IMPROVEMENTS IN HEATING AND WELDING METALS IN VARIOUS FORMS FORTS. VESSELS, APPLICABLE USES. BUILDINGS, AND OTHER STRUCTURES
Year: 1868

page_text: Blackheath, in the County of Kent, Engineer for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN HEATING AND WELDING METALS IN VARIOUS FORMS
FORTS. VESSELS,
APPLICABLE
USES.
BUILDINGS, AND OTHER STRUCTURES AND
Sealed the 17th July 1865, and dated the 10th February 1865.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Bridges Adams
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his l'etition and
Declaration, on the 10th February 1868, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act. 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BRIDGES ADAMS, of Woodstock Lodge, Blackheath, in the County of
Kent, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS |
in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN HEATING AND WELDING METALS IN VARIOUS FORMS APPLICABLE TO FORTS.
VESSELS BUILDINGS. AND OTHER STRUCTURES AND USES, and have petitioned
Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and

page_text: assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
declaration that i am the true and first Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said William Bridges Adams, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and
to the letters and figures of reference, that is to say:--
My improvements consist in various modes of connecting by welding
sheets, bars, and blocks of various forms for the construction of various
objects of iron or steel or iron and steel, so as to dispense partly or entirely
with bolts, rivets, and other similar modes of connecting structures
together, and for this purpose I enclose the portions to be welded together
in boxes or flasks lined with fire-clay or ganister and with bricks or other
materials refractory to heat, so that all parts are covered and prevented
from wasting away and the heat is confined exactly to the surfaces which
are to be joined or connected together, which is not the case when furnaces
or smiths hearths are used to obtain welding heat, and wherein angles
and projecting parts are apt to be burned away; and the fuel I use for
heating is gas in conjunction with air under pressure, which are thrown
in with a continuous stream under pressure. Common house gas of
good quality may serve, but I prefer gas made from petroleum, or coal
or shale oil, by heating in pipes or retorts, and which can be con-
veniently made in any locality, and is purer and freer from sulphur and
other mischievous ingredients, and oxygen, hydrogen, or other gases
may be used to intensify the heat. And when perfect homogeneous
welding is required the surfaces to be welded together should be first
planed or smoothed and levelled to remove all scale, and no fresh scale
need be formed in the act of heating in the closed box or flask as only
burning flame will be admitted and not free air or oxygen; but in some
When
cases the surfaces may be welded without requiring planing over.
the heat is suflicient, as indicated by the pasty condition of the metal,
pressure is to be used to force the surfaces into homogeneous contact;
and in some cases the surfaces are planed to an exact fit, and placed in
close contact, and the parts bound together and heated in the furnace
in the ordinary manner and afterwards pressed by rolling or other
pressure. And the above Invention is applied to the construction of
forts, ships, buildings, and other structures and objects, in order by

