuel Jabez Goode, 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 DEPOSITING METALLIC ALLOYS BY ELECTRICITY,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that 1, the said Samuel Jabez Goode, 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 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 Samuel Jabez Goode, 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 follow-
ing statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the improvement or improvements in depositing
metallic alloys by electricity, herein-after explained.
In order that my Invention may the better be understood, I will briefly

page_text: describe the ordinary method of depositing metallic alloys by electricity. A
solution of the alloy is made, and the surface on which the alloy is to be
deposited is suspended in the said solution, a plate of the alloy itself being
also suspended in the said solution. The surface on which the alloy is to be
deposited is connected with the zinc end of a voltaic battery, and the plate of
alloy is connected with the copper or negative element of the said voltaic
battery. The passage of the electricity through the solution causes the depo-
sition of the alloy on the articles connected with the zinc,and also causes the
alloy to dissolve from the plate of the said alloy connected with the copper or
negative end of the battery. In this, the ordinary method of depositing alloys
by electricity, the following difficulties present themselves, namely, a change
in the temperature of the solution, or in the quantity or intensity of the
electrical current, as well as various other causes, occasion a change in the
relative quantities of the metals deposited, and thus affect the composition and
qualities of the deposited alloy. For example, in the deposition of brass,
by the ordinary method the relative quantities of copper and zinc in the
deposit vary from slight changes of temperature and other interfering causes,
and it is difficult to secure the requisite uniformity in the composition and
colour of the deposited alloy. By my Invention these difficulties are obviated,
and perfect control over the composition of the deposited alloy secured.
My said Invention consists in using plates of the metals of which the alloy
is composed, instead of a plate of the alloy itself in the solution from which the
alloy is being deposited. For example,in depositing brass, instead of suspend-
ing in the solution a plate of brass, and connecting the said plate with the
copper or negative element of the battery, I suspend two separate plates, one
of copper and the other of zinc, both the said plates being connected with the
copper or negative end of the battery. By immersing one or other of the said
plates to a greater or less depth in the solution, or by bringing one or other of
the said plates nearer to the surface on which the alloy is being deposited, the
composition and color of the deposited alloy can be regulated at pleasure; for
example,if during the deposition of the brass the said brass is found to be too
light in colour, I immerse to a greater depth in the solution the plate of
copper,or I bring the said plate of copper nearer to the surface on which the
brass is being reduced or deposited, or I withdraw in part the zinc plate from
the solution, or remove the said zinc plate to a greater distance from the
surface on which the brass is being reduced or deposited. By either of these
means the relative quantity of copper dissolved from the copper plate and
deposited in the alloy is increased, and the colour of the deposited brass
deenened

page_text: On the other hand, if the colour of the deposited brass is too red, the said
brass contains too much copper, in which case I either raise the plate of
copper in part out of the solution, or I place the said plate of copper at a
greater distance from the surface which receives the deposit, or I immerse the
zinc plate to a greater depth in the solution, or place it nearer to the surface
receiving the deposit; by either of which means the relative quantity of
copper in the deposited brass will be diminished, and the colour of the alloy
made lighter. By the use of my Invention the composition of an alloy
deposited by electricity can be regulated with the greatest nicety.
My Invention is applicable to the deposition of alloys in general by elec-
tricity, whether the alloys be composed of two or more than two metals.
My Invention is applicable to the deposition of all such alloys as are or may
be deposited by electricity; but I believe my Invention will be sufficiently
understood by the description herein-before given, and I do not therefore
think it necessary to describe my Invention in its application to the various
alloys to which it may be applied. My Invention may be used in connection
with electricity derived from other sources than the voltaic battery.
Having now 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 details herein described, as the same may be varied with-
out departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Inven-
tion the improvement or improvements in depositing metallic alloys by
electricity, herein-before described, that is to say,connecting with the
copper
or other negative element of the voltaic battery (or its equivalent in any other
source of electricity) used for depositing metallic alloys separate plates of the
metals composing the alloy to be deposited, instead of a plate of the alloy
itself, so as to control the composition of the solution from which the alloy is
being deposited, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Jabez Goode, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
SAMUEL JABEZ GOODE. (L.S.)