A NEW MANUFACTURE OF CAPSULES, AND OF A MATERIAL TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BETTS, of No. 7, Smithfield Bars, in the City of London, Distiller, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I did by petition humbly represent unto Her present most
Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria that I had invented "A NEW MANUFACTURE
OF CAPSULES, AND OF A MATERIAL TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES," and Her said Majesty, being willing to give encouragement to all
arts and inventions that may be for the public good, was graciously pleased, by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirteenth day
of January, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the twelfth
year of Her reign, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, to give and grant
unto me, the said William Betts, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I or they, by myself
or themselves, or by my or their deputies, servants, or agents, or such others
as I or they should agree with (and no others), during the term of fourteen
years from the date of the said Letters Patent, should and lawfully might
nake, use, exercise, and vend my said Invention within that part of Her said
Majesty's Dominions called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, in such manner as to me, my exors, adñors, and
assigns, shall seem meet, and that I or they shall enjoy the whole profit and
advantage arising by reason of the said Invention during the said term of
fourteen years; and whereas the said Letters Patent contain a proviso
obliging me, the said William Betts, particularly to describe and ascertain

page_text: the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under n.y hand and seal, and to cause
the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Betts, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described and
ascertained in manner following (that is to say):-
The capsules herein referred to are metal covers, used for closing or
stopping, or for securing the closure or stoppering of the mouths of bottles
and certain other vessels, which metal covers have been hitherto made of tin,
by bending up a suitable piece of a thin sheet of that metal into a hollow
form, or cup, or cap, of a suitable size for applying closely over the mouth of
a bottle or other vessel (and over any such cork or other kind of stopper as
may have been previously inserted into the said mouth. In case of a cork or
other stopper being used, the sides of the said metal cover, cap, or capsule
also reaching downwards around the outside of the upper part of the
neck of the bottle, so as to envelope the whole of such upper part,
in the manner of an inverted cup, or of a case, or hood, or cap, or
metal cover, or capsule, the said sides hereof, after having been so
applied over and around the said upper part, are closely collapsed or closed
in, or compressed laterally on all sides around that said upper part, in
such manner as that the said metal cover, cap, or capsule will become
securely fastened around and upon the said upper part, suitably for closing
or stopping, or for securing the previous closure or stoppering of the
said mouth of the bottle or other vessel, in such manner as that the said
mouth cannot be opened without cutting or tearing the metal, and manifestly
disfiguring the metal cover, cap, or capsule. Metal covers, caps, or capsules,
made of tin, are well known under the designation of "Bett's Patent Capsules,"
and are are now in common use, great numbers having been made and sold under
certain Letters Patent, granted at three several times by Her present Majesty
to my late father, John Thomas Betts, namely, on the Eleventh day of August,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-two, and on the Sixteenth day of
March, One thousand eight hundred and forty-three, and on the Twenty-
seventh day of June, One thousand eight hundred and forty-three. The new
manufacture of a material to be employed in the manufacture of capsules,.
and for other purposes, consists, in combining lead with tin, by covering the
lead with tin over one or both surfaces of the lead, and reducing the two,