page_text: welding to supply the place wholly or in part of bolts, rivets, or similar
fastenings.
My improved modes of welding are illustrated, first, by a pair of
armour plates adapted for a fort on solid ground or for a ship of war,
shewing how a pair or any number of plates may be welded together
in situ, as also any other kind of plates for vessels, forts, bridges, floors,
roofs, boilers, tanks, heaters, chests, or like structures. A link of a chain
is also shewn illustrating the mode of welding together bars or rods,
and a large gun illustrating the mode of welding together strong tubes
either with an open or closed bore, and also a hollow axle adapted to a
railway engine.
Fig. shews in elevation, broken into two parts, and Fig. 1a in plan
a pair of armour plates for a fort, with their edges planed or otherwise
made true and smooth, placed in position for applying gas heat urged
by air blast to the joints to get them into the welding condition.
A. A. A, is a plate fixed in the position it is to occupy; B, B, B, is the
adjoining plate which is attached to two or more screws or to the rams
of hydraulic presses (not shown), one near the top and the other near
the bottom, the presses being fixed and working simultaneously so as to
move the plate B. B, B, backwards or forwards. The joints of the plates
are shewn with a space of four inches or more or less between them for
the play of the gas flame. The dotted lines a, a, a, shew bands or clips
passing round both armour plates and serving by means of the screws
or hydraulic presses to bring the plates A and B into close contact when
required. b, b, b, b, b, b, are hollow covering plates or flasks attached to
the plates A and B. one on each side, covering the joint from end to end
and held in position by bars e, c, e, c, c. c, c, c, with key on screw bolts
d. d, d, d, passing outside the plates A and B above and below. The
dotted lines e shew a core of wood or sheet metal with arched edges fitted
between the plates A and B to keep the joint free while the flasks or
covering plates are being rammed with fire-clay or ganister or similar
material refractory to fire with or without blocks or bricks, as shewn
at /, /. the core being removed when the ramming is complete. Attached
to the outsides of the covering plates or flasks are metal tubes g, g, g.
h, h, h, and from these tubes small tuyeres or nozzles z. z. z, z, project
through the flasks and fire-clay communicating with the joint channel
formed by the two armour plate edges and the two sides of fire-clay
or bricks. These tuyeres may be one, two, three, or more inches apart

page_text: and formed of metal or fire-clay or similar material, and their total exit
area must correspond to the area of the tubes and the consumption of
gas and air. Two of the tubes h, h, h, carry gas under pressure, and the
other two carry air under pressure, and as the gas and air issue from the
tuyeres the currents intersect each other and mingle, forming an intense
flame heat when lighted. Theoretically there should be ten volumes
of air to one of gas, but to make sure against any free air getting access
to the iron I prefer to keep the gas rather in excess, as free air would
form scale by oxygenation. The quantity of air and gas must be in
proportion to the heat required, the pressure being increased to increase
the volume delivered, and oxygen or other gas may be used in com-
bination to intensify the heat. The flasks or covering plates are stopped
close below and left open above for the burnt gases to escape, as in a
chimney, and a tube may be placed at the exit to serve as a chimney.
As the only surfaces of the metal exposed to the flame are the faces of
the joint and the corners are covered by the fire-clay no burning of the
angles can take place and the heat will penetrate inwards with more
or less rapidity as the flame may be urged acting like a large blow
pipe. The sufficiency of the heat may be known by time calculation,
the quantity of metal surface, and the quantity of gas burned. Care
must be taken that no down draught brings in free oxygen, which may
be prevented by keeping up the blast from the commencement of the
operation till its close, which is accomplished by setting the screws
or rams to work and making complete contact, the plate B sliding
through the moulding boxes and flasks or covering plates. The air first,
and next the gas, are then turned off and the exit covered and the whole
gradually cooled, when the two plates A and B will be united homo-
geneously into one. The apparatus is then moved on and another plate
added in the same mode till the fort is complete and solid, abutments
being formed for the screws or rams to act against instead of tension
bands; or holes may be drilled through the plates to take bolts to hold
the tension links; or holes may be drilled partly into the plates, under-
cut, and with studs riveted into them to take the tension links, and the
holes may be afterwards stopped up with metal riveted or screwed in;
or grooves may be cut across the ends of the armour plates to take
the tension bolts, and angular or curved joints may be formed in the
same mode by adapting the covering plates and pipes to their form;
and the joints of vessels for navigation may be formed in the same mode.
And when thin plates are used they may be placed with their planed

