AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF POLISHING, BLUEING, AND ANNEALING ARTICLES OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF POLISHING, BLUEING,
AND ANNEALING ARTICLES OF IRON AND STEEL."-A communication.
Sealed the 21st May 1858, and dated the 18th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th March 1858.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF POLISHING, BLUEING,
AND ANNEALING ARTICLES OF IRON AND STEEL," to be as follows:-
This Invention of an improved process of polishing, blueing, and annealing
articles of iron and steel, relates chiefly to the treatment of rods, bars, and
plates or sheets of iron or steel.
The articles having been drawn or rolled out in any well-known way are
plunged into an acid bath to remove the scale; after this they are washed to
remove the acid, and when dry passed cold between smooth rollers, which give
them a perfectly polished bright smooth surface that will resist to a very great
degree corrosion or oxydation.

page_text: In order to blue or color and anneal the bars or sheets they are submitted
to the action of a bath of molten lead, zinc, or any alloy of metal that will fuse
under a moderate temperature.
The articles to blued or colored are immersed in the bath singly or in such
a manner as not to be in contact with each other, and are allowed to remain
therein from one to five minutes, or they may be immersed more than once,
the longer they remain in the bath the darker being the color they receive.
Sheets thus treated have the appearance of Russia sheet iron, with this
advantage, that if polished by the rolling process they are stiffer than those of
the same gauge as ordinarily rolled out, the polishing process having the
property of packing and materially hardening the surfaces. This blueing or
coloring and annealing process may be applied or used with bars or sheets
that have been polished or smoothed by other processes than that above
described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF POLISHING, BLUEING, AND ANNEALING
ARTICLES OF IRON AND STEEL," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe

page_text: 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 (that is to say):—
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates
chiefly to the treatment of rods, bars, and plates or sheets of iron or steel, so
that the fibres of the metal may be rendered compact, and a smooth or
polished surface produced, and also that the same may be blued and annealed
when required. The following is the mode of proceeding:-After the rods,
bars, plates, or sheets have been drawn or rolled out in any of the usual well-
known ways and become cool they are plunged into an acid bath to remove
the scale; they are next washed to remove the acid, and they are then
submitted to pressure between smooth rollers, which gives them a perfectly
polished bright smooth surface that will resist to a very great degree corrosion
or oxydation.
This Invention is applicable to any kind of iron or steel that is drawn out
between rollers, for the polishing rolls may have any shape that is ordinarily
given to drawing rolls. In order that the polished surfaces may be perfectly
smooth the rollers employed for this purpose should be exclusively used for the
finishing process, inasmuch as if used for drawing out hot metals there will be
cracks or marks left upon them which will be impressed upon the surfaces of
the polished metal, and thus mar their otherwise smooth surface; and as in this
process the bars or plates are polished when cold, the polishing rolls need
never be heated, and no cracks will appear upon their surfaces. Subjecting
the cold rods, bars, sheets, or plates to this polishing process packs the fibre
of the metal to such a degree as not only to make a hard smooth surface that
will resist corrosion, but the bars or sheets though reduced in size actually
become stiffer than they were before the process, so that it is polishing and
compressing or hardening the surfaces at one and the same operation.
In the process chilled rollers are used, their acting surfaces being very
carefully prepared so that they shall not leave any marks upon the polished
surfaces. The rods, bars, sheets, or plates of iron or steel being first drawn
down to near their size are subjected to the acid bath until the scale is
loosened and then removed. This leaves the surfaces bright but "honey-

page_text: combed;" they are then passed once, twice, or more times between the polishing
rolls, which packs this bright though rough surface down to a perfectly smooth
hard and polished surface. It is unnecessary to mention the many uses to
which such toughened or hardened rods, bars, sheets, or plates may be applied,
as it is obvious to all mechanicians that they may be used in this polished
state for many purposes. If, however, it should be desirable to blue or color
the bars or sheets so treated, the sheets more particularly (as they then very
much resemble Russia sheet iron), they may be submitted for that purpose to
the action of a bath of molten lead, zinc, or any alloy of metal that will fuse
under a moderate temperature. The bath having been properly prepared
and heated, the pieces to be blued or colored are immersed therein singly or
in such a manner as not to be in contact with each other, and are allowed to
remain therein from one to five minutes; or they may be immersed more
than once; the longer they remain in the bath the darker will be the color they
receive. By this means rods, bars, sheets, or plates may be colored, and at the
same time they are softened or annealed.
If other metals than those which fuse at a low temperature were used in the
bath, the high heat caused to keep them in a fluid state would cause such
metals to adhere to the bars or sheets, and thus mar their surface or prevent
uniformity of shade or color. And if the bars or sheets are allowed to touch
each other in the bath there would be at their point of contact a spot or space
of different color, and for this reason they should be dipped singly, or so
suspended as not to touch each other. Sheets thus treated have the appearance
of Russia sheet iron, with this advantage, that if polished by the rolling process
they are stiffer than those of the same gauge as ordinarily rolled out, the
polishing process having the property of packing and materially hardening the
surfaces. This blueing or coloring and annealing process it will be understood
may be applied to bars or sheets that have been polished or smoothed by other
processes than that above described.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved Process
of Polishing, Blueing, and Annealing Articles of Iron and Steel," as com-
municated to me by my foreign correspondent, and explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to understood that under the above
in part recited Letters Patent I claim,―
First, subjecting rods, bars, sheets, or plates of iron or steel to pressure
between cold pressing rollers, in the manner and for the purpose above
explained.
And, secondly, I claim blueing or coloring and annealing rods, bars, sheets,

