IMPROVEMENTS IN HARDENING AND TEMPERING STEEL WIRE, AND IN STRAIGHTENING WIRE
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Fox, of Deepcar, Sheffield, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HARDENING AND TEMPERING STEEL WIRE, AND IN
STRAIGHTENING WIRE."
Sealed the 8th September 1857, and dated the 24th March 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Fox at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
March 1857.
I, SAMUEL Fox, of Deepcar, Sheffield, do hereby declare the nature of the
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HARDENING AND TEMPERING STEEL WIRE, AND
IN STRAIGHTENING WIRE," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in hardening and tempering
steel wire, and in straightening wire. For these purposes the untempered
wire is caused to pass continuously while in a state of tension between plates
heated to redness, and then through a vessel containing water, oil, or other
cold liquid, or between cold plates, by which it is chilled and hardened; after-
wards it passes between other plates heated to the degree necessary to bring
the wire down to the required temper. For straightening wire I pass it when
in a state of tension between plates heated to redness, and do not afterwards
chill it.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Fox in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
Fox, of Deepcar, Sheffield, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth 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 Fox, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel Fox, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel
Fox, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN HARDENING
AND TEMPERING STEEL WIRE, AND IN STRAIGHTENING WIRE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Fox, my executors or admini-
strators, 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 Fox, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in hardening and tempering
steel wire, and in straightening wire. For these purposes the untempered
wire is caused to pass continuously while in a state of tension between plates
licated to redness, and then through a vessel containing water, oil, or other
cold liquid, or between cold plates, by which it is chilled and hardened; after-
wards it passes between other plates heated to the degree necessary to bring
the wire down to the required temper. For straightening wire I pass it when
in a state of tension between plates heated to redness, and do not afterwards
chill it.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and

page_text: readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the method in which I
conduct the processes.
To harden and temper steel wire, the wire as it comes from the drawing
operation is placed on reels mounted on a frame facing the ends of two plates
of cast iron; these plates are a few inches in width, and four or five feet in
length; they are placed one over the other, and are secured together by
clamps. In the two plates are formed six, or other number of parallel
grooves, and the grooves in the upper and under plates correspond, so as to
form passages between the plates, of such a size as to allow the wire to pass
freely through them. The plates arranged in this manner are set in a furnace
somewhat in the same way as gas retorts are set, that is to say, with their ends
exposed at the front and back of the furnace, and they are kept at a red
heat. The wire to be hardened and tempered is drawn from the reels before
mentioned through the grooves in the plates, each groove taking a separate
wire, and so the wire becomes heated, and in this state it passes between two
other plates, arranged in the same way as the plates already described, but
which, in place of being set in a furnace, are set in a cistern, through which
cold water is continuously flowing, so that these plates are kept constantly
cold, and the heated wire being drawn between them becomes hard and
brittle; or the wire may be chilled and hardened by bringing it directly in
contact with water or oil, or other cold liquid contained in a cistern, in place
of passing it between plates, and in this case small pullies are placed at the
bottom of the cistern under which the wire is passed. Beyond the chilling
plates or cistern another similar pair of plates is placed, and these plates are
heated in the same way as the first pair of plates, but they should be kept at
a more moderate temperature; the hardened wire as it passes between these
plates, becomes heated and tempered to an extent depending on the heat of the
plates and on the speed with which the wire passes between, and by adjusting
these the temper required may be obtained. When the process is complete,
the wire is received on reels, which have motion given to them to wind up the
wire and draw it through the plates.
I would remark, that by tempering steel wire by passing it between heated
plates, as above described, the wire becomes straight, so that it may be
employed for any purpose for which it may be required, without undergoing a
subsequent straightening process.
For straightening steel wire when it is not at the same time required to
harden and temper it, and also for straightening other wire, the wire in the
state in which it comes from the drawing process is drawn continuously from

page_text: reels between the red hot plates before described, but it should be drawn
between the plates more rapidly than when for the purpose of hardening it.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Fox, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
JNO. ALCOCK.
SAM FOX. (L.S.)