page_text: metals in their conjoined state into thin sheets, of a thickness suitable for
the purposes to which they are to be applied. And for the purpose of so
preparing lead by covering the same with tin as aforesaid, I first cast the
molten lead in an ingot mould of cast iron (or other suitable material), and
constructed in the usual manner of ingot moulds for metal, and of suitable
internal dimensions for producing ingots of lead, which (for the manufacture
of the material for capsules) may be between four and five inches wide by
about three quarters of an inch thick, and about thirty inches in length, with
a few inches at one end of each ingot gradually reduced in thickness, in the
manner of a wedge. I also cast tin, either into similar ingots, of the same
or nearly the same dimensions as the aforesaid ingots of lead, or the tin may
be cast into long thin strips, of nearly the same width as the aforesaid ingots
of lead, and between one quarter and one sixteenth of an inch in thickness,
and several feet in length. And having thus obtained the lead and the tin in
suitable states for beginning the rolling or laminating each of the two metals
separately between a pair or pairs of revolving cylindrical flatting rollers, of
the construction usually employed for rolling or laminating ductile metals,
I pass and repass the lead one or more time or times through or between
such rollers, that is to say, rolling and re-rolling the ingot of lead as many
times as may be requisite for reducing the lead to about one fourth of an inch
in thickness, and thereby the ingot of lead will become greatly elongated.
And in like manner I roll and re-roll the tin as many times as (according to
its original thickness when cast as aforesaid) may be requisite for reducing
it to about one twentieth part of the thickness to which the lead is
reduced by rolling as aforesaid, whatever that thickness may be. The lead
and the tin having been thus reduced to their proper relative thicknesses,
and their widths being nearly alike, and even surfaces of each of the two
metals having been obtained by the aforesaid rolling, then, in case it is
intended to cover both sides of the lead with tin, I extend a long strip of
the thin tin (so reduced to relative thickness as aforesaid) flatways upon a
smooth table, and lay a shorter strip of the lead (so reduced to relative
thickness, as aforesaid,) very evenly upon the extended tin,. with one end
of the said strip of lead conforming with one end of the said long strip of
tin, and then I fold back the tin over the other end of the lead (being that
eud thereof which still retains some of that wedge-like form of the original
casting of the ingot of lead already mentioned), and, consequently, the tin when
so folded will apply to both surfaces of the lead; I then cut off the long strip of
folded tin to correspond with the length of the lead, and I smooth down the
tin with any convenient wooden rubber, or otherwise, so as to take out all

page_text: wrinkles in the tin, and bring it very evenly into superficial contact with the
lead, and with the two bordered edges of the strip of tin, conforming every-
where with the two border edges of the lead, so as to ensure that the tin shall
cover the lead as completely as can be done; I then take up the lead and tin
together from off the said table, and prevent the folded end of the tin to a pair
of revolving flatting rollers, which are set so as to subject the two metals to a
very considerable presure, and that pressure, at the same time that it reduces
the thickness and elongates the two metals, will also cause their surfaces to
adhere together, and then I repass the conjoined metal again and again
between the said rollers for further reduction and elongation, and at every
succeeding time of so repassing the adhesion of the two metals will become
more complete, and when the strip of conjoined metals is thus become
elongated to a considerable length, I find it is convenient, for further repetitions
of the rolling, to gather up the said strip (as fast as it comes out from between
the said pair of flatting rollers) into a spiral coil, by means of a roller which is
suitably disposed behind that pair of rollers, and is turned round by an endless
strap motion, so as that the said roller will wind and coil up the strip around
it into such a coil; and then that roller, with the said coil thereon, can be
removed to the front of another pair of flatting rollers, which by their motion
will draw off and unwind the strip from its said spiral coil as fast as the con-
join'd metal passes through between the said flatting rollers, which rollers
should be made of hard cast iron, in the manner of what are called chilled
rolls, and highly polished, in order to give a very smooth surface to the tin of
the conjoined metals by the rolling or flattening action of the said pair of
flatting rollers. And note, I provide a small cistern of water beneath the
said roller which has the said coil around it, so that when the same is
removed to the front of the pair of flatting rollers, as aforesaid, the lower
part of such coil will be immersed in the said water, in order that the
conjoined metal may become wetted on it surfaces before it enters between
the said pair of flatting rollers; and such wetting tends to prevent the tin on
the surface of the conjoined metal from adhering to the rollers, as it might
otherwise do occasionally. And I repeat such rolling of the strip of conjoined
metals between the same or another like pair of chilled and highly polished
flatting rolls, two, three, or more times, as may be requisite for reducing the
said strip of conjoined metals to the required thinness for the manufacture of
capsules. The material so prepared is cut into discs or pieces of the required
size. These discs are then carefully examined, for the purpose of rejecting
any in which the lead is not perfectly covered by the tin, which will be at
once discovered in a good light, from the difference of appearance of the

