IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUfacture of CERTAIN KINDS OF METALLIC VESSELS.
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joshua Horton, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUfacture of CERTAIN KINDS OF METALLIC VESSELS.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joshua Horton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th December 1853.
I, JOSHUA HORTON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CERTAIN KINDS OF METALLIC
VESSELS" to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists of methods of forming cylindrical vessels
of wrought iron (such as bottles for holding mercury) by stamping and
rolling. Fig. 1 illustrates my method of forming bottles or vessels of
wrought iron by stamping. a is a cylindrical die of the same diameter
as the exterior of the bottle to be made. The top edge of the die or
block a is bevilled, as shown at a'. b is the hollow cylinder of which

page_text: the bottle is to be formed, having the disc forming its bottom placed in
the expanded part . The partially formed bottle with its bottom being
raised to a welding heat and placed in the die or block a, as repre-
sented, the annular die c is let fall, and striking in its descent the
part b', forces it against the part a' of the die or block a, and welds the
said part b¹ to the bottom of the bottle. The top of the bottle may be
welded to the cylinder b in the same way.
and die or block a for welding the top and
cussion, the pressure of a pair of rolls may be used, as illustrated in
Fig. 2. The cylinder with the top or bottom placed in its end is
raised to a welding heat and passed between the said rolls, by the
pressure of which the said top or bottom is welded to the said cylinder.
Instead of using the die c
bottom of the bottle by per-
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joshua Horton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th June 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOSHUA HORTON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in
the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Joshua Horton, Her special
licence that I, the said Joshua Horton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joshua Horton, 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 OF CERTAIN KINDS OF METALLIC VESSELS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joshua Horton, by an

page_text: instrument in writing under my hand and seal 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 Joshua Horton, 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 said Invention consists in the methods herein-after explained of
forming cylindrical vessels of wrought iron, such as bottles for holding
mercury, by the processes of stamping and rolling.
I will illustrate my Invention by reference to the manufacture of
bottles for holding mercury. The said bottles are made by welding a
top and bottom in a hollow cylinder. I make the hollow cylinders in
the following manner :-I take plates of iron of suitable lengths and
thickness, and having heated them bend them into skelps by means of
a mandril, as is commonly practised. The said skelps are raised to a
welding heat and passed through a pair of rolls, such as are shewn in
elevation in Figure 1, by which process the edges of the said skelps are
welded together, and the said skelps formed into tubes. The said tubes
while still hot are cut into lengths suitable for the vessels to be manu-
factured, by a circular saw. I take one of the cylinders or short tubes,
shown in section in Figure 2, and by means of the conical tool,
Figure 8, open or expand one end of the said tube as illustrated in
Figure 4, the conical part a of the tool, Figure 8, entering and expand-
ing the mouth of the said tube. The bottom of the vessel consists of a
disc of iron, the edge of which is bevilled so as to fit the expanded end bi
of the tube b, Figure 4, and the top of the vessel consists of a concave-
convex disc of iron c, Figure 7, the said disc having a central per-
foration and short neck, and the edge of the said disc c being bevilled
so as to make it fit in the expanded end of the cylinder, Figure 4. The
said top and bottom are welded in the cylinder by means of the
machine shown in front elevation in Figure 5, in plan (partly in section)
in Figure 6, and vertical section in Figure 7. The said machine some-

page_text: what resembles the ordinary stamp. d is a die or stamp, of the form
shown in section in Figure 7, which said die or stamp is capable of
vertical sliding motion between the two uprights ff. e is a block or
die fixed on the bed of the stamp, on which said block or die the cylin-
der b, with the top or bottom fixed in its expanded end and raised to a
welding heat is placed, the said expanded end being turned downwards,
as represented in Figure 7. The exact vertical position of the cylin-
der b, on the block e, is determined by the forked supports: g, h; the
support g turns upon a horizontal axis i, and the support h upon a ver-
tical axis k. After the vessel has been fixed in its place on the die.or
block e, the fork h is removed by means of the handle 7, and the said
cylinder is left standing upon the die or block e, supported only by the
fork g. The stamp d is liberated, and in its descent first strikes away
the support g, and afterwards welds the top or bottom to the cylindrical
part of the vessel by the cylindrical part of the stamp d, striking
against and compressing the expanded end 6' of the cylinder b, the said
expanded end b' of the cylinder 6 being welded to the top or bottom ć,
by the said percussion and compression. Either the top or bottom of the
vessel may be first welded in, the process being the same for each, but
I prefer welding in the top of the vessel first. Instead of welding the
said top and bottom in the cylinder by means of the machine, Figures
5, 6, and 7, I sometimes effect the same by passing the cylinder
Figure 4, with the top or bottom placed therein and raised to a welding
heat between the rolls Figure 1, after the manner of rolling a tube or
cylinder; the pressure of the said rolls on the expanded end of the
cylinder welds it to the top or bottom placed therein. After the
welding of the vessel has been completed, I prefer smoothing or polish-
ing the top and neck of the bottle c, Figure 7. This I effect by intro-
ducing the said top into a turning tool worked by a lathe, the figure
of the said turning tool being the counterpart of the said top and neck;
the face of the said turning tool is covered with teeth after the manner
of a file. I prefer subjecting the said top and neck to the action of the
said turning tool while the same are hot. My Invention is applicable
to the manufacture of cylindrical iron vessels generally.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the

page_text: manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise methods herein-before described, as
the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my said
Invention. But I claim as my Invention,-
Firstly, welding the bottoms or tops and bottoms of iron vessels to
the cylindrical part thereof by stamping, as herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly, welding the bottoms or tops and bottoms of iron vessels to
the cylindrical part thereof, by passing the same between a pair of
rolls, after the manner of rolling a tube or cylinder, as herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joshua Horton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, in the
year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
5
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOSHUA HORTON. (L. 8.)