IMPROVEMENTS IN BOLTS USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND VESSELS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Horatio Ritchie, junior, of No. 106,
Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BOLTS USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND
VESSELS,"
Sealed the 3rd March 1865, and dated the 13th September 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Horatio Ritchie
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th September 1864.
I, JOSEPH HORATIO RITCHIE, junior, of No. 106, Leadenhall Street, in the
City of London, do hereby declaro the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN BOLTS USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND VESSELS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of ships
and vessels.
Hitherto ships and vessels have been built with an iron framework covered
with one or more thicknesses of plank, to which copper or yellow metal
sheathing is attached; likewise vessels have been built with an entire shell of
iron covered with a sheathing of wood or other material to which the
metal sheathing is attached, and in the bolting of plank to iron in such

page_text: vessels various methods have been adopted to insulate such bolts from the
different metals to which they are contiguous to prevent the frame wasting.
Now, according to my Invention, I propose to employ for this purposo bolts
either made entirely, or covered with, or partly covered with the hard com-
pound of india-rubber known as "vulcanite" or "ebonite," or with hardened
gutta percha. If these bolts are driven from the outside (as is usual) through
the plank and frame or plate, I propose to use a core of iron, the point of
which may be baro, and have a screw thread and screwed nut on it or other-
wise secured, or the whole bolt may be covered with the ebonite or gutta
percha, and have a screw thread on it and a scrowed nut, or be otherwise
fastened. If these bolts are driven from the inside of the vessel through the
plate or frame and plank, they may be made of a coro of copper or compo-
sition metal made and covered in the same way as the bolts with iron cores;
or the bolts may be made entirely of ebonite or hardened gutta percha either
to be driven from the ouside or inside of the vessel, having their points fitted
with scrow threads and nuts.
Although this Invention is principally for use in composite vessels, it is
also applicable to ordinary timber-framed or other vessels where it is desirable
to use bolts of iron in contiguity to copper or yellow metal, for which
they can be made of any length.
purposes
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Horatio Ritchie in the Great Seal Patent Office
-on the 13th March 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
ILORATIO RITCHIE, junior, of No. 106, Leadenhall Street, in the City of
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year-of Her
reign, did, for Flerself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Joseph Horatio Ritchie, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
Horatio Ritchie, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
J, the said Joseph Floratio Ritchie, 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

page_text: 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 BOLTS USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS AND VESSELS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Horatio
Ritchie, my executors or administrators,. by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their 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 I, the said Joseph Horatio Ritchie, 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 :-
This Invention has for its object the insulation of bolts used in the con-
struction of ships or vessels, more especially those built with iron frames
planked with wood, so that if iron bolts are employed they shall not be wasted
by the galvanic action caused by their contiguity to the copper or yellow
metal sheathing; or, on the other hand, if yellow or composition metal bolts
are used, they shall not have any injurious effect on the frames through
which they pass. In order to accomplish this object, I cover the bolts
entirely or on those parts contiguous to the dissimilar metals with caoutchouc,
or caoutchouc and gutta percha, or other mixture in which these form essential
ingredients hardened by the process known as vulcanization. These bolts
may be made of various forms, but bolts such as are shewn in the Drawings
will answer the purpose intended.
The Drawings show two examples of the application in shipbuilding of bolts
so covered. The bolt D, shown in Figure 1, is an iron bolt suitable for
being driven from the outside of the plank. The bolt passes through the
plank A and angle iron B, which is a portion of the iron framework of the
vessel, and is set up inside by the nut E, the insulating covering of vulcanite
or ebonite F being between the iron bolt and the metal sheathing C. The
iron head of the bolt is in this Figure shown to be entirely covered with the
insulator, but in cases where great percussion has to be borne by the head; it
may be found desirable to allow a portion of the centre of the iron head to
project a little above or be flush with the surface of the vulcanite so as to
receive the heavy blows; the portion of iron thus left uninsulated may, after
the bolt is driven, be easily covered with any insulating material, such as

page_text: marine glue or a solution of caoutchouc or shellac. This form of head is
especially suited to the long bolts used in timber-framed vessels.
The bolt D, shown in Figure 2, is a yellow or composition metal bolt
driven from the inside through the iron frame B and plauk A, its end being
secured outside the plank by being clenched on the ring E, the insulating
covering being in this case between the yellow metal bolt and iron frame. Tho
metal heads of the bolts may be made of various forms so long as the shape
is such that the coating of vulcanite shall be firmly attached to the metal
head, but the form of head shown in the Drawing answers the purpose.
The composition of the vulcanite or ebonite I prefer to be such that it shall
at the same time bo tough as well as hard. I have found that a compound
ths its weight of sulphur laid
of caoutchouc masticated with from oths to
on the bolt in a plastic state, and tightly bound thereto with tape or other
material, and exposed to a heat of 300° Fahrenheit for from three hours to
four hours answers the purpose well. In laying on the covering great care is
necessary in order not to enclose any air either between the surfaces or
otherwise, so that the contact may be perfect and the material free from
boles.
Although I have given the above compound of caoutchouc and sulphur as
one that answers the purpose well, yet the object may be attained by the use
of other compounds containing sulphur and caoutchouc or caoutchouc and
gutta percha, as is well known by manufacturers of vulcanite or ebonite;
the composition should, however, as before stated, be such that the coating
should be both tough and hard without being brittle. When subjecting the
plastic compound to heat, the compound may also be held to tho bolt by other
means employed by manufacturers of ebonite and vulcanite than those above
mentioned.
Although I have only given two examples of insulated bolts suitable for
being used in shipbuilding, yet the iron screw bolts for fastening deck planks,
the twisted iron scrow bolts for the keel plates of iron-framed ships, the kneo
and rider bolts of timber-framed vessels, and many other bolts used in the
construction of ships and vessels may in like manner be covered or partially
covered with a compound of sulphur and caoutchouc, or caoutchouc and gutta
percha, or a mixture in which these are principal ingredients, such compound
being vulcanized as already explained.
What I claim as my Invention is the covering bolts used in the con-
struction of ships and vessels, either entirely or partially, with a compound of
sulphur and caoutchouc, or caoutchouc and gutta percha, or a compound in

page_text: which these are principal ingredients, such compounds being changed by the
process known as vulcanization.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Horatio Ritchie, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
J. H. RITCHIE, JNR. (L.S.)