IMPROVE. MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF IRON
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Thomas Becks, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Ironmaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF IRON."
Sealed the 26th October 1866, and dated the 4th May 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Thomas Becks at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th May 1866.
I, ARTHUR THOMAS BECKS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Ironmaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF IRON," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in the
manufacture or treatment of iron, whereby the iron so manufactured or
treated when rolled into bars, plates, or sheets, is made to possess a much
smoother and clearer surface than ordinary iron. Iron manufactured or

page_text: treated according to my Invention is especially suited for the use of gal-
vanizers and others who require iron having a smooth and clear appearance.
In manufacturing or treating iron according to my Invention I alloy
or treat it with a small quantity of tin, either in that stage of its manufacture
in which pig iron is being converted into wrought iron or after the pig iron
has been converted into wrought iron. The proportion of tin with which I
alloy or treat the iron depends much upon the quality of the iron, and
may vary from one to ten parts by weight of tin to two hundred parts by
weight of iron. In alloying or treating iron with tin I prefer to use tin plate
scrap (which consists of iron coated with tin), from which part of the tin
has been removed by treatment with acids or otherwise. I mix the tin plate
scrap so treated with pig iron or refined iron or wrought-iron scrap, or with
any mixture of these, and I work the mixture in a refinery or "lumping
fire," using for fuel peat or charcoal. In cases where the ductility of the
iron is not of the first importance coke may be used as fuel. The working
of the mixture in the furnace is conducted in the ordinary manner of balling
iron for rolling into bars or plates. In order to counteract any tendency to
brittleness in the ball or lump produced, more wrought-iron scrap may be
added to the mixture of tin plate scrap and iron. In order to ascertain if the
right proportion of tin has been used, the behaviour of the lump or ball
under the forge hammer should be observed. If the bloom or ball breaks or
cracks under the forge hammer, or if the bloom bar or sheet cracks or breaks
readily, either at a red heat or when cold, the proportion of tin is too great
and must be reduced in order to restore the ductility and tenacity which the
bar or sheet is required to possess. Sheets rolled from iron alloyed or
treated with tin are very smooth, and have when galvanized a lustrous surface
much superior to that of galvanized iron made from iron of the ordinary
manufacture.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Arthur Thomas Becks in the Great Seal Patent Office on 30
the 29th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARTHUR
THOMAS BECKS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Ironmaster,
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Arthur Thomas Becks, Her special licence, that I, the said Arthur Thomas
Becks, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Arthur Thomas Becks, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF IRON," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Arthur Thomas Becks, 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 Arthur Thomas Becks, 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 of the improvements herein-after described in the
manufacture or treatment of iron, whereby the iron so manufactured or
treated when rolled into sheets, hoops, or strips is made to possess a much
Iron manufactured or
smoother and clearer surface than ordinary iron.
treated according to my Invention is especially suited for the use of galvanizers
and workers in sheet iron, who for many purposes require iron having a
smooth and clear appearance when galvanized or tinned.
In manufacturing or treating iron according to my Invention I alloy or treat
it with a small quantity of tin, either in that stage of its manufacture in which
pig iron is being converted into wrought iron, or after the pig iron has been
converted into wrought iron. The proportion of tin with which I alloy or treat.
the iron depends much upon the quality of the iron, and may vary from one to
ten parts by weight of tin to two hundred parts by weight of iron. In alloying
or treating iron with tin I prefer to use tin plate scrap (which consists of iron
coated with tin), from which part of the tin has been removed by treatment

page_text: with acids or otherwise. I mix the tin plate scrap so treated with pig iron
or refined iron or wrought-iron scrap, or with any mixture of these, and I
work the mixture in a refinery or "lumping fire," using for fuel coke, peat,
or charcoal. The working of the mixture in the furnace is conducted in the
ordinary manner of balling. iron for rolling into bars or slabs. In order
to counteract any tendency to brittleness in the ball or lump produced, more
wrought iron may be added to the mixture of tin plate scrap and iron. In
order to ascertain if the right proportion of tin has been used the
behaviour of the lump or ball under the forge hammer should be observed.
If the bloom or ball breaks or cracks under the forge hammer, or if the
bloom bar or sheet cracks or breaks readily, either at a red heat or when cold,
the proportion of tin is too great and must be reduced in order to restore
the ductility and tenacity which the bar or sheet is required to possess.
The most economical and efficient manner of carrying my Invention into
effect with which I am acquainted is the following:--I take ordinary tin
plate scrap and remove a portion of the tin therefrom, either by heating the
said scrap to redness and thereby oxidizing a portion of the tin, or by using
any of the well-known processes practiced for partially stripping the tin from
tin plate scrap. I mix the tin plate scrap from which a portion of the tin
has been removed with ordinary wrought-iron scrap, and throw the mixture
into a blast refinery of the kind known in the iron trade as "a lumping fire."
I prefer small coke or breeze as the fuel, but where greater tenacity and
smoothness are required in the iron I use charcoal. Although I prefer
the use of a lumping fire, yet the mixture of the treated tin plate scrap and
wrought-iron scrap may be worked up in a reverberatory or balling furnace;
but the iron produced in the lumping fire gives a more ductile sheet than that
produced from the reverberatory furnace. Sheets rolled from iron alloyed or
treated with tin are very smooth, and have when galvanized a lustrous surface
much superior to that of galvanized iron made from iron of the ordinary
manufacture, and the said sheets are better fitted for all purposes where sheet
iron having great smoothness and tenacity is required.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be
varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as
my Invention the improvements in the manufacture or treatment of iron
herein-before described, that is to say, manufacturing or treating iron by the
addition thereto or alloying therewith of tin either in the puddling process or

page_text: preferably by the remelting of wrought iron and the addition thereto of
scrap tin plate or partially stripped scrap tin plate.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Thomas Becks, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham,
ARTHUR THOMAS BECKS. (LS.)