NEW AND IMPROVED METHODS OF PROTECTING THE SURFACES OF IRON OR OTHER METAL WORK FROM OXIDATION, INCRUSTA- TIONS, OR ACCUMULATIONS OF ANY KIND, MORE ESPECIALLY IN THE CASES OF SHIPS' BOTTOMS, STEAM BOILERS, AND MACHINERY
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Leetch, Gun Maker, of St. Marylebone, County
of Middlesex, and Brownlow Mathew, Gentleman, of St. James, Mid-
dlesex, for the Invention of "NEW AND IMPROVED METHODS OF PROTECTING
THE SURFACES OF IRON OR OTHER METAL WORK FROM OXIDATION, INCRUSTA-
TIONS, OR ACCUMULATIONS OF ANY KIND, MORE ESPECIALLY IN THE CASES OF
SHIPS' BOTTOMS, STEAM BOILERS, AND MACHINERY."
Sealed the 21st January 1868, and dated the 24th July 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Leetch and Brownlow
Mathew at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th July 1862.
We, JAMES LEETCH, Gun Maker, of St. Marylebone, County of Mid-
dlesex, and BROWNLOW MATHEW, Gentleman, of St. James, Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "NEW AND IMPROVED
METHODS OF PROTECTING THE SURFACES OF IRON OR OTHER METAL WORK FROM
OXIDATION, INCRUSTATIONS, OR ACCUMULATIONS OF ANY KIND, MORE ESPECIALLY IN
THE CASES OF SHIPS' BOTTOMS, STEAM BOILERS, AND MACHINERY," to be as
follows:-
Our Invention is intended to be applied chiefly to metal ships or to metal
plates, to be employed in the construction of ships, but it is applicable to
metal surfaces generally. For the sake of clearness, we will refer only to
metal ships, and to metal plates to be employed in their construction, and we
will assume iron to be the metal employed.

page_text: Our Invention consists in protecting the iron by means of a glaze or vitreous
compound, or by means of glass, applied substantially in the manner herein-
after stated.
We will divide our Invention into two processes, by either of which our
object is attained, and will proceed to describe the first. The iron is first
subjected to the action of diluted acid and cleansed by scouring. It is then
placed in a furnace or otherwise heated, to say a dull red heat. If in the
state of plates, the iron is dipped into a bath of, or is coated with soluble
glass, a silicate of potash, or soda, and returned to the furnace, where it is
exposed to such heat as will not injuriously affect it, but which will cause the
materials on its surface to vitrify and form a thin coating of glass (now
become a double silicate), and to closely adhere to or even to impregnate the
metal. Where the metal is in the form of a ship's side, for instance, we
apply the heat by means of a blow pipe or blast furnace, or otherwise, and
pay the soluble glass over the heated surface, and again apply heat to cause
vitrifaction, as before.
In order in some cases to harden and improve the qualities of the vitreous
coating, we add to the bath of soluble glass additional silica, with small per-
centages of lime, alumina, or other materials, according to the properties to
be imparted; for instance, if colour be desired, we add ochre, manganese, cobalt,
or other colouring matter. Or we apply on the soluble glass, when the metal
has been coated with it, harder glass, or the ingredients for forming harder
glass.
.
Or, in order to increase the resisting properties of the vitreous coating, we
cause it to assume a semi-vitreous or devitrified condition, by either cooling it
slowly from the melted state, or when ingredients have been added, which
render the mixture less fusible, by keeping the coated plate subjected for a
comparatively longer period to a heat below that at which perfect fusion of the
vitreous materials would take place, and at the same time below that tem-
perature at which injury would accrue to the iron. If desired we afterwards
smooth or polish the surface.
:
Our second process consists in fixing glass upon metal surfaces, with the
interposition between the metal and the glass of a composition, which not
only serves as a cementing medium, but also acts as a soft cushion for the
glass. The composition we prefer consists of gutta percha, coal tar, and resin,
but any other suitable adhesive cement may be used. The composition may be
applied to the iron, or to the glass, or to both. Supposing it to have been applied
to the metal, we proceed thus-We beat the coating, and apply thereon glass,
say a vitreous composition or sheets or plates of glass, previously bent or shaped

page_text: to correspond with the form of the metal to be covered, fashioned at the back
with corrugated or other indented or rough surfaces, and having their sides
bevilled or cut to overlap each other. Plates or sheets of glass are pierced at
intervals for the reception of screws or bolts, and are imbedded in the adhesive
backing above named. Screws or bolts, the shafts and heads of which are also-
surrounded by the soft material above mentioned, are passed through the
apertures made in the plates or sheets of glass into the metal plate, then we
protect the heads of the screws or bolts with glass or cement, or other adhesive
compound. We either fill up the interstices between the plates with glass or
vitreous compound, fused under the blow pipe, or we stop them up with
cement or some composition, similar to that in which the sheets or plates are
imbedded.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Leetch and Brownlow Mathew in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th January 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
LEETCHI, Gun Maker, of St. Marylebone, County of Middlesex, and
BROWNLOW MATHEW, Gentleman, of St. James, Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said James Leetch and Brownlow Mathew, Her special licence that
we, the said James Leetch and Brownlow Mathew, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said James Leetch and
Brownlow Mathew, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressod, 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 "NEW
AND IMPROVED METHODS OF PROTECTING THE SURFACES OF IRON AND OTHER
METAL WORK FROM OXIDATION, INCRUSTATIONS, OR ACCUMULATIONS OF ANY KIND
MORE ESPECIALLY IN THE CASES OF SHIPS' BOTTOMS, STEAM BOILERS, AND MA-
CHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said James Leetch
and Brownlow Mathew, or one of us, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our, or one of our, or their, or one of their