page_text: surfaces in close contact at once as the heat will penetrate from both
sides and unite them through the thickness. Lapped joints may also
be formed in a similar mode to Fig. 1 and Fig. ta by fire-clay and
covering plates, the pressure being applied to the thickness instead of to
the width of the plates. And the gas may be common house gas, and
the air urged by blowers under pressure: but I prefer to use petroleum,
or shale, or coat or other oil free from sulphur or other impurities;
vaporizing it into gas by passing it through a heated pipe or pipes or
retorts into a gasometer or direct to the joint. And when the joints
are planed to fit, these plates may if portable be fixed in close contact
and heated in a common furnace fire and covered with sand as usual,
the important object being to prevent the possibility of any oxydation
in the joint when homogeneous union is needed. If the armour plates
be of suflicient thickness in the construction of a fort a solid iron wali
may be formed in a single piece without bolts, rivets, or backing, and
the effect of shot will be less damaging as the elastic yield of the wall
will clude the force of the blow, and the cost of construction will be less,
inasmuch as the power of resistance to fracture will be in proportion to
the thickness of the plate, and consequently the whole of the metal
commonly used for backing may be incorporated together; and separate
iron walls may be formed one behind another in contact to increase
strength, or they may be placed at a distance from each other and filled
in with sand or other material between, either vertical or at an angle
with the horizon. And if the armour plates be of homogeneous material,
such as Bessemer steel, so manufactured as not to be brittle, I apply a
covering plate to the surface and heat it, as before described, and then
by injecting water through a hose I harden the surface so as to break up
shot or shell on impact. In the case of a shot hole or a bad joint I use a
travelling slotting or planing machine to cut away the defect and replace
it by sound metal. And instead of being welded together by their edges
the armour plates may be welded together by thin flat surfaces,
"break joint" one with the other, or two or more armour plates may
be thus welded together to increase their thickness, which in ordinary
furnaces cannot well be done, the limit being from ten to twelve inches,
whereas by my improved mode of uniting by welding any required
thickness may be obtained. As a general rule armour plates are pressed
together, but very imperfectly welded together by reason of scale, and
the thinner they are the better is the quality, and by taking a number
of comparatively thin plates and welding them as described very thick

page_text: and solid plates may be produced; and though I have described them
as being planed over the surfaces to be joined they may also be applied
levelled from the rolls without planing, the advantage being that a less
amount of heat is needed with greater convenience as the external parts
of the metal do not need heating, and greater masses can thus be
obtained. And to weld armour plates in this mode I place one plate
horizontally firm and suspend the other above it attached to one or more
hydraulic rams at a convenient distance apart, and surround them at
their edges with bricks and clay or other packing and fire-clay tuyeres
to secure the gas and air nozzles in the mode before described, and a
third and fourth plate may be applied in the same mode, convenient
exits for the burned gas being provided. And separate shields for
forts, or for turrets for land or for vessels, may thus be formed of any
required thickness with gun ports or embrasures complete.
And for the construction of steam boilers for vessels it is very
important that all parts should be of equal thickness, a result which
cannot be obtained when rivets or bolts are used to connect the parts
together. And sheets of copper, cast or wrought, may be united by
welding in the same mode as herein-before described.
Fig. 2 shows in full size plan a single link of a chain with two
adjoining links broken off. a, a, denote a bottom flask and the link
lying in it; b, b, is the fire-clay surrounding the link; e. the open joint,
the surfaces to be joined being planed smooth and true; d, the air pipe;
e, the gas pipe, with their respective tuyeres /, /, When the heat is
attained pressure is applied at the ends of the link and union ensured.
The joint is shewn as a "butt," but a "scarf joint" may be made in a
similar mode; and in the case of small rods or bars like this the joint
may be formed close and heat applied as the heat will pierce through
in the ordinary fire. The tuyeres shewn are so arranged as to cover
the whole joint surface with a sheet of flame, an orifice being provided
for the escape of the burned gases.
Fig. 3 shews in longitudinal section, and Fig. 3a and Fig. 3b in cross
end view, a large gun formed in two halves, or it may be in three, four,
or more radial sections. The parts are produced in rolls with the hollow
of the bore, which may be lined with steel, welded to the mass and
planed to exact surfaces to fit together at their edges, and bound up by
rough hoops in close contact; they are then placed in a furnace and
heated together to a welding heat and passed through rolls or under

