IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEET TIN, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1860

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Henry Johnson at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th August
1860. A communication from abroad by François Paulin Eugène
Massière, of Paris, in the Empire of France.
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I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEET TIN, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication from abroad by François
Paulin Eugène Massière, of Paris, in the Empire of France, to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved system or mode of manufacturing or
producing thin sheets of tin, and to the machinery or apparatus employed in
such manufacture. By this Invention the process is rendered continuous, and
sheets of any desired length may be obtained, whilst at the same time a con-
siderable economy, both of labour and material, is effected. According to this
Invention it is proposed to deposit the molten metal upon a fabric prepared by
coating it with a mixture of albumen or white of egg and lampblack, or with
some similar materials, which fabric covers the surface of a drum or cylinder,
to which a continuous slow motion is imparted, the sheet of tin deposited
thereon being wound off as fast as it is formed on to the surface of a second
drum or cylinder. The fabric prepared as before mentioned is equally

page_text: applicable to the slabs or flat surfaces employed in the ordinary methods of
making sheet tin. The molten tin is supplied to the drum from a reservoir,
which receives the metal from any convenient source, and this reservoir is
carried by a frame, which may be hinged at its lower end to the main framing
of the machine, or may be arranged in any other convenient manner for the
delivery of the metal from its pouring lip or edge, which will rest or bear
against the surface of the covered drum during the production of the sheet.
and may be drawn back out of contact therewith and turned over, so as to
empty it when no longer required for use, suitable hinges or other contrivances
.being provided for that purpose. A sluice is fitted into the delivery side of the
reservoir for the purpose of regulating the flow of the molten tin to suit the
thickness of sheet to be produced. In order to prevent this reservoir from
becoming overheated, a chamber is made under its bottom, thro' which a
constant flow of cold water is maintained. Above the reservoir there is a
pressing-roller, which is held against the surface of the newly deposited metal on
the drum by springs or weights, and serves to smooth and render even the outer
surface of the sheet which is not in contact with the drum. By this apparatus
thin sheets of tin may be produced of any desired length and width, the latter
dimension depending solely upon the width of the depositing drum and of the
reservoir, and the loss of material attendant upon the trimming and pairing
of the edges of sheets of tin in the manufacture as hitherto conducted is
entirely obviated, as by this process the sheet is produced in a perfect state as
regards its. edges, and being much thinner than can be obtained under the old
system, the subsequent operation of beating or hammering, for the purpose of
reducing it to the desired thinness, is either wholly dispensed with or con-
siderably shortened.