page_text: surface where the lead is not perfectly covered. The discs of the said new
material are made into capsules, and the manufacture thereof conducted in
the manner described in the Specification of the said Letters Patent of the
Sixteenth day of March, One thousand eight hundred and forty-three, and
which process is now well understood. The said new material or compound
metal of lead combined and covered with tin on one or both sides in manner
aforesaid, may also be employed for other purposes; such, for instance, as for
making into very thin sheets, as a substitute for what is called tin foil, and
which has been hitherto made (or professed to be made) of tin alone, but has
been more commonly made of tin alloyed with lead, by mixing those two metals
together, whilst both are in a state of fusion, in the first instance, before
casting the mixed metal into ingots, whereas my new material will be pure
tin on the surface exposed to view, but will be lead in its interior thickness;
and the said pure tin on those surfaces, being unalloyed by the lead which it
covers over, will exhibit a brilliant metallic lustre. And when my said new
material is to be made into thin leaves or foil, which will serve as a substitute
for tin foil, I take a long strip of the conjoined metal, which has been already
rolled and reduced in manner herein-before described, and 1 fold such strip
several times upon itself, of a length equal to the width of the foil required;
and then, by cutting off the two folded ends, I obtain a packet consisting of
between two and three dozen strips, but all alike, and I pass and repass such
packet repeatedly through between a pair of highly polished flatting rollers,
with the lengthway of the said packet parallel to the axis of the said rollers, so
that the rolling and laminating action thereof will be transverse to the
direction of the previous rolling of the long strip, and by repeated rolling and
re-rolling such packet of strips transversely they are reduced in thickness and
extended in width by degrees, so as to become broad leaves of thin foil; but
during the progress of such repeated rolling and re-rolling I occasionally
separate the leaves one from another, to prevent any adhesion that might
otherwise take place between their adjacent surfaces. The thin leaves of my
new material, after having been reduced very thin by rolling and re-rolling as
aforesaid, may afterwards be still further reduced in thickness, if that is
required, by hammering a great number of the thin leaves together on a flat
table, in the usual mode of treating tin foil. And my new material, when
laminated by rolling and re-rolling the same into leaves of moderate thinness,
according to the size of the leaves, may be employed for various purposes, in
addition to those purposes for which tin foil has been commonly used; and thin
leaves of my new material may be ornamented by embossing such leaves with
ornamental patterns in the same manner as is commonly practised for embossing

page_text: cloth, leather, or paper, by passing the said leaves through between a pair of
revolving rollers. One is a metal roller, engraved on its cylindrical surface,
with the pattern either sunk below that surface or raised in relief above the
same; the other roller of the said pair of revolving rollers being of paper or
other substance which will become sufficiently impressed with a counterpart
to the pattern by the pressure against the other engraved roller. And such
thin leaves of my new material, of suitable size and thickness, may be printed
in the manner of ordinary or ornamental letter-press printing on sheets of
paper, and may be so printed either with black or with colored ink, and with
inscriptions or words to be read, or with ornamental devices of any kind, such
as are or may be printed on paper. And the aforesaid embossing or printing
appearing on the bright tin surface of my new materal as a ground, will
be very distinct and well defined; and for preservation of the brightness
thereof, the whole surface may be varnished over with any suitable transparent
varnish which will resist damp, such as is sometimes applied over gilding, over
paper hangings on the walls of apartments, staircase, &c:; or varnish, colored.
with light and transparent color, may be used. And such thin leaves of my
new material, being suitable ornamented in manner aforesaid, may be used in
the manner of paper hanging for the walls of apartments, or for ornamenting
particular parts of such walls, or of compartments thereof, where the metallic
brightness of the tin will have a good effect as a ground for the pattern. And
instead of the tin covering both sides of the lead, it will be sufficient for many
purposes to have the tin upon one side only of the lead; for instance, when
thin leaves of my new material are employed in place of tin foil, for lining
dressing-cases, or other purposes requiring the leaves to be glued, pasted, or
otherwise stuck upon any surface which is to be covered by the leaves; the
aforesaid employment of such leaves for hangings of the walls of apartinents
being in another instance; or in case it may be required to stick such leaves
down upon paper, or upon cloth, previous to or subsequent to embossing or
printing upon the tin surface as aforesaid, or for covering or partly covering
over the outsides of books, fire screens, work, or other ornamental articles, in
all or any such cases it will be unnecessary to have any tin upon that side
which is to be so glued, pasted, or otherwise stuck. And the mode of proceed-
ing, when only one side of the lend is to be covered with tin, is the same in all
respects as herein-before described, except as to applying the tin to only one
side instead of both sides of the lead at the time when a thin strip of tin is applied
to a thicker strip of lead, as herein-before described, but that strip of tin should
be folded back a short distance over that end of the lead which has the wedge-
like form, and the folded end of the tin should be presented between the pair

