IMPROVEMENTS IN ANNEALING POTS OR PANS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Smith, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manager of Works, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ANNEALING POTS OR PANS."
Sealed the 9th July 1861, and dated the 20th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th April 1861.
1, MATTHEW SMITH, of Birmingham in the County of Warwick, Manager
of Works, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN ANNEALING POTS OR PANS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the improvements herein-after described in
annealing pots or pans for annealing iron wire, and for annealing metallic
articles in general.
My Invention consists, firstly, in making in the upper edge of the annealing
pot or pan a V or other shaped groove, in which said groove the lid of the
pot or pan rests. The sand which is commonly used for forming a joint is
placed in the said groove, and the edge of the lid is dropped into the sand.
When the lid is fitted to the annealing pot in the manner described, the
removal of the lid does not occasion the falling of sand into the interior of the
pot, as occurs with pots of the ordinary construction.

page_text: My Invention consists, secondly, of making the sides of annealing pots cor-
rugated instead of plain. I prefer to make the corrugations in a vertical
direction, but they may be placed diagonally or in a helical direction, or placed
horizontally.
By constructing the sides of annealing pots as described, they are less liable
to crack or bulge by the action of the heat than when they are made plain.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Matthew Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, MATTHEW
SMITH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manager of Works, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Matthew Smith, Her special licence that I, the said Matthew
Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Matthew Smith, 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 uright 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
ANNEALING POTS OR PANS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Matthew Smith, 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 Matthew Smith, 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:-
My Invention consists in the improvements herein-after described and

page_text: illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, in annealing pots or pans for
annealing iron wire, and for annealing metallic articles in general.
My Invention consists, firstly, in making in the upper edge of the annealing
pot or pan a V-shaped groove, in which said groove the lid of the pot or pan
rests. This part of my Invention is applicable both to pots or pans of the
ordinary kind, and to pots or pans made according to the second part of my
Invention.
My Invention consists, secondly, of making the bodies and covers of
annealing pots or pans corrugated instead of plain, whether the said bodies
and covers be made of cast or wrought metal.
Both my improvements are represented combined together in one annealing
pot in the accompanying Drawings, in which Figure 1 represents an elevation
of an annealing pot for annealing iron wire, constructed according to my
Invention; Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same, without the lid or cover;
Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the same, and Figure 4 is a plan of the top
or upper edge of the same. The body a of the annealing pot consists of a
hollow cylinder of metal open at both ends, the said cylinder being corrugated,
the corrugations running in a vertical direction, that is, in a line with the axis
of the said annealing pot. The upper edge of the said pot has a flange b, in
which a V-shaped groove c is made as represented in Figure 2; d is the lid or
cover of the annealing pot, the lower edge of which has corrugations made in
it similar in shape and size to the corrugations in the body of the annealing
pot. The said lower edge of the lid fits in the groove c, when the pot is closed
by the said lid or cover. The said groove c contains sand. The bottom of the
annealing pot is supported on a base plate, and the coils of wire to be annealed
are placed in the pot in the usual manner. The lid d is dropped in the sand
in the groove c, and the pot is ready for the annealing process: the said sand
forming the joint which prevents access of air to the interior of the annealing
pot. When the lid of the annealing pot or pan is fitted in the manner
described and represented, the removal of the lid does not occasion the falling
of the sand into the interior of the pot or pan as occurs with pots or pans of the
ordinary construction. The loss of effective heat and injury to the base or
bottom of the annealing pot or pan, which result from the accumulation of sand
on the bottom, are obviated by my Invention. Instead of making the
annealing pot in two parts, namely, of a body and lid, the said annealing pot
may be made in one piece. An annealing pot made as last described is repre-
sented in elevation in Figure 5 of the Drawings.
The whole of the said pot is corrugated as represented, and the said pot is

page_text: open only at its bottom. The coils of wire are supported on a suitable base
plate and piled one upon another, and the annealing pot, Figure 5, is after-
ward placed over the said coils of wire, and the said pot and wire arc
afterwards heated, and the wire annealed. A sand or other joint is made at
the junction of the base of the pot, Figure 5, with the plate on which it is
supported. In the interior of the annealing pot or pan, Figures 1 and 2, 1
make or fix four snugs, two of which are represented and marked a in
Figure 2. By placing a bar under the said snugs the pot or pan may be
readily put in and lifted from the furnace when necessary. The said snugs: a²
being in the concave parts of the corrugations, they do not obstruct the motion
of the coils of wire as they are charged into and removed from the pot or pan.
On the exterior of the annealing pot or pan, Figure. 5, I make two or more
snugs, one of which is represented in the said Figure. The said snugs serve
for connecting a chain to in order to lift the pot or pan. Figure 6 represents
in plan, Figure 7 in side clevation, Figure 8 in end elevation, and Figure 9
in transverse section, an annealing pan or box made according to my Inven-
tion for annealing tin plates, or for annealing metallic articles in general.
The said annealing pan or box is rectangular in shape, being open at its bottom.
The sides and top of the pan are corrugated, as represented. The articles to
be annealed are placed upon the base plate or support e of the pan or box; the
said base plate being provided with a flange running round the said plate.
The articles having been placed on the base plate e, the corrugated body g. of
the pan or box is placed upon the said plate, the lower edges of the pan
engaging within the inner side of the flange f, as best seen in the section,
Figure 9. Sand having been put between the junction of the body g with the
flange f, the pan or box is ready for the annealing process.
Although I prefer to make the corrugations in the pots, pans, or boxes in a
vertical direction, as illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, yet the said
corrugations may be placed horizontally, or partly horizontally and partly
vertically, or placed diagonally in the rectangular pans or boxes, and helically
in the cylindrical pans or pots, with the same or nearly the same effect. By
annealing pots or pans being corrugated as described and illustrated in the
Drawings, they are less liable to crack or bulge by the action of the heat than
when they are made plain.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my
Invention, firstly, the improvement is fitting the lids or covers of annealing
pots or pans to the said pots or pans herein-before described and illustrated in

page_text: Figures 1, 2, and 4 of the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, making in
the top or upper edge of the said annealing pots or pans a V-shaped groove to
contain sand, in which groove the lid or cover of the pot or pan rests and
closes the said pot or pan, whether the bodies of the said annealing pots or
pans be plain or corrugated.
Secondly, the improvement in annealing pots or pans herein-before
described and illustrated in the several Figures of the accompanying Drawings.
that is to say, making the bodies of the said annealing pots or pans corru-
gated; the said corrugations strengthening the said pots or pans, and making
them less liable to crack or bulge by the heating and cooling which they
undergo than ordinary annealing pots or pans.
In witness whereof, I. the said Matthew Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
MATTHEW SMITH. (L.S.)