page_text: hammers to consolidate them. The bore is thus formed in the rolls
of denser metal than is the case when bored out of the solid, and only
requires finishing with a too! in the lathe as usual; a, a, a, denote the
bore, b, b, b, b, the half gun. Fig. 3a shews an end view of the gun
formed in two halves, Fig. 3b in four quarters. The dotted lines indicate
a back viewforce and trunnions shrunk on; and heavy tubes of any kind
may be welded in the same mode as for heavy shafting or railway axles
and hollow axles produced perfectly trustworthy. The half tubes may
be rolled from solid blooms of iron or from homogeneous metal, such
as Bessemer's, then planed at their edges, bound together, placed in the
furnace, heated, and passed through the rolls; in this mode an exact
thickness may be obtained throughout with, if desired, solid ends. Fig. 4
shews in longitudinal section a railway engine axle of this kind broken
off at the centre, the surfaces to be joined a, a, being planed or otherwise
worked smooth, true, and clean, and then bound together by hoops or
wire and so placed in the furnace and heated to welding heat and then
passed through rolls or under hammers. The journal bearings are solid
and may be reduced to their outer diameters by rolling or swaging in
any usual mode; and armour plates may be welded together in the
furnace to produce a better result by having their surfaces planed and
put in close contact previous to heating and rolling in the same mode.
Note. Fig. 2 in the Drawing is full size, all the other Figures are
to a scale of one inch to one foot, and by the Drawings and description
any competent mechanician will understand the system, and I have
avoided therefore all needless complication of parts.
Having now described my said improvements I wish it to be distinctly
understood that what I claim as original is,
First. Forming true and close fitting surfaces in the separate portions
of metal to be welded together, planed or otherwise smoothed, and free
from all scale when homogeneous union is needed, and enclosing the
joint either open or closed in a box, or flask, or cover lined with bricks,
fire-clay, ganister, or similar refractory material, heating the surfaces of
the metal by gas blast with atmospheric air or oxygen, through passages
left for the purpose. to a welding heat, and then pressing them together
in close contact by screw, hydraulic, or other power, in some cases
forming holes for bolts or holes for studs for tension bars to obtain
pressure and produce homogeneous union, as herein-before described and

page_text: illustrated by Fig. 1, 1a, and Fig. 2, and producing thick armour plates
and shields in the same or similar manner.
Secondly. The application of this principle to the construction of
navigable vessels either with single or double hulls or with armoured
bulls, or to iron forts, or to boilers for steam vessels, or for stationary
purposes, or for the furnaces and cylinders of engines worked by heated
air, for armoured turrets or batteries, bridges, floors, roofs, tanks, chains,
cables, and other structures, so as to dispense or partly dispense with
bolts and rivets by homogeneous structure, as herein-before described.
Thirdly. Heating and hardening by sudden cooling the surfaces of
steel armour plates in situ, or otherwise heating by gas under fire-clay or
otherwise lined flasks or covers, as herein-before described.
Fourthly. The application of petroleum, shale, or coal oil, or other
liquid fuel to form gas by passing them through heated pipes or retorts
to heat and weld metals in situ or in fixed furnaces.
Fifthly. The construction of guns by rolling them in halves or in
segments and then planing or otherwise working all the adjoining
surfaces to a fit, fastening them together, and heating them, as before
described, in an ordinary furnace or in a gas furnace, as before described,
and passing them between rolls or under hammers, as herein-before
described and illustrated by Figs. 3, Ba, and 3b.
Sixthly. The construction of shafting, tubes, and axles rolled in halves
or in segments with hollow centres and solid ends or hollow throughout.
as herein-before described and illustrated by Fig. 4. and in planing the
surfaces of armour plates or of blocks of iron to form armour plates to
be joined and welded before placing them together and heating them in
the furnace to unite them, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof. I, the said William Bridges Adams, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-eight.
W. BRIDGES ADAMS. (L.S.)