page_text: of revolving flatting rollers when the lead and tin together are to be subjected
for a first time to the pressure of those rollers, and make the two metals adhere
together, as already explained, for the said folded end of the tin around the wedge-
like end of the lead will ensure that the two metals will enter properly together
between the rollers. And my said new material being made in plates or sheets
of adequate thickness and size, may be employed for other purposes for which
thin sheet lead or tinned iron or sheet zinc or sheet tin have been commonly
employed, such, for instance, as lining cisterns or wine coolers, which are to
contain water, and for lining boxes, chests, or cases for packing or safe keeping
of articles which require to be kept dry or protected from insects; or on
a still larger scale for lining larger water cisterns, and other purposes, in sub-
stitution for the thicker sheet lead used by plumbers. In most such case it
will be sufficient to have one side only of the lead covered with tin. And the
perfection of my said new material will depend in a great measure upon the
soundness of the casting of the tin in the ingots to avoid specks of sand or
dirt flaws or honey-comb hollows in the ingots; and the same, in some degree;
of the lead, for as the conjoined metals are to be very much extended in the
operations of laminating, and the tin on the surface or surfaces will be reduced
extremely thin by those operations, any minute defects in the soundness of
the castings will become extended, so as to cause visible blemishes in the tin
surfaces of the conjoined metals; hence, the casting of the ingots should be
conducted with every care and precaution commonly practised for obtaining
soundness; and the same of the laminating operations, and, in particular, care
should be taken to avoid dirt getting between the tin and the lead when they
are pressed together for the first time between the pair of flatting rollers, for
obtaining the first adhesion of the two metals; also, any air which cannot
make its escape from between them will remain imprisoned, so as to form
blisters, which will render the adhesion imperfect at the places of such blisters.
To avoid blisters, the tin should be carefully smoothed down upon the lead, as
already mentioned, without leaving wrinkles containing air, of which portions
may get imprisoned; and the surfaces of the said pair of rollers, between which
the lead and the tin are passed together for the first time as aforesaid, should
move with a slower motion than is suitable for the other pair or pairs of rollers
between which the subsequent lamination of the conjoined metals is to be per-
formed, after their adhesion has been produced by repeated operation, the
first-mentioned pair of rollers, the slower motion of which will better allow
the air to make its escape from between the lead and the tin. The fragments
of my new material left unworked into capsules, or otherwise beneficially
employed, are carefully reserved for melting down along with lead for casting

page_text: future ingots, which will thereby acquire a very small proportion of tin, but
not enough to make any material difference from pure lead. I am aware that
it has been proposed to cover lead with tin, by applying the tin, when in a
state of fusion, to the lead when adequately heated, so that the adhesion of the
two metals would be produced by agency of heat with complete fusion of the
tin; but the adhesion of the two metals in my new material is produced by
arency of mechanical pressure. And I wish it to be understood that I do not
claim the exclusive use of the several purposes herein-before described or
referred to of casting, cutting, and rolling, except when the same are employed
for the purposes of my said Invention; and I hereby declare that I claim as
the Invention intended to be secured by the said Letters Patent,-
Firstly, the manufactures of the new material, lead combined with tin, on
one or both of its surfaces, by rolling or other mechanical pressure, as herein
described.
Secondly, the manufacture of capsules of the new material of lead and tin
combined by mechanical pressure, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Betts, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of July, One thousand eight
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid William Betts came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
sai. and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
sight badood and forty vine