IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ROLLING AND LAMINATING OF METALS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC CASES AND COVERINGS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO
WHOM THESE PRESENT
SHALL COME, we, ALEXANDER
ROBERTSON, of Batavia Mills, Upper Holloway, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, and JAMES GLOVER, of the same Place, Roller, send greeting.
WHEREAS we did by petition humbly represent unto Her present most
Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, that we have invented "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE ROLLING AND LAMINATING OF METALS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC
CASES AND COVERINGS," and Her said Majesty, being willing to give encourage-
ment 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
Twentieth day of March, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the
fourteenth year of Her reign, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, to give
and grant unto us, the said Alexander Robertson and James Glover, our
exors, admors, and assigns, Her special licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that we or they, by ourselves or 'themselves, or by our or their
deputies, servants, or agents, or such others as we 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 make, use, exercise, and vend our
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 us,, our exors, admiors, and assigns, shall seem meet, and that
we 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

page_text: Letters Patent contain a proviso, obliging us, the said Alexander Robertson
and James Glover, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of
one of us, and to cause the same to be enrolled 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, we, the said
Alexander Robertson and James Glover, do hereby declare that our said
Invention is described and ascertained in and by these Presents, reference
being had unto the Drawing hereunto annexed, as follows:-
The part of our Invention which relates to the rolling and laminating of
metals consists in the application and adaptation of certain arrangements for
insuring an elastic pressure, and also a dead pressure (as may be preferred),
equally distributed from end to end of the rolls during the rolling and
laminating of metals, as herein-after more particularly described.
In the centre of a cross head C in Figures 1, 2, 3, of the accompanying
Drawing is a cylinder, in which cylinder is placed a spiral spring S (Fig. 3);
a piston or disk G, Fig. 3, is placed upon the top of this spiral spring,
which piston or disk is acted upon by means of the screw H, working in a nut
Ha, fixed in the top of the frame or bracket (A, A); to each end of the cross
head C are attached vertical plungers or guides B, B, which work in the
sockets or bushes D, D, and are of equal length, so as to press equally on the
bearing pieces D 1, D 1, of the top brasses of the rolls R, R.
Fig. 4 is a plan of the top of the cross head, shewing the tops or heads. of
the vertical plungers or guides B, B, keyed into it, which we consider is the
most accurate method of hanging the plungers.
We are thus enabled to obtain an equal elastic pressure on each end of the
rolls, which we can regulate by the degree of pressure exerted by the screw H
upon the piston G. The screw H may be also used for the
of
purpose pro-
ducing a dead pressure, if required, by inserting a dead abutment in the centre
of the cross head in lieu of the spring S.
We do not confine ourselves to the use of the cylindrical plungers B, B, as
guides, as the cross head can be as effectually guided by other means, as, for
instance, by forming on the end of the cross head a planed groove working in
a corresponding V on the standard of the rolls, or vice versa, or by the method
herein-after described.
We also use hydraulic pressure as another method for regulating the

page_text: pressure on the rolls in lieu of the spring S. Figure 5 is an end view, Figure 6
a side elevation, and Figure 7 a plan, of the machinery and apparatus which
we use for this purpose.
In the centre of the cross head F is an hydraulic
cylinder Fi, Fi, fitted with a ram Fa, and connected with a force pump in
the usual manner. The form of cross head which we employ for this purpose
is shewn separately by Figure 8, the ram and interior of the cylinder are
shewn in Figure 6 by dotted lines. In Figure 5, L, L, are plates or pieces of
iron or other metal, screwed on to the standards of the rolls, the interior edges
which are cut or formed so as to fit into grooves or slides cut in the cross head
F, which is one method we adopt for the purpose of guiding the cross head.
The second part of our Invention relates, firstly, to the manufacture of cases
made of a metal invented by William Betts, and for the manufacture and sole
use of which metal the said William Betts, on the Thirteenth January, One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, obtained Letters Patent, and in which
Letters Patent the Invention is described as "a new manufacture of capsules,
and of a material to be employed therein, and for other purposes," and which
metal is now commonly known as William Betts' patent metal. And,
secondly, to the application of such patent metal, and also of common tinfoil,
either alone or in combination with paper, to the manufacture of boxes, cases,
canisters, and coverings, in the manner herein-after described.
The method of manufacturing cases of William Betts' patent metal is as
follows:-
First, we take a slightly tapering block, suitable to the required shape of
the case, and we then take a suitable piece of William Betts' patent metal,
about the three-hundredth part of an inch in thickness, and wrap it round the
block in the manner shown in Figure 9, in which C represents the block; D,
the piece of metal. This piece of metal should be sufficiently large to slightly
overlap when wrapped round the block, and a small piece E, E, should be left
projecting beyond the narrow end of the block; we then take a slightly heated
soldering bit or iron, which must be well cleaned, and we draw it quickly along
the overlapping edge of the metal piece D from A to B, using a straight edge
of copper or other suitable material as a guide; the projecting part E, E, is
then neatly folded over the end of the block, and we then place upon it a small
piece of such patent metal rather smaller than the end of the block and of the
same shape, and we then draw a slightly heated soldering bit or iron quickly
over the edge of this small piece, and the case is then withdrawn from the
block, and the operation is complete. In the manufacture of metallic cases,
according to this part of our Invention, it is unnecessary to use any solder in
order to cause the metal to unite. We use the patent metal or ordinary tinfoil

page_text: a
in the manufacture of boxes, cases, canisters, and coverings, in the following
manner: We take a piece of tinfoil or of William Betts' patent metal and
paste or glue it very carefully on to sheets or pieces of paper of any required
size; after the tinfoil or metal has been thus pasted, or glued, it is carefully
cleaned, in order to remove any dirt or grease from the surface, and the paper,
with. the foil or metal so glued or pasted upon it, is then passed through pair
of clean cylindrical flatting rollers, so as to remove any unevenesses. We
then color the tinfoil or William Betts' patent metal, using any transparent
color mixed with turpentine varnish, or copal varnish; after the color has
become dry, we pass this colored metal through a pair of embossing rollers,
or subject it to any other mechanical pressure for the purpose of embossing,
and we then ornament the metal as occasion may require by printing patterns
upon it in any color, or by flocking it. This metal may be used for various
purposes, as for papering rooms, making boxes, &c., and for many purposes
the metal does not require to. be colored before embossing it, but when the
metal is not colored, it is advisable to. wash. it over with transparent gelatine
or varnish, in order to prevent any oxidation of the metal.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner
in which the same. is to. be performed, we declare that we claim as of our
Invention,--
Firstly, the producing a uniform elastic pressure on each end of the rolls in
the rolling and laminating of metals.
Secondly, we claim the, producing a uniform dead pressure at each end of
the rolls in the rolling, and laminating of metals, by means of the arrangements
above described.
Thirdly, we claim the, manufacture of cases of William, Betts' patent; metal;
in the manner herein-before. described.
Fourthly, we claim. the manufacture of metallic coverings made wholly or
partially of tinfoil or of William Betts' patent, metal pasted or glued upon
paper, and embossed, printed, or otherwise ornamented, as above described.
In witness, whereof, I, the said Alexander Robertson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twentieth day. of September, in the year, of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
ALEX. (L.s.): ROBERTSON.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
nammed Alexander Robertson, in the presence of
JOHN A. SPARLING, Sol",
1. King's Road. Bedford Row

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twentieth day of September, in
the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Alexander Robertson came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, 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 Twentieth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.