page_text: or plates of iron or steel after they have been deprived of their scale and
polished, by immersing them in a bath of molten lead or its equivalent metal,
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)

page_text: [The words and figures constituting the Amendments, and which are inserted
in red ink in the original, are here distinguished by being placed within
brackets.]
In the Matter of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852, and in the
Matter of Letters Patent granted to ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, for
"AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF POLISHING, BLUEING, AND ANNEALING
ARTICLES OP IRON AND STEEL," bearing date the Eighteenth day of
March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-eight, whereof a good and sufficient Specification was duly filed,
and which said Letters Patent have been duly assigned to and are
now vested in William Clegg, of Strawberry Hill, in the County of
Lancaster.
DISCLAIMER AND MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION proposed to be
entered and filed by the said William Clegg, as assignee of the said
Letters Patent, pursuant to the Statutes in that case made and
provided.
WHEREAS those parts of the title of the said Letters Patent and of the In-
vention described in the said Specification which relate to the process of blueing
and annealing articles of iron and steel are not new in their general use and
application, and I, the said William Clegg, am desirous of disclaiming and
omitting them from the said Specification.
And whereas the term "polishing," employed in the title of the said Letters

page_text: 65
Patent and in the said Specification, is intended to be used in the particular sense
of imparting a polished ӨР [and] smooth surface to articles of iron and steel, and
I am desirous of limiting the signification of the term to the process to which
it is employed, according to the said Invention, I therefore wish to disclaim, and
do hereby disclaim the following words, that is to say, "blueing and an- 5
nealing" in the said title; and I substitute therefore the following words,
that is to say), "or imparting polished or [and] smooth surfaces to," so that
the title will stand in the following words, "An Improved Process of Polishing
"or Imparting Polished er [and] Smooth Surfaces to Articles of Iron and
"Steel." I also am desirous of disclaiming and do hereby disclaim the latter
part of the said Specification which relates to the process of blueing and
annealing, and commences at the words, "If, however, it should be desirable,"
and ends with the words "processes than that above described." I also am"
desirous of disclaiming and do hereby disclaim the word "First," contained in
the first claim, substituting therefore the words "the process of." I also dis-
claim the whole of the second claim from the words "and secondly" down to
the words "substantially as described," the said words being included.
And in order that the true intent and meaning of this Disclaimer and Me-
morandum of Alteration may be properly understood, I do hereby declare that
the said Specification when the proposed Disclaimer and Memorandum of
Alteration shall have been made will stand as follows, that is to say:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Eighteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license, that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Ire-
land, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
PROCESS OF POLISHING OR IMPARTING POLISHED OF [AND] SMOOTH SURFACES TO
ARTICLES OF IRON AND STEEL," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe

page_text: 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates
chiefly to the treatment of rods, bars, and plates, or sheets of iron or steel, so
that the fibres of the metal may be rendered compact and a smooth or polished
surface produced, and also that the same may be blued and annealed when
required. The following is the mode of proceeding-After the rods, bars,
plates, or sheets have been drawn or rolled out in any of the usual well-known
ways and become cool, they are plunged into an acid bath to remove the scale;
they are next washed to remove the acid, and they are then submitted to
pressure between smooth rollers, which gives them a perfectly polished, bright,
smooth surface that will resist to a very great degree corrosion or oxydation.
This Invention is applicable to any kind of iron or steel that is drawn out
between rollers, for the polishing rolls may have any shape that is ordinarily
given to drawing rolls. In order that the polished surfaces may be perfectly
smooth, the rollers employed for this purpose should be exclusively used for
the finishing process, inasmuch as if used for drawing out hot metals there
will be cracks or marks left upon them, which will be impressed upon the
surfaces of the polished metal, and thus mar their otherwise smooth surface i
and as in this process the bars or plates are polished when cold, the polishing
robls need never be heated, and no cracks will appear upon their surfaces.
Subjecting the cold rods, bars, sheets, or plates to this polishing process packs
the fibre of the metal to such a degree as not only to make a hard smooth
surface that will resist corrosion, but the bars or sheets, though reduced in
size, actually become stiffer than they were before the process, so that it is
polishing and compressing or bardening the surfaces at one and the same
operation.
In the process chilled rollers are used, their acting surfaces being very care-
fully prepared, so that they shall not leave any marks upon the polished
surfaces. The rods, bars, sheets, or plates of iron or steel being first drawn
down to near their size, are subjected to the acid bath until the scale is loosened
and then removed. This leaves the surfaces bright, but "honeycombed;"
they are then passed once, twice, or more times between the polishing rolls,

page_text: which packs this bright though rough surface down to a perfectly smooth, hard,
and polished surface. It is unnecessary to mention the many uses to which
such toughened or hardened rods, bars, sheets, or plates may be applied, as it
is obvious to all mechanicians that they may be used in this polished state for
many purposes.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An improved process
of polishing or imparting polished or [and] smooth surfaces to articles of
iron and steel, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be
understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim,-
The process of subjecting rods, bars, sheets, or plates of iron or steel to
pressure between cold pressing rollers, in the manner and for the purpose
above explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clegg, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.