page_text: 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 we, the said James Leetch and Brownlow Mathew,
do hereby declare the nature of our 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 :-
Our Invention is intended to be applied chiefly to metal ships or to metal
plates, to be employed in the construction of ships, but it is applicable to metals
and metallic surfaces generally. For the sake of clearness we will refer only
to metal ships and to metal plates to be employed in their construction and we
will assume iron to be the metal employed.
Our Invention consists in protecting the iron by means of a glaze or vitreous
compound or by means of glass applied substantially in manner hereafter
stated.
We will divide our Invention into two heads and proceed to describe the
manner in which our Invention is carried into effect under the first head. The
iron is subjected to the action of dilute acid and cleansed by scouring. It is
then placed in a furnace or otherwise heated to say a dull red heat. If in the
state of plates or other suitable form, the iron is dipped in a bath of or is
coated with soluble glass, a silicate of potash or soda, or of both potash and soda,
any soluble glass may be used, but we prefer that which is less basic in character.
The plate is then returned to the furnace where it is exposed to such heat
as will not injuriously affect it but will cause the materials surface to
vitrify and form a thin coating of glass (now become a double or more complex
silicate) and to closely adhero to or even to impregnate the metal. This
dipping or coating and exposure in the furnace may be repeated as often as
may be thought necessary. In some cases we apply the heat by means of a
blow pipe or blast furnace or otherwise and pay the soluble glass over the
heated surface and again apply heat to cause vitrification as before.
In order in some cases to harden and improve the qualities of the vitreous
coating we add to the bath of soluble glass or combine with the soluble glass
so as to form a paste of greater or less consistence, all or any of the following
ingredients, silica, lime, alumina, baryta, talc, manganese, or other materials
used in the ordinary manufacture of glass enamels or glazes, in proportions
varying according to the properties to be imparted, for instance, if colour be
desired we add ochre, manganese, cobalt, or other colouring matter. -Some-

page_text: times we add silica or the other ingredients while the glass on the surface of
the metal is in a state of fusion, or we apply on the soluble glass when the
metal has been coated with it harder glass or the ingredients for forming
harder glass. Sometimes we prepare the plates or other metal surfacos by
first covering them with simple soluble glass vitrified as before described, a
subsequent covering being composed of the soluble glass combined with any
or all of the ingredients before named for improving the qualities of the glass.
Or in order to increase the resisting properties of the vitreous coating, we
cause it to assume a hard semi-vitreous or devitrified condition or state similar
to that known as "Réaumur's porcelain" by either cooling it slowly from the
melted state, or when ingredients have been added which render the mixture
less fusible, keeping the coated plate subjected for a comparatively longer
period to a heat below that at which perfect fusion of the vitreous materials
would take place, and at the same time below that temperature at which
injury would accrue to the iron. Soluble glass is not necessary to the production
of glass in the devitrified conditions above named, as for instance bottle glass
or the ingredients used in its manufacture may be brought in manner above
stated into such conditions upon the metallic surface. If desired we afterwards
smooth or polish the surface.
We now proceed to describe the manner in which our Invention is performed
under the second head, which consists in fixing glass upon metal surfaces, with
the interposition between the metal and the glass of a composition, which not
only serves as a cementing medium, but also acts as a soft cushion for the
glass. The composition we prefer is composed of gutta percha, coal tar, and
resin, but any other suitable cement may be used. The composition may
be applied to the iron or to the glass, or to both. Supposing it to have been
applied to the metal we proceed thus:-We heat the coating and apply thereon
sheets or plates of glass previously bent or shaped to correspond with the form
of the metal to be covered and in some cases fashioned at back with corrugated
or other indented or rough surfaces, and having their sides by preference
bevelled or cut to overlap each other. The plates or sheets of glass are
pierced at intervals for the reception of screws or bolts which have been
previously protected by means of glass or of a glaze as herein-before described,
the plates or sheets of glass are embedded in the adhesive backing above
named. In order to admit of the plates being screwed or bolted home we fill
the apertures for the reception of the screws or bolts with the soft adhesive
composition in order to form a bed for the inner or under part of the screw or
bolt heads to rest upon without coming in contact with the sheets or plates of
glass. We either fill up the interstices between the plates with glass or

page_text: vitreous compound fused under the blow pipe, or we stop them up with cement
or some composition similar to that in which the sheets or plates are cm-
bedded.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we do not limit ourselves
to the precise details herein given, but we claim,-
First, protecting the surface of iron and other metal work by means of
soluble glass heated to form a glaze or coating of insoluble silicates directly upon
such surface, and that whether such soluble glass be employed alone or in
combination with any one or more of the substances herein-before named and
which substances become fused therewith, all substantially and in manner
berein-before described.
Second, protecting the surface of iron and other metal work by means
of glass brought into the devitrified state or into that known as "Réaumur's
porcelain."
And, third, fixing sheets or plates of glass upon metal surfaces by means of
screws or bolts previously protected by a glaze or vitreous coating as described
under the first head of our Invention and with a bed of soft adhesive material
under the screw or bolt heads as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Brownlow Mathew and James Leetch,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-fourth day of
January One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.